text:
Federal health officials say the parents of premature babies enrolled in a study of oxygen treatment several years ago weren't properly informed of the risks: a kind of blindness or death.
Oxygen has been a mainstay of treatment for very premature babies. But too much has long been known to cause a kind of blindness called retinopathy of prematurity, and too little can increase risk of death. The study in question enrolled 1,300 babies at 23 hospitals between 2005 and 2009, to hunt the best dose somewhere in between.
Standard practice at that time was to use a particular range of oxygen, and researchers in the study, funded by the National Institutes of Health, randomly assigned babies to receive either the low end or the high end of that range.
The study's stated intent was to determine how much oxygen minimized the chances of blindness without increasing the risks of other problems including death or brain damage. The problem: The informed consent document that parents had to sign to enroll didn't spell out those risks, according to the government's Office for Human Research Protections.
In a letter to the University of Alabama at Birmingham, which led the study, the government agency concluded the research had violated regulations requiring that patients be fully informed of the risks of a clinical trial. The March 7 letter, which was publicized Wednesday by the consumer advocacy group Public Citizen, asked the university to take steps to ensure consent forms in future studies outline all the risks.
In a statement, university's vice president for research Richard Marchase said although slightly more babies who received lower-dose oxygen in the study died, those death rates still were lower than was usual for premature babies getting standard care at the time.
But, "we will ensure that any future consent form clearly delineates risks to all arms of a study as completely as possible, including studies in which all arms are operating within the accepted standard of clinical care," Marchase wrote.


text:
What's New
Captain Comic Font Family by Canada Type
The Captain Comic font is very loosely based on lettering from 1967 to the early 1970s found in the very first Star Trek comic series ever published, the Gold Key one. By very loosely we mean most letter shapes were changed, rounded and tweaked for a more contemporary comic text look.
Captain Comic comes in two weights with corresponding italics, all of which include extended language support covering Central, Eastern and Western European languages, as well as Baltic, Esperanto, Maltese, Turkish, Celtic/Welsh, Greek and Cyrillic.
Make it so, number one.
Tags: 1940s, 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, Font, Groovy, Handwritten, Retro, Sans Serif

subset: commoncrawl


text:
The NHS is "failing gay and bisexual men", The Guardian has reported. The newspaper said that the NHS has to confront some "serious issues" in the way it looks after the health of gay and bisexual men.
The news is based on a report by the charity Stonewall, which is thought to be the world's largest survey on the health of gay and bisexual men. The charity, which campaigns for gay, lesbian and bisexual rights, surveyed almost 6,900 gay and bisexual men across Britain about their health. The survey reveals many troubling statistics, such as gay and bisexual men having greater chances of experiencing depression, self-harming, attempting suicide, drinking heavily, taking illegal drugs or being the victim of domestic abuse. Many men reported that health services tend to focus solely on their sexual health and HIV status, rather than wider aspects of their health and wellbeing.
Stonewall Chief Executive Ben Summerskill, in an accompanying press release, said: "This deeply troubling report provides hard evidence that Britain's 1.8 million gay and bisexual men are being let down by health services which often see homosexuality and bisexuality purely as sexual health issues. As a result hundreds of thousands of gay and bisexual men are in dire need of better support from health professionals. This landmark report makes a number of recommendations that could help health services improve before more lives are ruined."
Who conducted the report?
The report was conducted by Stonewall, a charity founded in 1989 that campaigns and lobbies for the rights of lesbians, gay men, and bisexual people. The charity campaigns for the equality, rights and protection of gay, lesbian and bisexual people, and has researched a range of issues such as workplace prejudice, inequalities in the law and social isolation.
The charity also researches and runs campaigns on health and access to care. In 2011, Stonewall asked gay and bisexual men from across Britain to complete a survey about their health. The results have now been published in the new Gay and Bisexual Men's Health Survey.
What did the report look at?
The report asked gay and bisexual men about both their health and their experiences of receiving medical care, including through the NHS. Stonewall received responses from 6,861 men, reportedly making this the largest survey of gay and bisexual men's health needs ever conducted.
Of the respondents, 92% said they were gay and 8% said they were bisexual; 85% lived in England, 9% in Scotland and 6% in Wales. The vast majority of men (95%) were white and between the ages of 20 and 50 years. The questions addressed various areas of health, including general fitness, diet and exercise; smoking, alcohol and drug use; mental health; domestic abuse; cancer and other common male health problems; sexual health; and their experience of healthcare services.
The report compared these issues in gay and bisexual men to men in the general population. The report did not include many details of its methods, and it was not clear where these general population figures came from.
What did it find?
The report gives numerous statistics on healthcare issues, in addition to quotes from individual men. The main findings of the report were as follows:
Smoking, alcohol and drugs
- 67% of gay and bisexual men have smoked at some time in their life, compared to half of men in general.
- 26% of gay and bisexual men currently smoke, compared to 22% of men in general.
- 42% of gay and bisexual men drink alcohol on three or more days a week, compared to 35% of men in general.
- 51% of gay and bisexual men have taken drugs in the last year, compared to one in eight men in general.
General fitness and exercise
- Over half of gay and bisexual men have a normal body mass index (BMI) compared to less than a third of men in general, and only 44% of gay and bisexual men are overweight or obese compared to 70% of men in general.
- Despite this, only 25% of gay and bisexual men meet activity recommendations of 30 or more minutes of exercise five or more times a week compared to 39% of men in general. (Note: since the time of the survey, activity guidelines have been revised.)
- 24% of gay and bisexual men report being in "fair" or "bad" health, compared to 17% of men in general.
Mental health
- In the last year, 3% of gay men and 5% of bisexual men have attempted to take their own life, compared to only 0.4% of men in general.
- Among the 16- to 24-year-old age group, 6% of gay and bisexual men have attempted to take their own life in the last year, compared to less than 1% of men in general in this age group.
- 7% of gay and bisexual men deliberately harmed themselves in the last year, compared to only 3% of men in general who have ever harmed themselves.
- Among the 16- to 24-year-old age group, 15% of gay and bisexual men have harmed themselves in the last year, compared to 7% of men in general in this age group who have ever deliberately harmed themselves.
Eating disorders and body image
- 45% of gay and bisexual men worry about the way they look and wish they could think about it less.
- 21% of gay and bisexual men have had problems with their weight or eating at some time in the past.
- 13% of gay and bisexual men have had a problem with their weight or eating in the last year, compared to 4% of men in general.
- 66% of gay and bisexual men who have had a problem with their weight or eating have never sought help from a healthcare professional.
Domestic abuse
- 49% of gay and bisexual men have experienced at least one incident of domestic abuse from a family member or partner since the age of 16, compared to 17% of men in general.
- 37% of gay and bisexual men have experienced at least one incident of domestic abuse in a relationship with a man.
- 23% of gay and bisexual men have experienced domestic abuse from a family member since the age of 16.
- 78% of gay and bisexual men who have experienced domestic abuse have never reported incidents to the police. Of those who did report it, 53% were not happy with how the police dealt with the situation.
Cancer and common male health problems
- 34% of gay and bisexual men check their testicles monthly as a preventative measure against testicular cancer.
- 10% of gay and bisexual men have ever discussed prostate or bowel cancer with a healthcare professional and only 3% have ever discussed lung cancer.
- 86% of gay and bisexual men have never discussed heart disease with a healthcare professional and 80% have never discussed high blood pressure or high cholesterol with a healthcare professional.
Sexual health and HIV
- 25% of gay and bisexual men have never been tested for any sexually transmitted infection.
- 30% of gay and bisexual men have never had an HIV test in spite of early diagnosis now being a public health priority
Experience of discrim*ination in healthcare*
- 34% of gay and bisexual men who have accessed healthcare services in the last year have had a negative experience related to their sexual orientation.
- 34% of gay and bisexual men have not revealed their sexuality to their GP or healthcare professionals.
- The sexuality of gay and bisexual men is more likely to be known by their manager, work colleagues, family and friends than by their GP.
What good service looks like
- 28% of gay and bisexual men said their healthcare professional acknowledged they were gay or bisexual after they had come out, and 12% were told that their partner was welcome to be present during a consultation.
- 26% of gay and bisexual men said that healthcare workers had given them information relevant to their sexual orientation.
- 21% said that their GP surgery displayed a policy stating that they would not discriminate against people because of their sexual orientation, and just 40% of gay and bisexual men said their GP had a clear policy on confidentiality.
What is encouraging, regarding the delivery of medical services, is that the report provides many quotes from individuals who reported positive accounts of their experience with healthcare professionals. That is not to say that all reports are positive, but it does show that not all experiences are negative and that simple steps and empathy can make a big difference in the way patients feel about their treatment.
What did the report recommend?
As a result of these findings, Stonewall makes the following 10 recommendations:
- Understand the specific health needs of gay and bisexual men: schools and universities teaching healthcare are recommended to cover these needs in their curricula.
- Train staff: royal colleges are recommended to update professional development programmes to include topics such as same-sex partner rights.
- Don't make assumptions: training for frontline healthcare staff should cover the importance of not assuming someone's sexual orientation.
- *Explicit policies: *GP surgeries and hospitals should display non-discrimination policies that explicitly protect gay and bisexual people from discrimination.
- Increase visibility: GP surgeries and hospitals should use posters, leaflets and information that include images of gay and bisexual men to help create a welcoming environment.
- *Encourage disclosure and make confidentiality policies clear: *doctors and healthcare workers should encourage disclosure by asking open questions and having clear confidentiality policies.
- Improve monitoring: the Department of Health should ensure sexual orientation is a field available on all confidential electronic patient record systems used by hospitals and GP surgeries.
- Make complaints procedures clear: NHS complaints teams should make sure information on how people can complain includes information on sexual orientation discrimination.
- Tell gay and bisexual men what they need to know: schools and colleges should make sure they include the needs of gay and bisexual men in preventative healthcare and healthy lifestyle lessons.
- *Improve access to sexual health services: *improving access to sexual health services for gay and bisexual men should be a public health priority for the Department of Health.
Although the methods behind this report are not clear, it does provide evidence that gay and bisexual men in the UK may be more likely than heterosexual men to attempt suicide, self-harm, have depression, smoke, drink and take illegal drugs. It would seem that there is a need for both further research into the health needs of gay and bisexual men, and more importantly for health services to address these needs more fully. This can be done by being aware of the increased prevalence of certain health problems among gay and bisexual men, but addressing their needs as individuals, not as a blanket group.
Indeed, some results and patient experiences featured in the report suggest that health services assume that the health priorities of gay and bisexual men relate to sexual health and HIV, regardless of their wider health, background or status. In reality, gay and bisexual men, just like any other group, will vary greatly in many other aspects of their health and life, and simply defining a person's health based on factors such as their sexuality is not appropriate.
Medical services should be provided to gay and bisexual people as individuals, and they should be treated and have their needs addressed on a person-by person basis. Indeed, the NHS Constitution says that patients (as well as their families and carers) should be involved in all decisions about their care and treatment when medically appropriate. The constitution also says that comprehensive service should be available to everyone "irrespective of gender, race, disability, age, sexual orientation, religion or belief".
This new report reminds us of the importance of respecting the rights and needs of gay and bisexual men in healthcare, and indeed every patient treated by the NHS.
Analysis by Bazian
Edited by NHS Website
Links to the headlines
Why the NHS should improve care for gay and bisexual men
The Guardian, 25 April 2012
NHS is failing gay and bisexual men, major survey reveals
The Guardian, 24 April 2012
Gay men 'let down' by NHS staff who can't see past sexuality, says Stonewall
Metro, 25 April 2012
Links to the science
Gay and Bisexual Men's Health Survey
Stonewall, April 2012
Gay and bisexual men 'neglected' by health services
Stonewall, April 25 2012


text:
Malam semuanya, wah di malam yang cerah ini masih sempet2nya ngepost, oke dimalam ini kita akan mencuci mata kita dengan artis2 china yang terkenal cantik cantik itu, oke langsung aja pasang mata untuk melihatnya, dimulai dari nomer foto ke
1. Chen Hao : is a Chinese actress and model . Chen Hao was first noticed in China award winning movie
"Postman in the Mountains" ( ?????? ) in 1998. Her young talent was vastly recognized and was giving chances to act in a few other movies and tv dramas. Chen Hao is beautiful and lovely celebrity.
2. Xu Jing Lei: is an actress and director most famous in mainland China.
3. He Mei Tian: is a Chinese actress, and a former gymnast.
4. Gao Yuan Yuan = kyak nama gua ya gan! Tpi bedanya dia cewek gua cowok
5. Kitty Zhang Yu Qi : is a Chinese actress. Zhang was born in Shandong province . She left Shandong at age 15 to attend acting school in Shanghai.
6. Rulu Jiang Xin : is a beautiful chinese actress, born in Xinjiang China.
7. Zhang Jing Chu : is a Chinese film actress. She graduated in Directing at the Central Academy of Drama in Beijing.
8. Maggie Cheung : is a Chinese actress from Hong Kong . Raised in England, she has over 70 films to her credit since starting her career in 1983. She is the first Asian actress to win a prize at the Cannes Film Festival .
9. Chen Hong: is a Chinese actress, perhaps most famous for being the present wife of director Chen Kaige.
10. Li Xiao Lu : is a Golden Horse award-winning Chinese actress, best known for her role in Joan Chen's directing debut Xiu Xiu: The Sent Down Girl.
11. Sun Li : English name: Susan; She is Actress, singer and dancer from Shanghai, China.
12. Fan Bingbing : is a Chinese actress and Mandopop singer. She graduated from Xie Jin's Star School and Shanghai Theater Academy.
13. Cantik gak gan
14. Huang Yi : is a Chinese writer of Wuxia novels. He graduated from the Department of Fine Arts of the Chinese .
15. Jiang Qinqin: is an actress from mainland China. In 1994, she joined Beijing Film Academy. She joined Beijing Film Studio in 1998 after her graduation.
16. Jiang Wenli: is a famous Chinese actress. She is a native of Tianjin, and graduated from Beijing.
17. Seng iki ayu tenan jenenge ling bing bing
18. N i n g j i n g is b e a u t i f u l woman kumpulan17 version chines actress girl
19. Qu Ying : is a Chinese model, actress and singer, who is going to host the Chinese version of the Americanreality show America's Next Top Model.
20. Sun Feifei : is cute and a pretty good actress.
21. Xu Jinglei : is an actress and director most famous in mainland China.
22. Yang Mi : is a Chinese actress. She is best known for her role as Guo Xiang in the 2006 TV series
23. Yu Nan : is a Chinese actress. Born in Dalian, Yu Nan studied at the Beijing Film Academy.
24. Namanya kyak gua lagi nie anak, yuan quan, sayang dia cewek + china, kalo gua cowok + katrok + bukan china
25. Zhang Jingc hu : is a Chinese film actress. She graduated in Directing at the Central Academy of Drama in Beijing.
26. Zhang Ziyi : is a Chinese film actress. Zhang is coined by the media as one of the Four Young Dan actresses in the Film Industry in China.
27. Zhao Tao : is a Chinese actress who has starred in several films by Jia Zhangke.
28. Zhao Wei : is a Chinese film actress and pop singer.
Audiences sometimes refer to her by her English name, Vicki Zhao.
29. Zhou Xun is a Chinese actress and singer. She is regarded as one of the "Four Young Dan actresses" in China.
30. Gong Beibi : is a Chinese film actress. Beginning her career as a child actress.
31. Gong Li: is a China-born film actress. Gong first came into international prominence through close collaboration with Chinese director Zhang Yimou and is credited with helping bring Chinese cinema to Europe and the United States.
32. He Saifei: is a Chinese actress. Movies she has acted in include Raise the Red Lantern and Lust, Caution.
33. He Meitian : is a Chinese actress, and a former gymnast. She signed a contract with Television Broadcasts Limited to work in Hong Kong, and continues her acting career in mainland China for Feiteng after the contract ended.
34. Huang Lu : is a Chinese actress. A graduate of the Beijing Film Academy.
35. Li Man : is a Chinese actress. She is a student at the Beijing Drama Academy.
36. Yang terakhir nieh namanya li qian areknya cantik plus sedap di pandang mata
Haduh sudah ya gan cuci mata dengan foto2 artis china itu, kalo mau di download ya silahkan, tinggal klik kanan aja kok! Terima kasih


text:
I want to automate certain stuff with the citadel server. How would i do that?
Citadel speaks its own Protocol registered to IANA TCP Port 504. This protocol can be found on the Citadel Protocol Definition Page. You can either speak to your citadel server via TCP Port 504, or the citadel.sock UnixDomainSocket.
Sendcommand can issue one privileged command at a time to citserver; Netcat is a proper tool, if you just want to pipe the output of a shellscript over to your Citadel server.
Note that you need proper authentication to execute commands, and that you may use TLS encryption to secure your traffic over the net.
If you want to see some reallife communication use for example Wireshark to follow webcit or the citadel commandline client talking to the Citadel server.
Also a usefull resource could be the PHP Sample Client, that demonstrates the interference with ui and the protocol. It also shows how to create a user and modify his personal data (vcard)
Other Scripts on citadel.org
Tasks to do might be...
Cleaning up the Citadel User List / Global Address Book
- By Danboid
In this guide we'll demonstrate how you find and then bulk remove a number of users who have citadel accounts but have never logged on. These instructions are easily modified to achieve the same for those who have never posted.
First thing we do do is fetch a list of all users into a text file (except the 'SYS_' users required by Citadel):
sendcommand list |grep -v ^SYS_ > /tmp/allusers.txt
Now we want to filter off just the users that have a login count of 0 into a separate file i.e. we want just the lines that have a 0 in column 5. We'll put those that match this criteria into another text file called '/tmp/0login.txt':
awk -F"|" '$5 == "0"' /tmp/allusers.txt > /tmp/0login.txt
If you wanted to remove users that had never posted, you would substitute $5 for $6 in the previous command. Now we have a list of all the users we want deleted in 0login but we only actually need the user names for this process so we can strip away the other columns to give us a file just containing the usernames that we'll call '/tmp/removelist.txt' using this command:
awk -F"|" '{print $1}' /tmp/0login.txt > /tmp/removelist.txt
You now might want to review that list using your favourite editor. Make shure sendcommand is in your $PATH. In this same folder you need to create a file called 'removeusers.sh' containing the following:
#!/bin/bash while read -r line do sendcommand "ASUP $line|0|0|0|0|0|" done < "/tmp/removelist"
Its using ASUP to remove the users from your list.
The final step is to simply execute the removeusers.sh script:
sh ./removeusers.sh
Cleaning an overpopulated Mailbox (Trash, spam... )
- By Danboid
I recently had a Citadel user complaining that their trash was overly full- it contained over 27000 messages. She tried to delete them under webcit but it ground to a halt when that was attempted. Hence we had to find another way and this is how it was achieved.
- create a list of all the mails we want to delete
- loop over that list to remove the mails
this list comprising of the numerical indices used to reference each unwanted mail in the citadel database. We'll call this script dumptrash; replace username & password:
#!/bin/bash (printf "USER username\nPASS password\nGOTO _TRASH_\nMSGS ALL\n QUIT\n"; sleep 2)|nc your.citadel.host.org 504 > /tmp/raw_junkmail # count lines in total: LINES=`wc -l </tmp/raw_junkmail` # Now we strip off the status lines: head -$(($LINES - 2)) /tmp/raw_junkmail| tail -$(($LINES - 7)) > /tmp/junkmail
This will take us into the trash room of user username and dump all message indices we will later feed back to citadel so it deletes them.
Now we need to create and execute a shell script to remove every mail listed in the file 'junkmail' like so:
#!/bin/bash ( printf "USER username\n" sleep 1 printf "PASS passwd\n" sleep 1 printf "GOTO _TRASH_\n" sleep 1 while read -r line; do printf "DELE $line\n" sleep 1 done < /tmp/junkmail sleep 10 ) | nc your.citadel.host.org 504
(if its to slow, remove the sleep 1 from the loop, and, maybe increase the sleep 10 at the end.)


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Moving to gulfport, mississippi?
Here are some helpful links to get you started.
About: gulfport, mississippi
Gulfport, Mississippi is located along the Mississippi Gulf Coast. The city should not be confused with the city of the same name located in Florida. Mississippi's Gulfport is known as a major beachfront city along the Gulf of Mexico. On August 29, 2005, the city was hit hard by Hurricane Katrina. In one day much of Gulfport was flooded or destroyed by the strong winds. Since Katrina, Gulfport has rebuilt and repaired most of the damage and devastation left by the hurricane.
Population: 71127
Local Newspapers: The Sun Herald
Local Sports Teams: Mississippi Seawolves (ECHL)
Local Colleges: William Carey
Quick Links and info for Gulfport, Mississippi
City Website
Local: (228) 868-5900
Emergency: 911
Local: (228) 868-5950
Emergency: 911
Gulfport City Hall
2309 15th St, Gulfport, MS 39501.
Phone:(228) 868-5700
Natural Gas Hook-ups and Disconnects
Center Point Energy
2019 E Pass Rd, Gulfport, MS 39507.
Phone:(228) 896-7500
Water Hook-ups and Disconnects
Gulfport Water Department
1422 23rd Ave, Gulfport, MS 39501.
Phone:(228) 868-5720
Trash Removal Schedule:
Schedule & Info
Mississippi Power Co
2829 13th St, Gulfport, MS 39501.
Phone:(800) 532-1502
Convention/Sports and Visitors
Gulfport Airport & Convention Center
9415 Highway 49, Gulfport, 39503.
Phone:(228) 623-1776
Mississippi Gulf Coast Chamber of Commerce
11975E Seaway Rd, Gulfport, MS 39503.
Phone:(228) 604-0014
Area Hospital:
Memorial Hospital, 4500 13th St, Gulfport, MS 39501.
Phone:(228) 867-4000
Local Airport:
Gulfport-Biloxi International Airport, 14035 - L Airport Road, Gulfport, MS 39503.
Phone: (228) 863-5951
Local Organizations:
529 32nd St, Gulfport, MS 39507.
Phone:(228) 863-0414
Area Colleges
Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College, 1800 Dong Xoai Avenue, Moreell Building 60, Room 227, Gulfport, MS 39501.
Phone:(228) 865-0675
Local Arena/Stadium
Gulfport Little Theatre 2600 13th Ave Gulfport, MS 39501
Phone: (228) 864-7983
Points of Interest
Lynn Meadows Discovery Center, 246 Dolan Ave, Gulfport, MS 39507.
Phone:(228) 897-6039
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Zip Codes associated with gulfport, mississippi:
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Bill Becker: Voice of the Keys
For 30-some years Bill Becker, news director at Lower Keys–based U.S. 1 Radio 104.1 FM, has provided a soothing, authoritative presence that appeals to Florida Keys listeners. Surprisingly, though his smooth voice and comfortable manner make him a broadcasting natural, working in radio was not his life's goal.Continue reading
Loretta Geotis: Thriving in Theater
Love brought Loretta Geotis to the Florida Keys, and another passion led her to the Marathon Community Theatre. Geotis, the theater's general business manager, came to the Keys in 2002 to join the man who is now her husband. A Midwesterner with a backgroundContinue reading
Viewing the Keys Through Valerie Fecher's Lens
Influenced by both her parents' love of the outdoors and her mother's creative background, Valerie Fecher picked up a camera and began taking photographs at an early age. Her inspiration to become a shutterbug came from her mother, a painter, who also passed her artistic drive down to Fecher's sisters.Continue reading
Gary Graves Angles for Casual Excellence at Keys Fisheries
MARATHON, Florida Keys - Few people are aware that the stone crabs served at the famous Joe's Stone Crab restaurant in Miami are provided by a commercial fishing operation in the Florida Keys - Keys Fisheries in Marathon. And Gary Graves, owner of Keys Fisheries restaurant and manager of the fishingContinue reading
Keys Chefs Blend Island Flair Into Eclectic Gourmet Dishes
Culinary artistry is the norm in the Florida Keys, and a select group of gourmet chefs lead the way with their innovative cuisine created using fresh local ingredients and a unique flair. From Key Largo to Key West, these culinary craftsmen set a high standard for foodContinue reading
Jennifer Hammer Dishes Up Island Style at Snook's
For Jennifer Hammer, owner of Snook's Bayside in Key Largo, the restaurant business is both a longstanding passion and a family affair. Her more than 25 years' experience dates back to her college days, when she alternated bartending and working in a French fineContinue reading
Sandy Moret: Catch Him on the Fly
Sandy Moret has been fly fishing almost all his life. The passion and drive he brings to teaching and advancing the sport is unequaled. Those qualities are what brought him to the Florida Keys to open Florida Keys Outfitters in Islamorada, after a childhood spent fishing in and around Atlanta, Ga.Continue reading
Keys Rodmaker is a "Reel" Hit With Anglers
Forty-year Florida Keys resident Rick Berry may be a Miami native, but he well recalls childhood days spent fishing in the Keys with his father. "When I was a kid I fished with my father every chance I got," said Berry. "As a teenager, as soon as I could drive, I headed for the Keys almost every weekend to fish the bridges."Continue reading
All the World's a Stage for Pianist Bobby Nesbitt
He has performed for audiences around Europe, starred at a famed San Francisco venue and been the first American singer/pianist to play in the American Bar of London's Savoy Hotel. Nevertheless, Key West keeps calling Bobby Nesbitt home.Continue reading
Keys Voices: Reminiscing with Harriet Stokes
The late Harriet Stokes, only the third owner of Largo Lodge since it opened in Key Largo in the late 1940s, remembered the sleepy years of the Florida Keys. "I bought Largo Lodge between 1967 and 1968," Stokes said in a January 2007 interview. "The road Largo Lodge is on was a narrow road back then.Continue reading


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Security America Risk Purchasing Group offers insurance designed to meet the needs of select electronic life safety, security, and systems professionals throughout the United States. For more information concerning policies, services, rates, coverage, or program acceptance, contact:
Call us at (866) 315-3838 or CONTACT US
Security America Risk Purchasing Group (RPG) is an insurance company developed by the Electronic Security Association (ESA).
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The project has created entirely new operating models to improve the well-being of agricultural entrepreneurs and how they can cope with difficulties.
Projects & Practice
The project has created entirely new operating models to improve the well-being of agricultural entrepreneurs and how they can cope with difficulties.
A dairy farm combined three RDP supported operations to increase and modernise milk production and secure one full-time job.
Set up an operational group to improve the efficiency of the fruit production sector in Spain by developing new approaches for joint management of farms.
Set up an operational group to test different practices for optimal catch crop management and assess their efficiency in reducing nitrogen and carbon emissions.
Supporting vulnerable people and facilitating their re-integration into society through small volunteer jobs on local farms.
The project aimed to improve farmers' soil management skills and know-how on profitable and resource-efficient farming.
A project to enhance the competitiveness of agriculture and the food industry, as well as the low-carbon economy, through the analysis of alternative future scenarios.
A collaborative system of precision viticulture enabling farmers to have online real time information about the health of the vineyards and make more targeted phytosanitary interventions.
The Finnish Natural Resources Institute used EAFRD funding to develop the production of mushrooms for food and medicine to give forest owners an alternative income source.
A cooperation project brought together local farmers, inhabitants and public services managers to jointly define and promote soil preservation technics adapted to the local environment.


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The ideas of a time are like the clothes of a season: they are as arbitrary, as much imposed by some superior will which is seldom explicit. They are utilitarian and political, the instruments of smooth-running government.Wyndham Lewis
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make yourself at home
This page is about the idiom make yourself at home
If you make yourself at home, you relax and feel comfortable in someone else's home.
For example
- When we arrived at my apartment, I showed my guests the sofa and said, "Make yourself at home."
- Bill certainly knows how to make himself at home. Within five minutes of arriving he'd turned on my TV and helped himself to a beer from my fridge.
See Idiom of the Day today
Contributor: Matt Errey


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Water or aqua aerobics can be a great way to burn calories, have fun and safeguard your body all at the same time.
Lacking the repetitive and jarring motions of running or the potential muscle strains of weight training, water aerobics are favored by people who enjoy water and getting a workout— often in half the time of a traditional "land-based" workout for the same results.
They also have a greater variety of workout clothing options than traditional exercise programs, ranging from long torso swimwear to cross back swimsuits to suits that are chlorine resistant. In short, something for everyone.
Many gyms and fitness clubs will offer aqua aerobics classes which will run once or twice a week. These can be great for beginners, for people looking to meet some similar-minded individuals or just for general fitness, but they are not for everyone.
Sometimes, the exercises will be too hard or too easy, and some will find themselves ill at ease in a large group, or unable to focus on their own goals. While the classes can be a good starting point, people often find themselves in a position of wanting to branch out and try their own types of exercises at a time that works for them. Gyms may offer personalized instruction, and there are websites which specialize in personal programs as well.
But whether it is group of single, finding the type of water aerobics right for you can jump start your fitness plan.next article >>


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PHPClasses.org has posted a review of a recently released book from No Starch Press, "Wicked Cool PHP: Real-World Scripts That Solve Difficult Problems".
n the PHP development life-cycle everyone faces common problems. Considering this, No Starch Press came with a good book named "Wicked Cool PHP: Real-World Scripts That Solve Difficult Problems" written by William Steinmetz and Brian Ward. Wicked Cool PHP is a wide collection of complete PHP scripts that solve specific problems frequently encountered by PHP coders. The book contains 12 chapters covering 76 frequently encountered problems.
He goes through each chapter, mentioning what its about and any extra tidbits it might include. There's wide range of topics covered - everything from the basics of configuring PHP out to security and user/session tracking.


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Train Rennes → Nantes
Duration 1h14 - From $33
- Departure station : Rennes (19, Place de la gare BP 90527 35005 Rennes cedex)
- Arrival station : Nantes (27,BoulevarddeStalingrad BP34112 44041 Nantes cedex1)
Rennes, the gateway to Brittany
Rennes is the capital of Brittany region in France. The city of Rennes can be reached by the high speed TGV from Paris in 2 short hours. Rennes is the perfect base to visit other towns of Brittany, namely the Mont Saint-Michel and Saint-Malo. The city of Rennes is a dynamic city with over 50,000 students. The city has a rich architectural heritage, convivial restaurants and quality shops. When in Rennes, check street posters to track down a fest-noz – a time-honoured ball where generations meet to dance to traditional music and to drink and snack on authentic French delicacies. Take a night out to enjoy one of these rather than a nightclub and you'll experience the real Rennes. Learn more about Rennes
Nantes, enjoy french history
Feel like French royalty in Nantes with a visit to the Dukes of Brittany Castle after a magical ride on a mechanical elephant. Sip sweet Muscadet wine at converted biscuit factory Lieu Unique; then head out for more tasting in the sinewy Loire Valley's vineyards. Learn more about Nantes
Book your journey from Rennes to Nantes From $33 $44
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Allahbaksh can be contacted at [email protected] and Shailendra can be contacted at [email protected].
jGuard is an open source library that provides easy authentication and authorization for Java web and desktop applications. It is built on JAAS framework, which is part of the Java J2SE API. The primary advantage of jGuard is that it allows the security system to be independent of the way the credentials of the user are stored; thus, the credentials may be stored in relational databases, XML files, or accessed through LDAP servers. This opens up the possibility of shifting from one data source to another easily.
In this article, we'll explore jGuard installation, and configuring the library to work with XML files and with databases.
Installing jGuard
Figure 1 depicts how a Web application with jGuard will be configured. To run jGuard, download the necessary JARs from the http://jGuard.net/. Note that you need to have Apache Tomcat set up on your machine; see http://www.coreservlets.com/Apache-Tomcat-Tutorial/ for help there.
All the jGuard related JARs should be placed in the lib folder of your project. You also need to create a conf folder under WEB-INF to store the configuration files. The conf folder, in turn, contains the jGuard subfolder, which holds the necessary jGuard configuration files.
Configuring jGuard to Work with XML
jGuard works in very simple way, needing just a few XML files to be configured for the right authentication and authorization mechanisms. As you are probably aware, "authentication" checks whether the logged-in user is a valid user and "authorization" checks whether the logged-in user has the necessary permissions on the accessed URL as intended.
For jGuard, the following files have to be configured (either as a datastore or in XML files):
- web.xml
- jGuardAuthentication.xml
- jGuardAuthorization.xml
- jGuardUsersPrincipals.xml
- jGuardPrincipalsPermissions.xml
- jGuardFilter.xml
- index.jsp
Let's step through each file for explanation. In general, web.xml is used to specify the servlet and JSP mappings. For jGuard, it is also modified to specify the locations of other jGuard config XML files for authentication and authorization. Here is an example of specifying file locations and URL mappings:
<context-param> <param-name>authenticationConfigurationLocation</param-name> <param-value>/WEB-INF/conf/jGuard/jGuardAuthentication.xml</param-value> </context-param> <servlet> <servlet-name>LoginForm</servlet-name> <jsp-file>/WEB-INF/jsp/loginForm.jsp</jsp-file> </servlet> <!—- the URL '/LoginForm.do' is specified in jGuardFilter.xml--> <servlet-mapping> <servlet-name>LoginForm</servlet-name> <url-pattern>/LoginForm.do</url-pattern> </servlet-mapping>
In the next file, jGuardAuthentication.xml, we specify which Authentication Manager to use, the location of the data source that contains the credentials of the users, and the login module to use. In the case of XML authentication, the authentication manager is XmlAuthenticationManager, and the login module is XmlLoginModule. The following code shows a snippet of jGuardAuthentcation.xml configured for XML authentication:
<authenticationManager> net.sf.jGuard.ext.authentication.manager.XmlAuthenticationManager </authenticationManager> <authenticationManagerOptions> <option> <name>authenticationXmlFileLocation</name> <value>WEB-INF/conf/jGuard/jGuardUsersPrincipals.xml</value> </option> </authenticationManagerOptions> <loginModules> <loginModule> <name>net.sf.jGuard.ext.authentication.loginmodules.XmlLoginModule</name> <flag>REQUIRED</flag> </loginModule> </loginModules>
jGuardAuthorization.xml contains the specification for the authorization manager to use and the location of the datasource that maps the principals/roles to the permissions. Principals are used by jGuard to determine whether a user has access rights to a particular resource. The term "principal" is used interchangeably with "roles."
In cases of XML authorization, the authorization manager is XmlAuthorizationManager and the datasource is jGuardPrincipalsPermissions.xml:
<authorizationManager> net.sf.jGuard.ext.authorization.manager.XmlAuthorizationManager </authorizationManager> <authorizationManagerOptions> <option> <name>authorizationXmlFileLocation</name> <value>WEB- INF/conf/jGuard/jGuardPrincipalsPermissions.xml</value> </option> </authorizationManagerOptions> </authorizationManager>
Now that we have talked about a couple of datasource XML files, let's briefly discuss the relationship between them. The UsersPriniciples XML file defines the roles, the User Definition Templates, and also the concrete users. Hence, it is the datasource for authentication purposes. And the PriniciplesPermissions XML file maps the roles and the respective URLs available to those roles so that the authorization can be taken care of appropriately.
To define a role, we configure jGuardUsersPrincipals.xml as follows:
<principal> <name>admin</name> <class>net.sf.jGuard.core.principals.RolePrincipal</class> <applicationName>Basic1</applicationName> <!-- this value must be exacly the same as web.xml´s display-name--> </principal>
Similarly, the following is the code to first define the user template and then create a user:
<users> <userTemplate> <name>default</name> <privateRequiredCredentials> <credTemplateId identity="true">login</credTemplateId> <credTemplateId digestNeeded="true">password</credTemplateId> </privateRequiredCredentials> … </userTemplate> <user> <privateCredentials> <credential> <id>login</id> <value>admin</value> </credential> <credential> <id>password</id> <value>admin</value> </credential> </privateCredentials> … <principalsRef> <principalRef name="admin" applicationName="Basic1" definition="${subject.publicCredentials.location.contains('Paris')}" active="true" /> </principalsRef> </user>
The file jGuardPrincipalsPermissions.xml declares which resources (JSP files, servlets) a particular role can access. The most important XML element in this file is <domain>. The <domain> element gives us an elegant way to group a number of permissions under a common name. The idea can be best understood by examining the following code snippet:
<permissions> <domain> <name>public</name> <permission> <name>LoginForm</name> <class>net.sf.jGuard.core.authorization.permissions.URLPermission </class> <actions> <action>/LoginForm.do</action> <action>ANY</action> </actions> </permission> <permission> <name>LogonProcess</name> <class>net.sf.jGuard.core.authorization.permissions.URLPermission </class> <actions> <action>/LogonProcess.do</action> <action>ANY</action> </actions> </permission> </domain> </permissions>
In the XML code above, we declare permissions called LoginForm and LogonProcess; and all these permissions are grouped under the domain name "public." Thus, if we want the user to have access to all the aforementioned mentioned resources, we can just give access to the domain named "public." Moreover, if we want fine-grained control, we can give a user access to particular permissions; for example, LoginForm. The method used to assign permissions to a particular role is shown in the following code:
<principal> <name>guest</name> <class>net.sf.jGuard.core.principals.RolePrincipal</class> <permissionsRef> <permissionRef name="LoginForm" /> <permissionRef name="LogonProcess" /> </permissionsRef> </principal>
Next on the list, jGuardFilter.xml is an important file for jGuard to decide where the user should be directed after a certain event; for example, if the user is authenticated or wants to register himself. The important elements in this are:
- <logonURI>, which specifies the URI where the login form is present
- <logonProcessURI>, which specifies the URI that processes the credentials obtained in <logonURI>
- <registerURI>, which specifies the URI that contains the registration form
- <indexURI>, which specifies the URI where the user should be directed if he is authenticated.
- <authenticationFailedURI>, which specifies the URI where the user should be directed if authentication fails
- <accessDeniedURI>, which specifies the URI where the user should be directed if he does not have the rights to access the page.
<filter> <indexURI>/Authenticated.do</indexURI> <authenticationFailedURI>/AuthenticationFailed.do</authenticationFailedURI> <logonURI>/LoginForm.do</logonURI> <logonProcessURI>/LogonProcess.do</logonProcessURI> <registerURI>/Registration.do</registerURI> <registerProcessURI>/RegistrationProcess.do</registerProcessURI> <logoffURIs> <logoffURI>/LogOff.do</logoffURI> </logoffURIs> <accessDeniedURI>/AccessDenied.do</accessDeniedURI> <authScheme>FORM</authScheme> <loginField>login</loginField> <passwordField>password</passwordField> <goToLastAccessDeniedUriOnSuccess>true</goToLastAccessDeniedUriOnSuccess> </filter>
Note that the jGuardFilter.xml present on the official website is not well formed. The following line of code needs to be changed: from <logoffURI>/Logoff.do</logoffURI> to: <logoffURIs><logoffURI>/LogOff.do</logoffURI></logoffURIs>.
In regard to the last file on our configuration list, Index.jsp, JGuard has the filter class AccessFilter, which takes care of logon and logoff processes per your jGuard configuration. In your web application, you simply need to define an Index.jsp in which you do response.redirect to Logon.do, which in turn is mapped to WEB-INF/jsp/ loginForm.jsp. The LoginForm.jsp is to have the following contents:
<form action="/jGuard/LogonProcess.do"> Login: <input type="text" name="login"/> Password: <input type="password" name="password"/> <input type="submit" value="submit"/> </form>


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I went in for my annual mammo. in Dec2012. I was recalled for additional views and U/S. The Radiologist came in and told me they were seeing 2 different areas. The one could be seen with U/S so said that would be the easiest to biopsy. I waited a couple of weeks due to insurance issues. I had an U/S guided biopsy on 7Jan13 that came back +for IDC and DCIS. My doctor got me referrals with surgery and oncology. I saw both the following week. I saw the oncologist first and she wanted me to have an MRI to determine the size of the area, we weren't sure if there was 1 large area or 2 right next to each other. I saw the surgeon 2 days later who gave me a couple of options. She indicated if the area(s) were as large as they were saying she didn't know if she would be comfortable doing a lumpectomy, getting clean margins, and leaving me any tissue since I'm quite small. She also said the lymph nodes looked OK on the MRI but would look at them either way. I had already decided if I needed surgery I'd opt for a mastectomy. The next week we biopsied the 2nd area stereotactilly just to see if it was anything and it came back +for DCIS. I had a modified radical mastectomy on 15Feb. and haven't had any issues and opted for no reconstruction later. The surgeon told me she thought she removed 6 lymph nodes and they felt soft to her. In seeing her the next week to see if my drainage tubes could be removed the pathologist called with his report. She had removed 8 nodes and all 8 were negative but he also found a 3rd very small cancer, actually a 2nd area of IDC. in the specimen. It came back Estrogen+. I saw the oncologist again to discuss treatment options and chemo. was mentioned. She also asked me if I'd be willing to do an oncotype DX test to see where we went from there. She told me we were aiming for a number 18 or below. I came in right at 18 and she told me I could get by with pills only but in plugging in some other numbers by adding chemo. my recurrence rate would decrease significantly. The pathologist graded my tumor at T1c but due to the size of the IDC 1.95 with cutoff of 1.99 the onc. wanted to make it a 2a (I think, 2 but not sure of letter but assume a). I agreed to chemo. and start on Monday 8Apr. She had mentioned initially 1 treatment every 3 weeks for 4-6 cycles but don't know if that has changed or not, guess I'll find out when I talk with her on Monday. She called it a TC regimen. I had a port installed last week to make things easier since my left arm can't be used any longer for such things. I used to do mammograms when I was working so when I heard "we're seeing something that wasn't there before" it alerted me to the possibility of it being cancer. As the local was being injected for the first biopsy a calmness came over me and I told myself, "what it is it is and what it isn't- OK". I attended a chemo. orientation class last week and got lots of good info. and the infusion area looks most comforting as I don't have any family close by as I start my journey and the oncologist wanted me starting sooner rather than later since I want to move back to my hometown, hopefully once the chemo. is done I can. The oncologist also said I may need radiation as the surgeon elected not to remove any chest muscle as it looked fine to her but the margin was within I believe 1 mm from the breast to the muscle. What a way to start 2013, oh my!!! To top everything off when I was working I did Mammograms and more than once heard a doctor say, "we're seeing something that wasn't there before". Those are almost the exact words I heard in my case. Before my 2nd treatment the breast patient navigator asked the onc. for me; "how many treatments is she looking at?". The onc. looked at some numbers and indicated I could get by with 4 instead of the 6 that was a possibility at the beginning. So at this point I'm halfway through and can look at moving back to my hometown this summer some time (that's the plan anyway) and I can look into getting a consult to see if I need radiation or not as there is a cancer center there. My onc. had told me before I agreed to chemo. it wouldn't be easy and I was thankful for her honesty. I finished my last chemo. treatment on 10June. My onc. got me in for a consult with an RT while I was house hunting. He indicated I need radiation due to the distance between the largest, more aggressive cancer and the one found on the surgical pathology. I was worked in for my Sim appt. the next day so had that done before heading back to the other side of the mountains to get packed up and moved. I got to my new place on the 14th of July, went in for a "dry run" and made sure my cradle fit properly the next day, and started treatments on the 17th of July. He told me I'd need 28 and then be on an Estrogen blocker for at least 5 years but guess current studies show 10 is better. On 1Aug2013 I saw a new oncologist in my new town. He told me my port could be removed since I'm done with chemo. but I had been told it needed to stay in for a year so will play that by ear as I don't mind going in every 6 weeks or so to get it accessed and flushed. I also think he said the cancer found on pathology was a lobular one but not sure what type of lobular as I've read there is more than one type. 23Aug2013--completed my 28th and last radiation treatment. The last 2 weeks a bolus was added and I didn't need any boosts. The left side of my chest and axilla are bright red but the skin is intact thank goodness. Normally with 2 weeks left my RT would have prescribed an antibiotic cream to be safe but I'm allergic to the main ingrediant and he felt I'd be OK without it. 6Sept2013--F/U appt. with oncologist with blood draw, he said I'm doing well. He wanted me to think what I want to do for my osteopenia which I had before all of this started. He gave me 3 options; 1)pills, 2)infusion of meds once a year, or 3)shots (twice a year I think) and told me to discuss this with my PCP. I did that on 9Sept and he told me pills have been around longer so that is what he'd recommend. He called a 'script for Fosamax to my pharmacy and I'll take 1 a week and see how I do with them. I have followup appts. in Dec. for a mammogram, blood draw, and an appt. with the RT and Onc. and see where I go from here as 2013 sure has been one heck of a year. 2Dec2013-had my yearly screening exam on my right breast and all is OK with it, followup in 1 year. Saw both Drs. a week later and everything is OK by them, also. Neither one could believe how much hair I now have after being totally bald 6 months earlier, see both in 3 months. 12Mar2014--3 month fu appts. with both drs.-all is good. Told Onc. I plan on keeping my port in for awhile when he asked me again about it. See both in another 3 months. 6Mar2014--had my first haircut after being bald in May2013, also added pink highlights. Invited by Rad. clinic to be part of their Relay for Life team as they wanted some survivors along with their employees to walk all night and I signed up immediately and have raised over 3x the amount I was asked to raise. I'll walk the survivor lap and then put some time on the track. That will fall one week before my 3 month followup appts. with both my RT Onc. and Med. Onc. The Relay went great. I saw both Drs. on 13June2014, Onc. said he'd see me in 4 months and the RT said 3 months but asked what the Onc. said. I told him 4 months so he said I can see him at that time, too as their offices are right across the street from each other, about 7 miles one way from home. I saw both Drs. on 10Oct2014, all is well. My Onc. has turned my care over to his nurse practioner who I'll see in 4 months. The RT said 3 again but changed it to 4 and said after that he'll probably extend out my visits to him, possibly 8 months or so. I'm due for my annual screening mammo. in Dec. on my remaining breast. My mammogram on my right breast remains normal, followup in 1 year. 3Dec2014-annual screening mammogram on right breast was again normal, but 50-75% dense tissue remains. Followup in 1 year unless things change. I saw a new RT today (10Feb2015) as mine had left the practice. She said all is well and will see me at year's end after my mammogram. I saw an ARNP for my Oncologist today also for the first time. She also gave me a clean bill of health, followup in 4 months with lab work and then will extend my visits out to longer intervals. I'm so thankful I've had such wonderful care since my journey started just over 2 years ago. I signed up to walk with the radiation clinic's Relay for Life team once again. I've earned a polo shirt for raising at least $1,000.00 in donations ($800. of which I put in myself from a check I got as a refund for my surgery as they resubmitted it 14 months after the fact for less than previously). I put the other $36. into a "rainy day" fund and will find something to buy with it. 5June2015-4 month f/u appt. with Oncology ARNP. All is well and she is very pleased with me. She offered to give me a referral to see another nurse to go over my past 2 years and future needs. I told her I am OK for now and if I feel I need it I will ask for it. She told me she wants to see me in 6 months with more lab work like this visit. I did elect to have an appointment for the consult (survivorship, etc)., is scheduled for August (first opening). 13August2015--attended a survivorship consult and got lots of great info. All this time I thought my first biopsy staged my cancer as 1c but in reality it was a 1a but grade 3. So all in all the breast had 2 areas of IDC, 1 area of DCIS, and 1 area of LCIS. I had a 2 year followup DEXA scan in Sept. 2015 due to the Osteopenia (diagnosed prior to the BC) and being on generic Fosamax. My spine was down -2.6 but my hip was up +4.3. I guess the medication I'm on for the Estrogen+ cancer can deplete bone mass but I'm still considered Osteopenic. I'm also showing some degenerative changes in my back so will need to watch what I do. 1Dec2015-annual screening mammogram, Birads 1 but still 50-75% dense breast tissue, followup 1 year. On a preop chest X-ray for my carpal tunnel surgery something was seen in the left side of chest, the side the BC had been on. 11Dec2015 I saw both the Onc. and RT (appts. that already had been made). The Onc. ordered a Cancer Antigen 27.29 and depending on results felt I may need a PET scan. The RT on the other hand felt a CT chest was the way to go. The CT showed healed rib fractures (#3&4 laterally and #5,6,&7 anterior surface) from the year before after the fall in the tub. The lab work was within the normal range. See Onc. in another 6 months and RT in 1 year unless something else comes up. 14Dec2015-endoscopic Rt. carpal tunnel release. 13-14May2016 walked in my local Relay for Life and earned a plaque for 3rd highest individual in fundraising. 14June2016--6 month followup with Onc. ARNP, was told everything looks good including labs. Will see again in 6 months with blood work prior. 12Sept2016--endoscopic lt. carpal tunnel release. I asked Dr. to put the tourniquet at my elbow which he did. I'll have to be diligent to any changes in the size of my arm. 1Dec2016-annual screening mammo on my Rt. breast. The clinic has a new machine--a 3D and the tech told me it will make reading my dense tissue easier. My mammogram was normal but still 50-75% dense tissue, followup in 1 year. 13Dec16--saw a new RT today and all is well, First he said he'd see me in 6 months but when I told him I'd been on a yearly appt. he said we can do that and changed it in my record. 13Jan2017--6 month f/u with the Oncology clinic with blood work--all is good and she told me to keep doing what I've been doing and will see me in another 6 months. She said my incision looks well-healed and found nothing new on exam. Actually this appt. had been rescheduled by the clinic so it was 7 months rather than 6 but I still have to see them again in 6 months. 20May2017 I walked as an individual in the Relay for Life, earned a certificate for 2nd highest individual in fundraising. 13July2017-6 month F/U with Onc. office. All is well for now, schedule another DEXA in Sept since I'm on an AI med and go from there. Next appt. in 1 year unless something new comes up. 5 Sept 2017 DEXA scan--1)back slight increase(up 3.5) in bone mass, 2)hip very slight decrease(down .5) in bone mass--both are still considered Osteopenic so will need to stay diligent. 8Dec2017--yearly mammogram--birads 2 as the Rad. said I have a small axillary lymph node that is stable, density still 50-75%. 13Dec2017--saw the PA in the radiation clinic and all is well, she will see me again in 6 months. 12June2018--saw the PA for a 6 month followup in the Radiation Clinic, all is well, see in another 6 months. She looked into genetic testing for cancer; I qualify in 1 area but not in another so Medicare won't pay for it. 20July2018--had my yearly visit with the Oncology office and all is well. I just completed 5 years on Letrozole and asked where I go from here. She told me I could go off of it but recommended a Breast Cancer Index test to see if I can indeed go off of it or continue for another 5 years. If I'm taken off of it my PCP will also take me off my generic Fosamax. The only issue may be if there is enough of the original tumor to use for testing as I had that OncoType DX test 5 years ago that also used some of that tissue. I have to see her on a yearly visit unless something comes up. They did have enough tissue to test. I guess my findings are very low risk for recurrence so I can DC the Letrozole and my PCP DCed the Alendronate for my Osteopenia. Will see how I do off of both of these meds. It seems my recurrence rate is around 5% hence the DC of the AI. Like my Onc. ARNP said it still isn't a guarantee you won't get cancer again but the odds are definitely in my favor not to. 10Dec2018--yearly mammogram-Birads 1-negative, still have dense breast tissue but all is OK, see 1 year unless things change. In March 2019 I had my yearly appt. with the radiation clinic, all is well see in 1 year. In July 2019 I saw my Onc. ARNP and all is well there, too, see 1 year unless things change. I did cancel my appt. for next year at the Radiation Clinic as I was told I didn't need to see them any longer unless something comes up. 4Dec2019--annual screening mammogram-no changes since prior study, BiRads cat 2, and category 3 tissue denseness. See 1 year unless things change. 28May2020-went in for my every 6 week port flush. They could not get blood return after accessing it. It was determined to be properly placed and queried if it may have a clot in it. They elected to inject some tPA through it and I had to wait for an hour. They came in at that time and still no blood return which would require another hour of sitting. About that time blood was noted in the line and then started flowing. The nurse noted some clots in the blood and to me it looked thicker than usual. I asked if I should have the port removed and the nurse indicated that would be a good idea. I'm awaiting a call from the Oncology Clinic to see what I need to do. The Oncology ARNP I see agreed it would be in my best interest to remove the port and sent a referral to an Imaging Clinic to get it scheduled. 2June 2020--port removed through the scar from the insertion with a local only by a PA who works at the Interventional Radiology Clinic. Closed with surgical glue I asked for and was given the port in a see through bag. No more every 6-week flushes.
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Empire State Realty Trust is committed to sustainable property operations and development.
Our business practices not only are environmentally responsible, but save energy, and are an investment in the health and well-being of our tenants. These investments translate to more energy efficient and productive work spaces, providing cost savings for all over the long-term.
ESRT Portfolio Sustainability Matrix
A Groundbreaking Program: What It Means for Tenants, The Real Estate Industry and the Environment
On April 5, 2009, President Bill Clinton, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, and W&H Properties' Empire State Building (ESB) unveiled a new model for economically viable, replicable energy retrofits in the existing built environment to reduce materially energy consumption, operating costs, and carbon footprint. The announcement was the product of almost two years of coordination, collaboration, and work under a veil of secrecy. Through 2010, we will issue four publications, of which this is the first, explaining the work underway at ESB and the value proposition of our work to brokers and tenants in New York City. Read more [PDF]
What Brokers Need to Know; How ESB Helps Tenants
In this, our second of four publications, we would like to explain the impact of this work on our tenants and the brokers who serve them. Read more [PDF]
A Case Study: How Skanska Achieved $680,000 in Energy Savings and Expects to Save Even More with ESB's Energy Efficiency Program
In this, our third of four publications, we illustrate the experiences of one tenant, sharing its no-compromise energy efficiency and the measurement of its cost savings within its first year of occupancy at ESB. Read more [PDF]
Leadership in Cost-Effective Energy Efficiency, Convenient Location and Modern Amenities Make the Empire State Building the Venue of Choice for Tenants of All Sizes
In this, the last of four publications, we summarize what the changes at the Empire State Building means to satisfy today's tenants and why commercial brokers and their clients should consider ESB first for cost-competitive, state-of-the-art office space with modern amenities and convenient location. Read more [PDF]
Attracting Energy-Efficient Tenants
McNally Message/The Business Case for Going Green
In today's economy, forward-looking companies are searching for innovative ways to boost revenues and reduce operating costs. In a city where 80 percent of office space has already been built, the answer could be this: go green. When Skanska began eyeing the Empire State Building for its new flagship office, Skanska President Mike McNally challenged the project team to prove that building green is affordable. The team accepted the challenge by creating a healthy and productive workplace that would lower energy consumption and operating costs compared to Class A office over the course of the 15-year lease. Skanska's New York office is the first LEED® for Commercial Interiors Platinum certification in the Empire State Building demonstrating the company's commitment to sustainability. In addition to delivering on one of Skanska's core values of environmental stewardship, the company has proven that building green makes good business sense.
View video about Sustainability at Skanska's ESB Office
Sustainability at Skanska's ESB Office
When Skanska was looking for a new location for its U.S. headquarters, the international construction firm sought a building where it could create a LEED Platinum interior that would cost no more than a typical Class A office space over the life of the lease. The company found what it was seeking not in a new, modern building. Instead, it was on the 32nd floor of the iconic, pre-war Empire State Building.
As the contractor and future occupant, Skanska challenged itself to do what it advises clients to do: Look at the existing space and focus on lifecycle value, not initial costs. The firm collaborated with an experienced team of experts to design and build a state-of-the-art, energy-efficient office space to reduce its energy costs and carbon footprint; provide a healthier, more productive environment for its employees; and demonstrate the economic argument behind energy efficiency in office space design and construction. Today, after nearly two years of occupancy, Skanska is on track to prove the case.
Skanska now benefits from a 58 percent reduction in electricity costs compared to its prior office, which is projected to save the company approximately $680,000 in energy costs over the life of its 15-year lease. This equates to a carbon footprint reduction of nearly 80 tons per year or removing 53 standard size cars from the road. The two largest contributors to energy reduction are the daylight-based lighting scheme and the under-floor air distribution system. Waterless urinals, low-flow toilets and hand-sensing faucets reduce water usage 40 percent below Energy Policy Act standards.


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In "The Chain," a chirpy British film comedy from 1984 about moving house, the foreman of a team of movers is taking evening classes in philosophy, and is prone to metaphysical musings while lugging heavy pieces of furniture. On the way to his first job of the day, he recites what he has learned to his workmates: "What Descartes is saying is 'I think, therefore I am.' ''
"Am what?" someone asks.
"Just am."
"Can't just be am. You gotta be am something."
In fact, what Descartes wrote in his "Discours de la Méthode," of 1637, "Je pense, donc je suis" (the Latin rendering, "Cogito, ergo sum," came later), was always a slightly cryptic formulation. That's what helped make it the most famousand probably the most misunderstoodslogan in philosophy. And "Am what?" remains a good question to ask of Descartes the man, as two new biographies show. His personality remains an enigma. Vituperative, devious, insincere, proud, and unpredictable in his correspondence, he published works that ooze sweet reason and cool logic. Why did this Frenchman choose to spend most of his adult life away from his native country? Why did he repeatedly tell friends that he craved calm and quiet, then constantly pull up stakes and rush elsewhere? (A team of movers would have come in useful.) He did not, in adulthood, enjoy reading the books of others. So what, exactly, was going on in his head during his long mornings of inactivity?
It isn't easy to see Descartes's work the way he saw itthe relationship between science and philosophy has changed too much for that. Despite his current reputation, the man himself seems to have been less interested in metaphysics than in applying algebra to geometry and delving into the innards of cows. He turned to philosophy relatively late in life, and out of fear that the Catholic Church would condemn his science. He would have been surprised at how he is remembered.
Most of all, he would have been aghast at the way in which "I think, therefore I am" has been ripped from its context, inflated into a one-sentence summary of his ideas, and turned into something absurd. The rot set in at the start of the nineteenth century, when Hegel made heavy weather of "I think, therefore I am" and took it to mean that thought and being are fundamentally the same thing. Thus began the myth that modern philosophy is subjective at its rootsa view that was expounded by the late Pope John Paul II, who went so far as to suggest that the origins of Nazism and Communism are somehow linked to Descartes.
The origins of Descartes's slogan are straightforward enough, and it is not easy to see Hitler or Marx prefigured in them. In his "Discourse on Method," which is presented as an intellectual autobiography, Descartes recounts how he aimed to rebuild human knowledge on the firmest foundation. As a first step, to purge himself of error, he tried to cast doubt on as much as possible of what he thought he knew. So he pretended for the sake of argument, as he later put it in his "Meditations on First Philosophy" (1641), that "some malicious demon of the utmost power and cunning has employed all his energies in order to deceive me." Since he could not, at this stage of his inquiries, rule out the existence of such a demon, Descartes reasoned that it was possible to doubt all the evidence of his senses. What he thought he saw, heard, and felt might be a dream somehow procured by the evil deceiver. But then, he says, he realized that there was at least one thing that he could not be wrong about; namely, the proposition that he himself existed. The very act of doubting, of wondering where he might have gone astray, showed that he did exist.
Since the early nineteenth century, Descartes has routinely been called the father of modern philosophy. His attempt at a fresh start for human knowledge, relying on his own reason and casting aside received wisdom, came to typify the Enlightenment project. While his "Discourse" and "Meditations," with their focus on the nature of certainty, the existence of God, and the relation between mind and body, continue to be read by philosophy students, the bulk of his writings, which were on scientific subjects, has been forgotten. In his own day, his physics, cosmology, geometry, and physiology were given at least as much attention. When Molière poked fun at the pretensions of grand Paris ladies, his main target was the fashion for Descartes's astronomy: "I adore his vortexes," Armande coos in "The Learned Ladies," which was first produced in Paris in 1672. "And I his falling worlds," Philamente sighs.
Descartes was one of the precursors of the scientific revolution. Modern applied mathematics is largely based on an invention of his, analytic geometry, which uses algebra to solve practical problems about space and motion. He labored to construct a unified account of nature which would be as all-encompassing as the scholastic system derived from Aristotle but based on the un-Aristotelian "mechanical" principle that physical phenomena are to be explained in terms of contact between moving bodies and the motions and shapes of their parts. In physics and cosmology, Descartes propounded theories that were direct antecedents of Newton's "Principia."
Most of Descartes's scientific work, except for some of his mathematics, has been superseded, which is partly why he is now regarded as a purely abstract thinker. Much of his life, though, was spent in experiments, observations, calculations, and dissections. His explanation of the rainbow, for instance, was a landmark in optics, and almost right. He discovered the law of refraction, which explains why a straight stick can appear bent when partly immersed in water (though this discovery had been made earlier and independently). And Descartes was one of the first to demonstrate in detail that the workings of human bodies could be studied as if they were machines.
In "Descartes: A Biography" (Cambridge; $40), Desmond Clarke, a leading Descartes scholar at the National University of Ireland, Cork, argues that Descartes's philosophy is distorted if it is not seen in the context of his wider scientific enterprise. Descartes certainly played down his own purely philosophical writings. In a letter to his friend Princess Elizabeth of Bohemia, in June, 1643, and again in a conversation with a theology student, Frans Burman, who interviewed him in April, 1648, Descartes warned against paying too much attention to his metaphysics. Read it once, he said, and move on. His "Discourse," with the famous slogan, was published merely as a preface to a collection of treatises on optics, meteorology, and geometry. Clarke reminds us that Descartes's philosophical works were intended to establish credentials for his system of nature, and to make it theologically acceptable. The "Meditations" originally bore the subtitle "in which are demonstrated the existence of God and the immortality of the soul." Indeed, Clarke's most distinctive claim is that Descartes's account of the mind as an immaterial substancehis famous "dualism" of the mental and the physical, sometimes known as the doctrine of "the ghost in the machine"is at best a provisional theory, aimed at providing support for the Catholic doctrine of the immortality of the soul, and sits uneasily with many other things that he wrote.
Descartes's dualism is certainly not quite what it is often taken to be. In the 1994 best-seller "Descartes' Error: Emotion, Reason and the Human Brain," the neurologist Antonio Damasio reports that Descartes believed in an "abyssal separation between body and mind . . . the separation of the most refined operations of mind from the structure and operation of a biological organism." This is actually the opposite of what Descartes believed. He held that we "experience within ourselves certain . . . things which must not be referred either to the mind alone or to the body alone," and that these arise "from the close and intimate union of our mind with the body." In his best-known writings, Descartes stressed the differences between matter (which occupies space) and thought (which does not). But he also maintained that, in human beings, mind and body are mysteriously and inextricably combined, as he tried to spell out in letters to Princess Elizabeth. (She kept pressing him on the point.) He could not explain how it is that mind and body are united, but he was sure that they were.
Another new biography, "Descartes: The Life and Times of a Genius" (Walker; $26.95), by A. C. Grayling, a prolific British philosopher and newspaper columnist, offers no revisionist interpretation of Descartes's thought but, instead, a highly readable tale with a startling suggestion about his life. Descartes, Grayling reckons, may have been a spy. It's a tempting thought that Descartes was no more the father of modern philosophy than James Bond was a salesman for Universal Exportsthat all his geometry and metaphysics was merely a cover for some clandestine derring-dobut Grayling doesn't go quite so far. The possibility he raises is that Descartes did a little intelligence-gathering in the first decade of the Thirty Years' War, as an agent of pro-Hapsburg Jesuits, and that he reported back to the Jesuits about occultist sympathizers. This, Grayling thinks, would help to explain some of his travels and how he paid his way. There is, alas, not a scrap of hard evidence for this theoryDescartes was either no spy or else one of the most successfully secretive there has ever been. This is probably why no historian has mooted it before, and why none is likely to think it worth refuting now.
But is Grayling's spy theory any more fanciful than the late Pope's account? In "Crossing the Threshold of Hope" (1994), John Paul II says that, for Descartes, "only that which corresponds to human thought makes sense. The objective truth of this thought is not as important as the fact that something exists in human consciousness." Later, in "Memory and Identity," published in 2005, John Paul II argues further that the philosophical revolution brought about by Descartes downgraded God and put the mind of man in his place: "according to the logic of cogito, ergo sum, God was reduced to an element within human consciousness." In other words, Descartes inaugurated a shift to a view of the world in which the "I" is the foundation of everything, and a selfish monstrosity rules.
Given that Descartes did not mince his words when attacking his criticsthe writings of one French mathematician were "impertinent, ridiculous and despicable"; the rector of the University of Utrecht was "stupid," "malicious," and "incompetent"; the work of Pierre Fermat, the greatest mathematician of his time, was "shit"one wonders what he would have said about John Paul II. For Descartes repeatedly makes it clear that his own existence (and, indeed, that of the whole world) depends on God, not the other way around. Those who suspect Descartes of rampant subjectivism have confused the style of his reasoning with its substance. Descartes cast his philosophical inquiries in an autobiographical style. He looked within himself. But there was nothing subjective about what he found:
When I consider the fact that I have doubts, or that I am a thing that is incomplete and dependent, then there arises in me a clear and distinct idea of a being who is independent and complete, that is, an idea of God. And from the mere fact that there is such an idea within me, or that I who possess this idea exist, I clearly infer that God also exists, and that every single moment of my entire existence depends on him. . . . And now, from this contemplation of the true God, in whom all the treasures of wisdom and the sciences lie hidden, I think I can see a way forward to the knowledge of other things.
It's true that the informal, meandering style that makes his philosophical works engaging to read can also make their structure elusive. He writes that the certainty of his own existence is the "first principle" of his philosophy. But this just turns out to mean that it is the first certainty that he decided to accept, not that anything else is based upon it. Actually, Descartes infers nothing from his own existence. Instead, he asks how he comes to possess this one certainty, so that he can then find other certainties in the same way. The secret of that certainty is just that it involved "a clear and distinct perception of what I am asserting." Crucially, Descartes then introduces God. He offers several arguments for the existence of God, and, having satisfied himself that there must be a God, he reasons that this God, being good, would not allow His creatures to be seriously deceived, provided that they exercise some restraint and confine their beliefs to what they "clearly and distinctly" perceive to be true. Thus Descartes's system of knowledge depends not on his own existence but on God's.
René Descartes was born into the upper bourgeoisie on March 31, 1596, in a village then called La Haye, in the Loire Valley. Always a secretive manhis motto was Bene vixit, bene qui latuit ("He lives well who is well hidden")he would not allow his date of birth to be published in his lifetime, for fear that someone might cast his horoscope. His father had hoped that he would follow him into legal practice and provincial officialdom, and marry well. In the event, René disappointed his father's dynastic ambitions, though his older brother, Pierre, delivered the goods, and the family acquired the lowest degree of nobility in 1668. René inherited some farms from his mother's family, and then sold them to help pay for his life as a gentleman scholar. His father said that he was the only son to have disappointed him, because he was "ridiculous enough to have himself bound in calfskin."
Descartes's mother died when he was fourteen months old, and his father entrusted his upbringing to relatives. At the age of ten, René was sent to the recently established Jesuit College of La Flèche. His health was weak, and a kinsman, Father Charlet, who was the rector of the school, managed to secure him special treatment. He had his own room and was allowed to laze in bed in the mornings, which became a lifelong habit. The other boys had to rise at 5 A.M.; Descartes apparently did not rouse himself until Mass at ten.
In 1614, he left the Jesuits to study law at Poitiers, graduating and rejoining his family two years later. How he then occupied himself is a mystery, but in 1618 he began his travels, aiming, as he later said, to "roam about in the world, trying to be a spectator rather than an actor in all the comedies that are played out there." He decided to enroll as a gentleman (i.e., unpaid) soldier in the army of Prince Maurice of Nassau, outside Breda, on the truce lines between the north and the south of the Netherlands. Descartes was rather bored, contenting himself with some painting, military architecture, and learning Flemish. It was thanks to an apparently chance meeting in the street in Breda that his intellectual career began to take shape.
On November 10, 1618, Descartes was reading a mathematical puzzle posted in Flemish on a billboard, and asked a passerby, Isaac Beeckman, to translate it into Latin. Seven years older than Descartes, Beeckman had just completed his medical degree while earning his living as an engineer and candlemaker. He was interested in applying mathematics to mechanics, explaining regularities in physical phenomena in terms of the behavior of their minute constituentsan approach to science which began to flourish in Holland in the late sixteenth century. The two men struck up a close friendship, and Descartes became, in effect, Beeckman's apprentice, using his mathematical skills (which were by all accounts superior to Beeckman's) to solve problems set by his master. It is unclear whether or not Beeckman was one of the catalysts for the revelation that Descartes claims to have had at the age of twenty-three, a year to the day after his first meeting with him. That was when he went to bed after a day's excited contemplation in which he discovered the "foundations of a marvellous science," and had a series of vivid dreams that changed his life. Possibly, it was a nervous breakdown rather than the intellectual breakthrough that Descartes later made it out to be. Either way, within a few years he seems to have been set on a life of learning, focussing on the natural sciences and mathematics.
The night of dreams took place in Neuburg, as Descartes was journeying to rejoin the army of Maximilian of Bavaria, with whom he had enlisted after leaving Prince Maurice's ranks. In the next decade, he travelled in Germany, France, the Netherlands, and Italy; did some of his most important work in geometry and optics; and started writing a treatise on the scientific method, which he never finished. In late 1628, he moved to the United Provinces (the northern, and Protestant, part of the Netherlands) and spent all but six months of the rest of his life there, living at twenty-four or more addresses in twenty years. Nobody has managed to shed much light on why he was so restless. (Grayling thinks that his spying days were over by then.) But it is lucky that he was, since he otherwise might not have written so many letters. What emerges from his correspondence is that Descartes was difficult, wildly ambitious, and hungry for fame. He rarely seems to have been a soul at peace.
At about the time of his move to the United Provinces, Descartes began work on "Le Monde," a pair of treatises giving a mechanistic approach to physics, cosmology, and physiology. While in Amsterdam, around 1630, he visited butchers' shops every day to get carcasses for dissection. (Grayling mistakenly credits Descartes with the first known observation of a conditioned reflex, in 1630. In fact, Descartes made no observation and was just guessing: "I reckon that if you whipped a dog five or six times to the sound of a violin, it would begin to howl and run away as soon as it heard that music again." Contrary to Grayling's claim, there is no reason to think that he ever actually whipped a dog, though he may on another occasion have dissected a live one.)
In 1633, Descartes's original scientific work pretty much came to an end, when, in July, Galileo was condemned by the Inquisition in Rome, and his recently published "Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems" was burned. Descartes immediately decided to lay aside "Le Monde." Although little harm could have come to him in the United Provinces (or, probably, in France, where there was no Inquisition, and considerable sympathy for Galileo), Descartes wanted to avoid arguments with theologians.
The main objection to Galileo's work was ostensibly its heliocentrism. The Church still maintained that the sun went around the earth, not vice versa. After all, the Psalms say that the earth cannot be moved; Genesis says that the earth was created before the sun; and Joshua told the sun and the moon to stand still while the children of Israel attacked the Amorites, which (it was argued) he would not have done if the sun was already still. Descartes knew that the earth did move. He wrote in November to his old friend Marin Mersenne that if this view were false then so, too, were the whole foundations of his system.
It was at this point that Descartes turned to the metaphysics and philosophizing about knowledge for which he is now remembered. He also turned to sex, some speculate for the first time. His daughter, Francine, was born in 1635 to Helena Jans, a maid in a house in Amsterdam where Descartes stayed. Francine died of scarlet fever five years later. She seems to have spent some time with Descartes, who pretended that she was his niece. A bizarre myth began to circulate in the eighteenth century that Descartes was accompanied on his later travels by a life-size mechanical doll that he called Francine. This seems to have been a gibe at the mechanistic view of nature which his philosophical works sought to underpin.
In the course of his "Meditations," he argued that the properties of physical objects that he could "clearly and distinctly" understand were measurable dimensions in space, geometric shape, duration, and motion, but that, "as for all the rest, including light and colours, sounds, smells, tastes, heat and cold and the other tactile qualities, I think of these only in a very confused and obscure way." In other words, he was claiming that the only physical facts of which knowledge can be guaranteed by recourse to God, who would not deceive us about things that we can "clearly and distinctly" grasp, are precisely the elements of his mechanistic system of nature. Descartes thereby provided, or so he thought, a justification that would appeal to the Church for his view that all natural phenomena can be explained by the principles of geometry and pure mathematics. He could not find any support for those views in the Psalms, Genesis, or Joshua, but he could at least bring God into the picture.
It did him no good. Descartes not only failed to win over the theologians of his day but forever weakened his philosophy in trying to do so. The flimsiest parts of his "Discourse" and "Meditations," as generations of undergraduates learn, are his proofs of the existence of God, and his argument that God would not deceive us. (Mersenne noted that God sometimes misled people in the Bible, so divine deception wasn't easily ruled out.) Several of Descartes's works were placed on the Index of forbidden books by the Catholic Church in 1663. The Church worried that his account of matter might be inconsistent with the Eucharist, and that he did not make the mind sufficiently independent of the body.
In France, men of letters and society ladies warmed to Descartes long before universities did. But in 1720 he achieved part of his ambition, when some of his books were put in the curriculum of the University of Paris. They did not, however, supplant Aristotle, as Descartes had always wanted, but were set for study alongside him.
Descartes died, of pneumonia, in Stockholm in 1650, at the age of fifty-three, having unwisely procured an invitation from Queen Christina of Sweden, and then even more unwisely accepted it. In the coldest Swedish winter in sixty years, he found himself obliged to stand bare-headed at five in the morning in Christina's library to give her philosophy lessons. It was a cruel change for a man who was not exactly a morning person. Four years later, the Queen abdicated and converted to Catholicism, prompted, she wrote, by Descartes's teachings.
He was buried in Sweden under a simple wooden monument that was allowed to rot. Seventeen years later, his remains were exhumed and taken on a six-month journey to France, except for his right forefinger, which the French Ambassador to Sweden was allowed to keep, and his head, which was removed by a captain in the Swedish guards. In France, his body was exhumed and reburied three more times before coming to rest in a former Benedictine monastery in Saint-Germain-des-Près. The Musée de l'Homme, in the Palais de Chaillot, near the Eiffel Tower, claims to have Descartes's skull, but the claim is weak. It seems that the great dualist's head is still missing.