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Creating an art exhibit that captures the complexity of changes in how gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, queer and intersex people are viewed is no small challenge. Especially when it is displayed at a rabbinical seminary, where there is a stricter definition of what is considered appropriate than there would be at, say, a Cheslea gallery. But the work exhibited in the new show "The Sexuality Spectrum," at the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, the Reform movement seminary that lies on the seam between Manhattan's East and West Village, manages to do just that.
The show contains art and artifacts — from paintings to installations, photographs, fiber art and ephemera — that reflect the way sexuality has been viewed in American culture. Most of the works focus on the "otherness" of LBTQI people within the Jewish community, in Jewish texts and traditions, and in the overall culture. The show includes work by prominent artists Mark Podwal, Archie Rand and Joan Snyder, and by Judy Chicago, whose "Pansy Crucifixion" shows three men, in agony, trapped inside a pink triangle. "Pansy Crucifixion" has been borrowed from Chicago's "The Holocaust Project." Most of the artists included, however, are not as well known. With this exhibit, "we wanted to address exclusion, isolation, rejection, marginalization, parents who rejected their children who had AIDS and sat shiva when they came out," said Laura Kruger, curator of the HUC-JIR museum in an interview with the Forward.
The idea for "The Sexuality Spectrum" was born of Kruger's anger at conservative reaction to New York State's passage into law in June 2011 of the Marriage Equality Act, she said. Kruger is older than 70 (but demurred to say how many years past) and long married. "The innate fear and loathing that has been inherent in the subject of other-than-heterosexual behavior has been a puzzle to me all my life," she said.
Despite its name, the show doesn't really address the whole spectrum of sexuality — there are few reflections on the experience of being in a male-female couple — but of course the queer experience is rich for artistic mining, and some of the works are extremely powerful. Albert Winn's 1995 photograph "Akedah," for example, shows a man's chest and upper arm, wrapped in the dark leather straps of his tefillin. In the tender inner crook of the man's elbow is a bloodied first-aid bandage You immediately understand that this is where an intravenous line has infused him with anti-HIV medication, and that he feels as vulnerable as Isaac must have when bound by his father to the biblical altar.
Another is Susan Kaplow's "Abomination: Wrestling With Leviticus 18:22," which works with the verse that is traditionally read on Yom Kippur afternoon as well as during the regular Sabbath cycle of Torah readings, prohibiting men from lying with men as they would women. On traditional Jewish burial garments — tachrichim — the artist has printed, in large scale, the page of the Babylonian Talmud in which the rabbis discuss the verse.
Photographer Trix Rosen has documented Kaplow wearing the tachrichim, which consist of pants, undershirt, kittle, bonnet and face covering, all printed with the Talmud's rabbinic conversation. Two large photographs, powerful as artistic midrash, show an anonymous body inside the burial garments, writhing in what appears to be grief; from the back curled in the fetal position. They suggest pictures of a tortured prisoner.
"As soon as I had the garments on, I began to feel all sorts of emotions. I felt trapped and claustrophobic, scared, angry and sad," Kaplow, who is a lesbian, said in an interview with the Forward. "Those feelings started to show through in the photographs. My body and inside those words started to feel like those words are all over my body — toevah, toevah, toevah [abomination, abomination, abomination]. It's like my body is the proof text for the damage these words have done, and are still doing, to many people. This part of the tradition makes me feel not only dead, but dead and buried. There's an invisibility, [a feeling that] you're not even here, you're not really part of us."
A weak aspect of the show is how it is laid out. There is no natural flow or guidance to help the viewer understand the works, which are hung in no obvious order in HUC-JIR's large lobby and in a few smaller galleries off to one side. Art is exhibited alongside such cultural artifacts as movie theater display cards from Barbra Streisand 's 1983 film "Yentl" a Keith Haring sweatshirt from an AIDS dance-a-thon and paper fans produced for Pride Week 2007 at the Church of St. Luke in the Fields showing a photo of two men's hands clasped together.
There are enlarged snapshots of gay-liberation graffiti in Jerusalem, taken by Heddy Abramowitz, and one by Michael Harwood of a Midtown Manhattan street corner, showing the famous Mark Wahlberg underwear ad for Calvin Klein juxtaposed against a "No left turn" sign. But art is more than observation, and the strongest works combine insight with an understanding of Jewish texts and traditions.
Jacqueline Nicholls's paper-cut doilies look like the kind that grandmothers used to line platters. But hers feature language from Gemara, specifically Rabbi Yochanan's projection of an anonymous maiden's prayer that she not cause men to sin. The words are bordered by evocative images of nude — but shamed — women, all of them delicately teased from plain sheets of paper. Nicholls's beautiful work is midrash married to commentary on contemporary culture.
David Wander's "Song of Songs" is another work that is compelling both artistically and Jewishly. The 20 foot-long unfurled scroll is a dreamlike amalgam of visual allusions to the text, which is laid over the imagery. Also worth noting is the show's catalog, which is an educational piece as much as it is a guide to the work on display. It includes eight essays, by Reform movement scholars and a current rabbinical school student, on the evolution in approaches to inclusion of gay and lesbian members of the Reform movement. One is by Rabbi Rachel Adler on ways to understand the Leviticus prohibitions.
It is a curious moment for a show like "The Sexuality Spectrum." To live in New York City, especially in Manhattan or much of Brooklyn, is to live in an admittedly progressive bubble where most — though not all — legal and cultural issues relating to sexual orientation seem to have been resolved. But step outside the area, and things surely feel far different for those who identify as gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, queer or intersex. The works shown in "The Sexuality Spectrum" reflect how it has felt to be oppressed, to be trapped, to be limited by bias against those who identify as LBTQ or I. And it shows that while there may have been a recent change in attitudes, there remains a long way to go.
Debra Nussbaum Cohen is a Forward contributing editor and Haaretz correspondent, and author of "Celebrating Your New Jewish Daughter: Creating Jewish Ways to Welcome Baby Girls into the Covenant" (Jewish Lights).


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Comparative Religion Isn't Just for Academics
An interesting article popped up on the side of The New York Times recently--an article about the lack of knowledge among Americans about religion, including about their own. The article discussed the fact that on average, Americans were only able to correctly answer 50% of the questions on a recent survey by the Pew Research Center on the teachings and history of major world religions.
The first thing that stood out to me was the fact that even after controlling for differing levels of education, atheists, agnostics, Jews, and Mormons answered more questions correctly than all other religious groups. The results gave no explanation for this, but I speculate that perhaps fringe groups are forced to think more about religion since the religion they belong to is not the norm--that for many people in this country their religion is not what differentiates them from the majority, and so religion in general is not a frequent topic of thought or discussion. However, I know that for me, at least, being Jewish is something that differentiates me for other people, and so I spend time thinking about my Judaism and relating it to other religions (this blog is a good example of that.)
What I find particularly interesting about the results of the survey is the lack of knowledge that Americans have about the role religion plays and is allowed to play in regards to governance. While 89% of people knew that a teacher cannot lead a class in prayer, only 36% knew that a school can offer a comparative religion course. To me, a comparative religion course seems innocuous, at worst, and incredibly useful, at best, so it's rather surprising that people expect it not to be allowed. In addition, only 23% of Americans knew that a teacher can read from the Bible as an example of literature in a classroom; that seems to me something that people should be aware of, especially so that people can make sure that there is a line drawn in school between a reading of the Bible as literature and as a holy text.
It worries me how little people in this country seem to know about religion. I'm no expert, but I think it is important to understand at least some basic things about other people's religious beliefs, especially when dealing with politics. The recent Park51 fiasco exemplifies the visceral reactions people have in relation to religion, and this survey shows how those reactions are very often based on little knowledge or facts. Consequently, often instead of having educated discussion, people simply devolve into having shouting matches--and nothing ends up getting fixed.
A recent opinion piece in The Washington Post makes a really good point about this, and suggests at least a partial solution: the author argues that all political candidates should be forced and expected to talk about their respective religious beliefs, and how their beliefs will affect them as political leaders. In an age when people know very little about each other's religions, including their own political leaders (you've all probably heard about Obama the Muslim), the American people should try to change that and not leave their knowledge of their political leader's religious views up to chance--it's too much of a risk. Asking candidates about their political views may not change the fact that Americans are not particularly educated about religion, but I believe that doing so could prevent Americans from buying into unfounded religious claims about their political leaders. Moreover, it has the potential to encourage dialogue predicated on the idea of increasing our knowledge about religion rather than the assumption that we all know everything, which, the survey shows, is definitely untrue.
We live in a multicultural world full of different religions--it's time to openly talk about religions, their differences and their nuances, rather than ignoring them, so that people can actually become knowledgeable. Religion has a huge effect on people's lives, and I believe that just as part of being an educated citizen is having an understanding of the demographics of our country and the ideals it was founded on, so too should be having at least a basic understanding of religion and the role it plays in this country and its people's lives. Doing so has the potential to make us all more tolerant and understanding citizens.


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Black Jack (21) Game
Hey everyone, I love the site/forum. I just started doing C++ after learning C a long long long time ago (back when Communists had more of a chance of running the country than Democrats) and now i'm back into it. The first thing i'm trying to do is make a blackjack game. I've yet to try the FAQ for the random number generator, but i'll suppose it works.
The basic idea of the program is to make a game of 21. Two variables, your hand and the dealers. You can hit or stay. This is the most basic version. Without splitting, suits are not needed. So I want to generate two begining numbers for the persons hand. They can see this variable. Also, two numbers for the dealer's invisable hand (except when they win and show it).
This seems simple in words, but for realistic sake, is it possible to make it so it pulls from a 'deck' of 52. So when one 4 is pulled, there is only 3 more to pull. It's not required at all, but for the sake of argument.
Next hump is aces. Aces can be a 1 or an 11. I am guessing that when the random number generates a 1 (Ace) I can output somthing along the lines of "You drew an Ace. Should it be a 1 or an 11". Then just add to the variable. Simple. But is there an easier way? And could it be possible to change it at a later time? (Like if the person has 4 and an ace. Declaring it an 11, he gets a 15. If he draws and gets a 7 or higher he busts. But he should be able to make it a 1)
That is the basic idea. If you love me so very much, and my Russian heratige (or not) my other post explains the optional parts i'm trying to add. Thanks anyways
-G. Matlin, Rabidpunk


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When consumers say they're fed up with the artificial additives in foods, chances are, they're talking about dyes that are linked to behavioral problems and fake flavors that have a tinny not-quite-authentic taste.
Much of the impetus behind this shift is only natural: shoppers want to lead healthy lives and they know this means sticking as close as possible to what Mother Nature—not the Lord of the Laboratory—had in mind for our food.
"The consumer is more aware, knowledgeable and interested in understanding what they feed their bodies," says Marie Wright, global chief flavorist at WILD Flavors, Erlanger, KY. "Consumers are attracted to a 'clean label,' which includes natural colors and flavors. The consumer is also craving authenticity and natural taste."
But is interest in natural tints and tastes just the flavor of the month? Or, is it something more?
Take Caution with Colors
David Bom, Ph.D., technology development manager at Sensient Flavors LLC, Hoffman Estates, IL, says the pendulum has swung back and forth between natural and artificial ingredients many times since the onset of flavor production for food and beverages. "In the last decade, however, it seems that the pendulum has swung in favor of natural ingredients and has no intention of swinging back to artificial," Bom states. "As a result, there has been an overarching push toward natural flavors within our company."
Chad Ford, associate director of colors at WILD Flavors, agrees that the interest we're seeing in the natural food colors and flavors industry isn't a trend. It's a paradigm shift in what consumers now expect and demand from their foods, which "began in Europe several years ago and is now hitting mainstream America."
In 2007, a monumental study from the University of Southampton in the U.K. found six food dyes were linked to hyperactivity in children, and resulted in European Food Safety Authority requiring a warning label on all foods that include such dyes. Due to various health risks, several countries have outright banned certain food colorings that are allowed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
Seven artificial dyes are allowed in the United States in total, but that doesn't mean all Americans are complacent with them and other synthetic additives. Many shoppers are reading labels so as to avoid Yellow #5, Red #40 and other ingredients that just aren't appealing. For instance, Dannon and Starbucks both came under fire after consumers realized the companies used carmine (a dye made from crushed beetles) to color their products pink and red.
Likewise, the United States may be following Europe's lead by avoiding genetically modified organisms (GMOs). Bom believes mainstream shoppers are just starting to pay attention to this issue. He states, "GMO is more of an issue in Europe than Stateside. In the United States, we are slowly moving in the non-GMO direction."
For these reasons, shoppers applaud companies that integrate natural food colors and flavors, as well as raw material makers that create new and interesting options. In August, FDA gave the green light for companies to use Spirulina as a blue coloring additive in candy and chewing gum, in response to a petition from Mars, Inc.
This caused some excitement in the industry, even though it wasn't the first natural blue on the market. In 2009, WILD Flavors revolutionized the color industry with its natural blue, which allowed manufacturers to create natural green colors, deeper purple hues, blues and even black. Previously, an acid-stable natural blue was not available. "Ideal for confectionery, beverage and cereal applications, this 'game changer' allows manufacturers to differentiate their products in store shelves—and it's working!" states Ford.
The shift from FD&C colors to natural colors is occurring across most grocery product segments, Ford believes. "The industry is witnessing this amongst a variety of categories including beverages, snacks, supplements, dairy (yogurt) and confections," he states.
On the flavors side, Bom believes artificial is becoming a taboo word. "Customers are trending toward the avoidance of anything artificial, especially when it comes to aroma and flavors," he states. "Customers are looking for a 'stamp of authenticity' and that tends to start with flavors."
Sid Hulse, new product development manager at P.L. Thomas, Morristown, NJ, agrees. "We have been seeing stronger interest in natural flavors, but beyond that, we have been talking with our customers about 'whole' approaches to flavor."
The firm has a patented whole food powder line (Vivid Harvest) that uses special technology to evaporate water molecules in foods without disturbing the active enzymes, antioxidants, vitamins, minerals or other phytonutrients. Hulse says this process "preserves the flavor, aroma, color and nutritional quality of the original materials in a manner that enhances the consumer experience."
He adds that this technology also offers "processing advantages over raw foods and other fruit and vegetable inclusion processes, including a longer shelf-life, better flowability with less dusting, enhanced solubility and dispersibility, a better particle shape with greater density, and without solvents or other adulterating processing aids."
Whole-food colors and flavors could be the impetus to improved products with clean labels and could even spur potential new product forms, Hulse believes. He says most companies that are interested in this technology are developing new products or concepts as opposed to redesigning existing inventory.
As for non-GMO flavors and colors, Wright says her company has strong non-GMO offerings because it does a lot of business in Europe, which already demands non-GMO. There can be some challenges, though. Some sources of non-GMO colors "may limit the types of carriers that can be used in formulations," says Ford.
This can affect the price tag. "The cost of non-GMO materials is higher and securing a supply chain can be challenging," Wright states. "As the need continues to increase, accessibility to non-GMO ingredients will become easier."
Flavors that Shoppers Favor
There's a whole rainbow of natural colors and flavors that shoppers seek, but Wright believes that much interest is rooted in a desire for authentic, fresh, natural and true flavor profiles. "This has resulted in increased desire for varietal fruit flavors, vibrant spice flavors and robust herb flavors as well as the colors that evoke a more true to nature appearance or hue," she states.
Which specific flavors are trending? Teresa Olah, beverage marketing manager at Sensient Flavors LLC, says, "We're seeing honey everywhere." Varietals range from dandelion to local to heather.
Shoppers also are seeking some strong spices like basil, fennel and ginger, says Olah, as well as exotic fruit. She states, "Dragon fruit is coming back. We are also seeing the introduction of interesting fruits such as blue honeysuckle berry and cloudberry."
To this list, Wright adds Sicilian lemon and pomegranate, which she says is "one of the big beverage flavors." Plus, fruit–herb and fruit–spice combinations are increasingly popular.
This speaks to the overarching trend, according to Wright, of fusion, "where flavors are being combined together with interesting and sometimes exceptional results."
For instance, shoppers are sticking with the health theme, and love fruit and vegetable combos—a trend that is branching out from juices as "consumers are looking to get their daily intake in any way possible," says Olah.
Salty sweets continue to lure shoppers, with Wright citing salted caramel as "the biggest fusion hit" and bacon and chocolate as another successful combination.
Last, shoppers are honing in on teas (especially Earl Grey and rooibos, says Olah), and enjoy unique pairings. "Tea flavors have been and continue to be popular in chocolate. And, they're showing up in beer as well," she adds. WF
Published in WholeFoods Magazine, November 2013


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he South Sea Company was formed in 1711 by the Tory government of Harley to trade with Spanish America, and to offset the financial support which the Bank of England had provided for previous Whig governments. Money was freely invested in company stock because the trading privileges and monopolies granted to Britain after the Treaty of Utrecht (concluding Marlborough's Wars) were expected to prove enormously profitable. In 1720 a bill was passed enabling persons to whom the government owed portions of the national debt (which had been growing steadily larger since it originated after the Glorious Revolution as a means of meeting government expenditures) to exchange their claims for shares in company stock, and shortly the directors of the South Sea Company had assumed three-fifths of the national debt — some £9,000,000 — of Great Britain. The bill triggered an enormous burst of speculation in company stock--shares rose in value from £100 to £1,000--but by 1719 the directors of the Company outbid the Bank of England for the conversion of an additional £31,000,000 of debt, while unprincipled speculators took advantage of investors to obtain subscriptions for patently impossible projects, and when the bubble burst in September 1720 (the expected profits from the South Seas, which were expected to sustain the project, had still not materialized) vast numbers of investors were entirely ruined.
The whole episode was reflected in the literature and in the life of literary figures of the time: The Repeal of the Test and Corporation Acts, 1828, for example, parodied it in his Gulliver's Travels, while Pope, after making a considerable profit, shrewdly withdrew most of his funds in time. Charles Lamb was employed in the East India House as a clerk for many years after the bubble had burst.
Last modified 17 January 2024


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Chris Graham and Jerry Carter recap a big weekend in UVA Athletics and ACC Football Week 3 action.
About Chris Graham
Chris Graham, the editor of AugustaFreePress.com, an award-winning journalist and editor, is a 1994 graduate of the University of Virginia, and has covered Virginia politics since 1997.
An author of seven books, Chris co-wrote Team of Destiny: Inside Virginia Basketball's Run to the 2019 National Championship, published in 2019, and also co-wrote a book on the history of University of Virginia basketball, Mad About U: Four Decades of Basketball at University Hall, which was published in 2006.
Chris has covered University of Virginia sports since 1995, and is a commentator on ESPN3 college football and baseball broadcasts.
This fall, Chris will serve as the play-by-play voice on radio broadcasts for VMI football, marking his fifth season as a broadcaster for Keydets' radio broadcasts.
He is a member of the Football Writers Assocation of America, the U.S. Basketball Writers Association and the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association.
From 2009-2014, Chris was the play-by-play voice of the Waynesboro Generals, a team competing in the Valley Baseball League, a premier college summer baseball league affiliated with Major League Baseball and the NCAA.
The former co-host of ACC Nation, a syndicated radio show that ran for four years, ending in 2007, Chris is currently a contributor to The Mark Moses Show on 95.9-The Fan in Melbourne, Fla.
Chris also served as a member of the creative team and on-air TV commentator for Awesome Wrestling Entertainment on AWE's Night of the Legends live pay-per-view event in 2011.
Chris wrote a book on that experience, The Worst Wrestling Pay-Per-View Ever, that was published in 2018.
He is also the former co-host of "Viewpoints" on WVPT, a weekly news affairs TV show that aired from 2016-2017.
About Jerry Carter
Jerry Carter covers sports for AFP. Jerry is an entrepreneur and innovator in the newspaper circulation industry who moonlighted as a sportswriter for several publications in Virginia. He has covered two ACC Tournaments for AFP, in 2014 and 2015.


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It was quite an eventful week, to say the least. The Holy Father's Apostolic visit to the United States ended last Sunday, after a Mass at Yankee stadium in New York City.
When planning a papal visit, so many things can go wrong — and when you are Irish, you expect all of them to go wrong! It was so beautiful that everything — even the weather — cooperated. The Holy Father's visit was very uplifting and a grace-filled moment for the Catholics of our country.
The Holy Father had announced that his message was going to be "Christ our Hope," and it certainly has given all of us a lot of hope in the Lord and in the future of our Church.
As I already mentioned in last week's blog, a very special moment for me and for the Archdiocese of Boston took place on Thursday when the Holy Father met with five survivors of clergy sexual abuse.
The following day, on the day of the Holy Father's anniversary, the other American cardinals and I had a wonderful opportunity to have dinner with him in the residence of the nuncio to the Vatican mission to the United Nations, Archbishop Celestino Migliore. I want to share with you that at that event, the Holy Father told me how moved he was by that meeting with the victims the day before.
At that meeting with the victims, we handed the Holy Father a book with the first names of over one thousand victims. It was very well done, with all the names written in calligraphy and very artistically done. With the book, we tried to convey that those survivors attending where representing all victims, even those whose names were not written. The names in the book correspond with those who came to us in the archdiocese to report abuse in the last 50 years.
Holding the book of names at the Nunciature in Washington D.C.
– – –
On Saturday morning, I came back to Boston for the Catholic Men's Conference, which was held at Boston College's Conte Forum in Chestnut Hill. I think it was a wonderful success. There were more than 2,200 men and more than 2,800 women at the Boston Catholic Women's Conference the previous day.
Given the fact that it was school vacation week and there were 3,000 Boston Catholics traveling to New York City for the Papal Mass that weekend, we were very pleased with the numbers that did come. We are very grateful to the speakers who were so well received. Their messages were right on target, and everyone appreciated the conferences.
I am particularly grateful to Scot Landry who, at the time he was organizing these conferences, was also helping to organize the pilgrimage to Yankee Stadium for the Holy Father's Mass. We are also very grateful to the parish captains and to Jennifer Schiller who worked so hard heading the Women's Conference.
We are very hopeful that the conferences will only continue to grow, and they have been a great source of grace for the archdiocese. They have resulted in the formation of many parish men's and women's groups that are helping to give the spiritual formation and support that so many of our people are looking for.
– – –
Being at the Men's Conference, I was not able to be at the Saturday Mass at St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York, but I am pleased to say that Father Arthur Coyle, Father Richard Erikson, Sister Marianne Batho and Brother Jim Peterson were there representing Boston.
Father Erikson sent a blog entry to the official Papal Visit Blog that included the following photo taken after the Mass at St. Patrick's on Saturday
From Left, Father Arthur Coyle, Brother Jim Peterson,
Father Richard Erikson and Sister Marian Batho
Also, virtually all of our seminarians from St. John's Seminary in Brighton and Blessed John XXIII National Seminary in Weston were able to make it to the youth and seminarian rally at St. Joseph Seminary in Yonkers. Both of these events were so beautiful.
We had an excellent representation at the papal events in New York as well as those held in Washington D.C. Father Arthur Kennedy was at the interfaith service in the nation's capital. We were very happy he was part of that.
– – –
That evening I went back to New York in preparation for the Papal Mass the following morning. At the airport I was happily surprised by two groups of Catholic school students who were on their way to the Dominican Republic on a service mission during their April vacation.
Students from Trinity Academy in Newton
Students from Boston College High School in Dorchester
A close up of my red sock
It was quite an experience. I took some photos with my cell phone to document the moment.
The Mass was very, very beautiful.
We had a fantastic representation from the archdiocese — 3,000 pilgrims. The Boston group all sat in the same section and made quite a racket when Boston was honored as a bicentennial archdiocese. I was very pleased to look up and see the sign for the Archdiocese of Boston.
So many of our priests were also able to get there, which is wonderful. With the Mass being on Sunday, I knew how difficult it would be for priests to get there. In the end we had more than 25 Boston priests concelebrating the Mass.
Some of the Boston priests attending the Mass
Two seminarians studying at St. John's — from left,
Michael Pierz and Huy Nguyen — served at the Mass
I was also very happy to see Marguerite McNiece and her grandson receive Holy Communion from the Holy Father. Marguerite is German and was very enthused about receiving the Eucharist from "her German pope," as she said.
– – –
The Pro-life Legal Defense Fund, under the chairmanship of attorney Phil Moran, honored me at their annual banquet April 11 with the Thomas Moore Award. Attorney Fran Hogan made the introduction. Marianne Luthin, from our Pro-Life office, and her husband Henry, who is also an attorney, were there.
I was so happy that a number of law students from Harvard, Boston College and other law schools joined at the festivities. I encouraged them to hurry up and get through law school and run for president of the United States!
– – –
On Wednesday evening, I was invited to the Sears Road Dinner Club hosted by David Fubini, director of the McKinsey & Company. David's organization has given a great deal of advice on how to improve our internal organization and we are very grateful for all of the services that he has donated to the archdiocese. I was happy to be a part of the dinner he hosted for a number of community leaders, including Boston Mayor Thomas Menino.
For the Holy Father's birthday, Bob Rottenberg, CEO of Long's Jewelers, was good enough to make a pair of cufflinks with Pope Benedict's coat of arms. I presented those to him on his birthday with the prayers and best wishes of the people of Boston.
Until my next post.
In Christ.
Cardinal Seán
– – –


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Hours of operation
We are open every Monday from 3-6 p.m. for casual play and questions; every Tuesday from 4-6 p.m. for group classes, and 7-10 p.m. for tournaments; every Wednesday from 1:30-6 p.m. for group classes; and Every Thursday from 4-6 p.m. for group classes. On Fridays we have an instructor on site for private lessons from around 3 p.m. to 8 p.m. We normally hold events almost every Saturday but start times and duration vary, so check the event calendar.
Sun | Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat |
Blitz Tournament
6:30 pm
Blitz Tournament
Sep 7 @ 6:30 pm – 8:30 pm
Every first Saturday Blitz. Monthly 9-round blitz tournament for those with a need for speed. Time control: G/5+3 second increment. Prizes: 1st place wins %70 of all entry fees. Entry Fee: $10. Ratings: USCF blitz
Quick G/25 tournament
11:00 am
Quick G/25 tournament
Sep 21 @ 11:00 am
Format: 5-Round Swiss. Every third Saturday except when it conflicts with Junior Joust and then its on the 3rd Sunday. Time Control: G/25. Registration: 10:30 a.m. Rounds: Round 1 starts at 11:00 a.m. Lunch will
GM Larry Christiansen Lecture and Simul
6:00 pm
GM Larry Christiansen Lecture and Simul
Sep 26 @ 6:00 pm – 9:00 pm
Grandmaster Larry Christiansen will give a lecture and simul at the TCC on Sept. 26, 2020, starting at 6 p.m. Cost is $25 per player. The number of seats will be limited to 12 players
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You ripped up your front lawn to plant kale and a heritage quince tree. You adopted as many chickens as your town will allow. You make your own bread, jam, cheese, pickles, yogurt and beer. Worms eat your garbage, beekeeping supplies are on the way and you're wondering if the neighbors would notice a dwarf Nigerian dairy goat under the porch.
What you're doing is ecological, economical and profoundly personally rewarding. You are living the dream, and doing it all within bike commute distance of an urban hub. Congratulations, you're an urban homesteader! And you just want to share everything you're learning with everyone else. If all those friends still buying their eggs at the store just knew how much better really fresh eggs were, you are sure they'd want chickens too!
You are at risk of becoming an Urban Homesteader Asshole.
It is an easy trap to fall into, and it comes from a good place: an urgent desire to share all the great changes in your life with the people you care about. But before you make an unsolicited offer to help your apartment-dwelling friend build a chicken coop, step back, take a deep breath and remember those people.
Remember the guy in college who would only listen to Polish post-Industrial Pop, because German post-Industrial was total mainstream swill? Remember the vegan who asked how it felt to be eating rotting flesh just as you were about to bite into your burger? Remember the young professional who gave you that withering look in the waiting room while you were reading People, then pulled out her own copy of The Economist?
We really don't want our Urban Homesteading to turn into that. No one likes it when people imply that their way of life is oh-so-much-better than everyone else's.
See, the thing is, Urban Homesteading is hip. It's getting press. People are taking those first steps to turn their home into a place of more productivity and less consumption. And that is wonderful. People see their normal, not-too-crunchy-granola neighbors growing more veggies and maybe putting in a fruit tree and they think, "Hey, if the Smith's can grow a dwarf pear tree, I can grow a dwarf pear tree." When they have one success under their belt, maybe they try something else. Maybe more vegetables. Maybe chickens. Maybe homemade jam. Maybe micro-hydro power.
But as more self-sufficient urban living becomes more mainstream, there is also a backlash. Articles like, "I am a Radical Homemaker failure" poke fun at the idea that people would voluntarily live with less money or do more domestic work in trade for more self-directed time. The author, Madeline Holler, bemoans her "thin and sour" homemade yogurt and lack of Crate and Barrel furniture, and equates "rendering fat and lacto-fermenting cucumbers" to shoveling rocks for Satan.
It is easy to read Ms. Holler's assessment of lacto-fermented pickles (possibly the easiest preservation technique around, by the way) and want to shout from the roof-top: "Don't listen to her! It's worth it! I can show you why you will love my way better!"
But people who may be thinking about taking that first tentative step do not want to be told that your tangy homemade yogurt topped with a dollop of homemade wild blackberry jam kicks the ass of their Yoplait Light Boston Creme Pie Flavored yogurt. Even though it does. They laugh with Ms. Holler and at people crazy enough to take a little of their food production into their own hands. For these people, Urban Homesteading just seems weird.
And yet, and yet…just maybe they'll stick a pot of basil on the porch this summer instead of a geranium. And if they do, we cannot jump all over them to grow strawberries and tomatoes and cucumbers and kholrabi and hardy kiwi and goji berry too. If, in our eagerness to share the next step we diminish the triumph of the first step, we run the risk of alienating people who might otherwise come on board.
We run the risk of portraying Urban Homesteading as an all-or-nothing commitment, when in reality it is exactly and only what one makes of it. If we'd like to see a nation of farmers, it will happen by normal people making tiny changes in their normal life, not by everyone simultaneously quitting their job to grow heirloom shelling beans.
So get out there in your front yard and grow those berries and that chard. Send the kids out to gather those eggs. Walk the walk, but be soft with the talk. Show your neighbors that Urban Homesteading isn't just for hippies. If you are experienced in a certain area, mentor those who truly want it. They'll find you. Be proud of what you are doing, but be gracious with those who are doing less or who aren't in the same place in life. Focus on your community and your neighborhood. Be welcoming but don't scare people off. Let people find their own first step.
Don't be an Urban Homesteader Asshole.


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In July, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) made public a proposed guidance for new dietary ingredients (NDIs) that are included in supplements. Though the document is aimed at finished product manufacturers, it could have a profound affect on raw materials suppliers.
"It is tough to predict what the final version will include, but certain interpretations could have a very big impact on the supplement market as we know it today," says Scott Steil, president of Nutra Bridge, Shoreview, MN.
Brief Background
To bring everyone up to speed, here's a quick and dirty history of the new NDI draft guidance.
Congress forever changed the dietary supplement industry when it amended the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act by passing the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act (DSHEA) in 1994. Among the many items stipulated in the law, DSHEA stated that 75 days before new dietary ingredients could be sold to the public, companies distributing the ingredient (or marketing a finished product containing it) would be required to notify FDA. NDIs were "reasonably expected to be safe"; upon reviewing the filing, FDA would either acknowledge the notification or object to it. Industry considered "new" ingredients to be anything marketed after the passing of DSHEA; those sold prior to October 15, 1994 were presumed safe (unless events showed something to the contrary).
Since 1994, numerous industry suppliers have attempted to go through the NDI notification process, which has been a frustrating experience for many. Of the more than 600 notifications filed since August 1995, just over one-quarter have been acknowledged (1). Companies, tired of running into a brick wall, began asking the agency to clarify the NDI notification process. The result is a draft guidance released in July 2011, which few believe is suitable as it stands.
The comment period for the new draft guidance closed last month (December 2011), and only time will tell what the final guidance will look like. But one thing is for certain: we could see some changes in the supplier–marketer relationship as a result.
"The NDIN process always has and will continue to be positive for industry," believes Melody Harwood, director of regulatory affairs for Aker BioMarine Antarctic AS, Oslo, Norway, with U.S. headquarters in Issaquah, WA. "It allows industry to be responsible manufacturers and distributors of dietary supplement products with no mandatory requirements for registration on a product-by-product basis, essentially as drugs, which is common in many other jurisdictions such as Australia and Canada."
She acknowledges some of the draft's most troublesome points (like the ineligibility of synthetic copies of ingredients and the potential limitation of bacteria unless they appeared in foods). "I hope industry and government can work together in a conciliatory fashion to make revisions to the draft so that a final Guidance for Industry can be published that manufacturers and distributors of dietary supplements and representatives of the agency can work with in harmony," Harwood says.
Innovation Stopper?
One bone of contention among supplement makers is that the guidance—if passed without revision—could stifle innovation in the nutrition industry and lead to the removal of many wonderful products. Part of the reason is FDA's reinterpretation of the 1994 grandfathered list. Any ingredients that are "chemically altered"—such as being modified through milling or lyophilization, or even prepared using CO2 extraction—would be considered new and in need of FDA notification. This could amass a ton of paperwork, given the proposed product-by-product notification process. Companies may be forced to focus on fewer, less innovative products rather than file numerous expensive notifications. Even FDA may have trouble keeping up.
States Paul Dijkstra, CEO of InterHealth Nutraceuticals, Benicia, CA, "The number of submissions resulting from the new guidance could possibly overwhelm the FDA, leaving a back log of submissions and companies putting innovation on hold."
How could the possible capping of innovation affect suppliers, in whose realm innovation routinely lies? "The supplement industry must innovate to survive," says Sigalit Zchut, Ph.D., R&D manager of the BioActive Ingredients division at Enzymotec. Ltd., headquartered in Israel with U.S. offices in Morristown, NJ, noting that there can be tension between industry and the regulator. "The new guidance will not harm innovation, as long as the manufacturers of the ingredients or distributors of the food supplement will be responsible and go through the required safety tests to make sure that their product is indeed safe." These tests are extremely costly, she adds, as we will talk more about later.
Others are not as optimistic. "If this guidance document passes unchanged, the burden on our industry will be extensive," according to Bob Green, president of Nutratech, Inc., West Caldwell, NJ.
Ron Udell, president and CEO, OptiPure/Kenko International, Inc., Los Angeles, CA, anticipates raw material suppliers will be reluctant to launch new ingredients, given that their customers will have to come up with the cash and time to go through their own notifications process—and may not be able to. "It will definitely impose an increased burden and expense on raw material suppliers who want to be in compliance with the regulations. These additional costs will most likely be passed on to consumers," he states. "More NDI notifications would have to be filed, because fewer ingredients would qualify under the FDA's extremely narrow view of grandfathered dietary ingredients, even if they were once considered as an acceptable raw material with only a minor change made."
Green shares a similar fear: "Will they be willing to go through the bureaucracy every single time they want to use this new ingredient in a formula?"
Steil has already noticed a certain amount of cautiousness, as fewer new product launches seemed to occur in 2011 than in previous years.
Some finished products makers may want to be conservative and only work with ingredients that don't have NDI issues, says Shaheen Majeed, marketing director for Sabinsa Corp., NJ, East Windsor, NJ, though he makes the point that even this is only speculation. He states, "For now, there is a checklist of items we as a supplier of ingredients are going through; we realize our customers have questions and they have a checklist brewing themselves to make sure they are compliant. As this list gets long, we worry about price points, and we worry about whether or not marketing companies will just play it safe for the next one to two years."
Majeed notes, however, that innovation may turn to novel delivery systems, specifically those that "allow for previously incompatible ingredients to be delivered together, such as with our Integrated Nutritional Composites (INC), which are bi-layered, multi-release nutritional compositions that address specific health maintenance requirements."
To the issue of innovation, Suhail Ishaq, president of BioCell Technology, Newport Beach, CA, adds another layer. He explains that his company spent many years and much money to substantiate the quality, safety, efficacy and biological properties of its branded ingredients (like BioCell Collagen and i-Sabi). If the current NDI guidance stands as is, he states, "we fear that in many respects, our innovative effort would be lessened because a finished product containing our ingredient would have to be re-substantiated as a new dietary ingredient, creating redundancy and excessive regulation."
Ishaq goes on to say that this duplicative filing "goes against the original spirit and intent of DSHEA, which clearly set the groundwork for the NDI's as being ingredient specific, not finished product specific. The acronym NDI itself implies this correlation."
Green suggests that money will factor into manufacturers' ingredients choices. Companies that take on new ingredients could have additional expectations of suppliers: "They'll most likely push the cost of the NDIs onto the supplier. The investment in both time and money will be astronomical. The financial impact will be felt all the way down the supply side, as well as the FDA," says Green.
This scenario is by no means out of the realm of possibility. Finished products makers may soon expect suppliers to have reliable safety and efficacy data at the ready—possibly even negotiating for new, custom studies—that will specifically help them through the notification process. Whichever way things go, we can expect only raw materials makers that back ingredients with reliable data to survive.
Seeing the silver lining, Gunny Sodhi, director of operations and marketing, Ayush Herbs, Redmond, WA, states, "In the end, what it makes us do as a company is improve our own practices. I see us adhering to a new standard, and out of that standard innovation comes and we can continue to excel."
Likewise, Mitch Skop, senior director of new product development, Pharmachem Laboratories Inc., Kearny, NJ, believes quality-strong companies, like his, will be attractive to finished products makers. "In our history, any time regulations became more stringent, Pharmachem's business boomed. Our ingredients, our QA/QC systems and our expert personnel are adept at addressing these challenges," he says.
This begs a few questions: Which suppliers have such data? And, what are the hallmarks of "good" research?
NDI Experts
As previously mentioned, the majority of all filed NDI notifications have been rejected. Nonetheless, many of the companies interviewed in this piece are among the firms to have successfully navigated the process.
Michael G. Jeffers, president of Helios, Santa Fe, NM, speaks of his company's experience with the process for its menopause ingredient, EstroG 100. He says the notification process was "tedious." It took three years, during which time the firm's data accumulated and got even better. "We have a phase-one trial, a phase-two trial, five toxicity studies, two anti-cancer studies and 19 additional bridge studies," he states. "Once we submitted this, we were able to get our NDI within the first 75 days…We finally understood what the FDA wanted: that we needed to prove, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that our product is safe."
Nutra Bridge, says Steil, also jumped the regulatory hurdles of the NDI process multiple times (twice for its 7-Keto and once for Inzitol). He states, "As a company, we have invested in and worked very hard toward discovering, developing, manufacturing and supplying ingredients that comply with regulatory requirements and address the needs of consumers by delivering solid efficacy and safety. It is a long strategy that has worked and continues to grow."
According to Harwood, Aker's NDI experience was a "very positive one." The company compiled the extensive data required for the process and used a consultant to ensure the timely review of the notification.
Sabinsa, too, filed an NDI on its SelenoForce ingredient to meet the regulatory guidelines, and also because customers asked for it. Majeed states, "This may be the case going forward, where our customers may ask that we file for NDI and await the results although this will have to be determined on a case-to-case basis due to the financials that are involved and the scope in which NDIs can be used."
Indeed, companies that have successfully navigated the NDIs notifications process have a competitive advantage because customers may want to use their studies (if applicable) to file their own NDI under the new guidelines. States Steil, "In hindsight, [filing an NDI application] was an excellent strategic decision as it is paying off in today's regulatory environment—we are gaining new customers based on the fact that we have NDIs."
InterHealth's UC-II joint health ingredient and Enzymotec's ingredients are also FDA notified and published NDIs.
Other companies, like Nutratech and Bergstrom Nutrition, sell ingredients that were marketed prior to 1994, and thus have not needed to go through the NDI process.
These firms may need to help finished products makers establish proof of safety and health claims. States Rodney L. Benjamin, director of technical development at Bergstrom Nutrition, Vancouver, WA, "We have documentation on file showing our product was manufactured and marketed prior to October 1994. We did go through the self-affirmed GRAS process, which has an even higher standard than required for NDI notification."
Research beyond NDIs. Many companies believe research doesn't stop once the minimum regulatory requirements are met. "Clinical studies are very important to promote dietary supplements; they are important to determine the safety of the ingredients and are also important to prove the efficacy of the ingredients," says Zchut.
Indeed, numerous companies interviewed for this report regularly allott funding to new research, regardless of whether they are required to file an NDI or have already gone through the process. Says Steil, "Research is the major focus of our investment as a supplier of unique ingredients. Since our portfolio only includes patented, branded products, heavy investment costs make good business sense as the science can't be borrowed by other ingredient suppliers…Good science is critical to support the claims of finished products sold by our customers."
Majeed estimates that 10% of its sales go back into independent research on its ingredients annually. "That number is significant when you consider the percentage decrease in research funding by Big Pharma over the years and relate that to the side effects that people are experiencing," he says.
"The investment in research can never end," adds Green. "We fund research projects and provide ingredients for others conducting studies. With our funded research, our scientists work in collaboration with leading researchers from accredited third-party institutions to ensure that each study produces a scientifically valid outcome."
Bergstrom Nutrition and Ayush say they commit a portion of their budget to research. InterHealth Nutraceuticals, says Dijkstra, heavily invests in tests to ensure the efficacy, safety, purity and potency of its ingredients.
Defining "quality research," and ensuring research is up to snuff in the eyes of the regulators is another issue to consider. Joosang Park, Ph.D., BioCell's vice president of scientific affairs, says the gold standard for efficacy is human clinical trials. "The markers of high-quality safety research include both acute and chronic effects of ingredient ingestion on the comprehensive metabolic panel in a human clinical trial setting. Of course, the potential cytotoxicity and carcinogenicity testing needs to be preceded to establish safety," he says.
The best protocol, says Green, is double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical research studies, of which his company has nine on its branded ingredient (AdvantraZ).
To this, Steil adds that the results must be statistically significant.
But, there's more to the picture. "As scientists and researchers are always telling me," says Green, "there are many other valid markers of high-quality research, which are often dictated by the nature of the research itself. So, a single, double-blind, placebo-controlled study—no matter how state-of-the-art—can never be the be-all and end-all in evaluating an ingredient's safety and efficacy."
Essentially, Green disagrees with the practice—often undertaken by the media—of condemning or falling in love with an ingredient based on just one study. "Scientists know that it is the body of research—that includes many different study designs—and the collective direction of that research that are the true markers of safety and efficacy," he says.
Given all these factors, it's not always clear what FDA and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) are looking for in terms of quality. Jeffers discusses a few markers: "With FTC establishing a broader cooperative relationship with FDA, it looks like, to us, that when FTC evaluates a structure–function claim on a label, they're looking for evidence that the claim can be backed up by at least two human clinical studies." The "quality" aspect gets into the number of participants and the study's length. "That's where the real costs come in," says Jeffers. "The more people you use and the longer the study, the more expensive it is." Thus, companies that commit to good research also must commit to opening their wallets. "You really have to be conscious of whether you can afford to be in the game of innovation because of the economics," says Jeffers.
Sodhi describes the efforts undertaken by Ayush to ensure quality research: "A lot of time is spent in R&D with the product, and then cross-checked through other measures, such as third parties, clinical trials and published studies. Then, you can substantiate your claim, and to us that is what really matters."
Given the economics, one can envision an interesting scenario in which manufacturers and suppliers may end up working out new research opportunities together. Jeffers says his company already engages in something similar. Helios has worked on certain target categories and then focused on specific endpoints in its clinical data. "If there are additional end point claims that are available to us, then, most definitely, that decision is a collaborative decision between Helios Corp. and the end user," he states.
The Face Behind the Numbers
In research, there's also the little detail of who exactly is collecting the data and crunching the numbers. Some companies prefer to handle research in-house. Others branch out, or do a combination. "While some of the initial work is done in house, we have worked with excellent, neutral and independent third parties to best assure us of adequate study designs and neutral and unbiased results," says Skop.
Steil believes in going with a reputable contract research organization (CRO) or university in the United States or in Canada, "as this data is directly applicable to the population that our customers target to sell finished product."
When Ezymotec partners with a CRO to run the study, "we are fully engaged in every aspect of the study, from planning through the selection of study centers, the recruitment and throughout the intervention, the completion etc.," says Zchut.
Also looking to universities for research help is InterHealth Nutraceuticals. Research on this firm's ingredients, Dijkstra says, "are designed, conducted and published by well-reputed researchers at leading universities…Safety research is conducted in GLP-approved labs. Our ingredients undergo genotoxicity research, subchronic toxicity research, acute oral and dermal toxicity and primary dermal and eye irritation testing. Analysis of adverse events in humans is undergone in randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled research…The efficacy of InterHealth's ingredients is backed by randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled research."
When all is said and done, Udell feels the data should be made public on a company's Web site or another accessible place.
Standing Shoulder to Shoulder with Manufacturers
Although the draft NDI guidance places the burden on finished products makers to comply, once the NDI guidance document is finalized, we may see suppliers playing a role in helping their customers comply. In terms of working together, Majeed advises everyone to first be patient. After all, when the document is released—which could be months, or even years from now—it will be new to everyone. "There are a number of items that both the supplier and the finished product makers, even the contact manufacturer, have to understand and agree to."
"From a logistical standpoint, manufacturers will have to push this responsibility down to ingredient suppliers and require them to supply evidence of marketing prior to October 1994 or provide the necessary safety and toxicity data in their Standardized Information on Dietary Ingredients (SIDI) forms," says Green.
Under the new guidance, finished products makers can make strong reference to the original NDI notification that a supplier has filed. Marketers wouldn't have to redo the science unless they chemically modify the ingredient further. If supplier never gets an NDI, the finished product maker has to take the responsibility. You can see the appeal of a supplier with an NDI.
Skop believes the key is "transparency, transparency, transparency." Information about plant-derived materials must be made available, "right down to the seed, to the soil in which the plant grew," he believes.
Majeed agrees, stating, "Whether it's by e-mail or face-to-face, let's make sure all documents—whatever is available to satisfy the guidelines as best as possible—are made available. Suppliers will be asked for proof, and this can be in various formats. From the onset of a project, it should be discussed what proof is available and make sure everyone is comfortable with that."
Sodhi says once suppliers learn more about the document, they can help customers lead the way toward compliance, saying, "Educate them on the guidance, and openly communicate what the company can and cannot do as per the guidance."
Likewise, Benjamin of Bergstrom Nutrition believes suppliers can help by having ingredients properly classified and documented. "Make sure you have a consistent and controlled process so the product they purchase is consistent, properly classified and documented," he states.
Perhaps most important, suppliers of new ingredients should continue filing the right regulatory paperwork and also "making sure that the ingredients are regulated to a wide range of concentrations so different formulations will fall under the same regulatory file," Zchut says.
Adds Jeffers, "We need to do what we have been doing: provide them with extensive data, which includes our clinicals and our safety studies....the better our data the better their structure–function claims. That's our commitment; to provide that information so they have the confidence and the legal context to make those claims."
In the end, suppliers had better be gearing up with technical support to meet the needs of their customers. WF
1. Council for Responsible Nutrition, "FDA Draft Guidance on New Dietary Ingredients for the Dietary Supplement Industry," www.crnusa.org/pdfs/Backgrounder_NDIN_FINAL_9-29-11.pdf, accessed Nov. 30, 2011.
Published in WholeFoods Magazine, January 2012


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OLYMPIA — Washington's powerful union of public school teachers is electing a new president this month and longtime leaders of Everett and Oak Harbor locals are among those vying for the job.
Everett Education Association president Kim Mead and Oak Harbor Education Association president Peter Szalai are competing for the two-year term guiding the 82,000-member Washington Education Association.
Mike Ragan, the WEA vice president, is also running in a contest that will culminate with the vote in Bellevue on April 26.
The winner will succeed Mary Lindquist and be thrust into an intensifying debate among state lawmakers on the amount of reform and revenue required to improve the performance of students.
WEA is pressing lawmakers to fully fund education in accordance with a Supreme Court decision last year. But groups like Stand for Children are pushing back, saying that decision is as much about money as it is about making reforms that will improve the quality of teaching and performance of students in schools.
"It's been very frustrating to not be able to turn the conversation away from one that is blaming teachers and shaming schools to one that focuses on the issue that affects schools most and that is chronic underfunding," said Lindquist, who has served a maximum three terms. "That has been my biggest challenge and that is going to be the challenge of the new president."
Most of the WEA's membership are certificated teachers employed in the state's 297 public school districts. WEA also represents noncertificated classified personnel in several districts.
And its membership includes faculty at 10 community and technical colleges, the three regional universities — Western, Central and Eastern — plus The Evergreen State College.
Roughly 1,200 delegates, chosen by members of the locals, will vote April 26. If none of the three candidates captures at least 50 percent of the vote, there will be a run-off between the top two vote-getters. The winner will begin their term July 6.
Mead and Ragan are cut from similar philosophical cloth. Each expressed support of the WEA's current approach and said they'll work to make WEA a more proactive player in the evolving political debate.
Mead, 53, of Edmonds, taught middle school in Everett before becoming the Everett Education Association president in 2000. She also serves on the WEA executive committee and on the board of the National Education Association.
"We should be the ones driving the policies rather than be reactive," she said. "We have to be the voice of public education and if we're not, we're not doing our job."
Mead said she'd be firm but collaborative in negotiations on controversial bills dealing with teacher evaluations and assigning schools a letter grade based on a variety of factors including rates of graduation and test scores.
"You want to be taking the opponent's point of view and try to come up with a better solution. Just saying 'no' won't move us forward," she said.
Ragan, 62, of Federal Way, began his career as an engineer and moved to the Pacific Northwest from Philadelphia to work for a subsidiary of the Boeing Co. In 1987, he changed professions and began teaching physics and math to middle school students in Kennewick. He won election to WEA vice president in 2000.
He too wants to reassert the WEA's voice in the political process and said reform groups "get unwarranted press time."
"They are not educators," he said. "I feel we're playing by other people's rules. They're controlling the game and that puts us at a disadvantage."
He also wants to knit closer ties between union members and the communities in which they teach.
Szalai, 54, lives in Coupeville and is a social studies teacher at Oak Harbor Middle School. While he pledged to make the WEA more proactive, unlike the others he faulted the current leadership for ceding valuable ground to reformers.
He said he joined the race after the WEA embraced a new statewide policy of evaluating teacher performance using student test scores and other numeric measures.
"I do not believe you can reduce teaching to a number," he said. "I don't think that's possible and even if it was possible I don't think it would be healthy."
He's set three goals: to repeal the new evaluation system, to reorient the WEA as a nonpartisan professional organization "and not as a wing of the Democratic Party" and to push for its agenda rather than react to that of others.
"We have given aid and comfort to bad ideas. I think we have damaged education," he said. "I think there comes a time to say no."
Jerry Cornfield: 360-352-8623; email@example.com.
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Parshat Chayei Sara
Sarah, Mother of the Jewish People, passes on at age 127. After mourning and eulogizing her, Avraham seeks to bury her in the Cave of Machpela. As this is the burial place of Adam and Chava, Avraham pays its owner, Ephron the Hittite, an exorbitant sum. Avraham sends his faithful servant Eliezer to find a suitable wife for his son, Yitzchak, making him swear to choose a wife only from among Avrahams family. Eliezer travels to Aram Naharaim and prays for a sign. Providentially, Rivka appears. Eliezer asks for water. Not only does she give him water, but she draws water for all 10 of his thirsty camels. (Some 140 gallons!) This extreme kindness marks her as the right wife for Yitzchak and a suitable Mother of the Jewish People. Negotiations with Rivka's father and her brother Lavan result in her leaving with Eliezer. Yitzchak brings Rivka into his mother Sarahs tent, marries her and loves her. He is then consoled for the loss of his mother. Avraham remarries Hagar who is renamed Ketura to indicate her improved ways. Six children are born to them. After giving them gifts, Avraham sends them to the East. Avraham passes away at the age of 175 and is buried next to Sarah in the Cave of Machpela.
Faith And Kindness
"When she finished giving him (Eliezer) to drink, she said, 'I will draw water even for your camels until they have finished drinking'." (24:19)
If Orthodox Judaism required you to travel the world eating in all the best treif restaurants, a lot more people would be religious.
The ultimate barrier to faith in G-d is not logical but psychological.
Subconsciously, a person knows that if he accepts that the order in Creation logically implies an 'Orderer', this may eventually mean that he is going to have to stop driving to the golf club on Saturday morning. More than that, he's going to have to stop seeing himself as the center of the universe; having been brought up in the 'Me' generation, the thought that the pursuit of happiness and self-fulfillment may not be the ultimate purpose of life, strikes at the very foundations of our cultural orientation.
How much more comfortable to pay lip service to a Creator who is not interested in me in the slightest; then I can carry on doing exactly as I want!
This is a bribe that most people find irresistible. The desires of the heart blind the intellect and the truth becomes its first victim. As Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch put it 'Belief is not the knowledge that there is a G-d, but rather the acknowledgment.'
When Eliezer tested Rivka as a wife for Yitzchak, he sought only to find out if she had a love of kindness. Why didn't he check that she also had the unshakeable faith in G-d that was necessary as the future mother of the Jewish People?
The answer is that kindness and faith are inextricably linked. Only one who is selflessly involved in the needs of others can free himself from the bribes of his own selfish desires. Only one who loves kindness for its own sake has the objectivity to recognize the Creator.
When Eliezer saw that Rivka loved kindness for it's own sake — like Avraham — he knew she also had the objectivity needed for true faith, and that she was fit to be the mother of the Jewish People.
- Sources: Based on Rabbi Elchanan Wasserman, zatzal, and Rabbi Nota Schiller, shlita, and Rabbi Zev Leff, shlita


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Global Climate Maps Interactive
This page is still under construction. We hope to have an improved version of the interactive below available here soon.
Use the popup menu in the upper left corner of the interactive below to select a map to view. Choices include contemporary global surface air temperature and sea surface temperature, changes in temperature by 2000, and four climate model projections for possible future climate in 2025 and 2095.
More info about the four climate model results, and the scenarios behind them, can be found on this page about the IPCC.


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MainLine Neighbors is a community, arts & culture guide to performances, exhibitions, sports, recreation and community events for the Philadelphia suburbs.
Subscribe to our weekly publications to keep up with all that's happening in your neighborhood.
© 2020 MainLine Neighbors
Contact us at email@example.com
About Us | Advertise With Us | MainLine Neighbors' Archive
Privacy Policy/Terms of Service


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Jeremy Mullins
Jeremy Mullins, also known as Polar or MadPolar,is a fantasy artist, who sometimes also draws anthropomorphic art. He started drawing seriously around 2001, and he enjoys giving his characters backgrounds, as well as writing stories about their world.
While most may consider most of his art furry in nature, he himself does not belong to the furry fandom, and would rather not be associated with it.[citation needed]
Most of Mullins' art is in black and white in his VCL site, his Jab Archives site, or his MSN group. Some of his colored works are on these sites, but most of them are in SexyFur, or Fur After Dark where he sometimes works as a guest artist.
His signature character is Sara Vix, a Vixen, who he admits is his favorite character,[citation needed] along with the cat Michael Gabrial (also known as Joeb).
External links[edit]
- Jeremy Mullins on VCL
- Jeremy Mullins on the Jab Archives
- Jeremy Mullins on deviantArt
This stub about a person could be expanded. |


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Lauren and I have been waiting for an excuse to use colorful bungee cords for some time now. And after seeing this Proenza Schouler necklace from their Resort 2011 collection, we jumped at the opportunity to recreate our own version of this amazing piece of jewelry!
You'll need:– 25 inches of bungee cord or climbing rope
– a yard of thick twisted cord
– some thin rope such as mason line
– some twine
– a pair of scissors
– a lighter
– a hot glue gun
Start by cutting a 10″ and a 15″ piece of bungee (or climbing rope). Burn the ends with a lighter to prevent fraying. Then, wrap the middle sections with either twine or mason line using the friendship knot technique and use the hot glue gun to secure the ends to your bungee cord. (Click images to enlarge)
Lay the center of the twisted cord in between the two pieces of covered bungee, twist twice at the top of the necklace and bring both sides down to create a small loop. You can adjust the necklace to whichever length you prefer. Generously glue each connecting section at the 'x' marks seen in the image below.
Wrap each glued section with mason line or twine and trim any excess twisted cord. Continue to wrap more sections with different colors, making it bright and colorful. Have fun with this!!
Your Proenza Schouler inspired necklace is ready to wear!
(top image from here, rest of images from Honestly…WTF)


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Street is a fast-paced online/print cyberpunk thriller about a woman alone in a dystopian future, Gina, working to make ends meet like the rest of the new underclass — by taking a powerful drug that gives her telepathic abilities. She skirts the edges of sanity when she takes a job she knows she really shouldn't, and finds herself embroiled deeper and deeper into a dangerous mystery … .
complete cyberpunk mystery nanotechnology near future pdf available science fiction telepathy


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- Home
- Government
- Departments H - K
- Housing
- Garland Housing Agency
- Portability Information
Portability Information
What is Portability?
An eligible family that has been issued a Housing Choice Voucher may use that voucher to lease a unit anywhere in the United States where there is a housing agency operating a Housing Choice Voucher program. This feature of the program is referred to as portability.
The public housing authority/agency (PHA) that issues a voucher to a portable family that wants to move to a different jurisdiction is referred to as the "initial" PHA. The PHA in the jurisdiction in which the family wishes to relocate to is referred to as the "receiving" PHA.
The receiving PHA has the option of (1) administering the family's voucher for the initial PHA or (2) absorbing the family into its own voucher program. Under the first option, the receiving PHA bills the initial PHA for the family's housing assistance payments and the fees for administering the voucher. Under the second option, the receiving PHA pays for the family's assistance out of its own program funds, and the initial PHA has no further relationship with the family.
Housing Choice Vouchers program participants from another jurisdiction within the United States can use their vouchers to port in to the Garland Housing Agency's voucher program. In order to do so, the voucher participant must notify the PHA where they currently receive assistance from that they want to utilize the portability option of the voucher to transfer to the Garland Housing Agency's jurisdiction.
Once the portability request is approved, the initial PHA will issue a voucher and must contact the Garland Housing Agency on the voucher holder's behalf. The initial PHA must promptly notify the Garland Housing Agency to expect the incoming family. This means the initial PHA contacts the Garland Housing Agency on your behalf either by phone, fax or e-mail. Simply referring the family to HUD or to a website for information on the Garland Housing Agency does not fulfill the obligations of the initial PHA.
All portability paperwork should be submitted by the initial PHA using one of the contact methods below:
- Mail: Garland Housing Agency, ATTN: PORTABILITY 210 Carver St.; Suite 201B, Garland, TX 75040
- E-mail: email@example.com
- Fax: 972-205-3388 Attention: Portability
The required paperwork should include the following:
- HUD-52665 Family Portability Information form
- Client's current voucher
- Current 50058 form
- Current E.I.V report
- Client's current income verifications
- Client contact address, email and phone number
- Birth Certificates of all members of the household
- Social Security cards of all members of the household
- Driver's license cards for all of age members of the household (if applicable)
Please note, per Garland Housing Agency's Administrative Plan, if any member of the household has a history of drug-related criminal activity within the last five (5) years or a history of violent criminal activity within the last ten (10) years, program assistance will be denied. Drug related criminal activity includes the possession, sale or deliver of an illegal control substance. Violent criminal activity is activity that has as one of its elements the use, attempted or threatened use of physical force against the person or property of another which may include all assaults with or without a deadly weapon, terrorist threats, rape, murder, sex offenders. Criminal background checks will be conducted annually for all participant families including those porting into the PHA program.
In addition, the voucher size the family is eligible for may change based on family composition and Garland Housing Agency's occupancy standards (2 people per bedroom regardless of age or gender).
Before visiting or contacting the Garland Housing Agency, please allow our Portability Department to contact you via mail, phone or e-mail. After all the portability paperwork has been received by Garland Housing, our Portability Department will contact you to set up an appointment to come into our office.
Current Payment Standards may be viewed by clicking on the links located below:
If you have a voucher through the Garland Housing Agency and wish to port out to another housing authority, please contact your case worker for more information.
For more information on how portability process works, please see the attached brochure: "How Portability Works"


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This is the time of year when we tend to hear, "Why didn't you tell me? I wish I'd known!" a lot.
So here goes:
This weekend, September 14 and 15, is the final weekend of the season for:
- Santa (back to the North Pole he goes!)
- Splashin' Safari (it is mid-September, after all)
- High-dive show (ditto)
- Dancer's Thunder Bumpers Jr. (watch for the new pool next season!)
This weekend, we'll also have some different entertainment.
On Saturday, the country stylings of Matt Enik:
Matt is a student in Nashville, Tennessee, who put together this country band with some college friends.
He hails from a small town in West Virgina. We have a hunch he'll feel right at home here in Santa Claus.
Here's a sneak preview:
And on both Saturday and Sunday this week- end, we'll treat you to shows with this zany guy named Zachary Watson.
Zachary is a moti- vation- al speak- er who gets a little crazy with three little props he calls Trix Stix.
You may notice this weekend that we've already begun decorating for our Happy Halloween Weekends, which begin on September 21 this year.
We'll have lots more information about Happy Halloweens Weekends soon.
Meanwhile, here's a look at last year's main-stage show, Graveyard Smash.


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Leslie Odom Jr., Joshua Henry and Derrick Baskin Discuss Self-Worth & More
With global protests calling for justice and racial equality, Black Broadway artists are using their voices to promote change. In an effort to keep the conversation growing, Broadway.com invited Aladdin star Michael James Scott to moderate roundtable discussions on Broadway.com's #LiveatFive. This week Scott was joined by Tony winner Leslie Odom Jr. and Tony nominees Joshua Henry and Derrick Baskin to discuss what its like to be a leading Black man on Broadway.
Odom Jr., who won a Tony Award for originating the role of Aaron Burr in Hamilton, shares how he connects work with his personal life. "I believe that the issues we're working on in our work, we're also working on in our lives," he said. "Things like vulnerability or courage or ferocity. If you want to bring those things to your work, bring them to your life and vice versa. Falling in love and having children affect your work so profoundly because they affect your life. Working on Hamilton, I've never been more honest in my work. I had no choice but to be more honest in my life. I was showing up in my relationships and being more honest saying, 'This is who I am and this is what I deserve.' That's what I was trying to do on stage every day and it came out in my life."
Baskin, who has been working on Broadway for 15 years, has learned the importance of standing up for oneself, even when it's hard to do so. "You have to live with your decision after the contract is signed," he said. "You'll know if you haven't respected or valued yourself and you now have to do that show eight times a week feeling that way. You have to ask yourself what does this cost me? I don't think there's anything worth your self-worth. If you don't feel valued, I believe you have to walk away. The alternative is being in a yearlong contract mad and with an attitude."
Like Baskin, Henry addressed the connection between attitude and value. "We've been trained to start with, 'Is anything left for us?' and to not rock the boat. When you start with respect, it shows you understand the value you put on yourself and your art," he said. "You have to live with the consequences. There have been shows where I've had to walk away because I had a feeling it wasn't right. I grew up knowing there was a place for me in the world, so then there must be a place for me in art, too. One experience will not define my whole life and I will move on to a place that will value me for who I am."
Having earned his first Tony nomination for portraying Otis Williams in Ain't Too Proud, Baskin has a newfound appreciation for being a leading man. "What I love about these characters we've done is that they have weight. When I got the opportunity it was great to get to carry something—to hold something. It gave me a challenge, and I knew I was up for it. For Black men, the opportunity to carry is a little bit less. When we are given them, for me, it's an example for the people behind me and a thank you to the people who were ahead of me."
"I didn't grow up thinking I was going to play Aaron Burr, but it was that type of role I was looking for. We started this conversation by talking about the box that Black men are put into, and Aaron Burr was out of the box."
Prior to Hamilton, Odom Jr. had been seen on Broadway in Rent and Leap of Faith. Stepping into the shoes of the historical figure allowed Odom Jr.—and so many others—to see themselves and their abilities in a new way. "I didn't grow up thinking I was going to play Aaron Burr, but it was that type of role I was looking for," he said. "We started this conversation by talking about the box that Black men are put into, and Aaron Burr was out of the box."
Henry has three Tony nominations and eight Broadway credits to his name, but it was his turn as Aaron Burr on the national tour of Hamilton that gave him a deeper insight into the importance of representation. "I was doing Shuffle Along with an all Black cast and I remember taking pictures at the stage door with kids who look like my niece and my nephew," Henry said. "Going into Hamilton made me realize that for the first time outside of New York, that experience was going to be possible in the biggest show this generation has ever seen. There were times when I was on the eigth show of the week and I had to be like, 'Josh, you got this. The voice may not be there fully, but what's going to shine through is the message that this little child matters, that child knows what's possible and that child knows that there was someone like them shining.' That was always in the back of my mind. I get to shine for them."
Watch the full conversation below!


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The bright, white object ranchers discovered in a field in southeastern Colorado last July fell from the sky and may be the only one of its kind.
It is neither a meteorite nor an extraterrestrial--although it has attracted attention on par with these unearthly items--but a bird, one partially albino golden eagle. By the time the raptor reached Diana Miller, who directs the Nature and Raptor Center of Pueblo, in Pueblo, Colo., it was near death.
"His feathers were in terrible condition," said Miller. "He had a soft tissue injury to the left shoulder, and a very heavy load of ectoparasites, both the chewing lice and the sucking lice." (Chewing lice eat feathers; sucking lice eat skin).
A partially albino red-tailed hawk. About one in every 1,800 birds exhibit albinism, according to an Audubon bird book. (By Allan Whiteman)
Partially albino, or leukistic, birds are rare, occurring in about one in every 1,800 individuals, according to the The Audubon Society Encyclopedia of North American Birds. Their catchy coats are the result of a recessive gene that reduces the production of melanin, a pigment which gives feathers color and strength. Without it, feathers fray and fall out; the wings on the eagle Miller received were worn down to the shafts. With weakened wings and a susceptibility to sunburn, predators and parasite attacks, leukistic raptors usually don't live long.
Leukistic and albino songbirds exist too (an albino Steller jay landed in a yard in northern California last week), but with more predators than raptors their chances of survival are even slimmer. Completely albino birds are rarer yet. While partially albino birds have color on their beaks and in their eyes, true albinos have none; their eyes are pink or red—without pigment, blood gives the iris its color. True albinos are less likely to survive, but wowed by whiteness few people see their sickness.
"Everyone and their brother want to come see a white bird," said John Karger, who runs Last Chance Forever, a bird of prey conservancy in San Antonio, Texas. "People think that's the cha-ching."
Albino tigers and gorillas bolster attendance at zoos and albino snakes and parrots fetch fat prices, but Karger doesn't see cash in albinos; he sees sadness.
A leukistic red-tailed hawk he received years ago attracted hoards of visitors--but also diseases. "The bird was very thin and had internal and external parasites that were devouring him," said Karger.
He fed the hawk nutrients and administered medicine for worms and parasites. "He popped out of it," said Karger, "but not a year went by when he wasn't in with the vet." The hawk died of a common fungal infection that rarely kills, and Karger now questions whether he should have kept it alive so long. He is baffled by the public's obsession with albino animals. "It's sort of like dragging a malformed person out of a geek show," Karger said.
Susceptibility to sunburn, predators and parasite attacks means partially albino raptors usually don't live long. (Courtesy of Eddie Horvath)
But for many people, sighting an albino or partially albino bird is inspiring and unforgettable.
Eddie Horvath, a Utah falconer, runs a website that documents albino and leukistic raptor sightings. People have posted from Monroe, Mich., Knox, N.Y and Lone Oak, Texas.
One entry, from a woman in Sanford, Fla., reads: "We have recently moved into a new housing development which only has about eight residents. On the morning of January 15, 2006, at 7:15 a.m., we saw an albino or white raptor sail out of the old oak trees to the ground to feed on something. The whiteness and wing span was awesome. Having no camera handy, we did not get a picture, but the thrill of seeing such a rare bird was tremendous."
For Miller, the experience of handling a partially albino golden eagle, perhaps the only ever treated in a facility, has been tremendous as well.
"He's amazing," she said. "You can't help but go, 'Woah, you're a freak but you're gorgeous.'"
The bird is back on a diet of rats and rabbits and has a new roommate, a female golden eagle recovering from a run-in with barbed wire, but Miller is still unsure when it will be set free.
"It's a tough one for a rehabber," she said. "I'm always torn because we can probably strengthen him until he can hunt and kill for himself, but I am told by the experts that he will probably fade back out."
"The whiteness and wing span was awesome," said a Sanford, Fla. woman upon seeing an albino raptor in her yard. (By Allan Whiteman)
The Nature and Raptor Center of Pueblo has set up a webcam to view the eagle. John Karger will be displaying his birds of prey to the Bexar Audubon Society in San Antonio, Texas on Thursday, November 13 at 6 p.m. in the Brazier Room of Los Patios Restaurant. For a list of activities at the Nature and Raptor Center in Pueblo, Colo., click here.
The leukistic golden eagle at the Nature and Raptor Center of Pueblo is believed to be the only one of its kind. (Courtesy of Diana Miller)


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War isn't the only thing drones can be used for. Companies like FedEx are counting the days until drones are admitted to standard US airspace. The FAA will officially allow it starting in 2015, but the drones cannot fly higher than 400 feet above the ground and must be at least five miles away from any airport.
FedEx wants to be able to use drones to transport packages, rather than having to rely on passenger planes. That's because passenger planes need to be pressurized, which is expensive, and they also can't fly in formation, which is much more efficient.
Meanwhile, there's a growing community of amateurs who build and fly their own drones. The drones typically have two-foot long wings and weigh about two pounds.
Chris Anderson, former editor in chief at Wired, and co-founder of 3D Robotics and founder of DIY DRONES, is helping lead the charge.
Anderson started DIY DRONES, a social network for people interested in aerial robotics, in 2007. Since launch, DIY DRONES has grown to a community of 33,000 active members who fly drones that they have either been made themselves, or purchased from companies like 3D Robotics.
In ten years, Anderson thinks it won't be uncommon to see drones flying in the air.
Anderson is currently working on a "follow me box," which is basically a phone-sized box you would wear on your belt to summon a droid and have it follow you around with a camera.
For example, if you're a surfer who wants footage of yourself tearing up the waves, you would press a button on your "follow-me box" and the droid would fly out to you, position itself above you, and start shooting. Once the battery gets low, the droid would detect that and land itself on the beach.
People are already using drones to do things like find hikers and skiers in need of rescuing, take aerial imagery of homes and other properties, and survey archaeological sites in Africa.
"What we're doing wasn't possible 10 years ago," Anderson tells Business Insider. "The reason drones are popular now is because smartphones are popular."
What he means is that the creation of smartphones has led to advanced technology, like gyroscopes, accelerometers, armed processors, and GPS, that make it possible to produce cheap, functioning autopilots.
Anderson also compares the rise of personal drones to the rise of the personal computer.
"[Computers are] in a class of technology that previously existed and then people started adding the word personal to it," Anderson says. "The user and the new class of users are what revolutionized the industry, not the computer itself. Democratization of technology is not about technology, it's about who uses it."
Anderson says that by adding the word "personal" to drones, the industry has opened up to a consumer class that will find more interesting ways to use them.
"It's part of a longstanding trend to take technology from the few and give it to the many," Anderson says.
Anderson is now working full-time at 3D Robotics as CEO, after leaving his position at Wired last month. Shortly after he made the switch, 3D Robotics raised $5 million from True Ventures and O'Reilly Alpha Tech Ventures.
By the end of January, Anderson plans to pivot the company from DIY to plug-and-play, where all of the drones come ready to fly.
Via Business Insider


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As part of a complete home theater setup [Andy] wanted to be able to control the lights from his couch. He started thinking about the best way to do this when he realized that his TV remote has buttons on it which he never uses. Those controls are meant for other components made by the same manufacturer as the TV. Since he doesn't have that equipment on hand, he built his own IR receiver to switch the lights with those unused buttons.
He monitors and IR receiver using an AVR microcontroller. It is powered from mains via the guts from a wall wart included in the build. Also rolled into the project is a solid state relay capable of switching the mains feed to the light circuit. [Andy] mentions that going with a solid state part mean you don't get that clicking associated with a mechanical relay. An electrical box extension was used to give him more room for mounting the IR receiver and housing his DIY circuit board.