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Scientists Discover New Way of Estimating the Size of Meteorites
News story originally written on April 11, 2008
Scientists have developed a new way of learning more about meteorites that have crashed into the Earth. When a meteorite hits the Earth, some of it dissolves and is deposited where it lands. If it lands in the ocean, parts of the meteorite mix with the ocean water very quickly and eventually settle into deep-sea sediments. Scientists can collect samples of the sediments many years later and learn about the meteorites that hit the Earth in the past.
By studying deep-sea sediments, scientists have learned that the size of the meteorite that likely crashed into Earth 65 million years ago was four to six kilometers across. Scientists believe this meteorite was the cause of the mass extinction of dinosaurs and other forms of life. One of the scientists involved in this study, François Paquay, said that this new technique will allow scientists to learn more about many other meteorites that have hit the Earth.


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Today's deadline is called the "non-waiver" trade deadline, which I prefer to refer to as the "Trade Deadline." It comes at 3pm CT today, and it is swell.
But what's that "non-waiver" part about? We'll get into far greater detail later this week when August "waiver" trades can be made, but, for today, I thought I'd answer for those who didn't know and didn't want to ask:
The reason today's deadline is called the "non-waiver" trade deadline is because it is the final day on which teams can make trades without having to go through the waiver process – a complicated procedure that can dramatically cut down on the ability of teams to easily make trades. Although trades can technically occur in August, today's deadline is considered the "Trade Deadline," because it tends to be the final day of the regular season on which you see lots and lots of trade activity. There is another trade deadline next month, but it is far less glamorous, and we'll get there when we get there.
Prepare yourself for the Trade Deadline at 3pm CT today.

subset: commoncrawl


text: "Step Up Revolution" is the next installment in the worldwide smash Step Up franchise, which sets the dancing against the vibrant backdrop of Miami. Emily, the daughter of a wealthy businessman, arrives in Miami with aspirations of becoming a professional dancer, but soon falls in love with Sean, a young man who leads a dance crew in elaborate, cutting-edge flash mobs. The crew, called the MOB, strives to win a contest for a major sponsorship opportunity, but soon Emily's father threatens to develop the MOB's historic neighborhood and displace thousands of people. Emily must band together with Sean and the MOB to turn their performance mobs into protest mobs, and risk losing their dreams to fight for a greater cause.


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For Such a Time as This: A Women of Hope Novel
1879 – Oregon
Drought has forced farmers around the small town of Bountiful in the Hope region of Oregon to mortgage their property. Then word comes of plans for a spur line to run through the area and join the railroad in nearby Milton. Folks with money see an opportunity to fill their coffers by buying farmland cheap then selling to the railroad for a profit. The Bank of Bountiful, owned by Eli Whitman, appears to be doing that, as well.
Widowed two years earlier, Eli, with a son and daughter to raise, sought a hard-working, educated Christian woman to care for them and his home. Olivia Moore filled the bill, and as soon as Eli recognized her as an excellent investment, he offered her first employment then a marriage of convenience.
While Olivia is an excellent choice, her large family gives Eli pause. He knows about the problems posed by in-laws, so he will do whatever it takes to avoid a repeat of his earlier experiences.
When Papa tells Olivia the Moore family must move according to Eli's terms for the new railroad line, she fears for their safety, since they'll be homeless during winter. Where will they go? How will they survive?
It is up to Olivia to convince her husband to renege on his demands, though she swore before their marriage she would stay out of his business.


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A central concern raised on this blog is about how rankings like this may be used by Deans and by other administrators. Administrators like data. Numbers are great because they purport to be measures of something. If there is a ranking, that can enable a Dean or Provost to gauge how a school or a faculty member is doing based on how high they rank, and whether their rankings go up or down.
Professor Leiter takes issue with my comment that: "Brian Leiter's rankings are not a true measure of 'scholarly impact,'" since after all he was only trying to measure "scholarly impact in legal scholarship." Because Leiter's rankings don't include scholarly impact outside the Westlaw JLR database, there is a risk that incentives will be created by administrators concerned about rankings. My first post on this put it this way:
Once something is seen as "countable," and both law schools and individual faculty are identified based on how their numbers line up...you've seen the next step before. Law schools decide they need to move up the rankings. Perhaps they reward faculty based on how far up their numbers are. All of a sudden, that leading, peer-reviewed journal, outside the Westlaw JLR database, is no longer a great prize on your C.V. Your efforts on that were a waste of your law school's resources.
I pointed out that leading legal historians are not included in the rankings because they do not have full-time appointments in a law school, and I also noted the way the rankings skew in favor of larger sub-fields (like American legal history as compared to medievalists and European or Asian legal history). This point would not matter if Professor Leiter was only ranking schools. Once he turns to rankings within fields, it is important to emphasize the incompleteness of the lists. Appointments committees interested in a major hire in legal history, for example, would miss Christopher Tomlins at the American Bar Association and Henrik Hartog in the History Department at Princeton, and also leading legal historians at law schools in fields other than American legal history. Again, Leiter's lists will be used for purposes other than informing law students, especially rankings of individual faculty members.
Professor Leiter and I appear to differ on the kind of scholarly impact law professors should aspire to. I do think that we all should aspire to be leaders on our campuses not just in our own schools, in the academy not just the legal academy, and in the world not just in the United States.
The comments were not open on his blog, which is why one needs to turn to some unlikely places to start a conversation. Much attention will be paid to Professor Leiter's rankings, so it is important to discuss them. Others have taken up the topic here and here.
Update: Brian Tamanaha weighs in, with a post on the nature of citation practices in U.S. law reviews.
Another update: The discussion continues here and here. An earlier post I'd missed, raising questions, is here. Building on Leiter's data is a post by Paul Butler on Blackprof, regarding highly cited minority scholars, and Jack Chin.
And more: Rankings are like crack and we're addicted, says Daniel Solove.


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Chez Pim has a special guest blogger today, his name is Andy Griffin. Andy and his wife Julia operates Mariquita Farm in Santa Cruz county, growing an amazing array of delectable vegetables including rare and heirloom varieties.
Andy was the original owner of Riverside Farms, a pioneer in the bagged baby greens market. Ten years ago he sold Riverside Farms to the company which later became Natural Selections, the company at the very center of the current fiasco. Needless to say Andy has both the knowledge and the perspective to offer a commentary about the situation, and he's agreed to do that here on Chez Pim.
Read it in its entirety. This is the best and most informative piece of writing about this mess I've seen since this whole thing began. It certainly explains a lot of things for me, and I hope it will for you too.
by Andy Griffin
Deborah Schot, a reporter from the L.A. Times, called me to ask for an opinion about the e coli outbreak in prepackaged fresh spinach that has killed one person and sickened hundreds more. And yes, I have an opinion. I think the F.D.A. employee that I heard on the radio yesterday urging people to play it safe and not eat fresh spinach is ignorant. Although the victims got sick by eating spinach from a sealed bag it's wrong to seize on spinach as the culprit in the controversy; it makes more sense to look at the processing and handling of pre-packaged greens in general. Put another way, it's the harvest procedures that were followed, the pre-washed claim made for the greens, and the bagged environment the greens are in that are the relevant issues, not the specific variety of leafy greens that were actually contaminated at some point during the harvest and post harvest handling. By fingering any spinach as suspicious, even bunched fresh spinach, the F.D.A. isn't educating anyone, or solving the problem. They're just spreading fear on a national scale.
The L.A. Times called me because I'm a farmer and I'm quick with a sound bite, but also because I have a background in the baby spinach and salad business. Back in the dark ages when I started farming organically people bought their spinach in bunches and their salad as heads of lettuce. My first career in farming was in the production of the then new baby salad greens and baby spinach. We harvested the crops by hand, washed them, and packed them loose in unsealed bags. In 1996 my partners and I sold our company, Riverside Farms, to the company that became Natural Selections, which happens to be the company at the heart of the current controversy. Their packing plant was once the packing plant for our farm, though it was a lot smaller and less sophisticated back then. Our former label, Riverside Farms, was one of the labels pulled from the shelves this week. Ready Pac and Earthbound Farms, two of the other labels pulled, were labels that I once grew and harvested raw products for so, for me, this bad news has a personal angle.
When we harvested baby greens by hand at Riverside Farms the workers dipped their knives periodically in buckets of antiseptic solution to clean them. We were unsophisticated then, compared to the way the industry is today, but we knew that any bacteria on the knife could contaminate the wound in the leaf where it was severed from the plant at the moment of harvest. We also knew that baby salad greens that were harvested by dirty knives were far more likely to break down quickly in the cooler, even after being washed, because the wash process, no matter how good, can't really remove bacteria that has been introduced into the leaf by a dirty blade.
Riverside Farms had a state of the art wash line for 1995 .but we went the way of the dinosaurs in part because we couldn't afford to pay the escalating labor costs of a unionized crew of hundreds of salad cutters when our competitors were going to be harvesting tons of product cheaply with machines. Not long after we went out of business harvesting machines became the industry standard. All in all, an argument can probably be made that the big harvest machines probably cut the product even cleaner than individual workers can , especially if some individual harvester is sloppy and careless. But, by the same token, if the cutting blade on a harvesting machine isn't properly cleaned tons and tons of product can be contaminated by a filthy blade during the course of the day—not just tons and tons of baby spinach, but tons and tons of ANY PARTICULAR LEAFY GREEN VEGETABLE, ORGANIC, CONVENTIONAL, OR OTHERWISE, that is being harvested.
Let's say some contaminated product makes it out of the field into the shed. The equipment in the large salad plant wash-line is all stainless steel, and the wash water that has been chlorinated to reduce bacteria levels. If the factory puts so much chlorine in the water that even potential bacteria pockets in the damaged tissue along the cuts of the leaves is killed the "fresh" salad greens will have been chemically contaminated into a swampy mess that smells like a municipal swimming pool. (Actually, when I smell the odor of ammonia that comes out of the sealed bags of those nasty little carrot plugs that are so popular I want to gag. When the day comes that someone gets sick from eating them and the F.D.A. tells people not to eat any carrots I'm going to sue! Think of all the bunched spinach growers losing their shirts because some fool at the F.D.A. doesn't distinguish between packaged spinach that's "conveniently" been "pre-washed" and a bunch of spinach that needs to be cut from the stems and cleaned in the sink before being eaten. I heard another) If the wash line procedures manage to kill 99.9% of all the offending bacteria, but due to the tons and tons of greens being processed over a short period of time a significant amount of contaminated product goes out to consumers there is still a real problem.
A psychologist might be able to do a better job than I in telling you why so many people feel comforted when they see their food coming to them in sterile looking sealed plastic bags covered in corporate logos, nutritional information, legal disclaimers and "use by" dates. "It's convenient," they say. It is true that the open piles of washed baby greens that were once the norm in supermarkets and farmers markets were vulnerable to post harvest/ post wash contamination. Those sneeze guards over the pizza parlor salad bar aren't there for nothing. But I'll tell you that every sealed bag of pre-washed greens is like a little green house. The greens inside are still alive, as are the bacteria living on them. If the produce in the bag is clean, great, but if it isn't the bacteria present has a wonderful little sealed environment to reproduce in, free from any threat until the dressing splashes down and the shadow of a fork passes over. Frankly, I think convenience is overrated.
When my partners and I sold our salad washing company we sold the assets, the equipment, the leases, the receivables etc. but we also sold the right to compete. For five years I was contractually obliged to seek a way in agriculture that didn't have anything to do with my previous experience in baby salad greens. I wasn't sad to leave the big farm and the salad factory behind. Those years were fascinating for me, but stressful, and the more sophisticated everything became the more alienated I felt. I was out of my league. I turned to farmers markets and then, when that way of business didn't prove to be sustainable Julia and I turned to the c.s.a. format, later joining forces with Steven and Jeanne. Maybe giving people a mixed box of seasonal vegetables that they have to wash and prepare isn't "convenient" the way shipping thousands of cookie cutter boxes of salad out of a factory door is, and maybe it isn't "convenient" for our supporters to have to wash their carrots or trim the coarse stems off their chard but that's cooking, and cooking is a happy, healthy, balanced and therapeutic chore. I will be curious to follow the news and see what the inspectors discover in their search. If it turns out that I'm wrong and it was the spinach that was what gave shelter and sustenance to the e coli and the problem is not due to a slip-up in harvest or post harvest sanitary procedures on the factory farms I'll be the first to admit to ignorance. But for now I'm going to call my seed dealer and order some spinach seed; it's probably on special today, and it grows well in Hollister in the fall.
Andy writes a newsletter called The Ladybug Letter, with musings about sustainable agriculture, news from the farm, and special recipes from Julia. You can subscribe to it here.


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OptiNet Basic series 450A three-phase Voltage Optimisers (VO) energy saving voltage management systems lower the incoming mains supply to connected loads in order to reduce their kW power consumption.
OptiNet Basic Series 450A Energy Saving Voltage Optimisers
- Permitted Load Variation: from 0 to 100%
- Permitted Phase Imbalance: 100%
- Cooling: natural air (air extraction above 45degC)
- Ambient Temperature: -25 to 45degC
- Storage Temperature: -25 to 60degC
- Relative Humidity: 95%
- Admitted Overload: 200% 2minutes
- Colour: RAL 7035
- Protection: IP21 cabinet
- Installation: indoor (outdoor option)
- Class II Surge Arrestors: installed as standard
- Options: Overvoltage/Undervoltage with Phase Sequence/Failure protection, Manual Bypass Switch, Input and Output Automatic Circuit Breakers, Input Load-break Switch and Changeover Switch_Input Circuit Breaker and Changeover Switch, EMI Filters single and three phase, Input Isolation Tansformers, Integrated Power Factor Correction, Higher than IP21 cabinet ratings, Containerisation and air conditioning. For some options/sizes an
additional cabinet module may be required.


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This month's parliamentary elections have left Iraq politically divided between two strong leaders with similar goals but no desire to compromise. Can either one form a government before violence returns? Will US troops be able to pull out on schedule? Also, President Obama signs the "fix it" on healthcare reform and student loans, and Republicans are up in arms because party money was spent at a Hollywood sex club.
Banner image: Former Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi (C) addresses supporters during a campaign rally in the Syrian capital Damascus on March 4, 2010. Photo: Louai Beshara/AFP/Getty Images


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May 18, 2011 | |
Nanotechnology-tuned solar cells |
(Nanowerk News) The sun has enough power to supply the whole earth with energy. But as long as renewable energy is more expensive than energy produced by coal or nuclear plants, solar energy won't be first choice. In Europe photovoltaic cells make only a vanishing small share of renewable energy sources. | |
Researchers in UK, Switzerland and Germany aim to lower the costs and increase the efficiency. The N2P project is coordinated by the Fraunhofer Institute for Material and Beam Technology in Dresden, Germany. Here researchers developed a process to enhance the absorption qualities of solar cells for an invisible yet important part of sunlight, infrared light. Conventional solar cells hardly make use of this wavelength. Most of it passes through the cell and is lost. By removing the nano structured surface of the wafer on the rear side of the solar cell, using a chemical etching process, it is turns into a "mirror" that reflects the infrared rays back into the cell. | |
As the light rays are scattered by the glass, they have a longer pathway through the silicon cell and thus generate more electrical current. So far the researchers were able to increase the efficiency by 30 percent if compared to the efficiency of standard thin film solar cells. | |
Researchers from the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) in Neuchâtel, Switzerland, are working on thin film solar cells. Thin film solar cells have on the one hand a lot of advantages: Producing them consumes less raw materials and energy than producing common solar cells. Additionally the time they need to pay off is shorter. On the other hand there is a drawback: currently their efficiency is about 40 percent lower than in conventional solar cells. Only seven percent of the sunlight can be exploited. | |
To maximize the light trapping effect they do the opposite: they roughen the glass surface of thin film solar cells. This is done to diffuse the light. When the light beam has a longer way through the cell it generates more electrons. | |
To roughen the upper surface Dr. Sylvain Nicolay from EPFL deposits a layer of crystals of a so called transparent conductive oxide onto the glass. "The larger the nano sized pyramids are, the higher is the diffusion", he says. The efficiency of thin film solar cells is now improved from seven to ten percent. | |
The nano crystals Dr Nicolay uses were developed at the University of Salford in Manchester, UK. Until recently the nano crystals had to be imported from Japan and made the production of such solar cells very expensive. Now the scientists are testing the crystals they developed on their own. The aim is to produce them much cheaper and thus reduce the costs significantly. | |
Each single method of improving the solar cells can only make a small difference on their efficiency. But combining both, these nano-tuned solar cells will become considerably more competitive than the modules of the past. |
Source: By Corinna Luecke, Youris |


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Democrats' gains in state legislatures didn't end with last November's elections.
Over the past two months, as lawmakers were sworn in and this year's statehouse sessions got underway, Republicans in California, Kansas and New Jersey switched their party affiliations to become Democrats.
They cited various reasons, but the party-switchers have one thing in common: They say the GOP under President Donald Trump has become too extreme.
"The Republican Party, for all of its statements of having a big tent, continues to limit the tent," said Kansas state Sen. Barbara Bollier, of Mission Hills, one of the switchers. "Those of us who were moderates are clearly not welcome."
Bollier was one of four moderate Republicans from the Kansas City suburbs to switch parties.
The latest party-flip came this week in New Jersey. Republican state Sen. Dawn Marie Addiego, who represented a suburban Philadelphia district in southern New Jersey for nearly a decade, left the GOP, the minority party in both houses of the Legislature.
She cited the desire to "be a part of the discussion" in the Democratic majority but also hinted that the national Republican Party is no longer recognizable.
"My core values that originally drew me to the Republican Party have not changed, but the party which once echoed the vision of Ronald Reagan no longer exists," she said in a statement announcing the change.
Her announcement came just days after California Assemblyman Brian Maienschein, who represents San Diego, left the GOP. He said he differs with his former party on immigration, health care, gun control, abortion and gay rights.
The defections come after the Democratic Party won control of the U.S. House in the midterm elections and gained seats in 62 of the 99 state legislative chambers, according to data provided by the National Conference of State Legislatures (Nebraska is the only state with a single legislative chamber).
They also come at a time when the president's approval ratings are dipping.
"This is largely a product of the Trump phenomenon," said Patrick Murray, the director of the Monmouth University Polling Institute. "President Trump has blown the lid off of this party. It starts to look like a personality cult."
In Democratic-leaning states such as California and New Jersey, the defections add to the GOP's challenges.
Republicans will have to focus on state issues to regain relevance and votes, said Jack Ciattarelli, a former New Jersey Republican lawmaker who says he is planning to run for governor in 2021. In New Jersey, that means focusing on underfunded public pensions and affordability.
"In this era, there will always be those whose intense disdain for Donald Trump will determine their vote," he said. "But I still believe there are a majority of New Jersey independent-unaffiliated voters and even some soft Democratic voters that will vote for the party that's going to solve the various crises."
The political landscape in the party-switchers' seats has been changing for some time, which also helps explain the shifts.
In New Jersey, Addiego beat her Democratic opponent with 63 percent of the vote in 2013. By 2017, her winning percentage was cut to 52 percent. And last November, Democratic Rep. Andy Kim defeated then-incumbent Republican Tom MacArthur in the 3rd U.S. House district, which includes all the towns Addiego represents in the state Senate.
Maienschein's Assembly District has become more Democratic since his first election, when it was considered safe for Republicans. Republicans had 38 percent of registered voters to Democrats' 30 percent in 2012. Registration is now roughly even. Statewide, independents now outnumber Republicans in California.
In Kansas, the four defectors were all from a congressional district that Trump narrowly lost in 2016 and that elected Democrat Sharice Davids last year.
Unlike the lawmakers in California and New Jersey, they went from the majority to the minority party. Republicans in Kansas pointed to the fact that the lawmakers were moderates who voted mostly with Democrats, anyway.
Republicans in New Jersey and California criticized the lawmakers for their switch, characterizing it as a ploy to hold on to power.
"People will view Addiego's party change for what is — an attempt at political survival," Ciattarelli said.
But voters were split on how they viewed her defection from the GOP.
Dick Bozarth, a 79-year-old retiree from the construction industry, said at a diner in Medford, New Jersey, in the heart of Addiego's district, that the change sends a bad signal.
"She wants to be with the radicals right now?" he asked. "Is that what she wants to do?" Bozarth said he's voted for Addiego before but will not do so again.
Dave DeAngelis, a 65-year-old retired auto repair shop owner who recently moved to Berlin, a town just outside of Addiego's district, said he's supported her over the years.
He said that because of her long political experience in local and state office, her political party isn't important to him.
"If she still holds her opinions, I don't think that would make a big difference," he said.
The change could help her get more done: "It's very difficult to be a Republican in this state," he said. "She wouldn't get anything through the state Assembly because she doesn't have the votes."
Party switching can go in both directions. In Oklahoma, state Rep. Johnny Tadlock, who represents a rural district in the state's southeast corner, switched to the GOP. Democrats have been losing seats there over the last two decades.


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Before: Simba with almost complete hair loss and crusting noted.
After: Simba's coat returns after major immunesuppression and combination therapy for control.
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is a rescue that now lives in Santa Monica, CA. She is also a patient at the Marina del Rey clinic.
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Dueling Senate bills would end shutdown in different ways
WASHINGTON (AP) — House Democrats, feeling pressure to display their vision for border security, are preparing a package that would ignore President Donald Trump's demand for $5.7 billion for a wall with Mexico and would instead pay for other ideas aimed at protecting the border.
As the government slogged through a record 33rd day of its partial shutdown Wednesday, details of Democrats' border security plan and its cost remained a work in progress, though some said it might match Trump's $5.7 billion figure. Party leaders said it would include money for scanning devices and other technological tools for improving security at ports of entry and along the boundary, plus funds for more border agents and immigration judges.
"If his $5.7 billion is about border security, then we see ourselves fulfilling that request, only doing it with what I like to call using a smart wall," said No. 3 House Democratic leader Jim Clyburn, D-S.C.
Democrats' movement toward producing a plan, which they said they expected to unveil this week, was significant because it underscored a growing uneasiness with letting Trump cast them as soft on border security. It came as the Senate prepared for Thursday votes on rival plans for reopening federal agencies and paying 800,000 federal workers who are days from missing yet another paycheck.
Republicans would couple ending the shutdown with financing Trump's wall and revamping immigration laws. Democrats would reopen agency doors through Feb. 8 while bargainers seek an accord.
Both faced likely defeat, but that might spur the two sides into a more serious effort to strike a compromise when each saw it lacked the votes to prevail. Both proposals would need 60 votes to pass in a chamber with 53-47 Republican control.
Ominously, the day's signs pointed to continued partisan hostilities.
Trump told White House reporters that Democrats had become "radicalized" and "a very, very dangerous party," and took personal aim at Congress' top two Democrats. He said Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer is "very strongly dominated" by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, calling him her "puppet."
Schumer, D-N.Y., called on Senate Republicans to abandon Trump despite his sway with conservative voters, saying, "I know that President Trump has some power in these Republican primaries, but sometimes you have to rise to the occasion."
A poll by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research released Wednesday was the latest indicator that the shutdown is hurting Trump with the general public. While his approval among Republicans remains strong, just 34 percent of Americans like his performance as president and 6 in 10 assign a great deal of responsibility to him for the shutdown, around double the share blaming Democrats.
The Senate GOP bill would temporarily shield from deportation 700,000 "Dreamers," migrants who arrived in the U.S. illegally as children, protections Trump has tried terminating. He's also offered temporary protections for people who fled violence or natural disasters in several countries — another program Trump has curtailed.
Democrats have objected to other provisions making it harder for Central American minors to gain asylum in the U.S.
The testy relationship between Trump and Pelosi, D-Calif., decayed further when she informed him he couldn't use the House chamber for his planned State of the Union address next Tuesday. She invited him to speak "when government has been opened."
Trump said he'd plan an event elsewhere and called Pelosi's move "a great blotch on the country" that showed she didn't want "the truth" about border security. But late Wednesday night he tweeted that he would postpone the address until after the shutdown had ended, saying no other venue could match the House chamber.
The clash over the speech suggested that a collaborative atmosphere that could facilitate a shutdown deal wasn't at hand.
Democratic leaders have insisted they won't negotiate with Trump on border security unless he reopens the government. Trump has said he'll end the shutdown only if Congress provides money for the wall, though White House officials have indicated he's open to counteroffers.
Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., has urged the White House to provide green cards to 700,000 Dreamers as a way to break the impasse. Lankford has mentioned this to White House adviser Jared Kushner, said a person familiar with the conversations who wasn't authorized to speak publicly.
With Democrats eager to show they're trying to end the impasse, the House used mostly party-line votes Wednesday to approve one measure reopening government agencies through February. By a similar tally, the chamber voted to finance most shuttered agencies through September.
Growing numbers of House Democrats say the party should show where it stands on border security.
"Right now it's a vacuum and the president is offering fake plans to stop drug smuggling," said Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-Ore. Offering a Democratic alternative "helps the possibility of beginning a real negotiation," he said.
Their proposal is expected to exceed the $1.6 billion Trump initially sought for the wall before upping his request.
AP congressional correspondent Lisa Mascaro and writers Laurie Kellman and Matthew Daly contributed.
The Western Journal has not reviewed this Associated Press story prior to publication. Therefore, it may contain editorial bias or may in some other way not meet our normal editorial standards. It is provided to our readers as a service from The Western Journal.
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We are committed to truth and accuracy in all of our journalism. Read our editorial standards.


text: Space | 24. July 2012 | posted by Andrea Haag A glimpse of IGARSS 2012 through Flickr Some days ago, before the start of IGARSS 2012, we mentioned that we would try to give you a feel for the symposium. In the past few days, we have been talking to people, visiting stands and capturing some of the essence of this 32nd IGARSS symposium, the second one held in Munich. In our Flickr gallery, we have created a special section for one of the highlights of this event - DLR's radar satellite TanDEM-X! The images and captions will give you an idea of its technical complexity and the importance of its activity. As always, if you want more information about the satellite directly from those involved in the project, please visit the TanDEM-X blog. Our Flickr photostream features some of the latest images acquired at the International Congress Center in Munich: the DLR/ESA stand, as well as those of other partner space agencies, DLR experts we have had the pleasure of interviewing, and much more. So if you want to catch a glimpse of IGARSS through our eyes, take a look!


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So I know this site has been down for ages. The reason was a sequence of server migrations and hacks, and myself adjusting to some new situations outside of the hobby. But I have been painting a few minis again and will post pictures soon.
It feels good to have the site back online


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Syndrome in which psoriasis is associated with arthritis, often involving inflammation in terminal interphalangeal joints. A rheumatoid factor is not usually present in the sera of affected individuals.
Psoriasis Arthropathica, Arthritis Psoriatica
Arthritic Psoriasis, Arthritis, Psoriatic, Arthropathy, psoriatic, Psoriasis Arthropathica, Psoriasis with arthropathy, Psoriasis, Arthritic, PSORIASIS, ARTHROPATHIC, Psoriatic Arthritis, Psoriatic arthropathy, Psoriatic arthropathy NOS


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New energy grant could help jump start rural Kansas in renewable energy and energy efficiency
As Ray Hammarlund, director of energy programs at the KCC, explained to CEP, the grant money will be used to help rural Kansas entities apply for existing federal funds to implement renewable energy and energy efficiency projects. The focus will be applying for CREBS and 9006 grants.
CREBs stands for Clean and Renewable Energy Bonds - basically interest-free loans for financing qualified energy projects. They are funded by the Energy Policy Act of 2005, through the federal Production Tax Credit for wind and solar. Rural electric cooperatives, municipal electric utilities, and government entities (including tribal councils) are eligible. (If the PTC is not renewed these funds are in jeopardy.)
9006 rural development funds come through the Farm Bill. They provide grants and loans to agricultural producers and rural small business for assistance with renewable energy systems and energy efficiency improvements. Rural areas with populations of 50,000 or less (and that's most of KS, except for about six or seven counties, right?) are eligible.
The one-time funds are a first step in Hammarlund's larger plan - to make such applications a long-term part of the Kansas Energy Office.
"These are established federal funds," he says. "Kansas is not claiming its share. We can't let that happen."
Other neighboring states have filed far more applications, and reaped much larger awards per grant.
"Last year Kansas filed 12 applications for a total of $232,000," Hammarlund says. "Nebraska filed 102 applications for $12 million. Iowa filed 55 applications and was awarded $17 million. Kansas absolutely needs to get in on these programs."
Part of the grant funds will go to hiring a person to be a go-between Kansas applicants and the federal funding entities. The job will also include analyzing other states' successful applications, and strategizing how the grant and loan funds can be tailored to Kansas's own energy situation. Hammarlund is already interviewing candidates for the job.
"Our office has so many great partners who are helping this program off the ground - Department of Commerce, Small Business, K-State Research and Extension - there's so many," Hammarlund said. "The key will be getting this expertise centralized, with one person dedicated to tracking it and then helping Kansas applicants take advantage of the fantastic resources that this state already has in terms of energy."
What does a successful application look like? While Hammarlund wants to wait on some of the analysis before he fully answers this question, he does have a pretty good idea already. Community wind projects are a definite possibility. Solar projects might be right for some communities. Energy efficiency is also important.
"Energy efficiency - saving energy - is always low-hanging fruit," Hammarlund said. "Some of the smaller areas don't have as many resources to make these programs happen. Getting grants or loans could really jump start their programs."
Interested in knowing more, or being one of the communities that applies for these grants? Call the KCC at 785-271-3100 and ask for Ray Hammarlund.


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Well, that was fast. Faced with an intense backlash from Amazon and other businesses, Seattle's city council voted Tuesday to repeal the tax on large employers that they passed just less than a month ago.
The background: The "head tax" — $275 per employee for companies with at least $20 million in gross annual revenue — was passed unanimously by the city council and would have raised about $47 million a year to combat homelessness and help with Seattle's affordable housing crisis. It was scheduled to take effect in 2019 and would have affected nearly 600 businesses. The tax was set to expire after five years. The Seattle region has the third-highest number of homeless people in the U.S. The city spent $68 million on homelessness last year and plans to spend $78 million this year, according to the Associated Press.
What happened: Businesses fought back, warning that the tax would stunt job growth in the area and criticizing the city's spending. "The city does not have a revenue problem – it has a spending efficiency problem," an Amazon spokesman said. Opponents of the tax started a campaign to repeal it through a ballot referendum. The campaign — funded by Amazon, Starbucks and the Northwest Grocery Association, among others — reportedly has already collected more than twice the number of signatures required to put the tax on the November ballot. City officials were wary of losing that vote, or having the law struck down by state legislators even if it survived the ballot challenge.
"It is clear that the ordinance will lead to a prolonged, expensive political fight over the next five months that will do nothing to tackle our urgent housing and homelessness crisis. These challenges can only be addressed together as a city, and as importantly, as a state and a region," Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan and seven of nine city council members said in a statement Monday. "We heard you. This week, the City Council is moving forward with the consideration of legislation to repeal the current tax on large businesses to address the homelessness crisis." The city council voted 7-2 Tuesday afternoon to repeal the tax.
Why it matters: "Tax experts say the reversal underscores the limited leverage that cities across the country have over corporations such as Amazon, which helped wage an intense public relations campaign to turn the public against the tax," writes The Washington Post's Jeff Stein. And, he adds on Twitter, the Seattle story is the latest of several examples that raise an important national question: "Even in 2nd Gilded Age, will anybody actually raise taxes on rich?" Vanity Fair's Maya Kosoff says that Seattle's quick reversal "reveals the long odds municipalities face when asking local corporations to help repair the social fissures they have left in their wake." And Jezebel was even more pointed with its headline, targeting Amazon founder Jeff Bezos: "Richest Man Alive Still Winning War on Poor People."


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Name: Liz D.
Age: 32
Total lost: 59 lbs.
What was the turning point that motivated your lifestyle change?
Recently married, I was happily in love, starting a successful career and surrounded by great friends and family. Never very insecure or unhappy, it was simply a photograph of myself from a recent wedding that sparked me to action. The very next day, I did a Google search for online food diaries and never looked back.
How did MyFoodDiary.com help in your weight loss journey?
I like the precision of My Food Diary: calories in vs. calories out. Nothing is off limits – if I know that I'm going out to dinner, I eat lighter during the day or sneak in a workout. Additionally, when I first signed up I quickly joined a group of women for moral support. It has been over 5 years and we still conduct weekly weigh in's every Friday! We range in age from 30 to 60 and are located all over the US and Canada. Although I've only met a handful of them in real life, I consider these women to be family.
Describe your new, healthy lifestyle?
Growing up as the daughter of a doctor, we always ate healthfully with an emphasis on unprocessed foods, locally grown produce, lean proteins, etc. The difference now is portion control and an increased activity level. Confession: before signing up for My Food Diary, I never exercised regularly in my life. Initially, I joined a small women-only fitness center, which taught me the importance of working out three times a week for at least 30 minutes. Once exercise became a habit, I joined a larger gym and quickly became addicted to group classes.
What has been your biggest challenge along the way, and how have you overcome it?
Life is the biggest challenge. Life is full of holidays, showers, birthdays, anniversaries, weddings and other social celebrations. If you treat these events as "days off," you will never reach your weight loss goals. Now, I pick my splurges wisely and only eat food that I think is worth the calories. Personally, I don't have a sweet tooth so I often pass on birthday cake or dessert at functions. For others, it might be alcohol or bread. I haven't learned to give those up yet.
What is one new healthy habit you didn't expect to like, but now love?
EXERCISE! Growing up, my family was not very active. We aren't full of athletes and we don't watch sporting events. As an overweight child and teenager, the few times I would join a friend at the gym or go on a big hike would leave me out of breath and gasping for air. Now, I work out 5 days a week and try to sneak in a walk on my off days! The key is doing what you love. For me, that means group exercise such as kickboxing, yoga or Zumba. One time, I tried training for a 5K but was so bored on the treadmill that I burnt out and quit. By mixing up my routine with different classes every day, I never get bored. That's what works for me.
What has been the greatest reward of your weight loss success?
Clothes shopping. I know. I know. I should say something like my health or teaching my child how to lead a healthy lifestyle. But what feels the best? Trying on clothes!! As a child, I could never go to the mall with friends because the stores only carried up to size 16. I would have to pretend to be looking around when deep down I knew that I wouldn't be able to try anything on or buy anything. In high school, my cousin took me back-to-school shopping and I had to sneak into the other section of the store to pick out men's size 42 jeans. So, yeah, clothes shopping has been the biggest reward.
What's next? Any upcoming plans that were influenced by your weight loss?
In 2010, I started The Lemon Bowl, a food blog focused on delicious, seasonal recipes that just so happen to be healthy. In our house, we rarely eat the same dinner twice because I love creating new recipes and experimenting with flavors from around the world. I believe the key to healthy eating is variety. After all, it doesn't matter how healthy the food is if it doesn't taste fantastic! To help others trying to live a healthy lifestyle, all of my recipes include complete nutritional information.
What is your best advice for others?
Experiment in the kitchen! On the weekends, take a few minutes to search recipes online, browse through a cookbook or explore a local farm stand for inspiration. By eating seasonal ingredients at their peak, very little needs to be done for them to taste delicious. Also, take 10 minutes to plan your week ahead. Cook extra at dinner and take leftovers to work or pop them in the freezer. By taking the time to plan, you won't be tempted by fast food or end up at the grocery store starving and throwing everything in your cart.
Even if you don't feel like moving, move. You will never, ever regret exercising. I've never once regretted taking the time to exercise. (Just last week I sprained my foot in kickboxing and I still don't regret going!)
Surround yourself with cheerleaders who are supportive of your weight loss journey. You will always encounter people who knock down your efforts or try to knock you off course. Spend your time with people who will help you reach your goals.


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Calwineries Blog
Movement to Protect Wine Label Accuracy Gains Momentum
The movement to protect wine label accuracy in the United States is gaining momentum, and the powerful California Association of Winegrape Growers (CAWG) is throwing its weight behind the issue.
Pneumatage: The Future of Pinot Noir?
One of the reasons Pinot Noir is such tricky wine to make is that just the right amount of tannin needs to be extracted from the grapes' delicate skins. During fermentation, the cap floats to the top of the container and needs to be periodically resubmerged.
Should we Protect the Accuracy of Wine Labels?
A recent study conducted by Fairbank, Maslin & Associates shows that consumers are very concerned about geographical accuracy in wine labels. More specifically, the survey reveals that 85% of consumers are conscious of location when making wine purchasing decisions.
What Happened to the Moderates in Wine Country?
Today, Jeff Lefevere of Good Grape wrote an interesting post entitled, Where Does Elitism Come From in the Wine Industry? The push and pull of elitism and populism is one of the most difficult dichotomies that the wine industry faces. It manifests itself in every aspect of the business, from production to marketing/sales. I think that Jeff illuminates the opposing, incompatible forces on both sides of this debate quite well.
Sustainable Winegrowing in California
California's wine industry recently got good marks from the California Sustainable Winegrowing Alliance (CSWA). According to the 2006 progress report, there has been a 24% increase in wineries and grape growers who use "green" techniques and business practices.
WS Top 100: Napa Valley
The Napa Valley is arguably the most famous wine region in California, so it is no surprise that three wines made the 2006 Wine Spectator Top 100 list. Two Chardonnays and a Cabernet Sauvignon were included.
WS Top 100 Day 6: Dry Creek Valley
Over the course of his 30 year tenure as winemaker at Beringer Vineyards, Ed Sbragia has made many award winning wines. He recently returned to he roots when he established his own label in the Dry Creek Valley AVA.
Lost Comments
Dear Calwineries Members, we had an unfortunate incident yesterday where we lost a few comments. The exact cause of this mishap is under investigation, but be assured that we are getting to the bottom of this.
WS Top 100 Day 5: Edna Valley
Edna Valley is one of those special California AVAs that seems to excel at producing any varietal that is planted. There is a long history of grape growing and winemaking in Southwestern San Luis Obispo County that dates back to the Spanish Missionary days.


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(first posted 7/4/2015) I have long had a peculiar love for the 1964 Studebaker. I am one of the few people who spent time around at least two of these as a kid, so there is surely some nostalgia involved for me. But it's more than that. The 64 Stude was a last valiant effort by the oldest vehicle manufacturer in the world to offer a fresh, contemporary car to the buying public. It was, of course, too little too late. It was also not all that fresh or contemporary. However, this car represents the heart of a company that gave the best effort it could, given what it had available. Who doesn't love a car that represents such dogged and stouthearted determination?
One of my very first Curbside finds was a '64 Cruiser sedan. At the time, I considered the car a mite rough for full CC status and opted to write the car up as an Outtake. (And looking at it now, the picture quality was awful). I was quite certain of my ability to find a better example of one of my favorite cars in short order. After all, I live in Indiana, so how hard could it be? A little harder than I first estimated, as it turns out, as I have never seen another since.
Until Father's Day weekend, when this little guy was seen parked outside of a car show I attended with my daughter. It is not the Daytona hardtop or convertible that be my first choice, but this one sort of fits in with CC's recent two door sedan jag. And in this shot with its vintage license plate, its red white and blue sort of fills out an American Independence Day theme.
Do you know how the term "Chrysler Imperial" is like fingernails on a chalkboard to many lovers of big Chryslers? Well, "'64 Studebaker Lark" does the same thing to me. The Lark name that had served the company so well for the previous five years was banished to the basement to languish with other old nameplates like President and Dictator. Kind of. I suppose that the Lark, which had seemed so fresh and new in 1959 now seemed a bit declasse' to a company that was trying to move the car up a level or two in size and prestige. The Lark was known to many as a cheap compact, an image that Studebaker was trying very hard to run away from as quickly as it could.
Actually, the Lark name technically applied to the lower trim lines, but the word "Lark" was not on the cars anywhere. It was, however, in the brochure ( in some places but not in others) and a Lark logo was affixed to the C pillar. The 1964 line (excluding the Avanti and Hawk) would consist of four models. At the top was the Cruiser sedan (Luxury Studebaker). Then came the Daytona (Sporty Studebaker), which came in a full line of sedan, hardtop, convertible and wagon. Next was the Commander (Regular Studebaker) and at bottom was the Challenger (Studebaker for Tightwads).
I have written before about my best friend Tim from my grade school years. His family's driveway was StudeLand until well into the 1970s. In addition to their own family's cars, Tim's grandma drove a '64 Daytona two door hardtop in the same shade of Laguna Blue as this Challenger. You might say that this car set some of my automotive tastes for years to come, if not for life. The practicality of the design, the luxurious touches of chrome here and there, and the slightly sporty touches in the interior really appealed to me.
Then there was the brown Commander sedan that Tim's father borrowed from his brother for several weeks while the Avanti was apart in the garage for some repairs. The Commander, a six/three speed car seemed the perfect answer for one who needed a practical transportation appliance. Tim's mother hated when we played in it, because every slam of one of the doors led to a shower of rust particles that threatened stains on her new driveway.
Until fairly recently, I had assumed that the Commander was the low-end car. But no, that was the Challenger's job. I wonder – was it really cheaper to produce a second set of front end pieces for twin instead of quad headlights? Perhaps so. Or was this South Bend's way of a gentle upsell for those who cared even a little about the looks of their car? Who knows.
Speaking of names, some other companies have taken some of these Studebaker names and made some pretty good cars. Daytona and Challenger have made for some pretty iconic Dodges. Then there was the Jeep Commander. Toyota still offers a Land Cruiser, too.
I do know that Studebaker made a valiant effort at making the 1964 model a car that appealed to everyone. There were plenty of people who liked luxury, or sport, or economy, or genuine near-race performance. Studebaker offered a car for each of them. Or would have, if there had not been so many compromises that lessened the car's appeal to each of those demographics. Perhaps the company was trying to subdivide and create new demographics with the hyphenating word "practical" for each one. The advertising makes much of the full instrumentation, the flat floors and the bolt-on rear fenders. Or, more likely, Studebaker was doing it's best to interest buyers in the automotive equivalent of day-old bread. OK, maybe week-old bread.
But really fast week-old bread, if the buyer was careful with the options list. 1964 was really the end of the road for a car like this – one that could be suited to any conceivable purpose. By 1964, the market was fragmenting. Manufacturers would offer several models, each of which satisfied a small niche and did it well, rather than one that could satisfy them all but with serious compromise. The buyers of 1964 must have agreed, because once it became clear that the new 1964 model was not selling significantly better than the 1963 before it, the company pulled the plug.
The '64 Studebaker sort of tugs at my heartstrings the same way Rudy does in the movie of the same name. All heart, but only limited talent. But where Rudy Rudiger graduated from Notre Dame and went on to a successful life in business, the '64 Studebaker got kicked out of it's home right before Christmas and became a Canadian refugee. Before dying in it's sleep two years later.
It is with apologies to my neighbors to the north that I consider the '64 models to be the last real Studebakers. I did, after all, grow up within an hour and a half of South Bend. And just what is a Studebaker without that ancient, heavy, durable and sometimes really, really fast V8? Even these '64s are a curious mixture of U.S. and Canadian production.
Although the Studebaker foundry stayed open long enough to supply home-grown engines for the remainder of the 1964 model year, every single car built after December 20, 1963 was assembled by the Hamilton, Ontario plant. My usual signal for Canadian cars is the all-white steering wheel instead of the two-toned piece from South Bend cars. The owner of this car has, however, swapped in an aftermarket wheel. Maybe there are other signs that would identify this car's parentage, and some sharp-eyed reader will further educate us.
If you have not already noticed, this car has really sucked me into its little orbit. I will even admit that the thought crossed my mind to call the phone number listed on the window and inquire as to whether a straight trade of a Miata might be possible. But then I remember my stupidest-ever car trade in 1979 of a very nice '68 Mustang hardtop for a '59 Plymouth Fury sedan. A Miata for Studebaker might top that one. So never mind. Infatuation can do funny things to a guy.
So can a Studebaker 289 V8 mated to a 4 speed. At least I hope that's what it is. A smallblock Chebby would just be too much for me to bear. If you want the Heartbeat of America powering your late Studebaker, well that's what the 1965-66 Hamilton cars are for. You can do so much better! OK, maybe not with the head-cracking six that this car probably came with. Still, it would be fun to tell everyone that I just bought a Challenger. Must. Stop.
So here we leave that oddest of 1964 American cars – the one that somehow simultaneously checks all of the boxes for a car of it's era, yet also checks none of them. But still, they tried. They really did. And it resulted in maybe the most competitive Studebaker since what, 1956? Perhaps not a huge endorsement, but all in all, it was a pretty good car. If you like that kind of thing.
Further reading:
1964 Studebaker Cruiser (Tom Klockau)
1964 Studebaker Cruiser (Outtake by J P Cavanaugh)
The Studebaker Sedan's Last Decade, Magic with Leftovers (J P Cavanaugh)


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Re: "Bureau cuts eagle roosting trees on lake"
Letters to the Editor
Last updated 3/6/2013 at 10:08am
The main reason the trees were cut down is because they were rotten, and every time the wind blew large limbs were coming down and getting dangerous to anyone or anything there. I was told by BOR they did a core sample and found all the trees had rotten cores. In fact, one tree there had a large bull snake wintering in it. When they started cutting it down, he came out in the cold and got ran over.
It was getting dangerous enough that the fish-feeding crew had to take caution when the wind was blowing.
The other problem as the people living there were stacking the limbs and leaves on and around the spare logs for the log boom and rotting them out. We ended cutting 3 of them up and hauling them away last spring.
With the Electric City's crew's help last spring, they came in with their loader and dump truck to help haul off two loads of leaves and trash stacked next to the spare logs.
Several people living there were also in favor of something being done with the trees, the (Shears) property owners want more cut down as they are dropping large limbs on their buildings. I understand when their budget will afford, they will tackle the rest of the large trees that have become problems.
Carl Russell


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Date: July 1
Mileage: 16.3
July mileage: 16.3
Temperature upon departure: 58
Wow. Until today, if someone had asked me if there were any good mountain biking trails in Homer, I would have scrunched up my nose and told them sure - but if they had anything longer than a three-mile ride in mind, they'd have to wait until January.
When I heard rumors that my ice-biking Mecca - a vast network of snowmobile trails weaving through the muskeg around Caribou Lake - had a rideable summer trail, I was very skeptical. But today Geoff and I decided to drive out there and see for ourselves.
During the winter, the Caribou Lake Trail rolls over ridges on punchy, snow-covered double track and traverses the bogs on fast, smooth ice roads. To my pleasant surprise, in the summer it does pretty much the exact same thing - if you replace snow with rutted dirt and the ice roads with hundreds of rough-cut 2x4s.
Fast and fun - and so completely rideable that you can go all the way to the lake and back without so much as getting your feet wet (unless you're like me, and try to shortcut across a bog only to sink up to your rear derailleur in sludge.) The mosquitoes will keep you moving - but everything else about this trail is like that California Adventure Park at Disney Land - all of the pleasure; none of the effort (OK ... Maybe a little effort).
I'm not even sure who put a trail this sophisticated out at an absolute end-of-the-road, middle-of-nowhere destination. My best guess is local land owners, who use ATVs to transport supplies into their remote cabins. But I think local bike enthusiasts helped. Either way, it rocks. Now, when I meet a person that tells me they're coming down here to catch a halibut or fish for king salmon in a slough, or do whatever people come to Homer to do, I'm going to insist they bring a bicycle. "This trail is pretty much the best thing about Homer," I'll say. And, depending on the day, I might even mean it.
Sunday, July 02, 2006
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Kenwood AT-300 Discontinued!
Please check |
Discontinued Accessories | |
The Kenwood AT-300 weatherized, external automatic antenna tuner for the TS-850S. It covers the HF ham bands from 1.8-29.7 MHz. Requires 39 to 75 foot wire antenna (or 9 foot whip for 3.5-29.7 MHz). Input 50 ohms unbalanced. Through power 100W. Tunes in 2 to 15 seconds. Requires 12 VDC 2A max, derived from the radio. A good ground is required. Supplied with 49 foot (15 meter) control cable. |


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Having recently compiled the work of Goffin & King and Greenwich & Barry, it's now time to spotlight the third in the trinity of great New York songwriting couples, Barry Mann & Cynthia Weil. As with the previous collections, "Glitter & Gold" – the latest in Ace's writer series – is another hugely satisfying cornucopia of hits, obscurities and bona fide pop standards.
Barry Mann first met Cynthia Weil back in 1961, while both were serving their apprenticeship at Al Nevins and Don Kirshner's Aldon Music publishing house. Hitting it off immediately, they penned their first composition together soon after and were wed before the year was over. Remarkably, over 45 years and 100-plus hits later, the couple are still together, both professionally and as husband and wife. Compiling a mere 26 song CD from this substantial portfolio brimming over with pop classics is certainly an unenviable task.
Having said that, is there a more perfect way of kicking off a Mann & Weil compilation – hell, any 60s pop compilation – than with Mama Cass Elliot's peerless 'It's Getting Better'? This joyous celebration of the sweet contentment of love was one of three of the couple's numbers brilliantly interpreted by Cass. Other gems to be cherry-picked by compilation guru Mick Patrick include Gene Pitney's hit version of 'I'm Gonna Be Strong', B J Thomas' take of 'I Just Can't Help Believing' (pre-dating Elvis' reading by a year) and the affecting social commentary of the Vogues' 'Magic Town'. Also included is the fabulous (and new-to-CD) 'I'd Be So Good For You' by Joanie Sommers, Bruce Johnston & Terry Melcher's soaring and uplifting 'Girl, It's Alright Now' and Donna Loren's previously unissued 'That's The Boy'.
Cynthia's intelligent and witty way with a lyric would often provide a social document of the times, while neatly sidestepping any hectoring or finger-pointing. This, together with the duo's ability to move and adapt with the musical times – switching from brash girl group sounds (the Girls' 'Chico's Girl') to gritty city soul ('Arthur Alexander's 'Where Have You Been') to smooth soft pop (Nino Tempo & April Stevens' 'The Coldest Night Of The Year') with consummate ease – always kept Mann & Weil ahead of the game. And though there was a two-year spell of separation in the 80s, they've more recently expanded their palette to include Broadway musicals and film soundtracks, while still continuing their run of sophisticated pop nuggets, as well as being honoured in 2000 as the writers of the most performed song of the 20th century for 'You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin''. Their songbook is so deep and wide – and the standard of what is included so high – that you barely notice the absence of that song here.
What a legacy. Sample it here.


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Ingredient: Young Ginger
Since we are just beginning the new Ingredients series, I should probably be writing more about basic Thai ingredients before I venture out to more seasonal and harder to find stuff. But this is the height of the season for this particular ingredient, and I've been using a lot of it in my recent cooking, and it's probably a good idea to do this before the season is over.
What is this, you asked? This is young ginger. It looks more like galangal than it does ginger, but if you scratch a bit of the skin of and give it a sniff, you'd know that it is indeed ginger. Young ginger makes an appearance in Chinese or Asian markets around the beginning of Spring, and usually hangs around until Summer time.
The flavor of young ginger is at once similar to and different from old ginger. It has all the pure flavor and brightness of ginger, without the strong bitter and astringent taste in older ginger. You can a lot of young ginger in a recipe without turning whatever you are making inedibly astringent and spicy.
I use young ginger in a lot of dishes, but one of my favorite is inspired by a Chinese dish of steamed fish with ginger and scallion. I made a couple of adaptations to suit the way I cook. I use fish filet instead of whole fish, and I don't steam my fish. The only steamer I have is huge, and I am usually far too impatient to wait for the water to boil and then steam anything. Instead, I bake my fish filet in a paper parcel instead, borrowing from an old French technique called en papillote. The effect is pretty much the same. The paper parcel keeps moisture in the fish just as well as steaming does, and when you are done eating the paper goes in the garbage, no pot or pan to wash.
Fish with young ginger and scallion en papillote
Serves 2
2 filets of Tai snapper, about 3-4oz or 100g each (If you don't have Tai snapper just about any white fish will do. You might have to adjust the cooking time a bit though.)
1/4 cup of julienned* scallion
1/4 cup of julienned young ginger
a little bit of cilantro (leaf only, no stem)
a bit of julienned red sweet pepper (for garnish, totally optional)
1 tsp sesame oil
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp water
1/2 tsp sugar
1 tbsp mild tasting oil (I use grapeseed oil)
2 pieces of 15x12' parchment paper
1. Preheat the oven to 400F.
2. Fold each paper in half. Put a piece of filet in the middle of each piece of paper and sprinkle about a quarter of the julienned ginger on each of the filet. Crimp the edges to make a half moon-shaped parcels**. Bake the parcels of fish on a cookie sheet for 8 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, in a small bowl mix the sugar, water, and soy sauce. Stir well until the sugar melt, then add the sesame oil. Set aside.
4. When the fish filets are ready, heat the 1 tbsp of mild oil until hot. (If you have a tiny butter pan, you can do this on the stovetop. If not, heat the oil in a small bowl in the microwave for 2 minutes on High. To test if the oil is hot enough, take a long stem of cilantro and dip one end in the hot oil, if the oil sizzles and wilts the cilantro, then it is ready.)
5. Place each parcel on a plate. Cut them open (by cutting around the crimped edge) and sprinkle the rest of the scallion and young ginger on both pieces of fish. Spoon half the soy sauce, sugar and sesame oil mixture on each parcel.
6. Spoon 1/2 tbsp of hot oil on each parcel. Be careful as the oil will splatter a bit. Serve immediately.
*Julienne, a French culinary term, is a style of cutting any vegetable into thin matchstick-size pieces.
** If you google 'how to papillote' you will get a lot of confusing instructions, most of them requiring you to cut your paper into heart shape etc. I don't bother with any of that. I just cut it straight from the box into a rectangular, fold it in half, then crimp the edges to fold into half moon, sort of like the picture above. It's super easy.
tag(s):food |young ginger |recipe |fish


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Example of an ex-con, who just finished his sentence, eating tofu. Pictured is Kim Tae-chon [김태촌], a notorious leader of a crime syndicate. (source) |
- Tofu is pearly white. By eating something white, which symbolizes purity and innocence, the convict resolves to live a crime-free life going forward.
- Tofu is cheap and nutritious. During the Japanese occupation of Korea--when this custom appeared--the prison conditions were beyond terrible. In addition to undergoing frequent and brutal torture, prisoners were often malnourished. As tofu is one of the cheapest source of protein, someone who just got out of prison could receive an emergency injection of nutrition in the form of tofu.
- Tofu is made of beans. Also during the Japanese occupation of Korea, the standard prison food was rice and beans. Although rice would be the preferred meal, Imperial Japan's colonial administration liberally mixed in cheap beans into the rice, as it was in no mood to spend too much money on prisoners. Although this practice ended in 1986, Koreans use the idiom "eating rice and beans" as a euphemism for going to prison. In her essay titled Tofu [두부], famed novelist Park Wan-seo [박완서] wrote that eating tofu represents a transformation. As tofu is the liberated spirit of beans, one also wishes one's criminal spirit is likewise transformed.


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Argument preview: The Privacy Act and damages for distress
on Nov 23, 2011 at 1:15 pm
Alexander Wohl is an Adjunct Professor and a consultant to the Law and Government Program at the Washington College of Law. He was selected as a United States Supreme Court Fellow and served as a law clerk to Judge Ralph B. Guy on the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. His writing background also includes positions as the Supreme Court correspondent for the San Francisco Chronicle, Supreme Court columnist for the ABA Journal, and Senior Editor for Biography magazine. He currently is completing a dual biography of Justice Tom Clark and his son, Attorney General Ramsey Clark, and their impact on the balance between government power and individual rights.
Take a small but illegal misrepresentation on a government form, throw in a massive law enforcement investigation involving the cooperation of three government agencies, add the broad protections of the Privacy Act of 1974, and you have the makings of a Supreme Court case – Federal Aviation Administration v. Cooper – that addresses a precise but important question: Does the Federal Privacy Act, which was passed to prevent the unauthorized sharing or release of information about individuals and allows for civil remedies from the government for violation of the law, include damages for mental and emotional distress?
The facts:
Respondent Stanmore Cawthon Cooper has been a private airplane pilot since 1964, when he first received his flying certificate. To legally operate an aircraft under Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) rules, a pilot must also have a valid "airman medical certificate," which requires an applicant to disclose any illnesses, disabilities, or surgeries the applicant has had, as well as medications he is taking. Cooper was diagnosed with HIV in 1985. Knowing he would not be granted certification to fly, Cooper decided to let his medical certificate lapse and simply stop flying. In 1994 he again submitted the medical certificate application, but did not disclose that he had HIV or was taking antiretroviral medication. He received his certificate that year and for the next ten years renewed it as required, each time intentionally not disclosing his disease or treatment. His rationale was that public knowledge of his disease and his being gay would have a negative impact on his employment, as well as other aspects of his life.
Cooper's illegal act caught up with him as the result of two unconnected occurrences, one personal and one government-related. The first arose in 1995, when his health began to deteriorate and he applied to the Social Security Administration (SSA) for long-term disability benefits. In the application he disclosed his HIV status to the agency, with the understanding that all information included in his application would be confidential and used only for determination of his eligibility. Over the next year he received benefits, after which time his health improved and he discontinued them.
In 2002 the Inspectors General of the Department of Transportation (DOT) and the Social Security Administration launched "Operation Safe Pilot," a joint criminal investigation to uncover illicit efforts of medically unfit individuals to obtain FAA flight certifications. At the core of that investigation was the sharing of various lists held by the individual agencies: the FAA provided the Inspector General of the DOT, its parent agency, with names and other identifying information for active certified pilots, which, in turn, sent a list of the pilots to the Social Security Administration, which then cross-checked the list against its own list of individuals collecting disability. In the course of the investigation, the agency discovered Cooper's failure to disclose his HIV status.
Upon being confronted with his complete Social Security disability file and medical records, Cooper admitted his crime. He was indicted in 2005 on three counts of making a false statement to a government agency and subsequently pleaded guilty to one count of making and delivering a false official writing, a misdemeanor. He also had his pilot's certificate revoked. In 2007, Cooper sued the federal government, alleging that the three agencies involved in Operation Safe Pilot "willfully or intentionally" violated the Privacy Act when it violated his confidentiality by sending his records to other agencies, which caused him "to suffer humiliation embarrassment, mental anguish, fear of social ostracism, and other severe emotional distress."
The law in question
The Privacy Act was enacted in 1974 "to protect the privacy of individuals indentified in information systems maintained by Federal agencies," by regulating "the collection, maintenance, use, and dissemination of information by such agencies." The law was passed in light of growing concerns about information in computer databases, a prescient response to the intersection of issues of technology and privacy, questions that are today even more daunting. The law provides detailed instructions for agency record management and limits how an agency can share that data with other agencies or individuals. Most importantly for this case, the law provides a private right of action and civil damages, and waives government immunity for proven misconduct. Specifically, the law states that an individual who can demonstrate that an agency acted "in a manner that was intentional or willful," can receive "actual damages" sustained by the individual resulting from the violation.
There is little question that the government shared and disclosed to other agencies without notice or consent the personal records of thousands of pilots in the course of its criminal investigation ; for example, Cooper's records included his Social Security number, the Social Security diagnosis code that indicated he was HIV positive, and his complete Social Security disability file, which included hundreds of pages of his medical records.
The Northern District Court of California, which heard Cooper's case, found as much. Even though the court agreed that the government violated the Privacy Act, it nonetheless granted summary judgment to the government on the grounds that Cooper had failed to demonstrate "actual damages" under the Act. Thus, the question on appeal was limited to the meaning of the term "actual damages," which is not defined in the law.
The Ninth Circuit reversed, finding that the Act's legislative history was unreliable but citing the provision of the law which indicates that the government will "be subject to civil suit for any damages which occur as a result." In its ruling, the court focused on the "right of privacy," citing defamation cases such as Time, Inc. v. Hill and Gertz v. Robert Welch, Inc. Concluding that the primary source of damage in these cases is often "mental distress from having been exposed to public view," the court stated, "[o]ne can readily envision circumstances in which these types of injuries might flow from the disclosure of one's confidential medical records…. Given the nature of the injuries that most frequently flow from privacy violations, it is difficult to see how Congress's stated goal …could be fully realized unless the Act encompasses …non-pecuniary injuries."
The government filed a petition for certiorari, which the Court (with Justice Kagan recused) granted on June 20, 2011.
Legal arguments
The disagreement on the law's interpretation centers on several related questions of statutory construction. Cooper argues that Congress intended "actual damages" to include mental and emotional harm, a conclusion he suggests is clear from the "plain meaning" of the Privacy Act's language; from the "cardinal rule" of statutory construction; and also from the law's statement of purpose, which includes language including the prevention of "embarrassment" among the Act's goals. He asserts that this interpretation of the statutory language is consistent with, and borrows from the common law torts of defamation and invasion of privacy as well as case law that for years prior to the passage of the Privacy Act consistently interpreted statutes in a variety of other areas of law to find that "actual damages" includes compensation for real or appreciable emotional distress. Finally, he points out that if Congress had intended to limit the "actual damages" language to cover only pecuniary loss, it could and would have done so explicitly.
The government counters that Cooper and the Ninth Circuit offer an "untenable" conclusion that is both unreasonable and ambiguous. In its view, precedent clearly holds that in such ambiguous cases involving a waiver of sovereign immunity must be narrowly construed in favor of the sovereign, and that the law should be interpreted to cover only pecuniary loss. It also suggests that reliance on the general language of the Act's preamble is improper because that language is simply "generic" and does not supersede the "operative text" of the Act. The government further argues that the legislative history also mandates a limited conclusion because of Congress's "acute concern" with restricting the federal government's financial exposure under the Act. The government repeatedly cites a report of the Privacy Protection Study Commission, which Congress assigned to review the issue, but whose conclusions and authority Cooper disputes. Finally the government acknowledges the connection to privacy law and the law of defamation, but it suggests the focus should be on the category of defamation torts known as defamation "per quod," to distinguish them from defamation "per se" in which damages are automatically presumed, and suggests that this common law understanding limits recovery to pecuniary loss.
The Ninth Circuit's ruling compounded a circuit split on the interpretation of "actual damages," with the Eleventh Circuit and the Sixth Circuit holding that only pecuniary losses are recoverable, and the Fifth Circuit agreeing with the Ninth. The Ninth Circuit's ruling was notable (and no doubt of special interest to the Supreme Court) because it includes a vigorous dissent from a denial of en banc review by Judge O'Scannlain, joined by Chief Judge Kozinski and Judges Gouls, Tallman, Bybee, Callahan, Bea, and N.R. Smith. In language echoed in the government's brief, the dissenters suggest that because the term in question is ambiguous, "a chameleon," no waiver of sovereign immunity should be allowed for non-pecuniary damages. The dissenters also take the opposite tack from the majority on the privacy issue, suggesting that "[t]he proliferation of electronic records raises the stakes of a broader waiver of sovereign immunity," and that Congress did not intend "to increase the fiscal exposure of the United States."
The Court will have to weigh the view that the Privacy Act was intended to broadly protect privacy rights against the government's more limited understanding of the law limiting the statute's coverage only to pecuniary loss. Not only would such an interpretation limit monetary recovery for damages but – as an amicus curiae brief filed by the National Whistleblower Center suggests – it could frustrate the intent of the law by increasing the disincentives for whistleblowers to expose misconduct or violations of the law.
One case certainly to figure significantly in the Supreme Court's decision is its 2004 holding in Doe v. Chao, which interpreted the same provision but on the broader question of whether a plaintiff whose rights were violated automatically was entitled to the statutory minimum damages award or whether those plaintiffs had to prove that they had suffered at least some "actual damage." A six-to-three majority adopted the more limited approach and concluded that a plaintiff must both prove the violation and demonstrate damages. Not surprisingly, in the present case the government cites Chao repeatedly, suggesting that the Court in that case intended a limited interpretation of "actual damages." Cooper distinguishes Chao, and – like the Ninth Circuit – cites Justice Ginsburg's dissent in the case. Though the Court today has a vastly different make-up than it did just seven years ago, its ideological balance has changed little. Two of the three dissenters, Justices Ginsburg and Breyer are still on the Court, as are Justices Scalia, Kennedy, and Thomas, who were in the majority. The opinion in that case, somewhat surprisingly, was written by Justice David Souter.
It may be suggested that both Cooper and the FAA learned a lesson from the case. Following his guilty plea, Cooper applied to the FAA for recertification as a private pilot and, after the agency conducted a review of his entire medical history, including the information about his HIV diagnosis and treatment, it reissued his private pilot certificate and medical certificate. The likelihood, however, is that the Supreme Court will not be quite as agreeable in its consideration of this issue.


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Before I dive into the review of MacWireless's 200 Mbps Powerline Network Adapter, I need to clarify something about the device. Despite the company's name, the Powerline is not a wireless network device in any way, shape, or form. It requires wires--electrical wires, to be specific. The Powerline uses the electrical wiring in your home to provide network access from room to room. It's a nice alternative to Wi-Fi or a wired Ethernet network, and it works well for tasks like sharing printers, transferring and sharing files between computers, and playing networked games, among other things.
The setup for the Powerline couldn't be simpler, but it's not cheap. First, you need at least a pair of Powerlines; they're sold individually, so expect to pay US$200 for a pair. You plug a Powerline into a power outlet near your network router (which is connected to your broadband modem). Then you plug an Ethernet cable into the Powerline on one end, and into your router on the other end. (I connected the Powerline to a NetGear WPN824 RangeMax ($80) router, which was connected to my cable modem.) The Powerline's indicator lights tell you when a connection is active.
The next step is to go to the room where you want network access, and plug another Powerline into an available power outlet. (I plugged the Powerline into an outlet in a home office where my Wi-Fi signal doesn't reach.) Connect an Ethernet cable between your Mac and the Powerline, wait a few seconds for your Mac to recognize the Ethernet connection, and that's it. This setup worked flawlessly; I spent more time moving heavy furniture than I did setting up the Powerline.
I also tested the Powerline in my home office with a four-port, 10 Mbps network hub in order to connect multiple devices. I connected the Ethernet cable from the Powerline to the hub, and then connected a MacBook Pro and a Dell laptop via Ethernet into the hub. Both laptops were able to access the network and Internet; but, as I expected, the hub was the speed bottleneck, and network access was noticeably slower than with a single MacBook Pro directly connected to the Powerline.
After testing with the hub, I disconnected it and I then tested the Powerline with Apple's AirPort Express (). I plugged the AirPort Express into one power outlet and the Powerline into the other outlet. I then connected an Ethernet cable from the Powerline to the AirPort Express. (In case you're keeping score, here's the AirPort Express testing set up in my home office: 1) The AirPort Express is supposed to provide wireless network connectivity; 2) the AirPort Express is connected via Ethernet to a Powerline adapter; 3) the Powerline in my office is connected via electrical wires to another Powerline in my living room; 4) the Powerline in the living room is connected to a router, which is connected to a cable modem. Whew.)
To be honest, I didn't expect the above scenario to work--and it didn't, at first. But after I spent a few minutes adjusting the AirPort Express settings, my MacBook Pro was able to connect to the wireless network, and I had Internet access. I was pleasantly surprised.
To gauge the Powerline performance, I did some informal speed tests using Speedtest.net, a Web site that calculates the upload and download speed from your computer to a remote server. Using a Wi-Fi connection on my MacBook Pro, I averaged download speeds of 14,293.4 Kbps, and upload speeds of 1,493.8 Kbps. When I ran the Speedtest.net tests on my MacBook Pro using Powerline (directly, not with the hub or AirPort Express), the download speeds nearly doubled, averaging 26,849 Kbps. Upload speeds went up a bit, too, averaging 1,539.8 Kbps.
MacWireless says that the Powerline will work in any house that uses copper wiring. MacWireless also says that the Powerline network signal can pass through circuit breakers, but that the power outlets on either end of a connection must be on the same circuit box. There's a limit of 16 Powerline devices on a network, and a distance limit of 980 feet.
By default, network traffic sent between Powerline devices is encrypted, but that leads to the one major knock against the Powerline: the software utility is Windows only, and you need to use the software if you want to reconfigure the security settings. MacWireless says that Mac software is in the works, but no ship date has been set.
There are also a few minor issues you'll have to cope with. The Powerline is rather big, measuring 3.75 by 2.5 by 1.13 inches, so you need to make sure you have enough room around the power outlet you want to use. The adapters also get very warm; not hot enough to burn, but you get about the same amount of heat produced by a MacBook Pro. It's probably a good idea to allow some airflow around the Powerline.
Macworld's buying advice
At $100 for a single device, the Powerline Network Adapter may not be the most price-effective way to extend a home network. Remember, you need to buy at least two Powerlines, so your starting price is really $200--and you can buy a Wi-Fi repeater for less than $100. But in homes where there's a lot of wireless interference, or where there's a long distance between your router and a desired area for Internet access, power line networking can be effective. The Powerline is a no-nonsense device that, unlike many other types of network devices, just works.
[Roman Loyola is a Macworld senior editor. ]


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The news that 15 states plus the District of Columbia qualified as finalists in the first round of the "Race to the Top" is sure to anger many reformers, and for good reason. Arne Duncan has spent a year saying that he was going to keep the bar high. But really? New York, which failed to pass a slew of reforms last month? Kentucky, without a charter school law? Ohio?
There are two possible explanations. One is politics. (That's self-explanatory.) The other is process. I would make a bet that one or two of the truly reform-minded states ended up on a panel of reviewers that were particularly tough graders–and that to include them as a finalist the Department had to go further down the "slate" than it would have wanted to. Believe me, I speak from deep personal experience.
Either way, this is a sad day for reformville.
[Please see the blog entries here and here and here and here and here and here for more discussion of the Race to the Top finalists.]


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Beyond Scarcity?
Discussion on a recent post turned, not for the first time, to the economic implications of continued technological progress, especially technologies such as replicators. More generally, could a higher techlevel lead to a 'post-scarcity' economy?
First, a benchmark figure. In rough, round numbers the per capita GDP in the US is about 10 times greater than it was 200 years ago, at the dawn of the industrial revolution. The early US was already a rich country - all that cheap land, stolen from the Indians, but industrialization has made us, on average, some 10 times richer.
The figure for European countries is at least comparable. For Japan it might be somewhat more, Tokugawa era peasants probably having been poorer than contemporary European peasants, but still on the same broad order. The implication is that each century of rapid technological progress has made the most developed societies some three times richer. (The process is faster for newly industrialized countries, which can adopt technologies already invented.)
If that same rate continues into the midfuture, the economic level of 200 years from now should be about 10 times higher still, a per capita GDP equivalent to about $250,000 or $500,000.
There are obvious constraints and provisos. Natural resource prices, in real terms, trended downward through the 20th century, but the low-hanging fruit has arguably already been picked. Oil, at least, will not get cheaper in the long term, and post fossil fuel energy probably won't be cheaper at the plug than energy is today. Automobiles have become more efficient and safer in the last 50 years, and may soon be 'smart,' but not cheaper or faster - so their basic functionality is largely unchanged. People regard old cars as classics; no one thinks of old computers that way.
For that matter, the economic level of most 'Murricans has not increased much since the 1970s; the real GDP increase since that time has been funneled largely to economic elites. One popular dystopian future is a high techlevel, largely automated capitalism with practically no demand for labor, relegating most of the population to a marginal netherworld.
This is a distinctly modern dystopia. There are hints of it in Heinlein, especially Starman Jones, but it is very different from the capitalist dystopias of a century ago - in Wells' The Time Machine the Morlocks were workers; it was the upper class Eloi who were the useless unemployed.
But let's consider the possibilities of a high-techlevel economy.
The classical economics view is that human desires are unlimited. We want things, like tickets to Mars, that we can't get now at any price. We quickly learn to want things, like mobile Internet access, that we previously never even thought about.
On the other hand, our physical needs and comforts are in some sense biologically fixed. Dietary preferences vary culturally, but we can only eat so much. In much of the world, and certainly in industrialized countries, having plenty to eat is no longer a sign of wealth. As one consequence, putting on extravagant public feasts, like Bilbo's birthday party in Lord of the Rings, has pretty much died out as a custom. Even fancy society wedding banquets don't feature dozens of exotic dishes, or for that matter scores of liveried servants to bring them in.
Oversized houses are still a mark of wealth, because big houses remain beyond most people's reach - hence the proliferation of McMansions in the US and probably other industrialized countries. But even this is probably in relative decline; McMansions are the mark of the pretentious demi-rich. The super-rich do not make their houses an object of display - in fact, their estates tend to be secluded. I doubt that an Elizabethan noble would be impressed by Bill Gates' house, and he'd be puzzled by its obscurity.
Feasts and palaces are things people prized not for their 'creature comforts' (an appropriate phrase), but for the status and power they embodied. Once they cease to be effective as display the demand for them reaches its limit or even trails off. I'd suggest that a similar law of diminishing returns may apply to material goods in general, once the economic level is such to render them unimpressive.
On the other hand, the desire to impress does seem unlimited, because it is purely social and relative. If the Joneses own a planet, you want to own one as well, or even a whole planetary system. Throughout the agrarian age - the age of feasts and palaces - material wealth was a great way to impress people. Or more than impress: If you could afford hundreds of liveried servants you could also afford hundreds of troops.
But in a high-techlevel age, where mere display of material goods is no longer impressive, could people find other ways to impress? And what might those ways be?
One way is simply by becoming well known. This is not new. It is what the Latin world nobilis, root of our 'noble,' originally meant. Indeed, before there were chieftains or aristocracies there were 'big men,' who made themselves the center of attention - and did things like putting on feasts in order to remain the center of attention.
The modern rise of celebrity culture, people 'famous for being famous' might be a harbinger of things to come, hinting at the dynamics of a post-scarcity and post-capitalist economy. In such a world, capital resources might still be amassed, but only as one of multiple paths to eminence and status, and not the primary one.
How we would get there, or what it would lead to, I don't know, but I will throw it out for discussion.
Related link: For those who haven't come across links yet, here is the Tough Guide to the Known Galaxy on my old website.
This painting by Botticelli, based on an episode in the Decameron, shows a Renaissance wedding feast.


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Rice grown in United States contains less-dangerous form of arsenic
Rice grown in the United States may be safer than varieties from Asia and Europe, according to a new global study of the grain that feeds over half of humanity. The study evaluated levels of arsenic, which can be toxic at high levels, in rice worldwide. The two-part report is scheduled for the May 15 issue of ACS' Environmental Science & Technology.
Yamily J. Zavala and colleagues point out that rice is a potentially important source of human exposure to arsenic, especially in populations with rice-based diets. Arsenic in rice is of special concern because it accumulates in much higher concentrations in rice than other staple grain crops. The researchers discovered that arsenic contamination of irrigation water was more important than soil contamination in increasing arsenic levels in rice.
Using global arsenic data, the researchers classified rice into two types, where the predominant arsenic forms were either organic or the more toxic inorganic forms. They found that rice from the United States largely contains organic arsenic, which is less easily absorbed into the body and excreted more rapidly than inorganic arsenic. Rice contaminated with inorganic arsenic prevails in Asia and Europe.
The study suggests that breeding new rice varieties that convert inorganic arsenic to organic arsenic would be an "important risk reduction strategy, especially for countries like Bangladesh and India with arsenic contaminated environments and high rice consumption rates."
Source: ACS