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5th Annual Peace
Peace Studies
Conference 2011
For more information, please contact:
Fran Faraz Peace Studies Coordinator
Nancy Fong Peace Studies Counselor
Dr. Dave Hudson Dean of Arts and Letters
Get involved:
Fran Faraz – Club Advisor
"A Better Tomorrow: Making Peace a Global Reality in 21st Century"
Creating a Just, Sustainable, and Compassionate World
Over two hundred people celebrated a day of peace-building at the Golden West College's Annual Peace Conference on April 15, 2011. The conference's vision, "A Better Tomorrow: Making Peace a Global Reality in the 21st Century," was a creative forum for an interdisciplinary gathering of dialogues among students, educators, researchers, artists, activists, community leaders, and the general public.
Several speakers traveled from across the U.S. to share their expertise with the conference participants. The speakers raised thought-provoking questions and engaging ideas from a range of diverse topics, such as re-envisioning education, civil resistance and democratic change, and staying human in the face of all inhumanity. Local organizations collaborated by sharing resources and upcoming projects for activism in the community. Visual artists (OC Fine Arts and GWC Fine Arts) and performing artists (Feryan and Mehrbung Group) also contributed their unique gifts and creative talents towards a shared vision of peace and unity at the conference. Golden West College's Peace Studies Program, Student Activities office, Honors Program, and Peace, Mind & Body club students took the leadership of hosting the conference. Together, the conference participants and GWC campus community explored innovative ways to promote and practice peace in their individual, local, and global communities.
President Wes Bryan, who was last year's recipient of the award for creating peace through education, presented the 2011 Peace Studies Award to Invisible Children, a generation of young activists who are giving voice to child soldiers throughout the world. "Today is about finding our voice for peace and taking right action. Invisible Children took the right action and forwarded the cause of peace by giving voice to children who would otherwise be invisible to the world," stated President Bryan.
The conference was the first Zero Waste event at Golden West College. The Environmental Studies and Sustainability Club collaborated with Earth Resource Foundation to provide Zero Waste training to students and staff. The conference committee used a minimal amount of paper for advertising and relied on a network of grassroots community-building practices, such as social media and multiple outreach efforts. All organic waste from the conference were separated and sent to compost operations, which diverted the waste from local landfills.
On day of the conference, BPA-free water bottles were provided to attendees and many people chose to re-use their water bottles throughout the day, instead of using paper cups or plastic bottles. Lunch was served in a cafeteria-family style setting, where cloth napkins, silverware, and ceramic plates replaced the once-convenient, yet disposable paper napkins, Styrofoam plates, and plastic utensils. The left-over food went to a food donation program and any remaining food waste was collected for composting by Rainbow Disposal.
Overall, the event costs were reduced significantly since the purchase of disposables was eliminated, which reduced trash collection costs. The collective efforts of students, staff, and faculty sparked a momentum for building bridges between today's realities and tomorrow's possibilities for peace-building and sustainable practices on campus. With the vision of a better tomorrow, Golden West College inspired a new generation of visionary voices in creating a world that is just, sustainable, and compassionate.
Video from the 2011 Peace Conference
- Speaker Mark Lee – http://youtu.be/QmIBX4nBLHU
- Speaker John Bock – http://youtu.be/wv1P37qu_fU
- Speaker Barbara English – http://youtu.be/aSmpBH3Gk6c
- Speaker Hardy Merriman – http://youtu.be/5iWvtQdcSfc
- Speaker David Smith – http://youtu.be/dGbT6jBuYPE
- Speaker Michael Tobias – http://youtu.be/8QwPn3HIKzA
- Invisible Children – http://youtu.be/PdfqkRqsSRc
Meet the Speakers
JOHN BOCK is professor of anthropology, coordinator of the Environmental Studies Program, and founding director of the Center for Sustainability at Cal State Fullerton. Bock is interested in the interface of biology and culture, and focuses on five main research areas; parental investment and child development in a cross-cultural, socioecological perspective, family and household demography, health, and especially the relationship between access to resources and health outcomes among indigenous and minority peoples, the HIV/AIDS epidemic in sub-Saharan Africa, and the effects of economic development, globalization, market incorporation, and integration into national level political, economic, and social institutions on indigenous and minority peoples in North America, Africa, and elsewhere. He has conducted extensive research in Botswana and New Mexico over the last 20 years. Bock is author or co-author of over 30 articles and book chapters, has edited special issues of several prominent anthropology journals, and is co-editor of the recent volume The Anthropology of Learning in Childhood (Alta Mira, 2010). http://anthro.fullerton.edu/jbock/
BARBARA ENGLISH is a Certified Bioenergetic Therapist with over 20 years of experience. She is the Executive Director of Living Ubuntu, a non‐profit organization founded in response to her concern about the effects of mass trauma on populations around the globe. Much of her training has centered on Early Development, Infant Mental Health, and how to recover after abuse or trauma. She is a 2009 Carl Wilkens Fellow with Genocide Intervention Network.
FRAN FARAZ is the Director of the Peace Studies Program and is the Advisor to the Peace, Mind & Body Club at Golden West College. Her passion is teaching the young generation how to think versus what to think. Ms. Faraz teaches Introduction to Peace Studies and Nonviolence and Conflict Resolution at Golden West College. In addition to her teaching, she helped establish a Major in Peace Studies and articulated with 4 year universities for students to obtain degrees in the field of Peacebuilding. The annual Peace Conference is one method Ms. Faraz employs to raise awareness and bring attention to different issues that can contribute to a peaceful world. This is the 5th annual conference she has organized at Golden West College. (www.goldenwestcollege.edu/peace)
MARK LEE has been involved with the Krishnamurti Foundation of America (KFA) since it was founded. He has had several roles during this time, including Director of Oak Grove School and Executive Director of the KFA. His current role includes acting as spokesperson and board representative in the public and media arenas, assisting with special fundraising projects, strengthening the programs of the KFA, authoring special writing assignments, and completing The Book of Oneself, a sequel to The Book of Life, of which he was the editor.
HARDY MERRIMAN has worked in the field of strategic nonviolent conflict since 2002. He was director of programs and research at ICNC from 2005 to 2007. Prior to this, Mr. Merriman worked at the Albert Einstein Institution and contributed to and edited the book "Waging Nonviolent Struggle: 20th Century Practice and 21st Century Potential" by Gene Sharp. More recently, Mr. Merriman has published chapters about the dynamics of nonviolent action as a technique of political struggle and the role of nonviolent action in reducing terrorism. He also co-authored "A Guide to Effective Nonviolent Struggle," a training curriculum for activists. Mr. Merriman has worked with activists from around the world and has made presentations on various topics related to strategic nonviolent conflict at American University, the Australian Center for Peace and Conflict Studies (University of Queensland), the Center for Victims of Torture (Minneapolis, Minnesota), the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy (Tufts University), the International Peace Research Association Annual Conference (2006), James Madison University, Oberlin College, Stanford University, Swarthmore College, the United States Institute of Peace, and other venues. He also is on the Board of Advisors of Meta-Activism Project. He is a graduate of Oberlin College. http://www.nonviolent-conflict.org
JANE GRAY MORRISON makes films and writes about the environment. In more than 30 countries, she has chronicled biodiversity loss, animal protection, pollution, human health, and explored stunning interdisciplinary approaches to mitigating conflicts, whether in Ireland, India, China or the Antarctic. Morrison produced the Turner Broadcasting ten-hour series "Voice of the Planet" starring William Shatner and Faye Dunaway. She has produced numerous films for such networks as Discovery, PBS (also co-directing "A Day in the Life of Ireland" for Irish Television and WNET/New York.) Morrison recently completed a feature documentary trilogy: "Mad Cowboy", "No Vacancy" and "Hotspots." Morrison and Michael Tobias have just finished GOD'S COUNTRY – a book that chronicles the crises of industrialized agriculture and of human consumerism and their impact on habitat and biodiversity loss. As Executive Vice President of Dancing Star Foundation for nearly a decade, Morrison has worked with partners across the globe to increase protection for threatened habitats, as well as overseeing domestic sanctuaries protecting rescued farm animals.
DAVID J. SMITH is the national outreach officer for the United States Institute of Peace. He coordinates Institute-wide educational outreach and public programming efforts. Smith works closely with educational and professional associations, academic institutions, and public groups to promote Institute objectives. He speaks frequently to community, faculty and student groups on a variety of issues including civil society and peacebuilding, child soldiers, conflict resolution education and international education. Smith holds a B.A. in political science and urban affairs from the American University School of Public Affairs, an M.S. from the George Mason University Institute for Conflict Analysis and Resolution, and a J.D. from the University of Baltimore School of Law.
DR. PAUL K. TAYYAR is an English Instructor at Golden West College and Co-Coordinator of the Peace Studies Program. A three-time nominee for the Pushcart Prize, his books include Follow the Sun: Poems, Stories, and Reflections (Aortic Books), Everyday Magic (West-Coast Bias Press), Scenes From A Good Life (Tebot Bach), and Postmark Atlantis (Level 4 Press). Dr. Tayyar is the Founder and Director of World Parade Books, which has published works by Edward Field, Gerald Locklin, and Lyn Lifshin. (www.goldenwestcollege.edu/peace)
MICHAEL C. TOBIAS is a world-renowned global ecologist, author, filmmaker, and explorer. He is the author of 30 books and director /producer of nearly 100 films, documentaries and T.V. series. He is the President and CEO of the Dancing Star Foundation, a California nonprofit public benefit corporation devoted to animal welfare, international biodiversity conservation and environmental education. Tobias is recipient of many awards and honors including the international "Courage of Conscience Award" for his passionate commitment to animal rights, nature and nonviolence; and, the Parabola Focus Award for his long-standing body of work aimed at creating a better world. He received his Ph.D. from UC Santa Cruz in the History of Consciousness Program. For more information, visit: www.hotspots-thefilm.org www.dancingstarfoundation.org
Invisible Children
KOMAKECH GEOFFREY NVEKO is twenty-five, and was born and raised in Gulu. He works as a mentor for Invisible Children's office in Uganda. Geoffrey has a deep interest in psychology, and offers psychosocial support to rehabilitate those who have been traumatized by war. He can't wait to experience America for the first time as he conquers Sunset Blvd and the Santa Monica Pier on the Greater LA tour. http://www.invisiblechildren.com
CHELSEA STEELE is from Orlando, FL. She likes pancakes, watching movies, sushi, ice cream, her Snuggie, driving, raspberry tea, traveling, acting, ice cream, music, bodies of water, and adventure. As a high school student, Chelsea was a leader in her Invisible Children club. She is so excited to see young people take that same leadership on their own campuses in Southern California this spring as she is embarking on her second tour this spring as the leader of the Greater LA team. http://www.invisiblechildren.com
ELISSA O'DELL, a native Floridan, recently graduated with a Family Studies degree from Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama. Her hometown claims to be both the manatee capitol of the world and home of the second largest Walmart in America. From eating sushi in Japan to swimming with sting rays in Grand Cayman, to studying Spanish in Spain, to watching river dance in Ireland, Elissa appreciates adventure and seeing the world. She is looking forward to adding an Invisible Children tour through LA to her list of incredible experiences. http://www.invisiblechildren.com
BRIAN McGILL, 22, is fresh out of college at the University of Arizona. A San Diego native, he's eager to explore more of Southern California on the Greater LA tour. He's a runner, so if you see the Invisible Children van at a LA gas station, he may be running laps around it to keep his legs strong. Our favorite factoid about Brian, he minored in Chinese. http://www.invisiblechildren.com
More information
2011 Golden West College Peace Conference: Please join us on Friday, April 15th for a day of peace-building. The objective of the Peace Conference is to promote peace and humanity by building bridges between today's realities and tomorrow's possibilities. Conference participants will explore innovative ways to promote peace and nonviolence individually, locally, and globally.
The 2011 Peace Conference will feature the following presentations (in order of appearance):
- "Re-envisioning Education," Mark Lee, Krishnamurti Foundation of America Board representative. kfa.org
- "Shades of Green: Sustainability and Self-determination," Dr. John Bock, Professor, California State University Fullerton. anthro.fullerton.edu
- "Biodiversity, Democracy and Non-Violence," A discussion by Jane Gray Morrison and Michael Charles Tobias. Michael Tobias, a world-renowned global ecologist, author, filmmaker & explorer. Jane Gray Morrison is the Executive Vice President producer of the Dancing Star Foundation. dancingstarfoundation.org
- KEYNOTE: "Evolving Ways of Peacebuilding: New Frontiers for the 21st Century," David Smith, United States Institute of Peace (USIP). usip.org
- "Civil Resistance and Democratic Change: Enduring Truths and New Developments," Hardy Merriman. Nonviolent-conflict.org
- "To Be Announced," Barbara English, Executive Director of Living Ubuntu. Livingubuntu.org
- "Women and Peace: an untapped resource," Fran Faraz, Director of the Golden West College Peace Studies program. goldenwestcollege.edu/peace
- "Child of the Desert, Child of the Sea: Poems from a Bicultural Boyhood" Dr. Paul Tayyar, Co-Coordinator of the Golden West College Peace Studies program. goldenwestcollege.edu/peace
The event will include musical performances by artists exhibiting peace-building through thought-provoking lyrics, art, music, and dance. There will be a special presentation of the GWC's 2011 Peace Studies Award.
The annual Peace Conference is sponsored by Golden West College and its Peace Studies Program, Student Activities, Peace, Mind, & Body Club, and Associated Students organizations. In addition, the event is in collaboration with United States Institute of Peace, International Center for Nonviolent Conflict, CSU Dominguez Hills, CSU Fullerton, UC Irvine, CSU Pomona, and the City of Huntington Beach.


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To make home buying easier for the buyers, government offers several types of tax rebates while purchasing a property. If you fund the purchase through home loan, you can claim a deduction of up to 1.5 lakh under section 80C of the Income Tax Act. With respect to the interest on home loan, a tax rebate of 2 lakh is offered by the government under section 24(b) for a self-occupied property. You can deduct the entire interest amount from your taxable income if the property is not self-occupied. However, you cannot claim the same if the property is under construction.

subset: commoncrawl


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Secession & Affirmative Action, the Sequels?
Via Ben Smith @ Politico, Justice Scalia believes that the Civil War settled the constitutional question of secession:
[T]he answer is clear. If there was any constitutional issue resolved by the Civil War, it is that there is no right to secede. (Hence, in the Pledge of Allegiance, "one Nation, indivisible.")
The screenwriter that posed the secession question to Scalia may have found better luck if he inquired about something a little closer and ostensibly less soaked in blood. Something like, say, the constitutionality of affirmative action.
Indeed, a Michigan-based pro-affirmative action group, By Any Means Necessary, has filed a class action lawsuit against California's Prop 209, which upon its 1996 passage amended California's constitution to bar affirmative action in the University of California system.
There is no guarantee that this suit will move forward. But BAMN appears emboldened by two factors: 1) the current Prop 8 challenge in a California federal district court, and 2) the Roberts Court's hostility to race-based policies and initiatives.
Yet just because a federal court proceeded with trial in the Prop 8 case, and that case seems destined to go to a Supreme Court that has issued rulings favorable to gay rights, does not mean that Prop 209 will get the same treatment. First, the Ninth Circuit unanimously smacked down a challenge to the amendment in 1997. Second, Justice Kennedy, who may or may not be favorable to gay rights when it comes to marriage, is absolutely and unequivocally against affirmative action: he dissented Metro Broadcasting, was in the majority in Adarand, dissented in Grutter, was in the Gratz majority, was Parents Involved's fifth vote, and penned Ricci.
Justice O'Connor in Grutter upheld affirmative action. Justice Alito will have no such sympathies. Unless Kennedy has a Casey moment and steps back from the brink of overturning another liberal, Burger Court era precedent, BAMN should count the votes and fire its counsel for malpractice: if this case goes to the Supreme Court, it will find five justices who will not hesitate in ending affirmative action once and for all. And they will almost certainly use Chief Justice Roberts's concurrence in Citizens United to justify reversing Grutter within a decade of the decision.
Kennedy voted against his previous voting record and upheld abortion in Casey because O'Connor's investment in the law and Souter's fealty to stare decisis convinced Kennedy that Roe should not be entirely felled. With neither O'Connor nor Souter remaining on the bench, I see no way affirmative action will survive Kennedy's longstanding antipathy to race-conscious laws. In fact, we may sooner see the justices rule that secession passes constitutional muster. And even Scalia, with his famously alienating pen, could write an opinion that holds a nine-member majority on its unconstitutionality.
One Response
really nice post


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I'm not quite clear on how advanced this obnoxious eight-year old's English is.
Couldn't you bring in some visual stimuli like DVDs (with English subtitles) and have him fill in a questionnaire afterwards?
Let me know if you need any stuff since I've got eleven-year-olds on my hands and their English is poor at best.
Still,they took to 'Pirates of the Caribbean'(highly unsuitable for an eight-year old I might add) like ducks to water.
English Teacher


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New 20 ounce tumblers available now! Forum donation credit with purchase. https://www.wildguzzi.com/Products/products.htm#Tumbler
So can someone that's ridden one explain the riding experience vs other Guzzis? I think they look OK. A sportier Tonti bike. I'll admit that I don't "get it".I know a fellow that rides one. First time I saw him, I was on the EV and thought nothing more than it was stripped down California (which in my mind meaning Tonti frame bike). OK, I was ignorant and for $20k, still ignorant.
So this is my irrational dream bike. Being ignorant of market pricing, I was thinking these would be in the $8k - $12K range. Did not realize it would be impossible to find one below $18K.And other than them being a bit rare, I don't think they were all that special, right? I read some articles on them and it seems like they were a very slow seller when they came out new. For me, it is just the look. Love the black/green combo. Love the pipes and chrome fenders. Really like the tank. The seat/tank junction looks a bit odd, but that is ok. After looking at prices, I starting wondering .... "What about a Quota" those are usually priced pretty good.
I read some articles on them and it seems like they were a very slow seller when they came out new.
Looks indeed!! - - and here are two other earlier Guzzi models that are now going for $20,000 - $25,000!!!
Confession? I'm asking for an honest opinion on the 'big valve' engines power delivery compared to the standard size inlet valved engine. From limited experience putting an 855cc 'Blitz kit' (huge inlets, match ported, relieved, twin spark plugs. Linskog balance, blue printed R65), I knew I'd lose bottom end power. I imagine the big valve MG's would suffer the same 'til perhaps 3K r/m. R3~
The LM1, V7 Sport or 1000S are not worth $20K+ YET. Id say $18K tops for a pristine example. Anything more, and youre over-paying. And Im not your typical Guzzi cheapskate, I pay good money for a nice bike.
It's just a Tonti LeMans with retro bodywork.. not that there is anything at all wrong with a Tonti LeMans. I rode a *lot* with Guzzi Bob (RIP). He had a 1000S, 07 Norge with the suspension upgraded, and medium valve T3. They were pretty much equal in the twistys.I was talking about this with Gordon at MG Cycle one day, and he said, "The 1000S didn't sell well. People took them out on a test ride and thought what will this high priced bike do that my T3 won't?" I agree.
I agree with you Cam, maybe in a couple more years the bikes you list may break the $20K range
Why do the carbs have flat tops instead of the bell crank type?
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text: Nick, Black Rhino Keeper Over the past few weeks, our new Black Rhino calf Kufara has grown in confidence as well as size. We estimate that she would now weigh at least four times her birth weight and be around 120 kilograms. Her personality has grown as well, and she's become very fond of belly scratches, often lying down to allow keepers better access! She has started eating more solid food, and is often seen chewing on the leftover branches that her mum hasn't eaten. However, it is likely to be a further 14 months before Kufara is fully weaned and begins eating only the leafy branches and hay that her mother Bakhita enjoys. On the cool mornings we have been having recently Kufara has been enjoying tearing around her enclosure, bucking and jumping as well as attempting to fight anything that looks different. She is clearly becoming a very feisty Black Rhinoceros!


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by Sue Ann Rybak
The facts are shocking: According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, of the 2.25 million tons of electronics – televisions, cell phones, computers and monitors – retired in 2007, 83 percent were discarded, mostly to landfills.
What's worse is that, according to the Consumer Electronics Association, about two-thirds of the estimated 304 million pieces of electronic equipment removed from households in 2005 still worked.
Many electronic devices contain lead, mercury and other toxic materials that can leak from landfills to groundwater or be released into the air when incinerated. The cathode ray tubes (CRTs) in most computer monitors and television screens have X-ray shields that contain 4 to 8 pounds of lead, mostly embedded in glass. Discarded monitors and televisions are believed to be the largest sources of lead in landfills.
But, organizations like Green in Chestnut Hill (GRinCH) are working to prevent obsolete computers and other electronics from being dumped in landfills by providing opportunities for residents to recycle their electronic waste responsibly. GRinCH is hosting its semiannual Weird Waste Day on April 20 from 1 to 4 p.m. at Norwood Fontbonne Academy, 8891 Germantown Ave.
Amy Edelman, president of GRinCH and owner of Night Kitchen Bakery in Chestnut Hill, said "Anything with a plug" will be accepted and recycled – except large appliances. All the materials collected will be processed by eForce Compliance, one of the first e-Steward certification recycling companies in the Delaware Valley. E-Steward certification prohibits recycling companies from exporting, landfilling, burning, or prisoner-processing of hazardous e-waste.
Prior to hosting its first Weird Waste Day, GRinCH toured eForce's facility located in the Grays Ferry section of Philadelphia.
"We wanted to make sure that eForce was doing what they claimed they were doing," said Edelman, who recalled watching a report on PBS's "Frontline" about Philadelphia School District computers that ended up in a landfill in Ghana.
"One of the telltale signs that a company is not actually dismantling the electronics is shipping containers," Edelman said. "That was not the case at eForce. They were very open and transparent."
Edelman said there have been some changes to the event through the years.
"When we first started the event, eForce used to charge us 40 cents per pound for all the electronics brought to us," Edelman said. "It could be quite expensive. People were often shocked to hear that they owed $60 or $80 because the electronics weighed so much – especially older televisions and desktop computers."
She said a year or two ago, Pennsylvania passed a law requiring the recycling companies to "bear some of the burden" by paying a portion of the cost of recycling. Last year, GRinCH was not charged a fee for transporting the e-waste, but they did ask people to make donations to fund their "Green Warrior Student Grant Program," which encourages and supports students and student groups to develop ideas that will contribute to a greener, cleaner Chestnut Hill.
Edelman said because of an issue with the glass on newer computers, eForce is charging GRinCH $1,000 this month to transport the materials to its facility.
"The glass is highly toxic and it has been difficult for them to dispose of it correctly," she said. "So, we are asking people to make a $10 or $20 donation to help pay for the fee. The remaining funds collected would go into our grant program."
Edelman estimated that over the past several years GRinCH has collected at least 50 tons of e-waste.
For more information on eForce Compliance and what types of material it recycles, visit its website at eforcecompliance.com or call 215-964-6665.


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Gary Blasi joined the UCLA faculty in 1991 with a distinguished 20-year record of public interest practice. He teaches clinical and public interest lawyering courses, including Fact Investigation in Complex Matters and Clinical Seminar in Public Policy Advocacy. He is one of the founding and core faculty of the law school's unique David J. Epstein Program in Public Interest Law and Policy. He practices, teaches, conducts research and writes about advocacy on behalf of children in substandard schools, homeless families and individuals, low income tenants, low wage workers, veterans, and victims of discrimination. He has received numerous awards for distinction in the field of public interest law and for providing legal services to the poor. In 2007, he was named one of the top 100 lawyers in California, cited as the "go-to lawyer for community groups in need of advice." In 2013, he received the California State Bar's Loren Miller Legal Services Award, given to one lawyer in California each year for his or her work in extending legal services to the poor.
Professor Blasi's research draws on cognitive science and social psychology to better understand how lawyers acquire expertise, how people understand the causes of problems like homelessness or poverty, how advocates can best deal with the consequences of racial and other stereotypes, and how large bureaucracies can better respond to the needs of poor people and people living with disabilities. He has also served as Director of the UCLA Institute for Research on Labor and Employment, which supports research and education on issues critical to working people, taught at Stanford and lectured at universities in England, Australia, Brazil, Hong Kong and China.
Professor Blasi became a lawyer without attending law school. After graduate study at Harvard, where he was a Graduate Prize Fellow and Woodrow Wilson Fellow, Professor Blasi served as a legal apprentice in a community law office in the Echo Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, where he also began his practice. In 1978, he joined the Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles, where he coordinated advocacy including complex litigation in the areas of housing, welfare, homelessness, and redevelopment.
Professor Blasi took emeritus status in 2012, but continues to teach one semester each year and maintains an active pro bono practice, working with community groups and in collaboration with the leading public interest and pro bono law firms in California. He is Special Counsel to the Opportunity Under Law Initiative at the Public Counsel Law Center and Of Counsel at the Western Center on Law and Poverty.


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"This conference is amazing."
It was a comment heard again and again from speakers at the podium and attendees in the corridors of the First National Conference on Methamphetamine, HIV, and Hepatitis. In mid-August 2005, over 900 people jammed into the cramped meeting rooms of a Salt Lake City hotel to attend the event sponsored by the Harm Reduction Project of Salt Lake City and the Harm Reduction Coalition of New York City.
The sheer quantity of information offered could certainly be called amazing, with 20 plenary speakers and nearly 100 presentations in 34 breakout sessions. But equally amazing was the confluence of so many diverse people and perspectives in the same room: drug policy people rubbing shoulders with HIV prevention people; law enforcement with "party safe" proponents; rural social services providers with urban social scientists; harm reduction advocates with hard-core 12-steppers; counselors with prosecutors.
The energy at the conference had no doubt been kicked up a notch by the attention of Indiana Republican and harm reduction antagonist Rep. Mark Souder, who offered a public damnation of U.S. government involvement in the event. Souder complained to Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Mike Leavitt that a $3,000 grant allowing several HHS employees to attend the conference "completely undermines the work of the president, the Congress, and the men and women who work in law enforcement across the nation who are trying desperately to fight the meth epidemic."
Salt Lake City's mayor Rocky Anderson, in his welcoming remarks, referred to the congressman as the "ideologue from Indiana" and received a standing ovation after applauding the commitment of attendees to "help real people in the real world, rather than, as we have seen for years in connection with this so-called war on drugs, the avoidance of solutions and the choosing of politics over principled pragmatism."
With nine breakout sessions running at the same time it was impossible to see everything, but here is a sampling of what was heard in Salt Lake City.
Speed in America
Patricia Case, a professor of social medicine at Harvard University, opened the conference by tracing the history of "America's love affair" with stimulants. There is nothing so American as stimulant use, she said, because it allows people to "accomplish things, to go faster, and do more." There always seems to be a drug scare of one sort or another in this country, and now we have an "epidemic" of methamphetamine. But "the word epidemic grates on me," Case said. While the term conveys urgency and makes good headlines, stimulant use in the U.S. is so pervasive that it might better be described as "endemic," with periodic outbreaks, such as we see now.
The latest outbreak has some new features, including local production (and the role of the Internet in disseminating instructions for making the drug at home), the use of meth along with other drugs, the national scale of the outbreak, the involvement of multiple subpopulations, and the increase in smoking as a route of administration. But an emerging concern with the current meth wave in America -- and the reason for this conference -- is the strong association between meth use and HIV, hepatitis C virus (HCV), and sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) in populations where those diseases are prevalent or where meth is commonly injected. It is becoming apparent that the boundaries between these "sub-populations" are fluid, and that HIV and HCV infection may be on the move into new groups and regions.
Despite all the recent attention garnered by meth using gay, urban, party boys, most American meth users are poor people for whom the drug serves as "the best antidepressant on the street." Dr. Case sees motivation for the current wave of substance use in our times and culture, with the essentially unexamined impact of 9/11, the current Iraq War, and economic uncertainty helping to make escape into drugs attractive. For gay men, the unexamined loss of two decades of AIDS is an important contributor, she thinks, but for all groups, poverty, class and social marginalization are likely factors. Yet, Case warns, focusing on only one facet of the current outbreak, such as among urban gay men, may obscure what is happening in other communities, citing meth use in unexpected quarters such as among the Amish, Mormons, and the recent appearance of dime bags on the streets of Latino neighborhoods in New York.
|What is Methamphetamine?
From National Institutes on Drug Abuse (NIDA)
Methamphetamine is an addictive stimulant drug that strongly activates certain systems in the brain. Methamphetamine is chemically related to amphetamine, but the central nervous system effects of methamphetamine are greater. Both drugs have some limited therapeutic uses, primarily in the treatment of obesity.
Methamphetamine is made in illegal laboratories and has a high potential for abuse and addiction. Street methamphetamine is referred to by many names, such as "speed," "meth," and "chalk." Methamphetamine hydrochloride, clear chunky crystals resembling ice, which can be inhaled by smoking, is referred to as "ice," "crystal," "glass," and "tina."
Methamphetamine releases high levels of the neurotransmitter dopamine, which stimulates brain cells, enhancing mood and body movement. It also appears to have a neurotoxic effect, damaging brain cells that contain dopamine as well as serotonin, another neurotransmitter. Over time, methamphetamine appears to cause reduced levels of dopamine, which can result in symptoms like those of Parkinson's disease, a severe movement disorder.
Methamphetamine is taken orally or intranasally (snorting the powder), by intravenous injection, and by smoking. Immediately after smoking or intravenous injection, the methamphetamine user experiences an intense sensation, called a "rush" or "flash," that lasts only a few minutes and is described as extremely pleasurable. Oral or intranasal use produces euphoria -- a high, but not a rush. Users may become addicted quickly, and use it with increasing frequency and in increasing doses.
Animal research going back more than 20 years shows that high doses of methamphetamine damage neuron cell endings. Dopamine- and serotonin-containing neurons do not die after methamphetamine use, but their nerve endings ("terminals") are cut back, and regrowth appears to be limited.
The central nervous system (CNS) actions that result from taking even small amounts of methamphetamine include increased wakefulness, increased physical activity, decreased appetite, increased respiration, hyperthermia, and euphoria. Other CNS effects include irritability, insomnia, confusion, tremors, convulsions, anxiety, paranoia, and aggressiveness. Hyperthermia and convulsions can result in death.
Methamphetamine causes increased heart rate and blood pressure and can cause irreversible damage to blood vessels in the brain, producing strokes. Other effects of methamphetamine include respiratory problems, irregular heartbeat, and extreme anorexia. Its use can result in cardiovascular collapse and death.
History: Speed Round
Amphetamine was first synthesized in Germany in 1887 and its more powerful cousin methamphetamine in Japan in 1919. In the 1930s, Benzedrine inhalers (containing a form of amphetamine) were sold over the counter in the U.S. People would remove drug-soaked cotton from the inhalers and dissolve the amphetamine in coffee for an extra lift. Benzedrine tablets (bennies) became available in 1935, and by 1939 the medical literature reported nearly 40 conditions that were treatable by amphetamine, including an indication for perking up "tired physicians." The first published report of addiction appeared in 1938.
Amphetamine production and use soared during World War II, because, as Dr. Case put it, "all sides go to war on amphetamines." Bennies were included in field kits and some soldiers attributed the long, unrelenting battles on the Pacific islands to the drugs issued to soldiers on both sides. Supplying speed to soldiers continued through the Korean and Vietnam Wars down to the invasion of Iraq, where military personnel were issued modafinil, or Provigil, a new generation, non-amphetamine-based "go-pill" that is said to have a good safety profile. Sales of Provigil in 2004 reached $500 million.
After World War II, Benzedrine tablets were available on the surplus market in large quantities and soldiers and airmen returning from the war brought "pep pills" into the workplace where they became established in the culture of truck drivers and anyone who had to work long hours. Soldiers returning from Vietnam introduced speed to the drug culture, where it developed a bad reputation as an unmellow high, spawning the warning, "Speed Kills." Some wonder if another chapter in America's love affair with speed may soon be written as soldiers return from the Middle East accustomed to revving up for work and play.
In the postwar era, speed started to cause problems on campuses, and public outcry over youth on drugs led to the regulation of Benzedrine and to the removal of over-the-counter amphetamine inhalers by 1959. In a pattern that continues to the present day, as one form of speed was restricted, the market shifted to new sources and technologies. California biker gangs became pioneer underground producers of amphetamine in the early 1960s, smuggling the "crank" in the crankcase of a motorcycle. And the pharmaceutical industry responded to the removal of amphetamine inhalers by producing inhalers that used methamphetamine. By 1965 all inhalers had been removed from market shelves and federal law now required a prescription to obtain the drugs.
By 1967, not surprisingly, the number of prescriptions written for "diet pills" -- primarily dispensed to women -- was soaring. Speed had become an attractive treatment for the burdens of everyday life for millions of housewives. By 1970, 10 billion tablets a year were prescribed legally, with billions more consumed without medical supervision. Burroughs Wellcome, now Glaxo Smith-Kline, advertised its pharmaceutical methamphetamine diet pills with the promise of keeping "the reducer happy." Dr. Case proposed that the "hidden agenda" of medicalized speed appeared to be the production of the ideal suburban housewife, a kind of "Stepford Wife" -- with boundless capacity for housework, a lithe figure, and enhanced sexual appetites. That the pills effectively alleviated depression no doubt made them particularly attractive to members of the target market. Classified as a Schedule II drug, pharmaceutical methamphetamine is still manufactured by Abbott Laboratories and marketed as Desoxyn by Ovation Pharmaceuticals. It is prescribed for treating weight loss and for calming hyperactive kids.
What Does Meth Do?
Don McVinney, of the Harm Reduction Institute, New York, reported on the facts and physiologic effects of methamphetamine. Meth, like cocaine, releases dopamine and inhibits its reuptake at the synapses. Dopamine is a messenger molecule that works in the pleasure and reward centers of the brain. Whereas cocaine use produces dopamine levels 400% of basal release levels, methamphetamine boosts dopamine release by up to 1500%. After the initial release -- and accompanying wave of pleasure -- the dopamine is depleted and the neurons require time to recover before normal dopamine traffic can resume.
Richard Rawson, of the University of California, Los Angeles, illustrated the effects of meth on humans by showing before-and-after MRI images of dopamine uptake in the "pleasure centers" of the brain. Methamphetamine damages the terminals of dopamine neurons in the brain, which can show up to a 60% reduction in neurotransmitter levels one month after using the drug. The good news is that these neurons can recover within 6-24 months, but during that time the user may experience a period of anhedonia, when nothing in life feels good. It is this "low" following meth use that may drive people to use again. Methamphetamine also has persisting effects on the "judgment" centers of the brain that affect impulse control, and can impact the amygdala, which may result in increased cravings or inappropriate stimulus of the "fight or flight" response. Meth promotes sexual drive for both men and women, in contrast to opiates, which tend to replace sexual pleasure with the pleasure of the drug.
Don McVinney explained that the latest form of methamphetamine on the street is called crystal or "ice," and resembles rock candy. Current prices for the drug run from about $20 per quarter gram in San Francisco to $60-80 in New York. Methamphetamine can be eaten, smoked, snorted, injected, or inserted in the rectum (booty bumped). Smoking produces the fastest onset, acting within three minutes, while swallowing may take 15-20 to produce effects. Swallowing meth probably has fewer risks than the other modes of administration. A single dose will last from 8-12 hours.
When administered, methamphetamine produces a rise in blood pressure and heart rate. Breathing becomes faster and shallower, and the internal body temperature rises. There have been cases of kidney failure, dehydration, stroke, and seizures reported after a single dose of meth. The mouth becomes dry and users often develop characteristically bad breath. Longer-term use can produce "meth mouth," an increasingly recognized form of tooth decay caused by chronic dry mouth, grinding of the teeth, and osteoporosis.
Coming down from meth can be unpleasant. The features of methamphetamine post acute withdrawal syndrome (PAWS) include depression, excessive sleep, and psychotic or paranoid behavior. Because of the long acting effects of methamphetamine, users are generally unable to sleep while high and may sleep too long after crashing. Many meth users will also turn to other drugs such as sleeping pills and opiates to help manage the crash. Users who combine meth with sleeping pills such as Ambien may experience periods of amnesia if they remain awake despite the sedative.
There is a long list of personal and social harms that can result from methamphetamine use including increased susceptibility to HIV, HCV, and STDs. Meth users with HIV may stop taking antiretroviral drugs due to loss of attention to time or to a sense of invincibility and a feeling that they don't need their medication. Violence is associated with meth use, partly due to the aggressive tendencies of some heavy users, but also because of contacts with criminal actors, such as drug dealers. The combination of a gun plus drug-induced paranoia has become a staple of police blotters throughout the U.S.
|International Traffic
Susan Sherman, of Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, reported on changing patterns of methamphetamine production and use in Southeast Asia. Methamphetamine usage in Thailand is widespread, having moved within the past few years from ethnic minorities in the north to all segments of society. Thailand has responded to its drug problem with extremely repressive measures that culminated in a four-month period of drug related murders attributed to the police in which 2,275 users and purported dealers were estimated to have been killed. Sherman believes, however, that many of these murders were score settling or elimination of competition by corrupt police involved in the drug trade.
The biggest producers of methamphetamine in Southeast Asia are Myanmar (Burma) and China, and the drug is transported into Thailand along historical drug trafficking routes through the Golden Triangle. In China, meth is called "ice" or shabu; in Burma it is called yabaa, or crazy-drug. Also part of this historical pattern of illegal production and smuggling is the involvement of political and ethnic factions, Sherman noted. "In this region you can't talk about drugs without talking about money, arms, and power," she said.
Meth and Sex
Users will often experience physical sexual effects, including "crystal dick," where the penis becomes erect but remains much smaller than normal. This can contribute to condoms slipping off during sex, which may be a factor in the association of meth use with HIV infection. Users often combine methamphetamine with Viagra or a similar drug to counteract the sexual side effects. It is possible that the drying of mucosa observed in the mouth and nose may also occur in the rectum, and that "dry sex" could also be an important factor in increasing HIV transmission risk among meth users. A mantra of prevention workers who reach out to users is: "Lube, lube, and more lube."
Sexual behaviors and desires may also be altered while on methamphetamine, with individuals changing accustomed sex roles due to loss of inhibitions. Thus, a committed top might become a bottom during a meth session. One survey also noted forays into homosexual behavior by men with only prior heterosexual experience, which may contribute to a disconnect between identity and behavior that often goes undetected by the usual categories of social science investigation.
While meth is appreciated for its sexual effects among urban gay users, the sexual attributes of the drug were noted in the early medical literature. Dr. Case related a 1937 report of almost instantaneous orgasm after using methamphetamine, while a 1947 report described an "indescribably delightful" session of masturbation. A 1952 paper quoted a user finding "more desire but less satisfaction" from sex. The presumed split between the sexual motivations of urban gay users and motivations of rural users may not be so clear. An audience member reported that law enforcement was increasingly finding sex toys and pornography in raids on rural meth houses. He wondered if perhaps he had introduced these ideas to his clients because he had been distributing meth awareness pamphlets aimed at gay men -- the only educational materials he could find.
A Doctor's View
Neil Flynn, of the University of California, Davis, is a physician who sees many meth users in his HIV practice. Flynn focused on the drug's disinhibiting effects and the bravado that users display as a source of risk for both users and partners. Users often feel invincible and believe that they can't become infected or reinfected, or that they don't need to keep taking their antiretroviral medications. Meth users with HIV are also often taking testosterone, he said, which increases sexual desire, and they often ask for Viagra. Users may be at greater risk physiologically too. The likelihood of rectal injury due to drying of the rectal mucosa may be further increased because of the long periods of sexual activity due to delayed orgasms that users typically report.
Despite all the attention to the sexual behaviors associated with methamphetamine, Flynn noted that many users -- gay and straight -- are motivated by nonsexual pleasures of using the drug. Meth relieves depression and self doubt, controls weight, and increases stamina and energy, including the capacity for work. The link to sexual activity often comes as a byproduct of the elimination of feelings of shame about the user's body or desires.
Who Uses Meth and Why?
Patterns of methamphetamine use are varied, and many presenters noted that addiction after a single episode is largely a myth. Most people who have tried meth have only used it on an experimental basis. Others use the drug as part of a social ritual or on special party occasions. Some users may ingest only a single dose during a weekend and others will go on five-day long binges. Thus the "set and setting" of meth use, like all drugs, is critical to evaluate.
Rafael Diaz of the Cesar E. Chavez Institute, San Francisco, presented a fascinating study on the subjective experiences of stimulant users (both meth and coke) in the nonheterosexual Latino community. His study (n=300) included half meth users and half cocaine users. Drug use in general, he found, was associated with gay culture. Poppers were commonly used, often with Viagra. Yet there were different motives for users of the two stimulants. Methamphetamine use was most often associated with sexual performance, while cocaine use was associated with making social connections. Meth users were motivated by feelings of invincibility and energy, which especially appealed to men with AIDS, and because the drug negated both emotional and physical pain. Users also liked that they lost weight. Despite problems with sexual dysfunction, meth users reported that they could have sex without guilt and the mental distractions of shame or embarrassment. For those using the Internet to find partners, they said the loss of inhibition allowed them to have sex with "whoever showed up" at the door at 3:00 in the morning. Users said they felt more passionate and found a sense of unity with their partner -- finding an "oasis" in the sexual moment. Diaz said users also reported feeling and behaving more "hard core" during sex and were more willing to explore new behaviors and erogenous zones. This may explain tops becoming bottoms and heretofore heterosexuals veering into homosexuality while on meth. But the study also found that consistent meth users tended to become increasingly socially isolated, which was related to the frequency of meth use.
Sam Friedman of the National Development and Research Institutes, New York, presented a visual depiction of how networks of individuals injecting cocaine and heroin and having sex can be linked together outside of the usual or expected categories. In the Brooklyn neighborhood of Bushwick, heterosexual women, lesbians, gay men, and straight men were all connected on a chart by sex and injection drug use. Although HIV was tagged to only a few nodes on the chart -- a fact Friedman attributes to effective syringe exchange programs -- HCV infection appeared to be nearly universal. Friedman wondered if the risks for HIV and HCV will increase or decrease if methamphetamine is introduced into this network in a significant way. The value in looking at networks is that it allows researchers to see whole communities and not just a few people in isolation. These findings may also call into question awareness and outreach campaigns that focus too specifically on cultural subpopulations.
William Zule, of Research Triangle Institute (RTI) International, North Carolina, compared his observations of 40 years of meth use in Texas with recent patterns in North Carolina. In the 1960s, speed use was introduced into the counterculture community of Austin. Use of methamphetamine peaked in the 1970s in Texas, then stabilized until increasing again in 2000. While smoking is the preferred route in North Carolina, he said, injection seems to predominate in Texas.
Zule traced the history of restrictions on the drug and speculated about the unintended consequences of current efforts to crack down on meth. After over-the-counter sales were restricted in 1965, there was an increase in drug store burglaries and "script mills." When script doctors came under closer scrutiny and drug stores secured their premises, local labs took over supplying the drug. When the precursors for a method of production suited to large-scale laboratories were restricted, the "cooks" shifted to using the ephedrine method, which produces smaller batches of meth with a higher percentage of the active D-isomer of the drug. Zule fears that with new limits on ephedrine now coming into play, the supply will shift to meth imported by established cocaine and heroin smuggling networks. The result will likely be diffusion of the drug into the minority urban markets. Yet Zule thinks that, if history follows its pattern, the current wave of meth use will decline naturally and return to its usual endemic state.
|Who Is Using Meth? And Where?
Alex Kral, of Research Triangle Institute (RTI) International, San Francisco, presented a statistical description of changing patterns of methamphetamine use. There are estimated 35 million users world-wide and likely several million occasional users in the U.S. In an analysis of hospital emergency room admissions where meth was a factor, 42% of patients were female, 65% were white, and 56% were between the ages of 18 and 34. About half of these cases reported smoking meth.
Another common metric for gauging methamphetamine prevalence is the number of labs discovered by law enforcement. Lab seizures increased nationwide from 7,000 in 1999, with California at the top of the list, to 17,000 in 2002, mostly in the Midwest, with Missouri now the leading state.
While there is data from urban centers like San Francisco on usage rates in subpopulations, there is little data from rural areas or on use by women. Kral also suggests that HIV and HCV testing should be added to the CDC's behavioral study sites.
Pamela Lichty, of the Drug Policy Forum, Hawaii, described the meth situation in her state where economic pressures seem to make the drug attractive for those who work multiple jobs to keep up with the islands' high cost of living. In 2001, Honolulu was ranked number one in the nation in a study of meth detected in the urine of arrestees. Crystal meth use has been associated with neighborhood and kinship relationships, and intergenerational use has been reported, with three generations of a family living together and using the drug. Smoking is currently the preferred mode of administration in Hawaii, she said.
David McGuigan, of the AIDS Council of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia, discussed a survey of gay men in Sydney that found substance use to be normative behavior among that population, with 62% reporting some kind of drug use. Yet few have health problems, the study found. Sexually adventurous gay men were reported aware of the danger when using drugs, and took precautions.
Government Responses
Several sessions focused on responses by government agencies, including law enforcement, substance abuse services, social welfare, and child protective services. B. J. Van Roosendaal, of the Utah Department of Substance Abuse, described the rise of speed usage from the 1990s to the present, from the first ripples to the eventual tsunami they are experiencing now. Although speed had an "ugly reputation" in the early 1990s, meth usage has climbed steadily, increasing from 16% to 65% as a factor in drug-related emergency room admissions from 1991 to 2004, even as usage of other drugs remained constant. During this period the proportion of women admitted rose from 17% to 35%. Many users report that meth was "the answer to their prayers at first" but soon got into trouble with the drug. Meth users commonly use other drugs and meth abuse is a factor in many other kinds of crimes. Law enforcement was first to recognize the emerging problem, Van Roosendaal said, and alerted the human services sector to the issue. She noted that for many people trapped in meth abuse, law enforcement "can be your friend," and even people who are forced into drug treatment by the courts can benefit.
Adam Trupp, of the Utah Department of Child Protective Services, described the challenges in bringing law enforcement together with social services under a shared vision as creating a "mixed marriage." There are commonalities in that both law enforcement and child protective services investigate child abuse and neglect and make interventions into families, using legal means to help children. However, the social services side fears that prosecution will prevent access to treatment, he said. The police have proposed a partnership where liaisons from Child Services are involved in planning drug raids on homes where children are expected to be present. Trupp said there has been concern within the social services that they will become involved in prosecutions and lose their identity as social service providers if they "start speaking 'cop.'" But, he said, they have recognized that cooperation is preferable to receiving a call to come pick up the kids after a drug raid has gone down. The goal, Trupp says, is to bring law enforcement, child services, and treatment services to the same vision.
Prisoners remain underserved for education, prevention, and treatment of HIV, HCV, and drug addiction. In a breakout session on prison issues, one individual involved in corrections health said her facility had a high percentage of inmates on antiretroviral therapy, but questioned the care available to them after release: "What do they do when they walk out?"
Another participant said, "The public policy does not support our educational messages." Testing policies for HIV and HCV in prisons are uneven. One participant reported that Indiana has mandatory HIV testing "on the way in" but doesn't test people when they leave due to concerns about liability if they have become infected while inside. Another reported that her county's jail only recently stopped the practice of requiring prisoners to share razors.
Hepatitis C infection is a growing concern among people in jails and prisons, one participant said. "I visit the local jails to teach about HIV but they are clamoring for HCV information. Now I mix it up." Treatment for HCV infection remains rare for incarcerated people. "Our state prison will treat HCV for people with a long-term sentence," one audience member said, "but the county jail won't treat it even though people might spend four years in there."
Vickie Sickels, of Iowa Health, Des Moines, gave some tips for communicating about meth and other health issues with sex workers. She said that the challenge of becoming abstinent from both sex work and drug use can be overwhelming for many women and recommends taking it one step at a time by proposing to clients that "work is better when not high." Despite common lore, she said, the reality is that "you can talk to people when they are high -- well, maybe not after four days of being high." She suggests preparing activities for the restless client and for using only the most basic harm reduction messages. Materials should be fact based and relevant to the person you are trying to reach, she said. "Avoid educational materials that take a shame-based approach," Sickels said. "You only make people feel worse."
Epidemiology of HIV and Meth
Thomas Stopka from the California State Department of Health reported on a large survey of injection drug users (IDUs) in his state. He summarized the findings of 34,255 HIV counseling and testing sessions with heterosexual male (59%) and female (41%) IDUs. Access to clean needles was relatively good, with 28% of all participants obtaining syringes through needle exchange programs. Access through pharmacies represented a small proportion in the current data, though this is expected to increase now that pharmacy sales have begun in the state. There was a gender gap in unsafe needle sharing practices, with 4.04% of females versus 2.5% of males reporting sharing. Overall, 29% of meth users versus 38% of other IDUs said they never shared syringes; 10% versus 7% said they always shared.
Meth injectors in the study made less use of needle exchange programs with 13% of meth users versus 24% of other IDUs reporting they always obtained needles through exchange programs. Syringe cleaning practices among meth users were similar to those of other drug injectors.
Rates of methamphetamine injection differed according to ethnic identification, with 25% of African American IDUs reporting meth use compared to 69% of whites, 68% of Native Americans, and 69% of Asian Pacific Islanders. Meth was reported used by 42% of Latino IDUs, Stopka said.
Of female meth users, 0.8% tested HIV-positive versus 1.8% of other female drug injectors. Among male meth users, 1.6% were HIV-positive versus 1.8% of other drug injectors. Fewer male meth injectors compared to male injectors of other drugs self-reported being infected with hepatitis C virus (19.8% vs. 33%), although meth injectors might be expected to have a higher risk for acquiring HCV. The disparity may be explained by the meth users' younger age and shorter injection career at the time when they were surveyed.
Meth users in the sample had similar rates of gonorrhea as non-meth IDUs but had twice the rate of chlamydia (7.0% vs. 3.4%) and HBV (4.0% vs. 2.1%) infections.
Only 37.4% of injectors in Los Angeles county report injecting meth, compared to 84.3% in rural Kern County. This suggests that there is a lower percentage of meth injectors in the population pools where HIV and HCV prevalence is highest. It also suggests that any shift of meth use patterns toward the urban centers might herald a sharp increase in these infections.
Grant Colfax from the San Francisco Department of Health reported on epidemiology and prevention efforts in the Bay Area. Among San Francisco gay men in general, the prevalence of meth use was about 17% but rose to 42% among attendees of gay circuit parties. HIV infection rates were three times higher in meth users than in non-meth users (6.3% vs. 2.1%). Another San Francisco study, the EXPLORE cohort, found 5.7% HIV positivity rates in meth users, compared to 2.5% in non-meth users.
It is speculated that the higher risk of HIV infection for methamphetamine users is likely due to partner selection (selecting sex partners from a pool with a higher HIV prevalence), and a tendency of meth users to engage in longer periods of sex with a greater frequency of condom breakage. Alternatively, it may be that HIV-positive gay men are more inclined to begin using meth.
Treating the HIV-Positive Meth User
While some test tube studies suggest that methamphetamine can speed up HIV replication, this has not been observed in people, although the sequelae of crystal use, such as poor nutrition and lack of sleep, may play a role in disease progression. The more significant impact of meth use and injection drug use on HIV disease may be indirect, by affecting adherence to medication and the quality of services that drug users receive from medical professionals.
Sharon Stancliff, M.D., of the Harm Reduction Coalition, New York, says that medical providers may be less willing to prescribe antiretroviral (ARV) therapy to active drug users because they feel the user will not be adherent. Yet doctors are poor predictors of adherence, she says. In one study, 32% of active drug users achieved viral suppression below 400 copies/mL compared to 44% for former users and 46% of non-users. The key finding is that if an individual was able to suppress HIV while on ARVs, then there was no difference between the groups.
Stancliff cited a study of 230 men that reported meth users were less likely to receive ARVs, and that current users had higher viral loads than nonusers or former users. Injection drug users or their doctors may also fear drug interactions and forgo ARVs. The potential for such interactions has not been studied, although a few cases of fatal of near-fatal interactions with ARV regimens containing ritonavir have been reported. Another key factor in maintaining adherence, she said, is the quality of a patient's relationship with the provider. Many doctors don't like to take care of drug users, citing "reduced professional satisfaction."
Neil Flynn acknowledged that meth users can be difficult patients and are frustrating for providers to treat. Adherence to ARVs is generally poorer with methamphetamine users compared to heroin users, probably because they believe they are invincible and don't need them. Users also have a tendency to miss appointments as they careen between flying high and crashing into depression when not using, and providers should recognize that these patients have different priorities in their lives and make accommodations. Flynn offers his meth-using patients special "drop in" privileges so they know they can be seen whenever they are ready to get attention. Flynn admits that it can be difficult to spend a half hour with a person who is high on meth and recognized that providers are often left with a sense of failure and chaos when dealing with users. He suggested considering the difference in perspective between the provider, who finds his patient distractible and flighty, and the patient, who may view the provider as too slow and too dense to understand what is going on.
Flynn listed a simple set of goals for working with methamphetamine users: reduce risk, prevent disease, get an early diagnosis, avoid hospitalization and emergency-room use, maintain a trusting relationship, and promote introspection and counseling. The best outcome is simply increased satisfaction with life. However, Flynn admits that he counts establishing any kind of ongoing relationship as a success.
Treatment for users should include treatment of the underlying psychiatric disorders in addition to 12-step addiction therapy. Substitution with Adderall may also benefit some users, said Flynn.
Can Meth Addiction be Treated?
Michael Siever, of The Stonewall Project, San Francisco, described what he called a familiar pattern in the demonization of methamphetamine by the government and the sensationalist media. "What's speed got to do with it?" he asked, noting that dosage was most often responsible for the harm caused. While therapeutic doses of methamphetamine might be in the range of 20-25mg, the typical dose consumed on the street is ten times higher. Echoing Patricia Case, Siever cited the 85-year history of the drug and noted decades of high level usage on the west coast, describing it as a "constant" among gay men, but also noting that it is now "everywhere."
He blamed our culture's "attention deficit disorder" for fixating on this latest demon and ignoring the fact that crack cocaine usage is still as prevalent as ever. Siever is involved with tweaker.org, a Web site that educates meth users on how to protect themselves from the most dangerous effects of the drug. Taking this approach, Siever said, allows that "you don't have to be clean and sober, or even want to be," a comment that brought hisses from audience members sitting behind me. Nevertheless, he said, the risk for acquiring HIV, HCV, and STDs is high, regardless of use patterns and one episode is enough to become infected.
Key to addressing the problems with meth, Siever says, is to understand that the drug is fun, that users are not crazy, and that they repeat their use because they are trying to recapture the fun. The drug is not inherently addictive, he said, and many users only tweak occasionally. These people likely don't need drug treatment despite the treatment industry myth that addiction is impossible to overcome without therapy. We need a more nuanced picture of the issue, Siever said: "it is not hopeless and people do get beyond their addictions."
Grant Colfax, of the San Francisco Department of Health, reported on the seeming success of contingency management (CM) as a technique for reducing methamphetamine usage. CM essentially offers to pay drug users for not using and offers vouchers for "clean" urine tests. A study of this "peeing for prizes" method, versus counseling, versus both, found a reduction of sexual risk behaviors that was achieved using both approaches; however, CM tended to produce longer lasting effects. Unfortunately, Colfax said, 20 years into this HIV epidemic, outcome data for most prevention approaches are still lacking.
Richard Rawson reiterated the lack of data on treatment efficacy and said the best available data come from treating cocaine dependency. The field is also lacking a treatment to reverse an overdose of methamphetamine, and there is currently no good treatment to reduce paranoid feelings in meth users. The most promising efforts around meth are in preventing STDs and other infections, he said.
John Grabowski, of the University of Texas, Houston, discussed the therapeutic potential for treating stimulant dependency with stimulants. The risks seen with methamphetamine abuse are extensions of their therapeutic action, he said, and asked, "Can a medication be primary therapy?" While behavioral therapists might disagree, Grabowski thinks that for some people, medication alone will work "just fine" as therapy, while for others, a combination or behavior therapy alone will be better. He noted the commonalities with treatment for other substance addictions and regretted the lag in translation from those modalities to treating meth dependency. Grabowski showed data from a small trial using sustained-release methamphetamine to reduce cocaine consumption. The problems with amphetamine abuse come from using doses far outside of the therapeutic range, he said. "In fact, these are reasonably safe drugs" when used at therapeutic doses. Yet, he said, it is difficult to perform research with these agents in the U.S. and said he was called a "cowboy" because he wanted to give amphetamine to cocaine users. Nevertheless, the few available data from trials and observational studies indicate that there is some benefit -- or at least reduction of harm -- in giving amphetamine to cocaine and amphetamine users. While the use of amphetamine is fraught with political problems, there are new drugs coming along that are promising. The problem, he feels, is that most clinicians have been "brainwashed" to think that these drugs are all harmful, and work will have to be done to "depoliticize" these treatment modalities. He quoted a colleague who said "the best treatment for cocaine and amphetamine dependence would be amphetamine by another name, thus sidestepping all the political issues."
Vincent Hayden of the National Black Alcoholism and Addictions Council, Minneapolis, questioned why his attention is being drawn to crystal meth at this time, since the drug is not big in the African American community. As with previous drug scares, he thinks the opportunity to make money can be a disruption and worries that the dollars going to fight methamphetamine will be taken from treatment efforts directed at problems that once held the spotlight but have never gone away, such as crack cocaine. "What happens to people in treatment for alcohol and crack as the money shifts to meth? Why the focus on the drug du jour?" he asked. "Do I have to look at how meth gets into the African American community if I want to get or keep getting funding?" Initially, crack was addressed with jail time, Hayden pointed out. The result was more black men in prison than in college. Now treatment is the preferred response. But, increasingly, he said, more white guys are landing in prison due to meth. "If we separate ourselves based on the drug then we look at the non-commonalities. All of these drugs are addictive. Treatment is good for all dependencies," Hayden concluded.


text:
Meet the KDevelop Crowd
It is the time of the yearto gather and spend some time on our favourite IDE. Continuing the tradition to meet in cities famous for alcohol-based beverages and oversized servings of meat, Munich was the obvious pick. Pretending to be a civilised crowd, we managed to convince the boss of the Trolltech's Munich office to generously provide us with a room, a 4MBit SDSL line and lots of coffee. Read on for the agenda and how any interested KDevelop helpers can join.
Here is the agenda:
If you ever wanted to meet the KDevelop crowd, or if you are a KDE or free
Details about how to get there and all the other useful stuff can be found at
This is bad
I don't like this. You are making it look as if developing other parts of KDE than KOffice can be enjoyable and lead to travel opportunities. :-)
By Inge Wallin at Fri, 2008/02/08 - 6:00am
Re: This is bad
Yeah, good point. Sure, [A][a][K][k]ademy is fun and all, but that's mostly because of the KOffice developers, of course. And Sebas. And beer. Hmmm, now I think about it, maybe it's just the beer.
Na, I think it's a combination of all of those. Good food (say, pizza and beer but I have no problem with all the Indian food you guys love so much), good conversations. Sometimes good code, yes. And some writing for those unable to do coding :D
Meetings are big fun, I'm looking forward to FOSDEM!
By Jos Poortvliet at Fri, 2008/02/08 - 6:00am
This is great.
Glad you guys are having fun.
Coding should be a fun experience. Great software tends to come from a fun environment. According to the "ballmer peak" (look up the cartoon) slight intoxication should help as well.
Can't wait to see what will come of it a few days afterwards. I'm already planning to see lots of cool added features, bugfixes, and general improvements.. =)
By Max at Sat, 2008/02/09 - 6:00am
Sounds Wonderful! Does this include any work on quanta? Last thing I heard (I may be wrong) is that quanta was going to be integrated into kdevelop4.
By Vladislav at Sat, 2008/02/09 - 6:00am
Re: Quanta
As Andras will be there too, I hope so.
Quanta4 used the new kdevplatform - which kdevelop4 uses too.
By niko at Sat, 2008/02/09 - 6:00am
Are there any plans to revamp the KDevelop website? I've always found it pretty frustrating to use. For example, I was on it a while back trying to find out if it has any Python support. Here's what I had to do:
* Go to the front page.
I don't think it's unreasonable to expect a website dedicated to a single application to give you a straightforward list of its features, but there doesn't seem to be anything of the sort available for KDevelop; a changelog spread across multiple pages is hardly the same thing.
By Jim at Tue, 2008/02/12 - 6:00am


text: Taronga Zoo has welcomed a new family of flower-loving, bug-munching Cotton-top Tamarins, which are helping to educate tour groups about illegal wildlife trade and the plight of their critically endangered species.The group of four brothers, 'Wan', 'Trichidae' and twins, 'JD' and 'Petey', recently arrived at Taronga from Mogo Zoo.The quartet has been busy exploring their new home at Taronga's Learning Centre, enjoying a tasty diet of maggots, mealworms, locusts and fruit and vegetables, along with an occasional flower as a special treat.Sometimes likened to tiny punks due to their distinctive crest of long white hair, Cotton-top Tamarins are highly social primates found in the forests of northwest Colombia.Keeper, Kristal Thomson said: "Our four brothers all have very different personalities and there's a clear social hierarchy, with one always acting like the boss. They can also be very cheeky, particularly when it comes to meal time."While they are fascinating to observe, the Cotton-top Tamarins also have a serious education role to play at Taronga."Visiting school and tour groups have an opportunity to not only get up close to these endearing creatures, but also learn about the threats facing their wild cousins, including habitat destruction and illegal wildlife trafficking," said Kristal.Classed as 'critically endangered' with less than 6,000 remaining, Cotton-top Tamarins have lost more than 75% of their original habitat to deforestation. They are also threatened by capture for the illegal pet trade.In their talks to tour groups, keepers explain how visitors can help Cotton-top Tamarins and other popular targets of the illegal wildlife trade, using Taronga's new Wildlife Witness app.Developed in partnership with TRAFFIC, the world-first app enables smartphone users to directly report illegal wildlife trade by taking a photo, pinning the exact location of an incident and sending these important details to TRAFFIC.


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© 2018 GAMEVIL COM2US USA, Inc. All Right Reserved. Developed by Red Dunk Limited.
The NBA and NBA member team identifications are the intellectual property of
NBA Properties, Inc. and the respective NBA member teams.
© 2018 NBA Properties, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
© 2018 Officially licensed product of the National Basketball Player Association.


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Hope will be well represented at the NCAA Division III national cross country championships after strong finishes at the Great Lakes Regional held in Holland on Saturday.
The Flying Dutch are headed as a team to the women's national meet in Waverly, Iowa next Saturday, Nov. 20, after finishing second behind rival Calvin in the 34-team field. Coach Mark Northuis' Dutch last qualified for nationals in 1998.
Junior Nate Love (Midland/Midland HS), has qualified for the men's championships as an individual with an eighth place (25:20.9) finish in the field of 240 runners. A year ago as a sophomore Love finished 98th at regionals.
The Hope men finished sixth in the field of 33 teams. Other Hope finishers were sophomore Chris Ryan, 44th (26:11.3), sophomore Blake Rottschafer, 50th (26:16.6), freshman Sam Pederson, 51st (26:17.1), junior Brian Hernandez, 67th (26:32.3), senior Jordan Richardson, 130th (27:18.6), and freshman Tom Smeltzer. 153rd (27:28.2). Calvin won the men's regional team title for a 15th consecutive year, led by senior Nick Kramer who repeated as the individual champion.
Hope's top five runners in the women's 6K ran within 19 seconds of each other to challenge meet winner Calvin. Leading Hope was sophomore Sharon Hecker who finished 15th (22:29.9) in the field of 240 runners. Other Hope finishers were freshman Camille Borst, 18th (22:35.0), senior Emily Fischer, 21st (22:39.5), sophomore Taylor Mattarella, 23rd (22:42.1), junior Karlyn Skima, 26th (22:44.9), junior Kelly Lufkin, 31st (22:52.7); and senior Susan Savasky, 38th (22:59.3).
Members of the women's team eligible to run at nationals are senior Claire Bird of New Paltz, N.Y. (New Paltz HS), freshman Camille Borst of Allendale, Mich. (Allendale HS), junior Salome Emmanuel of Wheaton, Ill. (Wheaton North HS), senior Emily Fischer of Naperville, Ill. (Naperville Central HS), sophomore Sharon Hecker of Grandville, Mich. (Grandville HS), junior Kelly Luftkin of Houghton, Mich. (Houghton HS), sophomore Taylor Mattarella of Traverse City, Mich. (TC Central HS), junior Kate Nelson of Williamston, Mich. (Williamston HS), senior Susan Savasky of Berkley (Marion HS), and junior Karlyn Sikma of Grand Rapids (North Pointe Christian HS). On race day coach Mark Northuis will declare the team's seven runners from this group of ten.


text: Here is an image of the Sun as the Moon moves off the limb at 1427 UTC (0947 am ET) today. It was a fairly shallow transit, but the Moon covered a bright active region. This caused a dip in the EVE output and may allow scientists to calibrate the energy emitted by the active region.


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Lead Me into Life Eternal
31243, Hymns, Lead Me into Life Eternal, no. 45
1. Lead me into life eternal
By the gospel's holy call.
Let thy promise rest upon me;
Grant me ready strength for all.
2. Father, all my heart I give thee;
All my service shall be thine.
Guide me as I search in weakness;
Let thy loving light be mine.
3. Hear me as I pray in meekness;
Let my strength be as thy day.
Give me faith, the greater knowledge;
Father, bless me as I pray.
Text: John A. Widtsoe, 1872-1952. © 1948 IRI
Music: Alexander Schreiner, 1901-1987. © 1948 IRI


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Visitors put 'international' in Rotary International; praise local hospitality
Team from U.K. part
of cultural exchange
A group from the United Kingdom emphasized the international in Rotary International on April 18 when its five members gave the Rotary Club of Kinston a taste of the life they live back home.
Traveling in North Carolina for a month as part of Rotary�s Group Study Exchange program, the team members expressed pleasure at the warm reception they had received from fellow Rotarians and others.
�The welcome we�ve received since we�ve been in North Carolina has been absolutely amazing,� Steve Davies, a retired physics teacher and team leader, told the Kinston club.
With Davies, team members are Sarah Salter of Bristol, a project manager for an adult social care operation; Ben Mottram of Worcester, head of communications for the Worcester Warriors, a professional rugby team; Grace Rollason of Malvern, a general practitioner working for Britain�s National Health Service; and Hannah Newrick, also of Malvern, an activity coordinator in a nursing home.
They are Rotarians in District 1100, an area of southern England and Wales that encompasses 69 clubs of 2,007 Rotarians. Davies and Rollason are both natives of Wales.
In exchange for the insight they provided on how they live and work, they got a glimpse of life in Kinston during their three days here, boarding with club members� families and touring local businesses, medical facilities and schools.
On April 11, restaurateur Wilbur King gave the club a concise history of a business his family began 77 years ago and has grown into one of the best known barbecue houses in the state.
�In 1936, my grandfather built a store on the front of a one-horse farm,� King began, �and he died three months later.�
That store transitioned into a service station operated for three years by King�s father, who leased it for a while when he worked out of state, then set up a grill in the business when he returned. �The menu was hot dogs and hot dogs and hot dogs,� King said.
Barbecue didn�t become part of the fare until about 1952, and then only on Saturday. It became a daily item the next year, setting up the tremendous growth King�s Restaurant has seen since 1955. In 20 years it grew from 100 seats to 750 seats.
After weathering near fatal damage from the flooding brought by Hurricane Floyd in 1999 and the death of his son Wil years later, King said he began looking for someone to turn the daily responsibility of ownership over to. He found that person in Joe Hargitt, who had started working at the restaurant when he was 17. Hargitt�s wife and son also work there.
�I feel like this will continue to be a family operation for a long time,� King said.


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Christiana Figueres
Christiana Figueres was appointed as the new Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in 2010, and was reappointed for a second three year term in July 2013.
Ms. Figueres has been involved in climate change negotiations since 1995. Initially a member of the Costa Rican negotiating team, she was also a member of the Executive Board of the Clean Development Mechanism and Vice President of the Bureau of the Conference of the Parties in 2008-2009. In 1995 she founded the Centre for Sustainable Development of the Americas (CSDA), a non-profit think tank for climate change policy and capacity-building, which she directed until 2003. Before that, she served as Director of the Technical Secretariat, Renewable Energy in the Americas. Ms. Figueres began her life of public service at the Embassy of Costa Rica in Germany in 1982. She also served as Director of International Cooperation in the Ministry of Planning in Costa Rica (1987-1988), and was Chief of Staff to the Minister of Agriculture (1988-90). Ms. Figueres has served on many boards of non-governmental organizations involved in climate change issues. She is a widely published author on the design of climate solutions, has been a frequent adviser to the private sector, and lectures at many universities and colleges. Ms. Figueres holds a Masters Degree in Anthropology from the London School of Economics and a certificate in Organizational Development from Georgetown University. She was born in San José, Costa Rica in 1956 and has two daughters.


text:
What's New:
CPSIA COMPLIANCE: Our in stock polyacetal resin snaps and metal snaps (excluding pearl snaps) comply to CPSIA lead and phthalates regulations. Contact us for addtional information. (Pearl snaps are not tested for lead or phthalates due to their very small volume being used on children's products.)
Quick Links:
Snap press assembly instructions
Polyacetal resin snaps color chart
FAQ of snap press, dies and snaps
Store Policy Spotlight:
Lifetime warranty on all polyacetal resin snaps. We're so confident on the quality of our polyacetal resin snaps that we offer "10 for 1 life time warrantee" on all our resin snaps. If you find any snaps being cracked or broken any time after they have been properly applied and used under normal condition, we will send you 10 pieces for each broken piece.
Forgotten Password?Click HereFirst Time Visitor?Click here tobecome a member.


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City of Englewood, ColoradoHome Menu
Databases by Topic
Legal Resources
Legal Information Reference Center: Access to legal forms and full-text articles. Reference books are provided through Nolo, the nation's oldest and most well-respected provider of legal information for individuals and small businesses. Search over 12,000 state-specific legal forms organized by subject including Adoption, Bankruptcy, Name Changes and more. Provides access to the tools and "how-to" instructions to address a wide-range of legal issues.


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8th inning, nobody out, Juan Pierre at first, Gordon Beckham at the plate, Adam Dunn on deck. And Ozzie calls for a bunt. Why? Let Beckham swing. Don't give free outs to the other team. According to Tango's Run Expectancy Matrix (1993-2010) the run expectancy with a man on 1st and no outs is 0.941 runs. If the bunt is successful and the runner moves to 2nd the run expectancy DROPS to 0.721. Why bother with the bunt? Why take the bat out of Beckham's hands?
I see Mike shares my frustration. I wish I could do what James says and try to forget the whole thing!


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The UH community will celebrate the fall 2010 commencement ceremonies beginning at 9 a.m., Dec. 17 in Hofheinz Pavilion. The College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences will kick off Friday's commencement, followed by joint ceremonies at 3 p.m. for the Conrad N. Hilton College of Hotel & Restaurant Management, the College of Technology, the College of Education and the Colleges of Natural Science and Mathematics. The ceremonies conclude with the Cullen College of Engineering and Bauer College of Business commencement at 7 p.m.
"UH is the place that has provided students with the experiences to work, feel at home, and succeed anywhere in the world," said UH President Renu Khator, who will give remarks at each ceremony. "We look forward to their successes."
More than 2,400 students will be awarded degrees throughout the ceremonies. UH continues to be one of the most diverse campuses in the United States, with students from 33 states and 58 different countries earning degrees this semester. In all, more than 100 doctorates, 500 master's degrees and 1,800 bachelor's degrees will have been completed this semester.
The celebration also will include the presentation of two Presidential Medallions in recognition of service to UH and higher education. Medallion recipients are Beth Madison, Madison Benefits Group president, and the Rev. William Lawson, founder of the Wheeler Avenue Baptist Church. Madison is a UH alumna, Moores Society board member and Life Member Circle of Excellence donor. Lawson previously was awarded an honorary degree from UH and helped create the university's first African-American studies program. The medallion presentation for Madison will be during the 9 a.m. ceremony, followed by the presentation for Lawson during the 7 p.m. ceremony.
Parking for graduates is available at Lot 16B off Cullen Boulevard. Guests may park in Lot 15D next to Robertson Stadium and across from Hofheinz at Cullen Boulevard and Holman Street.
Fall 2010 Commencement Ceremonies Schedule:
9 a.m. College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences
3 p.m. Conrad N. Hilton College of Hotel & Restaurant Management
College of Natural Science and Mathematics
College of Technology
College of Education
7 p.m. Cullen College of Engineering
Bauer College of Business


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GUANTANAMO BAY NAVAL BASE, Cuba - A lawyer for a Guantanamo Bay prisoner charged in the Sept. 11 terror attack said Wednesday that guards gave his client a contraband copy of the erotic novel "Fifty Shades of Grey" apparently as a joke or an attempt to discredit him.
The allegation came weeks after a U.S. congressman returned from visiting the prison and said officials told him the book was a favorite among men in Camp Seven, the highest-security section of Guantanamo. It was a surprising comment since the military tightly restricts what prisoners can read and the novel isn't in the main detainee library.
Attorney James Connell said his client, prisoner Ammar al-Baluchi, had never heard of the book until they discussed an article about the congressman's assertion Monday. That night, guards in Camp 7 appeared with a copy of it, he said.
The lawyer said al-Baluchi turned the book over to him, unread.
"He says, `No thank you.' He does not want the book," Connell said. "It's in my safe and as soon as I am able I will return it to Joint Task Force Guantanamo."
The book does not have the mail stamp required for any material sent to prisoners from the outside, nor does it have a label from the detainee library, the lawyer said.
He said guards presented the book to al-Baluchi, who has been attending pretrial hearings this week in his death penalty war crimes case, as either a joke or "an attempt to plant something." Connell said he did not plan to file a formal complaint, but added: "If this is a practical joke it has gone too far."
Connell disclosed the discovery of the book during a break in a weeklong hearing on procedural motions for the five prisoners facing charges that include terrorism and murder for their alleged roles aiding and planning the attacks on the U.S. on Sept. 11, 2001.
Al-Baluchi is a nephew of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the Guantanamo prisoner who has portrayed himself as the mastermind of the plot.
In July, Rep. Jim Moran, a Democrat from Virginia, told The Huffington Post after a visit to Guantanamo that he was told about the popularity of "Fifty Shades" during a tour that included senior prison officials. He said it confirmed that the terrorism suspects held in secretive Camp Seven are not deeply religious Muslims as they have been portrayed.
At the time, the military refused to comment, even though the revelation seemed to contradict previous statements about allowed reading material.
Defense lawyers were skeptical, saying they had never seen the book in the prison or heard it mentioned. They said it would be out of character for their clients to read a book that has been banned in some public libraries in the United States because of the racy content.
Attorney James Harrington, who represents Ramzi bin al Shibh, another defendant in the Sept. 11 case, said his client had also not read the book and expressed suspicions about the motivation behind the original report.
"I don't know where it's coming from," Harrington said. "It's something that clearly was planted with this congressman who comes back to Washington and makes a big deal about it, all of which is designed to paint a picture of our clients and the other detainees here which is just not accurate."
A Defense Department spokesman, Army Lt. Col. Joseph Todd Breasseale, declined to comment on the attorney's allegations that guards gave the book to the prisoner.
He said he didn't know how "Fifty Shades" would have made it into the camp. "I wouldn't hazard a guess."


text:
Guides A-Z
This measure guide describes basic steps for designing and installing an indirect (anti-freeze) solar hot water system.
Guide describing how to install efficient clothes washers in new and existing homes.
Guide describing condensing clothes dryers, which have a secondary heat exchanger and do not require exterior venting.
Guide describing categories of direct-vent combustion space- and water-heating equipment and combustion safety testing.
Guide describing how to install dishwashers in new and existing homes.
Guide describing how to install ENERGY STAR rated dishwasher and clothes washers.
Guide describing EPA WaterSense requirements for drinking water treatment systems.
Guide describing how to provide combustion air for fireplaces and how to test fireplaces for combustion safety.
Guide describing how to install a tankless hot water heater in a new or existing home to provide domestic hot water that is heated on demand without the standby losses associated with tank storage water heaters
Guide describing how to conduct a home performance assessment before beginning retrofit projects in existing homes.
This measure guide describes basic steps for designing an integrated collector storage (ICS) or thermosyphon hot water system.
Retrofit guide describing how to assess harmful gasses such as carbon monoxide, sulfur oxides, nitrogen oxides, and soot from existing combustion appliances.
Guide describing how to correctly vent a clothes dryer.
Guide describing how to install energy efficient refrigerators in new and exisitng homes.
Guide describing how to properly ventilate un-vented combustion appliances such as sealed fireplaces.
Guide describing how to determine an efficient and effective water softener.


text:
Peer-Reviewed Publications
Found 588 resultsTitle
Validation of Quasi-induced Exposure Representativeness Assumption Among Young Drivers." Traffic Inj Prev. 2016;17(4):346-51."
Validation of the Use of Electronic Health Records for Classification of ADHD Status." Journal of Attention Disorders. 2016;(epub ahead of print)."
Acute Pain and Posttraumatic Stress After Pediatric Injury." Journal of Pediatric Psychology. 2015."
Adverse Childhood Experiences: Expanding the Concept of Adversity." Am J Prev Med. 2015;49(3):354-61."
Association Between NCAP Ratings and Real-World Rear Seat Occupant Risk of Injury." Traffic Inj Prev. 2015;16 Suppl 2:S146-52."
Association Between New Jersey's Graduated Driver Licensing Decal Provision and Crash Rates of Young Drivers With Learners' Permits." Inj. Prev.. 2015;21(6):421-423."
Development and utilization of complementary communication channels for treatment decision making and survivorship issues among cancer patients: The CIS Research Consortium Experience." Internet Interv. 2015;2(4):392-398."
Development of a Small Child Restraint System Virtual Surrogate to Evaluate CRS-to-Vehicle Interaction and Fitment.". In: SAE 2015 World Congress and Exhibition. Detroit, Michigan; 2015."
Development of a Small Rear Facing Child Restraint System Virtual Surrogate to Evaluate CRS-to-Vehicle Interaction and Fitment.". In: SAE 2015 World Congress and Exhibition. Detroit, Michigan; 2015."
Development of an Internet Intervention to Address Behaviors Associated with Skin Cancer Risk among Young Adults." Internet Interv. 2015;2(3):340-350."
Effectiveness of Parent-Focused Interventions to Increase Teen Driver Safety: A Critical Review." J Adolesc Health. 2015;57(1 Suppl):S6-S14."
Emergency Braking in Adults Versus Novice Teen Drivers: Response to Simulated Driving Events." Transp Res Rec. 2015;2516:8-14."
Emergency Department Visits and Head Computed Tomography Utilization for Concussion Patients From 2006 to 2011." Academic Emergency Medicine. 2015."
Evaluating predictive screening for children's post-injury mental health: New data and a replication." Eur J Psychotraumatol. 2015;6:29313."
Evaluating the Effect of a Mechanical Adjunct to Improve the Installation of Child Restraint Systems to Vehicles." Traffic Inj Prev. 2015;16 Suppl 2:S24-31."
Evaluation of a Risk Awareness Perception Training Program on Novice Teen Driver Behavior at Left-Turn Intersections." Transp Res Rec. 2015;2516:15-21."
Examining the Role of Supportive Adults in Violence Exposure Among Urban Male Youth." Journal of Adolescent Health. 2015;56(2):S82-S83."
Friend to Friend: A Randomized Trial for Urban African-American Relationally Aggressive Girls." Psychology of Violence. 2015;5(4):433-443."
Household and community-level Adverse Childhood Experiences and adult health outcomes in a diverse urban population." Child Abuse Negl. 2015."
The Influence of Enhanced Side Impact Protection on Kinematics and Injury Measures of Far- or Center-Seated Children in Forward-Facing Child Restraints." Traffic Inj Prev. 2015;16 Suppl 2:S9-S15."
Lessons Learned from Implementing a Prostate Cancer Risk Assessment Program for Underserved High-Risk Men in the Community: the Prostate REACH Project." J Cancer Educ. 2015."
LiveMetrics: Providing Individualized Feedback on Driving Performance.". In: SAE.; 2015."
LiveMetrics: Providing Individualized Feedback on Driving Performance.". In: SAE.; 2015."
Long-term Changes in Crash Rates After Introduction of a Graduated Driver Licensing Decal Provision." Am J Prev Med. 2015;48(2):121-7."
A New Method for Assessing Content Validity in Model-Based Creation and Iteration of eHealth Interventions." J. Med. Internet Res.. 2015;17(4):e95."