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And The Award for Not Thinking It's Funny Goes Too…
The Golden Globes were last night, and the very serious folks in very serious and important Hollywood took exception to host Ricky Gervais mocking them
Andrew Donaldson
/// January 6, 2020
The Golden Globes were last night, and the very serious folks in very serious and important Hollywood took exception to host Ricky Gervais mocking them
Kyle Cupp
/// January 2, 2014
Does it matter if Richard Dawkins is ignorant of theology? If he's going to write about it, then yes.
April 27, 2020
February 2, 2020
[caption id="attachment_330783" align="alignnone" width="720"] Ball-and-stick model of a hydroxychloroquine molecule[/caption]
In the early days of the Coronavirus epidemic, there were hopes that the disease could be treated with a compound called hydroxychloroquine (HCQ). HCQ is a long-established inexpensive medicine that is widely used to treat malaria. It also has uses for treating rheumatoid arthritis and lupus. There had been some indications that HCQ could treat SARS virus infections by attacking the spike proteins that coronaviruses use to latch onto cells and inject their genetic material. Initial small-scale studies of the drug on COVID-19 patients indicated some positive effect (in combination with the antibiotic azithromycin). President Trump, in March, promoted HCQ as a game-changer and is apparently taking it as a prophylaxis after potentially being exposed by White House staff.
Initial claims of the efficacy of this therapy were a perfect illustration of why we base decisions on scientific studies and not anecdotes. By late March, Twitter was filled with stories of "my cousin's mother's former roommate was on death's door and took this therapy and miraculously recovered". But such stories, even assuming they are true, mean nothing. With COVID-19, we know that seriously ill people reach an inflection point where they either recover or die. If they died while taking the HCQ regimen, we don't hear from them because...they died. And if they recover without taking it, we don't hear from them because...they didn't take it. Our simian brains have evolved to think that correlation is causation. But it isn't. If I sacrificed a goat in every COVID-19 patient's room, some of them would recover just by chance. That doesn't mean we should start a massive holocaust of caprines.
However, even putting aside anecdotes, there were good reasons to believe the HCQ regimen might work. And given the seriousness of this disease and the desperation of those trying to save lives, it's understandable that doctors began using it for critically ill patients and scientists began researching its efficacy.
Why Trump became fixated on it is equally understandable. Trump has been looking for a quick fix to this crisis since Day One. Denial failed. Closing off (some) travel to China failed. A vaccine is months if not years away. So HCQ offered him what he wanted -- a way to fix this problem without the hard work, tough choices and sacrifice of stay-at-home orders, masks, isolation and quarantine. So eager were they to adopt the quick fix, the Administration made plans to distribute millions of doses of this unproven drug in lieu of taking more concrete steps to address the crisis.[efn_note]Although the claim that Trump stands to profit off HCQ sales does not appear to hold much water.[/efn_note]
This is also why certain fringe corners of the internet became fixated on it. There has arisen a subset of the COVID Truthers that I'm calling HCQ Truthers: people who believe that HCQ isn't just something that may save some lives but is, in fact, a miracle cure that it's only being held back so that...well, take your pick. So that Democrats can wreck the economy. So that Bill Gates can inject us with tracking devices. So that we can clear off the Social Security rolls. And this isn't just a US phenomenon nor is it all about Trump. Overseas friends tell me that COVID trutherism in general and HCQ trutherism in particular have arisen all over the Western World.
It's no accident that the HCQ Truthers seem to share a great deal of headspace with the anti-Vaxxers. It fills the same needs
There is, however, another crazy side that doesn't get as much attention because their crazy is a bit more subtle. These are the people who have decided that, since Trump is touting the HCQ treatment, it must not work. It can not work. It can not be allowed to work. There is an undisguised glee when studies show that HCQ does not work and a willingness to blame HCQ shortages on Trump and only Trump.[efn_note]Not to mention the odd fish tank cleaner poisoning that has nothing to do with him.[/efn_note]
In between the two camps are everyone else: scientists, doctors and ordinary folk who just want to know whether this thing works or not, politics and conspiracy theories be damned. Well, last week, we got a big indication that it does not. A massive study out of the Lancet concluded that the HCQ regimen has no measurable positive effect. In fact, death rates were higher for those who took the regimen, likely due to heart arrhythmias induced by the drug.
So is the debate over? Can we move on from HCQ? Not quite.
First of all, the study is a retrospective study, looking backward at nearly 100,000 cases over the last four months. That's a massive sample that allows one to correct for potential confounding factors. But it's not a double-blind trial, so there may be certain biases that can not be avoided. In response to the publication, a group doing a controlled study unblinded some of their data (that is, they let an independent group look up who was getting the actual HCQ and who was getting a placebo). It did not show enough of a safety concern to warrant ending the study.
It's also worth noting that because this is an unproven therapy, it is usually being used on only the sickest patients (the odd President of the United States aside). It's possible earlier use of the drug, when the body is not already at war with itself, could help.
With those caveats in mind, however, this study at least makes it clear that HCQ is not the miracle cure some fringe corners of the internet are pretending it is. And it should make doctors hesitant in giving to people who already have heart issues.
As you can imagine, this has only fed the twin camps of derangement. The truther arguments tend to fall into the usual holes that truther theories do:
The other camp's response has ranged from undisguised glee -- that is, joy at the idea that we won't be saving lives cheaply -- to bizarre claims that Trump should be charged with crimes for touting this unproven therapy.
(A perfect illustration of the dementia: former FDA Head Scott Gottlieb -- who has been a Godsend for objective analysis during the pandemic -- tweeted out the results of the RECOVERY unblinding yesterday morning and noted that it showed no increased safety risk. He was immediately dogpiled by one side insisting he was trying to conceal the miracle cure of HCQ and the other insisting he is a Trumpist doing the Orange Man's dirty work.)
In the end, the lunatics do not matter. Whether HCQ works or not, whether it is used or not, will be mostly determined by doctors and will mostly be based on the evidence we have in front of us. If HCQ fails -- and it's not looking good -- my only response will be massive disappointment. Had HCQ worked, it would have been a gift from the heavens. It is a well-known, well-studied drug that can be manufactured cheaply in bulk. Had it worked, we could have saved thousands of lives, prevented hundreds of thousands of long-term injuries and saved trillions of dollars. That it doesn't appear to work -- certainly not miraculously -- is not entirely unexpected but is also a tragedy.Comment →
{C1} The Christian Science Monitor looks at 1918 and how sports handled that pandemic, and the role it played in giving rise to college football.
"That's really what started the big boom of college football in the 1920s," said Jeremy Swick, historian at the College Football Hall of Fame. "People were ready. They were back from war. They wanted to play football again. There weren't as many restrictions about going out. You could enroll back in school pretty easily. You see a great level of talent come back into the atmosphere. There's new money. It started to get to the roar of the Roaring '20s and that's when you see the stadiums arm race. Who can build the biggest and baddest stadium?"
{C2} During times of rapid change, social science is supposed to be able to help lead the way or at least decipher what is going on. Or maybe not...
But while Willer, Van Bavel, and their colleagues were putting together their paper, another team of researchers put together their own, entirely opposite, call to arms: a plea, in the face of an avalanche of behavioral science research on COVID-19, for psychology researchers to have some humility. This paper—currently published online in draft format and seeding avid debates on social media—argues that much of psychological research is nowhere near the point of being ready to help in a crisis. Instead, it sketches out an "evidence readiness" framework to help people determine when the field will be.
{C3} There is a related story about AI - which is predisposed towards tracking slow change over time - is having trouble keeping up.
{C4} The Covid-19 does not bode well for higher education is not news. They may have a lot of difficulty opening up (and maybe shouldn't). An added wrinkle is kids taking a gap year, which is potentially a problem because those most able to pay may be least likely to attend.
{C5} People who can see the faults with abstinence only education fail to see how that logic (We shouldn't give guidance to people doing things we would rather they not do in the first place). Emily Oster argues that the extreme message of public health advocates to Just Stay Home is counterproductive.
When people are advised that one very difficult behavior is safe, and (implicitly or not) that everything else is risky, they may crack under the pressure, or throw up their hands. That is, if people think all activities (other than staying home) are equally risky, they figure they might as well do those that are more fun. If taking a walk at a six-foot distance from a friend puts me at very high risk, why not just have that friend and a bunch of others over for a barbecue? It's more fun. This is an exaggeration, of course, but different activities carry very different risks, and conscientious civic leaders should actively help people choose among them.
{C6} A look at what canceling the football season will do to the little guys - non-power schools. Ironically, they may sustain less damage due to fewer financial obligations relying on the money that won't be coming in. Be that as it may, Fordham has disestablished its baseball program.
{C7} Bans on evictions and rental spikes could have the main effect of simply pushing out small investors, rather than protecting renters. In a more good-faith economy this would be less of an issue because landlords would work with tenants. Which some are, though I don't have too much faith about it being widespread.
{C8} Three cheers for Nick Saban. Football coaches are cultural leaders of a sort. One is about to become a senator in Alabama, even. What they do matters.Comment →
[caption id="attachment_330648" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] California State University, East Bay. Photo by Jennifer Williams via Wikimedia Commons[/caption]
The American college experience for better or for worse revolves around the residency factor. We have turned college into a relatively safe place for young adults to the test the limits of freedom without suffering too many consequences. Better to miss a day of classes because you drank too much than to miss a day of an apprenticeship or job and get fired. College was cut short this semester because of COVID and colleges are freaking out about whether they can open up dorms in the fall. The dorms are big money makers and it is hard to justify huge tuition bucks for zoom lectures even for elite universities. Maybe especially for them. California State University announced that Fall 2020 is going to be largely online. My undergrad alma mater sent out an e-mail blast announcing their plan to reopen in the fall with "mostly" in person classes. The President admitted that the plan was a work in progress but it strikes me as a combination of common sense and extreme wishful thinking. The plan may include:
1. Staggered drop-off days to limit density as we return.
This sounds reasonable but only in a temporary way because eventually everyone will be back on campus, living in dorm rooms together, needing to use communal bathrooms and showers.
2. Students would be tested for COVID-19 on campus at least twice in the first 14 days.
There is nothing wrong with this as long as the testing is available. Our capacity for testing so far in this country has not been great.
3. Anyone experiencing symptoms would be tested immediately. Students who test positive would be cared for in a separate dormitory area where food would be brought to the room and where the student could still access classes remotely.
Nothing wrong here. Outbreaks of certain diseases are not unknown in the college setting. During my senior year, there was an outbreak of a rather nasty strain of gastroenteritis. Other universities have experienced meningitis outbreaks.
4. All students would take their temperature and report symptoms daily.
This one is also reasonable but is going to involve spying on students and coming up with a punishment mechanism. How will they make sure students are not lying?
5. We would also require that socializing be kept to a minimum in the beginning, with proper PPE (masks) and social distancing. As time went on, we would seek to open up more, and students could socialize and eat together in small groups.
I have no idea how they tend for this to happen and it sets of all my lawyer bells for carefully crafted language that attempts to answer a concern or question but also admits "we got nothing." Maybe today's students are more somber and sincere but you are going to have around 500 eighteen year olds who are away from their parents for the first time and another 1500 nineteen to twenty-one year olds who had their semester rudely interrupted and might now be reunited with boyfriends and girlfriends. Are they going to assign eating times for the dining hall and put up solo eating cubicles that get wiped down and disinfected after each use? Assign times to use laundry facilities in each dorm? Cancel the clubs? Cancel performances by the theatre, dance, and music departments?
I am sympathetic to my alma I love it but and realize that a lot of colleges and universities would take a real hit financially without residency. This includes universities with reasonable to very large endowments. Only the ones with hedge fund size endowments would not suffer but the last part of the plain sounds not fully thought out yet even if my college's current President admitted: "Life on campus will not look the same as it did pre-pandemic" The only way i see number 5 working is if requiring is read as "requiring."Comment →
Seems that the theory that Covid-19 can be spread by asymptomatic people has very shaky evidence in support of it. Turns out the case this assumption was made from was based on a single woman who infected 4 others. Researchers talked to the 4 patients, and they all said the patient 0 did not appear ill, but they could not speak to patient 0 at the time.
So they finally got to talk to her, and she said she was feeling ill, but powered through with the aid of modern pharmaceuticals.
Photo by Spirit-FireComment →
Speaker Nancy Pelosi has unveiled the plan for another $3 trillion in spending to offset the effects of the Coronavirus economic shutdown.
Comment →
House Democrats announced a sweeping new Covid-19 stimulus bill on Tuesday with a price tag expected to be more than $3 trillion -- an amount that would stand as the largest relief package in history.
The legislation, which provides funding for state and local governments, coronavirus testing, and a new round of direct payments to Americans, sets up an immediate clash with the Senate, where Republican leaders have said another round of emergency funding is not yet needed.
Sen. John Barrasso, a member of Republican leadership in the chamber, warned that the new bill is dead on arrival. "That will not pass. It's not going to be supported," he said of the new legislation.
The package is expected to cost more than $3 trillion, dwarfing the stimulus measure enacted in March, which was more than $2 trillion and at the time amounted to the largest emergency aid package in American history.
The bill, which Democrats are calling the Heroes Act, would provide nearly $1 trillion for state and local governments, a $200 billion fund for essential worker hazard pay, an additional $75 billion for Covid-19 testing, tracing and isolation efforts, and a new round of direct payments to Americans of up to $6,000 per household, according to a fact sheet released by the House Appropriations Committee.
House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, a Maryland Democrat, notified members on Tuesday afternoon that the House is expected to meet Friday morning to vote on the legislation.
In a day-long virtual meeting, after four ballots, the 1,035 delegates assembled for the Libertarian Party's online convention selected Jo Jorgensen as their presidential candidate.
She won with slightly over 51 percent of the vote (not every delegate voted in every round) on that fourth ballot, with 524 votes. Jacob Hornberger came in second, with nearly 28 percent of the vote. Vermin Supreme came in third, with 20 percent of the final vote.
(Featured Image is Jo Jorgensen, taken from Wikipedia.)Comment →
The most passionate of all our political debates is about to get a whole new, ugly chapter in it's long history opened up.
Comment →
When Norma McCorvey, the anonymous plaintiff in the landmark Roe vs. Wade case, came out against abortion in 1995, it stunned the world and represented a huge symbolic victory for abortion opponents: "Jane Roe" had gone to the other side. For the remainder of her life, McCorvey worked to overturn the law that bore her name.
But it was all a lie, McCorvey says in a documentary filmed in the months before her death in 2017, claiming she only did it because she was paid by antiabortion groups including Operation Rescue.
"I was the big fish. I think it was a mutual thing. I took their money and they'd put me out in front of the cameras and tell me what to say. That's what I'd say," she says in "AKA Jane Roe," which premieres Friday on FX. "It was all an act. I did it well too. I am a good actress."
In what she describes as a "deathbed confession," a visibly ailing McCorvey restates her support for reproductive rights in colorful terms: "If a young woman wants to have an abortion, that's no skin off my ass. That's why they call it choice."
Arriving in an election year as the Supreme Court is considering a high-profile abortion case with the potential to undermine Roe vs. Wade and several states across the country have imposed so-called "heartbeat laws" effectively banning the procedure, "AKA Jane Roe" is likely to provoke strong emotions on both sides of this perennial front in the culture wars.
Director Nick Sweeney says his goal was not necessarily to stir controversy, but to create a fully realized portrait of a flawed, fascinating woman who changed the course of American history but felt she was used as a pawn by both sides in the debate.
Back in April, they officially started working with The News Guild of New York:
Since its founding 27 years ago, WIRED has prepared readers and viewers for the promises and upheavals of the future. Now it's time to secure our own place in that future. We are proud to announce the @wired editorial staff has formed a union with @nyguild. 1/ pic.twitter.com/0TTwTHUMad
— WIRED Union (@wiredunion) April 22, 2020
And now, according to Anthony Lydgate, a sufficient number of staff has signed union cards:
An overwhelming number of @WIRED employees have signed union cards.
There are two ways this plays out:
1. Condé Nast recognizes us voluntarily
2. We take it to the NLRB and win in a landslide
Either way, there will be a @wiredunion.
Let's stop this nonsense and get to work. https://t.co/tNL6S0Oj7U
— Anthony Lydgate (@anthonylydgate) May 18, 2020
(Featured image is "In The Nick of Time" by tim ellis . Used under creative commons license.)Comment →
One of four deptuties fired over the response of the Broward County Sheriff's Office, and the first supervisor on scene, has been reinstated via arbitration hearing.
Comment →
The Broward Sheriff's Office sergeant who was the first supervisor to respond to the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting and lost his job after it was found he hid behind his car as the first shots rang out, will be reinstated, awarded full back pay and get back his seniority, the BSO Deputies Association said Wednesday.
Sgt. Brian Miller was one of the four deputies who were terminated because of a "neglect of duty" in the Feb. 14, 2018, Parkland shooting, which killed 17 students and faculty members and injured another 17.
Miller, 57, was paid $138,410.25 in 2017, according to the Sun-Sentinel. The BSO veteran had challenged the decision with union backing. An arbitration ruling found "BSO violated Sgt. Brian Miller's constitutional due process rights and improperly terminated him," the union said.
BSO fired Miller in June 2019.
On Feb. 14, 2018, Nikolas Cruz, then a 19-year-old former Stoneman Douglas student, entered the school and opened fire, using a semi-automatic rifle to kill the students and staff.
BSO was criticized for its response to the shooting.
Then-Sheriff Scott Israel faced backlash from Broward Deputies Association President Jeff Bell, who said at the time Israel was going after deputies and sergeants by suspending them, but allowed Capt. Jan Jordan to resign.
Jordan took charge of the scene. She arrived within seven minutes of the first shots being fired and did not urge deputies to go into the school, according to reports at the time.
Deputies Edward Eason, Joshua Stambaugh, Scot Peterson and Miller were all fired months after the shootings. The sheriff's office internal investigation had found they all failed in their duties.
According to a report by the Marjory Stoneman Douglas Public Safety Commission, which investigated the shootings, Miller was the first supervisor to respond; he arrived as shots were being fired. He hid behind his police cruiser and did not radio in for 10 minutes.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation has announced the autopsy results for Ahmaud Arbery.
Comment →
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation released autopsy results late Monday night, which showed Arbery had been shot three times.
The Glynn County coroner's office conducted the autopsy on Feb. 24, the day after Arbery's death in a Brunswick, Georgia neighborhood.
The coroner's report shows two close range gunshots hit Arbery's chest: one in the upper left chest and a second in the lower chest near his lungs. The third bullet grazed his right wrist.
"This 25-year-old died of multiple gunshots wounds sustained during a struggle for the shotgun," according the report dated April 1.
As a routine check, the GBI said neither drugs nor alcohol were found in his system.
We have reporters LIVE in Glynn County for the latest on the investigation, on Channel 2 Action News This Morning.
The autopsy results appear to line up with the video leaked on social media showing Arbery's death. At least three gunshots could be heard in the video before Arbery fell to the ground.
The shooting death of Arbery, an unarmed black man, at the hands of two white men has sparked outrage.
May 27, 2020
May 27, 2020
May 27, 2020
May 26, 2020
Sears, Trump, and the Age of Bull
May 25, 2020
May 25, 2020
May 22, 2020
May 27, 2020
Coronaroundup: Nick Saban Edition
May 24, 2020
Sears, Trump, and the Age of Bull
May 25, 2020
I feel just a bit of an obligation to comment, having been name-checked in the very title of the post.
While I see the OP's point of the similarity of the paths of corruption followed by (some) politicians and clerics, I think there's something to contrast.
Through sunshine laws and other kinds [...]


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Student Loans 101
May 19, 2014
Graduating from college is an exhilarating time: You're on the threshold of many new adventures—like getting your first job. And if you (or your son or daughter) are like millions of other grads leaving college in debt, you will likely have some new obligations in terms of student loans. Here's a brief overview of student loans and how they can impact your financial future.
Your loan repayment schedules will depend on the type of loan(s) you have, which can include:
- Federal student loans—the U.S. Department of Education offers three types of direct loans — subsidized (available to students who have demonstrated financial need), unsubsidized (available to any student), and PLUS loans (available to parents and graduate students). Federal student loans are available regardless of income, assets or credit history.
- Private education loans—loans from banks, credit unions and private companies.
If you aren't sure what type of loans you have, visit the National Student Loan Database System and select "Financial Aid Review." Click each individual loan to find out the "servicer" for that loan (this is the company that will collect payments from you). Your servicer might be a different company from the original lender. Remember, this system shows only your federal student loans, not private education loans.
What's at Stake
Making your loan payments on time can help you build and maintain a good credit rating—and avoid the extra expense of late fees—while missing or late payments hurt your credit rating and can affect your financial future.
If your student loan goes into default, any or all of these could occur:
- the national credit bureaus will be notified and the default will be noted on your credit report
- you may become ineligible for any future federal aid
- your wages could be garnished (i.e., loan payments could be withheld from your paychecks)
- your state and federal income tax refunds could be applied toward the debt
- a collection agency could come after you
Head of the Class
To stay on track, Nikki Lavoie, Corporate Communications Manager at private-loan provider Sallie Mae, advises setting a payment budget and then sticking to it—even paying extra if you can. "By paying more than the minimum, you can lower the total amount of interest you pay over the life of the loan," she advises.
Although more than 90% of Sallie Mae's customers make their payments on time, some customers will struggle with payments and need assistance.
If you are struggling, Lavoie advises you to contact your loan servicer. In some situations, your servicer can suspend or modify your loan terms to make the payments more affordable. You might also be advised to consolidate your debt (including your higher-interest credit card or other debt). And if you have several federal loans, they can be consolidated through the U.S. Department of Education.
Plan for Success
By establishing your payment budget and making payments on time, you'll avoid the negative consequences of a poor credit history and start building good credit, which will help you in the future when you're ready to buy a new car…or even your first house.
(Editor's Note: To request a free annual credit report, visit www.annualcreditreport.com. To find out your credit score, visit http://www.CreditSesame.com.)

subset: commoncrawl


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Kenneth BranaghSir Kenneth Charles Branagh (; born 10 December 1960) is a British actor, director, film producer, and screenwriter. Branagh trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London; in 2015 he succeeded Richard Attenborough as its president. He has both directed and starred in several film adaptations of William Shakespeare's plays, including ''Henry V'' (1989) (for which he was nominated for the Academy Awards for Best Actor and Best Director), ''Much Ado About Nothing'' (1993), ''Othello'' (1995), ''Hamlet'' (1996) (for which he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay), ''Love's Labour's Lost'' (2000), and ''As You Like It'' (2006).
Branagh has starred in numerous other films and television series including ''Fortunes of War'' (1987), Woody Allen's '' Celebrity'' (1998), ''Wild Wild West'' (1999), as the voice of Miguel in ''The Road to El Dorado'' (2000), as SS leader Reinhard Heydrich in ''Conspiracy'' (2001), ''Shackleton'' (2002), ''Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets'' (2002), ''Warm Springs'' (2005), as Major General Henning von Tresckow in ''Valkyrie'' (2008), ''The Boat That Rocked'' (2009), ''Wallander'' (2008–2016), ''My Week with Marilyn'' (2011) as Sir Laurence Olivier (Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor), and as Royal Navy Commander Bolton in the action-thriller ''Dunkirk'' (2017). He has directed such films as ''Dead Again'' (1991), in which he also starred, ''Swan Song'' (1992) (Academy Award nominated for Best Live Action Short Film), ''Mary Shelley's Frankenstein'' (1994) in which he also starred, ''The Magic Flute'' (2006), ''Sleuth'' (2007), the Marvel superhero film ''Thor'' (2011), the action thriller ''Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit'' (2014) in which he also co-stars, the live-action adaptation of Disney's ''Cinderella'' (2015), and the mystery drama adaptation of Agatha Christie's ''Murder on the Orient Express'' (2017), in which he also starred as Hercule Poirot.
He narrated the series ''Cold War'' (1998), the BBC documentary miniseries ''Walking with Dinosaurs'' (1999) (as well as ''The Ballad of Big Al''), ''Walking with Beasts'' (2001) and ''Walking with Monsters'' (2005). Branagh has been nominated for five Academy Awards and five Golden Globe Awards; he has won three BAFTAs and two Emmy Awards. He was appointed a Knight Bachelor in the 2012 Birthday Honours and knighted on 9 November 2012. He was made a Freeman of his native city of Belfast in January 2018. Provided by Wikipedia
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KARLA Conceptual Event Experiences is a full-service event planning, design, and production firm creating extraordinary events for discriminating private and corporate clients. Under the direction of owner Karla Dascal, KARLA has become one of the most sought-after and celebrated event companies dedicated to orchestrating the perfect experience or occasion. KARLA events are personalized to reflect the distinct tastes of each client, whether it be an individual, corporate entity, or luxury brand. Each and every design element is masterfully crafted and impeccably executed to create the perfect balance between form and function, precision and elegance. It is this ultra-high level of detailed workmanship and a commitment to originality, quality and customer service that puts KARLA Conceptual Event Experiences in a category all its own.
Karla Dascal is a Miami native whose creative vision and quest for elegance began in 1992 shortly after receiving her Bachelor of Architecture & Design degree. Karla returned to Miami post-graduation to open Roses by Karla Inc., which produced unique, architecturally inspired floral concepts for residences and businesses in South Florida. After developing a strong client base and with the demand for her stunning rose arrangements heightening, Karla started a new endeavor — redefining special events with the same dedication and innovation she had become known for. This venture, KARLA Conceptual Event Experiences, has become one of the most sought-after and celebrated full-service event planning and design production companies. Twenty years since its inception, discriminating private and corporate clients, both domestic and international, continue to depend on KARLA for extraordinary, expertly crafted events and celebrations.


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The previous owner (Chek Whyte) was a bit of a character wasn't he. It's no secret that he's not a millionaire anymore though is it? That's one way to describe him *laughs* It's got to be remembered though that if he hadn't had stepped in when he did then it was highly likely that there wouldn't be an ITFC today. Just a shame he didn't live up to his other promises.
It's the clubs 65th anniversary on July 24th. How long have you been a fan? I've been a fan since about 1995, around the time that the late Keith Alexander took over. He has been, without a doubt, the greatest manager we've ever had.
Does the club draw supporters from other league clubs in the area when they're not at home? Ilkeston is smack bang in the middle of Derby and Nottingham so we do tend to attract fans from both these teams. It's a bit of a double-edged sword though as it does mean that there are quite a few sheep lovers down at the NMG!
Who are your rivals? Eastwood are our biggest rivals. There ground is only 5 minutes away and there's a good spirited rivalry between both teams. I've got to mention the fact that we played them 4 times last season, beating them 3 times and drawing once. Oh yes, we also finished above them in the league *adopts smug grin*.
The official nickname is The Robins but does everyone call the club "Ilson"? That's just a shortened version for those who can't be bothered to say Ilkeston every time right? Yeah it is. It just rolls off the tongue easier...especially after a few beers.
You would appear to have a huge clock in the corner of the ground. That's a nice original feature. Do you have time to tell us what's that all about? It certainly is an unusual addition to the ground. It's certainly a talking point for the away fans but home fans tend to ignore it now. There's plenty of seating next to the clock tower but hardly anybody uses it.
What was the greatest moment in the clubs history? Beating Carlisle United in the first round of the FA Cup courtesy of a Paul Raynor goal direct from a corner. This was made even more memorable by the fact you could see me celebrating on Match Of The Day!
My Ilson debut has coincided with my birthday today. What is the clubhouse like? Does it knock out a decent pint of Guinness and make strangers welcome?
I don't know about the Guinness but the beer's not too bad. However, here's some breaking news, the clubhouse has just changed owners this week so your first drink there will also be our first drink. Happy birthday by the way!
And the local cuisine - chips and gravy right? Yep, chips and gravy a plenty. However I have been told that it's not the best in the league but still worth trying.
And finally, can you sum up Ilkeston Town in a Tweet of under 140 characters? Hard to beat team who never give up and enjoy a taste of badger!


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Romney, Perry top GOP fundraising race
WASHINGTON (AP) – Republicans Mitt Romney and Rick Perry are neck and neck in filling their presidential campaign coffers after a summer of strong fundraising amid voter anger over jobs and the economy. They're pulling in big bucks – $30 million combined – though not nearly as big as the man they hope to replace in the White House.
Former Massachusetts Gov. Romney on Friday reported roughly $14 million in contributions during the July-September period and had nearly $15 million on hand. Texas Gov. Perry, who briefly surged to the top of the Republican presidential field this summer, has roughly the same in the bank, having raised about $17 million during the first few weeks of his campaign.
Still, the GOP candidates' fundraising efforts lag behind the man whose job they want: President Barack Obama raised more than $70 million for his re-election and the Democratic Party – $42.8 million for his own campaign and $27.3 million for the Democratic National Committee.
Not counting major support from GOP-leaning super PACs, the virtual tie between Romney and Perry for cash on hand means the two have similar amounts to spend on ads and travel just months before heading into key primary states. Obama can save most of the $150 million he raised since April for next year because he does not face a primary opponent.
Filings released late Friday show a broad base of support for Romney, with major contributions from Oregon to New York. The donations include big checks from GOP stalwarts, such as $5,000 from the New Republican Majority Fund, a political action committee affiliated with former Mississippi Sen. Trent Lott.
The candidates' reports, all due Saturday, are offering the first complete look at the financial health of the GOP field. They are the first official tallies of donations and expenses for contenders Perry, Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann, former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman and businessman Herman Cain.
The reports won't capture the tens of millions raised by new, outside groups known as super political action committees, which can collect unlimited amounts of money to influence elections. Leading contenders Perry and Romney have at least one super PAC each working to boost their candidacies, and another group is backing Obama's re-election bid.
Obama's campaign said 600,000 people donated to the campaign this recent quarter, more than the previous three months. Nearly 1 million supporters have given money to the campaign and 98 percent of the donors this summer gave $250 or less, with an average donation of $56.
"Right now, just shy of 1 million people like you have taken ownership of this campaign by pitching in whatever they can afford," Obama campaign finance director Rufus Gifford said in an email to supporters Friday, adding that the campaign's financial report "shows this movement isn't just as strong as ever – it's growing."
Romney, coming out of strong showings at recent GOP debates, showed similar support from small-dollar donors, drawing most of his contributions from checks less than $250. Romney, a former venture capitalist, had raised $18 million during the April-June period.
Yet Romney also drew big dollars from several contribution bundlers, records show, including former financial lobbyist T. Martin Fiorentino and Judi Rhines of The Rath Group, the namesake firm of former George W. Bush campaign adviser Tom Rath.
For its part, the Obama campaign released its latest list of elite fundraisers who act as bundlers, well-connected donors who raise campaign cash from friends and business associates. The list included 351 individuals or couples who collectively have raised at least $55.5 million since April.
The list included two figures connected to Solyndra LLC, the California solar company that received a $528 million federal loan and then later declared bankruptcy, prompting a federal investigation. Steve Spinner, an Energy Department adviser, raised at least $500,000 for the president, while Steve Westly, a venture capitalist who was an unpaid adviser to the department, raised between $200,000 and $500,000.
Other candidates, meanwhile, are saddled with hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt.
Huntsman owes about $890,000, even after giving his campaign more than $2 million of his own money. Huntsman's campaign on Friday was set to report fundraising totals that showed he had $327,000 in the bank, showing difficulty for Huntsman's fundraising and suggesting why he shut down his national headquarters in Orlando, Fla., last month.
"Gov. Huntsman has the best record and boldest vision for leading this country," spokesman Tim Miller said, "and our campaign will have the resources necessary to ensure he will win New Hampshire and go on to the nomination."
Former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, who dropped out of the race in August, is still deep in debt. A fundraising report covering July through September shows he owes $453,000 for the campaign. All told, Pawlenty raised about $5.4 million but had to give some of the money back because he could tap it only if he had won his party's nomination.


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CTV News | Top Stories - Breaking News - Top News Headlines
W5 - Liberation Treatment Q and A
A group of doctors in Italy is investigating a fascinating new treatment for multiple sclerosis based on a theory that, if proven true, could radically alter the lives of patients. An investigation by CTV's W5 reveals this treatment appears to stop the disease from progressing. Here are further details on the treatment.
What is CCSVI?
CCSVI is a condition called "Chronic Cerebrospinal Venous Insufficiency" and was discovered by Dr. Paolo Zamboni, a vascular surgeon at the University of Ferrara in Italy. It refers to a narrowing or blockage of the primary veins draining blood from the brain to the heart. These include the jugular veins, veins along the spinal column and the azygos vein in the upper chest.
This narrowing restricts the normal outflow of blood from the brain. As a result, the blood often "refluxes" that is: it flows backwards into the brain. Some think the resulting flow and building pressure pushes blood into the tissue around vessels in the brain, resulting in toxic iron deposits that some believe may trigger inflammation, injury to brain tissue and cell death.
Here is a full list of Zamboni's published studies and presentations.
What is CCSVI's relationship to MS?
Dr. Zamboni has used Doppler ultrasound to scan the heads and necks of over 500 MS patients and found the blocked, narrowed and sometimes missing veins of CCSVI in almost 100 per cent of them. These problems were found only in MS patients, not in healthy people, nor in those with other neurological conditions.
Dr. Zamboni's first study involving Doppler ultrasound was published in 2007 in the journal Current Neurovascular Research. Most of the MS patients have CCSVI either in the jugular veins or in the main vein in the central chest called the azygos. The more vein malformations that impede flow, the greater the severity of symptoms, the researchers contend.
Dr. Zamboni says his findings are considered "proof of concept" that CCSVI is strongly associated with MS. In December, 2008, Dr. Zamboni and his team published their findings in the Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry.
A recent press release from the University of Buffalo reported preliminary data from a study of CCSVI in 500 people. Depending on how you interpret the data, over 55 per cent of those with MS, or a related disorder called Clinically Isolated Syndrome had signs of vein abnormalities that impeded blood flow from the brain. Resarchers also found 22 per cent of healthy controls had signs of venous abnormalities.The full results will be presented at the American Neurology meeting in Toronto in April.
Dr. Robert Zivadinov, associate professor of neurology and principal investigator on the Buffalo study, says he is "cautiously optimistic and excited" about the preliminary data... The data encourage us to continue on the same course."
Recently, a meeting of CCSVI researchers at St. Joseph's Hospital in Hamilton heard from scientists in Jordan who have tested MS patients and healthy controls; 100 per cent of MS patients had abnormal veins. Data from Poland suggested a prevalence rate of 95 per cent. These studies are unpublished at this time.
What role does iron play in MS?
Scientists have long recognized MS patients have increased amounts of iron in the brain compared to healthy people. Iron is dangerous to the brain because it produces free radicals which kill brain cells. Zamboni noticed iron deposits occurred around veins and he surmised the iron accumulation was caused by a problem with drainage in the veins that flow from the brain.
He believes the narrowing or blockages in the veins of MS patients cause blood to flow backward into the vein and deposit the toxic iron. According to Zamboni's theory, this causes inflammation, and triggers an immune response -the picture of MS. New MRI technology is allowing scientists to more clearly see iron in the brain, speeding study.
Here are pictures of iron deposits in MS and normal brain tissue.
Has this theory been raised before?
It has, most recently in 2003. Researcher Rohit Bakshi and colleagues at the University of Buffalo suggested iron deposits deep in the brain might cause MS. In the 1980s, Dr. Franz Schelling in Austria also made a link. But it wasn't until Zamboni began doing his ultrasounds on patient necks followed by his experimental treatment that the idea has developed any traction.
What causes CCSVI?
Doctors are not sure but they believe that veins that are susceptible to blocking and twisting develop in the womb as a congenital birth defect or early in childhood. There could be environmental factors as well.
There is also a theory that low levels of vitamin D might play a role. It's been well-documented that higher rates of MS are seen in countries with lower exposure to vitamin D through sunlight and diet. Since vitamin D is critical to the normal development of the immune system and also in the development of blood vessels and endothelial tissue -- the thin layer of cells that line the interior surface of blood vessels. The theory is that low levels of vitamin D in utero or early in childhood may impair the body's ability to form healthy vessels and lead to the narrowing and blockages seen in CCSVI. But this is not yet proven; more research is needed.
An international group of doctors who specialize in disorders of the veins has issued a consensus document on the diagnosis and treatment of these problems, including CCSVI. The International Union of Phlebology officially classified CCSVI as a congenital vascular malformation, outlining official guidelines for diagnosis and treatment.
Dr. James Laredo, a vascular surgeon at Georgetown University Hospital, and one of the authors of the statement, said the members of the group voted unanimously in favour of including CCSVI as a venous malformation. The statement also says the origins of this novel condition appear to take root during development in the uterus.
Zamboni, is part of the International Union of Phlebology.
What is "The Liberation Treatment"?
It's a still-experimental procedure developed by Zamboni and his colleagues, Dr. Fabrizio Salvi and Dr. Roberto Galleotti. Just as doctors do in angioplasty to unblock veins to the heart, with this treatment, doctors thread wires through the veins that drain blood from the brain. When they find a narrowing, they insert a balloon and inflate it. The pressure of the balloon usually opens the narrowed vein, though sometimes doctors need to use a balloon with small blades on it to cut through tissue that may be causing the blockage.
Doctors say the procedure is safe and have noted no side effects in the Italian patients they've treated. Some patients had to be treated twice before the narrowed vein stayed open. The doctors call the operation the "Liberation Treatment" because it "liberates" the blood, allowing it to flow freely.
According to Hilarescere Foundation, which funds the research: "At 2-year follow-up, no major complications were observed... this treatment decreases pressure in the cerebral veins in a highly significant way, thus showing its enormous anti-inflammatory potential."
In a study published in the December issue of the Journal of Vascular Surgery, researchers report on 65 MS patients 18 months after surgery. W5 has reviewed the study, which found that patients, particularly those with relapsing-remitting MS, treated with endovascular therapy showed a decrease in the number of disease relapses, a marked reduction in the number of active brain and spinal lesions and also a clear-cut improvement in the patients' quality of life.
What do the early studies of the Liberation Treatment show?
Dr. Zamboni has treated about 120 MS patients using his new treatment, 65 of whom his team is following over several years to see the effects.
In preliminary data about the treatment, released at a Sept. 8 meeting of researchers interested in CCSVI, Zamboni and his team were able to show that in patients with the clinical form of relapsing-remitting MS -the most common - there was a drop in the number of active brain lesions in the patients that persisted up to 18 months after surgery. As well, in the two years before surgery, acute MS attacks were noted by 50 per cent of the recruited patients, but in the two years following surgery, 73 per cent of the patients had no more attacks. In all these patients, cognitive and motor activities assessed by an outcome measure called MSFC were significantly and persistently improved. The same finding was not made with patients with the progressive forms of the disease; in the latter, however, disease progression was stopped and the patients' quality of life improved.
In about half of patients, the symptoms returned, at which point, researchers discovered their veins had narrowed again. A second treatment was required for these patients.
A news release about the preliminary data from that study can be viewed here.
Does the procedure remove iron from the brain?
Scientists don't know this for sure but they suspect that if blood is flowing freely out of the brain again, perhaps iron stores in brain tissue will diminish. This is an area of future study. The next question would be: if iron levels drop, do symptoms of MS diminish too?
What has been the MS Society's reaction?
The MS Society of Canada is reviewing proposals for research. The Italian Multiple Sclerosis Foundation says it will allocate up to $4.5 million to fund ongoing research into CCSVI, a condition linked to multiple sclerosis.
The foundation says it is accepting research proposals until March 8 from scientists interested in studying "chronic cerebro-spinal venous insufficiency," a newly-discovered condition uncovered by a team at the University of Ferrara in Italy and lead scientist Dr. Paolo Zamboni.
"We await proposals from groups of Italian researchers, in particular by the research groups that are already active with Prof. Zamboni," the foundation said in an Italian news release.
Zamboni's team believes that CCSVI causes veins in the neck and upper chest to twist, narrow or become blocked; in some cases, these veins never form at all. The result is poor blood drainage from the brain. Zamboni has found that more than 90 per cent of patients with MS have these malformed veins, and improper blood flow from the brain.
Roberta Amaedo, president of the Italian Association for Multiple Sclerosis, said in the release: "We need certainty about the relationship between MS and CCSVI and on the clinical course that this can cause, and on that, clinical trials will make an important contribution."
The association also cautioned patients against seeking endovascular or surgical procedures to open these blocked veins outside of controlled research studies.
Where can I get tested for CCSVI?
CCSVI is such a newly identified condition, many doctors and MS centres are only learning about it now. Very few ultrasound technologists know how to perform the neck and head scan developed at the University of Ferrara.
Who is performing the Liberation Treatment?
The Liberation Treatment is still an experimental treatment. It is not being offered in North America at this time, though clinical studies are being planned at UBC and at St. Joseph's Hospital and McMaster Hospital in Ontario. Two clinics in Poland are offering the treatment on a per-fee basis.
A preliminary study of CCSVI treatment in patients at Stanford University was recently halted after two patients suffered serious adverse events. The treatment there offered stents – similar to those used to open blocked arteries – to prop open blocked veins in some patients. One patient suffered a fatal brain hemmorage days after the operation. There is some dispute whether this event was linked to the treatment, since the patient's mother died of a similar brain bleed.
In the other patient, the stent placed in the jugular fell into the chambers of the heart. The patient required open heart surgery to remove it.
Of note, the protocol proposed by Dr. Zamboni and the Italian team does not advocate the use of stents to treat CCSVI. That's because stents have not yet been designed for venous flow in the neck and upper chest where there is strong downward blood flow.


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Advanced Rendering Workshops - Xavier College - Date TBA, 2018
Brand: Studio Products
Product Code: SW2015-07
Availability: In Stock
Product Code: SW2015-07
Availability: In Stock
Price: $159.00
Qty: Add to Cart
How to Apply and the Cost
Cost: $159 (GST incl.). This fee includes a comprehensive kit of equipment, including markers, pens, pastels, drawing pads, etc; for each participant to keep.
To Apply: Go to the Advanced Rendering Courses tag with the Education category and activate your school or university's logo.
- Fill out your details and when correctly recorded you will then be transferred to the secure PayPal Site
- After undertaking payment, it is important that you WAIT for PayPal to return you to the StudioCopic website – this will allow the order to be correctly processed
- Please Note: when in PayPal, DO NOT close down or use the "back" or "return" keys – PayPal will automatically redirect you back into the StudioCopic website
- For those not wanting to apply on-line, then please mail a Bank Cheque or Aust Post Money Order made out to STUDIO WORKSHOPS with your Full Name and Mailing address, and send it to:
Studio Workshops
Unit 2, 10 Percy Street
Balwyn, Vic, 3103
- Confirmation of bookings and receipts will be issued by email
For more information, feel free to contact us at our email address: firstname.lastname@example.com


text:
Jeff Schoolcraft necesitaba un nuevo diseño de página web y lanzó un concurso de diseño en 99designs.
Un ganador ha sido elegido entre 41 diseños de 13 diseñadores freelance.
I'm looking for a simple, clean and casual/fun design for a web site that lets stressed parents manage the details of their kids parties so everyone has a good time.
24 hour contest, I'll give lots of feedback, often.
My Kids Party HQ
I'm writing an application to scratch an itch: how to deal with kids parties, especially as toddlers through pre-teens, to get information out to parents of guests (what your kid likes, what they don't, what's inappropriate) and from those same parents (what's their cell phone, is their kid allergic to anything, etc). It's intended to be simple and easy exchange of information around the party.
I'll have a landing page, maybe have some stock photography of kids parties that display with a blurb about what the site is, and 2 very obvious actions/paths: 1. Plan a party, 2. RSVP
Party planning page will be a "dashboard" of sorts for the parent. They'll have some party detail at the top (who's party, when, where) and areas to do other things:
- invites/rsvp -- group icon (who's coming, who's not)
- wishlist, etc -- gift icon (likes, dislikes, fav colors, etc)
- lists -- list icon (list of kids and emergency contacts to print for the party)
- Timeline -- watch (things that need to get done, confirm place, order cake, get balloons, etc)RSVP area, for attendees will let people tell the birthday girls parents:
1. who's coming
2. who the poc is (name and cell #)
3. allergies of the guest (nuts, chocolate, etc)
First and foremost I want simple and clean. The goal is for this to be used as a tool for parents to reduce some stress and have an enjoyable time with their kid.
I'll have a logo that should include "My Kids Party HQ". Working tagline is: "So you can enjoy the party too"
As far as a color scheme, I'm going to use a few of the icons from here (watch, present, list, group). I'm also getting a logo designed and will post details on that as I get them.
I'll need a few links
- login
- home
- about
maybe contact, blog, faq in the footer
all upper or all lower case
don't clash with the logo colors (maybe it's stupid to design around that but I found a set that had everything I needed)
not a lot of graphics
tiny fonts, we're talking about parents (mostly my age 30s whose eyesight is drifting away from 20/15 to 20/30-20/40)


text:
There are a plethora of hearts to choose from in this smorgasbord of tattoo designs. Every heart is red and features a different theme, from barbed wire to flowers.
Share the love!Basic and Hybrid Tattoo Machines All tattoo machines are not the same, not in purpose, price or quality. The components of a tattoo machine include the frame with the attached pieces, t...Read More
Share the love!How much do tattoos cost will depend on several factors including the shop, the artist, the state you're in and the size, placement and design of the tattoo. How much do tattoos cost wi...Read More
Share the love!Whether it's for a special occasion such as family photos, a wedding, or even a job interview, there will come a time when you don't want your tattoos to be visible. You don't need to w...Read More


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Les designers du monde entier sont en train de soumettre des concepts créatifs de logodesign pour frasernm - custom.
A logo, business card, compliments slip and letter head are needed for Gillidanda - a start-up web design company offering high quality website solutions.
The website theme will be based upon the logo.
Striking Web Solutions
Desired Color Scheme:
Open to anything professional looking.
Desired Style:
Clean, simple, professional, classy. Nothing cartoon-y or cliched.
Either Gillidanda or GilliDanda, but as one word with no hyphen (unlike the wikipedia definition provided).
Accepted File Formats:
Source files required - for logo fireworks .png preferred, .psd acceptable
A logo, business card, compliments slip and letter head are needed for Gillidanda - a start-up web design company. The website theme will then be based upon the logo.
The logo need not be based around on anything to do with the meaning of gillidanda, but in case you want to know what it means check out Gillidanda on Wikipedia
A tagline is not required, but I am open to suggestions based on the information provided here. The company will focus less on flashy gimmicky designs and concentrate on development of high-quality, simple but professional web-based solutions.
The stationary designs should be the standard set including business card, compliment slip and letterhead, and will print onto white paper.
Any questions please ask, I'll endeavor to reply that evening (uk time).
This contest was originally listed in multiple categories:
- Logo Design
- Stationery Design
Savoir comment fonctionne un concours de design ou en savoir plus sur nos services de design de logo.


text:
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Cisco CP-7941G Telephony
Product Description - Cisco CP-7941G
Cisco CP-7941G Global IP Phone
If you'd like to speak with a Paragon Representative concerning the Cisco CP-7941G directly,
The Cisco CP-7941G Telephony is backed by a 30-day return policy, and comes with one of Paragon's standard limited warranty programs, including our Standard 1-Year Limited Warranty to domestic end-user customers.
* Cisco CP-7941G availability, subject to prior sale.
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Retrograde Orbit
Retrograde motion is motion in the direction opposite to the movement of something else and the contrary of direct or prograde motion. This motion can be the orbit of one body about another body or about some other point, or the rotation of a single body about its axis, or other phenomena such as precession or nutation of the axis. In reference to celestial systems, retrograde motion usually means motion which is contrary to the rotation of the primary, that is, the object which forms the system's hub.
In the Solar System, all of the planets and most of the other objects that orbit the Sun, with the exception of many comets, do so in the "prograde" direction, i.e. the same sense as the rotation of the Sun. Also the rotations of most planets are prograde, with the exceptions of Venus and Uranus, which have retrograde rotations. Most satellites of planets revolve around their planets in the prograde sense. (In the case of the satellites of Uranus, this means they revolve in the same sense as Uranus's rotation, which is retrograde relative to the Sun.) There are some satellites which orbit in the retrograde sense, but these are generally small and distant from their planets, except for Neptune's satellite Triton, which is large and close. It is thought that these retrograde satellites, including Triton, are bodies which have been captured into orbit around their planets, having been formed elsewhere.
- 1 Formation of celestial systems
- 2 Orbital parameters
- 3 Planets
- 4 Dwarf planets
- 5 Earth's atmosphere
- 6 Moons and rings
- 7 Small solar system bodies
- 8 The Sun
- 9 Exoplanets
- 10 Stars
- 11 Galaxies
- 12 See also
- 13 References
- 14 Further reading
Formation of celestial systems
When a galaxy or a planetary system forms, its material takes the shape of a disk. Most of the material orbits and rotates in one direction. This uniformity of motion is due to the collapse of a gas cloud.[1] The nature of the collapse is explained by the principle called conservation of angular momentum. In 2010 the discovery of several hot jupiters with backward orbits called into question the theories about the formation of planetary systems.[2] This can be explained by noting that stars and their planets do not form in isolation but in star clusters and when the protoplanetary disk from one star collides with or steals material from another star's disk this can result in retrograde motion of a disk and the resulting planets.[3][4]
Orbital parameters
A celestial object's inclination indicates whether the object's orbit is prograde or retrograde. The inclination of a celestial object is the angle between its orbital plane and another reference frame such as the equatorial plane of the object's primary. In the Solar System, inclination of the planets is measured from the ecliptic plane, which is the plane of Earth's orbit around the Sun.[5] The inclination of moons is measured from the equator of the planet they orbit. An object with an inclination between 0 and 90 degrees is orbiting or revolving in the same direction as the primary is rotating. An object with an inclination of exactly 90 degrees has a perpendicular orbit which is neither prograde nor retrograde. An object with an inclination between 90 degrees and 180 degrees is in a retrograde orbit.
Axial tilt
A celestial object's axial tilt indicates whether the object's rotation is prograde or retrograde. Axial tilt is the angle between an object's rotation axis and a line perpendicular to its orbital plane passing through the object's centre. An object with an axial tilt up to 90 degrees is rotating in the same direction as its primary. An object with an axial tilt of exactly 90 degrees has a perpendicular rotation which is neither prograde nor retrograde. An object with an axial tilt between 90 degrees and 180 degrees is rotating in the opposite direction to its orbital direction.
All eight planets in the Solar System orbit the Sun in the direction that the Sun is rotating, which is counterclockwise when viewed from above the Sun's north pole. Six of the planets also rotate about their axis in this same direction. The exceptions—the planets with retrograde rotation—are Venus and Uranus. Venus's axial tilt is 177 degrees, which means it is spinning almost exactly in the opposite direction to its orbit. Uranus has an axial tilt of 97.77 degrees, so its axis of rotation is approximately parallel with the plane of the Solar System. The reason for Uranus's unusual axial tilt is not known with certainty, but the usual speculation is that during the formation of the Solar System, an Earth-sized protoplanet collided with Uranus, causing the skewed orientation.[6]
It is unlikely that Venus was formed with its present slow retrograde rotation which takes 243 days to rotate. Venus probably began with a fast prograde rotation with a period of several hours much like most of the planets in the solar system. Venus is close enough to the Sun to experience significant gravitational tidal dissipation, and also has a thick enough atmosphere to create thermally driven atmospheric tides which create a retrograde torque. Venus' present slow retrograde rotation is in equilibrium balance between gravitational tides trying to tidally lock Venus to the Sun and atmospheric tides trying to spin-up Venus in a retrograde direction. In addition to maintaining this present day equilibrium, tides are also sufficient to account for evolution of Venus's rotation from a primordial fast prograde direction to its present-day slow retrograde rotation.[7] In the past various other alternative hypotheses have been proposed to explain Venus' retrograde rotation, such as collisions or it having originally formed that way. Mercury is closer to the Sun than Venus but Mercury is not tidally locked because it has entered a spin-orbit resonance due to the eccentricity of its orbit. The rotation of Earth and Mars is also affected by tidal forces with the Sun but they haven't reached an equilibrium state like Mercury and Venus because they are further out from the Sun where tidal forces are weaker. The gas giants of the solar system are too massive and too far from the Sun to have their rotations slowed down by tidal forces.[7]
Dwarf planets
All known dwarf planets and dwarf planet candidates have prograde orbits around the Sun, but some have retrograde rotation. Pluto has retrograde rotation; its axial tilt is approximately 120 degrees.[8] Pluto and its moon Charon are both tidally locked to each other. It is suspected that the Plutonian satellite system was created by a massive collision.[9][10]
Earth's atmosphere
Retrograde motion, or retrogression, within the Earth's atmosphere refers to weather systems which move from east to west through the Westerlies or from west to east through the Trade wind easterlies.
Moons and rings
If formed in the gravity-field of a planet as the planet is forming, a moon will orbit the planet in the same direction as the planet is rotating and is a regular moon. If an object is formed elsewhere and later captured into orbit by a planet's gravity, it can be captured into a retrograde or prograde orbit depending on whether it first approaches the side of the planet that is rotating towards or away from it. This is an irregular moon.[11]
In the Solar System, many of the asteroid-sized moons have retrograde orbits, whereas all the large moons except Triton (the largest of Neptune's moons) have prograde orbits.[12] The particles in Saturn's Phoebe ring are thought to have a retrograde orbit because they originate from the irregular moon Phoebe.
All retrograde satellites experience tidal deceleration to some degree. The only satellite in the Solar System for which this effect is non-negligible is Neptune's moon Triton. All the other retrograde satellites are on distant orbits and tidal forces between them and the planet are negligible.
Within the Hill sphere, the region of stability for retrograde orbits at a large distance from the primary is larger than that for prograde orbits. This has been suggested as an explanation for the preponderance of retrograde moons around Jupiter. Because Saturn has a more even mix of retrograde/prograde moons, however, the underlying causes appear to be more complex.[13]
With the exception of Hyperion all the known regular planetary natural satellites in the Solar System are tidally locked to their host planet, so they have zero rotation relative to their host planet, but have prograde rotation relative to the Sun because they have prograde orbits around their host planet.
If there is a collision, material could be ejected in any direction and coallesce into either prograde or retrograde moons which may be the case for the moons of dwarf planet Haumea although Haumea's rotation direction is not known.[14]
Small solar system bodies
Asteroids usually have a prograde orbit around the Sun. Only a few dozen asteroids in retrograde orbits are known.
Some asteroids with retrograde orbits may be burnt-out comets, [15] but some may acquire their retrograde orbit due to gravitational interactions with Jupiter.[16]
Due to their small size and their large distance from Earth it is difficult to telescopically analyse the rotation of most asteroids. As of 2012, data is available for less than 200 asteroids and the different methods of determining the orientation of poles often result in large discrepancies.[17] The asteroid spin vector catalog at Poznan Observatory[18] avoids use of the phrases "retrograde rotation" or "prograde rotation" as it depends which reference plane is meant and asteroid coordinates are usually given with respect to the ecliptic plane rather than the asteroid's orbital plane.[19]
Asteroids with satellites, also known as binary asteroids, make up about 15% of all asteroids less than 10km in diameter in the main belt and near-Earth population and most are thought to be formed by the YORP effect causing an asteroid to spin so fast that it breaks up.[20] As of 2012, and where the rotation is known, all satellites of asteroids orbit the asteroid in the same direction as the asteroid is rotating.[21]
Most known objects that are in orbital resonance are orbiting in the same direction as the objects they are in resonance with, however a few retrograde asteroids have been found in resonance with Jupiter and Saturn.[22]
Comets from the Oort cloud are much more likely than asteroids to be retrograde.[15] Halley's Comet has a retrograde orbit around the Sun.[23]
Kuiper belt
Most Kuiper belt objects have prograde orbits around the Sun. The first Kuiper belt object discovered to have a retrograde orbit is 2008 KV42.[24]
Meteoroids in a retrograde orbit around the Sun hit the Earth with a faster relative speed than prograde meteroids and tend to burn-up in the atmosphere and are more likely to hit the side of the Earth facing away from the Sun (i.e. at night-time) whereas the prograde meteroids have slower closing speeds and more often land as meterorites and tend to hit the sun-facing side of the Earth. Most meteroids are prograde.[25]
The Sun
The Sun's motion about the centre of mass of the Solar System is complicated by perturbations from the planets. Every few hundred years this motion switches between prograde and retrograde.[26]
Stars and planetary systems tend to be born in star clusters rather than forming in isolation, so one protoplanetary disk can collide with another or with dense gas clouds and this can lead to disks and their resulting planets having inclined or retrograde orbits around their stars.[3][4] Retrograde motion may also result from gravitational interactions with other celestial bodies in the same system (See Kozai mechanism.) or a near-collision with another planet,[27] or it may be that the star itself flipped over early in their system's formation due to interactions between the star's magnetic field and the planet-forming disk.[28][29]
The accretion disk of the protostar IRAS 16293-2422 has parts rotating in opposite directions, the first time a counterrotating accretion disk has been found and means that when planets form, the inner planets will orbit in the opposite direction to the outer planets.[30]
WASP-17b was the first exoplanet that was discovered to be orbiting its star opposite to the direction the star is rotating.[31] A second such planet was announced just a day later: HAT-P-7b.[32]
In one study more than half of all the known hot Jupiters had orbits that were misaligned with the rotation axis of their parent stars, with six having backwards orbits.[2]
The pattern of stars appears fixed in the sky, but that is only because they are so far away that their motion isn't visible to the naked eye; actually, they are orbiting the centre of the galaxy. Stars with a retrograde orbit are more likely to be found in the galactic halo than in the galactic disk. The Milky Way's outer halo has many globular clusters with a retrograde orbit[33] and with a retrograde or zero rotation.[34] The halo consists of two distinct components. The stars in the inner halo mostly have prograde orbits around the galaxy, whereas stars in the outer halo typically have retrograde orbits.[35]
The nearby Kapteyn's Star is thought to have ended up with its high-velocity retrograde orbit around the galaxy as a result of being ripped from a dwarf galaxy that merged with the Milky Way.[36]
Satellite galaxies
Close-flybys and mergers of galaxies within galaxy clusters can pull material out of galaxies and create small satellite galaxies in either prograde or retrograde orbits around larger galaxies.[37]
A galaxy called Complex H, which was orbiting the Milky Way in a retrograde direction relative to the Milky Way's rotation, is colliding with the Milky Way.[38][39]
Counter-rotating bulges
NGC 7331 is an example of a galaxy which has a bulge that is rotating in the opposite direction to the rest of the disk, probably as a result of infalling material.[40]
Central black holes
The center of a spiral galaxy contains at least one supermassive black hole.[41] A retrograde black hole – one whose spin is opposite to that of its disk – spews jets much more powerful than those of a prograde black hole, which may have no jet at all. Scientists have produced a theoretical framework for the formation and evolution of retrograde black holes based on the gap between the inner edge of an accretion disk and the black hole.[42][43]
See also
Further reading
- How large is the retrograde annual wobble?, N. E. King, Duncan Carr Agnew, 1991.
- Dynamical Effects on the Habitable Zone for Earth-like Exomoons, Duncan Forgan, David Kipping, 16 Apr 2013
- What collisional debris can tell us about galaxies, Pierre-Alain Duc, 10 May 2012
- The Formation and Role of Vortices in Protoplanetary Disks, Patrick Godon, Mario Livio, 22 Oct 1999
lt:Retrogradinis judėjimas pl:Ruch wsteczny pt:Anti-horário ru:Ретроградное движение simple:Retrograde and direct motion


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Before / After
This article was originally published on www.drhyman.com.
I admit it. I was addicted to sugar, caffeine, and adrenalin. I am a recovering dopamine addict, and it almost killed me. Twenty years ago, a freshly minted doctor, I swallowed the propaganda that doctors are invincible, that "MD" stood for "medical deity." During my training, one of my surgical residents told me, "real doctors don't do lunch." I thought I didn't need to follow the same rules of biology like everyone else. I believed sleeping, eating real food, and resting were luxuries, not necessities.
In fact, even though I knew about healthy lifestyle and nutrition, and had always exercised, I felt I could push the boundaries of my body. When I started my medical career, I worked 80-100 hours a week as a family doctor in small town in Idaho. I delivered hundreds of babies, ran the emergency room, and saw 30-40 patients a day. Sleep was an afterthought. It was the early 1990's and I ordered Starbucks coffee by the case straight from Seattle, bought an espresso machine and served up 4-5 espresso's a day. I lived in a perpetual state of fatigue and pushed my way through on adrenalin.
I continued those habits when I moved to Massachusetts and worked in an inner city emergency room. At the time I had two young children to care for, and worked endless odd shifts in three different hospitals. Some days I went without sleeping. I got through the night shifts by downing a quadruple espresso, a pint of Haagen Daz ice cream (coffee flavor), and a giant chocolate chip cookie.
I learned how to keep myself awake despite my exhaustion. I didn't have a stop button. I lived on adrenalin—until my adrenalin ran out and I suddenly got very ill with chronic fatigue syndrome. Every system in my body broke down. I didn't choose to change my life—my body chose for me. That is when I had to learn to rebuild my life and my energy and respect the way my body worked. I learned the hard lesson that my body was a biological organism that needed care and attention, that it wasn't there to sustain my abuse and serve my needs. I realized that if I wanted to enjoy my life, I would have to learn the care and feeding instructions needed for being a human.
Unfortunately, many suffer the same fate I did. We have all been given a beautiful creation—our physical body. But none of us were born with an operating manual or instruction book. How do we make it feel good, take care of it, make it run like it was designed—balanced and in perfect rhythm? Most of us don't learn how to manage our energy and bodies well. We use drugs—sugar, caffeine, alcohol, adrenalin or worse to manage our energy and moods. Most of us don't connect our behaviors and choices with how we feel every day. We don't connect what we eat, how much we rest and sleep, how much we exercise, how much time we make for connecting with friends and community, or the kinds of media and news we watch with how we feel every day.
Feeling fully energized and vitally health comes down to a very simple principle: take out the bad stuff and put in the good stuff. Health results from what you get too little of (good food, nutrients, light, air, water, rest, sleep, rhythm, exercise, community, love, meaning and purpose) or too much of (poor quality food, stress, toxins, allergens or microbes). This affects how our bodies, minds, and souls function. For each of us the ideal mix is a little different, and what is needed to thrive is unique to each individual. It takes a little experimentation, observation and fine-tuning to achieve, but there is nothing better than being the best you in each moment. It is what makes life sweet.
This is what I have spent the last 20 years studying—how can I thrive and help my patients thrive; what prevents us from being well and what helps us. This approach to health and medicine is called functional medicine or "the medicine of why"—that is, why our bodies work well or don't!
It's actually quite simple.
Simply make a list with two columns. In one column list all the things that give you energy. In the second column list all the things that drain your energy. Each day try to let go of one thing that drains your energy and add one thing that gives you energy.
Here's my list. Take a piece of paper and make your own now.
As John Lennon said, "Life is what happens when you are making other plans." We all get kicked off our plan from time to time. Something intrudes, somebody gets sick in your life, you may lose your job, your kids may do something stupid, your spouse may cheat on you, the stock market might crash, it might even rain! These are the inevitable struggles that are part of being human.
Let me share with you how I manage these struggles (yes, they happen in mine too), and how I stay motivated.
Dealing with challenges in life is like surfing. You get on the wave, and all is great … and then the wave drops out from under you, or it grows into a huge wave and pummels you into the ground. When that happens, you paddle back out, get back up on the board, and keep surfing.
Here are some ideas on how to do that:
Some of these habits might not be second nature. But our lives are about the thousand little choices we make every day. When I am really off track, I do a reboot—a week-long detox that resets my body, brain and rhythms. I use my UltraSimple Diet. It is a simple whole foods, sugar-, drug-, and allergy-free nourishing way of eating and living for one week that can create dramatic and rapid changes in your biology. Try it. Then you may remember what it feels like to be well, some of you for the first time.
To learn more ways to change your life, increase your energy, and overcome obstacles visit www.drhyman.com.
Now I'd like to hear from you …
What steps have you taken to change your health? What obstacles do you face and how do you overcome them?
Have you tried taking a drug holiday like the one in The UltraSimple Diet? What were results?
Why do you think we live in a culture where the simple act of being healthy is so difficult? How can we change this unhealthy culture to one that supports optimum energy and vital well being?
Please leave your thoughts by adding a comment below.
To your good health,
Mark Hyman, MD


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Tag Archives: cashews
An Almost Break-In
Sunday ended up being quite the eventful day (for a Sunday at least). I went to Benefit and got my eyelashes and eyebrows tinted for the first time. It isn't as dramatic as I thought, but they definitely make my … Continue reading
Filed under Uncategorized


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Latest News
Systema Super Max - M170 capable & coming out this December (2008-12-05)As we had announced previously in our updated article about the Systema Revolution, that they will be releasing it along with a "Super Max" in December, we can confirm that we will be taking orders for the new Systema Revolution and Systema Super Max very soon. We will keep you updated on all the latest news about these two sizzling hot products. To keep you content, we thought we'd just let you know that we have received reports from Systema, saying that they have managed to use an M160 with stable performance, even reaching the heady heights of M170 power. Obviously, this kind of performance without compromise is a tough task, and Systema have ensure us that it was no plain-sailing to get where they have today.


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The Rev. Lin Dawson will be the guest speaker
The Rev. Lin Dawson will be the guest speaker as Emmanuel Hill Memorial Free Will Baptist church celebrates Men�s Day at 3 p.m. Sunday.
A Kinston native, Dawson graduated from Kinston High School and N.C. State University. For 10 years, he was the starting tight-end for the New England Patriots and was an integral part of the AFC Championship and Super Bowl team.
Dawson has received numerous awards and held significant roles in higher education and business, including entrepreneur, graduate school professor, counselor, consultant, athletic director and others. He is president and managing partner for the Lin Dawson Organization, an organizational development consulting firm.
His passion is to reach men and youth for the Kingdom of God, Dawson says. During his 32 years in ministry, he has preached all over the world and been an evangelist, team chaplain, assistant pastor, minister of youth and associate minister. He is an author and frequently conducts pastor leadership seminars, business workshops, youth conferences and conflict resolution training in Zimbabwe and Kenya.
Dawson recently purchased Sampson School in east Kinston, where he grew up. He plans to convert the building into a non-profit community life center for workforce and economic development, social services, educational enhancement and charity to benefit the community.
�Historically, Men�s Day has been a time for the black church to place the spotlight on, call out and set apart men whose works and lives stand as Christian examples for others to follow,� said the Rev. Veronica Jackson, Emmanuel Hill pastor. �It�s a time to appreciate men�s contributions to family, community and country.�
The church is at 401 N. Rochelle Blvd. The public is invited.


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ACC Morning Five: 12.14.11 EditionPosted by mpatton on December 14th, 2011
- C-Ville: Storming The Floor's Eric Angevine hits a home run with his profile of Virginia center Assane Sene. Sene is from Senegal and has a very unique story. I don't want to steal the story's thunder, but let's just say burritos, Taylor Swift and football all are discussed.
- Wilmington Star News: Ty Walker is ready to "walk the walk" after serving a ten-game suspension resulting from an offcourt incident earlier in the year. He's certainly saying everything right. And I think Jeff Bzdelik achieved his goal, which was "to help the New Hanover (NC) High product, who is on pace for a degree in communications in May, become a better man." I don't think that Walker is destined to have a Zoubek-esque turnaround this season, but I think he'll be very important for Wake Forest's relative success this season. Even if he doesn't score a lot of points, if Walker can crash the glass and play solid defense in the middle, he'll be a hugely important asset for the Demon Deacons.
- Raleigh News & Observer: John Maddrey is a lawyer but — more importantly — he's one of the statisticians behind the television broadcasts at ACC games. He's had his position since 1982, meaning he's covered 29 straight ACC Tournaments and 56 total Duke-North Carolina games. In a slower stretch of basketball, it's always interesting to get a peek behind the curtain at how broadcasts work (I just wish Luke DeCock had asked him how the internet has changed doing game stats).
- Washington Times: Patrick Stevens posts a collage of little nuggets from Maryland head coach Mark Turgeon. In a quick summary, Terrell Stoglin missed practice Thursday and Friday after tweaking his ankle; Pe'Shon Howard is out of his boot and doing some drills; he also praised Berend Weijs. But the most interesting part of the presser, to me at least, was Turgeon's frustration with his non-stop schedule. It's easy to forget just how much work goes into being a top-tier coach. In addition to the events and fundraisers he has to attend, Turgeon made it clear he didn't like the team's schedule during his last chance to retool before going into ACC play. It won't lengthen his Christmas break, but I think Turgeon can spend plenty of time working on his own team (based on the quality of opponents the Terrapins face between now and then).
- Miami Herald: Former Georgia Tech star Kenny Anderson was arrested Sunday for leaving the scene of an accident. But if you read a little closer, it sounds like he might have been charged with a more serious offense (I mean, he admitted to drinking, slurred his speech and crashed his Escalade into a tree… seriously, if you're slurring your speech, you're over the limit). Anderson is currently coaching at a private Jewish day school. He played for nine NBA teams during his 15-year career and made the All-Star game in 1994.


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Michigan boy, 6, drove off in dad's car because he craved Chinese food
Photo: Getty Images
LAPEER, Mich. -- Authorities say a 6-year-old Lapeer County boy seeking Chinese food took his father's car for a morning joyride.
The Lapeer County sheriff's department says it was alerted by other drivers who saw a youngster driving erratically Saturday on M-24, about 60 miles north of Detroit.
When deputies arrived, two drivers had the car boxed in, and one of them pulled the keys from the ignition. Sgt. Andy Engster tells The Detroit News that the boy had no previous driving experience but wanted Chinese food around 7:30 a.m.
Engster says the boy also wanted to get the car repaired after hitting a sign. The boy's father told deputies that he was asleep and didn't know his son was gone.
The incident is under investigation.


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Some seniors at High Tech High plan to build a 100-square-foot, solar-powered house from renewable and recycled materials — a project that has landed them as finalists in a national contest on environmental education.
If all goes as planned, the "tiny house" will be finished and put on display at the annual Earth Day fair in Balboa Park in April. Construction is slated to begin in a few weeks at the charter school's Point Loma campus.
•Several businesses have pledged materials for the "tiny house" project, including BYCOR General Contractors, Dr. Bronner's, Dixieline, ClarkDietrich Building Systems and Sullivan Solar Power.
•In addition, the two High Tech High classes working on the project are collaborating with architect Matthew Ellis of Bluemotif Architecture.
•Cash, expertise and building materials — including roofing products, exterior siding, cabinetry, fixtures, electrical items and plumbing parts — are still being sought. If you want to help, email Brandon Cohen at bcohen@hightechhi... or call (619) 243-5000.
High Tech High teacher Brandon Cohen entered the Samsung Solve for Tomorrow competition months ago. He submitted an essay about how science, technology, engineering and math — known as STEM subjects — can help a community's environment. The 3rd annual contest attracted more than 1,600 entries from sixth- through 12th-grade teachers, a Samsung spokeswoman said.
Cohen learned last week that his proposed project, which will be constructed by 42 students from two classes, was selected as one of 15 finalists. That means his school has already won about $40,000 in technology grants from Samsung and other contest sponsors. The five grand-prize winners will receive an additional $70,000 in prizes.
If his team wins, Cohen would like to improve the ratio of computers in his classroom to one per student and purchase newer, more powerful machines that handle video projects better. A cash award that's part of the prize also could pay for better appliances and features for the "tiny house," which will be fairly bare-bones at first.
Cohen is working with two other teachers, Andrew Gloag and Maria McTighe, on the project. He said he was happy but not surprised to hear the project was a finalist. "These are the most innovative and impressive students that I've known," he said.
Cohen also said he has several goals with this project: not only making environmental lessons such as global warming and the impact of greenhouse gases more understandable to students, but also giving them life skills. He said everyone should know how to change out a light switch or an outlet.
The house likely will have a gray-water recycling system, compact appliances and an integrated shower-sink system. Students also have said they would like to see features such as storage built underneath the floor and a roof garden to provide a layer of insulation.
Student Patsy Forg, 17, was one of two students who worked on the animation video submitted for the contest. She said the class project has made her more environmentally aware.
For example, students have calculated their average daily energy consumption at home by creating floor plans and estimating electricity, natural gas and water usage.
"I live in a condo, in a very small area. And I never realized how big it was until I saw the tiny house," Forg said. "It makes you think what is really necessary in the extra space you are using and how you can be changing the way you live.
"Even if you are not going to that drastic of a measure (of living in a tiny house), you can do things that will help the environment."
The house will largely be built inside the school, in a wide hallway area. The noisy work, such as sawing plywood, will be done outside.
Esteban Armijo, 17, said he's looking forward to the hands-on activity.
"I think it's an excellent idea," he said. "Just being given the opportunity to make a house, a full standing, working house, is just amazing. The fact that we can promote a bunch of green energy uses and learn about it in the process is pretty wonderful."
The Samsung contest will have five grand-prize winners, including one chosen by popular vote. To see videos of the finalists' projects and vote, go to samsung.com/solvefortomorrow
Voting will be open through March 4. The grand-prize winners will be invited to a ceremony in Washington, D.C., on April 17.


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Soda: Inca Kola, Peru's National Soda
The Incas, of course, were the pre-Columbian inhabitants of Peru. A cola is, according to Merriam-Webster, "a carbonated soft drink colored usually with caramel and flavored usually with extracts from kola nuts" (the plural of colon too, apparently, but that's neither here nor there). The definition post-dates the Inca Empire by a couple of centuries. So what's Inca Kola?
Well, it's a bright yellow soda that is, like the Incas, from Peru. That's the hook, obviously: the logo and label are decorated with Inca iconography intended to enforce the idea that this soda is South American. Which is ironic, on one hand, because it was created less than one hundred years ago by an immigrant from England.
But the soda is flavored in part with lemon verbena, native to South America. And whether or not it should be Peru's national soda, it most certainly is. Inca Kola enjoys about as large a share of the soft-drink market in its home country as Coca-Cola, maybe more, and is as powerful a symbol of Peruvian identity in and outside the countrycheck the shelves in any South American grocery, you'll find itas is Cheerwine in the Carolinas, or Moxie in Maine.
Inca Kola is as light and colorful as a kid's birthday party, and its flavor follows suit. It tastes like bubble gum steeped in cream soda. Modern all the way, not something that brings to mind the old foundations of Machu Picchu or the timeless ceremonies of the Inti Raymi in Cusco.
But hey, even those things must have seemed gaudy and newfangled at one point. And though economic necessity forced Inca Kola to partner with Coca-Cola on the corporate level back in 1997, costing it some credibility at home, you've still got to hand it to any soda that outsellsor even sells on a level withthe multinational behemoths, as Inca Kola has in Peru for decades.
About the Author: Jed Portman is blogging his way to that cabin in East Tennessee, one six-pack of soda and barbecue platter at a time. Follow him on Twitter @jdportman.
All products linked here have been independently selected by our editors. We may earn a commission on purchases, as described in our affiliate policy.


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On May 17, the last time Ozzie Guillén composed a tweet before his 3.5 month hiatus, the Marlins were celebrating a new stadium, a largely new team, a new manager, and new trippy home run celebration sculpture. So it seemed logical that Guillen would quit Twitter to focus on managing the Marlins. At the time, they were a reasonable 20-18, and when Ozzie talked to reporters after that day's game, he said, "I hate Twitter," and pointed out, "I am not Kim Kardashian."
Welp, the Marlins suck now, and on Sept. 4, when they fell to 60-76, Guillen hopped back on with the vaguely menacing salutation you see above. Since then? Nothing but goodness:
Then he switched to Spanish, for some reason, a language in which he does not do the period-after-every-word thing. @SeanOfKelly figured out that weird habit:
That's true, we tried it, although. Last time Guillen quit Twitter, he said, "I don't need the aggravation. So many nasty people that don't have nothing better to do." So we just want to make clear we're not trying to be nasty: we. like. your. tweets. and. want. thas. continue. jajajajaj.


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Tagged: Playoffs Batting Average
Arbitration? What's that?
With the signing of Carlos Ruiz to a three-year contract worth $8.85 million dollars and the earlier signing of Shane Victorino to a three-year deal worth $22 million dollars, the Phils have signed all four players that were originally arbitration eligible.
Last Friday the Phils announced that they had signed their center fielder, Shane Victorino, to a three-year, $22 million dollars deal, which buys out the final two arbitration years and his first year of free agency. Victorino, who, in 2009, batted .292 with 39 doubles, 13 triples, 10 home runs, 62 RBIs, and 25 stolen bases, will be with the ballclub until 2012. He and the Phils both hope that he will build on his success in both 2008 and 2009.
Carlos' deal involved three years worth $8.85 million dollars, with a fourth-year club option worth either $5 million dollars or a $500,000 buyout, plus performance incentives based on games started, pending a physical. As with Victorino, the signing take care of the remainder of his arbitration years plus, possibly, his first year of free agency. In 2009, Ruiz batted .255 with 43 RBIs and a career-high 9 home runs. Although he has batted .246 in four years with the Phils, he is a .303 hitter during the playoffs.
There is also a report that the Phils have signed Chicago White Sox and Colorado Rockies pitcher Jose Contreras to a one-year deal worth about $1 million dollars, to add him to the presently weak bullpen. Contreras, if he has been signed, will most likely be taking Chan Ho Park's position in the bullpen as long reliever and spot starter. In 2009, for the White Sox and the Rockies, Contreras went 6-13 with an ERA of 4.92 in 28 games (23 starts), striking out 106 batters while walking 53 in 131 2/3 innings of work. Career-wise, he is 71-63 with a 4.61 ERA.


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Have you heard about the mayor who saves people from burning buildings and opens his home to hurricane refugees? That would be Newark, New Jersey mayor, Cory Booker.
And somehow, while he is busy fulfilling his role as the world's most enthusiastic and effective mayor, he manages to find the time to have an energetically engaging Twitter life. In the wake of hurricane Sandy he has been answering constituent's constant questions that run the range from FEMA relief to school closings to "do you ever sleep?" - to which he replied, "About as often as I do laundry. I haven't done laundry in 9 days."
One of the more memorable recent tweets was the retweet and reply to a plea from one Tyree Humes, a Newark resident in need:
Well apparently, the Hot Pockets' marketing team got wind of the exchange and in a moment of hurricane-relief-meets-golden-PR-opportunity, they responded with … you got it, Hot Pockets. In a letter sent to Booker, the company praised the mayor's extraordinary efforts during the disaster, and included coupons for free Hot Pockets for the residents of Newark. They also sent a batch of coupons directly to Humes himself.
And of course, between delivering diapers and practically restoring power with his bare hands, Booker tweeted another reply to Humes: "thx 2 ur tweet + @HotPockets generosity Newarkers now have plenty of hot pockets to put in the oven."
Say what will you will about Hot Pockets, but don't let it be said that the mayor doesn't get the people what they want.
Related story on MNN: And the award for best mayor goes to...