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CNN and CBS report on a push to regulate sugar like alcohol and tobacco. From CBS:
Should the government regulate sugar, just like it regulates alcohol and tobacco?
A new commentary published online in the Feb. 1 issue of Nature says sugar is just as "toxic" for people as the other two, so the government should step in to curb its consumption.
The United Nations announced in September that chronic diseases like heart disease, cancer, and diabetes contribute to 35 million deaths worldwide each year, according to the commentary. The U.N. pegged tobacco, alcohol, and diet as big risk factors that contributed to this death rate.
Two of those are regulated by governments, "leaving one of the primary culprits behind this worldwide health crisis unchecked," the authors, Robert H. Lustig, Laura A. Schmidt and Claire D. Brindis, argued.
They said that over the past 50 years, sugar consumption has tripled worldwide. That's also helped contribute to the obesity epidemic - so much so that there are 30 percent more obese people in this world than there are malnourished people.
Author Robert Lustig is a YouTube hero for his long lecture on the evils of sugar. Gary Taubes described Dr. Lustig's thinking in a NY Times magazine article, "Is Sugar Toxic?". The gist of the gist - fructose, half of the common sucrose molecule, is metabolized differently from glucose, the normal constituent of other starchy foods. Our bodies just weren't designed to process the amounts of fructose people routinely consume these days, and the results are visible everywhere.
A bit of British history:
Britain's annual per capita consumption of sugar was 4lbs in 1704, 18lbs in 1800, 90lbs in 1901 - a 22-fold increase to the point where Britons had the highest sugar intake in Europe.
Here in the US we are up to about 150 lbs per person per year, up about 50% from 1950. Set against that is the Australian Paradox - since 1980 obesity Down Under has tripled while sugar consumption has fallen (Or not - see "But Then Again" below]. Hmm... is anyone going to let a bit of science come between them and a new batch of regulations and taxes?
Around the country and the world we have governments looking for new revenue sources and new ways to control health care costs. Can a tax on sugar be far away?
The New England Journal of Medicine took a look in 2009; they kept it simple by evaluating a tax on sugar-sweetened sodas. First, the economic rationale:
Economists agree that government intervention in a market is warranted when there are "market failures" that result in less-than-optimal production and consumption.29,30 Several market failures exist with respect to sugar-sweetened beverages. First, because many persons do not fully appreciate the links between consumption of these beverages and health consequences, they make consumption decisions with imperfect information. These decisions are likely to be further distorted by the extensive marketing campaigns that advertise the benefits of consumption. A second failure results from time-inconsistent preferences (i.e., decisions that provide short-term gratification but long-term harm). This problem is exacerbated in the case of children and adolescents, who place a higher value on present satisfaction while more heavily discounting future consequences. Finally, financial "externalities" exist in the market for sugar-sweetened beverages in that consumers do not bear the full costs of their consumption decisions. Because of the contribution of the consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages to obesity, as well as the health consequences that are independent of weight, the consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages generates excess health care costs. Medical costs for overweight and obesity alone are estimated to be $147 billion — or 9.1% of U.S. health care expenditures — with half these costs paid for publicly through the Medicare and Medicaid programs.31
I like to consider myself a free markets/consumer sovereignty kind of guy, but with sugar the collective decision making seems to be deplorable. Let's note that sugar is arguably addictive, which boosts the rationale for regulation. And with national health programs, we are all our brother's keeper or at least, bill-payer. If other people's illnesses are affecting my Medicare coverage and taxes, well, I have a right to squeak up, yes? This is just life on the slippery slope towards the socialization of everything.
On to the revenue potential, estimated at roughly $15 billion per year:
We propose an excise tax of 1 cent per ounce for beverages that have any added caloric sweetener.
...A tax of 1 cent per ounce of beverage would increase the cost of a 20-oz soft drink by 15 to 20%. The effect on consumption can be estimated through research on price elasticity (i.e., consumption shifts produced by price). The price elasticity for all soft drinks is in the range of −0.8 to −1.0.33 (Elasticity of −0.8 suggests that for every 10% increase in price, there would be a decrease in consumption of 8%, whereas elasticity of −1.0 suggests that for every 10% increase in price, there would be a decrease in consumption of 10%.) Even greater price effects are expected from taxing only sugar-sweetened beverages, since some consumers will switch to diet beverages. With the use of a conservative estimate that consumers would substitute calories in other forms for 25% of the reduced calorie consumption, an excise tax of 1 cent per ounce would lead to a minimum reduction of 10% in calorie consumption from sweetened beverages, or 20 kcal per person per day, a reduction that is sufficient for weight loss and reduction in risk (unpublished data). The benefit would be larger among consumers who consume higher volumes, since these consumers are more likely to be overweight and appear to be more responsive to prices.7 Higher taxes would have greater benefits.
The revenue generated from a tax on sugar-sweetened beverages would be considerable and could be used to help support childhood nutrition programs, obesity-prevention programs, or health care for the uninsured or to help meet general revenue needs. A national tax of 1 cent per ounce on sugar-sweetened beverages would raise $14.9 billion in the first year alone.
This ship will sail, so let me restate my Bold Prediction from last April, made more apropos by the advent of Super Sunday:
BOLD PREDICTIONS: Within fifty years Coca Cola and the NFL will be the fodder of campfire stories meant to scare excitable pre-teens. It can't happen? Sixty years ago Frank and Dean were the Kings of Cool, smoking cigarettes live on national television; now they would get busted and the President of the United States is heckled in his own home for being a smoker.
If high school football were invented today, any school board listening to the injury rate and equipment expense would laugh out loud. It's days are numbered.
And Coke? Sales will be regulated as cigarettes are today, and sales to minors won't be legal. And someone somewhere will be charged with child abuse for giving a kid a Coke. Really.
BUT THEN AGAIN: This won't work Down Under, where the numbers are upside down [but vigorously disputed!]:
In Australia, the UK and USA, per capita consumption of refined sucrose decreased by 23%, 10% and 20% respectively from 1980 to 2003. When all sources of nutritive sweeteners, including high fructose corn syrups, were considered, per capita consumption decreased in Australia (−16%) and the UK (−5%), but increased in the USA (+23%). In Australia, there was a reduction in sales of nutritively sweetened beverages by 64 million liters from 2002 to 2006 and a reduction in percentage of children consuming sugar-sweetened beverages between 1995 and 2007. The findings confirm an ―Australian Paradox‖—a substantial decline in refined sugars intake over the same timeframe that obesity has increased. The implication is that efforts to reduce sugar intake may reduce consumption but may not reduce the prevalence of obesity.
Nutrients 2011, 3, 491-504; doi:10.3390/nu3040491
YOU DON'T KNOW JACK: Let's flash back to Jack LaLanne making the case against "sugarholics", with the alcohol analogy.
AROUND THE HORN: AllahP decries Big Government:
You would think that in an information age, as TVs and cell phones become ubiquitous even among the lower classes, nanny impulses would be channeled more frequently into public education campaigns than into regulation. Doesn't feel that way, though, does it? You get the calorie counts on fast-food menus now, but you also get moronic attempts to ban Happy Meals in San Francisco. Maybe one begets the other — i.e. precisely because it's easier to put the word out about food and nutrition, the nanny-minded become more aware of the dangers of certain substances and feel obliged to press harder for regulation. Or maybe it's a simple matter of health warnings being drowned out by an expanding galaxy of ads for the dangerous products. I don't quite buy that theory, though: Cigarettes haven't enjoyed ubiquitous advertising and the actual packs have carried warnings for nearly 50 years, but somehow even that degree of informed consent is lately being deemed insufficient, thus requiring actual photos of people with tracheotomies on the packs — even though virtually everyone above grade school levels knows that smokes are a cancer risk. The more access to information you have, the dumber you supposedly are, and therefore the more your choices have to be made for you by your superiors. Isn't the future glorious?
Rick Moran bashes ObamaCare:
Attention SCOTUS: Arguments against Obamacare start and end with the notion that if it becomes a permanent law, government will have license to meddle in American's daily lives beyond anything previously imagined.


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No Blood for Oil. In the recent history of American warfare, these words have been the rallying cry of the anti-war movement. Both blood and oil are thicker than water in Paul Thomas Anderson's There Will Be Blood, which perhaps not coincidentally transposes the title of its source: Upton Sinclair's sprawling novel Oil!.
In his most mature and ambitious film yet, the writer-director of Boogie Nights and Magnolia adapts roughly the first 150 pages of Oil!. Sinclair's book would make a fascinating film, one with unavoidable political resonance for the current moment. Instead, using Sinclair as inspiration, Anderson demotes the book's leading character and blows up the character of self-made oil baron J. Arnold Ross, renamed Daniel Plainview for star Daniel Day-Lewis. Rather than shaping a conventional modern epic, Anderson takes a meditative tack overtly reminiscent of another American auteur, Terrence Malick.
The results are mixed, but often breathtaking. Visual poetry abounds, eventually clashing with the film's growing narrative demands. The latter mostly involve the conflict between ravenously capitalist oil-man Plainview and smug teen evangelist Eli Sunday (Paul Dano). The approach will guarantee Oscar nods across the technical categories and for Johnny Greenwood's nerve-jangling ambient score (a good compliment to the film's dark themes). So too will Day-Lewis be honored, for another fiercely intense theatrical performance that, this time, channels John Huston's gruff eloquence. Against this force of nature—and in an unfortunately underwritten role—Dano holds his own.
Anderson has hastened to mention in every interview that he approached There Will Be Blood "as a horror film and a boxing match first." These reductions, if somewhat tongue in cheek, demonstrate that Anderson's growth as a filmmaker remains hindered by an obsession with effect and a disinterest in depth. But perhaps that's too hasty, given the filmmaker's literal interest in depth. The film begins with the origin of its self-made man, whose lonesome turn-of-the-century descents into deep gold mines accidentally unearth oil and incipient entrepreneurship.
These early, near-wordless sequences are the film's most expressive, as Anderson suggests that Plainview derives psychosexual pleasure from raping the earth. An oil-slick dildo rises from its hole; a baby cries. It is this baby that Plainview will sexlessly adopt as his own. Indeed, he has no time for romance, and his constant insistence on family values rings hollow. "I believe in plain speaking," he says (why, it's right there in your name!), but his mixed message is alternately "I'm an oil man" and "I'm a family man."
The latter is the lie he half-wishes to be true and the half-truth he promotes as a marketing tool. In one of his secular sermons to communities who need assuaging at the sight of a Plainview oil field in their midst, Plainview politicly boasts, "We offer you the bond of family that few other men can understand...These children are the future" But family (blood) always comes in second place to the family business (oil). Though in an early scene blood and oil and "the blood of the lamb" become one as Plainview anoints his adoptive son with a smudge of oil dabbed on the child's forehead, the later appearance of a man claiming to be Daniel's "brother, from another mother" only sends Daniel on a detour to hell.
The boxing match between Plainview and Sunday begins when Sunday's brother from the same mother Paul (also Dano) sells out his family by selling the oil man a lead. Hence, Daniel is led to the Sunday ranch, Plainview's adoptive son H.W. (a worryingly quiet Dillon Freasier) in tow in part as heir-apparent apprentice, in part as a "family man" prop. Sinclair's novel is a quietly horrifying tale of this "new money" boy, who gets everything on a silver platter and, in the process, allows his naive idealism to corrode, corrupt and compromise. Anderson's screenplay taps this vein of the novel with two brief but key scenes: one in which H.W. concerns himself with young Mary Sunday being beaten by her father (Mary, too, will be used by Daniel as a prop), and another in which the boy asks his father if the Sundays will get a square deal.
They don't, a never-healing sore spot to the combative Eli. As Daniel's foil, Eli delivers his own self-serving sermons, of the holy-rolling variety. Eli, too, is a social climber, and his wailing invocations of God's healing power get under Plainview's skin. Plainview calls Eli's supposed healing "quite a goddamn show" (indeed, we watch the young preacher practicing a sermon, down to the "spontaneous" laugh); the older man puts his disdain into action, blindsiding Eli by hording an opportunity to curry public favor. Their cold war heats up when Plainview, suddenly in need of physical healing, rails against the false idolatry of Sunday's Church of the Third Revelation.
The people-hating Plainview descends into alcoholism and isolation; offered a millionaire-making buyout, he can only ask, "What else would I do with myself?" At a key point in the film, this point exhausted, Anderson thrusts the story forward sixteen years. The abrupt leap to a coda feels like a failure to bring the principal narrative to its own resolution; it's the film's most glaring misstep, if not in narrative, then in style. The coda caps, in succession, Daniel's relationships with H.W. (now played by Russell Harvard) and Eli. If Daniel had one foot in damnation till the bitter end (a bravura oil-fire sequence having already suggested hellfire), he takes the last step before the credits, with full self-knowledge the film's punchline.
For all of Anderson's head games, There Will Be Blood is more a triumph of style than substance. Yes, it is, in a sense, the story of America, a la Citizen Kane. Greatness in business and politics comes at a personal price to the alpha male and those around him, and hypocrisy is both the best offense and the best psychological defense mechanism. In There Will Be Blood, industry and religion are equally greedy enterprises, painted in broad strokes. But this facile social critique pales in comparison to Sinclair's fiendishly accurate incisions. Anderson does best by emulating Sinclair's eye for detail (thanks largely to Jack Fisk's monumental production design and Mark Bridges' costumes) and evoking the tones of Dorothea Lange, opera, and comic burlesque in tandem with a great DP (Robert Elswit) and an arrestingly turbulent movie star.
Paramount presents There Will Be Blood on both Blu-Ray and DVD in a special edition. Both transfers come from the same high-def master. Though the DVD has a handsome transfer, it's no surprise that the Blu-Ray version handily bests it with significantly better detail and a sharper overall impression. Low light continues to present a challenge to digital media, and certainly There Will Be Blood provides a challenge in this regard. More bothersome is a slight but perceptible horizontal jitter, though it's really only noticeable in the rare stationary shots. The Dolby Digital 5.1 surround track does justice to the ambient soundscape and dark-toned Jonny Greenwood score.
The extras from Disc Two of the DVD Collector's Edition all make a return appearance on DVD, and they're all presented in high-definition. Primary is a black-and-white silent-era short film called "The Story of Petroleum" (25:34), with a new score by Jonny Greenwood. The info. screen on the disc does a comprehensive job of explaining the film (circa 1923-7), which comes courtesy of the National Archives and "was created by the U.S. Bureau of Mines in collaboration with the Sinclair Oil Company as a promotional film to highlight the operations of the U.S. oil industry. The film shows the exploration, extraction, processing, and preparation of crude oil for its distribution throughout the United States." The source elements are good, given the period from whence the film comes, and the transfer is equally solid.
The suite of other extras (31:00 with a "Play All" feature) kicks off with "15 Minutes" (a.k.a. "There Will Be Blood: Pics, Research, Etc.") (15:37). As the title suggests, it's a montage, set to Greenwood's score of clips from Blood and "The Story of Petroleum" and imagery from the books director P.T. Anderson collected as research and for design reference. Next up is the "Teaser" (1:25) and "Trailer" (2:13), both cannily generating interest in an expensive art film. "Fishing" (6:15) is a deleted sequence inspired by an episode from Upton Sinclair's Oil!, with the oil workers going after machinery lost in the hole as Plainview waits in existential limbo for work to progress. "Haircut/Interrupted Hymn" (3:15) is a similar trim, with H.W. cutting his father's hair, and Plainview skulking around the job site; it's nice to get to see these sequences, presented in crisp anamorphic widescreen. Last but not least is "Dailies Gone Wild", a single take of Daniel Day Lewis "making a scene" in the restaurant.
The Blu-Ray gets a standard Blu-Ray case. On DVD, the cardboard packaging (while handily slim and good for the environment) has the detriment of being rough on the discs coming out of and into the tight sleeves. Here's your chance to collect another towering, Oscar-anointed Daniel Day Lewis performance, in a film that takes Anderson to a new career height.
Review gear: |
Panasonic Viera TC-P55VT30 55" Plasma 1080p 3D HDTV
Oppo BDP-93 Universal Network 3D Blu-ray Disc Player
Denon AVR2112CI Integrated Network A/V Surround Receiver
Pioneer SP-BS41-LR Bookshelf Speaker (2)
Pioneer SP-C21 Center Speaker
Pioneer SW-8 Subwoofer

subset: commoncrawl


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Here you can search for plans by tag (and span and year). Click on the selection boxes to choose the hide/show settings you want to set for each tag. Search results are displayed below, with 30 large thumbnails per page. For more details, see the help page.
Total plans found = 139 Page 1 of 5 Next Page Last Page Showing plans 1 to 30 of 139 Notes: This TagMatrixSearch page is under development. There will be bugs. It's still in progress. I am trying to find better ways to navigate through the data, more visually. Yes, the 'reset' always sets the values to Scale=0, Parasol=1 just because I want the colours to always show up, as a visual hint on how to adjust settings. All values are held in a your cookie, so if you decline cookies, this is not going to work for you. Got useful thoughts or feedback? Then please email me firstname.lastname@example.com I am curious if you think this is a step forwards or back. Steve 03/06/11. |


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Transloadit is now Pay as you Go
Posted on 20/9/10 by Felix Geisendörfer
This was a fantastic weekend for Transloadit. Kevin came from Amsterdam to Berlin to join Tim and myself for two days of intense hacking on our startup.
The main user-facing result is our new pricing model.
You can now use transloadit without any fixed costs. In fact, if you sign up right now you even get $5 of free credit to get started.
And there is even more good news. While our previous usage fees were ranging from $5.00 to $3.00, we have now lowered our pricing to range from $4.00 to $1.80.
We hope that those two changes will make Transloadit much more attractive for small projects that like to avoid fixed costs, as well as larger applications that need lower pricing on high usage.
Existing customers are affected by this right away, expect your next bill to be significantly lower.
When we launched Transloadit initially, we were hesitant to commit to pure pay-as-you-go pricing. After all, it leaves a lot of money on the table for small CMS systems that may never exceed $1 of usage / month.
But at the same time, we believe even more strongly in listening to our customers. We talked to many of our users, as well as surveyed close to 100 people about our service. 85% said that a pay-as-you-go would make a big difference in their decision to purchase.
And this is not the end of things. We're still working on many exciting new features that we hope to introduce soon. One of them might even be an industry-first : ).
We are also still hungry for more feedback, so if you'd like to share your thoughts, let us know - we'll listen!


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At the end of last week's post about John Tyler's grandsons still being alive (and indeed, NY Mag did an interview with one of them), I provided a couple of other examples of living persons bridging distant historical periods and asked:
Someone needs to come up with a term for this sort of thing (history bridges? no.)
On Twitter, David Galbraith suggested "timebenders". After more thought, I came up with "human wormholes" but that's not quite right either. Tony Hiss, in a book about his father Alger (the accused Soviet spy), said that Alger had a term for stories kind of like these: the Great Span.
My father himself even had a name for a kind of ongoing closeness between people in which death is sometimes only an irrelevance. He called it "the Great Span," a sort of bucket brigade or relay race across time, a way for adjacent generations to let ideas and goals move intact from one mind to another across a couple of hundred years or more.
Hiss cites a pair of stories involving Alger (who died in 1996) and Oliver Wendell Holmes, who Alger clerked for and also figured in one of my earlier examples. In one story, Holmes told Alger about his experience fighting in the Civil War. The other story reaches back even further:
In the Holmes story Alger treasured above all others, the Justice told him that when he had been very young, his grandmother, a woman he revered, had shared her memories of the day at the beginning of the American Revolution when she was five and had stood in her father's front window on Beacon Hill in Boston and watched rank after rank of Redcoats marching through town.
Another instance of the Great Span are the three Civil War widows (Maudie Hopkins, Alberta Martin, and Gertrude Janeway) who lived into the 2000s, two of them collecting their husbands' pensions until their deaths. (thx, mike & @ithinkihaveacat)


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Cincinnati, OH – Shin-Soo Choo scored the go-ahead run on a wild pitch in the eighth inning, as the Cincinnati Reds defeated the Arizona Diamondbacks, 2-1, in the finale of a four-game set at Great American Ball Park.
Choo finished 2-for-4 with two runs scored for the Reds, who took three of four from the Diamondbacks.
Matt Latos (13-4) tossed eight strong innings to get the win for Cincinnati, which has won nine of its last 12 games overall. He allowed one run on five hits, striking out six without walking a batter. The right-hander has won five of his last six decisions and has yielded just three earned runs in 30 1/3 innings over his last three starts.
Paul Goldschmidt had three hits for Arizona, which fell to 3-4 on its current 10-game road trip. Adam Eaton and Aaron Hill added a pair of hits each for the Diamondbacks, who might've won had it not been for four wild pitches and a throwing error by their pitchers.
With the game tied 1-1 in the eighth, Choo began the inning with a single off reliever Eury De La Rosa (0-1) and moved to second on an errant pick-off attempt by the left-handed hurler. Todd Frazier then sacrificed Choo to third and a wild pitch on a 3-2 count to Joey Votto allowed Choo to score the go- ahead run.
Arizona starter Trevor Cahill uncorked three wild pitches in the third inning, leading to the Reds' first run.
Sam LeCure came on to get the final three outs for Cincinnati to earn his first save of the season. With the Reds' regular closer Aroldis Chapman not available, LeCure pitched around a two-on, one-out jam by striking out Jason Kubel and inducing a game-ending groundout by Wil Nieves.
The Reds got a run in the third when Brandon Phillips' groundout plated Choo, who led off the inning with a single, moved to second and then third on a pair of one-out wild pitches by Cahill with Votto at the plate. Prior to Phillips' groundout, Cahill uncorked a wild pitch -- his third of the inning -- that allowed Votto to move to second with Choo holding at third. Otherwise, Phillips' grounder might've been an inning-ending double play.
The D-backs got that run back in the fourth. After being no-hit through the first three frames, Eaton began the fourth with a single, moved to second on a Goldschmidt base hit and then third on a Martin Prado double-play ground out. Aaron Hill followed with a hard-hit grounder to third that went off Zack Cozart for a base hit to score Eaton.
Cahill settled down after his shaky third inning, allowing just two hits the rest of the way until he was pulled for a pinch-hitter in the eighth. The right-hander was charged with one run on four hits, striking out seven. His four walks all came in the first three innings.
Game Notes
Prior to the game, the Reds placed reliever Jonathan Broxton on the 15-day disabled list due to a right flexor mass strain ... The Reds also moved pitcher Johnny Cueto to the 60-day disabled list to open a roster spot for pitcher Nick Christiani, who was recalled from Triple-A Louisville ... Prado had a nine-game hitting streak come to an end, finishing 0-for-4.


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First Impression. When I got this I was so excited because its pink. Well, you know that. This sponge is packaged nicely in a cylinder packaging with a holder inside. Making the sponge looks so prestige! When I first open it, and touch it. *sparkle aaaaa....* came in my mind. OMG! I can't stop squishing it! Its super soft and fluffy just like marshmallow! Your heart just goes, boing boing boing just floats away with its softness! How can I express this... Hm.. Ok, Its super soft! Just... super... soft. Ok stop with that. Back to the review, done with the softness. So this sponge is recommended to be used damp. You can use it dry but damp is better for more softness and your product would not be absorb that much. The idea of the packaging is quite nice, after using it, I put it back inside the holder and close it. It was a bad idea. My sponge becomes smelly. I think it cause by the dampness and no air flowing inside the container. So it was my bad. It is better to use it and wash it immediately to maintain it cleanliness. But I always in a hurry, so what I do is, I just throw it inside the container and I did not close it. In the night, when I am free, I wash it off, try to get rid as many wetness as I could with a towel and place it on a dry towel overnight.
Comes to cleansing. Cleansing was a mess on first try. I can't get rid off the product inside the sponge. I was stress out at first. I clean it with my facial cleanser. I ran out of baby shampoo. After a while, I search some videos in YouTube for tips and trick on how to clean this sponge, then I got the idea. I was suppose to squeeze the sponge from the bottom part to the point. After that, I don't find that this beauty blender is hard to maintain. It was easy to clean and to use. Oh yes, Beauty Blender also sells their own cleanser for this sponge, but its a little pricey, many said that the Daiso Cleanser is a great dupe.
Price : RM75.00
Official Website : http://www.beautyblender.net/
**Disclaimer - This product(s) were send to me for product review purposes.


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Anyhow, learned so many good things on this painting and it felt good to exercise a few muscles other than the environment variety for a bit. The canvas texture you may see in the back is actually from a plein aire painting I did on a work outing. The painting looks nothing like this, but the outing was still vital to the overall mood and palette of this painting. I need to get out and paint more, so good for me.
Hope it's not too dark, but I'm sure it is :P


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The division of Sony that suffered a cyberattack last year, which led to a major PlayStation network outage and sensitive customer data being compromised, has dropped Amazon Web Services for at least a portion of its cloud hosting and computing in favor of an OpenStack platform hosted by Rackspace.
Sony Computer Entertainment of America (SCEA) -- which manages popular games such as "Grand Theft Auto IV" and "Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare" -- made the move away from AWS after a series of highly publicized performance issues, according to an email from a public relations firm representing Rackspace.
The cyberattack that caused SCEA to shut down its PlayStation Network and Qriocity services, which allows gamers to play opponents online and purchase games and content, also led to information such as customer names, email addresses, usernames and passwords of 77 million people being compromised.
BACKGROUND: Timeline of Sony outage
RELATED: Alleged members of hactivist group LulzSec busted
Sony, SCEA's parent, said last year there was an "external intrusion" of the network, but the company has since provided few additional details. A report by Bloomberg, however, linked AWS to the outage, citing an anonymous source who claimed that the hackers created a fake AWS account and used AWS computers to launch the attack on Sony.
SCEA's decision to embrace OpenStack, which is an evolving open-source platform to launch cloud environments, is "big news" for the OpenStack community, said Marc Brien, an analyst with Domicity, who tracks the OpenStack movement.
Started last year by Rackspace and NASA, OpenStack has gained momentum in recent months and now includes more than 140 companies. Most of those, Brien said, are service providers that offer cloud products to customers, including Rackspace, Citrix, Dell and recently IBM. For a big-name end user to sign on to the project is a positive sign for OpenStack, he said. SCEA joins Disney and CERN, the European nuclear science group, as users committed to using OpenStack.
"It's a big announcement. It raises the question, is this the water beginning to pour over the dam?" he said. Brien expects that within a few years, or sooner, the OpenStack project will have advanced to a point where it will attract a large number of users, but it's not quite there yet, he said.
SCEA's migration from AWS to Rackspace's OpenStack cloud platform was "relatively quick," said the email from the PR agency, taking approximately six days, and it was done in a way that end users would not notice a difference. It's unclear how much of SCEA's cloud-based services have already migrated away from AWS products. The news was originally going to be announced last week, but representatives from the companies involved said they would wait until next week to speak about the move. Sony officials have not responded to questions related to the topic.
AWS said that Sony continues to be a "strong and growing customer," but a spokeswoman for the company said she could not speak to the status of individual business units of Sony. AWS itself has been the subject of outages, including ones in April and August.
A member of the board of directors for the OpenStack Foundation, which controls the open-source cloud-based project, confirmed that SCEA has been working with Rackspace on an OpenStack cloud platform.
Sony has been publicly discussing a move to OpenStack for months, including at an OpenStack conference in Boston last fall where Troy Klein, a Sony staff hosting engineer, participated in a "user story" discussion about the company's planned migration to the OpenStack platform. But, there have been no reports thus far of the company migrating away from AWS in favor of OpenStack.
SCEA is not the first customer AWS has lost. Last month, Zynga announced it would move most of its hosting from AWS to a private network, which it said allows for greater customization of the company's IT infrastructure.
Other analysts who track the cloud market said they are not surprised by SCEA's move. The company could have a desire to make a highly visible action in response to the hacking incidents, said blogger and industry analyst Krishnan Subramanian.
"(SCEA) is in many ways giving control of their infrastructure to a third party (by using AWS)," he said. After the hacking incidents, the company may want to show it has greater control of its IT infrastructure, he said.
Proponents of OpenStack-based clouds say the open-source platform offers advantages over proprietary cloud offerings, specifically related to customization of the cloud's construction, interoperability with existing and future technologies and the greater control over the system.
Floyd Strimling, an industry analyst and blogger for Zenoss, said from an IT perspective, the move is a "natural progression" for Sony. "Once an enterprise gets big enough, people have to ask themselves a question of at what point of scale is it cheaper to do it on your own?" he said. James Staten, a cloud analyst with Forrester, agrees. He said SCEA dropping AWS is likely more about Sony's comfort level in building its own in-house private cloud than an indictment of AWS.
Sony Corp., SCEA's parent, has been reeling ever since the outage of its PlayStation network and the news got worse this week. Reports indicate that the Sony Music, another division within the company, had its prized possession of unreleased Michael Jackson songs stolen after the attack last year. In 2010, Sony Music purchased the rights to unreleased Jackson music, which included songs with popular musicians including will.i.am and Queen's Freddie Mercury. Reports have linked the theft of those music files and an estimated 50,000 others from Sony Music to the cyberattack in April. Two men in England have since been arrested in relation to the case. It's unclear, however, if the Jackson song thefts are related to SCEA's decision to drop AWS.
This article originally appeared at Networkworld.com. Network World staff writer Brandon Butler covers cloud computing and social media. He can be reached at email@example.com and found on Twitter at @BButlerNWW.


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Pearls - Very cultured
Pearls are organic gems, created when an oyster covers a foreign object with beautiful layers of nacre.
Long ago, pearls were important financial assets, comparable in price to real estate, as thousands of oysters had to be searched for just one pearl. They were rare because they were created only by chance.
Today pearls are cultured by Man. Shell beads are placed inside an oyster and the oyster is returned to the water. When the pearls are later harvested, the oyster has covered the bead with layers of nacre. Most cultured pearls are produced in Japan. In the warmer waters of the South Pacific, larger oysters produce South Sea cultured pearls and Tahitian black cultured pearls, which are larger in size. Freshwater pearls are cultured in mussels, mostly in China.
The quality of pearls is judged by the orient, which is the soft iridescence caused by the refraction of light by the layers of nacre, and lustre, the reflectivity and shine of the surface. Fine pearls do not have any flaws or spots in the nacre: it has an even, smooth texture. Other factors which affect value are the regularity of the shape, size, and colour: rose tints are the most favoured.
Cultured and natural pearls can be distinguished from imitation ones by a very simple test. Take the pearl and rub it (gently!) against the edge of a tooth. Cultured and natural pearls will feel slightly rough, like fine sandpaper, because of the texture of natural nacre. Imitations will feel as smooth as glass because the surface is moulded or painted on a smooth bead.


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DURHAM, N.C. -- A combination of chemicals given to protect Gulf War soldiers against deadly diseases and nerve gas may have inadvertently damaged their testes and sperm production, according to animal experiments at Duke University Medical Center.
The new study could explain why some veterans have experienced infertility, sexual dysfunction, and other genitourinary symptoms, said Mohamed Abou Donia, Ph.D., a Duke pharmacologist.
Three chemicals were given to soldiers to protect them against insect-borne diseases and nerve-gas poisoning: the insect repellent DEET, the insecticide permethrin, and the anti-nerve gas agent pyridostigmine bromide.
In a study designed to mimic those same conditions, Abou Donia and his colleagues gave rats equivalent doses to what the soldiers received. When given together, the chemicals caused extensive cell degeneration and cell death with various structures of the testes, he found. The damage was even more severe among rats that were exposed to moderately stressful situations in addition to the chemicals.
Results of the study, funded by the Department of Defense, are published in the Jan. 10, 2003 issue of The Journal ofToxicology and Environmental Health.
"It appears that moderate stress, combined with the three chemicals, caused the most severe deterioration in testicular structure and sperm production, and these conditions were likely experienced by some Gulf War soldiers in the combat environment," said Abou Donia, principal investigator of the study.
"Interestingly, the chemically-treated rats don't look or behave any differently than normal rats, just as the soldiers don't show any outward signs of disease," said Abou Donia. "But under a microscope, you can see clear and well-defined damage to a variety of testicular structures."
Abou Donia's team found the most pervasive cell damage within basal germ cells and spermatocytes, which give rise to mature sperm. The three chemicals combined with stress caused these cells to detach from one another, slough off, and develop holes known as "vacuoles." Such changes are well-known stages in the progression toward programmed cell death, known as apoptosis. The more cells that die, the greater the suppression of "spermatogenesis" or sperm production, said Abou Donia.
In fact, pathologic exams showed that most of the developing stages of sperm were interrupted, and some of the stages were absent altogether among rats treated with all three chemicals and stressful conditions.
Similar cell degeneration occurred in the seminiferous tubules, where developing sperm are produced, and Sertoli cells that support and nurture the developing germ cells.
"On every objective measure, the testes showed severe degeneration in the presence of multiple chemicals, suggesting that the chemicals have a synergistic or additive effect," said Abou Donia.
The testicular damage corresponds to equally devastating brain changes in the same rats exposed to the chemicals plus stress, said Abou Donia. Findings from those experiments were published in the August 2002, issue of Neurobiology of Disease.
In that study, Abou Donia's team showed that chemicals and stress increased the permeability of the blood-brain barrier, allowing substances that would normally be blocked to enter the brain. Moreover, the researchers found large numbers of dead neurons, or nerve cells, in regions of the brain that control muscle strength and movement (cortex); balance and coordination (cerebellum); and memory, cognition and mood (hippocampus). Yet the animals appeared normal to the naked eye.
Similarly, Gulf War veterans have complained of deficits in these very functions for more than a decade, while clinical exams show no obvious signs of disease.
"The brain deficits we found in rats reside in specific areas of the brain that we can't measure in living humans," said Abou Donia. "This is why the deficits are so difficult to assess clinically and why animal studies are so critical to understanding the cellular damage."
Complicating the diagnostic process even further is the sheer volume of brain cells that must die before clinical deficits become obvious, he said. The human brain contains billions of nerve cells and supporting cells, so the loss of brain cells does not produce immediate and overt symptoms. Often, it takes repeated exposures to chemicals before the brain is depleted of enough neurons to trigger deficits, he said.
However, once the damage occurs, little can be done to repair it. Extensive nerve cell death causes "holes" in the brain and thus permanent deficits, because neurons cannot regenerate like other cells in the body.
"Many of the effects we see with chemical exposure are similar to those of aging, which is also associated with fewer neurons," said Abou Donia. He said his ongoing research should help prevent such debilitating conditions in the future.
"The military used these chemicals with the best of intentions, to protect soldiers from indigenous diseases in the Gulf War region," he said. "Without protection, there may have been thousands of deaths. But it appears that the precautions prevented one set of problems while creating another. Now, our task is to discern the mechanisms of illness in order to provide the soldiers with maximum protection and the least risk of chemically induced injury."
Duke colleagues Hagir B. Suliman, Ph.D., Wasiuddin A. Khan, Ph.D., and Ali A. Abdel-Rahman were co-authors of the paper.
Story Source:
Materials provided by Duke University Medical Center. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.
Cite This Page:


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What Really Matters is the Heart (A Psychologist Grieves the Death of His Mother)
Author: Philip Ruiz Belzunce, Ph.D. ISBN: 0-9661666-0-4 OncoLink Rating: |
Philip R. Belzunce is a psychologist, psychotherapist, and the son of Virginia and Filipe Belzunce. This book is the intensely spiritual journey of a man who found himself challenged on every level of his being during his mother's suffering and death from cancer.
In the introduction, Dr. Belzunce shares the overwhelming feeling of powerlessness that he experienced the day his mother slipped into a coma and her death was imminent. It was then that he realized "That the path to healing required allowing [himself] to be fully immersed in the experience". The author decided then to begin this journal to assist others in their inescapable journeys through loss and healing.
"What Really Matters is the Heart" is an account of one man's raw and painful grieving experiences. Written with the awareness and wisdom that can come only through such personal experience, the book is meant to serve as both a requiem for his mother and a guide for others experiencing these intense emotions. Although the authors' experience is heavily centered in the Filipino /Catholic point of view this should not be allowed cloud the reader's perception of the message that through the grieving process one should eventually be able to celebrate the life of a lost loved one.
"What Really Matters is the Heart" is an outstanding book that is certain to be a source strength and inspiration to loved ones, friends of cancer patients and others suffering from terminal illnesses who find themselves searching for meaning in an unspeakable inevitable loss.


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Braillon, David
David Braillon, "DUPLEX TGV", 2000, coloured pencil and ballpoint pen on paper, 29,7 x 168 cm, © photo credit Collection de l'Art Brut, Lausanne
Braillon, David , (1970), France
David Braillon (b. 1970) was born in Dreux, France, and grew up in a railway family. His father and brother were killed in motor accidents when he was a teenager. David Braillon's fascination for trains goes back to his childhood and he would have liked to work in the railways, but failed to find a job with the French railway company. As a young man he hung around freight stations and collected railway magazines.In 1995 he found himself in the lock-up, and spent all day and sometimes his sleepless nights drawing. He uses pieces of graph paper, which he puts together as a frieze representing army helicopters, fighter jets, and people, but his favourite subject is trains. He stacks his trains in horizontal registers in the manner of a catalogue or inventory.


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Configuring scenarios
This page discusses the usage of Advanced Roadmaps live plans. If you're using the redesigned planning interface, see this page instead.
Advanced Roadmaps lets you experiment with different scenarios for your plan. This is a handy feature, so you can see how specific changes across different scenarios can affect your plan. You can then decide which scenario is the most realistic, and that best fits how your team works, and then commit that scenario back to Jira.
Before you begin
Make sure scenarios are enabled in Advanced Roadmaps.
- In your plan, click more () next to the plan name > Configure > Scenarios.
- Click Enable scenarios. You will then see a scenario menu, where Initial scenario is now available.
Creating a scenario
- Next to the plan name, click the scenario menu > Create.
- Give the new scenario a name.
- Choose if you want to create the new scenario from:
- an existing scenario, to base the new scenario on a selected scenario. Note that the new scenario will inherit any uncommitted changes from the existing scenario, if any
- a blank scenario, where there are no uncommitted changes
- Select a color for the new scenario.
- Click Create scenario. The new scenario will display from the scenario menu next to the plan name.
Planning with multiple scenarios
Using multiple scenarios lets you efficiently assess the impact of unplanned risks on your team's ability to deliver work on time.
For example, let's say you have Scenario A, with your standard team velocity. However, you're aware that there's a chance that something will come up that can reduce your team's velocity. This may be caused by additional work items, or perhaps you need to pull out a few team members from the planned work. Whatever the cause, you can create Scenario B, where your team velocity is reduced.
With Scenarios A and B in place, you can then switch between them — so you can efficiently assess the impact of velocity risks on your team's delivery.
Note that you can add as many scenarios as you need, and make as many changes as you want for each scenario. Uncommitted changes are individually specific to each scenario.
When you're happy with the changes you've made, and the impact these changes have on your team's work, you can then commit the changes back to Jira.
Committing changes to Jira
The steps below assume you've already made several changes in your plan.
- Click Uncommitted changes next to your plan name. A window displays, listing the changes you've made.
- If necessary, filter the changes made by change type or category.
- Review the changes you've made thoroughly. You can click the issue title to open a detailed view of the changes.
- If necessary, clear the checkboxes for any changes that you don't want to commit.
- When you're satisfied with the changes, click Commit selected changes. The committed changes will now be visible in your Jira application.
Note the following details:
- Issues may disappear upon committing usually because they don't match the filter query of the board. To make them display, click on the message, and set the required values on your issues so
shows up again. - Changes to issues and releases will be reflected in your Jira application.
- Changes to private teams will only affect your plan.
- Changes to shared teams will be committed to global team management.
Reverting changes
- Click Uncommitted changes next to your plan name. A window displays, listing the changes you've made.
- Select the checkboxes for the changes you want to revert.
- Click Revert changes.
Disabling scenarios
If you disable the scenarios feature, you'll be given the opportunity to keep the changes of one scenario. The uncommitted changes in all the other scenarios will be lost.
To disable scenarios:
- In your plan, click more () next to the plan name > Configure > Scenarios.
- Select Disable.
- Select the scenario you want to keep uncommitted changes from, and click Disable.


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Squawk! Oink! Another day, another exclusive look at Bad Piggies. This time X-Play sits down (literally) with Rovio's own Andrew Stalbow. This exclusive sneak peek comes on the heels of the amazing Bad Piggies Gameplay Trailer we saw on Monday. The difference? Well, this one reveals quite a bit more info, including some of the bacon-bits we thrive on.
What we know now!
- The Game: The slingshot is replaced by your imagination and engineering prowess! Start the level by building an effective vehicle or contraption using the supplies on hand. The goal is simple: carry the Pigs from the start of the level to the end without killing them — ideally completing the objectives along the way.
- Building Materials: Build your contraptions from blocks of wood, fans, wheels, ballons, and much more. Other than the Sandbox episode, each level will start with a certain number of components for you to use.
- Gameplay will includes physics, engineering, flying, velocity, gravity, balance, and likely, some joy and frustration.
- Episodes: Andrew says the initial launch will include 60 levels, with 30 more that can be unlocked. If you pause the video at 2:45 you'll see the first two episodes show 135 stars. This means that each episode will actually contain 45 levels, so 15 might be unlockable. This is confirmed by there being 3-pages on levels. That's not all though, as there is a "Sandbox" episode with additional levels (see below).
- Episode 1: Ground Hog Day includes Levels 1 thru 36, and Levels I to IX
- Episode 2: When Pigs Fly, we assume it will be in the same format, with 36 Levels and 9 special levels.
- Sandbox: This seems to be a kind of free-for-all where you can build contraptions from a much bigger choice of components. Andrew mentions there are "four more levels" here, but the episode selection screen shows 100 stars. That doesn't quite jive, so we will just have to wait for some more info.
- Unlockable Bonus Episodes Based on the star count and what Andrew says we know there will be bonus levels. There will obviously be some levels that are unlocked by 3-starring a block of levels, but I'm hoping some are unlocked similar to how Golden Eggs are.
- Updates: As is to be expected, Rovio is planing to release regular updates.
Like bacon? More Bad Piggies goodness.
- Bad Piggies Gameplay Revealed
- Bad Piggies Comic (all parts)
- New Teaser: The Hogwatch is on at BadPiggies.com
- Bad Piggies Preparing to Retaliate Against the Angry Birds


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How can I use an earphone to hear TV audio?
Listening to sound with headphones
How to fix
1. Check if there are 3.5m stereo (Audio) terminal and monitor audio output terminal on the product. If none, the model does not provide analogue audio output and earphones cannot be used.
<To set Sound Out speaker to headphone>
1.Menu → Sound → Sound Out Speaker → Headphone(earphone)
2.[Smart] or [Setting] of remote control → [Sound] → [Sound Out Speaker] → [Headphone]
※ Some
models change sound out mode automatically when earphones are connected.


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You may also seek assistance from Legal Aid of Western Ohio. Legal Aid accepts a limited number of clients, and you must meet their qualifications before they will accept your case. Contact Legal Aid at (937) 228-8088.
Show All Answers
The Court also has authority to issue Civil Protection Orders in cases where domestic violence or stalking has occurred.
Be aware that filing the Motion for Continuance does not guarantee your court date will be moved. It is your responsibility to follow-up with the Court to see if the motion was granted.
If your motion is granted, you will be mailed a new hearing date. If your motion is denied, the hearing will go forward as scheduled, even if you are not there. Your Motion must be filed and served on the appropriate parties at least 7 days prior to your hearing.
If you choose to represent yourself and need paperwork, visit the Forms page and choose the paperwork that fits your needs. Visit the Self-Represented Parties page for more information on proceeding pro se.
Please note that Court personnel cannot provide legal advice.
You must also file either a Notice of Intent to Relocate or Notice of Current Address with the Greene County Clerk of Courts. Once you choose and complete the appropriate Notice, you must serve the other party with a copy. Visit the Forms page to access both Notices.
Mediation is confidential, meaning that nothing that is discussed in the mediation meeting can be testified to in court, and the mediator cannot be called as a witness.
If parties reach an agreement, the mediator writes out a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) detailing the terms of the agreement. That MOU is then submitted to the court or to the attorneys for the parties. The parties also receive a copy.
Saving money by not hiring a lawyer now may cost you more than money later on. If you choose to proceed pro se, you will be held to the same rules of law and standards of conduct as an attorney. The Court does not bend the rules for pro se litigants.
It is your right to represent yourself, however you should not do so without considering the potential consequences.


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Tucked like a single-scoop in a sugar cone in one of the shoebox storefronts on the north side of the 12th block on Wilshire, Beachy Cream is the first artisanal ice cream shop for miles.
Tiny and painted like a traditional parlor, Beachy Cream is colored blue, white, and pink, and the walls are lined with posters of ice cream sandwiches, ice cream, and of course – the daily ice cream selection.
Since there is a list of more than 12 ice creams available every day, I recommend the first thing you do is try all of them.
As it happened, I was particularly taken by the toffee-coffee, balsamic strawberry, and roasted banana.
However, it isn't so simple: sure, you can get a bowl or cone of your choice, but the clutch move is to get an ice cream sandwich of your choice.
So, pick an ice cream, then wander over to the cookie display case and pick your bookends. From chocolate chip and sugar to peanut butter or vegan, all are fresh and have achieved the perfect 70-30 of soft-crisp.
And the best part? They don't have to be the same. I went for toffee-coffee and chocolate chip.
In addition to a beautiful array of made-daily ice creams, Beachy Cream also serves classic beach fare such as hot dogs and family-recipe chili. Another fun find is the homage for the love of salty-sweet; Beachy Cream offers the option of having your hot dog on a rockenwagner pretzel bun, or your scoop of ice cream on a pretzel cone.
Pretzel cone? Yep, I said it – and you should get it. About the same size and thickness of a sugar cone (okay maybe a bit thicker) and sprinkled with salt, you can only dream and drool what this must taste like. That salty-sweet crunch alongside a cool, sweet, and creamy scoop of ice cream? I'm surprised these haven't made their way to every other shop in LA!
Tip: Have a dog? Beachy Cream loves your pooch as much as you do, and if you bring your furry friend along they have a dog-friendly mini cup of ice cream waiting just for him/her!
Open 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. daily, Beachy Cream is a welcome addition to Santa Monica where you can get your cravings satisfied day and night.
Type: Ice cream parlor.
Category: Lunch, dinner, dessert.
Company: Ice cream lovers who like to unite.
Bonus Tip: For the best toffee bits I've ever had in ice cream (even better than Heath, See's, Godiva, etc…) get the Coffee Toffee. Or was it Toffee Coffee? Whatever, whichever, it's a cone-match for life.
Beachy Cream
1209 Wilshire Boulevard


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We continue with the section on two column panel and sports cartoonists from Gene Byrnes' Complete Guide To Cartooning (1950). Here are step by step descriptions of the creation of panel cartoons by George Clark and Lichty; as well as an article on Robert L. Ripley and features on sports cartoonists Pap, Howard Brodie and the great Willard Mullen. Following that is a gallery of Pulitzer Prize winning editorial cartoons, features on C. D. Batchelor and Bill Crawford, and a cursory look at how comic books were edited.
Two column panel cartoons are a staple of newspaper comics today, even though the width of the standard column has shrunk. As the size decreased, artists were forced to reduce detail. Daily strips are so small now, it's hard to do anything wider than a medium closeup in every panel. The two column panel cartoon has become the last bastion of cartoons with any kind of detail at all. Here, Gene Byrnes covers a few of the most popular single panel comics from the late 40s.
The Neighbors
George Clark was born in Oklahoma. He began drawing at a very young age, and by 16 years old, his cartoons were appearing in the Daily Oklahoman. His first syndicated cartoon was "Side Glances", and in 1939, he created the one panel comic he is best known for, "The Neighbors". Clark's gags were inspired by quiet observation of people in soda fountains and railroad stations. He would photograph situations, street scenes and expressions to incorporate into his drawings. The family in the comic was loosely based on his own wife and children.
He would create all of his comics for a week in one marathon session. He wrote, "It takes me at least six hours to warm up. I sit there trying to work and wondering what I've been doing all these years that it should still come so hard to me." When the ideas started flowing, he would work nonstop for up to 12 hours straight to complete the six cartoons for the week. He commented on the grueling process by saying, "When I'm trying to think of ideas for cartoons and they won't come, I think it would be wonderful to paint landscapes, with no gags in them."
Grin & Bear It
George Lichty was one of the most famous and highly paid one panel cartoonists in the newspapers. He created the cartoon, "Grin And Bear It" in 1932, and it ran every day for many decades. When asked to what he attributed the popularity of his wonderful lummoxes with names like "Bascomb Belchmore" and "Senator Snort", he replied, "From little acorns mighty oafs grow."
When newspaper comics were at their zenith, whole pages were sometimes devoted to a single comic. Other comics would be half pages. Interspersed throughout the comics pages were quarter and third page single panels that depicted scenes and panoramas filled with gags. Today, each comic is so small, it's lucky if it can put across a single gag. A lot of the richness and depth of view has been lost.
Believe It Or Not
Robert Ripley was unique among cartoonists, because he truly lived his strip. Ripley travelled the world in search of the odd and unusual, which he featured in his daily newspaper comic. He passed away in 1949 at 56 years of age.
Thomas "Pap" Paprocki was referred to as the "Rembrandt of the sports pages". Born in 1902, he began his artistic endeavors at age nine, when he took painting lessons from an artist near his home in New York. A gifted athelete, it was natural that he would gravitate to being a sports cartoonist. In 1932, he began working for the Associated Press, where his column and drawings ran for over three decades. Check out the meticulous planning he put into his work.
Howard Brodie worked as a sports cartoonist for the San Francisco Chronicle. During WWII, he became a combat correspondent, creating illustrations of GIs in action that made a huge impact on readers stateside. He was a decorated veteran, and also served as a combat artist in Korea and Viet Nam. In the 50s and 60s became a courtroom artist, famous for his ability to capture the drama and detail of the proceedings in his quick powerful sketches.
Willard Mullin has been featured in this blog before in reference to his work on the Famous Artists Cartooning Course. He grew up in Los Angeles, but like most newspaper cartoonists of his era, he moved to New York in 1934. He worked for the New York World Telegram for over thirty years, where he created the iconic caricature of the Brooklyn Dodgers, the "Brooklyn Bum". Mullin eventually became a respected illustrator for Time, Life, and The Saturday Evening Post. Although sports cartooning is pretty much a dead artform, Mullin's work is timeless and will live on long after the game has ended.
By C. D. Batchelor
Clarence Daniel Batchelor started as a staff cartoonist at the Kansas City Star. He worked as a freelance illustrator for a time before joining the New York Daily News in 1931. He worked there for 38 years as an editorial cartoonist, He won the Pulitzer Prize in 1937 for the accompanying cartoon of a young man labelled "Any European Youth" being propositioned by a skull faced whore representing war, captioned… "Come on in, I'll treat you right! I used to know your Daddy."
As I went to Google to research this blurb on editorial cartoonist Bill Crawford was a master of the medium. He was awarded the National Cartoonists Society awards for best editorial cartoon of 1956, 1957, 1958 and 1966; he was awarded the Silver T-Square Award in 1977; and he served as president of the organization in 1960. His cartoons first appeared in the Newark News, and later were syndicated to over 700 newspapers around the country.
By Whitney Ellsworth
Whitney Ellsworth started out as an assistant artist at King Features, working on strips like Dumb Dora and Tilly the Toiler. He was chief editor at DC Comics during the golden age of Superman, Batman, The Spectre, and The Green Arrow- but Superman was the series he was most closely involved in. Ellsworth wrote many of the story outlines for the comic books, and in the early 50s, he wrote the pilot episode of the Superman TV serial, Superman Meets The Mole Men. He retired in 1970.
It's interesting to compare the editorial script to the finished artwork provided here. The only thing the artist used was the basic situations, a few details and the dialogue. The staging of the panels and the pacing of the action from panel to panel had to be completely reworked to function visually. It's surprising that Byrnes gives this section on comic books such short shrift. Ellsworth focuses on the technical and editorial aspects of the comic book business, and barely mentions the artists who actually create them. Perhaps if Byrnes had gotten Joe Shuster, Bob Kane or Jack Kirby to write this section, it would have been a different story.
Many thanks to Marc Crisafulli and David King for sharing this great book with us.
Stephen Worth
Animation Resources
This posting is part of the online Encyclopedia of Cartooning under the subject heading, Newspaper Comics.


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Sovereign Debt Crisis Conference
Saturday March 16th, 2013
Le Meridien Hotel Philadelphia
Many readers who are not "traders" would like a conference outlining the real Sovereign Debt Crisis, how do we survive such an event based upon past experiences, and what are the implications going forward? We will be reviewing the debt levels of all major countries and show how the capital flows are the key to understanding the market trends. So while the Dollar and Dow Bears keep preaching the end is near, it is a question of TIME. Both Europe and Japan will go first and this will more likely than not send the dollar higher as capital flees the crisis zones first. Only after Europe and Japan go into crisis, then the United States will follow.
The last time government went into such an economic meltdown where virtually every government permanently defaulted on their national debts wiping out bondholders, was 1931. That is what made the Great Depression – the USA did not default. The dollar was driven to record highs that caused politicians to adopt protectionism. Today, we see people trying to block immigrants everywhere. Herbert Hoover wrote in his memoirs that capital flows rushed from one currency to another. This is again taking place. The Sovereign Debt Crisis began in Greece, spread to Portugal, Spain, Italy, and is now hitting France. Japan likewise is in a crisis and the collapse in the yen has been driving capital into the USA that has puched up the Dow Jones Industrials.
This will be the MOST IMPORTANT conference in explaining how the world economy actually functions. Unless you understand how capital really moves, you will not survive. Everything you thought might take place based upon the Dollar Bears, had better be reviewed objectively if you hope to survive. There was NO investment that withstood the test of time even during the Great Depression. So if you think the PUBLIC sector will be the flight to quality, you better take a closer look at this chart of the collapse in the bond markets with the 1931 Sovereign Debt Crisis.
Governments in the West are in serious economic trouble. They are raising the costs of just about everything including taxes and various licensing fees trying to hold on to current power. They are also hunting down what they call the "rich" that is really anyone with assets. They are tracking everything and some countries even have people watching gold stores, jewelers, and high end clothing stores all looking for cash.
Americans have been thrown out of public funds and foreign banks since December 2011 US passed legislation that authorized the confiscation of any foreign firm who fails to report what Americans are doing overseas. The IRS is sending letters to Canadians who had one American parent informing them that they should have been paying taxes in the US all their life. These actions are DEFLATIONARY causing capital to contract and the VELOCITY of money to decline. While the travel form still asks are you carrying more than $10,000 when moving in and out of the country, the Patriot Act lowered that number to $3,000 for bank wires. Anyone sending a wire to a US individual must support their birth date and personal details.
Meanwhile, like a drug addict, government is beholding to the banks and paying endless flows of interest. They cannot see that this debt bubble is collapsing and the more aggressive they become to collect revenue, the less they will obtain. We are facing an economic implosion that is as significant to civilization posing the greatest threat since the fall of Rome.
We will look what government refuses to see, listen to, or talk about. We will look at the debt of major countries and provide the ONLY rational solution to the crisis. We have to find a way to steer this run away nightmare into the center door to survive. Whatever government has done wrong, they have done. Even those who work for government perhaps will suffer the greatest as their pensions vaporize. Even companies and semi-public entities are looking for any excuse to fire people that are getting close to retirement.
As jobs vanish, those people who are surviving in places like Greece, Spain and Italy, are those who are embracing entrepreneurship. Reliance on government or even big companies who promised pensions, is shifting to those who can stand on their own two feet. We can stop this debt crisis if government were to listen. But the likelihood of that is nil. We have government by crisis today void of long-term planning. This economic chaos may fulfill our computer forecasts made back 1995 that by 2016, we will have an opportunity for the rise of a Economic Fiscal Conservative THIRD PARTY for the difference between Republican and Democrats is not that stark anymore from an economic perspective.
Seats will be just $200 each. Sorry – but Hotels are not free.


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2 uMy son, vif you receive my words
and treasure up my commandments with you,
2 making your ear attentive to wisdom
and inclining your heart to understanding;
3 yes, if you call out for insight
and raise your voice wfor understanding,
4 if you seek it like xsilver
and search for it as for yhidden treasures,
5 then zyou will understand the fear of the Lord
and find the knowledge of God.
6 For athe Lord gives wisdom;
from his mouth come knowledge and understanding;
7 he stores up sound wisdom for the upright;
he is ba shield to those who cwalk in integrity,
8 guarding the paths of justice
and dwatching over the way of his esaints.
9 fThen you will understand grighteousness and justice
and equity, every good path;
10 for wisdom will come into your heart,
and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul;
11 hdiscretion will iwatch over you,
understanding will guard you,
12 delivering you from the way of evil,
from men of perverted speech,
13 who forsake the paths of uprightness
to jwalk in the ways of darkness,
14 who krejoice in doing evil
and ldelight in the perverseness of evil,
15 men whose mpaths are crooked,
nand who are odevious in their ways.
16 So pyou will be delivered from the forbidden1 woman,
from qthe adulteress2 with rher smooth words,
17 who forsakes sthe companion of her youth
and forgets tthe covenant of her God;
18 ufor her house sinks down to death,
and her paths to the departed;3
19 none who go to her come back,
nor do they regain the paths of life.
20 So you will walk in the way of the good
and keep to the paths of the righteous.
21 For the upright vwill inhabit the land,
and those with integrity will remain in it,
22 but the wicked will be wcut off from the land,
and the treacherous will be xrooted out of it.
About English Standard VersionThe English Standard Version™ is founded on the conviction that the words of the Bible are the very words of God. And because the words themselves—not just the thoughts or ideas—are inspired by God, each word must be translated with the greatest precision and accuracy. As Jesus Himself stressed, "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God" (Matt. 4:4). This passion for God's Word is the driving force behind the translation of the ESV™ Bible. The English Standard Version™ does not try to "improve" on the original in light of today's culture or by using trendy language. Instead, the utmost care has been taken to express God's Word in English that most closely captures the meaning of the original, with understandability, beauty, and impact. |
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The Classic Reference Edition, English Standard Version® (ESV®)
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version ESV Text Edition (2016) The ESV text may be quoted (in written, visual, or electronic form) up to and inclusive of five hundred (500) verses without express written permission of the publisher, providing that the verses quoted do not amount to a complete book of the Bible nor do the verses quoted account for twenty-five (25%) percent or more of the total text of the work in which they are quoted. The ESV text may be quoted for audio use (audio cassettes, CD's, audio television) up to five hundred (500) verses without express written permission of the publisher providing that the verses quoted do not amount to a complete book of the Bible nor do the verses quoted account for twenty-five (25%) percent or more the total text of the work in which they are quoted. Notice of copyright must appear as follows on the title page or copyright page of printed works quoting from the ESV, or in a corresponding location when the ESV is quoted in other media: "Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved." When more than one translation is quoted in printed works or another media, the foregoing notice of copyright should begin as follows: "Unless Otherwise indicated, all Scriptures are from ... [etc.]", or, "Scripture quotations marked ESV are from ... [etc.]." The "ESV" and "English Standard Version" are registered trademarks of Good News Publishers. Use of either trademark beyond the use described in this Permission Notice requires the permission of Good News Publishers. When quotations from the ESV text are used in non-saleable media, such as church bulletins, orders of services, posters, transparencies, or similar media, a complete copyright notice is not required, but the initials (ESV) must appear at the end of a quotation. Publication of any commentary or other Biblical reference work produced for commercial sale that uses the English Standard Version must include written permission for the use of the ESV text. Permission requests that exceed the above guidelines must be directed to: Good News Publishers, Attn: Bible Rights, 1300 Crescent Street, Wheaton, Ill. 60187. Permission requests for use within the UK and EU that exceed the above guidelines must be directed to: HarperCollins Religious, 77-85 Fulham Palace Road, Hammersmith, London, W6 8JB, England.
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Support Info | esv |


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Before buying, we recommend you to order
a sample of selected pattern.
Wallpaper for an individual dimension? For us, this is not a problem. Click on the ORDER FREE VISUALIZATION and refill all data along with the size of the wall and the number of the article, which interests you, and our team will prepare a free visualization for you with the valuation.
The standard wallpaper pattern measures 400 x 300 cm and is sold in rolls of 100 x 300 cm. We prepare wallpapers to the individual size of the customer's wall. In addition, we offer a wide range of additional changes to graphic designs. Changing the color of the pattern, mirror images, changing the size, color or arrangement of a given element in the pattern is not a problem for us. In a word, we will adjust the pattern to the dreams of each of our clients.
Rosella Art. 470 31 2102
Rosella Art. 470 32 2102
Rosella Art. 470 33 2102


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Alpina trekking novelties at the OutDoor Show 2013
At the OutDoor, taking place in Friedrichshafen from 11 to 14 July 2013, Alpina presented the latest trekking boots collection and novelties. At the 20th edition of the trade fair, over 900 exhibitors from 42 countries, including the market leaders, presented themselves to their colleagues in the industry. OutDoor, the leading trade show absolutely sets footwear trends for the 2014 outdoor season.
ALPINA has innovatively applied its vast knowledge of skiing gear of champions to create outdoor boots that are evenly advanced and stubborn when it comes to reaching the top. They're built from first-class technical solutions and durable materials so they make hard work look easy. This walking gear constantly provides stability, ensures comfort, repels water, and helps ventilate the foot. Trekking boots by ALPINA are able to transport their wearer everywhere, no matter how steep and how high the goal is.
One of the latets Alpina innovations VCP (Volume Control Plate), which allows for precise adaptation of the volume independently for the left and right foot, is now applied on almost every single Alpina backpacking, hiking and winter trekking boots. For the 2014 season, Alpina are making their products even more attractive through even greater functionality and generous comfort.
In upcoming outdoor boots collection special attention is given to the development and design of new women's backpacking and hiking boots. The message for the coming season is clear: Life can be so colourful! The dominant colours in the new collection for women include bright green, »lavender purple« and »ice blue«.
New Alpina Approach trekking shoes deliver speed of movement, a lightweight construction, comfortable fit and superior protection and enables you to conquer demanding, technical terrains. Alpina presented new, bold colours of the new Approach model »Royal.«


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Privacy Policy
The site is intended to provide you with information about the programs and services offered by the Alberta Motor Vehicle Industry Council. We are committed to providing our visitors with a website that respects their privacy. This page summarizes the privacy policy and practices on the Alberta Motor Vehicle Industry Council.
Links to other websites
This site contains links to other sites. We are not responsible for the content and the privacy practices of other sites and encourage you to read the privacy policy of each site that you visit before proceeding further.
Information collected and stored automatically
The Alberta Motor Vehicle Industry Council employs software programs to monitor network traffic and to identify unauthorized attempts to replace or change information, or otherwise cause damage. The software logs computer information and navigation and click-stream data of the computer that has contacted our server. We make no attempts to link this information with the identity of individuals visiting our site unless an attempt to damage the site is detected.
Logged information is not disclosed outside of the Alberta Motor Vehicle Industry Council personnel or those under contract to conduct maintenance to web server components. The logs are permanently archived as raw research material. The logs may not be accessed, opted out, or changed by server users.
Some websites store information in a small text file, called a "cookie," on your hard disk.
Cookies contain information about you and your preferences (e.g., a record of which pages within the site you visited) to help the site customize the view for you the next time you visit.
Only the information that you provide, or the choices you make while visiting a website, can be stored in a cookie. For example, the site cannot determine your email name unless you choose to provide it.
Allowing a website to create a cookie does not give that or any other site access to the rest of your computer, and only the site that created the cookie can read it.
Cookies can be enabled/disabled by selecting Tools -> Internet Options. Select the Security tab and then select Custom Level. The cookie settings will be displayed in the Security Settings dialog box.
This website does not use cookies or any other means of collecting information about you or your computer without your knowledge.
Personal information collected through this website
We do not automatically gather any personal information from you, such as your name, phone number, email, or address. If you send us email or use our feedback form to contact us, you will be providing us with some personal information including your name, email and perhaps information about your personal circumstances. This information is only used to process and respond to your question or comment, and is collected in compliance with Section 33 (c) of the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (FOIP). This information is not disclosed except to authorized personnel who need it to answer your question.
The personal information you submit is secure once it reaches the Alberta Motor Vehicle Industry Council server. However, it may not be secure in transit between your computer and the server. If you prefer to raise a comment or question in person please contact one of the following FOIP Access and Privacy Advisors:
Technical Support
9945 50 St. Suite 303
Edmonton, AB T6A 0L4
View the Government of Alberta's Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (FOIP).


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Correspondence, 1916-47
English (some Icelandic)
Paul P. Anspach, 1917, 32-40
Board of Foreign Missions, 1923-28
Personal, 1930-39
Subject Files, 1917-70
American President Lines, 1941
Annual Field Reports, 1917-37
Articles from periodicals, c. 1939
Applications and Permits
Baggage claims and shipping receipts, 1941
Bank Accounts and General Receipts
Japan Lutheran Theological College and Seminary, 1970
Baptism Record Book, 1918-30
Bills, receipts, financial statements, 1932-52
Blueprints of a church, n.d.
Budgets, 1917-25
Business cards
Church matters (English language)
Church matters (Japanese language)
Conference of Fellowship of Christian Missionaries in Japan, 1940
Convention of Japan Lutheran Church, 1937
Steinun Johannesdottir Hayes Biography, c. 1950
Inventory of House, 1938
Japan Lutheran Church, Committee for Promotion of Self Support, c. 1935
Japan Lutheran Church Rules and Regulations, n.d.
Japanese Language documents, n.d.
Japanese Language publications
Japanese Language Service Book, 1929, 1940
Japanese Students Christian Association in North America, 1937-39
East Kobe Lutheran Church, c. 1930-35
West Kobe Lutheran Church, c. 1928-40
Kobe Union Church Building Project, 1925-37
Lake Nojiri Summer Resort, 1921-40
Ledger Book, 1937-39
Missionaries Mutual Aid Association of Japan, 1915, 1927
National Christian Council Bulletin, 1938-40
National Lutheran Council News Bureau, 1929, 31-39
Notes, handwritten or typed
Newspaper articles (Japanese and English)
Newspaper articles: Thorlaksson's return to Japan for Expo '70, 1970
Pan-American Japanese Christian Congress, 1939
Record Books on Church Members (?)(Japanese), c. 1919-20
Sermons in Japanese, 1925-34
Service Book, handwritten in Japanese, n.d.
Student Volunteer Movement 11th Convention, Buffalo, 12/31-1/32
Sunrays (Bible lesson cards), 1905
Thorlaksson, Biographical Sketch, c. 1972
Tsuboike (lawyer), n.d.
J.M.T. Winther Memorial Service, 1970
Writings, articles, addresses, 1917-40
Japan Lutheran Mission
Additional Note
1916-21, 29-37
Japanese Language (the history of a city ?)
New Testament (Icelandic), 1903
Martin Luther (Icelandic), 1883
Prayer Book (Icelandic), 1918
Service Book (Japanese), 1916
Services of Song for Christmas and Flower Sunday, n.d.
Stanley's Expedition (2 in Icelandic), 1890, 1891
Sumarian Tablets in the Imperial University, Kyoto, 1928
Colegrove, Kenneth: reprints of series of articles, 1929-41
Foreign Missions Conference Journals, 1919-22
Handbook of Foreign Missions, Lutheran Church, 1921, 29, 39, 40
Japan Lutheran Bulletin, 1/37 (3 copies)
Japanese language periodical
Rules for Missionaries, Lutheran Church, Japan, 1920, 23
Selkirk Weekly Record, "Japan in Agony", 9/21/23
Single copies: Bjarmi, 1931; Buddhist Missionen, 1926; The Christian Graphic, 1934
Tanker Tog Toner, 1932-37
Tokyo Gazette; 8/37, 2/39, 5/40
Jon Bjarnason Academy, 1931
Foreign Languages in Japan, 1929
Freemasonry in Japan, 1941
Grace Cathedral, San Francisco (poems), n.d.
The Icelandic Lutheran Synod, 1885-1935
Japanese Language pamphlets
1 plaster relief of Martin Luther
1 copper negative, Japanese women
1 box glass negatives: pictures of the life of Christ (some with Japanese captions)
1 box glass negatives: Japanese & English language hymns (?)
1 printing block for a Japanese hymn
Card Index, c. 1930
Names, addresses and other information; Japanese language
Additional Note
S.O. Thorlakkson (identified in small group shots), ca. 1926
West Kobe Lutheran Church, 1935
Groups of people, Meetings, identified, ca. 1919-40
Places, Churches, identified, ca. 1920's
Mounted photographs, identified, dated
Individuals, small groups, unidentified, n.d.
Groups, Meetings, unidentified, n.d.
Places, Churches, unidentified, n.d.
Rural and farm scenes, unidentified, n.d.
Japanese Destroyer, caption in Japanese, n.d.
Negatives, unidentified, n.d.
Professional published sets: The sets have been broken and are not in order, though numbered. The sets are accompanied by lists with numbered captions corresponding to numbers on the photographs. Color tinted.
Professional published set: Yusaki and Shirahama Spa
Additional Note
Lutheran Church, West Kobe, ca. 1935
Kobe, color tinted
Kyushu Grakuin
Janice James School
Female missionaries and missions (Japan, Africa, India)
Leper Hospital of the Resurrection of Hope
Nagoya, some color tinted
Tokyo, some color tinted
Tokyo Higher Commercial School, color tinted
Biwako, color tinted
Various Japanese scenes, English captions, color tinted
Hakone, color tinted
Mt. Fugi, some color tinted
Single cards of various places, some color tinted
Churches, identified in Japanese
Various scenes identified in Japanese, some color tinted
Korea (Keijo), identified in English, color tinted
Scenes of Korea with English captions
C.P.S.S. Empress of Asia
Single cards: Chicago, Vancouver B.C., Iceland (?)
Empty envelopes for photographs and postcards
Postcards with correspondence, various scenes and dates, in Japanese and English


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Related links:
Radio Signals of Saturn
Radio signals are a sign of activity within the magnetosphere. There are two kinds of waves in the Saturn environment; Saturn Kilometric Radiation (SKR), and Saturn Electrostatic Discharges (SED).
It has been shown that SKR is related to the effects of the solar wind on Saturn. It is thought that SKR could be generated when plasma enters the magnetosphere. SKR, like AKR in the Earth's environment is also a sign of particles being forced into the zone where auroras are formed.
SED are radio noises which happen when there is lightning in the atmosphere. These are different from whistler waves, which also come from lightning in the atmosphere


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OCEAN CITY –The 14th Ocean City Library closed its doors this week, and although an official date has not been set for the opening of the new 100th Street location, the transition to the new library has begun as the books left the 14th Street location this week.
"Forty years are coming to an end today," said branch manager Andrea Schlottman on Wednesday. "We are closing our full services as of 6 p.m."
The full service use of the library officially ended at the downtown location on Wednesday, marking the beginning of the move to the new library.
"We are not announcing an opening date at this point out of fear that something goes wrong and everyone will be disappointed," said Schlottman, who anticipates an opening date between March 17 and 20.
The new library at 100th Street was originally slated to be open in January, but unexpected delays and inevitable setbacks pushed back that target date.
Schlottman reported that all of the books moved to their new location this week, as library officials and workers tie up loose ends on the new building.
The 14th Street branch will be closed for full service, but will remain open from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. each day through at least next week for minimal services.
"We will have very minimal service from 10 to 1," Schlottman said. "The doors will actually be locked, but from 10 to 1 people who have called about a book they ordered coming in or who have a question can knock on the door and someone will be available to help them."
The book drop collection box will be available at all times. In the interim, library customers are being encouraged to use the branch libraries in Ocean Pines and Berlin.
The closing of the 14th Street branch, which has been serving Ocean City, particularly the downtown segment, for over 40 years, may be bittersweet for some, but the excitement of the new facility, the expanded space, and the improved technology are dissuading any feelings of sadness.
"I've worked here for 24 years and it is bittersweet but I'm sure once I get up there to that shiny new building the bittersweet part will fade away," said Schlottman.
The 5,000-square-foot 14th Street location often grew cramped in the summer, as hospitality workers converted the space into a quasi-computer lab. Waiting lines for computers were a frequent occurrence at the 14th Street branch, a problem that library staff hopes to avoid in the new tech-savvy building. The new library features three computer areas with over 30 public access computers.


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If you already have a NASA/NDC account
NASA employees, support service contractors, and affiliates with NASA accounts may use their NDC accounts to register to DASHlink. This is the username/password you use to login to your NASA computers. Some centers do not have NDC accounts yet, in which case you may want to consider using OpenID (the user privileges are the same). An account profile that you can fill out will automatically be created when you login with your NDC credentials here, no additional approvals required.Use Open ID (what's this?)
Non-NASA users can utilize OpenID to login to DASHlink. OpenID allows you to utilize an email account username/password that you already own (gmail, yahoo, aol) to login to DASHlink, rather than creating a new username/password combination for the site. If you don't have any of those accounts, you can create a verisign account instead.When you click your preferred provider below, you will be prompted to enter your credentials for that site and information about your research interests and connection to NASA (please be thorough, this helps hasten our approval process). DASHlink will then generate an email to that account. You must follow the link in the email to verify your identity (check your spam filters if you don't receive it, or use the Contact Us feature to let us know). Your application will then enter our approval process. Once approved (usually within 48 hours), you'll receive email verification letting you know.


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US employers add 209K jobs in July, black unemployment rate rises slightly
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. employers extended their solid hiring into July by adding 209,000 jobs. It was the sixth straight month of job growth above 200,000, evidence that businesses are gradually shedding the caution that had marked the 5-year-old recovery...
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. employers extended their solid hiring into July by adding 209,000 jobs. It was the sixth straight month of job growth above 200,000, evidence that businesses are gradually shedding the caution that had marked the 5-year-old recovery.
Still, July's gain was less than in the previous three months and probably wasn't strong enough to intensify fears that the Federal Reserve will soon raise interest rates to curb inflation.
In early trading Friday morning, stock averages were mixed. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note fell, suggesting less concern about a Fed rate increase.
The unemployment rate ticked up in July to 6.2 percent from 6.1 percent as more Americans started looking for work. Most didn't find jobs, but the increase suggests that they're more optimistic about their prospects. The jobless aren't counted as unemployed unless they're actively seeking work.
For African-Americans, the unemployment rate rose slightly to 11.4 percent, up from 10.7 percent in June.
Average job gains over the past six months reached 244,000 in July, the best such average in eight years.
"Job growth slowed in July after heated gains in the past three months," Sal Guatieri, senior economist at BMO Capital Markets, noted in a research note. "But hiring trends remain solid, reflecting a strengthening economy."
The pickup in hiring has yet to translate into larger paychecks for most Americans, a key factor that has hobbled the recovery. In July, average hourly earnings ticked up just a penny to $24.45. That's just 2 percent higher than it was 12 months earlier and is slightly below current inflation of 2.1 percent. In a healthy economy, wages before inflation would rise 3.5 percent to 4 percent annually.
Weak pay gains are restraining the housing market, usually a key driver of growth. A measure of signed contracts to buy homes slipped in June, the National Association of Realtors said this week. That suggests that home sales will decline in coming months.
The weak pay growth suggests that "the labor market still has far to go before it is fully healed," Michael Dolega, senior economist at TD Economics, wrote in a note to clients. "Lack of wage gains leaves the Fed with a strong case for keeping rates low for the next several quarters."
Still, Friday's report echoes other data that point to an improving economy. Growth accelerated during the April-June quarter, the government said Wednesday, after contracting sharply in the first three months of the year. Last quarter's bounce-back assuaged fears that growth was too weak to support this year's rapid hiring.
And on Friday, the government said consumer spending and income picked up in June.
Investors remain anxious about whether the broad economic gains will lead the Fed to raise its benchmark short-term rate sooner than expected. Such fears likely contributed to Thursday's 317-point plunge in the Dow Jones industrial average — its worst day since February.
In addition to reporting July's solid gain, the government on Friday revised up its estimate of the job increases in May and June by a combined 15,000.
Higher-paying jobs showed strong increases in July. Manufacturing added 28,000 jobs, the most in eight months. Construction added 22,000 and financial services 7,000, its fourth straight gain.
In the April-June quarter, the economy expanded at a seasonally adjusted 4 percent annual rate after a steep 2.1 percent contraction in the first quarter. Americans stepped up their spending, particularly on autos, furniture and other big-ticket items. Businesses also spent more on plants, office buildings and equipment.
Americans are also gradually gaining confidence in the economy, which means spending could accelerate in coming months. The Conference Board's consumer confidence index jumped to its highest level in nearly seven years in July.
AP Economics Writer Paul Wiseman contributed to this report.
Contact Chris Rugaber on Twitter
Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.


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Public Safety and Security Committee
SUMMARY: This act requires the Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection (DESPP) to establish an emergency alert system to help law enforcement agencies (1) apprehend anyone suspected of killing or seriously injuring a peace officer or (2) locate a missing peace officer. (The system is commonly known as "Blue Alert"—see BACKGROUND. )
DESPP must develop and implement policies and procedures for operating and administering the system. These include procedures governing requests by law enforcement agencies to activate the system and guidelines to ensure that the dissemination of information does not (1) compromise the investigation of the offense or disappearance or (2) violate the privacy of the peace officer who is the subject of the alert or the officer's next-of-kin.
The act also specifies when DESPP may activate the system.
EFFECTIVE DATE: October 1, 2013
DESPP may activate the Blue Alert system only if it determines, after consulting with the law enforcement agency requesting activation, that:
1. a peace officer (a) was assaulted and killed or seriously injured, or was assaulted with a deadly weapon, by a suspect who has not been apprehended and poses an imminent threat to the public or other peace officers or (b) is missing while performing his or her duties under circumstances warranting concern for his or her safety;
2. sufficient descriptive information is available to disseminate to the public about the (a) suspect or his or her vehicle or other means of escape or (b) circumstances of the peace officer's disappearance; and
3. disseminating the information could help apprehend the suspect, locate the missing officer, or avoid injury to another person.
Peace Officers
By law "peace officers" are state or local police officers, Division of Criminal Justice inspectors, state marshals exercising statutory authority, judicial marshals performing their duties, conservation officers or special conservation officers, constables who perform criminal law enforcement duties, appointed special policemen, adult probation officers, Department of Correction officials authorized to make arrests in a correctional institution or facility, investigators in the State Treasurer's Office, and federal narcotics agents (CGS § 53a-3).
Deadly Weapon
A "deadly weapon" is a weapon, whether loaded or unloaded, from which a shot may be discharged, or a switchblade knife, gravity knife, billy, blackjack, bludgeon, or metal knuckles (CGS § 53a-3).
Blue Alerts
Blue Alerts are similar to AMBER Alerts, but have a different purpose. Instead of being used to alert the public about missing or endangered children, Blue Alerts are issued when a law enforcement officer has been killed, seriously injured, or missing and a suspect, considered an imminent threat, is at large. Blue Alerts notify the public of the possible danger to the officer and solicit its assistance in locating him or her and apprehending the suspect.
OLR Tracking: VR: SP: TA: RO


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The Georgia Department of Human Resources hosts the Georgia Vital Records office. They have a great website (http://health.state.ga.us/programs/vitalrecords) with information on how to request the records they provide.
- Birth - $15; state; 1919 to present; certificate provided
- Death - $15; state or county; 1919 to present; certificate provided
- Marriage - $10; state, 1952 to 1996; county, pre-1952 & post-1996; license (not application) provided
- Divorce - $10; state, search & confirmation only, no records provided; county, contact superior court provides record
For each record, the website provides detailed information on what information will be provided, who can request it and what information is required to complete your request. For birth and death marriages, there is an online form that requesters can fill out and print in order to ensure that the correct information has been provided.
Requests can be placed via mail or in person at the Vital Records office in Atlanta. Payment methods include money orders or certified checks for mail requests, or cash for in person requests. Response times for requests vary, with records being received as quickly as two weeks and as slowly as a month and a half.
Today, I mailed off for the marriage license of my GG-Grandparents, Leveret Waters and Louise Smith. I'm eagerly awaiting it's delivery.


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Clicks,Tweets and Likes: What is a Small Business to Measure?
Title of Post: Clicks, Tweets and Likes: What is a Small Business to Measure? Organisation Name: Augies Gourmet Ice Pops Industry: Speciality Food Name of Contact : Janet Dimond, Owner Web references: Forbes, Inc., The Small Business Expert Academy , Sound Cloud, Wikipedia, Buffer, Investopedia, Social Times, Vimeo, YouTube, The Toronto Star, Hootesuite, Google images, CMO Survey, Wiktionary, Twitter, Business Dictionary, The reason(s)… Read more »