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International Journal of Endocrinology
Volume 2013 (2013), Article ID 396545, 6 pages
Low Bone Mineral Density in Chinese Adults with Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease
Department of Endocrinology & Metabolism, Shanghai Tenth People's Hospital, Tongji University School of Medicine, 301 Middle Yanchang Road, Shanghai 200072, China
Received 9 May 2013; Revised 3 July 2013; Accepted 8 July 2013
Academic Editor: Faustino R. Pérez-López
Copyright © 2013 Ran Cui et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Aim. To investigate bone metabolic characteristics in Chinese adults with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). Methods. A total of 224 patients (99 males and 125 postmenopausal females) were recruited and divided into 4 groups: males without NAFLD, males with NAFLD, females without NAFLD, and females with NAFLD. Bone mineral density (BMD) was evaluated according to body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC), and serum biomarkers. β cell function was evaluated by HOMA2%B, HOMA2%S, and HOMA2IR. Results. Males in the NAFLD group had lower BMD of the right hip and the femoral neck ( versus , ; versus , ), and females had lower BMD of the right hip ( versus , ) even after adjusted for weight, BMI, waist, HDL, and ALT. There was no significant difference in bone metabolic markers between patients with and without NAFLD. NAFLD was an important factor that affected the bone; moreover, the effect attenuated when HOMA2IR entered into the model (, , and ). Conclusions. NAFLD exerts a detrimental effect on BMD in both males and females. Insulin resistance may play an important role in this pathophysiological process.
1. Introduction
Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is a pathological condition that encompasses a wide spectrum of liver damage, ranging from simple steatosis to nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), cirrhosis, and hepatocellular carcinoma. The pathogenesis of NAFLD is multifactorial and is characterized by overweight and insulin resistance (IR). Recently, some studies reveal that bone mineral density (BMD) is also influenced by NAFLD. Moon et al. reported a significant association between mean lumbar BMD and NAFLD in postmenopausal subjects after adjusting for age, body mass index (BMI), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), smoking status, and alcohol consumption, and they concluded that postmenopausal women with NAFLD had an increased risk of osteoporosis [1]. Pardee et al. reported that obese children with NAFLD had significantly lower BMD Z-scores than obese children without NAFLD; among children with NAFLD, those with nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) had a significantly lower BMD Z-scores than NAFLD children without NASH [2]. However, when this phenomenon is explained by overweight and insulin resistance (IR), there is a paradox. In obese subjects, it has been argued that there is a positive relationship between body weight and bone mass especially in adults [3]. However, some recent studies reveal that severe IR may negatively affect BMD [4, 5]. The role of cytokines and other bone-influencing molecules released from the inflammatory liver is still unclear. Osteocalcin (OC), which is a specific marker of bone formation, has been found to be decreased in liver with NAFLD [6, 7]. Besides its role in the calcium and bone metabolism, vitamin D may also exert pleiotropic effects in many tissues. NAFLD patients present with a marked reduction in serum 25(OH) vitamin D when compared with controls. However, although these cytokines are associated with both NAFLD and BMD, none of them have been confirmed to be involved in the process whereby NAFLD influences bone metabolism.
Considering that little is known about Chinese patients and that the mechanism underlying the relationship between NAFLD and bone defect is poorly understood, this cross-sectional study was performed in China to explore the role of overweight, IR, osteocalcin, and vitamin D in the interaction between NAFLD and BMD.
2. Materials and Methods
2.1. Subjects
Patients were recruited from the Shanghai Tenth People's Hospital of Tongji University from October 2011 to April 2012. All subjects were screened using a questionnaire on their medical history, symptoms, and findings in physical examination. Inclusion criteria were as follows: (1) subjects who were 40–70 years old and (2) males or postmenopausal females with or without NAFLD. Exclusion criteria were as follows. (1) There were other causes of chronic liver disease (hepatitis B and C, Wilson disease, α-1-antitrypsin deficiency, autoimmune hepatitis, and cystic fibrosis), severe alcohol abuse (>10 g of alcohol per day [8]), and drug induced fatty liver disease, especially related to amiodarone, estrogens, and vitamin A. (2) Subjects were current or former smokers who quitted smoking less than 6 months ago. (3) There were conditions known to affect bone metabolism, such as kidney, thyroid or parathyroid diseases, hyperprolactinaemia, ovary excision, rheumatoid arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, malignant tumors, and medication with agents influencing bone metabolism (such as calcium, vitamin D, and anti-osteoporosis drugs).
A total of 99 males and 125 postmenopausal females were enrolled and divided into 4 groups according to the gender and the presence of NAFLD: males without NALFD, males with NAFLD, females without NAFLD, and females with NAFLD. This study was conducted according to the principles in the Declaration of Helsinki, and written informed consent was collected before study. The whole protocol was approved by the Ethics Committee of Shanghai Tenth People's Hospital of Tongji University.
2.2. Anthropometric Measurements
Weight was measured with a plethysmography scale, where patients wore minimal clothing, and height was measured with a stadiometer. Body mass index (BMI) was calculated by dividing the weight by height squared (kg/m2). Waist circumference (WC) was measured horizontally at the level of the umbilicus.
2.3. Liver Ultrasonography and NAFLD Criteria
NAFLD was diagnosed based on the ultrasonographic evidence of hepatic steatosis, such as a bright hepatic echo pattern, increased echo attenuation, and loss of intrahepatic architecture. Liver ultrasonography was conducted with a 4 MHz probe (EUB-6500, Hitachi, Tokyo, Japan) and evaluated by an experienced radiologist.
2.4. Dual X-Ray Absorptiometry for BMD
BMD was measured by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA) (Hologic (QDR-4000), USA). The BMD of lumbar spine (L), right hip (RH), and femoral neck (FN) was evaluated, and the means of L, RH, and FN served as the mean BMD (Table 4).
2.5. Serum Biomarkers
After overnight fasting, serum was collected. Biochemical markers, including total cholesterol (TC), triglyceride (TG), high density lipoprotein (HDL), low density lipoprotein (LDL), fasting plasma glucose (FPG), fasting insulin level (FINS), ALT, alkaline phosphatase (AKP), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), and serum creatinine (Scr) were measured with standard biochemical methods. Bone metabolic markers including type I collagen (CTX), parathyroid hormone (PTH), OC, calcitonin (CT), bone alkaline phosphatase (BAP), and 25-hydroxyl-vitamin D (25(OH)D) were measured by ELISA (Roche) according to the manufacturer's instructions. Insulin sensitivity and IR were evaluated by homeostasis model assessment 2 (HOMA2), including HOMA2%B, HOMA2%S, and HOMA2IR, calculated by HOMA2 v2.2 (http://www.dtu.ox.ac.uk/homa).
2.6. Statistical Analysis
Data were expressed as mean ± standard deviation (SD). Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to compare the baseline morphometric measurements (Table 1), BMD, and biomarkers in the control group and the NAFLD group for both genders (Tables 2 and 3). Analysis of covariance was used to adjust for weight, BMI, WC, lipid profiles, and ALT (Table 2, value (a)). Multiple linear regression analysis was performed to analyze the variables associated with mean BMD and NAFLD (Table 4). Statistical Product and Service Solutions version 17.0 (SPSS 17.0) software was used for statistical analysis. A value of was considered statistically significant.
3. Results
3.1. General Features between NAFLD Group and Control Group
At baseline, the age, height, FPG, FINS, AKP, AST, and Scr were comparable between the control group and the NAFLD group, whereas the weight, BMI, WC, lipid profiles, and ALT in subjects of the NAFLD group were markedly different from those in the control group (Table 1).
3.2. Comparison of BMD between the NAFLD Group and the Control Group
Subjects in the NAFLD group had significantly lower BMD in RH and FN of males and in RH of females. After adjustment for parameters (weight, BMI, WC, lipid profiles, and ALT) at baseline, a significant difference was still present (Table 2).
3.3. Serum Bone Metabolic Markers and HOMA Parameters
Serum bone metabolic markers including CTX, PTH, OC, CT, BAP, and 25(OH)D were comparable between the NAFLD group and the control group in both genders. Although calcium was significantly different, we did not think this difference was clinically significant. In the NAFLD group, HOMA2IR was higher in both genders, but HOMA2%S was lower in females (Table 3).
3.4. Correlation between Mean BMD and NAFLD
Three models were used to analyze the correlation between BMD and NAFLD taking into account all the parameters including age, BMI, waist, HOMA2IR, and NAFLD that would affect the BMD. In all the models, NAFLD played a very important role in the process of the influence on bone. Moreover, the effect attenuated when HOMA2IR entered into the model.
4. Discussion
In our study, subjects in the NAFLD group had significantly lower BMD than those in the control group for both genders, and the difference was still present after adjustment for variables. However, most clinical trials [1, 9] showed a negative association between NAFLD and lumbar BMD. In the present study, there was no significant difference in the lumbar BMD between the NALFD group and the control group, which might be attributed to the differences in the ethic and age. Since the BMD of femur neck and hip was not detected in previous studies, the BMD of femur neck and hip could not be compared among studies.
At baseline, subjects in the NAFLD group were characterized by higher weight, BMI, and WC, which was in accordance with other studies in which overweight or obesity was a predictor for NAFLD and other serious medical conditions [10, 11]. There is a significant relationship between BMI and relative body fat mass. Consequently, BMI is a widely accepted index of obesity, correcting for gender and ethnicity. Furthermore, there is a direct association of BMI with hepatic steatosis, NASH, and advanced liver fibrosis [12, 13]. WC is highly correlated with visceral adipose tissue (VAT) and a marker for abdominal obesity. Excess VAT, or abdominal obesity, is a risk factor of MS as compared to individuals with fat located predominantly in the lower body and subcutaneously [10]. Overweight, BMI and WC are related to bone mass to a certain extent because any increase in body mass, fat, or lean will expose the skeleton to greater forces during locomotion [14]. Bone is sensitive to, but not limited to, a variety of mechanical parameters. Holecki et al. found that the obesity failed to protect against bone mineral loss in postmenopausal women [15]. In our study, correlation analysis showed that there was no significant relation of BMD with weight, BMI, and WC. Hoy et al. speculated that the bone quality of overweight adolescents adapted to lean mass but not to greater fat mass [16], because the fat composition ratio was not significantly different between the control group and the NAFLD group.
IR was negatively associated with BMD in obese or T2DM patients [17, 18]. Even having higher bone density, as in the IR state, diabetic women have lower femoral neck strength relative to load [19]. In IR obese women, reduced IGF-1 might be an important determinant accounting for low BMD [20]. Circulating concentrations of inflammatory cytokines are reckoned to be the most important factor in causing and maintaining IR [21]. The cytokines also provide a further pathogenic link to extrahepatic organs. It has been found that IR induced by 12-week high fat diet (HFD) could impair the osteoblastic insulin signaling, osteoblast proliferation, and osteoblast survival and result in osteoporosis of the jawbone [22]. Obesity status-associated IR may induce high circulating intact (iFGF-23) and C-terminal FGF-23 (CtFGF-23), which is positively associated with PTH and negatively associated with vitamin D, resulting in low bone mass [23].
Elevated ALT and NAFLD are associated with IR, and thus, ALT has been proposed as a useful serum marker for early IR, which reflected a balance between oxidative stress and antioxidant response [24, 25]. Purnak et al. failed to find low BMD in NAFLD patients, but elevated serum ALT was found to be associated with lower BMD [26]. In our study, negative association was noted between ALT and BMD in NAFLD group, which was consistent with previously reported studies. ALT, an indicator of inflammation state in either the liver or system, will affect bone metabolism.
Osteoblasts can secrete OC, but recent work indicates that, besides acting as a specific bone marker for bone formation, OC is also associated with insulin secretion and sensitivity. After administration of recombinant OC, insulin secretion increases, blood glucose decreases, and experimental obesity is attenuated [27]. Consequently, OC has been considered to link bone to energy metabolism, although this was not evident in our study. Possible explanations for this discrepancy may be that only total serum OC was tested, whereas undercarboxylated osteocalcin (ucOC) affects energy metabolism [28]. Secondly, the association between OC and steatohepatitis is not confirmed by multivariate analysis [7]. Thirdly, decreased serum OC in Chinese NAFLD patients as compared to subjects in Western countries suggests the potential role of ethnicity [29].
Vitamin D receptors are present in several cell types and play an important role in both energy metabolism and bone metabolism [30]. 25(OH)D is a major circulating form of vitamin D and constitutes the best clinical indicator of vitamin D stores [31]. Targher et al. reported that NAFLD patients had a marked reduction in serum 25(OH)D as compared to controls, and this decrease was closely associated with the histopathological features of NAFLD [32]. However, a report on 102 NAFLD patients and 54 healthy controls showed no difference in the serum vitamin D [18], which was consistent with our results. In our study, we did not take the seasonal variation of vitamin D; since it was a cross-sectional study, we could not balance every impact factor. Moreover, vitamin D was not the only one of the factors that affect the bone metabolism; there were still other markers including type I collagen (CTX), parathyroid hormone (PTH), OC, calcitonin (CT), and bone alkaline phosphatase (BAP). Future studies are needed to clarify the correlation between vitamin D status and NAFLD.
This retrospective study still had some limitations. Firstly, being a cross-sectional study, it failed to completely exclude that some correlations were incidental. Secondly, BMD could be influenced by many factors such as physical activity, calcium/vitamin D intake, and peak bone mass, which were not evaluated in this study. Thirdly, only total OC, instead of carboxylated and uncarboxylated forms of OC, was measured. Moreover, we did not perform hepatic biopsy to evaluate the severity of NAFLD. That was because hepatic biopsy which was considered as the golden standard to diagnose NAFLD was invasive. Liver ultrasonography was also considered an effective way to investigate whether the fat existed in the liver. Further studies are needed to evaluate the effect of NAFLD on BMD in different extent. For example, we could conduct magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) on the subjects or a hepatic biopsy on the animal model of NAFLD.
In conclusion, BMD is significantly decreased in elderly male and female Chinese NAFLD patients as compared to controls. Further studies are needed to identify the causative factors, especially the role of IR.
Conflict of Interests
The authors declare that they have no conflict of interests.
This study was supported by the Shanghai Pujiang Program (PJ1408400, 09PJ1410300), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (81070238, 30900698), the Ph.D. Programs Foundation of the Ministry of Education of China (20090072120020), and the Shanghai Municipal Natural Science Foundation (13ZR1432100).
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text:
Lt. Gen. Dana Atkins made a promise when his long-time friend, Maj. David Brodeur, was sent overseas to train Afghani pilots.
The two had flown single-seat jets side-by-side in the skies above Alaska. So when Brodeur left, Atkins pledged to continue looking over his family.
"I didn't realize my promise would be as enduring as it is now," Atkins said.
Amid tears and a "missing man" flyover, Brodeur's casket was lowered on Tuesday into the ground of the Air Force Academy Cemetery. He was killed in a shooting by an Afghani pilot on April 27.
Brodeur was one of eight airmen, as well as a contractor, to die in the attack at Kabul International Airport.
Maj. Philip Ambard, a foreign-language professor at the Air Force Academy, also was killed.
The grass on his grave had yet to sprout when Brodeur was laid to rest a few feet to the east.
"He just always had a sense of humor," Atkins said of Brodeur. "He was truly, truly liked by everybody."
Born in Massachusetts, Brodeur honed his piloting skills at the Air Force Academy, where he graduated in 1999. A year later, he married his wife, Susan, in the academy's Cadet Chapel.
"His wife and his two kids — that was his life," Atkins said.
They moved to Anchorage, Alaska, where Brodeur served as Atkin's executive officer at the 11th Air Force at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson.
While there, he flew with the 18th Aggressor Squadron — a team of ace pilots who harass and pick fights with U.S. Air Forces in simulated attacks, preparing them for combat.
But when not bending the laws of physics inside a jet, he often went camping with his squadron's commander, Lt. Col. Andrew Hansen. Just before Brodeur left for Afghanistan, the two joined a few other families for a multi-day camping trip in Denali National Park.
After the graveside service, Hansen reminisced about "Clepto's" piloting skills — a nickname offered with a smile and little explanation.
"He represented the pinnacle or the epitome of everything I'd like to have as a fighter pilot," Hansen said.
Brodeur planned to use those piloting skills at the helm of an Air Force Thunderbird. He was in the process of applying for the post, said Atkins, who wrote Brodeur's letter of recommendation.
"Unfortunately, his dream was cut short," Atkins said.
While Brodeur's dog tags swayed in the breeze next to his casket, his wife, children and parents were handed the medals he earned while in Afghanistan: a Bronze Star, a Purple Heart and a Combat Action Ribbon.
Then Thomas Gills, a priest at the ceremony, offered a few words.
"Your earthly mission is now done," Gills said. "The time has come to claim your place above."
Having offered his prayers, the priest stepped aside before "Taps" broke the silence.
Overhead, four F-16s made their way over his casket, one of them breaking off from the pack and heading higher into the sky.
Call the writer at 476-1654.

subset: commoncrawl


text: Culture 21 May 2001 Novel of the week How to be Good Nick Hornby Viking, 288pp, £16.99 ISBN 0670888230 Sign up for our weekly email * Nick Hornby has raised his game. The setting for his third novel is, once again, a middle-class enclave of north London. Arsenal FC and a certain record shop are duly mentioned in passing. But this time, the narrator is not some feckless bloke struggling to retain his youthful irresponsibility. It is a woman, Katie Carr, a GP, wife and mother. "The only time when I am not performing one of those three roles," she tells us, "is when I am in the bathroom." Hornby seems quite at home in her psyche, and makes her credible by not trying too hard. The only medical jargon he slips in, for example, is the term "heartsink", which denotes a patient with depressingly intractable problems. Katie is married to David, "The Angriest Man in Holloway", as it says at the top of his column in the local paper. His column attacks targets such as old people on buses, who never have their money ready and always stand up ten minutes before their stop, "obliging them to fall over frequently in an alarming and undignified fashion". David also writes corporate brochures and has a bad satirical novel lying for ever unfinished in a desk drawer. At the outset, Katie asks David for a divorce. She does this by mobile phone from a car park in Leeds, where she has gone for a conference. She surprises herself, as she didn't think she was the sort of person to try to dump her husband by mobile; but if you do such a thing, "you cannot really claim that it is unrepresentative, in the same way that Lee Harvey Oswald couldn't really claim that shooting presidents wasn't like him at all. Sometimes we have to be judged by our one-offs." Oswald did make that very claim, and many people believe him, but Katie's casual endorsement of the lone-gunman theory is a character note, indicating someone with her feet on the ground. Katie is not in control, however. She called David only to remind him about their daughter Molly's dental appointment. The conversation degenerates into point- scoring, and David manoeuvres Katie into saying the D-word first. Hornby lays out the pattern with grisly accuracy. They don't get divorced, because David doesn't want to - he just wants to put Katie in the wrong. Shortly afterwards, however, he has a change of personality. An alternative therapist called DJ GoodNews sorts out his bad back by the laying-on of hands, and a strange side effect is that David becomes full of kindness and social concern. Don't panic. GoodNews is not Jesus. Even though he also cures Molly's eczema and the aching joints of Katie's heartsink Mrs Cortenza, a psychological explanation is just about possible, as with the "miracles" in Graham Greene's The End of the Affair. And in person, GoodNews comes across as your average New Age twerp. He wears turtle brooches in his pierced eyebrows, because turtles "see stuff that we can't, yeah?" He thinks he gained his powers from taking Ecstasy in his DJ days: the drug rearranged his molecules or something, like when Spiderman was bitten by the radioactive arachnid. Anyway, under GoodNews's influence, David starts trying to repair his marriage, giving away money and possessions, having a homeless kid to stay in the spare room and persuading neighbours to do likewise. Katie is disturbed, "nostalgic for the days when hatred was our common currency". Katie moves out, but doesn't dare tell the children, so she leaves for her bedsit round the corner only after they are asleep each night, and she returns and puts on her dressing gown before they get up each morning. Here and throughout, Hornby's humour is disillusioned without being bitter, and sympathetic without being mawkish. The portrayal of child characters, a weak point in his last book, is surer and wiser here: not too cute. Although the twin themes of altruism and domestic grief never quite mesh properly, this novel is a good, dark, espresso-strength comedy that nobody else could have written. Subscribe from just £1 per issue This article first appeared in the 21 May 2001 issue of the New Statesman, A spin too far More


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2012 Fair Oaks Recreation & Park District – Employee of the Year Employee: Ian Roberts Department: Recreation Division Current Position: Recreation Leader I Years with the District: 2 years Highlights of Ian's Work for the District in 2012 Recreation Department Recreation Miscellaneous: Ian was accepted as the District's Intern two years ago, which is where his relationship first began. Ian was fresh out of college and new to the parks and recreation world. Over the 4-6 months Ian served as the District's Intern, it was very clear that he possessed the key elements of a true parks and recreation professional, which are dedication, positivity, community loyalty, passion, and an overall love for the outdoors and living an active lifestyle. After Ian completed his internship, he was hired on as a part-time employee and has been working for the District ever since. Ian has become the official "GO TO GUY" for almost everything and he almost always says yes. He has been the primary face of the part-time recreation staff and always comes to work with a smile on his face willing to help in any way that he can, even if it's 2-3 hours of laminating flyers and signs. For all these reasons and so much more, it is with great pleasure that we recognize Ian Roberts as the 2012 Employee of the Year. Preschool: Ian has been assisting at the Preschool for over a year now and has been a great addition to the program. Ian fills in as the substitute teacher when the Preschool Teacher cannot teach class and all of the parents and kids love having him there. When Ian was recently recognized for covering the Preschool as the substitute Teacher, Ian responded saying, "Honestly Katy, the reason I make myself available to FORPD is because of the staff and community. I feel like you guys would do the same for me and I just enjoy working with you guys." As stated by Katy Albers, Recreation Superintendent, "Ian's dedication and commitment to both his professional and personal development still amazes me. Ian is just an enjoyable person to work with. He possesses that "SPARK" that only few have and I know he is going to make an impact on the agency he works for and the parks and recreation profession." Summer Camp: Ian was one of two Recreation Lead Counselors for the 2012 Summer Camp Program. As a Lead Counselor, Ian made a significant impact on the campers and his fellow staff members through his contagious positive attitude and dedicated energy towards the program. Ian loved taking the kids on fields trips, playing four-square, organizing talent shows, and getting the kids outside, but most of all, Ian had a blast getting the kids to sing and yell "GOOD MORNING" to the District's full-time staff when they drove by summer camp each day on their way into work. Special Events: Ian truly shines when he is assisting with one of the District many special events. Every time we call Ian to see if he can help at an event, he says YES almost immediately and he shows up at the event with a big smile, ready to have a great day! Ian has been the face of the District at almost every event we present and he has even taken the lead on a few of our smaller events such as Cookies with Santa, Teddy Bear Tea Party, and the information booth at Fiesta Days. Ian's biggest accomplishment was when he took the lead as the organizer of the Kids Park for the Fair Oaks Chicken Festival event in September. "It seems like when there's a hole Ian is willing to take on the challenge of filling it. Ian had no problem taking on the kid's park at chicken festival and he did a GREAT job! He's always ready to fill in at the front desk at the last minute. He takes the extra step to help customer's get the information they need. Ian has made a big difference working here in every department, even pulling trash in Parks!" as stated by Robert Matthews, Parks & Facilities Superintendent. Administration Department Front Desk: "Ian has been a great help at the front desk. I can't say enough good things about him! He's consistently made himself available to the often unforeseeable scheduling needs of the front desk. At a moment's notice, Ian will be at the desk, saving the day many times. He is extremely knowledgeable and demonstrates the ability to work independently. He is determined to give our customers and constituents the best possible information and service. He always goes the extra mile to ensure that each person leaves the office satisfied and happy. He always has a smile on his face and will continue to be successful in the Recreation field. He is deserving of this honor and many others." - Kris Borders, Administrative Services Coordinator


text: Hi everyone, Just bought a 2010 a3 black edition which has the multifunction steering wheel and concert radio but did not have mobile phone prep or Bluetooth installed. I have looked in the courtesy light and there is no microphone so the Bluetooth is not there. I have seen a few threads about installing the box and it looks doable. I would also like to instal the iPhone 4 holder and charger in the arm rest too. Does anyone have any experience of fitting the whole lot and if it's worth getting a new unit(s) from Audi or eBay? Thanks in advance, John


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Here is the second webisode in the Pond Life web series, to watch episode one first, click here .
Part two of Pond Life sees the Doctor breaking a big rule, as he storms in on Amy and Rory in the bedroom, and announces that "No-one on this planet is safe."
But the TARDIS' Helmic Regulator has gone wrong again, and he's landed in the wrong point in time and space.
You can watch the second episode of Pond Life below, and remember, the first episode of series seven airs on Saturday 1 September.
Find out more here .


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Chicago Public Schools Sue to Try to Force Teachers Back to Work
The Chicago Public Schools system formally sought an injunction against the weeklong teachers strike, imploring a judge to order Chicago Teachers Union members back to work while negotiations continue on a contract. The injunction order claims that the CTU is illegally striking over non-economic issues, in violation of state statutes, and that the strike creates "a clear and present danger to public health and safety."
Under the Illinois Education Labor Relations Act, passed last year, teachers unions explicitly cannot strike over a variety of issues that have been at play in the current dispute. This includes teacher evaluation policy, recall rules to deal with laid-off teachers after school closings, class size, and the lengths of both the school day and the school year. However, these are not the only issues being deliberated in the contract, though they are prominent. Teacher compensation, both in salary and benefits, has been an issue, one that is clearly marked at the top of the tentative agreement. So to say to a judge, as the school board does in its filing, that the strike violates the Illinois Education Labor Relations Act because it's being waged over non-strikable issues is to say that the school board can read the minds of the CTU members as to why they have walked off the job. The school board alleges that CTU has made clear in public pronouncements and contract demands that they are striking over non-strikable issues, but that doesn't preclude also striking over strikable ones, it seems to me.
As for the "clear and present danger to public health and safety," this is the language in the relevant statute:
If, however, in the opinion of an employer the strike is or has become a clear and present danger to the health or safety of the public, the employer may initiate in the circuit court of the county in which such danger exists an action for relief which may include, but is not limited to, injunction. The court may grant appropriate relief upon the finding that such clear and present danger exists. An unfair practice or other evidence of lack of clean hands by the educational employer is a defense to such action.
The danger to health and public safety could be argued on the grounds of lost access to school services like nurses or subsidized meals (a shocking 84% of all Chicago public school students are eligible for free or low-price meals at school) or special education services. CPS also makes a novel argument about idle hands being the devil's workshop, noting that violence increases when the city's children are out of school. But 147 of Chicago's schools are open for the provision of student meals, among other services, as well as to give students a place to go. This undermines the case of the school board. And given that the school boards' lack of movement on core bargaining issues can be said to be as much the reason for the strike as the teachers, the "clean hands" defense clearly can come into play.
Ultimately, the time it will take for this litigation to work through the courts and the appeals process will be far longer than the time it will take to settle the strike. Teachers, informed by their delegates, could go ahead and agree to return to work with a vote tomorrow.
"This union is a democratic institution, which values the opportunity for all members to make decisions together. The officers of this union follow the lead of our members," Karen Lewis, president of the Chicago Teachers Union, said in a statement on Sunday. "The issues raised in this contract were too important, had consequences too profound for the future of our public education system and for educational fairness for our students, parents and members, for us to simply take a quick vote based on a short discussion. Therefore, a clear majority voted to take this time, and we are unified in this decision."
The teachers, mindful of the strain of the lack of school on parents, handed out leaflets in their communities today, thanking parents for their support and patience. But I suspect what will weigh on teachers in making their decision is the relative benefit of the contract. Unlike Chicago alderman who signed onto a parking meter privatization deal without reading it, a deal that has grown worse and worse as time goes on, the teachers, being readers and all, would like to read the fine print.


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Owlets finally make an appearance
This isn't far from the truth, however, the light shined toward the vacant lot before the owls took residence and it was on often as they were selecting their nest site. Every time kids play in the backyard at or after dark. Our swing set sits directly below the box and the pool is within 20'. Such is the nature of a small backyard, and fortunately for me these suburban owls are extremely tolerant of all our activities, including mowing, weed-eating, screaming children, and yes even the light that sometimes floods the area. I will say this, the images give the impression that there was a lot more light than there actually was though. This is really more of an ambient light in reality, but the scope and camera picked up a lot more in these images. These images were shot at a full 1 second exposure at ISO 800, with the exposure compensation run up to +2.
We now return to the story... after I turned on the light, I walked out and strained my eyes toward the darkness of the box and could see a small gray oval up there. I ran back into the house and grabbed the scope for a better view of our 1st baby sighting for me, my family, and the visiting neighbors. As we watched the youngster (who I've affectionately named "Porky") at the box mouth, I could still here the chattering from inside the box. As we watched, one of the adults swung in with a large Palmetto Bug and fed it to Porky. The adult then lit on the top rail of the swing set a mere 8' away from us. Within moments, the adult flew straight up and briefly lit on the trunk of the dead snag about 20' above owl box, and swung back down to a perch just outside the box with yet another Palmetto Bug (for the uninitiated in the way of Florida's sub-tropical bugs) you might call this a big fat cockroach!
While others were enjoying the show, I decided to go get my camera and adapter to try my hand at night digiscoping, despite a complete lack of success with this in the past.
Of course in this neighborhood we try to stress quality parenting, so when "Mama" owl, brought a delicious looking Tree-frog, she shot past Porky and Junior and dropped to the floor of the box. Excited chittering sounds soon emanated from the box, letting me know there must be at least 3 owlets in there and perhaps more. After a while, Junior dropped down to join the frog feast, but Porky (stubborn as ever) wouldn't surrender the primo spot (not even for succulent frog legs).
Mama flew down to a perch just 4' below the box and all was quiet for a moment. The chicks apparently satiated for the moment, had stopped bickering, while mama contently perched on her favorite snag with the signs of a successful kill and good parenting still evident on her bill. I took one parting shot, VERY appreciative of the opportunity to witness this spectacle of nature, then retired to the house and switched the light off for the night to allow the family to continue their nightly routine undisturbed.


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David Grisman Bluegrass Experience @ Boulder Theater
David Grisman is normally associated with the bluegrass wing of country music, but his music owes almost as much to jazz as it does to traditional American folk influences. Because he couldn't think of what to call his unique, highly intricate, harmonically advanced hybrid of acoustic bluegrass, folk, and jazz without leaning toward one idiom or another, he offhandedly decided to call it "dawg music" -- a name which, curiously enough, has stuck. A brilliant mandolinist, with roots deep in the Quintet of the Hot Club of France, Grisman's jazz sensibilities were strong enough to attract the admiration of the HCQ's Stephane Grappelli, who has toured and recorded with Grisman on occasion.
David Grisman | July 20th, 2010
Tickets will be on sale through the Boulder Theater box office | Internet 24-7 at www.bouldertheater.com | Phone: During box office hours 303-786-7030
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text: This is the Discussion Thread to the 2013 board battles! I'd like to take this time to announce that since my good friend @Falcor007 (WUL him bitches) was not able to complete his duty last year which was hosting the battles, that I'll be hosting the battles TWICE this year to make up for it! (actual date TBD) I'm going to take this time to just post the Warrior Guidelines (V1.1) so everyone understands: If you have under 500 posts, don't bother voting, I won't count it Even if you're a "vet", if you haven't been around recently, don't bother voting, I won't count it. (I must've seen you fairly active for the past 6 months) If I have reason to believe someone is cheating (bribing, PMing for votes, etc.) I hold the right to remove them from the battles permanently. You MUST post any vote you make before the deadline which is EXACTLY 8 PM (board time). I will NOT accept any vote that is even half a second after the deadline. This is meant to be a FUN board event, so if I think people are using the battles in the wrong way, (trying to insult others, hurt, etc.) I will revoke votes and remove voting privileges. I don't mean to sound like a dick, but that's the way it is. FIRST ROUND MATCHUPS FIRST BATCH Sertith vs. ShutUpNavi DallasJR vs. sye024 PDarkLink vs. SSB_Fan Skierdude413 vs. nahazado42 SECOND BATCH Falcor007 vs. DrEvilGenius CakeMan42 vs. -Absolute- luisoscarb vs. adidas198 Grave_the_Ninja vs. lizalfos THIRD BATCH ghos2 vs. spigelwii Kamurocho_Freak vs. Chispatr Volvagia_slayer vs. redawson2 bpala25 vs. blue.jay.link FOURTH BATCH tropicguin vs. puffteam Mr-Chris vs. Synthetic_Craze Xiaber vs. G-Man_Graves bosbulls2005 vs. tristandark NON-FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS: Isn't this just a glorified popularity contest? No, the User Battles are meant to be a fun activity that helps with livening up the board. How do the battles work? Users vote, I count the votes, users advance. Duh. How do you justify who goes up against who? And where is the bracket? I simply just cut up the names and mixed them in a toque, pulled them out one by one and every two made up a match. Considering this is the preliminary round, I have yet to make a bracket, as the Quarter Finals will also be drawn at random. This thread is now open for discussion! Corrected a few matchups at Miek's request. - lit


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The Turntable Restaurant is in a squat gray building that sits along the railroad tracks running through the small mountain town of Minturn. Just a stone's throw from the Eagle River, the Turntable will never be mistaken for one of the many shops and cafes in Minturn that sell howling coyotes to tourists. A mural that encircles the dining room shows the legendary rail route of the old Denver & Rio Grande Western railroad, running from the bright yellow fields of the great plains up rugged mountain passes and down into the redstone canyons of western Colorado and Utah. The walls are lined with pictures of steam locomotives chugging their way up some of the most treacherous rail lines in North America, shots of the old railroad turntable that gave the restaurant its name, and class photos going back to 1941 from the now-closed Minturn High School.
The Turntable is open 24 hours a day to serve the guests of the Railroad Hotel, a simple two-story building attached to the restaurant. The restaurant is open to the public, but the hotel is open only to railroad workers, two- and three-man crews on long hauls who move freight and coal over the Rockies. Here engineers and conductors for the Southern Pacific Railroad can enjoy the Turntable's famous green chile any time of day.
Chances are those workers will be served by Darla Goodell, who's worked at the restaurant for sixteen years. Goodell is a Minturn native, and her father and grandfather both worked for the railroad. She's one of those people who love nothing more than the sight of a freight train moving with awesome power through the bottom of a sheer Colorado canyon. "I can't imagine Minturn without the railroad," Goodell says with a sigh, a pained expression passing over her round, friendly face.
But the days of trains passing through Minturn may be numbered. As part of the planned $5.4 billion merger between the Union Pacific and Southern Pacific railroads, the 170-mile rail line that passes through Minturn and heads up Tennessee Pass and on to Salida, Canon City and Pueblo will be abandoned. The Southern Pacific uses the line as an alternate route to its east-west corridor through the Moffat Tunnel, running sixteen to twenty trains a day. But Union Pacific, by far the dominant partner in the proposed merger, would have no use for it. The historic line, the first to link the Front Range with western Colorado, could be sold to a competing railroad. Or it could become a victim of corporate economics, as Union Pacific and Southern Pacific unite to create a mega-railroad that will have monopoly status in much of Colorado.
The prospect of such a merger has alarmed many Coloradans, from coal miners in Craig to wheat farmers in Kiowa County. But it has support in much more powerful quarters. And concern on the part of shippers and farmers hasn't stopped most of Colorado's elected officials, including Governor Roy Romer, from endorsing it.
The fate of the line through Minturn will be settled next month, when the federal Surface Transportation Board is scheduled to rule on the proposed merger. And while corporate executives, high-powered lobbyists and politicians hold closed-door meetings to ponder the future of the two railroads, those whose lives have been touched by the whistles of passing trains are left to wonder what will come next. "We've got people dealing with this who are sitting behind a desk," says Harold Bellm, who served as mayor of Minturn for eighteen years and frequently dines at the Turntable. "Their concern is what happens to the railroad company, regardless of what happens to the small towns on the route."
Most people in Minturn want the railroad to stay, says Bellm, but they know the ultimate decision will be made 2,000 miles away in Washington, D.C. And the effects of such a decision on Minturn could extend far beyond the railroad right-of-way. If the rail line is closed, eighty acres of land in the Southern Pacific switchyard will come on the market. For old-timers in Minturn, that's a frightening thought: The town is just down the highway from the booming Vail-Beaver Creek corridor, and real estate developers are already stopping by the Turntable to check out the eighty acres, valued at $30 million.
"The vultures are already looking around," says Goodell, who watches all the activity from a small apartment in the Railroad Hotel that's filled with mementos of a life on the rails, including a working model railroad that hangs from her living room ceiling. The company that owns the Turntable Restaurant contracts with the Southern Pacific and other railroads to operate a network of cafes in isolated spots around the country. Goodell has traveled in the cabs of freight trains to work in railroad restaurants in the southern California desert, New Mexico and Kansas. For a woman who'd spent most of her life in a small town, life on the rails was a revelation.
"You get to meet lots of people," she says, recalling the camaraderie of railroad employees who run trains through some of the most remote parts of the country 24 hours a day. "The Rio Grande railroad was like one big family," she says of the fabled rail line that was absorbed into the Southern Pacific in 1988 as part of a $1.8 billion deal orchestrated by Denver billionaire Philip Anschutz, who became a railroad player after making a fortune in oil and gas.
As much as she loves the rail line running through Minturn, Goodell knows its days as a rail town may be drawing to a close. She dreams of starting a rail museum to preserve Minturn's heritage, and she's tracked down an old Rio Grande dining car in Grand Junction that she wants to bring to the town. "I've even gotten estimates on what it would cost to move it," she says.
Goodell already has enough railroad memorabilia in her apartment to stock a small museum, including a collection of signal lanterns, old Union Pacific and Rio Grande timetables, and dozens of vintage photos that show trains passing through Minturn in turn-of-the-century snowstorms and steam locomotives being moved around on the turntable. "I don't have enough room to put all the photos up," she says. "My daughter used to complain about all the railroad stuff around the house."
Southern Pacific officials have told Goodell they can't make a decision on what to do with the vintage dining car before the merger, and Goodell fears the car will be dismantled for parts in the meantime. Like everyone else in Minturn--a town founded by the Rio Grande in 1887--Goodell will have to wait to see how the decisions made by powerful people far away will affect her hometown.
"The railroad is part of our life--I hate to see it go," says George Sisneros, a former city councilman who frequently enjoys the daily lunch specials at the Turntable. "Everyone sees the writing on the wall. We know it's coming, and we're trying to deal with it."
The forces that may doom the railroad in Minturn are formidable and involve some of the wealthiest, best-connected players in Colorado. Along with Anschutz, they include Denver's most powerful law firm, Brownstein Hyatt Farber & Strickland, one of whose name partners, Tom Strickland, is now conducting a run for the U.S. Senate. Together those interests are working full-time to push through a merger that will deprive huge parts of Colorado of any rail service and cost the state more than 1,000 jobs while making Anschutz hundreds of millions of dollars.
When the merger was announced last August, it was estimated that Anschutz would make more than a billion dollars off the deal, quintupling his original investment in the railroad. And the corporate dream team he assembled to run the Southern Pacific won't go begging, either. According to Trains magazine, the railroad's top officials will split a $12 million golden parachute should the merger go through. Chairman and chief executive officer Jerry Davis will leave with a particularly sweet deal: Trains reports that the railroad has agreed to forgive the remainder of a six-figure home loan Davis received for his Denver-area mansion.
Anschutz put together a $1.8 billion deal for the Southern Pacific in 1988, but $800 million of that was assumed debt, and most of the rest was borrowed. The Denver mogul merged his Rio Grande into the Southern Pacific, then began laying off employees and slashing costs to pay off the huge debt he'd taken on to acquire the larger railroad. While many beleaguered Southern Pacific employees resented Anschutz, Wall Street cheered as the railroad began to turn a profit for the first time in years.
If he can pull it off, the $5.4 billion sale of the Southern Pacific--which is essentially what the proposed merger would amount to--would be the biggest deal of Anschutz's career. It would also create the largest railroad in the country, a Union Pacific behemoth with 37,000 miles of track radiating from Chicago to Seattle and from Los Angeles to New Orleans. The only significant rail competition for Union Pacific would come from Burlington Northern Santa Fe, which has routes along Colorado's Front Range and in eastern Colorado and was itself created by the 1995 mega-merger of its carriers. In the western two-thirds of Colorado, there would be just one rail line.
Union Pacific has made it clear it will have no use for the Tennessee Pass line that runs through Minturn if the merger goes through. "It's slow and difficult to operate," says John Bromley, a Union Pacific spokesman at the railroad's Omaha base. "We'll divert most of that traffic to southern Wyoming." The small towns along the route that owe their existence to the railroad will lose a big part of their history. But the biggest losers in the buyout will be the 1,500 Coloradans who will see their jobs disappear, including most of the employees at Southern Pacific's administrative building in downtown Denver.
"A lot of the younger people are worried," says one longtime Southern Pacific employee who asked not to be named. "They're liable to get sent around the country. We've been through so many crises in the last 25 years, we all feel like survivors."
And some fear that the railroad merger could also decimate whole industries in Colorado, especially mining and agriculture. Union Pacific, for example, plans to abandon a former Missouri Pacific rail line that runs from Pueblo to Towner on the eastern plains, serving farmers and grain shippers on what once was the route of the MP's heralded Colorado Eagle passenger train. That part of southeastern Colorado is already depressed, and the prospect of losing a major rail line is alarming to farmers. "We're concerned about being served by a single railroad and losing an affordable means of shipping," says Andy Colosimo, spokesman for the Colorado Farm Bureau. "That area is really struggling. This could be another nail in the coffin."
Coal interests also view the pending merger with alarm. It will be cheaper for Union Pacific to move coal from the flat Powder River Basin of eastern Wyoming than to extract it from the rugged country of northwestern Colorado and Utah. Some believe the newly expanded railroad could easily encourage its customers to buy Wyoming coal, potentially throwing hundreds of Colorado miners out of work and shutting down the coal mines.
"It's more expensive to transport the coal out of the Rockies," says Alex Jordan, director of the Salt Lake City-based Western Shippers' Coalition, which represents railroad customers. "The key factor is price. If you have one carrier serving both markets, it's cheaper for them to push Powder River coal. The danger is, you lose your Rocky Mountain coal and the economy goes bust. You could devastate a region of western Colorado and Utah. It's crucial to these areas."
Farmers and miners, however, have traditionally been captive customers for railroads due to the sheer bulk of the products they produce. While other industries can move their products by truck, coal and grain producers depend on the railroads to move thousands of tons of freight over vast distances. If Union Pacific decides to jack up fees on its western Colorado and Utah route, those industries will be at the railroad's mercy.
"Unlike other industries like airlines, it's practically impossible to lay new rail lines to compete with an established railroad," says Paul Dempsey, director of the transportation law program at the University of Denver. "The railroads will have an incentive to extract as much from people as they can."
If Union Pacific gets its way, the only line still serving western Colorado after the merger will be the Moffat Tunnel line that runs through Winter Park and then parallels the Colorado River into Grand Junction. And Dempsey thinks Union Pacific may decide to shift traffic from that line to its main route through southern Wyoming. The relatively flat route, through Laramie and Rock Springs, is one of the busiest transcontinental rail lines in North America, with 65 freight trains per day moving at speeds of up to 70 miles per hour. It's also a consistent cash cow for Union Pacific, and Dempsey fears the railroad may be tempted to simply shut down the high-maintenance Moffat Tunnel line, which winds through a series of smaller tunnels before reaching its namesake bore beneath James Peak.
"That last remaining [western Colorado] route will become less viable," Dempsey predicts. "If the Moffat Tunnel route is shut down, most of the state won't have rail service."
Union Pacific, however, insists it wants to haul Colorado coal. "We're interested in hauling coal anywhere," says Bromley. "Most of the coal mined in the Powder River Basin goes east and south. The Colorado coal goes to different markets. Union Pacific wouldn't make some sort of arbitrary decision to move Wyoming coal instead of Colorado coal."
Bromley says that far from attempting to carve out a new monopoly, Union Pacific is responding to competitive pressure. Last year's merger of the Burlington Northern and Santa Fe created the largest railroad in the country, boasting highly efficient and profitable routes between Chicago and the West Coast. Bromley insists that Union Pacific and Southern Pacific need to combine forces to deal with competitive pressure from BNSF. "The thing driving all of this was the combination of the Burlington Northern and Santa Fe last year," he says. "That skewed things and made them a formidable competitor. Without this merger, they'll dominate rail traffic in the United States."
And in anticipation of the charge that the merger would create a monopoly railroad between Denver and the Bay Area, Union Pacific has offered trackage rights along the Moffat Tunnel route to BNSF. Under such an arrangement, the competing railroad is allowed to use its competitor's tracks in exchange for a fee. But BNSF has made no commitment to run trains through western Colorado, and skeptics like Alex Jordan believe the proposed trackage fee is so high that the railroad won't be interested. He says western Colorado and Utah may be headed back to the bad old days of the robber barons.
"Monopoly is a real concern," says Jordan. "It's almost like a feeding frenzy of blue fish. If you're a swimmer, you can get your arm bit off. It's so easy to gouge the customer, it's like, 'Why not?'"
Railroads were notorious in the nineteenth century for exploiting farmers and small businesses that had no alternative way to ship their goods. The Southern Pacific, in particular, was known for its stranglehold on the entire state of California, a monopoly that was a frequent target of muckraking journalists like Frank Norris. His novel The Octopus portrayed a railroad so powerful that governors and congressmen would do backflips to keep it happy. Critics of the proposed merger charge that Philip Anschutz and Union Pacific have created just such a political machine for the 1990s, greased with generous donations to friendly officeholders and dedicated to pushing through a railroad with monopoly power.
Those critics are particularly critical of Roy Romer, who endorsed the merger in March. "Romer let down the employees and the shippers and the communities within the state," says William Gulliford, general chairman of the Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employees, which represents 350 railroad workers in Colorado. "If this merger goes through, it will be devastating, but it doesn't seem to concern the governor."
Like many others opposed to the merger, Gulliford believes Anschutz used his immense wealth to win Romer's ear. Anschutz is a prominent fundraiser for the national Republican Party, but he personally signed a $5,000 check for Democrat Romer's 1994 re-election campaign. "Roy Romer and Phil Anschutz are close, there's no secret to that," Gulliford says. "If Romer runs for the Senate, who has the deep pockets?"
Even without Anschutz on board, Union Pacific's political influence is powerful. With major operations in twenty states, the railroad is a player in legislatures and congressional delegations in almost every western state. In Colorado the railroad has retained the services of Cole Finegan, an attorney at Brownstein Hyatt Farber & Strickland, known for its links to Romer and most of the state's congressional representatives. Finegan is Romer's former chief legal counsel and is frequently seen at the governor's side, even accompanying Romer on hunting trips. Meg Porfido, Romer's chief of staff, is a former Brownstein Hyatt attorney.
Union Pacific chairman and CEO Drew Lewis carries his own form of political clout. Lewis served as secretary of transportation under President Ronald Reagan and later played a big role in creating the Surface Transportation Board, which will have the final say on the merger. And because Union Pacific is the country's largest railroad contributor to congressional campaigns, Lewis is ensured an open door as he makes the rounds on Capitol Hill.
Under Lewis, Union Pacific has often butted heads with the U.S. Justice Department, which is known for its opposition to anti-competitive mergers. The railroad boss has described the Justice Department as being full of "anti-business, pro-Clinton people." When the former Interstate Commerce Commission was abolished by Congress last year, authority over rail mergers would have passed to Justice, and Lewis lobbied hard behind the scenes to make sure that didn't happen. He convinced Congress that authority over mergers should be given to the Surface Transportation Board instead.
The STB will announce its decision in early July. But an unlikely coalition has formed to oppose the merger, including many railroad customers, the conservative American Farm Bureau and the AFL-CIO. The opponents are demanding that, as a condition for approval of the merger, Union Pacific be required to sell several Southern Pacific lines to competing railroads. Southern Pacific's central corridor--the line from Kansas City to Oakland, California, that passes through Minturn--is among the routes critics want to see auctioned off. Montana Rail Link, a successful regional railroad in the Northwest, has already offered $614 million for the central corridor. Not surprisingly, Union Pacific is fiercely opposed to selling that line to a competitor.
"If I were a betting person, I'd bet the merger gets approved," says Dempsey. "The $64,000 question for Colorado is whether it includes a spinoff of some pieces of the railroad to Montana Rail Link."
Dempsey believes Romer botched an opportunity to influence the federal government on that score when he endorsed the merger. In return for his seal of approval, Union Pacific promised only to turn the Tennessee Pass right-of-way over to the state for use as a recreational trail and to keep open the Southern Pacific's Burnham Shops facility in Denver, where locomotives are serviced and rebuilt. "He walked away with commitments that are fairly meaningless," Dempsey says. "As long as the state subjected to the monopoly doesn't object, why should the federal government care?"
In his March letter to the Surface Transportation Board, Romer hardly painted a rosy picture, acknowledging that "Colorado in many ways would experience more serious impacts from the proposed merger than any other state." Colorado "faces the potential loss of over 2,000 jobs, our communities will experience the abandonment of over 300 miles of rail lines--close to 50 percent of all abandonments identified in the merger application--and our shippers are among those most directly affected by the combination of the two major rail competitors in the central corridor," the governor wrote.
Nonetheless, Romer endorsed the merger. While most states in the region have signed off on it, two of the states that share the central corridor route with Colorado--Utah and Nevada--have not. (Texas also opposes the merger.) Jerry Smith, deputy director of the Colorado Department of Local Affairs, served on a task force Romer set up to consider the UP-SP deal, and he met with Romer repeatedly to discuss the merger. He says the general feeling in Colorado was that the state shouldn't interfere with the private marketplace. "There's a fine line between having a pro-business climate and dictating to business what their policies should be," he says. "Having a strong railroad serving Colorado is in the state's interest."
Smith believes many of the fears of merger opponents are based on speculation. "A lot of the discussion is based on what might happen," he says. "It's conjecture what will happen five or ten years in the future." The task force, he notes, heard divergent views on the impact of the merger on Colorado, with some people suggesting the merger might actually help business in Denver, even if it hurt rural areas of the state. "If Denver shippers can get their goods to the West Coast faster through southern Wyoming, is that a bad thing?" Smith asks. "Market forces will determine what gets used and what doesn't."
Though the state is ready to hop aboard the merger express, several federal agencies have declined a ticket. Earlier this month the federal departments of Justice, Agriculture and Transportation announced their joint opposition to the merger as now proposed. The Justice Department estimated the new mega-railroad would cost consumers an additional $800 million per year due to reduced competition, and agriculture officials said higher rail fees would hurt American grain exports.
But Union Pacific's Bromley says the railroad isn't as powerful as its opponents charge. He insists that the federal agencies' opposition to the merger shows Union Pacific isn't the well-oiled political machine its critics make it out to be. "If we were so well-connected, we wouldn't have had all those headlines about Justice and Agriculture being against us," he says. "I wish we were that powerful."
The lunch-hour rush at the Turntable is winding down. And if anyone doubts this is a railroad restaurant, the clock on the back wall will let them know otherwise. The clock's hands spin around a cartoon train passing through the mountains, and every hour on the hour, the train's whistle blows and the lights on a rail-crossing sign flash. Soon it may be the only train whistle heard in Minturn.
Only about 40 of Minturn's 1,500 residents still work for the railroad. Once dependent on the Southern Pacific and the local mines for survival, the town is now populated by people who work at jobs related to the ski industry. But Minturn still prides itself on being a workingman's town, and residents desperately want to maintain the non-glitzy, small-town feeling that sets its apart from its neighbors in the Vail Valley. Many of the humble one-story homes now sell for $200,000, but old-timers vow a fight before they'll let Minturn become just another resort town. They especially fear a real estate free-for-all if the railroad departs and eighty acres of vacant land hit the market.
"This is a place where people can buy a home and raise their kids," says Bellm. "It's a different world when you drive into Minturn than when you drive into Vail or Avon. That's why people live here.
"If they vacated all the railroad land, you'd see all of Minturn change," Bellm adds. "If it happens overnight, there would be such a flow of people coming in it would be like Central City or Black Hawk. You'd have an awful time trying to control it."
City Manager Richard Dangler, another Turntable regular, says Minturn wants to keep its identity, even as developers float proposals for the Southern Pacific land--including visions of new homes, a gondola to lift skiers three miles to the Eagles Nest summit, and a parking garage. "This town has a 100-year existence," Dangler says. "It's not Beaver Creek. Everyone in the valley comes here for Halloween because it's the only place that has a Main Street and neighborhoods. It's the only place where you can go door-to-door trick-or-treating. You can't do that in Vail."
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The old turntable that gave the restaurant its name once was used to move steam locomotives into sheds where railroad mechanics performed basic maintenance. The Rio Grande kept a large crew of mechanics in Minturn, and the railroad linked the isolated mountain town with the rest of the world. As a boy, Bellm remembers seeing hoboes come through town on the train. "They might stop here and try to get something to eat," he recalls. "Then they'd move on."
The turntable was abandoned with the advent of diesel locomotives in the 1940s, but it still makes its presence felt. The Railroad Hotel was built on top of the aging mechanism, and every now and then the building settles, and doors in the hotel become jammed. "Sometimes we hear people yelling because they can't open the door in their room," Goodell says with a laugh.
Goodell thinks the railroad is a big part of what makes Minturn unique, and she's dreading the day the last train passes through town. She fears that along with its loads of freight, that final train will take part of the soul of Minturn with it. "I grew up here, but if they put a ski lift here, I'm leaving," she says. "We don't need this to be a little Vail.


text:
Don't miss out on a lower price on this hotel
Get an overview of this hotelUpscale resort on the beach, with 6 outdoor swimming pools
Popular property highlights
Nestled on the beach, this Porto de Galinhas resort is within 6 mi (10 km) of Hippocampus Project, Maracaipe Beach, and Maracaipe Point. Gaibu Beach and Pedra do Xareu Beach are also within 20 mi (32 km).
Resort Features
Spend the day catching some rays at the beach, relaxing by one of Viva Porto de Galinhas's 6 outdoor swimming pools, or pampering yourself at the full-service spa.
Room Amenities
All 240 rooms offer free WiFi, balconies, and LCD TVs with cable channels. 24-hour room service, minibars, and hair dryers are among the other amenities available to guests.Information missing or incorrect? Tell us!Opens in a new window
Viva Porto de Galinhas
Hotel Amenities
Hotel Amenities
Spend the day at the beach and work on your tan with sun loungers (chaise longues) or relax in the shade with umbrellas. At Viva Porto de Galinhas you can cool off in one of the 6 outdoor swimming pools and indulge in a pampering afternoon at the full-service spa.
A complimentary breakfast is offered each morning. The resort offers a restaurant. Guests can unwind with a drink at one of the resort's bars, which include 2 bars/lounges, a beach bar, and a poolside bar. A computer station is located on site and wireless Internet access is complimentary. This beach resort also offers a complimentary children's club, a children's pool, and a steam room. Onsite self parking is complimentary.
Viva Porto de Galinhas is a smoke-free property.
- Number of floors - 4
- 24-hour front desk
- Children's club (free)
- Arcade/game room
- Total number of rooms - 240
- Number of bars/lounges - 2
- Free newspapers in lobby
- Free breakfast
- Express check-in
- Fitness facilities
- Full-service spa
- Number of outdoor pools - 6
- Pool umbrellas
- Billiards or pool table
- Tours/ticket assistance
- Free WiFi
- Computer station
- Children's club
- Laundry facilities
- Spa treatment room(s)
- Multilingual staff
- Garden
- Poolside bar
- Beach bar
- Porter/bellhop
- Luggage storage
- Restaurant
- Year Built 2012
- Area shuttle (surcharge)
- Free self parking
- Beach umbrellas
- Beach sun loungers
- Pool sun loungers
- Beach towels
- Smoke-free property
- Number of buildings/towers - 2
- Steam room
- Children's pool
- Indoor pool
- Television in common areas
Family Friendly Amenities
- Family Hotel
- Outdoor pools
- Indoor pool
- Children's pool
- Free Wi-Fi
- Children's club (free)
- Laundry facilities
- Arcade/game room
- Playground on site
- Cribs/infant beds (complimentary)
Available in all rooms: Free WiFi
Available in some public areas: Free WiFi
Free self parking
Room Amenities
- Hair dryer
- Balcony
- In-room climate control (air conditioning)
- Air conditioning
- Phone
- Minibar
- Daily housekeeping
- Private bathroom
- Free toiletries
- Shower only
- Blackout drapes/curtains
- Cable TV service
- Free WiFi
- Room service (24 hours)
- Free cribs/infant beds
Where to Eat
A complimentary buffet breakfast is served each morning between 7 AM and 10 AM.
Viva Porto de Galinhas has a restaurant on site.
24-hour room service is available.
Nearby Things to Do
6 outdoor swimming pools are on site along with an indoor pool. In addition to a children's pool, other recreational amenities include a steam room and a fitness center.
The recreational activities listed below are available either on site or nearby; fees may apply.
- Snorkeling nearby
- Surfing/boogie boarding nearby
- Windsurfing nearby
- Scuba diving nearby
- Ecotours nearby
- Playground on site
Spa Services
The onsite spa has massage/treatment rooms and couples treatment room(s). Services include massages. A variety of treatment therapies are provided, including reflexology. The spa is equipped with a spa tub and a steam room.
The spa is open daily. Guests under 18 years old are not allowed in the spa.
- Steam room in spa
- Reflexology
- Couples treatment rooms
- Spa tub in spa
- Massages
- Minimum age to access spa is 18
If you have requests for specific accessibility needs, please note them at check-out when you book your room.
- Accessible bathroom
- In-room accessibility
- Roll-in shower
Hotel Policies
Check-in time starts at 2 PM
Minimum check-in age is 18
Check-out time is noon
Payment types
Children and extra beds
- Children are welcome.
- Kids stay free! Up to 2 children 11 years old and younger stay free when using existing bedding.
- Rollaway/extra beds are not available.
- Free cribs (infant beds)!
- Pets not allowed (service animals welcome)
You need to know
Extra-person charges may apply and vary depending on property policy.
- New Year's Eve (31 December) Gala Dinner per adult: BRL 200.00
Hotel Name
- Viva Porto Galinhas Hotel
- Viva Porto Galinhas
- Hotel Viva Porto De Galinhas Brazil
We should mention
Parents or a legal guardian traveling with children under 18 years must present the child's birth certificate and an identity card with photo (passport, for example) at the check-in. For international travels from Brazil, if just one of the parents is traveling with the child, she/he must present – in addition to the child's certificate of birth and identity card with photo – a letter authorizing the trip signed by the other parent with a notarial certification of signature. In case the parents or the legal guardian, as applicable, cannot or are unwilling to give this authorization, a judicial authorization is required. People who intend to travel to Brazil with children must consult with the Brazilian consulate before traveling for more information. Reservations are required for massage services and spa treatments. Reservations can be made by contacting the resort prior to arrival, using the contact information on the booking confirmation. Up to 2 children 11 years old and younger stay free when occupying the parent or guardian's room, using existing bedding. Only registered guests are allowed in the guestrooms.


text: If you've tuned into MTV as of late, a series of Faunas toys have been seen and showcased heavily. The characters originated from the wacky and unpredictable mind of Australian artist Nathan Jurevicius. Each character has its own extensive story to compliment the detailed designs and bold colors. The toys are currently available for pre-order through MTV Canada.


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Consumers look in the meat case at their local food chain and see dozens of choices. Their eyes scan the pork, beef and chicken cuts, comparing price and nutritional value. Let's say they decide to buy pork chops – now the hard part begins. How do they choose the package that's going to give them the best eating experience?
Chances are they probably all look pretty similar. It's great that the industry has strived to produce a more consistent product, but some people believe we've made pigs too lean, at the sacrifice of a more satisfying eating experience.
When we surveyed PorkNetwork visitors about pork quality, 57 percent of those who responded agreed with the statement, "U.S. pigs are too lean, and pork isn't as tasty as a result."
Janeal Yancey is a program technician at the University of Arkansas. Not only does she have a Masters and a Ph.D in meat science, but she also writes a blog called, "Mom at the Meat Counter." She has a consistent following of both consumers and producers, which results in some interesting and lively comment chains.
"My opinion is that pork is a lot leaner than it's been historically," she says. "I don't think we want to go back to a lot of external fat, but geneticists and producers might want to try to get more marbling back in the pork. If you talk to chefs and high-end food producers, they really go for the Berkshire pork and other highly marbled pork lines. That can be done with genetic selection as well as feeding."
Yancey says scientists at the University of Arkansas have done research on improving marbling in pork as well as on bacon quality.
"Bacon quality suffers when pigs are too lean," she says. "Not having enough fat in the bellies is one of the biggest drivers of the floppy belly problem we have. To get a belly that is thick enough to make good bacon, the pig has to be really big. This might affect tenderness since they could be older animals, but that's not something I've scientifically proven."
Yancey explains that in general, as the whole animal fattens, marbling is going to improve. "We've improved marbling in beef cattle with genetics and there's no reason why that wouldn't work in pork, too. I think genetics are going to be the driving force. However, we need to remember that the breeds or lines that are more heavily marbled also may be a little fatter and lighter muscled."
It's all about finding the right balance, and getting paid for the right attributes, she notes. "The pork industry doesn't have a marketing system that provides an incentive for marbling. There are incentives for quality, which measures color, texture and firmness, but marbling has been at the low end of the totem pole. It's been neglected."
According to research at the Rowett Institute in Aberdeen, United Kingdom, by Charlotte Maltin, et al., meat quality describes a range of attributes. Consumer research suggests that tenderness is an important element of eating quality and that variations in tenderness affect the decision to repurchase.
Scientists there report that a number of factors have been shown to affect tenderness. Of these factors, postmortem factors, particularly temperature, sarcomere length (sarcomere is the basic unit of a muscle) and proteolysis (which affects the conversion of muscle to meat), appear most important. However, it is becoming clear that variation in other factors such as the muscle fiber type composition and the buffering capacity of the muscle together with the breed and nutritional status of the animals may also contribute to the observed variation in meat tenderness.
Additional research to study marbling and its importance related to taste, juiciness and tenderness would be money well-spent. And identifying the right balance between leanness and quality is certainly something for producers to keep in mind as they select breeding stock.


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AK Steel Holding Corporation (AKS) CEO James L Wainscott buys 100,000 Shares
Posted by: insider (IP Logged)
Date: November 28, 2012 09:03AM
Chairman, President & CEO of AK Steel Holding Corporation (AKS) James L Wainscott buys 100,000 shares of AKS on 11/27/2012 at an average price of $3.85 a share.
Ak Steel Holding Corporation has a market cap of $424.3 million; its shares were traded at around $3.89 with and P/S ratio of 0.1.
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Day 2 of this year's Mix conference is coming to an end. Time to compile a summary of what has been going on.
First, the first session videos and slides are coming online right now. Download them from http://live.visitmix.com/videos
Then, I found a tool built by Sobees that aggregates everything that is going on here: http://mix10.sobees.com. Amazing. That made me give my vote for #MixRockstar to @sobees. (http://mixrockstar.cloudapp.net/) MixRockstar – you may have guessed – is a social networking popularity contest played in Twitter. Hot stuff.
And now to all of the announcements from today.
Microsoft Web Platform
Visual Studio 2010 is around the corner. And I have demoed it many times, still, there are some things that I hadn't tried before. For example multi-monitor support. simply detach any tab and drag it onto a second screen. Boom! (as Steve Jobs would say).
One-Click-Web-Publishing as been polished again for the release candidate. I did a demo back at TechDays 2009, but the technology now is very mature, including the ability to copy databases or specific data to staging- or deployment servers.
Microsoft <3 jQuery. A big and bold statement, but we are really in with both feet. (Including the cool Converse in the picture – very much my style 🙂 )
jQuery is supported and shipped with the tools and the framework, has perfect intellisense support and using the new jQuery templates, doing previously complex tasks in ASP.NET become a snap. Microsoft will actively contribute source code to jQuery and supply testing tools.
John Resig, the founder of jQuery on stage confirmed and returned the love. This is good news.
BizSpark and WebsiteSpark
The two programs for startups and students to get free Microsoft software for production use over 3 years has received quite some limelight.
My personal favorite was the quick demo of Curse a great site for resources for MMORPG gamers that I use a lot as an old WoW junkie. Curse switched to ASP.NET thanks to the program.
Internet Explorer 9
First, Internet Explorer 6 is dead. There even were pictures from the funeral...
The first statement about Internet Explorer 9 was "Do HTML5 right". And the demos proved that we are on the right way. On the side of performance, Internet Explorer 9 does feature a new, hot (read: fast) JavaScript engine dubbed Jakra. But the great idea is to boost performance in rendering by leveraging the PC's hardware. This is especially beneficial in complex AJAX, SVG and HTML5 solutions.
A netbook was shown that rendered 2 true-hd videos using HTML5's video object simultaneously with no frame loss at 25% of the CPU's capacity.
In every other browser, this resulted in massive stutter at100% CPU.
The developer tools in Internet Explorer 9 have been revamped as well and now include real-time SVG manipulation in the debugger as well as a new Network section that allows to monitor network traffic and performance.
In ACID3 tests, the current preview of Internet Explorer 9 doesn't yet hit 100, but "we are getting there".
The developer preview can be downloaded from http://ietestdrive.com and doesn't require Internet Explorer 8 (which I hope you are using) to be uninstalled.
Updates to the developer preview can be expected roughly every 8 weeks, so we can keep up with the current development.
oData and the Cloud
By far the most astonishing announcement for me today was around open standards: the announcement of the "Open Data Protocol" (oData). In brief, it is what RSS does for news feeds, only it delivers strongly typed data. The REST interface allows for powerful, URL based querying. Netflix has announced the availability of their catalog data in oData, if you want to have a look at it, navigate to http://odata.netflix.com/Catalog/. If for example you want to see the metadata, just add $metadata to the URL: http://odata.netflix.com/Catalog/$metadata.
Of course, integration oData into your Visual Studio projects is a snap, just add a reference and use the new "oData Visualizer Extension for Visual Studio", downloadable today, to visually dill into the data available from the service. Then query the data using LINQ and bind them to any control of your liking.
We will also provide an oData SDK for iPhone developers, SharePoint support for oData and PowerPivot for Excel, that allows to integrate oData in Excel.
Hosting oData services in Azure is a snap, SQL Azure will allow their creation from any database hosted in the cloud.
Microsoft codename "Dallas" will be the marketplace for these services and will become THE oData catalog.
That's it for day 2 of Mix 2010!


text:
Efficacy Study of Single-Dose Levalbuterol Tartrate HFA MDI Vs Placebo in Subjects 18 Years and Older With EIB
This study has been completed.
Information provided by (Responsible Party):
ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier:
First received: December 20, 2005
Last updated: February 21, 2012
Last verified: February 2012
- Full Text View
- Tabular View
- No Study Results Posted
- Disclaimer
- How to Read a Study Record
No Study Results Posted on ClinicalTrials.gov for this Study
|Study Status:
|This study has been completed.
|Study Completion Date:
|February 2006
|Primary Completion Date:
|February 2006 (Final data collection date for primary outcome measure)


text:
Sylvester Busco Car Accident
The Montpelier Examiner, December 30, 1937
Over $200 in car damages were suffered by Sylvester Busco of Montpelier when his car crashed into that of Laborg Hoggan's of Soda Springs last Friday.
The accident occurred as Busco was entering Soda Springs. Hogan allegedly failed to observe a stop sign on a road that crossed the main highway on which Mr. and Mrs. Busco were traveling en route to Pocatello to spend Christmas. Both cars were badly damaged but the occupants escaped with minor bruises, cuts and shock.


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Here's how you know Marco Iannuzzi is good with kids. A summer camp group stopped by at the end of practice Tuesday and the Lions WR had them captivated when he led them through some stretching exercises. Iannuzzi had a familiar face back with him on offence at practice Tuesday. More in tomorrow's paper (PNG)
It would appear as if you can lose your job even though you succeeded. Tim Brown wasn't to blame when he was bounced outside as the Lions primary kick returner two weeks ago. Same thing for Korey Williams.
Brown lined up with the first unit on offence at practice Tuesday and is likely to be given back the kick return roster spot he lost to Williams in the nightcap of their doubleheader against the Edmonton Eskimos Saturday at B.C. Place Stadium.
It's the perfect kind of potential lineup switch for a team looking to offer a change-up to an opponent after only playing them last Saturday, Mike Benevides conceded in discussing the possible move.
"We all know what Tim can do as a returner," Benevides said. "Knowing you are playing the same opponent you can't do everything you want in two weeks. I can guarantee you both teams didn't use all their offence last week."
Williams didn't do anything with his second appearance on the roster short of making sure he didn't fumble on the sloppy track in Edmonton last Saturday. But until another import roster option becomes obvious, the Lions can alternate between the two at their choosing, if flexibility is desired over continuity.
The same thing is also possible with their kicking game, as it would appear that after keeping him sidelined last week, the Lions will add Paul McCallum to work alongside Hugh O'Neill and likely remove a Canadian special teams player.
Shawn Gore was also back, which meant Paris Jackson again retreated to a support role.