text:
Saturday, January 31, 2009
Book Cases Six
Bollocks, I've been getting so many of these is was only a matter of time before I fucked up. These are of course Alexander Kruel's books. He is from Gütersloh, Nordrhein-Westfalen, DE.
Apologies all round.
And higher resolution shots are here, here and here.
Friday, January 30, 2009
Book Cases Five
Book Cases Four
Here's some seriously cool ones that make me very jealous. How lovely it would be to have that kind of space for book cases ... well, I do, but have to climb up a ladder into the loft to get to them.
These belong to Petr Kotrle who is the Czech translator of my books. And in that respect he must be doing a good job since The Skinner won the Salamander there (an Academy Award) and Gridlinked was shortlisted.
Stem Cells.
Stem cell research advocates have waited nearly eight years for the policy change President-elect Barack Obama has signaled he'll make in the early days of his administration: lifting the restrictions imposed by President Bush on federal funding for research on human embryonic stem cells.
And now it seems the FDA is approving trails for using stem cells to heal spinal cord injuries. A branch of research which is more than promising since the researchers have already used this technique to heal the spines of rats (listen to the animal rights protesters scream). This one has to be the first target to hit because, the moment the first cripple gets out of his wheelchair, it will tune down the loud objections of those 'moralists' with a direct line to their invisible friend in the sky.
But this stuff, objections or otherwise, is being pursued all across the world. Just the few I mention here are the tip of the iceberg and only today we hear about stem cell therapy being used on MS sufferers.
Not one of 21 adults with relapsing-remitting MS who had stem cells transplanted from their own bone marrow deteriorated over three years.
We very definitely need this research and it can be seen that moral objections will be falling by the wayside as researchers hack out a path to differentiating adult stem cells for such therapy, which has to be the ultimate goal.
Now, researchers at
Damn but it's weird - every so often I discover my inner optimist.
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Book Cases Three
LED Light.
The researchers have designed a bulb that is three times more energy efficient than today's best offer and can cut lighting bills by 75 per cent. They are made using Gallium Nitride (GaN), a man-made substance used in LEDs (light emitting diodes). It is routinely used in bike lights, mobile phones and camera flashes.
But until now the production costs have been too expensive for widespread use in homes and offices - a single bulb would have cost £20. However, the researchers have found a cheaper technique to help manufacture the bulbs and manufacturers have begun work on production prototypes. The first units could hit shelves within two years. Professor Colin Humphrey, head of the centre, said: "This could well be the holy grail in terms of providing our lighting needs for the future."
The bulbs are 12 times more efficient that conventional tungsten bulbs and three times more efficient than compact fluorescent "energy efficient" bulbs. They can burn for 100,000 hours and they illuminate instantly and can be dimmed, unlike energy efficient bulbs. If they were installed in every home and office the bulbs could cut the proportion of
The Victorian Farm.
The program also brings home how those who really improve people's lives are inventors. The guy who invented the washing machine did more to negate the drudgery of day-to-day life than any number of politicians, and the guy who invented the tractor fed more of the starving than any charity you care to name.
And apparently, there's plenty who agree with me about this program, since its viewing figures have exceeded those of the execrable Big Brother. A victory of substance over junk. It's on tonight at 9.00 on BBC2, so screw Piers Morgan or that crappy Hustle, turn over and watch something worth your time.
It's Not Easy Being Green.
The hectoring eco-bullshit was bad enough but, having worked some of this stuff out myself, the financial figures were highly questionable. I have, for example, doubts that changing about five light-bulbs for the mercury version will save anyone £100 a year.
Having looked at buying a solar panel and then worked out the costs involved, I was interested to watch the bit about a woman who had a 'green' heating system installed in her house, including solar panels. In my case the panel would have cost £3,000+, and I worked out that the savings wouldn't cover the interest at the time if I were to take that money and stick it in an ISA. I would just be making a loss on it, forever.
The entire cost of this woman's 'green' system was £9,000, whereas a conventional system would have cost her £3,500. Apparently, since the system would save £500 a year, the difference of £5,500 would be paid off in 11 years. Now, I have to wonder just what kind of house is being run here that costs over £500 a year to heat – I'm guessing the kind of house owned only by the residents of TV-land. But that aside, haven't these crusties heard of interest?
Take that £5,500 and stick it in an account and even today you'll get over £100 back each year. A few years ago and that would have been £300+ and, supposing the British economy doesn't crash and burn (or should I say continue to crash and burn), that'll be the interest you'll get in a few years time.
So, with cumulative interest, that 11 years can be extended to over 30 years, by which time you'll doubtless be adding to it the cost of maintenance. And of course, if you had to borrow the money to pay for such a central heating system, the period would be even longer – probably the length of a working life time. These twats really need to try living in the real world.
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Book Cases Two
A Rural Story.
A Lancashire Farmer is overseeing his animals in a remote part of the County when suddenly a brand-new BMW advances out of a dust cloud towards him. The driver, a young man in a designer suit, Gucci shoes, Ray Ban sunglasses and YSL tie, leans out the window and asks the farmer, 'If I tell you exactly how many cows and calves you have in your herd, will you give me a calf?'
The Farmer looks at the man, obviously a yuppie, then looks at his peacefully grazing herd and calmly answers, 'Reet, why not?'
The yuppie parks his car, whips out his Dell notebook computer, connects it to his Cingular RAZR V3 cell phone, and surfs to a NASA page on the Internet, where he calls up a GPS satellite navigation system to get an exact fix on his location which he then feeds to another NASA satellite that scans the area in an ultra-high-resolution photo. The young man then opens the digital photo in Adobe Photoshop and exports it to an image processing facility in Hamburg, Germany. Within seconds, he receives an email on his Palm Pilot that the image has been processed and the data stored. He then accesses a MS-SQL database through an ODBC connected Excel Spreadsheet with email on his Blackberry and, after a few minutes, receives a response. Finally, he prints out a full-color, 150-page report on his hi-tech, miniaturized HP LaserJet printer and finally turns to the farmer and says, 'You have exactly 1,586 cows and calves.'
'Wow That's right. Well, I guess you can take one of my calves,' says the Farmer. He watches the young man select one of the animals and looks on amused as the young man stuffs it into the boot of his car. Then the farmer says to the young man, 'Ey Up!, if I can tell you exactly what your business is, will you give me back my calf?'
The young man thinks about it for a second and then says, 'Okay, why not?'
'You work for the British Government', says the farmer.
'Wow! That's correct,' says the yuppie, 'but how did you guess that?'
'No guessing required,' answers the farmer. 'You showed up here even though nobody called you; you want to get paid for an answer I already knew, to a question I never asked. You used all kinds of expensive equipment that clearly somebody else paid for, you tried to show me how much smarter than me you are; and you don't know a thing about cows ....... this is a flock of sheep. Now give me back my dog.'
Monday, January 26, 2009
Book Case.
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Shadow Review.
A very nice review here of The Shadow of the Scorpion by John Markley. Obviously this is of the Night Shade version since the Macmillan one isn't out yet. Here's a sample:
I really liked this book. It provides plenty of the intense action Asher is known for, and continues to explore the setting of Asher's future history. On a purely action/adventure level, the book definitely delivers, with Asher's usual talent for excitement, description, and visceral power brought to the forefront. It also gave me what were probably the two things I most wanted from Asher: more information about the character Ian Cormac, and a closer look at the society of the Polity itself.
Saturday, January 24, 2009
Orbus Edit.
Another problem – something to do with posture – is that after a few hours of this editing I end up with my neck stiff and burning. It was worse when I used to refer to sheets stacked beside me, improved when I affixed them to a piece of card positioned below my screen, but is still a pain.
But I can of course understand how many reading this will wonder, "What the hell has he got to complain about?" Yeah, I don't have to get up to drive to work, clock in, avoid colleagues with BO or have to put up with a boss with the brains of a worm and personality to match. The dirtiest I get is when refilling printer cartridges and, as yet I am in no danger of losing my job … or my house. Really, I'm just trying to give readers a look at some of what's involved in putting that book in front of them.
Once I've finished this particular batch of editing and return it to Macmillan, I later get it back from the copy editor, and must check through it again. It then comes back a third time for me to check the finished product. Still, doubtless, there will be mistakes for which I can only apologise, and put down to having been pushed beyond my boredom threshold. The glamorous life a writer, eh?
Friday, January 23, 2009
Flood Warning
At the end of Latching High Street there was a fire engine parked off-road pumping out water perhaps to prevent someone's house turning into an indoor swimming pool, which is fair enough. I drove through about an inch of water and turned right heading towards Maldon whereupon I came upon police vehicles parked around a flood across the road and extending about fifty feet. That they were there I assumed was because there had been some sort of accident, but no, they were turning drivers around, not allowing them to drive through about six inches of water. I thought this ludicrous, but obeyed these officers of the law who were obviously lacking something better to do with their time.
Heading on another route into Maldon I drove through a similar flood, you know, low gear and high revs, just chug through – it's not going to be a problem unless you're an idiot. After the dental appointment I avoided the police road block and found myself in a slow moving queue into Latchingdon. What now? Well, it seemed the police or the fire service had blocked off one lane of the road to prevent people driving through about four inches of water.
I despair of this pathetic molly-coddling. Are the British public such wimps and inadequate they must be protected from puddles?
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Eric Hoffer
Hoffer said: "The less justified a man is in claiming excellence for his own self, the more ready he is to claim all excellence for his nation, his religion, his race or his holy cause."
People who are fulfilled in their own lives and careers are not the ones attracted to mass movements: "A man is likely to mind his own business when it is worth minding," Hoffer said. "When it is not, he takes his mind off his own meaningless affairs by minding other people's business."
What Hoffer was describing was the political busybody, the zealot for a cause — the "true believer," who filled the ranks of ideological movements that created the totalitarian tyrannies of the 20th century.
Well, I wonder who those people who mind other people's business might be? I declare the comment section open.
Here's a further quote by Hoffer: "Those in possession of absolute power can not only prophesy and make their prophecies come true, but they can also lie and make their lies come true."
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Frederick Pohl Blog.
You might like to know that at 89 years old one of the greats of SF has now got a blog. Just read his post about his collaboration with Arthur C Clarke. Good on yer Mr Pohl!
Here's a little snippet from Wikipedia:
Monday, January 19, 2009
Across Realtime - Vernor Vinge.
Ah, it's Mr Singularity himself with tales of pre then post singularity worlds 'bobbles' can isolate and freeze in time their contents. It's dated a bit now what with these two written in 1984 and 1986 and a world war in 1997 but enjoyable none-the-less. There's also something very believable about the abilities of the future humans and, frankly, all the characters are engaging and you regret knowing no more about them when the story ends.
Note, don't make the mistake of buying this if you already have either Peace War or Marooned in Realtime because those are the two tales here. I'd also recommend, if you haven't read them yet A Fire Upon the Deep and A Deepness in the Sky.
Saturday, January 17, 2009
Methane on Mars.
This appeals to my sense of reason: Earth is not the centre of the universe with the celestial spheres revolving around it, our biosphere is simply a product of time, chemical reactions and energy, and man is not the God-created reason for everything. Really, as our understanding of the universe grows, our position in it is no higher than that of a microbe locked in the Martian tundra. In fact, words like 'position' or maybe 'purpose' have no meaning at all.
However, now I'm going to be the skeleton at the wedding. First off I have a big problem with this idea that this methane is a product of life. Methane certainly is a product of life, just like it is a product of all sorts of other complex chemistries. I didn't hear anyone shouting about life when it was revealed that Saturn's moon Titan has methane weather systems, that it has methane clouds, rain, snow and sleet. Second off, I have a problem with the idea of independent evolution on Mars.
Do you remember that whole farrago of the Martian meteorite with what looked like microbes imbedded in it? Recently there have been claims that perhaps life spread here from Mars by ancient meteor collision, yet, they are no more valid than a claim that life was spread from Earth to Mars in the same way, which rather kills the idea of independent evolution. In fact, that idea is dead in the water for any life found within the Solar System - we'll probably end up moving more towards the panspermia view…
Of course, in me the ugly cynic then raises his head over the parapet. NASA being a cash-hungry leaden bureaucracy, quite likely due to look very silly when James Hansen takes his inevitable fall, is now looking to the future. Certain words surface in my mind with tiresome inevitability, words like 'new' and 'president' and 'funding'.
Jain Technology
It's inspiration is partly from the Space Oddysey 2001, and the technology from a series of books by Neal Asher. The technology is called Jain, and its a biotech hardware plaque that kind of looks a cross between silver vines and roots, and coral. Its tendrils take over any form of technology and subsume it.
You will see this influence later on in the build hopefully.
Uh? wtf?
£2,500 Golden Hello.
The Road to Serfdom
Theodore DalrympleGood if old article here from this guy. I must buy some of his books.
A Gallop Down the Road to Serfdom.
If the citizen should drive, he soon discovers that his vehicle confers anxiety rather than freedom. Slight infringements of the driving rules are photographed and he is fined. When he parks he soon discovers that wheel-clamping is the one public service that works with clockwork efficiency. Squeezing money from him is likewise the one task that the State takes seriously, for he cannot rely on the police to protect him, or the schools to educate his children, or the hospitals to succour him when he is ill, or public transport to take him anywhere without hitch. A bloated payroll does not translate into efficient services: on the contrary, it is incompatible with them.
Friday, January 16, 2009
WE SEEM TO HAVE BEEN saying "
So, after allowing me to dribble over that for a while, Julie turned to page 168 … through to page 175 and I nearly wet myself. There you'll find a full page redition of the gabbleduck, the story Softly Spoke the Gabbleduck entire, topped off with an inteview with me. That's a bloody lot of coverage. Thanks DeathRay!
More SF Music
On the Big Screen.
Caroline and I went to Macmillan yesterday, then on to lunch with the new senior commissioning editor for PanMac, Julie Crisp, and Peter Lavery, now retired from everything bar the part he loves, the actual editing, so he can still set writers quivering in their boots whenever he reaches for a pencil. Some interesting stuff, like the huge spread I have in DeathRay Magazine (more about that later), like changing my cover picture and, when the IT guys arrived, setting up a Macmillan-based website for me. But all that's not the point of this post.
As usual on these visits, we were let into the lobby, signed in, then waited to be collected. Whilst there I gazed at the big flat screen they have up on the wall which has a constant slide show of books, their blurbs and taglines. I've sat there many times before hoping to see something of mine come up, but never seen it until now. It's there, at last! Damn I'm sad.
Thursday, January 15, 2009
As Olaf pointed out in the comments on my post about exoskeletons, the problem is power. In fact that's a big problem with all our present technology so someone must be researching it. Just a little google brings up some seriously SFnal research. Here's a few samples:
MIT scientists have harnessed the construction talents of tiny viruses to build ultra-small "nanowire" structures for use in very thin lithium-ion batteries. By manipulating a few genes inside these viruses, the team was able to coax the organisms to grow and self-assemble into a functional electronic device.
The LEES ultracapacitor has the capacity to overcome this energy limitation by using vertically aligned, single-wall carbon nanotubes -- one thirty-thousandth the diameter of a human hair and 100,000 times as long as they are wide.
Like turning straw into gold, MIT researchers have transformed a relatively common material, lithium iron phosphate, into one with handsome potential for the next generation of rechargeable batteries in electric cars and other devices. Among other advantages, the material could make such batteries cheaper and safer.
In March, PNNL engineers reached the first major milestone in development when they demonstrated a full-size, advanced design fuel processor that converts methanol into hydrogen. Because hydrogen wouldn't need to be stored or carried, the fuel processor would reduce the weight and risk associated with portable power systems.
The researchers believe their breakthrough shows promise that graphene (a form of carbon) could eventually double the capacity of existing ultracapacitors, which are manufactured using an entirely different form of carbon.
A team from the Laboratory's Chemistry and Materials Science Directorate and the Center for Microtechnology Engineering has been working for the past several years on a tiny device that can process minute amounts of fuel, such as hydrogen from methanol and water, to in turn feed a miniature fuel cell for powering unattended sensor systems and eventually consumer electronics.
Note to self: read more science articles and less about politics and you might turn into an optimist.
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
UFO Aliens Don't Like Wind Power.
I wasn't going to bother with this one, but I feel I've got to put my tuppence worth in. So, a UFO struck a wind turbine. Let's get something straight to start off with: UFO stands for Unidentified Flying Object. It might well be that a flying pig struck that turbine but until investigators have found the mangled remains of the avian pork it remains unidentified, therefore a UFO.
Ufologists are pretty well convinced there is an extraterrestrial explanation for the incident which saw one turbine blade ripped off and another seriously damaged by a vessel "about 170ft long" following numerous reports of mystery "low-flying aircraft", lights in the sky and, finally, a "big bang".
But of course most people's understanding of UFO is that it must have been a flying saucer, piloted by greys, zipping around Earth in a flying saucer. And now, since the wind farm has been sealed off by security personnel to keep the loons out, the conspiracy grows.
Alien hunter Nick Pope had a light attack of the Area 51s, telling the Sun: "There may be something they don't want people to see."
For fuck's sake. The nearest star (other than Sol) is Proxima Centauri and it's 4.3 light years away. Light travels at 186,000 miles per second so to tot up, that puts it at 25,284,000,000,000,000,000 miles away, give or take a few circuits of the Earth. The next star out is half that much again. Now, let's just consider how a race capable of developing a technology to enable them to cross such a distance might manage to prang their space craft into a damned wind turbine ... driver fatigue?
Damned but there's some fruit loops out there. But at least Pope redeems himself a bit with:
Pope concluded: "If a stealth aircraft struck the turbine, it may be made of some material which is itself classified above top secret."
Just a bit of a conspiracy, then.
Science Fiction Music.
One of the first to contact me (on MySpace, but he's on Facebook too) was one Miguel Vella (guy with the guitar) and he even came along to one of my signings at Forbidden Planet. He's now apparently working on a concept track called Jerusalem AI. Love it!
The other one with the freaky hair, called Jazizo Cappucino, based in
If you are on either of the sites mentioned you can check out samples of the music.
Cupid (Stupid) Pose.
I told him about my blog, but he said he didn't read blogs. He's read this one now and has said, "Not sure about the photograph, it looks a bit 'posed' to me, may I suggest the one below as a replacement?" and provided the picture here.
Noting the body warmer, washed out jeans, silly shoes and lack of grey hair, I'd put this in the Eighties or early Nineties. I suspect it was a Mundon 'Fun Day', which usually started from the local pub then ended up there.
Emma Thompson & Alistair McGowan
The stench of hypocrisy is enough to make one gag when 'celebrities' start spouting off about the environment. We must travel less, pump less carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, really, we must all stay at home and watch television (preferably not a plasma screen since that uses so much energy, anyway, the EU will be banning the sale of them shortly). But what should we all watch?
How about Alistair McGowan Goes Wild with Rhinos? Obviously he and a large film crew jetted off to
The reality of what these hypocritical pricks are saying, in the cloistered world of
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Orbus Blurb (cover copy).
Now in charge of a cargo spaceship, the Old Captain Orbus, flees a violent and sadistic past, but he doesn't know that the lethal war drone, Sniper, is a stowaway, and that past is rapidly catching up with him. His old enemy the Prador Vrell, mutated by the Spatterjay virus into something powerful and dangerous, has seized control of a Prador dreadnought, killing its entire crew, and now seeks to exact vengeance on those who tried to have him killed.
Their courses inexorably converge in the Graveyard, the border realm lying between the Polity and the
Meanwhile, something that has annihilated civilizations is stirring from a slumber of five million years, and the cold war is heating up, fast.
Monday, January 12, 2009
Theodore Dalrymple
A Gallop Down the Road to Serfdom.
If the citizen should drive, he soon discovers that his vehicle confers anxiety rather than freedom. Slight infringements of the driving rules are photographed and he is fined. When he parks he soon discovers that wheel-clamping is the one public service that works with clockwork efficiency. Squeezing money from him is likewise the one task that the State takes seriously, for he cannot rely on the police to protect him, or the schools to educate his children, or the hospitals to succour him when he is ill, or public transport to take him anywhere without hitch. A bloated payroll does not translate into efficient services: on the contrary, it is incompatible with them.
Consensus -- Mark Twain
...[I]n the drift of years I by and by found that a Consensus examines a new thing by its feelings rather oftener than with its mind. You know, yourself, that this is so.…
Do you know of a case where a Consensus won a game? You can go back as far as you want to and you will find history furnishing you this (until now) unwritten maxim for your guidance and profit: Whatever new thing a Consensus coppers (colloquial for "bets against"), bet your money on that very card and do not be afraid.There was that primitive steam engine -- ages back, in Greek times: a Consensus made fun of it. There was the Marquis of Worcester's steam engine, 250 years ago: a Consensus made fun of it. There was Fulton's steamboat of a century ago: a French Consensus, including the Great Napolean, made fun of it. There was Priestly, with his oxygen: a Consensus scoffed at him, mobbed him, burned him out, banished him. While a Consensus was proving, by statistics and things, that a steamship could not cross the Atlantic, a steamship did it. A Consensus consisting of all the medical experts in Great Britain made fun of Jenner and inoculation. A Consensus consisting of all the medical experts in France made fun of the stethoscope. A Consensus of all the medical experts in Germany made fun of that young doctor (his name? forgotten by all but doctors, now, revered by doctors alone) who discovered and abolished the cause of that awful disease, puerperal fever; made fun of him, reviled him, hunted him, persecuted him, broke his heart, killed him. Electric telegraph, Atlantic cable, telephone, all "toys," of no practical value -- verdict of the Consensuses. Geology, paleontology, evolution -- all brushed into space by a Consensus of theological experts, comprising all the preachers in Christendom, assisted by the Duke of Argyle and (at first) the other scientists.
Saturday, January 10, 2009
Atheist Bus
The advertising regulator has received almost 150 complaints that an atheist ad campaign, proclaiming "There is probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life", is offensive to Christians and other religions that believe in a single God.
Thing is, religions are allowed to advertise with their 'Jesus loves you', 'God is great' and some of them even have television channels dedicated to promote their ridiculous Bronze Age nonsense. I find that extremely offensive but don't expect it to stop any time soon and would defend their right continue. So why shouldn't atheists be allowed to advertise? In fact let's have a TV channel and make the message a bit stronger than the rather bland one on the side of that bus. Anyway, I'd love to be a fly on the wall during this investigation:
Hanne Stinson, the chief executive of the British Humanist Association, which launched the campaign, said she "pitied the ASA if they are going to be expected to rule on the probability of god's existence. However, if they do investigate we will be very happy to respond.


text:
Marx's value forms and Hayek's rules: a reinterpretation in the light of the dichotomy between physis and nomos
This paper argues that both Marx and Hayek objected to the dichotomy between physis and nomos, and offered concepts which integrate, or mediate between, the two. Marx's value forms and Hayek's rules aim to grasp something neither purely natural nor purely artificial or social, but 'socially natural'. Value forms and rules are natural in the sense that they pre-exist agents and are taken by agents as given. On the other hand, forms and rules are social in that production relations or spontaneous order are reproduced as the unintended consequences of agents' using forms or following rules. Thus value forms and rules stand as links between agents and production relations or spontaneous order. Copyright 2002, Oxford University Press.
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Volume (Year): 26 (2002)
Issue (Month): 5 (September)
Pages: 613-635
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subset: commoncrawl


text:
Radiation Therapy During Surgery in Treating Older Women With Stage I Breast Cancer
- Full Text View
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- No Study Results Posted
- Disclaimer
- How to Read a Study Record
RATIONALE: Radiation therapy uses high-energy x-rays to kill tumor cells. Giving intraoperative radiation therapy may reduce the amount of normal tissue that needs to be removed.
PURPOSE: This phase II trial is studying how well giving radiation therapy during surgery works in treating older women with stage I breast cancer.
|Breast Cancer
|Procedure: axillary lymph node dissection Procedure: conventional surgery Procedure: sentinel lymph node biopsy Radiation: intraoperative radiation therapy
|Phase 2
|Study Type:
|Study Design:
|Allocation: Non-Randomized
Masking: None (Open Label)
Primary Purpose: Treatment
|Official Title:
|Phase 2 Study Evaluating the Feasibility and the Reproducibility of Concentrated Radiotherapy and Focalized Electrontherapy During Surgery for the Treatment of Older Patients With Breast Cancer
- Feasibility
- Reproducibility
- Quality of life (QLQ-C30)
- Satisfaction with care
- Tolerability
- Cosmetic results
- Economic impact
- Relapse-free survival
- Disease-specific survival
|Estimated Enrollment:
|Study Start Date:
|January 2004
|Primary Completion Date:
|May 2011 (Final data collection date for primary outcome measure)
- Study the feasibility and reproducibility of intraoperative radiotherapy as the only treatment after lumpectomy in older women with stage I breast cancer.
- Study the impact of this regimen on maintaining self-care.
- Study the quality of life (QLQ-C30) and satisfaction with care.
- Study regimen tolerance and cosmetic results.
- Evaluate the economic impact of this treatment.
- Study relapse-free and disease-specific survival.
OUTLINE: Patients undergo conservative breast surgery and axillary node dissection (sentinel node or classic resection). At this point, patients must have either negative axillary lymph nodes after removal of ≥ 6 lymph nodes, negative sentinel nodes, or have had a limited lumpectomy with negative margins ≥ 2 mm. Patients undergo intraoperative radiotherapy during surgery, before closing and reconstruction of the breast.
Patients may begin hormonal therapy after completing study therapy.
After completion of study therapy, patients are followed every 3 months for 1 year, every 4 months for 1 year, and then every 6 months for 3 years.
|Ages Eligible for Study:
|65 Years and older (Adult, Senior)
|Sexes Eligible for Study:
|Accepts Healthy Volunteers:
Inclusion criteria:
Histologically confirmed stage I breast cancer
- Size ≤ 20 mm (by ultrasound), N0, any quadrant
- Hormone receptor status not specified
Exclusion criteria:
- Distant metastases
- Inflammatory breast cancer
- Lobular in situ disease
- Invasive cancer or ductal carcinoma in situ
- Nonepithelial disease or sarcoma
- Multicentric disease
- Lymphatic embolism
- Margins of safety unknown or positive (in situ or invasive)
- Preoperative mammography showing diffuse microcalcification
- Female
- Menopausal
- Karnofsky 70-100%
- No other prior cancer except basal cell skin cancer, uterine epithelioma in situ, or other cancer in complete remission for the past 5 years
- No geographic, social, or psychiatric reasons that would impede participation in study treatment
- See Disease Characteristics
- No prior neoadjuvant therapy
- No concurrent participation in another study
Please refer to this study by its ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT00556777
|Centre Regional de Lutte Contre le Cancer - Centre Val d'Aurelle
|Montpellier, France, 34298
|Study Chair:
|Jean-Bernard Dubois, MD
|Institut du Cancer de Montpellier - Val d'Aurelle
|ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier:
|NCT00556777 History of Changes
|Other Study ID Numbers:
|Study First Received:
|November 9, 2007
|Last Updated:
|May 12, 2011
Keywords provided by National Cancer Institute (NCI):
stage I breast cancer
Additional relevant MeSH terms:
Breast Neoplasms
Neoplasms by Site
Breast Diseases
Skin Diseases
ClinicalTrials.gov processed this record on September 20, 2017


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text: Who's Who in Business Publishing: Jeff Lapin Published on October 01, 2011. Most Popular Farm Progress publishes Prairie Farmer and 17 other regional agricultural publications. The company also produces the Farm Progress Show and, this year, introduced a mobile app to help attendees navigate the event. Lapin is vice chairman of American Business Media and slated to take over as chairman of the organization next year. In this article: BtoB


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The Language of Dolphins
T'was a curious little bug that inspired me to write about dolphin language and the special way they communicate. When it perched itself on the edge of a stack of books next to my computer, something happened then that startled me.
As I reached out to grab the critter, it suddenly sprung from the edge while belting out a tiny, but gleeful, "Wheeeeeeeeeeee!" (I swear I really did hear it!)
I was so caught off-guard by the bizarre occurrence that I got a good laugh: it was so darned cute. You probably think I'm daffy unless you're someone who has similar kinds of experiences. Nevertheless, just because we're not raised to believe in such things doesn't mean they don't happen.
Many years ago I was scuba diving with a group off the coast of the Channel Islands west of the California coast. It's a gorgeous area and a diver�s delight with its lush, colorful, and abundant sea life. In this particular area of open ocean it's legal for divers on air-tanks to capture live abalone.
This was a stage in my life where I had successfully eliminated all animals from my diet - except for sea food - which is anything that lives in a shell, as well as squid, octopus, etc. It was the food most difficult for me to give up as I had an insatiable craving for the taste of it - especially when caught fresh and eaten within hours of its capture.
During one of numerous diving trips to the Channel Islands, I found myself at a depth of about 30 feet and temporarily separated from my diving partner. I was drawn to explore a large, rocky mound nearby - the kind of area that abalone are likely to be found. Sure enough, I spotted a huge abalone "grazing" on the side of the rocky surface.
When an abalone feels threatened it will instantly clamp its shell down hard onto the rock to protect its soft underside. Once they do this, it's nearly impossible to get them off. That�s why abalone divers carry a tool called an ab-iron: a long, flat, solid piece of metal used to pry them off rocks.
As I thrust my ab-iron hard underneath the abalone's shell I heard a tiny - but very distinct - scream. (again --- I swear I really did hear it!)
Stunned, I immediately withdrew the tool and stared in horror at the abalone. I felt terrible. Suddenly, I was jolted to the reality that - even though this creature didn't have a face like the other animals I had given-up eating � it was still a living, feeling, conscious creature: a creature that feels pain experiences fear, and fiercely protects itself from injury or death: a living being that wants to live!
Needless to say, that was the last time I went hunting for abalone - and never again have I eaten another creature.
As strange as it might seem, many indigenous tribes throughout the world speak of a time in the ancient past when humans and animals "spoke" to one another. These claims are also found in ancient texts. Likewise, it�s interesting that some of the most beloved tales of young and old alike are those in which animals talk, dress, and behave like humans.
Did you see Babe, the Pig? I loved that movie and laughed a lot. How about the story of Peter Rabbit? Winnie, the Pooh? Bambi? And what�s a current favorite with kids? Big Bear and the Big Blue House, where all the characters are animals and they sing and talk like humans.
Deep down inside, many of us would love to have clear and understandable communication with animals � especially with our beloved pets.
Personally, I feel that genuine communication with real animals isn't based on a verbal language � which is quite limiting at best. Rather, it's based on telepathy. Even more so, it's based on tel-empathy - a word that isn't found in the dictionary.....yet. Why do I say this? The following is a personal story that you may find intriguing.
The Language of Dolphins
Paula Peterson
Earthcode International Network
Several years ago, I traveled from California with two friends on an adventure to the Puget Sound � an inland sea of great expanse between British Columbia and the state of Washington. It�s a magnificent, breathtaking area: hundreds of wind-swept, mountainous islands of pine forests range from the very small and uninhabitable to large enough for communities of one or two hundred families.
Our goal was to hire a guide to take us out in kayaks and get as close as possible to the great Orcas (a.k.a. Killer Whales) that live in this area. Since Orcas are not really whales at all and are actually a species of dolphin, we were quite excited about contacting these highly intelligent �humans-of-the-sea.�
Once we had our guide and were secured in our individual kayaks, we paddled off toward the deepest and widest part of the Puget Sound where the Orcas were the most frequently sighted. Since they travel in pods of five or more, there would be no trouble in spotting them once their stately dorsal fins rise above the water which happens often when they surface to breathe.
We had paddled for most of the afternoon without seeing any signs of them and were soon becoming discouraged. It was getting late and we would have to return to our departure point before losing the light of day.
But then, we suddenly see a pod of Orcas � their dorsal fins high and surging through the waters. They were moving in a direction that would take them right across our path - if we paddled faster.
With great excitement, we paddled with all the strength we had left to reach the spot where our paths will meet with the Orcas. Much to our dismay, the Orcas are swimming so fast and powerful that we soon see that we won't reach them in time. After all our planning, the long drive from California, and tiresome hours of paddling, we will have just missed them.
At that moment, I went deep, deep - and deeper still - into my heart and soul to feel the swell of love I had for these great creatures. Then silently, yet passionately, I inwardly pleaded, �Please, please, Orcas.... show yourselves to us........�
Instantly, a powerful surge of effervescent energy blasted through my entire body � every cell felt like fizzy, sparkling, bubbling light. Then one colossal Orca leaped completely out of the water, and then three Orcas leaped - in unison - completely out of the water! We were whoopin' and hoolerin' with glad tears in our eyes. Our guide was ecstatic, remarking that in all the years he'd been taking people out in kayaks to see the Orcas, he had never seen a display like that.
A rosy glow shone from my head to my toes for three days afterward. I felt wonderful! From that awesome experience, I realized that the key to communion � truly communicating � with the dolphins, Orcas, whales - and with all living creatures - is through the �language� of the heart.
The Dolphins Turn
After returning from the Caribbean with a group of friends and having a long wait at the international airport in Florida for our departure flight back to California, we decided to use the extra hours to go to the nearby amusement park and aquarium. We immediately went to the Performing Dolphins pool � a huge tank that was several levels deep. At each level and around the full diameter of the tank, were large, thick observation windows which gave tourists a good view of the dolphins under water.
There were crowds of people at the windows that day, all gawking and chattering with excitement. I had separated from my friends for a few moments to savor more time in watching the dolphins. While standing there at one of the windows, one dolphin abruptly stops at the window right in front of me, faces me, and starts moving his mouth wildly as if he's trying to talk.
At first, I find it amusing that out of all these people looking through the windows, this dolphin is picking me out. I think to myself, Ah � just a coincidence, I'm sure. With that thought, the dolphin immediately leaves, swims around for a short while, and then parks himself right in front of me again to look me square in the eye while moving his mouth as if speaking.
Whoa! I quickly realize that my heart is pounding loud and fast. What's going on here? Surely this is only another coincidence. He leaves again, only to come right back a third time and goes through the same motions. By this time, I'm having a "religious, mystical experience" - my heart is throbbing, my eyes are swelling with tears, and a wonderful, warm, and tingly energy is flowing from my chest and throughout my body. The dolphin swims off again, so I decide to dash off to grab one of my friends. "Hey, you've got to come and check out this dolphin!"
After blurting out a quick report of what happened, we both wait for the next exciting visit. We waited and waited and waited. The dolphin didn�t come back and nothing happened (by that time I'm feeling pretty stupid). My friend gets bored, flashes a courtesy smile, and walks off to catch up with the others.
There I am, feeling silly and foolish �when here comes that dolphin again. He stops to face me, we have eye contact, and he goes through all the same motions again. I finally get it: our shared experience was meant for me and me only. After that, I had a telepathic connection with that dolphin that lasted for weeks.
Once back home in California, I would think of that dolphin in the huge tank, his eye looking into mine, searching. At night, I could feel that tingly energy again and instant thoughts of him (or her) would flood my mind. I never felt that he had complaints about his confinement � although, there seemed to be a somewhat anxious quality to his energy. I would imagine so, after having been stolen from his home in the sea and no longer having the whole vast ocean to swim in.
Instead of complaining, he seemed to be far more interested in communicating with me. It was a connection that was without words: a communication that formed imagery and sensation. It was like a �blending� with his being � a real communion. I �felt� his thoughts. He insisted that he knew me and that I must remember who I truly am and where I really came from.
The connection transcended distance. I felt dreamy and other-worldly during and after each tele-empathic communication. Then over the weeks it faded as I became more distracted by the necessities of living life in the modern world. I don�t know what happened to him. Dolphins don�t live long in captivity. But perhaps that is a blessing.
It was not long afterward that I let go of many conditions in my life that were confining to my spirit and my sense of freedom: people who had unreasonable expectations of me; a surplus of responsibilities that robbed me of time for myself; belongings that did not contribute to inner happiness and only weighed me down; and a geographical area that wasn�t nurturing to my soul.
I left it all behind and moved to a beautiful little coastal town, where I see and smell the ocean every day. From then on, I�ve been deeply content to live a very simple life where the only things I own of any significant monetary value are a car, a computer, and my clothes.
Extraordinary events with dolphins, Orcas, and with many other animals and pets throughout my life-time have taught me something very important - that all living things understand and respond to the language of the heart: plants, stones, water, the earth - even the elements. That's why certain indigenous tribes and tribal shamans could - and still do - often control the weather and influence animal behavior, as well as knowing which plants are good for certain ailments.
I remember hiking at high elevations in the Sierra Nevada Mountains with a friend when suddenly I heard the words, �MINT!� I was startled, only to hear it again, �MINT!� My friend didn't hear it at all and kept on walking ahead up the trail. I stopped to stare at a bushy little plant where the voice seemed to come from. It didn't look like a mint plant to me: in fact, it didn't look familiar to me at all. I moved in for a closer look then heard it whisper, �mint.� I took a piece of it into my mouth. Sure enough, it tasted just like mint. Hmmmmmmmmm.
Then there was the time that I passed by that big tree that yelled, "SPEARMINT!"................
by Paula Peterson
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Woman killed, 3 injured in landslides in Vijayawada - Tv9
Thu, Jun 02, 2016, 11:17 AM
A woman died and three others were grievously injured in landslides in Bethlehmnagar area of Gunadala, in Vijayawada. The residents had built houses adjoining the rocky hills. Landslides occurred last night after heavy rains lashed the area. While the woman died instantly, her daughter and two others are recovering in the hospital. Residents said that this is the first time that such big rocks have fallen on their houses.


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Discussion in 'Cat and Pet Forum' started by Maxy24, Mar 13, 2010.
Hope you enjoyed!
that looks like a really cool toy!
Nice pics
FINALLY! I've gone 8 months or so without Willie and Neko pics.
They both are looking great!
Thanks guys!
That's their favorite toy (well actually Neko likes his little toy mice that sound like rattles better, it's his favorite toy I can play with him with) , it's pretty much just a long strip of fleece on a stick. Neko likes it because he thinks it's edible.
I hope you realize that you have two of the most *gorgeous* cats ever? lol they are soo soo pretty. The eyes look photoshopped!
Where did you get them? What are their personalities like? They're blue point siamese, right? Beautiful colors and expressions.
Gorgeous...drooling over here! I can never get pictures of my two's eyes looking their bluest. I am also coveting your camera!
Oh, wow. They are GORGEOUS! Awesome shots.
YAY Willie and Neko!
I made a toy like that for the Kitty Boy Brothers. Big hit around here, too.
I want your cats. I'm a sap for anything with siamese points. *swoon*
YAY!!! I have two Meezers and LOVE the breed, so seeing your kittehs makes me happeh!
They're gorgeous!
lol thanks everyone!
Unfortunately they are from some BYB that my dad worked with. They gave us neko for free because he was going to go to the shelter, he wouldn't sell and they had a new baby so they didn't have time for him. Then they continued breeding anyways because they figured out how to sell better and so we bought Willie from them two years later, I found Chazhound and found out about BYBs 3 months later. They've stopped breeding now.
Their personality rocks if you like needy cats (which I do). They adore attention, in fact they demand it. They are both my little shadows. Siamese are supposed to be very vocal, Willie is and Neko isn't. They are medium energy, like to play when I offer and have burst of energy a few times a day but aren't crazy active. Overall very sweet, social cats but you need to be okay with the clingy PAY ATTENTION TO ME personality.
Yup both blue points, Willie threw some white for some reason but is still technically a blue point.


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all wordsany wordsphrase
1) v. to claim as a need, requirement or entitlement, as in to demand payment or performance under a contract. In a lawsuit for payment of a debt or performance of an act, the party suing (plaintiff) should allege that he/she/it demanded payment or performance. 2) n. a claim, such as an unqualified request for payment or other action. 3) the amount requested by a plaintiff (usually in writing) during negotiations to settle a lawsuit. 4) adj. referring to a note payable at any time a request to pay is made.


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The city of St. Augustine will close Aviles Street, between King Street and Cadiz Street from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. today for filming of the movie, "Re-Raveling Lucas."
There will be no parking on the street after 4 p.m., according city spokesman Paul Williamson.
On Thursday, between 9 p.m. and 11 p.m., traffic will be prohibited on Marine Street, between Bravo Lane and Bridge Street, and on Bridge Street, between Charlotte Street and Avenida Menendez, according to Williamson.
The movie is being filmed around St. Augustine through Saturday, he said.
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text: Hello I had a lot of trouble with some Kenro transparent pages, most especially with 135, where the films (different B&W) would not go into the windows from the side. I then purchased the opaque ones, glassine type, and find them much easier. Of course, the glassine ones are not as good for inspection or printing/scanning, so I was wondering if all brands are the same with ref to loading (archival qualities not so important here). And if all the clear files are similar, is there some trick to getting B&W negs into the sleeves? I found it next to impossible and wondered how people did it? My negs are always dry, usually 24hrs, in normal humidity. Thanks, Jon


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A woman was sexually assaulted in Northwest and police are asking for the public's help in finding the suspect.
The victim told police she was walking in the 100 block of Hamilton Street, NW, when she was approached by a male subject who pulled her into the alley and sexually assaulted her, police said in a news release.
The assault took place before 2 a.m. on Tuesday. The suspect is described as a black male with a light complexion, 20-25 years of age, with thin build. He was last seen wearing dark colored pants and a red and black North Face style jacket.
Police ask anyone with information about this case call the police at (202) 727-9099 or 1-888-919-CRIME (1-888-919-2746).
Anonymous information may be submitted to DC CRIME SOLVERS at 1-800-673-2777 and to the department's TEXT TIP LINE by text messaging 50411.


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You've Got Ennui
Va Savoiris an ensemble piece about the tangled affairs of a group of six friends, lovers and relatives in Paris. The film's title translates as "Who Knows?" and it is being marketed in the United Stats as a light comedy of sexual indiscretion. It is pretty clear why American audiences are being misled this way, as admitting the truth—that the film is about the emotionally exhausting relationships among several barely likeable characters—might not pack in the audiences. But Va Savoir is more complex and rewarding than any of Nora Ephron's romantic comedies. Primarily, it is satisfying because the characters have messy lives and morally ambiguous motivations.
While the film does include stereotypes concerning the oversexed, libertine French—extramarital affairs, one-night stands, a nude shower scene, and even some foot massaging—it is more about love, desire, and longing than mere sex acts. Camille (Jeanne Balibar) and Ugo (Sergio Castellitto) are the couple at the center of the film. The lovers are mostly cold and reserved in each other's presence, and only reveal their feelings for each other after being tempted by other lovers.
Va Savoir (who Knows?)
Jacques Rivette
Jeanne Balibar, Sergio Castellitto, Helene de Fougerolles, Bruno Todeschini, Marianne Basler, Jacques Bonnaffe
(Sony Pictures Classics)
US theatrical: 31 Dec 1969
Both Camille and Ugo have secrets that are unearthed when they arrive in Paris with a troupe of Italian actors performing Pirandello's Come tu Mi Vuo, known in English as As You Desire Me. The film follows how their return to the City of Lights inspires Camille and Ugo to venture out on separate searches; while Camille seeks out an ex-lover directly, Ugo's research into a lost manuscript leads him to a tempting younger lover.
Camille is French woman of intense emotions, tormented by the memory of the lover she left in Paris and more confused when she faces him again. She had left France to immerse herself in her acting career in Italy. She even performs in Italian, suggesting that she, like her character in Pirandello's play, has rejected everything associated with her previous life: Come tu Mi Vuo is about a woman thought to be an amnesiac lover who has returned to her past life after disappearing years earlier. Va Savoir cuts between Camille's performance in the play and her attempts to face her own past in Paris, which she has avoided for three years. Camille moves effortlessly between her work in the play and the various roles she takes on with her lovers.
By cutting between the film's characters' various situations and the play itself, Rivette suggests a fluidity between life and performance, so that it becomes hard to distinguish between, for instance, Camille's "real" and "affected" emotions or motivations. But creating understanding for the characters doesn't seem to be Va Savoir's primary concern. None of the six main characters is particularly sympathetic and none is given the opportunity to reflect on his or her actions. They all selfishly pursue their own goals through their chosen partners. Ugo is drawn to Dominique (Helene de Fougerolles) largely because she aids him in his search for an antiquarian, unpublished play that he dreams of being the first to direct. And Camille pines for Pierre (Jacques Bonnaffe) mostly because his intense longing for her elevates her own ego. You pursue love, the film and the play within the film suggest, in order to see yourself from the perspective of the one who desires you. Perhaps, presented with such reflections, these characters hope to become more like them.
Self-involvement rules Va Savoir in other ways too. Rivette, often referred to as the granpere of the New Wave movement of the 1960s, and one of the primary members of Cahiers du Cinema, is known for making unconventional and lengthy films (one of which is 13 hours long). The pace of Va Savoir is frustratingly plodding at first and the characters appear headed to no resolutions, suggesting that the director has again indulged this tendency.
Yet, viewer patience is rewarded, as the characters eventually find themselves in an increasingly absurd and satisfying knot. Inevitably, the group does eventually meet in order to deal with their interconnected and thoroughly untidy relationships. Instead of a nasty showdown, however, the finale is sweet and quiet; couples reunite and the extramarital affairs become instantly unimportant. Perhaps it is because Rivette's six characters are so acutely aware of each other's indiscretions and so loaded with flaws and regrets, that they are able to accept their partners' flaws with such unbelievable calm. It is only at the end that Va Savior lives up to its "romantic comedy" label, in that the characters all end up happily with their "proper" partners. But in a movie about how past loves haunt the present, this ending is too neat and forced. Instead of facing the demons they've racked up, the couples pair off in their original formations and just dance across the set.
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Thread: Ginger Grace - "Gigi" is here!
Hybrid View
April 7th, 2010 04:18 PM #1
Ginger Grace - "Gigi" is here!
Hello Berries!
Ginger Grace was born on my birthday, April 5th. She is stunning and we are over the moon.
Ginger is a perfect name for her as she truly is "sugar, spice and everthing nice." Everyone has been so complementary on her name and her beauty!
Thank you for all the help and advice over the last 6 months!
Although Gigi is the last baby for me, I will continually check in for advice and give my two cents!
Love all my NB friends! God Bless!bluebonnet
texan mama to Frank Reagan "Frankie", Christopher James "CJ", and Ginger Grace "Gigi"


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MONTEREY >> The assignment: Review the freshly opened Alvarado Street Brewery and Grill. The problem: Six house brews and no flights available — pints only. How to do a decent review without getting a DUI? The solution: Call in The Crew.
For my day job I do building maintenance and repair and general construction. My co-workers don't read Faulkner on their breaks, nor do they hum leitmotifs from The Ring Cycle while pounding nails. They do, however, appreciate good food and they definitely know good beer. Our headquarters is in Monterey. Why not hit the Brewery after work? "You're paying? We'll be there!"
"Too much testosterone," opined the Lovely Dorothy as she bowed out of this one. Too bad. In addition to us manly men there were a couple of spouses and a grandkid. Eight strong we swaggered through the door a little after five o'clock. The room was impressive — an atrium three stories high; shiny copper kettles and stainless steel fermenting tanks behind glass walls; a bar with an array of taps; lots of counter-style seating and tables with banquet and chair seating; a few readily ignorable TVs; lots of wood and masonry — a masculine sort of place.
We were quickly seated after a couple of tables were hastily pushed together. The banquettes looked cushy; unfortunately the steel chairs are not so kind to those of us who lack a surfeit of natural padding. "Please, sir, may I have a cushion?"
It had been a taxing day and we were hungry and thirsty. In addition to the house brews there are 13 others on tap and another 15 available by the bottle (and a decent wine list, but ...). Choices were difficult to make.
All the draft beers fall into the $7-$7.50 range for an "honest" pint, while the bottles (330 ml and 750 ml) are $10-$15. We all (well, not the kid) went for draft. The descriptions of the house brews are spot on; if a flavor or aroma is mentioned you can detect it. In its lighter concoctions Alvarado Street seems to favor fruit and herb; the darker brews have hints of chocolate and/or coffee. Of the four varieties tasted, the Resin Red Ale and the Doc Brown Belgian Ale tied for favorite. All were deemed excellent, however.
We ordered four of the six appetizers on the menu. The pan smoked mussels with homemade curry ($12) and the grilled asparagus with diced tasso, soft boiled egg and Lamb Chopper cheese ($9) were the standouts. The mussels (black) were plump and juicy and the curry was subtle, complementing, not overpowering, the shellfish. Oddly, the dish came with a plate of fries for dipping in the sauce. Haven't found a decent bread yet?
Although seemingly too effete for this party the asparagus with its cubes of tasso ham was meaty enough to satiate. Flavors and textures worked well together, but the icy cold egg was incongruous in its temperature. Poutine ($9) — fries with cheese curds and pork belly drenched in Belgian beer gravy — had a heartiness perfect for the end of a physical workday.
The Beef Kebab ($12) with harissa and basmati rice and toasted almonds fell a little flat. The rice and nuts were nice but the harissa was lacking in punch and the flank steak was a little tough.
In spite of our numbers we ended up sampling only burgers and a couple of flatbreads as entrees. This particular evening, the "Large Bites" of squid pasta ($18), market fish ($24), oven roasted chicken breast ($24) and butcher's cut of beef ($26) just didn't seem that appealing, although the descriptions were indicative of carefully thought-out dishes.
The quality of meat in the Black Angus burger ($14) was excellent. My only complaint was its saltiness (to be fair I may be hypersensitive as I have spent the past few weeks working up very-low-salt recipes for my mother-in-law). Each arrived cooked exactly as ordered along with a ramekin of house-made ketchup. The adult burgers were accompanied by the house salad, which included beets and sourdough croutons and was dressed with peach vinaigrette. The kid's cheeseburger ($5.95) came with a side of fries. But, burgers are burgers. The flatbreads were much more intriguing.
I was attracted to the wild mushroom version ($11) with feta cheese, chard, pickled onions and Flanders Red Ale tomato sauce. There was no question that these were not your run of the mill mushrooms; the aroma alone was ample evidence. Yet, while very tasty, the mushrooms pretty much had to carry the entire dish and after a few bites it got boring. The feta was amply present and helped support the 'shrooms, but the rest of the ingredients were MIA on the palate. The pickled onions were barely discernible, while their putative picklely vinegar bite would have been welcomed. I could see an occasional leaf of chard. The distribution of ingredients on the flat bread was very un-uniform. As this was shared with others I may not have gotten all the goods on the pieces I ate.
For a dish of this sort ingredients need to be placed, not dumped. Good food is equal parts creativity and craftsmanship — as was displayed by the Brie flatbread ($13).
Brie, Manchengo and Gruyere cheeses with arugula and balsamic vinegar reduction and the Flanders Red Ale tomato sauce: Now this was a tasty dish. The bitterness of the arugula, the sweetness of the balsamic reduction, the cheese ... Yes! This is why we go out to eat. Concept and execution. Bravo!
Of course we had a couple of desserts. The beignets ($7) were marvelous — five fluffy diamonds of fried dough dusted with cinnamon sugar and partnered with a sauce (a mousse, really) that featured dark chocolate. Delicious! The cheesecake was unique in its surprisingly light texture — perhaps a result of the cashews. The compote drizzled over it featured those mammoth blueberries that are currently available. A nicely seasonal touch.
It was unanimous: This was a place that the Crew, individually, would come back to — even if they had to pay their own way. Everything clicked — the vibe, the brews, the food. With a little less swagger and a little more roll to our steps, we ventured out onto Alvarado Street. Now that it was dark we could check on the placement of the lights we had hung that day in the street trees. We too are craftsmen. Attention to detail — the difference between average and excellent.
Alvarado Street Brewery and Grill
Where: 426 Alvarado St., Monterey (next to Rosine's); parking on Calle Principal
Hours: 5-10 p.m. Sun-Wed; 5-11 p.m. Thurs-Sat
Information: 655-2337, www.alvaradostreetbrewery.com
Bottom line: Food's a little pricey but the house beers are excellent. A nice foil to all the British-style pubs in the neighborhood.


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SpringHill Suites by Marriott San Antonio Alamo Plaza/Convention Center
Grid of 17 images
Get an overview of this hotel3-star San Antonio hotel in Downtown San Antonio, walk to Alamo
Popular property highlights
Located in Downtown San Antonio, this hotel is within a 10-minute walk of Alamo Mission in San Antonio, Alamo, and Shops at Rivercenter. River Walk and Tower of the Americas are also within 1 mi (2 km).
Hotel Features
This smoke-free hotel features an outdoor pool, a fitness center, and a snack bar/deli. Free buffet breakfast and free WiFi in public areas are also provided. Other amenities include a spa tub, a 24-hour business center, and valet parking.
Room Amenities
All 118 rooms provide free WiFi and free wired Internet, LCD TVs with cable channels, and conveniences like sofa beds and refrigerators. Guests will also find memory foam beds, iPod docks, and microwaves.
Guest Highlights
- Good location
- Proximity to shopping
- Breakfast
- Helpful staff
- Clean guestrooms
- Guestroom size
SpringHill Suites by Marriott San Antonio Alamo Plaza/Convention Center
Hotel Amenities
Hotel Amenities
In addition to an outdoor pool, SpringHill Suites by Marriott San Antonio Alamo Plaza/Convention Center provides a spa tub and a fitness center. The hotel offers a snack bar/deli. A complimentary breakfast is offered each morning. A computer station is located on site and wireless Internet access is complimentary.
Business-related amenities at this 3-star property consist of a 24-hour business center and a meeting room. Event facilities measure 822 square feet (76 square meters). This business-friendly hotel also offers coffee/tea in a common area, complimentary newspapers in the lobby, and laundry facilities. Parking is available onsite for a surcharge.
SpringHill Suites by Marriott San Antonio Alamo Plaza/Convention Center is a smoke-free property.
- Spa tub
- 24-hour front desk
- Total number of rooms - 118
- Number of floors - 6
- ATM/banking
- Coffee/tea in common areas
- Free newspapers in lobby
- Dry cleaning/laundry service
- Elevator/lift
- Express check-out
- Fitness facilities
- Computer station
- Free WiFi
- One meeting room
- Luggage storage
- Safe-deposit box at front desk
- Snack bar/deli
- Conference space size (meters) - 76
- Year Built 2011
- 24-hour business center
- Conference space size (feet) - 822
- Smoke-free property
- Number of buildings/towers - 1
- Outdoor pool
- Television in common areas
- Free breakfast
- Laundry facilities
- Valet parking (surcharge)
Family Friendly Amenities
- Family Hotel
- Outdoor pool
- Free Wi-Fi
- Snack bar/deli
- Laundry facilities
- Sofa bed
- Refrigerator
- Microwave
- Cribs/infant beds (complimentary)
Available in all rooms: Free WiFi , Free wired Internet
Available in some public areas: Free WiFi
Valet parking (surcharge)
Room Amenities
- Free cribs/infant beds
- Premium TV channels
- Premium bedding
- Air conditioning
- In-room climate control (air conditioning)
- Free newspaper
- Phone
- Free local calls
- Refrigerator
- Minibar
- Coffee/tea maker
- Microwave
- Daily housekeeping
- Hair dryer
- Iron/ironing board
- Desk
- Sofa bed
- Cable TV service
- Free WiFi
- Free wired Internet
- iPod docking station
- Memory foam mattress
- Sofa bed size
Where to Eat
A complimentary hot/cold buffet breakfast is served each morning between 6 AM and 9:30 AM.
Nearby Things to Do
An outdoor pool and a spa tub are on site. Other recreational amenities include a fitness center.
The recreational activities listed below are available either on site or nearby; fees may apply.
- Golfing nearby
- Bicycle rentals nearby
- Segway rental/tour nearby
If you have requests for specific accessibility needs, please note them at check-out when you book your room.
- Accessible bathroom
- In-room accessibility
- Roll-in shower
Hotel Policies
Check-in time ends at 2 AM
Check-in time starts at 4 PM
Minimum check-in age is 21
Special check-in instructions:
Check-out time is noon
Payment types
Children and extra beds
- Children are welcome.
- Kids stay free! Up to 4 children 17 years old and younger stay free when using existing bedding.
- Rollaway/extra beds are not available.
- Free cribs (infant beds)!
- Pets not allowed
You need to know
Extra-person charges may apply and vary depending on property policy.
- Minimum Spring Break check-in age is 21 years old.
- The name on the credit card used at check-in to pay for incidentals must be the primary name on the guestroom reservation.
Optional extras
- Valet parking fee: USD 24.00 per night
Hotel Name
- SpringHill Suites Hotel San Antonio Downtown/Alamo Plaza
We should mention
Up to 4 children 17 years old and younger stay free when occupying the parent or guardian's room, using existing bedding.


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I'm scheduled for a root canal treatment on my number 19 tooth and the dentist recommended a PFM crown after the root canal. The cost is ~$875 dollars and I was wondering how much more a palladium alloy crown would cost. Thanks!
Cost of a palladium alloy crown for the number 19 tooth?
Doctor Answers 1
Palladium Crown
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I would recommend an all-porcelain crown. I have fabricated thousands with a negligible failure rate (less than 0.1%). All ceramic is usually more esthetic, there is no risk of allergy to a metal alloy and there is no risk of a galvanic reaction from dissimilar metals in the mouth.
These answers are for educational purposes and should not be relied upon as a substitute for medical advice you may receive from your physician. If you have a medical emergency, please call 911. These answers do not constitute or initiate a patient/doctor relationship.


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Raleigh, N.C. — Just got this piece of news this morning: The Giorgios Hospitality Group will be bringing a farm-to-table concept to Wake Forest. Farm Table will take the place of Girasole Trattoria at 960 Gateway Commons Circle and is expected to open later this month. Menu items will range from $6 to $22 and include appetizers, small plates, summer salads and entrees.
Now, we have some beer news.
Crafty Beer Shop opened its location at Lafayette Village in north Raleigh this week. They also have a location in Raleigh's Five Points area.
Apex's Brueprint Brewing Company will celebrate its grand opening on Saturday from noon to 10 p.m. with live music, food trucks and, of course, their beer!
The Wander Box, a mobile, solar powered beer garden, has set up shop in front of the Contemporary Art Museum in downtown Raleigh's Warehouse District. They will be open from 4-11 p.m. weekdays and noon-11 p.m. Saturday and Sundays. They will remain there through June 15 before "wandering" elsewhere.
We are learning more about Clouds Brewery, which will be opening in the old Napper Tandy's location in downtown Raleigh in August. Patrons will be able to pay when they enter and receive a bracelet allowing them to pour their own beer from 40 different taps, Triangle Business Journal reports. Purchase an online membership to access online ordering and more. The brewpub will feature American fare with a German twist and you can order it from a tablet. Clouds Brewing will make mostly German beer at their Morrisville production location. Owners hope to open a second brewpub in Durham next year.
That was a lot of beer news! Now, on to cheese. Six Forks Cheese, a gourmet shop featuring fromage from around the world and local cheese purveyors, is opening in north Raleigh's Lafayette Village. It will be the area's first cheese shop. They are currently running a Kickstarter and are more than halfway toward their $5,000 goal.
WRAL's Ken Smith will love this news! Sonic Drive-in has announced plans to open five new franchises over the next five years, TBJ reports. No word on where those locations will be. They already have 10 locations in the Triangle.
Some sweet news: Quail Corners Creamery has opened off of Falls of Neuse Road in the Quail Corners Shopping Center in Raleigh. They are serving up hand-churned ice cream every day 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.
Kansas-based fast casual restaurant Freddy's Frozen Custards and Steakburgers is planning locations in Durham and Cary, TBJ reports. The Durham location is expected this fall.


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Yesterday, June 24th, over 80 people were killed after a U.S. drone fired missiles at the funeral of a suspected commander of the Pakistani Taliban in South Waziristan. Pakistani officials reported that the Taliban leader, Baitullah Mehsud, escaped the attack while the majority of those killed were civilians. Al-Jazeera English reports the following:
Al Jazeera's Kamal Hyder, reporting from Islamabad, said: "There are reports that Mehsud himself was at the congregational prayer and escaped the attack.
"However, we are told that a number of people present at that particular moment were [also] killed. There were unconfirmed reports that the death toll is much higher because a number of the bodies are badly mutilated.
However, Qari Hussain, a close associate of Mehsud, denied reports that Mehsud had a close call and said many of the dead were civilians.
"Baitullah Mehsud was at a secret place at the time of the American missile attack, and the attack killed only five of our colleagues, and the remaining 45 slain men were villagers," he told The Associated Press news agency.
There is some dispute over the causality numbers — some say over 45, some say over 65, some say over 80 — but does the exact number really matter when we're (1) talking about human life and (2) what has now become a frequent routine sweep for U.S. drone attacks in the region? Since President Obama's inauguration in January, he has authorized regular attacks from unmanned U.S. predator drones on Pakistan, which has amounted to over 150 people. As Jeremy Scahill writes in his article, "Obama's Undeclared War Against Pakistan Continues, Despite His Attempt to Downplay It," that "Since 2006, U.S. drone strikes have killed 687 people (as of April). That amounts to about 38 deaths a month just from drone attacks."
Last weekend, Obama sat down with Pakistani newspaper, Dawn, and stated that the U.S. has "no intention of sending US troops into Pakistan." He also mentioned that he knows how to cook some Pakistani dishes like qeema and daal, and expressed his appreciation for Urdu poetry. Are these comments meant to soften the reality of U.S. operations inside of Pakistan? Although Obama denies U.S. military presence in Pakistan, The New York Times reported the following in February:
American Special Operations troops based in Afghanistan have also carried out a number of operations into Pakistan's tribal areas since early September, when a commando raid that killed a number of militants was publicly condemned by Pakistani officials. According to a senior American military official, the commando missions since September have been primarily to gather intelligence.
The drones are remotely-piloted unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) which have been used a great deal in Iraq and Afghanistan. What doesn't seem to be discussed is that there is a lot of racism and ethnocentrism embedded in these drone strikes. As Scahill comments, "the only difference between using these attack drones and using actual US soldiers on the ground is that the soldiers are living beings. These drones sanitize war and reduce the US death toll while still unleashing military hell disproportionately on civilians." In other words, the drone attacks tell us that human life is only important if it is American. When innocent Pakistanis are killed, all the Obama administration can say is they "regret it" because they have that privilege.
We've all seen it before in science fiction films and novels. Robot armies and unmanned vehicles are deployed by nations with disproportionate military power (namely the United States) to protect their own civilians, but never showing the same concern for human beings in other countries. Eventually, what happens is the machines take over and end up waging an indiscriminate war against all of humanity. Remember Skynet from the Terminator series: Cyborgs and machines built initially to protect Americans against "foreign threats" develop a system/mind of their own and become humanity's worse enemy. No, I am not suggesting that machines are going to take over the world in such dramatic fashion, but metaphorically, it's already happening and right now, it's benefiting the military superpower. Imagine what would happen if another nation used these same drones to attack a town in the United States? How would the U.S. react to that?
First, there were spears, then swords, then arrows, then catapults, then gunpowder, then rifles, then canons, then automatic weapons, then fighter aircraft, then missiles, then the atom bomb, and now we have unmanned aerial vehicles. What's next? Android soldiers? As much as we can appreciate human innovation and technological advancement in things like the internet and telecommunication, why is that most of our government spending is invested in military technology? Think about all the things we could be doing with that money instead of killing other human beings. Think about all the people we could feed, shelter, and educate. Most of us living in the west take our privilege for granted and don't realize that we have a privilege to pursue our dreams and ambitions. Others, like the 3 million people displaced in Swat, have other priorities in their lives before they can even worry about anything else.
And what kind of reaction are these drone attacks going to create from Pakistanis? How does this benefit Pakistan's attitudes towards the United States? Pulse Media has an excellent post which includes Democracy Now's interview with Imran Khan, a very outspoken activist and critic of both, the Pakistani government and U.S. foreign policy. Here's an important excerpt:
AMY GOODMAN: Imran Khan, you were in Washington at the time that US lawmakers voted for funding the expanded war in Afghanistan. The US is planning a massive diplomatic presence in Pakistan. I think President Obama asked something like three-quarters of a billion dollars, $736 million, to build a new US embassy, as well as permanent housing for US officials in Islamabad. What is the effect of this? And what is the effect of the expanded war in Afghanistan on Pakistan?
IMRAN KHAN: Well, there was no terrorism in Pakistan, we had no suicide bombing in Pakistan, 'til Pakistan sent its troops on—under pressure from the US. Musharraf, General Musharraf, capitulated under the pressure and sent Pakistani troops into the tribal area and Waziristan. So it was that that resulted in what was the new phenomenon: the Pakistani Taliban. We had no militant Taliban in Pakistan, until we got in—we were forced into this US war on terror by a military dictator, not by the people of Pakistan. And people never owned this war. People always thought that this is not our war, and quite rightly, because we did not have any terrorism in Pakistan, as subsequently grew.
The more operations we did, the more reaction came. And suddenly, as now, we have thirty Taliban groups. I mean, these groups call themselves Taliban, but basically these are radicalized people, these are extremists. And extremism is growing in Pakistan, the more we are being engulfed in this war, which is based in, basically, Afghanistan. So, as long as the US troops are in Afghanistan, I'm afraid there's no peace in Pakistan either, because the tribal areas are basically—there's no border there, so the Pashtuns are split between—on the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan, and we have, you know, this movement across the border. And, you know, to send a—think that the Pakistan army is going to stop it—I think Pakistan army itself is going to be stuck in this quagmire, the same as the US in Afghanistan.
Imran Khan makes a crucial point that I always find myself making when I discuss how the current crisis in Pakistan evolved. Following the attacks of September 11th, George W. Bush gave countries like Pakistan an ultimatum, "you're either with us or against us." In that respect, Pakistan was pigeon-holed into military cooperation with the United States and as a result of fighting Taliban and militant forces in the North West Frontier Province, hostility and antagonism towards the Pakistani government increased. The Taliban forces have invaded Pakistan, not because this was something rooted in their ideology, but because the Taliban consider the Pakistani government complicit with the war crimes of the United States.
President Obama, who has criticized U.S. foreign policy in other countries, oddly does not enlighten Americans about the current struggles in Paksitan. He does not seem to worry about the inevitable backlash from the Taliban, militants, or even the civilians who just lost their Loved ones. If Obama is willing to engage in diplomatic relations with other Muslim countries like Iran and Palestine, then why isn't the same true for Pakistan and Afghanistan? The President assured Pakistanis that their country's sovereignty will not be violated, but the truth of the matter is that the drone strikes are violating their sovereignty. So what is Obama's purpose in Pakistan? Jeremy Scahill reveals some disturbing facts about America's plans in Afghanistan and Pakistan:
It is clear—and has been for a long time— that the Obama administration is radically expanding the US war in Afghanistan deeply into Pakistan. Whether it is through US military trainers (that's what they were called in Vietnam too), drone attacks or commando raids inside the country, the US is militarily entrenched in Pakistan. It makes Obama's comment that "[W]e have no intention of sending US troops into Pakistan" simply unbelievable.
For a sense of how significant US operations are and will continue to be for years and years to come, just look at the US plan to build an almost $1 billion massive US "embassy" in Islamabad, which is reportedly modeled after the imperial city they call a US embassy in Baghdad. As we know very clearly from Iraq, such a complex will result in an immediate surge in the deployment of US soldiers, mercenaries and other contractors.
Are you enjoying your qeema and daal, Mr. President?


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What Next For Balenciaga? (Vogue UK)
"CEO Isabelle Guichot has confirmed that she has 'a shortlist' of potential candidates to succeed creative director Nicolas Ghesquière, following yesterday's confirmation that he would be parting ways with the brand. The designer has acted at the helm of Balenciaga for 15 years."
Ralph Lauren kicks its 'preppy look' Rugby label into touch (Independent)
"It's the all-American style which allows shoppers across the world to dress like wealthy Ivy League students. But could our love affair with "preppy" clothes be waning? US fashion giant Ralph Lauren today announced that it was closing its Rugby label, which specialises in high-end college wear, by the end of 2013."
Marks & Spencer's first-half profits fall for second year running (Guardian)
"Marks & Spencer has reported a drop in first-half profits for the second year in a row after it paid the price for missing key fashion trends in womenswear earlier in the year."
Amazon is opening a New York photo studio for fashion (LA Times)
"Amazon.com knows that to sell high fashion through the Web, it can't depend on attentive salespeople, plushy boutiques or free-flowing glasses of champagne to loosen wallets. Online, it's all about the photos. So the online retail giant... Said it has rented a 40,000-square-foot New York City studio to snap photos of its fashion apparel and accessories."
The new male fashionista (Guardian)
"At online menswear store Mr Porter, the personal shopping team receive emails from customers straight after fashion shows expressing interest in looks they spotted on the catwalk. Buying manager Terry Betts reports that in 18 months of trading, Mr Porter has seen the emergence of a new 'really strong fashion guy.'


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Jaipur: A boy and a minor girl, said to be relatives, allegedly committed suicide by jumping before a train in Bassi town here.
Their mutilated bodies were spotted by locals in the morning who informed the police.
The 18-year-old boy and the girl, 14, were relatives and said to be in love.
They had gone missing from their homes. This morning, their bodies were found on railway tracks, police said.
The boy was a resident of a village near Bassi while the girl was a resident of Dausa district.
The bodies were handed over to the family members after post-mortem.


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Hey Folks,
As I am just getting back into the Avengers by going back to Disassembled and working to the present, I am a little confused about the need for 3 Avengers titles in the New Marvel NOW! releases...
Can someone explain why there will be three teams, Avengers, New and Uncanny, and how they will differ?
I am just getting through Civil war, so am well behind, but need to decide what i am going to pick up when this new stuff gets released. Is having 3 teams an excuse to sell more comics, or will be interaction between the teams?
Cheers all,


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I'm always on the lookout for good, inexpensive lip gloss, so this Wet N Wild MegaSlicks Lip Gloss in Rose Gold ($2), which reminds me of Nars Orgasm gloss ($24), sparked my interest. And now reader sweetlilpanda14 is giving me a good reason to go out and try it. She really loves this gloss, and says:
"I like the color, and the pigment is good too. It also has glitter, which is really pretty and gives some oomph to your lips without making them look like an overdecorated cake. I also have a nice clear lip gloss from this brand. "
Have a rave (or a rant) about a recent product experience? Want to see what other people think of your next big beauty purchase? Just head over to our Product Reviews section. It's informative, fun, and a great way to get the lowdown from other beauty buyers.


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With one of the most beautiful university campuses in the region, AUS boasts a range of on-campus housing units for members of the AUS community.
From one-bedroom to four-bedroom units, we provide furnished accommodation for all our regular, full-time faculty as well as some staff members. Our housing units come with sheets and quilts for the bedding as well as cutlery, crockery, glasses, saucepans and baking trays for the kitchen. In addition we give you a vacuum cleaner, microwave oven, kettle and coffee maker... and you can keep these items after serving one year at AUS.
We do our best to make your stay at AUS as comfortable and hassle-free as possible!
For more information on the faculty housing policy at AUS, please log in here.
For information on housing services at AUS, please log in here.


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Katie Holmes no gym 'slave'
Katie Holmes is said to be making a conscious effort not to spend all her time in the gym.
The 35-year-old actress has changed shape dramatically over the past year and recently showed off her trim bikini body on the beach in Miami.
Although Katie is said to have struggled with eating as healthily as normal during the winter, the brunette star didn't cave in to her cravings.
"Katie has always been conscious of having a healthy diet, but never wanted to be a slave to the gym. She finds it harder in the winter when she naturally wants to eat card-heavy food like pasta," a source told British magazine Closer.
Another reason Katie won't spend all her time exercising is her seven-year-old daughter Suri, who she has with her ex-husband Tom Cruise. The actress makes the tot her priority rather than focusing on her body all the time.
"She's insisted she will never spend hours down the gym trying to achieve rock-hard abs when she'd much rather spend quality time with Suri or catching up with her friends," the insider added.
The brunette beauty has been open about her gruelling fitness regime in the past. She previously listed just a few of the activities she takes part in and confessed her cravings for treats.
"Spinning, yoga, boot-camp classes. Boot camp is hard. When I'm in a slump, a friend will text me and ask, 'Do you want to join me?' And I'm like, 'Aaaargh, do I have to?'" she told Allure magazine last year. "I try to eat a lot of vegetables. In the winter, it's hard because all I want is pasta and cookies."
© Cover Media


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COUNTY businesses are being offered a free seminar on managing sickness absence.
Following the success of similar events run in Cheltenham and Worcester, Harrison Clark Rickerbys' Employment team in Hereford are holding a free to attend seminar, providing practical advice on how to manage both long-term and short periods of intermittent sickness absence.
Michael Stokes, Partner at Harrison Clark Rickerbys, said the seminar will address how sickness absence concerns can be best dealt with, and provide guidance on the legal issues around employee sickness.
The seminar takes place on Thursday , February 13th from 8am – 10am at the Hereford office of Harrison Clark Rickerbys'.
For more or to register visit www.hcrlaw.com/events or call 01432 349670.


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'Bridget Jones's Diary' 3 Is Officially In The Works!
Oh hurrah. Entertainment Weekly just confirmed today that a third installment of Bridget Jones's Diary is a GO! Grab the nearest bottle of vodka and turn up the volume on Sad FM-Easy Listening For The Over-30, because Bridg and that man in the reindeer jumper (ah yes, and that Cleaver chap) are making a triumphant return to the big screen after 2004's sequel, The Edge Of Reason.
Though we can't say whether Renee Zellweger will pile on the pounds once more to play the formerly pathetic singleton, we can say that things are sure to get messy between Bridg, Mark and Daniel. Colin Firth told EW last year that the topic of babies runs rampant in the the third movie.
"I can tell you that Bridget and Mark can't have children, I think that's the way it goes on. So then she makes the huge mistake of going back to Daniel Cleaver [Hugh Grant's character] for long enough to get pregnant. And I think he dumps her, and she's left stranded, and guess who comes back to rescue her?"
Way to screw up a good thing with Mahk Dahcy and run back to scamp, Cleaver. Do you want to go back to a life of ciggies, wheat crunchies and Fatal Attraction on replay? Get it together and treat Mr. Darcy well.


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Active Permanent GPS Network for Ireland
Ordnance Survey Ireland, Dublin, Ireland, announced the award of a tender to Survey Instrument Services to provide an active GPS network for Ireland. Survey Instrument Services will install Leica RS500 Reference Stations and CRnet software in the network. The GPS stations are developed by Leica Geosystems, Heerbrug, Switzerland. Until now, the use of GPS within Ordnance Survey Ireland focused on the supply of control points for mapping. Ordinance Survey Ireland now uses GPS for the survey map detail and has initiated several projects to introduce GPS into the map revision process.
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Attorney Sharon A. Christie Helps Disabled Workers Get
Social Security Disability Benefits!
Are you unable to work because of an illness or disability?
In the United States of America, we believe in justice. But the idea of justice can seem out of reach if you are battling the government for Social Security disability benefits.
My name is Sharon A. Christie, and I would like to welcome you to my website, where you will discover that I am a different kind of lawyer. As a registered nurse, I bring specialized expertise to Social Security disability cases. My medical knowledge gives me superior resources for your disability case.
People who have worked hard all of their lives but, because of an injury or chronic condition, can no longer work deserve disability payments under the federal Social Security system. But the process is long and complicated. If you have applied for Social Security disability benefits, odds are that your claim has been denied.
Don't give up. People with legitimate illnesses and disabilities often get turned down twice, and then must go before a judge to obtain benefits.
Many deserving people become frustrated and give up on the process without getting any benefits. But Social Security disability benefits can make the difference between financial stability and financial hardship. Don't let the bureaucracy discourage you from completing the often lengthy process. Get the help you need to navigate the system.
I know the laws, regulations and procedures that must be followed to qualify for benefits. Don't go it alone! If you have filed a claim and been denied or are waiting for a response, call me. I will help you gather evidence of your medical problems, build strong documentation that proves your disability or illness according to the government's standards and determine the best way to present your case. I will work with you to maximize your chance of success.
If your claim has been denied and you want help, call me today at 1-877-764-7870.