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(Via Teleconference)
(Chris Thomas): Thank you and thank you all for joining the call today, with members of USAID's Bureau for Global Health leadership team, who will speak on the five transformational goals that USAID administrator, Rajiv Shah, outlined this morning at the David E. Barmes lecture at NIH. I hope you had a chance to attend in person or watch the lecture online. You can access archived video from the lecture on USAID.gov and we hope that this will be the first in a series of phone calls with you on topics in global health.
I will introduce our speakers in the order that they will speak. First is Susan K. Brems, Senior Deputy Assistant Administrator, Global Health; she'll provide opening remarks. Then Amy Batson, Deputy Assistant Administrator for Global Health will talk about vaccines and immunizations. Admiral Ziemer, U.S. Malaria Coordinator, then Scott Radloff, Director of Office of Family Planning, Reproductive Health, Robert Clay, Director Office of HIV/AIDS, and then Christy Hanson, Chief of the Infectious Disease Division, who will speak about TB.
Ground rules; this is on the record, so things said today can be attributed to the speaker. USAID participants will provide remarks and then afterwards will take questions. And we are talking today about the transformational goals, not the FY 2011 or FY 2012 budget. Thank you very much; (now) turn to Susan.
Susan K. Brems: Hi, good afternoon. Today at midday, USAID Administrator, Rajiv Shah, gave the David E. Barmes Global Health Lecture at the National Institutes of Health. The title of his presentation was The Role of Science in Global Health Development. This annual lecture is cosponsored by the Fogarty International Center and the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research.
Recounting the successes that have been achieved in recent decades in global health, Dr. Shah outlined the challenges that currently exist and set out a roadmap for USAID and the wider health community to take advantage of the window of opportunity in front of us to accomplish a new wave of successes that can dramatically improve health around the world, particularly for children under age five and women.
He explained that this window of opportunity exists because of the convergence of three factors. One is the efficiencies that can be gained under President Obama's Global Health Initiative. A second are the Scientific and Technological breakthroughs that we currently have at our disposal, as well as ones that are on the horizon. In this, he stressed the salience of a strong partnership between NIH and USAID, with NIH playing the lead role in scientific discovery. And third is USAID's expertise in rolling out implementation of scientific breakthroughs and scaling them up so their potential can be realized.
USAID has decades of experience in community-based work that takes healthcare out of fixed facilities and into the community. In this, the role of community health workers is paramount, as Dr. Shah stressed. He challenged USAID to build on this expertise to be an even more dynamic and forceful leader in taking health literacy and healthcare to the community. Dr. Shah closed his presentation with a powerful illustration. He asserted that a world class vaccine does not require a world class facility to be effective.
He said our battleground to improve health is outside the formal system and in the community. We must concentrate on extending the reach of health interventions. Throughout his presentation, Dr. Shah focused on five areas of health, where technological breakthroughs can be in the vanguard of effecting these transformational changes. And each of our next speakers, as (Chris Thomas) said, will focus on one group of these, beginning with Amy Batson, who will talk about the power of vaccines.
Amy Batson: (The) vaccines are a perfect example of the transformative breakthroughs that we think are going to be the key to our achieving major health gains over the next 5 to 10 years. I think it's - in - it's captured by the issue that I can bring my daughter to our pediatrician in Bethesda and she gets the same kind of protection that a child in an African rural community would get by visiting their health worker.
We don't need to build hospitals. We don't need to train tens of thousands of doctors. We just need to introduce these vaccines into the health system that can reach beyond the fixed facilities. And by introducing - by having the vaccines we've had in the last decade, we've already saved 5 million - over 5 million children's lives. And by introducing the next wave of vaccines, the pneumococcal conjugate, rotavirus, meningococcal A, and scaling up the Pentavalent vaccine, we can save another 4 million lives over the next five years, because we can reach every child.
What we need to do is accelerate their introduction, working with pivotal partners like GAVI, the Global Alliance for Vaccine and Immunization, where every dollar that the U.S. government invests is matched by other partners and other donors to cost-effectively and in coordination with others, ensure that vaccines are getting out to all children. We also need to be investing in the cold chain and the logistics systems to ensure we have a strong mechanism to get the vaccines, support them and keep them effective and - keep them effective. By doing this, we're going to pave the way for the future vaccines; malaria, TB and HIV/AIDS, which are ultimately critical to breaking the backs of these diseases.
However, as Dr. Shah noted, despite the fact that we have mechanisms like GAVI to procure the lowest tiered price for vaccines, despite the fact that we have delivery systems which can reach all children, despite the life-saving potential of vaccines, we still have trouble ensuring the resources to invest in making them available. As a result, Dr. Shah directed us to invest more in vaccines. We in USAID will be ramping up our technical capacity to support them, as well as our financial support. And I know as a mother how important vaccines are and I know that they're equally important to mothers around the world and that's why we're putting such a - big) attention on them.
Timothy Ziemer: From a malaria perspective, Dr. Shah made two points. He acknowledged the investment that the United States government has already made and the remarkable trends that we're seeing sub-Sahara Africa particularly, with our partners. The real challenge was to learn from those and to build on those successes. He painted the vision of moving - removing malaria as a public health threat in order to achieve a healthier world and that underlined his entire malaria focus.
The transformational goal for malaria was a specific target of 700,000 lives saved by 2016. Now we didn't pull that figure out of the blue. It aligns with the World Health Organization's last annual report, which reported the death - (as the) approximate deaths of 781,000. That was (deaths) down from 1 million a couple years ago. This target aligns with the Millennium Development goals, WHO goals and the Roll Back Malaria goals and it's linked, as I said, to the Millennium Development goals four, five and six.
Is this attainable with our current effective interventions? Raj mentioned them in his address. The truth is, and he acknowledged this, is that USAID can't do this alone, nor can we eliminate malaria as a public health threat without strong collaboration with the research community obtaining and getting a vaccine, developing new insecticides and finding an alternative to artemisinin as the basis for our combination therapies. We hope and pray for the arrival of that vaccine quickly. What you heard Dr. Shah say was bridging the realities of today with his vision for the future and we do that by embracing innovation, research and science as part of the global health initiative.
At the same time though, he's committed, along with us, to keeping our sleeves rolled up and improving our development outcomes in health in the countries where we're working through the GHI, focusing in on a number of principals. And I'm going to reiterate them, because malaria touches all of them; maternal health, integration of resources and services, particularly in the prenatal clinics, laboratories, logistic hubs, working from a common national malaria control plan, that's country ownership and building capacity and health system strengthening at every level.
And he particularly focused in on the community health workers and improved case management and diagnosis of (favors) through that component of health system strengthening. And then, lastly and importantly, a robust M&E component and that's to show the impact of the dollars that we've invested towards achieving the lives saved; all of that towards his vision of achieving a healthier community in the places where USAID works.
Scott Radloff: This is Scott Radloff and I'm going to talk a bit about family planning. USAID has been a leader in family planning for 40 years and we have successes in every part of the developing world. One of the points that the - Administrator Shah said in his speech today is that our experience with GHI has made clear that our largest opportunities to improve human health do not lie in optimizing services for the 20 percent of people (in) developing world currently reached by health systems. They lie in extending our reach to the 80 percent who lack access to health facilities.
And that rings true for family planning and for maternal-child health. For family planning, the poorest countries of the world often have 25 to 35 percent of women who have an unmet need for family planning. That is they either want no more children or want to space their next birth two or more years and aren't using a method of family planning, so they're exposed to unintended pregnancy. There are 215 million women in developing countries who have an unmet need for family planning. A goal of the Global Health Initiative is reducing unintended pregnancy by 54 million over the years - the six years of the Global Health Initiative.
In these - the poorest countries of the world, we find that the highest levels of unmet need are among the poor segments of the population, among the rural, among the less educated, so the key is to get the services closer to the women and families in the communities. And where we've seen successes, in Africa and South Asia, where the focus of our program is, has been due to our ability to reach communities with information and services.
We have 24 priority countries for family planning. We have 24 priority countries for maternal-child health. With one exception, those countries are the same. The same countries that have a high need for maternal-child health services are the same countries that have high need for family planning, so we're aligning our programs, we're integrating our programs and we're taking a community-focused approach.
We're also integrating our programs with HIV as a priority for us. And as was mentioned before, a key also in our programs and other programs is supply chain; strengthening supply chain. So we need to reach the communities and we need to have a supply chain that can guarantee continuous supply of commodities, so that's a focus of our programs as well.
Male: Did you already mention the …
Robert Clay: So this is Robert Clay and on HIV/AIDS, Ambassador Shah - or Administrator Shah started off talking about the emergency that we have in HIV/AIDS. And just to make this a little personal, 10 years ago I was in Zambia, where we had 20 percent prevalence of HIV/AIDS and the mortality was probably at its peak at the time. We had - everyone in Zambia was affected by this disease and the world basically was not seized with this issue. And it really was very frustrating, being out in the field, working, seeing the devastating impact of HIV/AIDS and not seeing the large response that we felt was necessary.
Well that changed radically over the next decade, when we saw PEPFAR launched, we had the MAP program from the World Bank, the Global Fund, as well as UNAIDS, and as the - as Administrator Shah pointed out, this - all this huge international mobilization showed that we could actually bring additional resources in large amounts to a program and have very concrete results. And as Dr. Shah also mentioned, it brought optimism that this war could be won.
So in the emergency phase, we did treat over 5 million people and we were able to demonstrate reaching people with care, but we can't treat ourselves out of this epidemic and I think that that was a - that's really the key message that Dr. Shah made in this speech. And in order to go forward, he mentioned a much great - much greater focus on prevention, specifically on combination prevention, which includes by biomedical, behavioral and structural interventions as we move forward.
The speech laid out that we needed to do more evidence-based programming, looking at our target audience and making sure that we're addressing our programs to their needs. We need to make sure that our programs are going to scale. We have a lot of small programs, but they're not actually having the size of impact that we need in order to turn the tide in this epidemic. And he also stressed the use of existing and new technologies. And he mentioned five technologies that, when brought to bear in this field, would have a tremendous impact.
The first of these has actually been around for almost a decade and that is mother-to-child transmission, providing ARVs to the mother so that the child would not be infected. This technology has been developed in early 2000 and we've been a little disappointed that it hasn't taken off more rapidly. And part of this is health systems, but also it has a big cultural and societal barrier that we need to face in the future.
The second is male circumcision, which has been demonstrated to show 80 - 60 percent reduction and we've had some recent activities of scaling this up, both in Kenya and Tanzania and currently we're working in Swaziland and this can have a major impact, but a new - a relatively new intervention that we're now scaling up through our program.
A third technology was microbicides, which is actually - we have just the proof of concept through the CAPRISA trial in South Africa and we're now looking at how to - how to have a confirmatory. We're actually carrying out a confirmatory trial and then looking at steps that we can accelerate the introduction of this technology into our program, so that we don't have a lag between a new intervention and the actual impact in the field.
There's also the recent findings in terms of prophylactics for men who have sex with men and 44 percent reduction on that side. We're - USAID is also carrying out a prophylactic study looking at women and we hope to have that result soon. And then finally Dr. Shah mentioned the promise of having a vaccine, which this past year got a tremendous boost from the evidence from the Thailand trial and we're hoping that over the long run that this will be a new technology that will be able to help turn the tide.
Christy Hanson: This is Christy Hanson. I'll speak a little bit about tuberculosis. Administrator Shah laid out today the real need to see new technologies for tuberculosis to enable us to turn the tide on the tuberculosis epidemic and the really profound need to be able to roll out the tools as they become available.
Within USAID, we're currently supporting TB control activities through national TB programs in 40 countries around the world. Some of the flagship areas of work for USAID have been to ensure the engagement of the private sector in both the diagnosis of TB cases and the treatment of TB cases and this is - the private sector is very important service provider in many of the countries in which we work. Another flagship area is the involvement of communities, again, in detecting and in helping to manage the cure - the treatment and ensure cure of TB patients. We feel that both of these platforms are going to be critical if we are really going to accelerate the uptake of new technologies.
Within USAID, we are investing in some late stage research, where we feel we have a comparative advantage to contribute to the field. Some of the exciting developments, as described by Administrator Shah, are our investments in shorter treatment through new drug development. We're currently supporting four new drugs that have reached late stage and promise to deliver shorter treatment regimens for patients who currently face six months of treatment before they can be cured of TB.
We're also evaluating a shortened regimen for the management of multidrug-resistant TB. But I think most importantly today is, as we have seen new diagnostic technologies become available, the most recent to be adopted by WHO is a - is a rapid diagnostic that enables the detection of TB and also the identification of resistance to rifampicin. This is a major development in the world of TB and we are going to support countries to consider how it might be best used in their diagnostic algorithms.
USAID is very interested in the investments in health systems and so when it comes to new technologies and their uptake, we will have a very keen focus going forward on ensuring that any new technology is well positioned within the health system, within the laboratory system, the laboratory network to ensure that it is most efficiently and effectively used in combination with other tools that already exist. I think, as Ambassador Ziemer mentioned, we are very much looking to the future with the new technologies and the new tools, but we also recognize that we have to roll up our sleeves today with the technologies that we have, embracing everything that's new that comes along, but making sure that we pull it into context at the country level and try to strengthen systems as we move forward.
With this combination of rolling up our sleeves and embracing new technologies and trying to further the development of technologies, we do hope that we can achieve the goal stated today in the speech of reaching and successfully curing over 2 million, almost 2-1/2 million new TB patients by 2016. Thank you.
(Chris Thomas): OK. Now we're going to do the questions and answers. Please, when the questions queue up, only ask one and we'll try to - so we can go through; there's a lot of people on the call.
Operator: At this time, I would like to remind everyone, in order to ask a question, press star then the number 1 on your telephone keypad. We'll pause for just a moment to compile the Q&A roster.
Your first question comes from the line of (Julie Terkowitz). Your line is open.
(Julie Terkowitz): Hi, yes. My question is actually for Robert Clay. One of the things that was mentioned was an increased effort or increased focus on prevention and you had said something to the effect of we can't treat ourselves out of this epidemic. I was wondering if you could speak to efforts to fight an increasing number of - or efforts to fight, or perhaps not fight an increasing number of HIV-specific laws that specifically criminalize HIV in Africa.
Robert Clay. Thank you very much. That's a very important question, because as we know, stigmatization - stigma and discrimination are really a driver of this epidemic and we need to make sure that we don't have those types of laws on the books. We've seen this probably most prominent in Uganda, but we're also seeing some resurgence in other areas, where we're having some parts of society suggesting that we need to have criminalization of people who engage in risky behavior.
This is really something that the U.S. government is dealing with at a very high level. We refer to this as part of our health diplomacy agenda and, as you know, with the PEPFAR program, the State Department and the ambassadors are heavily involved in our response - our response to these - to issues such as this nature and they have been in dialog with governments and have been expressing the perspective (of) the United States government in terms of how these types of laws can actually worsen the epidemic and drive the epidemic underground and the consequences for their government.
So those dialogs have been going on. The other thing that we've been working with is through our partner organizations, such as the Global Fund, UNAIDS, WHO to make sure that we're all basically having the same discussions and presenting the same points and also talking with one another of how best to handle our dialog on this very important issue. I would also mention that some of the heads of these organizations are having some one-on-one conversations with both parliamentarians and heads of government and we're hoping that this is going to have an impact.
(Julie Terkowitz): So does …
(Chris Thomas): Thank you, there's - we're - if you don't mind, first …
(Julie Terkowitz): Just one question; understood.
(Chris Thomas): And I'd like to ask all participants to identify their organization. Thank you.
Operator: Your next question comes from the line of (Tenia Di Elnita) from IPS News. Your line is open.
(Tenia Di Elnita): Thank you. My question is actually for Scott Radloff and I was just wondering if you (have any discussions on the practice the) (inaudible) (Obama's) GHI is (a pro nice organizers) and whether that has any bearing on family planning and maternal-child health within the U.S.
(Amy Batson): (Hello) (Amy Batson). So (Milla Thom) was brought it, because she has excellent experience at management and change management in particular. And so she has been brought in by the Secretary of State and is reporting to the three leading implementation agencies; Administrator Shah, Dr. Frieden and Ambassador Goosby and then the Secretary on the implementation of the QDDR, and so the day-to-day of GHI, as well as the transition of GHI to USAID upon meeting certain conditions. And so that's why she was - that's why she was brought in and we're very excited to have her.
Female: Thank you.
Operator: Your next question comes from the line of (Mandy Sletzger) from Results Educational. Your line is open.
(Mandy Sletzger): Hi. This question is for Scott and Chris. I know that you spoke a lot about integrating family planning and the challenge to have health programs with HIV services and I was wondering if you're looking at doing the same for tuberculosis services, as we're finding with the HIV rates going up in sub-Saharan Africa for women that the tuberculosis rates and TB (generally) co-infections also going up and if you have plans to integrate TB screening into ANC services.
(Scott Radloff): Christy, would you mind taking that first?
Christy Hanson: Sure, I'd be - I'd be happy to. Thank you for this question. This is an area where USAID works very closely with OGAC and the PEPFAR funding. It actually is a matter - we follow very closely the WHO guidance and the global community guidance that we have 100 percent targets, in terms of we hope that all TB patients receive a test for HIV and if - are - if they are HIV positive that they be eligible for antiretroviral therapy. And similarly, we expect that 100 percent of HIV positive individuals will receive a TB screening periodically, as they - as they are cared for.
This is global policy. This is our policy and we're striving to reach this through a combination of both the USAID programming at country level and the OGAC programming. OGAC does have a strong focus on TB/HIV collaborative activities and a working group that supports that programming, so this is indeed an intense focus for us across the USG.
Male: Thank you.
Operator: Your next question comes from the line of Meredith Mazzotta from Science Speaks. Your line is open.
Meredith Mazzotta: Hi. Shah spoke at length today about the power of vaccines, but he failed to mention the need for a TB vaccine. Is this a priority for USAID? If not, why and has USAID identified another source for the funding for later stage TB vaccine trials? And if so, does USAID plan to invest in late stage trials for a TB vaccine?
Christy Hanson: Yes, he actually - we do think TB vaccine is an extremely important vaccine of the future and he did in fact mention it with malaria and HIV, that the three of these are areas where vaccines would allow us to kind of break the backs of the diseases.
So we do consider it a priority. It still is in an earlier stage of research and we look strongly to partners like NIH, the National Institutes of Health to be - to be leading and driving some of that discovery, but we see USAID playing an important role in helping pave the way for this vaccine and then very rapidly introducing and scaling it up, as soon as we have an effective vaccine that can meet the needs of the countries.
Operator: Your next question comes from the line of Heather Ignatius from TB Alliance. Your line is open.
Heather Ignatius: Thank you. First I just wanted to USAID staff and Dr. Shah for outlining this visionary approach to global health. I was interested in hearing more about the proposed center of excellence to accelerate product development in field introduction that Dr. Shah announced earlier today. And specifically I was wondering how this initiative will connect with the other product development projects currently supported within the various disease areas. Thank you.
(Christy Hanson): Thank you. So we're very excited about this idea of a concept - of a center of excellence. The goal is to really help capture the expertise that exists across a number of product development areas that we have ongoing right now at USAID and then take it a step further, so that we are - we are capitalizing on this strength; to accelerate the introduction, to scale up all of the sort of end stage steps required to ensure that great discoveries actually reach the people that need them the most.
So this would be bringing in and capitalizing on expertise on things like the forecasting, the - working on the markets and the production capacity, the financing, the communications necessary, and ensuring that we're helping provide those target product profiles so that the discoveries themselves are shaped towards what really needs to be the characteristics of a product, so that it can - it can be used in country.
Operator: There are no further questions at this time. I turn the call back over to the presenters.
(Chris Thomas): If there are no other questions, thank you again for participating on the call and we look forward to having future calls with you. Thank you.
Operator: This concludes today's conference call. You may now disconnect.
Related Speeches
- Remarks by Sheri-Nouane Duncan-Jones, Director, Office of Public Health and Education, USAID Cambodia, Dissemination Workshop on Integrated Behavioral and Biological Survey among Female Entertainment Workers in Cambodia in 2017
- Remarks by Mr. Noah Mathew Sprafkin, Maternal Child Health/Family Planning/Nutrition Team Leader, USAID Cambodia, Orientation Workshop on Regulations for Health Practitioners Law
- Remarks by Polly Dunford, USAID Mission Director, National AIDS Spending Assessment Dissemination
Last updated: May 22, 2017


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Hey guys,
so I've started working on a project, a web application that in essence generates some ouput-data from data read from an OPC Server (used for process engineering optimization) and finally displays it to the user in different ways. Now, I've written the application in ASP.NET (C#) and I've reached the point where I'm ready to store my data... I've only ever worked with SQL variants (MySQL, SQL CE etc.) when working in ASP.NET but seeing as the data relatively limited, and doesn't need to be saved for more than a few seconds before being updated - It seems a bit over the top to use a full Database?
My idea would then be to have a grid that is connected to a XMLDataSource (my .xml file) which is then updated once every few seconds from a backend method querying the OPC Server.
I've tried reading around on the net, but all I can seem to find is some people saying: "XML is not meant to be a replacement for a Database" and other people saying: "You shouldn't use a full database if you don't need it!" - So I'm kind of stuck in the middle there.
Have you guys got any experience with using an XML Document as a small Database/Cache? And can it handle being queried once every 4-5 seconds?
Hope this makes sense and that I haven't completely missed the point of XML
Thanks in advance,
Unless you plan on doing queries, eg. SELECT .. WHERE etc. I wouldn't think of it as a database but more as a data store.
IMHO nothing wrong with using XML for this, and you certainly wouldn't be the first or only.
Another option could be a CSV file. Or maybe even a JSON object?
How much data are you planning to deal with? How often would it be doing a complete file rewrite as opposed to a single row/column UPDATE?
Hey thanks for your reply, I haven't even thought of a JSON object, that's another thing to consider!
As for the data amounts, they are relatively small. Currently the application is writing roughly 10 rows of data in a 8 column Gridview, and updating it once every 4-10 seconds depending on a user defined updaterate.
I've never even heard of CSV files, I'll look into that!
Comma Separated Variables might be the way to go. Kind of likeId, Name, Price1, Bob, 1.232, Fred, 2.343, Tom, 3.45
Depending on what the data is you can specify different enclosures, delimiters and terminators.
I don't know, but file rewrites every few seconds might be fastest with JSON. No particular reason for me to think this, just a hunch.
In any case, XML is more verbose though it can provide more control over the data.
And I'm wondering if using a database might just be faster and more efficient than files, though for that small amount probably not.
Sounds like testing might be in order before you commit.
Yep.. A lovely way to spend an evening... Just tried it with a custom DataObject and a bit of Cache[var].. Definitely room for improvement
I'll check out JSON next, thanks for the reply again <3

subset: commoncrawl


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NewswireToday - /newswire/ -
Toronto, Ontario, Canada, 2011/08/08 - GuestLogix, Inc. (GXI.T) (GuestLogix or the Company), announced that it has received approval from the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) to launch a Normal Course Issuer Bid (NCIB) - GuestLogix.com. TSX: GXI
GuestLogix, Inc., the leading transaction processor of ancillary revenues and the provider of onboard store technology to airlines and the passenger travel industry, today announced that it has received approval from the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) to launch a Normal Course Issuer Bid (NCIB).
GuestLogix will repurchase up to 3,846, 805 of its common shares, representing approximately 10% of the Companys public float, subject to a maximum purchase of $2.0 million during the 12-month period (the Bid Period) commencing August 9, 2011 and expiring August 8, 2012. The timing and exact number of common shares the Company will purchase will be at GuestLogix discretion, will depend on market conditions and the Company may suspend or discontinue the NCIB at any time. As of August 5, 2011, GuestLogix had 64,872, 391 common shares issued and outstanding with a public float of 38,468, 045 common shares.
The Companys common shares have been trading in a price range that may not adequately reflect their value in relation to the Companys business and future business prospects. As a result, the purchase of the Companys common shares under the bid is appropriate and in the best interest of the Company and its stakeholders.
Purchases under the NCIB will be made at the prevailing market price through the facilities of the TSX, and payment for the common shares will be in accordance with TSX policies. The maximum number of common shares that GuestLogix may purchase on a daily basis is 16,312, representing 25% of the Companys average daily trading volume (65,248 common shares) over the last six complete calendar months. No purchases will be made other than by means of open market transactions during the Bid Period except where purchases are made in accordance with block purchases exemptions under applicable TSX policies. All common shares repurchased by the Company during the Bid Period will be cancelled.
To GuestLogix knowledge, no director, senior officer, their associates, or persons acting jointly or in concert with the Company intends to sell common shares during the Bid Period. Should that change, the Company will suspend purchases under the NCIB until such persons sales are completed.
GuestLogix has not previously purchased any common shares pursuant to any issuer bid.
About GuestLogix
GuestLogix (guestlogix.com) is the leading global transaction processor of ancillary revenues and the provider of onboard store technology and merchandising, which helps airlines and other operators create, manage, and control onboard retail environments tailored to their needs and their passengers. Serving approximately 40% of the global airline passenger traffic, GuestLogix has become a trusted onboard transaction processing partner to airlines around the world. The Company is headquartered in Toronto, Canada and maintains sales and support facilities in the US, UK, Singapore, and Seoul, South Korea. GuestLogix is publicly traded on The Toronto Stock Exchange (Symbol: GXI.T).
©2011 GuestLogix. All Rights Reserved. ®OnTouch is a trademark of GuestLogix Inc. and is registered in the United States and may be pending or registered in other countries. All other trademarks and trade names are the property of their respective owners.
Kristen Dickson, TMX, Equicom
P: 416-815-0700 ext. 273 / E: kdickson[.]equicomgroup.com.
Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
Forward-Looking Statements
This news release includes certain forward-looking statements that are based upon current expectations, which involve risks and uncertainties associated with GuestLogix' business and the environment in which the business operates. Any statements contained herein that are not statements of historical facts may be deemed to be forward-looking, including those identified by the expressions "anticipate","believe","plan","estimate","expect","intend", and similar expressions to the extent they relate to the Company or its management. The forward-looking statements are not historical facts, but reflect GuestLogix' current expectations regarding future results or events. These forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results or events to differ materially from current expectations, including the matters discussed under "Risks and Uncertainties" in the Filing Statement filed on April 14, 2011 with the regulatory authorities. GuestLogix assumes no obligation to update the forward-looking statements, or to update the reasons why actual results could differ from those reflected in the forward-looking statements.
Written by / Agency / Source: GuestLogix, Inc.
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text:
Criminal Law
Criminal Law Questions? Ask a Criminal Lawyer.
we have a 16 yr. old grandson who was given a citation, for underage smoking but he was not the one smoking. and we just cleared his recorded of previous smoking charges, how does a cop test for this? Is there a thing called invisible birthday candle test ? although the smell was on his clothes it was not on his breath due to a tounge piercing the same day. This is our only question.
according to the citation it says as follows tobacco, or electronic cigarettes - unlawful for minor to use, posses, purchase or distribute
how much longer


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Angelina & Brad Working Together Again?
Angelina Jolie hasn't ruled out the possibility of working with Brad Pitt again on film, but says that it has to be done very carefully – so carefully that it doesn't break up other people's marriages.
The couple famously met while making 2005's Mr. and Mrs. Smith; at the time, Pitt was still married to Jennifer Aniston.
"I think when you are a real couple, (there are) some things audiences prefer to see real couples do, and some things they really don't like to see real couples do, so you have to be very careful," she explained.
Plus, now that she's a mom, Jolie has limited her her work schedule, as has Pitt, for the sake of their family.
"I only work for a few months and then I take many months off," she explained. "Before Salt we got a year and half off and just traveled and I just was a mom."
Her favorite spots to travel to: the birthplaces of her adopted kids Maddox, 8 (Cambodia), Zahara, 5 (Ethiopia), Pax, 6 (Vietnam).
"I want to discover everything," she said. "I will always love the countries that my children are from, they will always be special to me." (Insert an eye-roll from me here).


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Police want to trace a missing mother and her young family.
Kristina Pikse, 28, and her three children were last seen in Glasgow's Pollok area a week ago.
Ms Pikse may have travelled to Blackburn, Lancashire, with eight-year-old David Hauberts, his brother Danius, four, and sister Zana, aged nine months.
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She is described as very slim with long, dark hair, brown eyes and sallow skin.
A Police Scotland statement said: "It is believed that the family may have travelled to the Blackburn area, however despite extensive enquiries officers have been unable to trace Ms Pikse and her young family.
"Anyone who has seen them since Tuesday August 26 or knows of their present whereabouts is asked to contact Pollok police office on 101."


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6th Fan Blogger: Bucks vs. LA Clippers
Jake LeRoy
The Life and Times of Primoz Brezec
When Jodie Meeks and Francisco Elson were sent to Philadelphia in exchange for Primoz Brezec, Royal Ivey and a second-round pick, I can't shake the feeling that most Bucks fans responded with a "Who?" in regards to Brezec. Fans knew Ivey from his previous stint in Milwaukee, but Brezec remained a mystery to most fans. Well buckle up boys and girls because that's all about to change. You're about to embark on the fantastic voyage that is ... the life and times of Primoz Brezec.
Brezec, a 7-foot-1, 30-year old native of Slovenia, began his professional career in 1998 when he joined Union Olimpija Ljubljana of the Slovenian Premier A League. After two years of honing his craft in Europe, he was selected by the Indiana Pacers with the 27th pick in the first round of the 2000 NBA Draft. His NBA career got off to a slow start with three uneventful years in Indiana, but it picked up considerably when he was selected by the Charlotte Bobcats in the 2004 Expansion Draft.
Brezec took full advantage of his first extended action in the NBA, starting all 151 games he'd play in over the next two seasons in Charlotte. He averaged 12.7 points and 6.4 rebounds, while shooting 51.5 percent from the field in nearly 30 minutes per game. He showed a feathery touch from mid-range, and occasionally stepped back from way beyond the arc. Brezec had finally made his mark in the league.
A falling out with head coach Sam Vincent during the 2007-08 season ended Brezec's time in Charlotte. He was traded to Detroit early in the season, and was traded again to Toronto after 17 games with Detroit. Brezec made a great first impression with Toronto, sinking all five of his shots en route to 11 points in his first game as a Raptor. He quickly became a fan favorite because of his hustle and colorful use of the English language, which often included starting a sentence with "gangsta" and finishing it with "pimp." I've always felt my record collection wouldn't be complete without some Slovenian rap. Perhaps Brezec is just the guy to put the cherry on top.
Unfortunately, all of that wasn't quite enough to keep him in the Great White North, as he spent the next season playing for Lottomatica Roma, occasionally running pick-and-rolls with our very own Brandon Jennings. After a 2008-09 campaign in which Brezec average 9.4 points and 4.4 rebounds, he returned to the United States to play for the 76ers, who subsequently traded him to Milwaukee at this year's trade deadline.
And Brezec, like many 7-footers who are routinely challenged, has been the recipient of many "facials", as Marv Albert would say. Stephane Lasme, Josh Smith, Dwyane Wade and Vince Carter are just some of the few who have posterized the big man. Such is the life of a 7-footer. Brezec isn't afraid to hand out a little punishment himself, though, as evidenced by the throwdown served on the poor, unsuspecting Polish player seen here.
In conclusion, Brezec's basketball life has been one of ups and downs. But he's a veteran big man, which are always useful come playoff time, especially in a conference boasting the likes of Dwight Howard and Shaquille O'Neal. So we, as Milwaukeeans, should embrace the Primoz era. It may not last long, but it's not often one gets to see a true Slovenian Gangsta take the court. Enjoy it while it lasts.
In-game Musings
- I don't think I've seen a more carefree lay-up line this year than the effort put forth by the Clippers prior to tonight's game. I don't think there was a serious lay-up in the bunch. DeAndre Jordan was giving Bobby Brown a little boost on his dunk attempts, Drew Gooden was launching 40-footers and Steve Blake was attempting in-air moves that guys like Steve Blake should never attempt.
- Basketball players make many decisions that I question, but one that always sticks out is when a player gets the ball in close, and then dribbles out to 18 feet and launches a jumper. Drew Gooden, former owner of the "ducktail" was guilty of this in the first quarter. He received the ball right underneath the hoop, decided there was a much worse shot available, dribbled out to the corner and launched a contested jumper. A truly mind-boggling decision. Speaking of Gooden, I've never quite understood what it is about him that seemingly makes teams allergic to him. He's played on eight teams in seven years despite very respectable career averages of 12 points and eight boards. Maybe it's his predilection for ill-conceived 18-footers.
- Clippers center DeAndre Jordan is shooting 59.7 percent on the season. While that's an extremely nice percentage, I'm amazed it's not higher. Granted, I don't take in many Clippers games --mostly because it's dangerous for your health -- but I don't think I've seen Jordan take a shot outside of two feet throughout the entirety of his two-year career. According to Wikipedia, the most credible of credible sources, Jordan had a game last year in which he scored 23 points, 20 of which came on dunks. He doesn't do a whole lot else offensively -- especially free throws - but what he does do, he does very well.
- It's not all that unusual, but I thought it should be brought up anyways. Early in the second quarter, Ersan Ilyasova laid a pump fake on Jordan that is destined for SportsCenter's Top 10. It was a mere 12-foot jump shot on the baseline, but Jordan somehow ended up in the first row seats courtside. It was immaculate. Pretty much par for the course, but awe-inspiring nonetheless.
- The Prince has a dependable jumper in him. I know he does. His mid-range game wasn't half bad last year, but it has really regressed this season despite dozens of hours in the gym shooting jumpers in the offseason. At this point, he looks like he's thinking about it too much. He looks uncomfortable and tight. He just needs to let it fly and see what happens. He reminds of me of former Twin and Yankee Chuck Knoblauch, who had such a severe mental block that he couldn't make the simple throw from second to first. The Prince needs to conquer that mental block.
- I love the anticipation of an Andrew Bogut block. There are times when you can see him closing in on a lay-up attempt like a lion chasing down a powerless gazelle. I love knowing that it's about to happen, and then actually seeing it go down. That was the case with three minutes left in the third period, when Bogut denied an Eric Gordon lay-up, triggering a fast break that resulted in a Jerry Stackhouse dunk. Nothing gets a crowd into a game like a sequence of events such as those.
- And another thing I love about Bogut. The guy stands up for his teammates. When Blake put a cheap elbow in Ilyasova's chest late in the third quarter, Bogut responded by setting a pick with unkind intentions on Blake on the other end, and getting in his face directly thereafter. That's the kind of team mentality that isn't lost on fans, as Squad 6 led an "An-drew Bo-gut" chant that rocked the BC for two solid minutes.
Closing It Out
This was exactly the kind of game I was hoping for tonight. The Bucks needed to exact some revenge, and they needed to do it in convincing fashion. Milwaukee had been playing down to weaker competition, but that all changed tonight as they put a harsh beating on the visiting Clippers. The offense was sharp and the defense was sharper, holding four of five Clipper starters under 50 percent and the team to just 36.8 percent shooting overall. Extra credit should be given to Charlie Bell, who helped hold Gordon to a 2-for-13 night.
Milwaukee's bench played great tonight. Jerry Stackhouse broke out of a mini-slump with 16 points on 7-of-10 shooting, marking the first time in his last eight games that he's shot better than 50 percent. Ilyasova did what Ilyasova does, throwing ridiculous pump fakes at anyone who'll fall for one, which is everybody, finishing with 20 points and eight boards. Kurt Thomas ripped a page from Ilyasova's book with a nice pump fake of his own in the fourth quarter, highlighting a solid effort of five points, nine boards and three assists in just 18 minutes.
Tonight's game could not have gone any better. The Bucks picked up an easy win that allowed them to rest their starters in the final frame, which will come in handy tomorrow night when they take the LeBrons. It was a fun game to watch with a highlight reel that won't disappoint, and the crowd at the BC provided a great atmosphere. I can't ask for much more. We even got an eyeful of Primoz.Work hard. Play hard. Type hard.
Note: These are the views of the 6th Fan Blogger. Thoughts and opinions expressed in this articles are not necessarily the views of the Milwaukee Bucks.


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WATCHING TV at the weekend, I caught Nick Clegg declaring that the HS2 high-speed rail link would "heal the north-south divide".
Not for the first time in this life, I wondered what happens to geography when you sit in a London studio. By Mr Clegg's reckoning, this is being written somewhere to the near north of north.
From an English perspective, of course, the Deputy Prime Minister's sense of a country was perfectly accurate. The heart of his north is Newcastle; its last outpost is Berwick. Just up the A1 lies a border, clearly defined. But from a British point of view?
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Where HS2 is concerned, they might as well erect the border posts that are supposed to be the secret desire of all Nationalists. What is being defined by the London Government as a major infrastructure project designed to benefit an entire country – "vital for Britain", says David Cameron – is not coming our way for a generation at least, if at all.
This is no small matter. The £33 billion cost of HS2 might be a sum guessed at in the last days of a Labour government. The 100,000 jobs promised – a suspiciously round number – might be a figure conjured from the air. The economic benefits foretold – £2 for every £1 spent, say promoters – might be dubious in the extreme. As things stand, Scotland will see next to nothing of any bounty.
Why is that, exactly? You could resort to an SNP attitude and speculate that we'll get nothing extra from England's taxpayers until constitutional ferment subsides. You needn't go that far. The better conclusion is that Scotland just isn't important enough, or populous enough, to merit a high-speed connection with the rest of the UK as a matter of urgency.
If your honest desire is to bind Britain together this is, of course, illogical. If you truly wanted to rebalance the British economy, if you desired honestly to address the imbalance between London and other parts of the island, you would start building your line in Glasgow or Edinburgh and work south. But these things, patently, are a matter of perspective.
One of the London newspapers claimed yesterday that HS1, the link between St Pancras International and the Channel Tunnel, "cost £7.3 billion to build and is now expected to produce a total economic benefit of £17.6 billion". If true, that's a notable achievement. Since I live in a country alleged to depend on the south's subsidies, however, I am entitled to ask who gets the considerable benefit of that major investment.
For Scotland, these are practical issues. Should I want to go from Edinburgh to Paris (that would be most days) the "best total journey time" quoted by Eurostar is 7 hours 46 minutes. Apparently I would have to allow 1 hour 7 minutes "stop over" between King's Cross and St Pancras International. If I lived in south Yorkshire, on the other hand, I could take a train from Sheffield direct to the Eurostar hub.
You could call it a small grumble, but it is part of a tale that has been going on for decades. Blameless Sheffield, already linked to St Pancras, is part of the HS2 scheme, and will get a new station into the bargain. Places that seem, on the map, to be rather closer to London than Scotland will be brought closer still. People in those places will not pick up the entire £33 billion bill, however.
The irony in all of this is that large parts of England, rural and urban, seem less than keen on HS2 and the swathe it will cut through the landscape. Environmentalists, wedded to rail, have been muted in their criticisms, but the reasonable view appears to be that, given the impact of construction, the scheme will be carbon-neutral, at best.
The final cost is anyone's guess. As "a vital engine for growth", in the Government's words, HS2 will be an unproven case for a long time to come. A split line that won't reach "the north" finally until 2033 does not count as the sort of infrastructure project that will answer immediate economic needs. Equally, the plans take no account of changing work habits over the next 20 years. HS2 cannot be held up, meanwhile, as the answer to the network's capacity problems because no-one can say what those problems will be come 2033.
Still, cities in the English north have clamoured for an improved connection. Dispassionately, they count as Scotland's competition in these matters and yet they already possess superior transport links. HS2 threatens to allow those of us with long memories the chance to revisit Carstairs Junction. It threatens to cut off Dundee, Aberdeen, Inverness and the true north from direct services to London. And this is "vital for Britain"?
Wales, it needs to be said, has parallel concerns. HS2 is advertised as one of those regeneration efforts for the benefit of "the regions", but for the purposes of this exercise Britain is being divided into core – London, Birmingham, Manchester – and periphery. The chances of HS3 reaching places of peripheral political interest before it is overtaken by technological change are remote indeed.
Some who have studied high-speed rail in Europe argue, in any case, that connecting a capital with its provinces does not guarantee regeneration. The evidence from France and Spain for such an effect is said to be thin. In other words, cutting the journey time from Manchester to London in half might do the latter more good than it does the former.
Nevertheless, the opportunity will be Manchester's to seize. Scotland, as things stand, is being cut out of the loop entirely, with the promise of a slightly quicker service eventually for those taking trains from Edinburgh and Glasgow. Anyone in the actual north, already obstructed by the Central Belt, is liable to be worse off. Yet HS2 remains an avowedly British project, launched – with no sense of irony or embarrassment – in the national interest.
You could make a fine Nationalist case against this naked discrimination. The trouble is, independence would not solve Scotland's transport problem.


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Virginia Kinneman of Kinneman Insurance welcomes you to see what we are all about. Our licensed, professional staff stands by ready to assist you with all your insurance needs. Our Alexandria office is located on Pickett Street right off of Duke Street. Call 703-823-8800 for premier service.
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Kathe Bridges wrote to ask how to print received Gmail messages
without including all the surrounding advertising text.
Well, unfortunately, Web-based email services offer no built-in
provision for separating the message from the ads. What I do is
mouse-select the message text that I want to print, copy it with
Ctrl+C, and then paste it into a word processing document with
Once the target text has been thus copied, I can edit it in
various ways before printing it out. I rarely receive an email that
couldn't benefit from being spell-checked.
Bonnie Rizzuto wrote to say that when she sends a photo as an
email attachment the recipient often says a print-out of the
picture is very tiny.
Well, there are a number of factors to consider here. If you
send a photo that is intended only for viewing on a recipient's
monitor, a screen resolution of 96 DPI (dots per inch) is quite
acceptable. However, if the picture is to be printed on paper, the
resolution should be set to a minimum of 300 DPI.
Still, these numbers may not help in telling you what the actual
size of the print-out will be, unless you are an experienced
image-editing pro. The obvious solution is to make a print-out of
your own before emailing a photo ---- but this would require lots
of expensive printer ink.
My solution is to use Irfanview (free from Irfanview.com), which
lets me click on File>Print to see a graphic display of what a
picture's size will be on a sheet of 8.5x11-inch paper. The various
options for changing an image's print-out size are too numerous to
list here, but Irfanview comes with Help files that make everything
very easy. Call or email me if you need further help.
Hal McCawley wrote to ask if there is a way to make the Menu
items at the top of Outlook Express larger and easier to read. Yes.
Click on View>Layout>Customize Toolbar and choose Large
Speaking of Outlook Express, many readers have asked how to copy
saved messages to a new computer that has Windows Mail or Windows
Live Mail.
For each Outlook Express folder on your older computer (such as
Inbox) create a folder by right-clicking your desktop, choosing
New>Folder, and giving it the same name as its OE
Then drag and drop your OE Inbox messages into the folder you
just created.
Sadly, you cannot drag an actual OE folder; you can only drag
its contents.
Nonetheless, you can drag its entire contents en masse if you
select all messages by clicking the top and bottom ones with your
SHIFT key held down.
Finally, you can drag your desktop folders onto a USB flash
drive. Then connect the USB drive to your new PC and drag the
folders onto its desktop.
Henceforth, if you double-click one of the copied EML files, it
will open in Windows Mail or Windows Live Mail or OE, whichever is
on your new PC.
Contact Don Edrington at 949-891-1731 or


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State Codes and Statutes
Statutes > Maryland > Commercial-law > Title-14 > Subtitle-13 > 14-1310
§ 14-1310. Unvented portable kerosene-fired heaters.
(a) Compliance with State Fire Prevention Code.- With the written consent of the property owner, a person may use unvented portable kerosene-fired heaters in single family dwelling units and in commercial establishments in this State if the heaters otherwise comply with the State Fire Prevention Code regulations in effect on January 1, 1982.
(b) Use in commercial establishment.-
(1) "Commercial establishment" does not include:
(i) Places of public assembly capable of accommodating more than 50 persons;
(ii) Day care centers;
(iii) Educational occupancies;
(iv) Health care occupancies;
(v) Hotels and motels; or
(vi) Buildings (other than office facilities) where open flame devices would readily ignite flammable liquid vapor, explosives, or dust, or buildings over 3 stories in height.
(2) In commercial establishments, portable kerosene heaters may not be located in such a manner as to obstruct exits.
(3) This section shall not be construed to prohibit or allow the prohibition of the demonstration or repair of unvented portable kerosene-fired heaters in any commercial establishment.
(c) Manufacturer's warning label.- The manufacturer shall affix to each portable kerosene heater, in a safe and prominent place, a nondetachable warning label which states:
1. This unit must be used in an area which has proper ventilation. Consult owner's manual for details and instructions.
2. Use of this heater may possibly be dangerous to persons with respiratory or circulatory disorders.
3. Only "water-clear" kerosene meeting 1-K (ASTM) specifications should be used in this heater.
(d) Applicability to Baltimore City.- In Baltimore City, this section does not affect or supersede any local law or ordinance which is more stringent or imposes a higher standard regarding the use or sale of portable kerosene heaters.
[1982, ch. 286.]


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Proving that e-cigarettes are safer than traditional cigarettes is a relatively new challenge, but numerous studies and scientific research supports the claim. By Gregory Conley. There is no question that electronic cigarettes have become a major disruptive force in the tobacco industry. Every quarter brings new reports that big tobacco companies have experienced larger-than-expected declines
Archives for November 2013
E-Cigarettes: A Win for Retail Sales and Public Health
The Upside of E-Cigarettes
While anti-tobacco lobbyists claim that more studies need to be done on e-cigarettes, they can't refute science. A single e-cigarette cartridge contains nine tobacco specific nitrosamines (TSNA) where a single full-flavored cigarette contains about 11,190 or 1,300 times more. By Tom Kiklas. Whenever I hear people ask whether or not electronic cigarettes are safe or
RAMP Show Schools Retailers On Mobility
Retailers came together at the RAMP Show to discuss how they are incorporating mobile payments and loyalty and what the future holds in this new space. The Retail Ramp (Advanced Commerce & Mobile Retail Services Summit) Show drew retailers from all channels to Chicago's McCormick Place from Oct. 28-30, to share the latest trends,
TravelCenters of America Opens New Petro Stopping Center
New location in Pearsall, Texas offers numerous full-service professional driver amenities, including Wi-Fi, CAT weigh scale, and ATM, check cashing and TripPak services. TravelCenters of America LLC (TravelCenters), operator of the TA and Petro Stopping Centers travel center brands, has announced the acquisition and rebranding of the newest Petro, located at I-35, Exit 101 (110
Denmark Station Owners Mark 16 Years with CITGO
After more than a decade, couple to pass c-store business to nephews. Merle and Pat Kulhanek's CITGO C-Mart station on State Highway 29 in Denmark, Wis., has been a local landmark for 16 years. Now, after more than a decade of owning and operating their business, the Kulhaneks have retired and passed the station to
Parker's Raises $55,000 For Area Schools
Fueling the Community Charity Golf Tournament winners announced. The first annual Parker's Fueling the Community Charity Golf Tournament, held on Oct. 29 at The Club at Savannah Harbor in Savannah, Ga., raised more than $55,000 to benefit area schools. The tournament attracted 128 players from across the region, including Parker's vendors, suppliers and supporters. Proceeds
LOGIC Technology Hosts First Annual Electronic Cigarette Summit
Industry experts and sales executives discuss the rapidly growing e-cig space. LOGIC Technology, developers of premium electronic cigarettes, held the first annual electronic cigarette summit this past weekend (October 24-27), bringing together industry experts and sales executives from around the country. The nation's largest retailers were in attendance to learn more about the growing category
Hunt Brothers Pizza Recognized As Industry Leader
Company named "Top Performer" for the sixth year in Convenience Store Decisions Brand Preference Study. Hunt Brothers Pizza announced it is the No. 1 choice in the Convenience Store Decisions Brand Preference Study for the sixth year since 2007. The c-store pizza brand was voted "Top Performer" in the branded pizza category. The award was


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Dec 27, 2013 at 3:23 pm
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — As Minnesota lawmakers debate raising the minimum wage, Gov. Mark Dayton says he prefers tying future increases to inflation.
Dayton told The Associated Press on Friday that it would be "useful" to include an automatic escalator clause. The state has one of the nation's lowest minimum wages at $6.15 per hour, but most people at the bottom qualify for the federal minimum of $7.25.
The Democratic-led House and Senate both passed bills to boost the Minnesota rate but couldn't come to an agreement on how much. Debate is expected to resume in early 2014. Dayton says he's optimistic a bill will pass and be signed.
Dayton says linking future increases to inflation would prevent those earning the minimum wage from losing buying power as years go by.
Meanwhile in the same interview Friday Dayton said he's keeping tabs on MNsure nine days into its new leadership. The Democratic governor has a conference call Friday with new CEO Scott Leitz, and is scheduled to visit MNsure headquarters next week.
Last week, MNsure extended an enrollment deadline for Minnesotans who want coverage starting Jan. 1. They now have until Dec. 31 to sign up.
Dayton says MNsure has reduced a backlog of stalled applications by manually entering several thousand. He says wait times at MNsure's call center are still long but will likely drop as website glitches are resolved.
Staff Writer
Temp: 63°F (17°C)
Dewpoint: 52
Wind: 12 NW
Weather: Cloudy


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by Community, Neighborhood and Government Relations | Feb. 22, 2011, 12:30 PM
Watch video of the Feb. 17, 2011, InsideOut of the Lunch Box program featuring the Melodores at TPAC's Andrew Jackson Hall.
Founded in 2009, The Vanderbilt Melodores are the newest male a cappella group to hit the Vanderbilt campus. Comprising over a dozen members, they bring the tradition of a cappella music to a new level of sound, quality and range. Singing everything from classic barbershop pieces and gospel music to jazz, bluegrass and modern hits from all genres, the Melodores challenge the notion of what it means to sing a cappella. Watch video of a discussions of the history and lost art of this genre and at the same time be entertained by some of the Melodores' most popular songs from their repertoire.
Media Inquiries:
Community, Neighborhood and Government Relations, (615) 343-0700
featured video, lectures, performances, video featured media, InsideOut of the Lunch Box, Melodores


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Research Topics
Albert Tzeel
Detail Information
- Clinical practice guidelines and medical malpracticeAlbert Tzeel
Physician Exec 28:36-9. 2002..As clinical practice guidelines become more and more prevalent, they will define the requisite "standard of care" for medical treatment and impact medical malpractice litigation. They may even replace expert testimony...
- Managing benefits for diabetes: changing payer strategies for changing timesAlbert Tzeel
National Medical Director, HumanaOne and KMG, Clinical Leadership and Policy Development, Humana, N19 W24133 Riverwood Dr, Ste 300, Waukesha, WI 53188, USA
Am J Manag Care 19:E3. 2013..But, in actuality, this becomes moot as the 1 point we can be sure of is that benefit management will continue to evolve...
- Optimizing diabetes management: managed care strategiesE Albert Tzeel
Am J Manag Care 19:S149-54. 2013..Studies conducted to date on these different designs have produced mixed results. ..
- Diabetes benefit management: evolving strategies for payersAlbert L Tzeel
Humana Inc, N19 W 24133 Riverwood Dr, Ste 300, Waukesha, WI, USA
Am J Manag Care 17:S384-90. 2011..This article provides key background on VBID strategies, with a focus on T2DM management. It also provides a road map for health plans seeking to implement VBID as part of their programs...
- Health plan medical director: considerations for prevention and management of RSV diseaseAlbert Tzeel
Humana Wisconsin, Waukesha, Wis, USA
Manag Care 17:15-7, discussion 18-9. 2008..This clinical profile provides many ways in which we can identify those children who are at high risk of severe RSV infection, allowing us to implement RSV treatment and management quickly and effectively before the RSV season begins...


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Eat It! Eat Your Way Through 100 Foods Wall Chart
SALE: RRP £11.95. Save 59%. Now £4.79. Offer ends 30th September 2017 (whilst stocks last).
Healthy eating is hard to keep up whether youre an adult or a child but with the help of this wall chart; eating your 5 a day might be achievable! Featuring 100 healthy foods to try, you can work your way through all the food in this chart and rate them as you go alone. Designed with simple but fun lists, that both kids and adults can easily follow and choose which food to try next.
So why not get this wall-mounted chart today to improve your eating habits, improve your health, get your 5-a-day and encourage your children to do so to! With space to rate the foods using smiley faces and a fun fact about each food, it makes this a fun task to do for children who normally may not find eating celery or broccoli fun!
- Chart of 100 fruits to try
- Space to rate each food
- Fun facts given for each food
Dimensions: 6.5 x 0.1 x 51.2cmDimensions
- 0.2cm x 35.0cm x 16.5cm
Eat It! Eat Your Way Through 100 Foods Wall Chart Customer Reviews
Related products in Childrens Gifts
Frequently Asked Questions
Do you have an un-answered question about this product? Simply ask us a question and we'll do our best to help.


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|Move Over, Men!
Part 3: My favorite lesson was the man-overboard drills on our last day.
Story and Photos by Eileen Mansfield - January 2004
After practicing that day and part of the next, we were ready to move on. While cruising down to Marina Jacks in Sarasota, Moore taught us about everything from navigation (paper and electronic), to using the radio, to the Rules of the Road. Later that afternoon we began one of our many extensive lessons on docking, at first practicing next to a piling out in the middle of nowhere.
Each morning Moore would hold lessons in the saloon, and we'd practice what we learned in the afternoon. This was a far more effective way to teach than someone shouting instructions from the flying bridge as the boat is quickly approaching the dock. As the week went on, we learned about maintenance and did daily checks on the engine. We learned how to lay out a course and to provision for a trip. We learned about line handling and knot tying. And we continued to work on docking until all five of us were comfortable not only pulling in side-to, but also backing the 42-footer into a tight finger slip.
My favorite lesson was the man-overboard drills on our last day. Moore instructed us on how to stop the boat, then turn and pick up the person in the water. She also taught us the importance of the spotter and how we should try to throw a flotation device to the MOB immediately. After the lesson we tied two water bottles together with a rope, named the float after a certain boat rep that insists on calling women "Mama" at boat shows, and threw "him" overboard. We each took turns at the helm while the others worked as spotters or rescuers. Our adrenaline was pumping, and we were taking it very seriously—that is until we erupted into a fit of laughter after one of my classmates proceeded to throw not only the PFDs but almost every seat cushion overboard to save the water bottles.
As we went around and around "rescuing" all the seat cushions, I felt lucky not only for having had this opportunity to learn so much about boating in such a relaxed environment, but also to have met five fascinating women.
Call for pricing and schedules of powerboating classes, held in different states.
Sea Sense Phone: (800) 332-1404. www.seasenseboating.com.
Next page > Photo Gallery > Page 1, 2, 3, 4
This article originally appeared in the December 2003 issue of Power & Motoryacht magazine.


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- Stylist:
- not a reflection of the salon just the person
Jun 09, 2011 - I unfortunately do not have a good review of my visit to Curltopia. The stylist I chose turned out to be unprofessional and not a woman of her word or her work. I will not mention the name of this stylist because I would like to give the salon another try despite todays visit. I must also add that as I'm typing this note I noticed that someone has posted a bad review of this very person and the service I was going to get was a color. I guess this is exactly how it was suppose to end - that stylist not doing my color or shape. Whew!! Thanks God for the intervention. M. Muhammad


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iPhone5 + 30 pin adapter + griffin dock
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Continuing on from my previous iPhone5 car dock now that I have a 30 pin to lightning adapter I needed a new dock holder.
Print. Get iPhone5 and dock adapter and griffin car stem adapter... plug and have stuff.
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Is this in a GTO? (I see your in SF and that stereo is straight out of a VY/VZ commodore)
There are some interesting clips that Clic-on make that click in between the cluster and the climate control binnacle (above the computer buttons) I wonder how successful we would be trying make a similar open source version, have you made any attempts? My wife has a VY and this will be one of the first things I try an make myself on my Mendel90 when it arrives.
I used the fit the genuine ones years back and they were awesome.
Link for reference.
This is a Hyundai Sonata..
Yeah, I have seen the various kinds of clips that click on to parts of the dash or vents and have thought about making something like that.
But since I already have the griffin stalk mounted on to my dashboard with power and control lines going to it it was a lot easier,
I think it would be awesome to have an open source set of designs for different mounts that work for different cars and go to a unified style mount for various types of phones.
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2012-10-25 / Early Files
This photograph of Jennie Rexrode was taken in 1913. She sent it to Oliver Gum of Hightown. Rexrode worked at the Virginia School for the Deaf and Blind in Staunton and she had family in Monterey.
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Every year ECE recognizes the importance of volunteers and community involvement by presenting the Touchstone Energy® Community Award to a local organization.
Nominations for the award are now being accepted. Any organization in ECE's service territory is eligible to compete for the award. Civic organizations and non-profits are eligible to submit a nomination if they have enhanced the quality of life in their community through a special project or the ongoing work they do. Community members may also submit a nomination on behalf of a deserving organization.
Nomination forms are available at eastcentralenergy.com or call 1-800-254-7944, ext. 8046. Completed forms must be received at ECE's Braham headquarters by Monday, October 29, 2012.
The local winner receives a plaque and a $500 cash prize. The organization will then compete with winners from other electric cooperatives for statewide recognition and $1,000.
Hinckley American Legion Post 388 received ECE's Touchstone Energy Community Award in 2011 for organizing a countywide ceremony of remembrance on the 10th anniversary of 9/11.


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GW: So who all are you playing with this weekend?
Chaddy: We're just kinda cruising around. We've got some buddies here. A couple of the Spoonfed guys are doing their vacation and we had the weekend off so we thought we'd come up and be a part of the magical festival here.
GW: Have you guys ever been to this festival?
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Page 2 of Fraxel Laser reviews
Read or post reviews on thousands of acne products & treatments.
The list of ingredients above is provided for informational purposes only. Always check the actual product label in your possession for the most accurate ingredient information due to product changes or upgrades that may not yet be reflected on our web site.
Where to buy
Acne.org is not associated with this product. All proceeds from links go to charity.
[The prices listed above may change at any time and in some cases do not include shipping.]
I am a 27 year old female and I had my first fraxel restore laser treatment in July 2012 for moderate/severe acne scarring. As for the treatment itself: It hurt. Nothing terrible, but it was certainly very uncomfortable. Healing was rough. I spent two days very red and very swollen. By the time work came around on Monday, I was able to put on make up but I certainly didn't look great. I was still red, a little swollen, and by then, peeling had begun. It was a rough work week. I then spent a long time being unhappy with my fraxel results. I am sure no one else noticed my face looking bad, but the skin just didn't seem as healthy as it once had, my scars did not seem improved, and my skin was red. For awhile I even had obvious lines near my eyes where you could see the path the doctor moved the laser. Lately though, nearly four months later, my skin is no longer red, seems healthy, and I do notice some improvement with scars! Not a lot, but some. I believe doing the 3 remaining treatments will leave me noticeable improvement in my skin. This has not been an easy or enjoyable process for me (and it's nowhere near over!), but I think by the end it will be worth it. I just hope the improvements will be worth $3,000.
After doing pixels for almost a year and seeing no results, I chose to get a fraxel. I got my first fraxel and it hurt like hell, about 1.5 times worse than pixel. However following the initial 3-4 days where my face was quite red, my skin did start to look better in that scars appeared less deep (however this was mainly the result of swelling). Following 2 weeks, I did notice that my skin seemed a little better, but the results were minimal. I chose to get another fraxel a month after the first one and this was the worst mistake I made. Apparently they cranked up the setting and went quite a bit deeper.
Immediately following, there was nothing out of the ordinary compared to the first one. However, in the following week to 2 weeks I started to break out really bad like never before. And then beyond that it just kept getting worse and worse, breaking out in places I had never broken out before and it was destroying me. At the time I had no idea what was causing it, but in hindsight I believe it was the laser stimulating the sebaceous glands.
Finally 2 months later of disastrous suffering, I started taking omega 3's primrose evening oil, and flax seed oil to get a good balance of 3,6,9 fatty acids and zinc which seemed to help. And then I also started taking b5 supplements which I had taken in my teen years 10 years earlier and I remember they were one of the few things that worked for me. I've also recently started coolTouch treatments although I have low expectations for this. I just need to do something treat the acne and scarring and I think coolTouch may be a good option if I do it many times. Because of the damage fraxel did, it's not really an option at this point. I do think that it stimulates collagen production and can correct scars after multiple treatments, but for me at this point its not worth the risk. Maybe again in the future I can do it and layer it with antibiotics and b5, once the CoolTouch allegedly shrinks my se
I did this in combination with treatments for dark spots. Worked great for dark spots and slowed down the acne for a while, but it came in as bad as ever shortly after.
GREEN TEA is my new friend and I have high hopes for it!!
If the doctor doesn't let you do a test patch, RUN. They charged me $100 for this and it was worth it for me to investigate. I am not sold on getting my whole face done yet because of the apparent loss of elasticity.
It is VERY itchy an uncomfortable.
This is my third treatment with the Fraxel Laser and it caused Cystic Acne all over my chin. I have never had cystic acne in my life. This is one of the most awful experiences of my life. My New Year's resolution was to treat the minor scarring I had on my face so I wouldn't have to wear liquid foundation and now I've been left with much more scarring and active acne. I would definitely not recommend this to anyone in their teens or twenties or anyone who still have any active acne.
I received 4 fraxel treatments from a plastic surgeon and I've got to say that it was the biggest waste of money I've ever spent. First off, it is painful and anyone that tells you otherwise is has only had one or two treatments. They start off on a low setting and progressively work their way up each treatment. Your face is swollen for about 7-10 days..four of which you wouldn't be caught dead in public. The perk about your face being swollen is that your skin looks amazing! You have perfect glowing skin but it soon fades after about three to four days revealing that your skin looks exactly how it did before the treatment. Something they don't tell you is that the fraxel makes you break out horribly for about a week after the swelling goes down in your face. After four treatments, my skin looked worse then when I started. If you have deep indented scars please do not do this because I promise you it will only be a waste of money. After the realization the fraxel did nothing for me, I decided to get dermabrasion on one side of my face and excision on the other (both were small areas) I would recommend dermabrasion to anyone...please know I am not talking about microdermabrasion, dermabrasion is more aggressive. Dermabrasion improved my deep scars by 85% and it looks so much better. Dermabrasion was $500 for an area the size of a quarter. Excision was $250 and he took out 3 scars for that price. The only thing with excision is that you are trading acne scars for a surgical looking scar. To me it was worth it because even though I still have a scar on my face, it's less embarrassing than holes in my face from where I picked at my skin. It's been a month now and the excision scar is still very red but it will fade over the next year to my normal skin color (possibly lighter). Please know there are other cheaper options out there that work better than fraxel. I just don't want you guys to be disappointed and in debt like I was for something that never worked
The first time i did fraxel restore i was so excited because after a week it seemed like i had a 60 percent improvement but in reality it was mainly swelling. Two weeks later it was only about a 25% improvement. I went back a month later for my second fraxel restore, it did nothing. I was told i should spreed the treatments futher apart. I waited 3 months again nothing. 6 months again nothing. another 3 months NOTHING! I only saw improvement my first time and I have to admit I'm at least happy for the 25% improvement...so I geuss the bottom line is do it once and then stop. BTW I also went to a highend place. I also tried Juvederm which did nothing at all.
I'm writing quickly (and thus poorly) here, but want to leave some info to help others since I read these boards myself years ago before having my tx.
First, I'm reviewing fraxel restore (not repair). these are significantly different treatments and many of the reviews I'm seeing here don't distiguish clearly.
I'm a veteran, I guess. Had 4 treatments about 5 years ago. Saw true improvements after 3rd. My scarring is generally mild and shallow with the exception of 3-4 deeper icepick type scars. Fraxel made most shallow newer scars disappear totally, although I did not see much improvement on shape/depth of older ice pick scars beside improved pigment--but that in itself made them look much less deep because they had a purplish color prior to tx. Pores looked smaller and my skin just has a generally healthier look. I was able to go without makeup much of the time post fraxel.
I see some people reporting that they suffered fat loss and decreased elasticity a few years post treatment. I don't want to discount their experiences, but I will say that I recently was tempted to think I was experiencing the same things except that I am seeing the same changes in areas that were never treated (i.e. you skin changes as you age regardless of laser treatment). I had only apples of cheeks and a small spot on my forehead treated, so I can see that the same changes are happening on other parts of my face. I'm in my thirties so I guess I should expect some changes, but I have also seen many friends who never had fraxel but started to age in their 20s. I do wonder how many of these side effects can be attributed to the natural aging process.
Having said that, I did have spot treatments with a CO2 a long time ago (before the fraxel days), and I did see a difference in the texture of those ares vs untreated skin. Treated skin had a waxy almost "too smooth" look which was actually fixed by the fraxel. Am out of characters . . .
I had my first treatment in November of 2010; my fifth early December 2011 (exactly one month ago). The only reasons I can assume so many people are having disappointing results are: maybe their doctor (if even a doctor performed the procedure)had no idea what the heck he or she was doing; maybe they have not allowed enough time to for the collagen rebuilding to kick in. Remember this is not a quick fix. I see myself every day and tend to be critical of what my face looks like. On the other hand, my husband and family members have seen subtle improvements since I healed from the first. My friends began to comment on visible smoothing (remember, not perfection) after the third and fourth procedures. I used to photoshop my forehead scars in pictures. Although the scars are still there they less visible and do not show up in a photographs anymore. For me, this is success enough. The true test came when I went to see my dermatologist (although a medical doctor performed my procedure—with my skin, I would not have it any other way, my dermatologist did not) who I began seeing at age 15. He commented that my Fraxel results "looked really good." I told him I was hoping for a 35-50% improvement and he responded, "Oh, you will definitely get that." My dermatologist is not a friend, nor a family friend, he is my doctor and has seen my skin at its worst—he would not lie. I would love to answer any questions or encourage any of you who need it. People, acne scars suck. Acne is from hell. My acne scars were horrible - especially in the temple to cheek "pork chop". The comments behind my back were, "J is very pretty but those acne scars…" I was mauled by acne. Fraxel Re:store is basically the ONLY procedure safe for my tanned skin—and I am not complaining.
I received Fraxel Re:store. Unfortunately, as stated, the doctor didn't tell me there are different types or forms of Fraxel. I wanted (and still WANT and NEED) Fraxel Re:pair because my scars are deep. I had so many Re:stores I lost count. The doctor was fleecing me while I put my trust in him. Although I was under the influence of Valium, hydrocodone, Xanax, and nerve blockers injected in my cheeks by the doctor, I do remember the instance his tech burned me...she burned my cheek/jaw and chin. I still bear the raised scar right under my jaw. The chin burn either didn't scar or you just can't really tell. The burn on my cheek near my hairline lost pigment but returned over the years...probably due to other treatments I've had done.
I didn't realize the burn was as bad as it was, so when I saw him maybe two weeks later at my mother's urging, he was upset and knew it scarred, yet only offered me MORE Re:stores for free. And I, trusting, naive, and emotionally worn, took him up on it. I should have sued.
I do NOT recommend Fraxel Re:store, but I AM seeking out a Fraxel Re:pair and I sincerely hope to see SERIOUS results with it.


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|Wards-Districts-Reporting Units-Annexations (2013-11).pdf
|GAB-100 Annexation Checklist_Ward-Voter Info (2013-11) fillable.pdf
The Government Accountability Board (G.A.B.) has received several inquiries from County and Municipal clerks with respect to annexing territory. These questions have revealed several common misconceptions and mistakes which have resulted in errors that may impact elections and boundary representation.
In an effort to reduce these errors, as well as ward and reporting unit errors, G.A.B. staff has added a "Wards, Reporting Units and Annexations" chapter to the Election Administration Manual. The information in this chapter explains the characteristics of wards, how wards may be combined into reporting units and how wards and reporting units are impacted by annexations.
Additionally, staff has developed an Annexation Checklist & Ward/Voter Information Sheet (GAB-100). This is a two-page form. The first page is a checklist that contains helpful information for the clerk of the annexing municipality, as well as the clerk of the municipality losing territory, regarding the SVRS and Election Administration aspects of the annexation process. The second page, the GAB-100 Form, is used by the clerk of the annexing municipality to notify the G.A.B. as soon as the annexation ordinance is approved so affected voters are properly updated in SVRS, ensuring these voters receive the correct ballot and vote at the proper polling place at the next election. (Municipal ward changes must be updated within SVRS, regardless of whether or not any voters live in the area to be annexed.)
The completed GAB-100 Form, along with the approved annexation ordinance should be sent to Zach Robinson at firstname.lastname@example.com or to Zach's attention via fax at 608-267-0500. Please feel free to contact Zach with any questions or concerns throughout the annexation process. For all other inquiries please contact the G.A.B. Help Desk at firstname.lastname@example.com or (608) 261-2028.


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Virtual Reality porn is not like normal porn (obviously). So, porn companies now have to think a little differently about how they shoot footage. (NSFW warning!)
Wired recently spoke to Kink.com about how they shooting VR porn, and it's a fascinating watch:
The video goes into more detail about the differences between normal porn and virtual reality porn, but broadly speaking:
Mashable dives even deeper into a lot of these issues in a piece titled "Virtual reality porn is here," and it's also worth a read. Here's the author, Chelsea Stark, on the difficulties of filming certain positions while in VR:
Videos that focus on point-of-view experience also suffer from position restriction; you can't perform a lot of popular sex acts, because doing so might give you motion sickness. If the camera is moving in VR, but your head is standing still, the effect on the inner ear is pretty much instant nausea. In practical porn terms, that means "goodbye, doggie style."
And here's a performer's take on filming VR porn:
"Filming a scene for VR is a lot more physically challenging because the male performer can't really move, so most of the performance is up to me. It can also feel a bit awkward at times because he can't talk, so it's like I'm talking dirty to myself," she said. "The male performer can't say anything back to me or say anything at all. I'd say it just feels a little unnatural."
Sounds kind of uncomfortable, yeah? But, the performer says the end product is worth it, so there you go.
You can read the rest of the piece here.


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NetWellness is a global, community service providing quality, unbiased health information from our partner university faculty. NetWellness is commercial-free and does not accept advertising.
Sunday, September 24, 2017
Worksite Health
Drug Testing in the Workplace
My employer requires random drug testing and I was recently informed by the employee health nurse that I had been selected. I happen to take Ritalin and I indicated this on the form that accompanied the test. I was asked why I was taking the drug and told the Medical Review Officer that that information was confidential; between me and my doctor. I was told that I must divulge this information; my doctor saw absolutely not...it`s confidential. What is your opinion on this? I happen to be a hospital pharmacist; maybe I should ask the emloyee health nurse if all of her boyfriends know that she has prescriprions filled for her genital herpes? Of course, that would be wrong, but I`m mad as hell that they think that they can just access my medical records just for curiosity sake.
Thank you for visiting NetWellness. Unfortunately we do not have an expert who answers questions in your area of inquiry. You may want to direct your question to a legal expert who deals with medical privacy issues.
NetWellness Staff


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Senica, Slovakia (SportsNetwork.com) - Andrew McArthur closed with a 4-under 68 on Sunday and won the Real Slovakia Challenge by two strokes.
McArthur finished at 21-under-par 267. This was his second win on the European Challenge Tour.
The Scotsman got off to a quick start as he birdied the first two holes to move to 19-under. McArthur ran off seven straight pars to wrap up his opening nine.
After a par on No. 10, McArthur birdied the par-5 11th for the fourth straight round. He birdied the 15th to get to minus-21. McArthur closed with three pars in a row to seal the win. He had three bogey-free rounds and just one bogey on the week.
Sam Hutsby carded a 3-under 69 to grab second place at minus-19. Oliver Farr posted a 67 to end in third at 18-under-par 270. Alvaro Velasco was one back of him at minus-17 after a final-round 70.


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I have always wanted to own a Mahindra Thar.
After all, any driving enthusiast, and especially an off-road junkie, would go bonkers over this retro modern vehicle thats got the heritage cult looks and the performance of a modern day SUV. It comes in two variantsthe Thar CRDe positioned as a hardcore off-roader for urban dwellers and the Thar DI as its inexpensive cousin positioned as a rural style-seeker. While the CRDe is powered by a 2498-cc engine (105 bhp), the DI comes with a 2523-cc engine (63 bhp). Launched in 2010, the Thar, in FY14, grew over 10% in sales. We spend a week with the CRDe version and heres what we feel about the SUV.
But before that, a few words on a jeep. The charm of owning and driving a jeep is not something everyone can connect to. A jeep isnt as comfortable as a car, a jeep isnt as fast, and a jeep can be slightly more cumbersome to live with. At the same time, a jeep can easily take you where most modern cars cannot and a jeep, in an urban environment, gives you exclusivity.
Appearance: The Thar CRDe immediately attracts your attention with its butch stylinga wide stance, bulging bonnet and immense road presence. But step inside and the feeling is exactly the opposite. What greets you are boring interiors and bad fit and finish. The driving position, though, is impressive and the upright seat gives you a commanding view of the surroundings. It surely needs better plastic quality, more equipment, and better fit and finish.
On the road: The Thar gets a good combination of engine, gearbox and chassis. The 2.5-litre engine has ample grunt for effortless highway cruising, but runs out of steam beyond 110 kmph. At those speeds, the noise levels too exceed your comfort zone. If it is mechanically possible, we would like to see the Thar powered by the 2.2-litre mHawk diesel engine.
Off the road: The percentage of SUV owners who go off the road is negligible but that wont be the case if you are in the Thar. In fact, you would want to take your Thar off-roading, as we did, and found that the jeep feels very composed off the road. Throw any kind of terrain at itloose sand, slush, jungle trail, empty river bedand the jeep shows what it is capable of. And if you do get stuck, the 4x4 mode comes to help. We didnt find any problem with the Thar when we went off the road. But one: A customised Thar generally comes with a winch (a motor-driven device fitted at the front used for hauling a vehicle if it gets stuck). But the electronic control for operating that winch isnt easy to find. Rather than being located at an accessible place (such as on the dashboard), the control is located under the bonnet!
Mathematics: Though numbers dont do justice to a vehicle such as this, allow me to present you a few calculations I did. The engine is powerful enough to take the Thar from 0-100 kmph in 17 seconds, which is quite commendable for its size and aerodynamics. But what is more impressive is acceleration through the gearsit takes only 13 seconds to go from 20-80 kmph in third gear. The SUV returns 12 km to a litre of diesel.
With the Thar, Mahindra can have a clear winner on its hands. Some things such as the interiors of the standard of the Scorpio, sensible dashboard controls, better insulation, better carpeting, etc, can result in the Thar (at least the CRDe version) transforming into a really fine SUV. If currently only jeep-enthusiasts are curious about the Thar, such additions can make some of the mid-size car buyers also consider this SUV. The Thar CRDe is priced at Rs 7.35 lakh and the Thar DI comes for Rs 4.81 lakh (Delhi prices).
It's a jeep thing
The charm of owning and driving a jeep is not something everyone can connect to. A jeep isnt as comfortable as a car, a jeep isnt as fast, and a jeep can be slightly more cumbersome to live with. At the same time, a jeep can easily take you where most modern cars cannot and a jeep, in an urban environment, gives you exclusivity.