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Fierce optimism and an indefatigable spirit led Carol Harlig through two bouts of breast cancer and onto a path of resolute advocacy.
By Diana Price
Carol Harlig was 47 years old and in excellent health when a routine mammogram detected ductal carcinoma in 1991. Her stage II breast cancer diagnosis was followed by a lumpectomy, lymph node removal and six weeks of radiation, which was then followed by six weeks of chemotherapy. Carol decided early on that she would add something else to her treatment regimen: a prescription for a positive attitude and a refusal to accept any negative thoughts about her situation.
Fourteen years after her initial diagnosis, Carol radiates the same positive energy that she believes helped her beat breast cancer. "I made the decision early that attitude is everything in fighting cancer," she says. "You have the opportunity to make a choice: Your glass can be half-full or half-empty. I decided mine was half-full." Having made the decision to focus on the positive, Carol made it a policy not to allow herself to be surrounded by negative people or to listen to downbeat stories about others' experiences with cancer. "People want to tell you the craziest things when they find out you have cancer," she says. "They would start in on these awful stories about some friend or relative who had a terrible diagnosis. When that happened, I would just make up an excuse to remove myself from the situation. I didn't want to absorb any of that negativity."
Carol also determined that she would be an active participant in her treatment. She began by interviewing to find a team—which would ultimately include a surgeon, an oncologist and a radiologist—with whom she felt truly compatible. "I decided that if any doctor patted me on the hand and said, 'We're going to take good care of you,' that that person would not be part of the team. I didn't want to be 'taken care of,' I wanted to be an active participant in the team." She recalls a saying that she heard around that time that she particularly liked: "We have to stop treating doctors like gods…but first we have to get up off of our knees." There was no doubt that Carol was up off her knees and determined to beat cancer.
As she began treatment and became familiar with her team, Carol made a conscious decision to get to know everyone who had a hand in caring for her. "I made sure that the entire staff in each facility knew who I was so that I would not be just another number or just another case. Ultimately, everyone knew me by name, and we became great friends."
Carol's determined optimism would see her through the most challenging moments in treatment. Her radiation regimen produced raw breast tissue, and treatment had to be suspended so that the skin could heal. She faced nausea and fatigue during her chemotherapy treatment, which she combated by eating lots of small meals during the day, loading up on protein and taking short naps when she got too tired. She discovered that smoothies made with soy milk, protein powder and bananas provided her with a good source of nutrition and made her feel better.
But Carol also acknowledges that it wasn't always easy to remain positive. Some days it was all she could do to make it through 15 minutes at a time, facing down the clock and realizing the accomplishment of making it through even that short period of time. "I would just try to focus on facing the next small space of time, and then when I looked at the clock, 15 minutes would have passed and I would know that I could make it through another 15 minutes." And every day she would allow herself a five-minute pity party. "I would set the timer and allow myself to cry and scream and rail at the world. When the five minutes were up, that was it."
Carol would mark every day of treatment by drawing a big red 'X' on her calendar. On her last day of chemo, she strapped on Rollerblades and skated into the lobby of the Mountain States Tumor Institute in Boise, Idaho, where the staff, whom she had taken such care to get to know, burst into applause. In addition to her Rollerblading adventure, Carol celebrated the end of her treatment with a trip to a spa and a chance to indulge in every treatment the place offered—one of the many "carrots" that she and husband Len had dangled to help her endure the months of treatment. She laughs, remembering going in for a massage while she was there and having to explain to the masseuse that she needed to remove her wig so that it wouldn't get oil on it. "You learn to laugh at funny moments like that," she remembers, "because you have to laugh where you can."
Unfortunately, that trip to the spa would not mark the end of Carol's cancer as she had anticipated. In 1994, three years after that trip, she was diagnosed with breast cancer for the second time. Again, the mammogram detected a ductal carcinoma. This time the cancer was determined to be stage IV, and again Carol faced a lumpectomy, lymph node removal, chemotherapy and radiation.
Unhappy with her oncologist's response to her second diagnosis, Carol chose to find a new medical team to see her through treatment. She again interviewed doctors and found a team she felt comfortable with. She then endured a "chemo sandwich": three-and-a-half months of chemotherapy (CAF) followed by six weeks of radiation and then by another three-and-a-half months of chemo.
"The second time around, it was definitely harder to be positive in the beginning. I just thought, how can this be? I'm healthy. I'm a vegetarian. I work out. I'm a good person. I have no family history of cancer. How is it that this is happening again? But what you realize is that none of that matters with cancer. What matters is how you go forward from the point of diagnosis. "
One tool that Carol used extensively during her chemotherapy and radiation treatments to maintain her positive energy and sense of optimism was creative visualization. "During chemo, I visualized being in my favorite place, which happens to be on the beach in Hawaii." Carol recalls. "I visualized lying in a hammock, and feeling the breeze on my skin. I could hear the waves gently breaking on the shore and smell the salt air. I would listen to beautiful music at the same time, and this became my safe haven during treatment." When it came time for radiation, Carol imagined that if there were any cancer cells left in her body, that they were ice cubes and that the radiation was a white hot light that entered the top of her head and radiated through every inch of her body—melting the cancer cells and flushing them through the bottoms of her feet.
The radiation included in Carol's treatment plan for her second bout with cancer was only one facet of her treatment that produced more intense side effects than she experienced with her earlier cancer, and she faced some frightening moments. Following surgery, Carol developed septicemia, which landed her in the hospital and ultimately became one of the scariest points of her entire illness. Recovered from surgery, she was plagued with terrible nausea and with excruciating mouth sores during her chemotherapy. She lost an alarming amount of weight because the sores in her mouth made it almost impossible to speak, much less eat anything.
She remembers one night in particular when she and Len were supposed to go to a holiday dance and, at the last minute, she realized that there was just no way that she could go. "I just felt too awful to even move. As it was too late to call our table-mates to tell them we wouldn't be attending, I urged Len to put in an appearance and explain my absence. He only stayed about 25 minutes and then came home to care for me, but I remember the terrible combination of physical pain and frustration that I felt that night–lying on the floor in our bedroom sobbing and just screaming because it hurt so much."
Throughout this difficult treatment period, Carol reaffirmed a decision she had made after her first diagnosis to help herself remain positive—she would continue to care for her physical appearance in the same way she always had. A beautiful woman, Carol is perfectly made up and put together as she describes her determination to continue to keep that appearance in place during her treatment. "The world was not going to know, from the way I looked on the outside, that I was sick," Carol says. She was determined to continue to project a beautiful front in the face of her illness because to do otherwise would be to allow cancer to take something away from her.
"I felt as though I needed to continue to do what made me feel good. I wore the makeup, the earrings. Despite what was going on with my cancer, I knew that my appearance was one thing I did have some control over." But Carol acknowledges that keeping up appearances during her treatment required a little more work—and, at times, a healthy sense of humor. She remembers several times during her chemo treatments, after she had lost all of her hair, including her eyebrows, when she would forget that her eyebrows were only drawn on with make-up and would wipe her brow, thereby wiping off an eyebrow at the same time. "It's just one of those things I had to laugh about," she says.
And Carol acknowledges that everyone deals with the physical changes wrought by cancer treatment differently. "My decision was to continue to wear make up and to wear a wig, but everyone chooses to manage differently. You have to do what makes you happy and what is most true to who you are."
Maintaining her appearance in spite of the cancer did not mean that Carol did not struggle on the inside. "Believe me, I did my share of yelling and screaming on our back deck," Carol laughs. "I definitely had my moments of feeling angry and sad." During those moments, Carol says, it was Len who was her primary source of emotional support. She shakes her head as she remembers his invaluable help during that time. "He was my rock. He never let me know how scared he was." It wasn't until much later, after her last treatment was long-over, that Len told her how frightened he had been.
In addition to taking care of Carol emotionally, Len took on the financial and insurance issues related to her illness. "I felt my job was healing," Carol says, "and it demanded my full attention and was my full-time job." But she knows that Len had a lot on his plate, and it was especially meaningful for both of them when someone would make a point to let Len know that they were concerned for him also. "It really meant a lot to us when someone would ask how Len was holding up," Carol says. "It's a lot to take on, as a caregiver, and it's nice when that weight you carry is acknowledged."
Carol was also supported by a close circle of friends. They helped her through by providing meals for her and Len as well as invaluable soul food—love and support that was so critical.
Now 11 years past her last treatment, though she still gets a yearly mammogram, Carol has just recently made the decision to stop seeing her oncologist annually. And while cancer has left her body, it's still very much part of Carol's life. That's because she is committed to helping others facing a cancer diagnosis. She speaks to women who have been diagnosed with breast cancer regularly to tell them her story and to pass on what she hopes can lend some inspiration. She also channels her positive energy and optimism into advocacy and volunteer work. Her efforts have included serving on the board of Expedition Inspiration for five years and raising funds for the Cancer Society's Relay for Life—almost $25,000 in two years: the most of any individual in the Northwestern United States.
Ultimately, Carol decided she was "healed" when she discovered one day, years after her last treatment, that she had not thought about her cancer even once in a whole day. "That was a real accomplishment," she says, "because for so long it occupies so much of your mental and emotional space." Now, free of cancer and continuing to embrace the optimism and energy that saw her through her darkest days, Carol has parting advice for any woman facing a cancer diagnosis: "Remember that cancer is a 'speed bump' on the road of life, and that you are a survivor from the moment you are diagnosed."


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Letter from Michael Moore
A 75th Anniversary for the American Dream, A 25-Year Anniversary for Me
Sent Saturday, February 11, 2012
On this day 25 years ago, in 1987, I became a filmmaker. It was around ten in the morning and the first-ever roll of Kodak 16mm film for my first-ever movie was loaded into my friend's camera to shoot the very first scene of Roger & Me.I had no idea on that morning in Flint, Michigan what my life would be like after that, or what would happen to Flint, or to General Motors. It all felt fairly ominous, though – after all, GM, which was posting record profits at the time, was closing its first Flint factory (the first of what would become many) and unemployment in Flint had officially been listed as high as 29%. Surely things couldn't get much worse.
That morning, 25 years ago today, a group of autoworkers had come together on the lawn of the soon-to-be-closed Buick-Oldsmobile-Cadillac assembly plant to raise their voices against the closing – and to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Great Flint Sit-Down Strike, which had begun at that very factory. That strike, in 1936-37, was actually an occupation. Hundreds of workers took over the factories in Flint and refused to leave for 44 days until GM capitulated and recognized their union. The strike inspired thousands of other workers across the country to stage their own occupations and, before you knew it, in the years to follow, factory workers were paid a living wage, with benefits, vacations, and a safe working place.
The middle class and the American Dream were born 75 years ago today, on February 11, 1937, the day the Flint workers won their struggle. And for the next 44 years, working people everywhere got to own their own homes, send their kids to college, and never worry about going broke if they got sick.
That belief, that life would be good if you were a good citizen and a hard worker, now seems out of reach for nearly half the country which is either living in or near poverty. Perhaps people wouldn't mind it as much if the burden were being evenly shared. But everyone knows that's not the case.
In a time of record personal bankruptcies, record home foreclosures, record family and student debt, there are a group of people having the best years of wealth and profit ever recorded in human history.
And it is those very people who have made the decisions to export our jobs, to decimate unions, to make college unaffordable, to start wars and to pay themselves with gluttonous joy while paying little or no tax – this is the 1% that has created the burden so many Americans (and people around the world) now share.
And so, 75 years after the victory in Flint, the battle is now being fought all over again. But this time it's not just about getting paid a dollar an hour, or having Sunday off, or reducing the chance of your hand being crushed in the metal-stamping machine. This time, the stakes are even greater: Who is going to own America and control the basic functions of our democracy – the richest 1% who buy the politicians to get what they want, or the 99% who don't have much these days and live in anxiety or fear of what's around the bend?
I believe that justice will win out again, in the end, just as it did 75 years ago today in Flint in 1937.
I have no special plans to mark this day of anniversaries other than to post a short story I wrote, called Gratitude. You may have read it in my book, but if not, here it is to freely download and enjoy.
If you'd like to hear me read it in my own voice, click here.
It tells, in part, the story of that day I first placed that roll of Kodak film into a movie camera. I am proud of the town I was born in, and I'm proud of my uncle who participated in the Sit-Down Strike. I am grateful to those of you who have gone to my movies over the years, and I thank all of you who have been inspired by the Occupy Wall Street movement to speak up on behalf of the 99%.
There's no turning back now. Onward!
Michael Moore

subset: commoncrawl


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I have Windows 7 and Debian dual-booted on my laptop. I'm getting cramped for space on the Debian side, so I want to remove the Windows partition and use the whole computer for Debian. I'm currently using a single partition for Debian (plus a swap partition), but would like to split /home into its own partition in the new arrangement.
Since the Windows partition is larger than all the Debian partitions, there's space enough for the whole linux installation in the current windows partition. So I'm thinking what I'd do is:
- reformat the 60GB windows 7 partition /sda2 to an extended partition with two two ext4 partitions, one 15 GB for /, the other 45 GB for /home
- move/clone my current / and /home directories to the new partitions
- reformat the partitions where the debian install was, freeing up 50GB of space
- resizing the new extended partition, and the /home partition in it, to incorporate the 50GB freed in step 3
- leave a 2 GB at the end for swap
I've posted my fdisk -l
My questions:
- Is this a sensible approach?
- How do I do step 2? Can I move the / directory without having to reinstall it?
- I'm assuming that 4 will be straightforward, since I'll be resizing by moving the end of the partition, not the beginning - is that correct?
fdisk -l Disk /dev/sda: 120.0 GB, 120034123776 bytes 255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 14593 cylinders, total 234441648 sectors Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes Disk identifier: 0x45689f01 Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System /dev/sda1 * 2048 616447 307200 7 HPFS/NTFS/exFAT /dev/sda2 616448 127768575 63576064 7 HPFS/NTFS/exFAT /dev/sda3 127770622 234440703 53335041 5 Extended /dev/sda5 127770624 230021119 51125248 83 Linux /dev/sda6 230023168 234440703 2208768 82 Linux swap / Solaris


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In the Windows 8 Consumer Preview, the App Preview version of the Photos app provides a basic but attractive interface for viewing photos found on the PC, or in online services such as SkyDrive, Facebook and Flickr.
In this way, Photos closely mirrors the consumption-focused interfaces of Metro-style apps and the entire Metro environment, while relegating more advanced experiences such as acquiring photos from cameras and memory cards, editing photos, or creating video-based slideshows, to more powerful and complex Windows desktop applications. This odd dichotomy is, of course, a hallmark of Windows 8's overall design. But it means that Photos, like other Metro-style App Previews, is pretty limited, by design.
It's also pretty limited even within the scope of consumption-type activities, really. Yes, you can view photos, and, yes, you can trigger photo slideshows. But there's no variety here at all, no slideshow themes or configuration options, and you can't mix and match between the different photo sources--the PC's Pictures library, SkyDrive, Facebook, and Flickr--at all.
On the surface, Photos hits all the high notes. It offers a nice, dynamic live tile that animates between various photos in your collection, for example, or if you'd prefer, you can set a favorite picture as the tile's sole image.
The app itself is simple, offering a nice tile-based interface whose home page offers obvious launch points for the four supported photos sources.
Sub-screens are equally visual, with the same nice tile-based design, offering obvious navigation choices.
As for views where actual photos can be found, the onscreen real estate is wasted. On a typical 1366 x 768 screen, you can see at most three to five photos, depending on their orientation. But normally, you see only two. The only option here is to zoom in using pinch zoom or CTRL + the mouse's scroll wheel. That will provide a grid-like view for the photos.
Upon viewing a photo, you have other limited choices. You can launch a slideshow, set the photo as the app tile, set the photo as the lock screen, or delete.
(If you're viewing a photo from an online service, you will see an addition choice related to viewing the photo on the service itself. Tapping this button will launch the Metro version of IE 10, which will navigate to the page containing the photo.)
There is one fairly advanced feature involving slideshows. Within one photo source only--you can't mix and match between, say, Pictures library and Facebook--you can arbitrarily select photos in different folders. As you do so, they are stored in a File Picker-like basket.
Once you've selected all the photos you want--mixing and matching between different folders if desired--you can then trigger a slideshow that includes all of those photos. That's nice, but there are no other options. You can't change anything about the slideshow while it's running.
Printing and sharing occur normally, via the standard Metro-style charms, as does Search. If you open the Search charm from outside the Photos app and then select Photos from the list of apps in the Search pane, you get the zoom-type grid-based view of your Pictures library, presumably because it provides for more photos on-screen at once.
In Settings, you can determine whether slideshows shuffle the photos and disable the online account(s)--SkyDrive, Facebook, and/or Flickr--you don't use. That's about it. (Connecting to Facebook and Flickr may require you to first "connect" those services to the app, using a web-based interface. Sometimes, these connections are previously available, however, if you connected them previously through your Windows Live Profile.)
Overall, the Photos apps is simple and incomplete like other App Previews, and needs some obvious features to make it truly valuable. High on the list are support for more online services, the ability to share photos on various online services, advanced slideshow configurations, simple photo editing capabilities, and a Metro-based photos acquisition interface. That's a lot of stuff, I know. But I don't see how Microsoft can expect tablet users, especially, to use desktop apps like Windows Live Photo Gallery to accomplish these tasks. And today, in App Preview form, Photos just doesn't cut it.


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WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Higher naturally occurring levels of the male hormone testosterone appear to protect men from fatal heart attacks or strokes and death from all manner of causes, researchers in Britain said on Monday.
But the researchers cautioned men not to begin testosterone supplementation based on the results of this 10-year study, saying the benefits and risks are unclear.
The role of testosterone in men's health is controversial, with the relationship between men's natural testosterone levels and overall health not well understood, according to the researchers.
But this study led by Dr. Kay-Tee Khaw, a professor of clinical gerontology at the University of Cambridge School of Clinical Medicine in Britain, found strong benefits in men with higher natural levels of the hormone.
Men in the upper 25 percent of natural testosterone levels had a 41 percent lower risk of dying from heart attack, stroke and other cardiovascular conditions, cancer and all other causes, compared to men with the lowest levels, the researchers found.
"Low testosterone seems to predict increased risk of total mortality in cardiovascular disease as well as cancer," Khaw said in a telephone interview.
The researchers tracked 11,606 British men ages 40 to 79 who had no known cancer or cardiovascular disease at the start of the study. They joined the study from 1993 to 1997 and were followed until 2003.
Among these men, 825 died during the study period. The researchers measured their testosterone levels using frozen blood samples provided earlier, and compared their levels to a group of men still alive at the end of the study period.
Khaw said the relationship between testosterone levels and cardiovascular disease mortality was comparable in magnitude to well-established risk factors like high blood pressure and cholesterol levels.
Thus, low testosterone levels could point to men at elevated risk for cardiovascular death who may not have other known risk factors, the researchers reported in the journal Circulation.
Khaw said the findings suggest that men with low levels of testosterone might be able to cut their risk of death with testosterone supplementation, but did not recommend doing this without more research backing up these results.
She pointed to the experience involving hormone therapy in women. Early studies suggested hormone therapy could protect post-menopausal women from heart disease, but later and larger research yielded the opposite results.
"The anxiety about testosterone supplementation is that high testosterone may be a risk factor for prostate cancer," added Khaw, who noted that the study looked only at naturally occurring levels of the hormone and not supplementation.
Testosterone is the primary "male" hormone that helps maintain muscle mass and strength, fat distribution, bone mass, sperm production, sex drive and potency. Women have testosterone too, but at lower levels.
Doctors have used testosterone therapy to treat men with abnormally low testosterone levels. Some athletes and bodybuilders use it to promote muscle mass and strength.


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(The following article was written earlier and is reproduced here for the benefit of readers new to this site on Disclosure Day in September)
The people we'll be listening to in this article are extraterrestrials of human origin – our space family.
Some, like SaLuSa of Sirius, will tell us that they are detailed by the Galactic Federation of Light (GF) to speak on its behalf. SaLuSa says:
"I am SaLuSa from Sirius, and I along with my companions represent the Galactic Federation where contact with you is concerned." (1)
But the Galactic Federation are not the only extraterrestrials here to help us. Many coalitions are here. Hatonn is an example of an extraterrestrial human who serves a wider role, coordinating all interdimensional communications.
Speaking through Suzy Ward, Hatonn says he serves "as director of communications between Earth and all points elsewhere during the era of Earth changes. You may know of me as commander of an intergalactic fleet. That is another of my 'hats.'" (2)
They and other spokespeople communicate through terrestrial mediums at regular intervals.
For simplicity's sake, let's restrict our attention to the GF for the moment.
According to them, members of the GF are enlightened beings drawn from advanced civilizations. They ascended aeons ago after passing through a period of evolution similar to that to which we are headed in 2012 or sooner. (3)
Says SaLuSa: "We of the Galactic Federation are charged with looking after Mankind and [ensuring] your upliftment and safe journey through to Ascension." (4)
In our galaxy, the GF is the single largest space-faring group. It liaises and cooperates with other ETs in peacekeeping and other aspects of service to the Light. Its work is carried out in Love for all life and respect for the freewill of all beings. (5)
Membership in the GF is only granted to civilizations that have achieved ascended or unitive consciousness. (6)
Our link with the GF goes far back in our history, a fact known to scientists and historians but kept from the general public. Contact reaches to recent times when it established close connections with some of us, such as George Adamski and Billy Meier. (7)
They've assisted us in ways that were not obvious, but otherwise have allowed us to find our own way as part of our need to develop spiritual discrimination. (8)
SaLuSa tells us that terrestrial humans most resemble Sirians, Pleiadians, and Venusians, with whom we are genetically linked. (9)
According to Ker-On of Venus, the dark forces in control of this planet have portrayed the idea of contact with "aliens" as opening the door to a hostile takeover. In reality, the ones projecting that image hid behind it while they did exactly what they accused the GF of wishing to do. (10)
The present mission started during and after World War II, when terrestrials exploded nuclear bombs which wreaked havoc with interdimensional space. It increased around two decades ago, after an event known as the Harmonic Convergence.
Until recently, the GF has observed us closely and intervened only when Heaven or the GF itself thought it necessary. Without the help of the GF, according to terrestrial spirit teacher Matthew Ward, Mother Earth's body would have died and none of us would be here today. (11)
Says Atmos of Sirius: "We of the Galactic Federation are … fully aware of our role in the end times. We await our orders to proceed with the final open contact with you…. We work with your Mother Earth, and the Inner Earth Beings [of Agartha], and together we represent your release from the last gasps of the dark forces." (12)
Of their role, Mira of the Pleiades says: "[During] the next few years, we will be with you. We will be standing face-to-face, shoulder-to-shoulder. We will help shoulder the burdens of change. We will work with the ground crew to lay the fertile field of the New Earth." (13)
(1) SaLuSa of Sirius, June 26, 2009, and Apr. 3, 2009, through Mike Quinsey, at https://www.treeofthegoldenlight.com/First_Contact/Channeled_Messages_by_Mike_Quinsey.htm.
(2) Hatonn, "Message from Matthew," 31 December 2005, at https://www.matthewbooks.com/mm/anmviewer.asp?a=61&z=2.)
(3) Many sources make the statement that they are enlightened, ascended, or more evolved and advanced compared to us. For instance, see SaLuSa of Sirius, March 18, Apr. 3, and May 4, 2009, ibid.; Ker-On of Venus, 3 July 2009, at ibid; Tom Kenyon, "Who are the Hathors?" at https://tomkenyon.com/who-are-the-hathors/; Adamu, 31 Aug. 2008, at https://book-of-light.com/forums2/viewtopic.php?f=43&t=81.
(4) SaLuSa of Sirius, March 23, 2009, ibid.
(5) Loc. cit.
(6) SaLuSa of Sirius, Dec. 15, 2008, ibid.
(7) Spiritual Hierarchy and Galactic Federation (SHGF), Update, through Sheldan Nidle, Dec. 2, 2008, at https://www.paoweb.com/sn120208.htm and Ker-On, March 4, 2009, at https://www.treeofthegoldenlight.com/First_Contact/Channeled_Messages_by_Mike_Quinsey.htm.
(8) SaLuSa of Sirius, Dec. 15, 2008, ibid.
(9) SaLuSa of Sirius, 27 Oct. 2008, ibid.
(10) Ker-On of Venus, Oct. 22, 2008, at ibid.
(11) SHGF, "Update," Dec. 23, 2008, through Sheldan Nidle, at https://www.galacticfriends.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=blogcategory&id=32&Itemid=92 and Matthew Ward, "Message from Matthew," Oct. 22, 2008 at https://www.ashtarcommand.net/profiles/blog/show?id=1985014%3ABlogPost%3A249014.
(12) Atmos of Sirius, Nov. 12, 2008, at https://www.treeofthegoldenlight.com/First_Contact/Channeled_Messages_by_Mike_Quinsey.htm.
(13) Mira of the Pleiades, Apr. 7, 2009, through Valerie Donner, at https://lightworkers.org/channeling/73255/a-message-from-mira-from-pleiadian-high-council.


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Slight changes in the way a person walks, like slowing down or developing a variable stride, could be early signs of Alzheimer's disease.
Previous studies have linked walking speed in the elderly with overall good health and even longevity, but the current research is among the first to associate gait with risk of Alzheimer's. The four new studies, presented over the weekend at the Alzheimer's Association International Conference in Vancouver, find that changes in physical movements like walking can even precede symptoms of cognitive decline
(MORE: Scientists Identify Rare Gene Mutation that Protects Against Alzheimer's)
One study by researchers at the Basel Mobility Center in Switzerland followed 1,153 elderly participants including patients at the center being treated for memory and mobility problems as well as volunteers in a separate 2007-11 cohort study. The participants were separated into groups based on their cognitive status: cognitively healthy, diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) or diagnosed with Alzheimer's dementia.
Researchers tested the participants' gait on a 33-ft. electronic walkway containing 30,000 integrated pressure sensors. The participants were tested for "normal" walking and for performance on two "dual tasks," which included normal walking while simultaneously counting backward out loud or while naming animals.
Overall, everyone walked slower while attempting to multitask, but walking speed was also linked with people's varying levels of cognitive decline. People with Alzheimer's walked slower than those with MCI, who walked slower than cognitively healthy adults.m"Mobility impairments are often associated with dementia, and some gait changes may even appear before cognitive decline can be detected by traditional testing methods," said lead study author Dr. Stephanie Bridenbaugh in a statement. "Gait analysis can simply, quickly and objectively measure walking. When problems emerge, this may provide early detection of fall risk and the earliest stages of cognitive impairment in older adults."
(MORE: U.S. Launches National Alzheimer's Plan)
In a second study by researchers at the Mayo Clinic, 1,341 participants were observed using a computerized tracking tool, which measured stride length, cadence (or steps per minute) and speed of walking. People were tested at least twice about 15 months apart. The researchers found that participants with lower cadence, speed and stride length were significantly more likely to show declines in global cognition, memory and executive function, compared with faster walkers.
Study researcher Dr. Rodolfo Savica told USA Today that "walking and movements require a perfect and simultaneous integration of multiple areas of the brain," and walking changes happen when dementia interferes with the circuitry between various brain regions.
A third study by Kenichi Meguro of the Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine and his colleagues also looked at the link between gait and cognitive function in 525 community-dwelling adults aged 75 and older in Japan. The participants had their gait patterns, velocity and stride length measured as they walked about 20 ft. at their fastest pace. As in the other studies, researchers found that people's walking speed slowed down significantly as the severity of dementia symptoms increased. The study authors also found that degeneration of the patients' entorhinal cortex, the section of the brain associated with memory and navigation, was significantly correlated with walking velocity.
"Gait should no longer be considered a simple, automatic, motor activity that is independent of cognition. They are linked," said Meguro.
(MORE: New Criteria May Change Alzheimer's Diagnosis)
In one other study presented at the conference suggested that people's true walking speed could more accurately be measured by tracking their activity at home rather than using a single test at the doctor's office. Dr. Lisa Silbert of Oregon Health & Science University in Portland and colleagues studied 19 dementia-free adults, using MRI to measure the volume of the entire brain and various sections and also testing their walking speed. The researchers measured velocity in two ways: by timing participants as they walked about 30 ft. at the doctor's office before undergoing MRI, and at home by using motion sensors that continuously collected walking data over a one-month period.
The researchers found that people tended to walk faster in the doctor's-office test than they did at home. Further, slower walking speeds measured at home were more closely associated with smaller total brain size and smaller volumes of the hippocampus — a brain region crucial to memory processing — than the one-time walking speeds measured at the office.
"Walking speed taken at a single time point may overestimate walking abilities in the elderly," said Silbert. "Our data suggests that continuous in-home monitoring may provide a more accurate reflection of walking speed and may be more sensitive at detecting motor changes associated with future cognitive decline." Silbert said, noting that technology exists to allow doctors to measure patient's walking speed in the real world.
(MORE: New Drug Trial Aims to Prevent Alzheimer's Before It Starts)
"With an aging baby boomer generation advancing into greater risk for Alzheimer's and dementia, it is important for physicians to be aware of the associations between gait and mental function. These studies suggest that observing and measuring gait changes could be a valuable tool for signaling the need for further cognitive evaluation," said Dr. William Thies, chief medical and scientific officer of the Alzheimer's Association, in a statement.
Gait measurements are inexpensive and don't take a lot of time to assess, said Thies. Given the research, they could be a valuable way for busy doctors to identify early cases of cognitive decline. Tests of walking speed don't take the place of comprehensive neurological exams for diagnoses of Alzheimer's, but as Bridenbaugh points out, observing elderly patients' gait could help doctors make such diagnoses and monitor the effects of treatment or disease progression.
MORE: Study: Eating Omega-3s May Help Reduce Alzheimer's Risk


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Laws & Regulations
Public laws are passed by Congress and signed into law by the President. Regulations are issued to carry out the intent of legislation enacted by Congress.
DHS Rulemaking
The mission of the Department of Homeland Security is to ensure a homeland that is safe, secure, and resilient against terrorism and other hazards.
Featured Laws & Regulations
Our goal is to make DHS's regulatory program more effective or less burdensome in achieving its regulatory objectives.Key DHS Laws
An overview of general DHS Laws, with a focus on emergency management, immigration, maritime law and transportation security.
Presidential Directives
View Executive branch documents laying out the national strategy to secure the homeland.
Significant Guidance
Find guidance documents from DHS and components that represent the Department's current thinking on important topics.


text:
Back to: Breakout modules
FO-DCS 3U/7HP BO plug-in-modules, 6x LCQ
for FO-DCS modular subracks / panels, OS2, APC Version
High-Performance FO-DCS BO plug-in modules LCD, 3U/7HP
Open polycarbonate housing (PC) and front panel 3U / 7HP in polycarbonate (black).
The radius limiter on the rear side and the integrated clips ensure a simple and safe handling of the pre-assembled legs.
The front panel is fitted with 6 LCD adapters and provides two integrated labelling strips on both sides of the LCD ports for customer-specific printing.
Fixation with two knurled screws (captive).
FO-DCS breakout plug-in modules LCQ (24F 3U/7HP) are suitable for all high-performance applications with duplex signals, particularly in the data centre environment.
They find modular application in FO-DCS modular panels (19"/1U) or in FO-DCS subracks (19"/3U, 19"/4U).
They are used to accept pre-assembled LC/LCD trunk cables.
Packing densities of up to 144 fibres on 3U are achieved with these plug-in modules.
- Outer dimensions (HxWxD) 3 U, 129 mm x 35 mm x 182 mm
- Acceptance capacity 6 quad ports (24 fibres)
- Fully equipped yes
- System FO-DCS
- Dust/Laser protection, frontside Dust plug
- Dust protection, frontside yes
- Laser protection, frontside no
- As a high-performance patch cable we recommend the FO-DCS LCD Uniboot patch cables.
- Fibre type OS2
- Adapter colour, front side green
- Adapter material, front side Polymeric
- Adapter type, front side LCQ/APC
- Adapter, front side 6 x LCQ/APC, green (Dust plug)
- Number of adapters, front side 6
- Sleeve material, front side Zirconia (ZrO2)
Housing with front panel, equipped with 6 LC duplex adapters (ceramic sleeves).
All ports are fitted with two transparent dust protection plugs (front/rear).
Rear side with integrated radius limiter and clips for the pre-assembled legs.
Optional LCD laser protection clips (metal) can be obtained and retrofitted.
Article No. | Stock | Product | Colour | Material | Weight [kg] | Packing unit | GTIN / EAN |
FO-DCS BO plug-in-module LCQ 3U/7HP, 6x LCQ, green | black | Polycarbonate (PC) | 0.3 kg | 1 pc. | 40393910006193 |


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This article is more than 1 year old
Zombie-animating malnets increase 200% in just 6 months
Cybercrooks beef up botnet-powering badness
Crybercrooks are beefing up the infrastructure behind the delivery of botnets, a move that is leading towards more potent and numerous threats, say researchers.
Botnet infections are commonly spread though compromised websites seeded with malicious scripts and promoted via black hat SEO tactics such as link farms. These malware networks, or malnets, pose a growing threat, according to a new study by web security firm Blue Coat.
Malnets largely deal in mass market malware and as such are different from advanced persistent threats (APTs) associated with cyber-espionage attacks targeting large corporations and Western governments. Attacks will be updated and changed, but the underlying infrastructure used to lure in users and deliver these attacks is reused. The ease with which cyber criminals can launch attacks using malnets creates a vicious cycle, a process by which individuals are lured to malware, infected, and then used to infect others.
First the malnet drives a user to the malware. Then the user's computer is infected with a Trojan. Once the computer is compromised it can be used by the botnet to lure new users into the malnet by using the infected machine to send spam to email contact lists, for example. A compromised system can also be used to steal the victim's personal information or money, and, in some cases, can also function as a jumping-off point for attacks on neighboring machines.
"Their [malnet] infrastructure is comprised of several thousand unique domains, servers and websites that work together to funnel users to a malware payload," Tim Van Der Horst, a senior malware researcher at Blue Coat, explained. "This infrastructure of relay and exploit servers allows malnet operators to quickly launch new attacks that can be tailored to attract large groups of potential victims."
Blue Coat expect malnets to account for more than two-thirds of all malicious cyber attacks in 2012. The firm is currently tracking more than 1,500 unique malnets, a 200 per cent (four-fold) increase from just six months ago.
The biggest malnet, dubbed Shnakule by Blue Coat, not only communicates frequently but also changes hostnames frequently, as the web filtering firm explains.
Shnakule is a wide ranging malnet that engages in a variety of malfeasant activities, including fake AV, codec, Flash and browser updates, pornography, gambling and work-at-home scams. To scale the nfrastructure to accommodate attacks associated with these activities, Shnakule operators bring new domains and servers online. Over the course of six months Shnakule used anywhere from 50 to 5,005 unique domain names per day.
Other malnets are more focused on specific malicious activities. Rubol, for example, is a spam ecosystem that operates in bursts. When it is actively launching attacks, the malnet will use as many as 476 unique domain names but this can drop to a single domain during inactive periods.
Search Engine Poisoning (SEP) continues to be the leading entry point into malnets, driving users to malware more than 35 per cent of the time. However, cyber criminals have moved away from targeting breaking news or big events. For example, of more than 28,000 successful search engine poisoning attacks in the weeks around the Olympics, only 0.18 per cent were related to the Olympics.
Email and pornography drive roughly 11 and 4 per cent, respectively, of malnet attacks. The biggest change in the last eight months had been the decline of social networking – from 6.5 per cent of all attacks to just over 1 per cent. "The full reasoning for this drop is not fully known, but part of it is attributable to greater awareness of social networking users and more robust policing of malicious content on the part of the social networks themselves," Blue Coat explains.
Looking at malware delivery infrastructures rather than infected zombies, Blue Coat has reached the conclusion that the infamous ZeuS banking Trojan toolkit is on decline.
Over the last six months a new botnet, Aleuron, has risen to take its place. Activity from the Aleuron botnet increased 517 percent, surpassing Zeus and making it the most active botnet in the wild, according to Blue Coat.
The ease with which this infrastructure can be shifted to avoid detection or target a new group of users, makes it especially tricky to eradicate malnets. ®


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Penn State Berks has recently received approval from the University to offer the Bachelor of Science degree in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology to its academic programs, beginning in the fall semester of 2014. Penn State Berks will be the only campus outside University Park to offer the B.S. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology.
"The Biochemistry and Molecular Biology degree is poised to become the most highly enrolled of the Berks degrees related to biology,? states Dr. Maureen Dunbar, Program Coordinator for the degree program. ?Many positions in the healthcare field rely on biochemistry and molecular biology. Students interested in medical school will need biochemistry because the MCAT (Medical College Admissions Test) will include biochemistry in 2015. The Biochemistry and Molecular Biology degree gives our students great preparation for the widest variety of career paths."
Biochemistry applies the basic principles of chemistry and physics to the study of living cells and their components to explain biology at molecular, genetic, and cellular levels. Students will develop a strong foundation in quantitative and analytical biological sciences, including molecular biology, biochemistry, enzymology, metabolism, cell biology, and molecular genetics.
Students at Penn State Berks will have the ability to customize their degree program by choosing either the Biochemistry Option or the Molecular and Cell Biology Option.
The Biochemistry Option is tailored for students who are interested in the structures, properties, and functions of macromolecules, and in the quantitative and analytical techniques used to characterize these macromolecules. Students graduating with this option will be well prepared for careers in the pharmaceutical industry and biotechnology and health-related industries, including government, academic, and private laboratories. Students will also be prepared for graduate and professional school.
The Molecular and Cell Biology Option is for students whose interests relate to the growth, reproduction and differentiation of cells and to signaling processes that occur in multicellular systems that activate and modulate these processes. The curriculum is designed to prepare students for advanced study leading to careers in research, medicine, and education, or to secure employment in biotechnology and health-related industries, including government, academic, and private laboratories.
The Biochemistry and Molecular Biology degree will join the college?s fifteen other baccalaureate degree programs, providing a full complement of diverse and varied baccalaureate degree programs to meet the needs of students in the Berks County community and beyond. For more information about the B.S. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology program, contact program coordinator Dr. Maureen Dunbar at 610-396-6328 or via e-mail at [email protected].


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Tuesday, March 07, 2006
Reading, England's DJ/mashup loonies Pilchard (aka The Fruntroom 5) received a tape of Lowry's work thinking it was, in fact, the work of Spike Jones. But Spike was a performer - he did everything with a live band. This is clearly tape/studio tomfoolery, though very much influenced by Jones's brand of wacky musical comedy. Lowry even uses some of the same music as Spike - classical war-horses like the "William Tell Overture."
Unfortunately, little is known about Lowry. When I asked Pilchard for more info, he wrote, "There aint no chance - the guys dead. He was called Paul Lowry. The woman that gave me the tape is senile...He played on the radio - that's all I can tell ya. Actually-come to think of it-musique concrete MAY have been written on the tape. There's another geezer mentioned in the notes which alas I no longer have, jog me memory.. I dunno, I'll try track the old girl down." We're keeping our fingers crossed.
Paul Lowry
1. "I Got Rhythm"
2. "William Tell Overture"
3. "Sabre Dance": sounds like live pots'n'pans percussion; brilliant tape looping at one point
4. "Rudio Nasrael" (??): some mighty impressive belching in this one.
Kudos to Pilchard for performing some serious audio restoration on the tape.
UPDATE June 10, 2007: We still don't have much info on Lowry, but Ted from Redding CA confirms hearing "William Tell Overture" on a tape of BBC radio broadcasts, so it appears that Lowry, indeed, did these for the BBC.
UPDATE June 13, 2007: I wrote to the BBC. Their reply: "I note your interest in a gentleman called Paul Lowry who may have been employed by the BBC. Having checked our database, we have no contact details for anyone of this name." I'm starting to wonder if his name was, in fact, Paul Lowry. Maybe that was just the guy who owned the tape that fell into Scott Pilchard's hands...UPDATE July 8, 2009: All tracks now available HERE, thanks to Doklands, who also informs us: "I managed to identify the "Rudio Nasrael" track - it's the theme to the BBC show "Radio Newsreel", also known as "Imperial Echoes" and written by Arnold Safroni.
9 comments:
This is just fantastic. Thanks so much. I wish I had something more cute and witty to say, but you'll have to content yourself with a gushing note of appreciation instead.
- 1:39 AM, March 08, 2006
- Peter said...
likewise. this is genius. thankyou!
- 9:53 AM, March 24, 2006
There are lots of Ruth Wallis mp3s at archive.org
David - 12:44 PM, June 13, 2006
- dok said...
Hope you don't mind, but I've reassembled these tracks and posted them on Doklands. They're just too good to lie dormant like that. In the process, I managed to identify the "Rudio Nasrael" track - it's the theme to the BBC show "Radio Newsreel", also known as "Imperial Echoes" and written by Arnold Safroni.
- 5:29 PM, July 08, 2009
- mark said...
This is great! Not a sausage.
- 7:49 PM, December 06, 2012
- Dirk Bill said...
I am beyond intrigued, and yet these links are dead. Lots of comments across the web; it's like Stan Freberg with a fake name! Would love to hear this...
- 2:44 PM, July 23, 2013
- Mr Fab said...
Hi Dirk, looks like you can get 'em here:
http://mp3juices.com/search/paul-lowry - 3:32 PM, July 23, 2013
- Dirk Bill said...
Thanks Mr. Fab! These are just outstanding recordings; I hope someday somebody can fill in the info gap on this person. My parents saw Spike Jones perform live twice, so I grew up with an appreciation of the absurd in music (which also explains why I am on your site all the time!!!).
Also also, I discovered I was wrong about your link: The "alternate download (sendspace)" is fine, just operator error on my part (as usual). - 4:36 AM, July 24, 2013
- Stefran said...
Perfect pieces!
Links didn't work for me.
I found the songs as low quality mp3s on this website:
If anybody knows where they can be found in full quality it would be very much appreciated! - 5:51 PM, January 24, 2018


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James Keane. Courtesy Steelcase
Steelcase has named the manufacturing executive who will succeed longtime CEO James Hackett in March 2014, the start of the office furniture maker's next fiscal year.
Succession change
Steelcase has appointed James P. Keane, a 16-year veteran of Steelcase, CEO
Keane, 54, is Steelcase's president and COO and responsible for product development, manufacturing, marketing, sales and distribution of all Steelcase brands around the world.
"Throughout his 16 years at the company, Jim has proven to be a strong leader with a passion for winning and a deep understanding of the business," said Rob Pew, Steelcase board chair. "His creativity and strategic execution make him a great steward of the Steelcase legacy and the right choice to lead Steelcase into a future of continued growth and tremendous technological change."
Keane's background
At various times in his career at Steelcase, Keane led research and development, corporate strategy, information technology and finance, before taking over as head of the Steelcase brand in North America in 2006.
"I am honored to have the opportunity to lead Steelcase," Keane said. "I've learned a lot by working with Jim Hackett, as he guided the company through significant changes in the world of work."
Keane, a Chicago native, earned a bachelor of science in accounting from the University of Illinois and a master's in management from the Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University.
Keane is on the boards of Rockwell Automation, IDEO and the Business and Institutional Furniture Manufacturers Association.
Hackett's new role
Hackett, who has been CEO since 1994, announced in July that he will be stepping down on Feb. 28, 2014, the last day of the company's current fiscal year.
He will then assume a new position at Steelcase as vice chair for a year and will continue as a member of the board of directors.
Steelcase (NYSE: SCS) reported sales in FY2013 of $2.9 billion.


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- North America and Western Europe accounted for a 41% share of the $7 billion category in 2009.
- Growth has been strongest in Latin America, and the region is predicted to add $414 million in absolute growth to the category 2009–2014.
- Despite the economic downturn in 2009, the increase in the number of middle-income consumers resulted in strong sales of value-added products, with the share of private label remaining just under 4% globally.
- The star performers globally were baby hair care and baby toiletries, boosted by female consumers increasingly opting to buy baby care products for their own use.
- Baby sun care was the only category to experience consistent growth in 2009, achieving a 4% increase in North America and proving to be one of the more resilient categories to the recession in mature regions.
Baby care proved to be one of the most resilient categories during the onslaught of the recession, and outperformed the beauty industry as a whole (4%) with 7% value growth in 2009, according to market research firm Euromonitor International. Despite this, the category remains rather a niche globally, with sales heavily focused on the wealthier developed regions of North America and Western Europe, which together accounted for a 41% share of the $7 billion category in 2009. In turn, baby care accounted for just 2% of total value sales in 2009, meaning that there is still much work to be done before it can be considered a major driving force in the beauty industry.
Soaring Growth in Africa; Middle East
Although it is clear that the high disposable income regions of North America and Western Europe dominate baby care sales globally, they are no longer the primary growth-drivers. While value sales in emerging regions are still comparatively very low, many managed to maintain or even better their 2008 value growth rates. According to Euromonitor statistics, growth has been strongest in Latin America (20% in 2009) and Eastern Europe (9%), albeit from a far lower base than in mature regions like North America and Western Europe.
Africa and the Middle East achieved value growth of 13% in 2009, up from 12% the previous year. Despite this, the region cannot be considered a major focal point for growth in baby care because with sales of just $4 billion in 2009, it accounted for just a 7% share of global baby care sales. Furthermore, some of this growth was due to a high inflation rate that kept value sales high while volume growth declined or remained stagnant.
Latin America is the Region to Watch
Latin America is set to be a key contributor to global baby care growth and is predicted to add $414 million in absolute growth to the category 2009–2014, more than any other region. The region already accounted for a 24% share of total baby care value sales in 2009, and posted a dynamic growth rate of 20% in value terms, higher than the previous year (17%). The region's comparatively high birth rate was a major contributor to the boom in baby care products; its birth rate of 19 per 1,000 inhabitants in 2009 was far higher than that of Western Europe, for example, with a birth rate of just 12 per 1,000 inhabitants. Furthermore, rising disposable incomes in the region meant that parents were able to spend more money on their children.
Despite the economic downturn in 2009, the increase in the number of middle-income consumers resulted in strong sales of value-added products, and strong growth for products that consumers previously could not afford as an everyday purchase—baby and child-specific sun care, for example, registered excellent growth of 15% in 2009.
Natural/Organic Sales on the Rise
Natural and organic baby care products continued to be a significant trend in 2009 in regions where available. Many consumers start buying organic baby care products when they first become parents, deeming these product to be "best" for their children, and thereafter are unwilling to trade down from products that are perceived as being of a high quality.
As they start reading labels on foods for their children, consumers are more inclined to read labels on baby care products too, being on the lookout for preservatives such as parabens and other additives. The fear of common beauty ingredients such as PEG (propylene glycol) and sodium laureth sulfate has sent parents flocking to the emerging natural and organic baby care segment.
The key markets for organic and naturally positioned baby care products are affluent regions such as Western Europe and the U.S., primarily due to the often high price points of organic brands. Germany is the most mature market for natural baby care products, with many of the biggest names in natural beauty, such as Lavera and Weleda, originating from the country. These brands are becoming increasingly popular abroad, and German natural product manufacturers are focusing on expanding sales in other European countries, notably France and the U.K.
Popularity of Natural Sets/Kits Takes Off
Natural baby care starter kits are now often given as presents to expectant mothers as the popularity of baby showers held by mothers-to-be spreads beyond the U.S. into other countries. Products such as the "Getting Started" kit or the "Baby Bee Bundle of Joy Basket" from natural beauty stalwart Burt's Bees and the "Mom and Baby Set" from Lavera are being sold as gifts for mothers and babies, the idea being that new mothers will then become regular purchasers of these brands once the trial-sized bottles in the kit run out.
No Major Inroads for Private Label
As a consequence of this careful attitude regarding the products parents are willing to use on their children, private label baby care did not experience anywhere near the same level of discounting as the overall adult beauty market. For many parents, the most important factor in baby care remains the quality of the product or reputation of the brand rather than price. The share of private label remained at just under 4% globally in 2009, unchanged from 2008 despite far more difficult economic circumstances globally, according to Euromonitor International.
Baby Toiletries Dominate Category Sales
The star performers globally were baby hair care and baby toiletries, both of which outperformed their 2008 growth rates—the former achieving 9% global value growth in 2009, an improvement of two percentage points on the previous year. Sales of baby toiletries, in particular, are also being boosted by female consumers increasingly opting to buy baby care products instead of adult products because they are seen as milder than normal body care products, and are also often less expensive.
Sun Care Sales Remain Buoyant Across Regions
Baby sun care was the only category to experience consistent growth in 2009, registering 5% globally—but, more importantly, it achieved a 4% increase in North America, proving to be one of the more resilient categories to the recession in mature regions. Demand for baby care products is being driven by greater awareness of the damage caused by unprotected sun exposure. The health care community and sun care manufacturers have educated parents regarding the fact that protection from the sun is a year-round and lifetime necessity, and not just for sunbathers at the beach. Many parents now take notice of dermatologists' claims that people receive as much as 80% of their lifetime sun exposure by the age of 18. As a result of these health fears, demand for baby and child-specific sun care products has risen in recent years. Parents tend to rely on familiar brand names for child sun protection, and, as a result, Beiersdorf's Nivea is the world's leading brand in the category.
Major Beauty Players Focus on Baby Care
Avon has signalled its intention to focus on the baby care category by acquiring Tiny Tillia in April 2010, a child-specific personal care company that is present primarily in the U.S. market. In keeping with the trend toward natural and organically positioned products in baby care, the range is paraben-free and errs toward the premium end of the price scale, costing around $12 for a bottle of bath additive.
Beauty specialist Sephora launched The Healthy Baby Collection (May 2010), produced by Lavanila Laboratories, which is marketed as being a collection of chemical-free, vitamin-enriched, infant-safe formulas. The range is the only baby care line currently stocked by the retailer that focuses primarily on the adult female consumer base.
Outlook Good, but Category Remains Niche … So Far
Globally, the baby care category shows a great deal of potential. According to Euromonitor, it is set to add a further $1.9 billion in absolute growth 2009–2014, although ultimately this will account for just 2% of total beauty absolute growth over the same period. Reflecting the growing importance of the wider skin care category, baby skin care is set to add the most in value terms with $434 million, or 23% of the total absolute growth in baby care. The natural and organic trend is expected to continue to be a main contributor to maintaining growth in mature regions such as Western Europe and North America as parents continue to trade up to higher-priced "free from" products.
Carrie Lennard is a research analyst at Euromonitor International.


text:
This is not strictly speaking a TeX question, but I think every TeX author will have been confronted by it at some point.
What convention do you follow when naming PDF copies of articles downloaded from the web?
I used to follow the same naming convention I used for BiBTeX entries, i.e. main author:year:title initials. For example, the "Go To Statement Considered Harmful" by Dijkstra (1968) would be saved as dijkstra:68:gtsch.pdf
Now I'm not so happy about this convention because the colon, which was fine while I was working under Windows, is a reserved character under UNIX.
Corollary question: what convention do you follow for BiBTeX entries?


text:
Gopher State Agency
- Phone: (763) 427-9440
Fax: (763) 780-1734 - 1633 County Road 10, Suite 16
Spring Lake Park, MN 55432 (MAP) - email@example.com
- Servicio en español: (763) 656-3854
- Request a Certificate
Request a Policy Change -
Request a Quote
- Auto Quote
Home Quote
Business Quote
Life Quote - Delta Dental Quote
This agency is licensed only in Minnesota and Wisconsin. Company links or logos on this web site does not imply the endorsement by those companies of this web site. This is an "agency only" site. Please note that we cannot bind coverage through our web site or through email. For more information regarding bound coverage, please visit our LEGAL page, or call us.
About Us
About Us
Who we are
Since 1962 our agency has been committed to providing you superior service. We know that your insurance dollars can be spent in many ways. We want to EARN your business by regularly reviewing your coverage, and helping you receive the best value for your insurance dollar.
Personal Attention
When you call, you will receive the personal attention that you want. You are a valued customer, not an "account number." You are a familiar face, a valued friend, and a neighbor. We will be there for you when you need us most!
Superior Claims Service
In the event of a loss, you can count on us to be there for you. We stand ready to follow through on the entire process, making sure that everything goes right. We want to partner with you to make sure you never feel alone at a difficult time in your life.


text:
This is a cookie that will appease both peanut butter lovers and chocolate chip fans: a peanut butter chocolate chip cookie. You can certainly throw a handful of chocolate chips into just about any peanut butter cookie dough (or dip the cookies in chocolate!) to get this flavor combination, but peanut butter cookies and chocolate chip cookies have different textures to them and this cookie delivers something encompasses elements of both types.
The cookies are big and tender, with a hint of crispiness on the edges and a slight chewiness to them that is more like a chocolate chip cookie than a straight peanut butter one. They don't have an overly strong peanut butter flavor to them and I like to use crunchy peanut butter to get the addition of little pieces of peanut in the finished cookies. Smooth peanut butter will work just as well. I used a national brand (JIF, to be specific) but these cookies should work out well with natural peanut butter, too. If you are using unsalted peanut butter, you may want to increase the salt in the cookies by 1/4 teaspoon to highlight the peanut butter flavor a bit more.
These cookies keep very well and are a great change of pace from your average peanut butter cookie. I like dark chocolate chips in these, but milk chocolate chips also really compliment the peanut butter flavor of the cookies and will sweeten things up just a little bit. To really take a batch of these cookies over-the-top with peanut butter and chocolate, keep an eye out for mini peanut butter cups (Trader Joe's carries them) and mix those in along with the chocolate chips.
Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup peanut butter (national brand, pref. crunchy)
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 package or 2 cups chocolate chips
Preheat oven to 350F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda and salt.
In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Blend in peanut butter, egg and vanilla until mixture is smooth. Gradually blend in the flour mixture until dough comes together and no streaks of dry ingredients remain. Stir in chocolate chips until well distributed.
Shape dough into 1-inch balls and place on baking sheet, leaving about 2 inches between them to allow for spread.
Bake for 11-14 minutes, until cookies are lightly browned and set around the edges (slightly longer baking will result in crispier cookies). Cool cookies for 3-4 minutes on the baking sheet, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Makes about 3 dozen cookies.


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I don't have to tell you that it's tough out there. I'm talking about the recession, of course. In the end, the bursting of America's economic bubble is the worst financial news since the Great Depression. And ultimately, it is clear that the deleterious effects of U.S. capitalism know no race, ethnicity or class. Titans of industry are reduced to pauper status, working families are out of work, food, healthcare and a home, and people of all backgrounds are watching their life's work eviscerate before their very eyes. We are all bit players in the casino, and with a few exceptions such as the lucky bailout winners, most of us have crapped out, the way the casino operators intended it to work.
But at the same time, it's a little more complicated than that. While "official" unemployment nationwide is high at around 10 percent (far more when you factor in all of those people who are underemployed or have given up all hope of finding a job), unemployment is and always has been much higher in Black and Latino communities. But the gap has widened during this recession. In fact, Black unemployment is nearly double that of Whites, while Latinos are unemployed at a rate one-third higher than their White counterparts. The situation is particularly chronic in New York City, where there are 80,000 more unemployed Blacks than Whites, even though there are about 1.5 million more Whites than Blacks in that city.
One explanation is that people of color are the folks last hired and first fired, or that their communities have a lower level of entrepreneurship. Some people will be quick to attribute the difference in employment levels to differences in education levels. Their argument is that people of color are lazy and not so smart, and don't apply themselves. But among those with a college education, as the Economic Policy Institute reported, Black unemployment in recent months has doubled that of Whites.
Perhaps institutional racism can explain some of the difference in unemployment levels. As James Koch, an economics professor at Old Dominion University noted, "When the economy is at or near full employment, employers don't have any choice. They have to hire the people that are available. Right now, employers can be fairly choosy. They may well choose not to hire African Americans."
This notion is worth exploring, at a time when civil rights foes have pushed back against the age of Obama. In the name of "reverse discrimination", they have declared that affirmative action and other diversity programs are a thing of the past. The unqualified minorities are taking all of the good jobs from the ever-qualified and ever-capable White men, they say. Blacks have the White House, after all, so what more do they want?
These malcontents yearn for the day when people of color were relegated to captive labor, or migrant labor, out of sight and out of mind, and nothing more. They point to the Supreme Court ruling in Ricci v. Stefano. In Ricci, the court found in favor of 17 aggrieved White New Haven firefighters (and one Latino) who claimed they were discriminated against in promotions after they passed a promotional exam. When no Black firefighters passed that exam, in a city where people of color are 60% of the population, the city discarded the results.
Little is said, however, of the recent ruling by a federal judge that New York City discriminates against people of color in the hiring of its firefighters. Specifically, New York City, which is over 60% of color, has a fire department which is over 90% White (and nearly all male), a statistic that stands in marked contrast to other major cities. Blacks and Latinos disproportionately failed the recruitment exams, and those who did pass were placed further down the list than White candidates. The judge determined that "the city did not take sufficient measures to ensure that better performers on its examinations would actually be better firefighters." He added that "when an employment test is not adequately related to the job for which it tests – and when the test adversely affects minority groups – we may not fall back on the notion that better test takers make better employees."
In a majority-minority city such as New York, African Americans and Latinos are seldom found as firefighters, and some professions apparently are the functional equivalent of a family business. It seems more than mere coincidence that unemployment among people of color has skyrocketed.
Some people will always point to the scores, but the truth is that intelligence, achievement and merit cannot be reduced to a single score. But gatekeepers in education and the professions have long used standardized testing as a tool to keep racial, ethnic, class and gender diversity from entering the gate. The tests and the racism always went hand in hand. As anthropologist Carolyn Fluehr-Lobban points out in Race and Racism: An Introduction, standardized intelligence testing was born of the eugenics movement and the IQ tests. These pseudo-scientific tests were first used to prove that immigrant groups, "certain undesirable non-Anglo-Saxons – especially Jews, Hungarians, Poles, Russians, and Italians – 'were mentally defective.'" What worked as a tool of class and ethnic discrimination against European immigrants was then utilized to prove the racial inferiority of "Negro, Mexican and Spanish-Indian children." And according to the National Center for Fair and Open Testing, "IQ tests are nothing more than a type of achievement test which primarily measures knowledge of standard English and exposure to the cultural experiences of middle class whites." Yet, society still relies on these exams, commonly known today as the SAT, ACT, GRE, MCAT, GMAT, LSAT, and bar exam, among others.
Society's gatekeepers have a lot of power. They decide who gets the job and why. They determine who is a team player, who is a good fit, who is fit to lead and who is not. They decide who is too much of this or not enough of that, who is qualified, underqualified, or overqualified. They decide if an applicant's name sounds too "Black" or "Latino", whatever that means. They determine whose hair looks too Black. Gatekeepers create the reality, however subjective, flawed or biased the methodology. They choose the images in Hollywood and on TV, and which people will portray criminals or upstanding citizens, or nothing at all. Gatekeepers make the policies that create a mostly Black and Brown prison population, and a mostly White legal profession. They decide to fill the special education classes and foster care systems with children of color, who will, in turn, fill the prisons. Gatekeepers decide to have a panel discussion on a cable news program, and the topic is the nation's first Latina Supreme Court justice, yet none of the panelists are Latinas.
And gatekeepers lack diversity, in a nation that is becoming more and more diverse by the day. Often, their goal is to maintain a system where everyone looks the same, like the good ol' days. That is why steps are needed to ensure that the game is not rigged, as it has been for so long, so that we do not revert to the nation's default settings of power and privilege.
Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates – who had a less than positive experience with the Cambridge police department of late – said it best in his commencement address to Berea College in 2008:
For me, no matter how intelligent I may or may not be, for me to have been one of those six black boys who graduated from Yale in 1966, affirmative action was a class escalator. As far as I'm concerned, ladies and gentlemen, no one in the American academy has benefited more from affirmative action than I have. And that's why I will go to my grave as an ardent and passionate defender of affirmative action. For me to become so successful in America, and for me to become a gatekeeper of American society and stand at the gate and protest affirmative action to keep out women or people of color would make me a hypocrite as big as Justice Clarence Thomas, and I'm not that kind of person. We need more affirmative action in this country, not less affirmative action. I don't care what the White House says, and I don't care what the minority on the Supreme Court says, and that's the subject of my address this afternoon.
BlackCommentator.com Editorial Board member David A. Love, JD is a journalist and human rights advocate based in Philadelphia, and a contributor to the Progressive Media Project and McClatchy-Tribune News Service, among others. He contributed to the book, States of Confinement: Policing, Detention, and Prisons (St. Martin's Press, 2000). Love is a former Amnesty International UK spokesperson. His blog is davidalove.com.


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I was reading Robert Scoble and he reports that two companies are changing hands. First Skype is sold to eBay and Oracle buys Siebel.
He also discuss about the advantages that eBay may get by using Skype.
Some people have come up to me and asked me "does this deal make any sense to you?" It does. eBay is a marketplace. It's about putting buyers and sellers together. Now, how can you make that marketplace more efficient? Voice and video.
Selling things is easier when you can tell and show. Skype is all about that.
Can't wait to see how this is going to change the way people buy things online.
Hopefully at least this is true, not like the Technorati rumor


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So do we need to be reminded yet again of what U.S. Catholics think of their women religious?
Here's another measure of affection:
Nearly 500 people jammed into a conference room April 13 at the St. Regis Hotel for Catholic Charities CYO's annual Loaves and Fishes awards dinner and gala. Each year organizers honor some worthy recipient with the Loaves and Fishes Award for Faith in Action. It's for someone who has done extraordinary work on behalf of the needy of the archdiocese.
This year organizers chose to honor the 650 women religious from 48 congregations working in the San Francisco archdiocese. (Word is it was the choice of San Francisco Archbishop Emeritus George Niederauer.)
The citation noted "their vital role in building schools, hospitals, orphanages, homeless shelters, homes for the elderly, and many other charitable institutions, including a partnership with Catholic Charities CYO that began more than a century ago."
What's remarkable is that the San Francisco dinner drew record numbers of guests, raising a record $500,000. Previous dinners have raised a half to two-thirds that amount, organizers noted.
Why the record? When local Catholics learned the archdiocese was honoring the women religious they wanted to be part of it. The hall grew so crowded fire marshals came out to watch over the overflow crowd. Extra tables were added in the hall way and inside the dining room many tables that normally seated eight were packed with up to 12 guests.
"From the founding of St. Vincent's School in Marin by two Sisters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul in 1855, Catholic Charities CYO has enjoyed a long rich partnership with women religious in providing compassionate care and services for the neediest of our brothers and sisters," said Maureen Sullivan, event co-chair and long-time Catholic Charities CYO Board member.
The evening included a video tribute to the women religious of the archdiocese and a keynote address by Mercy Sister Lillian Murphy, CEO of Mercy Housing, Inc.
Gratitude once again to our women religious. Who's listening in Rome?


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Mostly by accident, I have never owned a home, and consider it one of the best financial moves I've ever made.
Not because suffering through one of the worst real estate downturns in history would have slammed my finances, although that's likely true. But because in the last four years, my wife and I have lived in four different locations in three different states on each side of the country. Each move was driven by work and school opportunities that would have been out of reach had we been tied down to one home.
Our story is hardly unique. In one of the most telling studies looking at the benefits of home ownership, economists Andrew Oswald and David Blanchflower ask, "does high home-ownership impair the labor market?"
Their answer is "yes."
Looking at regional data since 1980, the pair found that "A doubling of the rate of home-ownership in a U.S. state is followed in the long-run by more than a doubling of the later unemployment rate." That's simply massive.
The study makes clear that homeowners don't necessarily have higher rates of unemployment. Instead -- and this is really important -- they conclude that high rates of homeownership affect the entire labor market through lower rates of productivity and entrepreneurship.
Regions with higher home ownership created fewer new businesses, had longer commute times, and lower rates of labor mobility. All three impose costs on the labor market, and eventually lead to overall lower rates of employment. Importantly, the results aren't dependent on the years surrounding the housing crash, when millions of Americans became underwater on their mortgage. This is a deeply seeded trend.
The study controls for characteristics like age and education, but the authors caution against reading too deeply. The results are what they are, but correlation doesn't necessarily mean causation. "We are unable, in this paper, to say exactly why, or to give a complete explanation for the patterns that are found, but our study's results are consistent with the unusual idea that the housing market can create dampening externalities upon the labor market and the economy," they write.
But other studies show similar trends.
One 2011 study looking at household debt accumulation -- most which is mortgage debt -- showed that auto sales in regions where debt accumulation was the highest during the boom were down 40% since 2005. In regions where debt accumulation was the lowest, auto sales were up 30%. Same stuff for zip codes that have a high percentage of homes with underwater mortgages. The "American dream" of owning a home can be detrimental to the "American dream" of a strong economy.
Now, owning a home makes sense for a lot of people. But to me, the study has two obvious takeaways. One is that while many of us focus relentlessly on the costs of renting -- you're throwing your money down the toilet! -- the costs of owning a home can be far greater. Worse, those costs are largely hidden, since it's hard to calculate the price of not being able to easily move for a new job.
Two, there are hidden costs to subsidizing home ownership. The highly popular mortgage interest deduction is one of the largest tax deductions in existence. The FHA is now a major player in the mortgage market. Both seek to promote home ownership without much thought about the knock-on costs, like lower job mobility.
In 2004, president Bush addressed the National Association of Home Builders:
For millions of our citizens, the American Dream starts with owning a home. Home ownership gives people a sense of pride and independence and confidence for the future. When you work hard, like you've done, and there are good policies coming out of our nation's capital we're creating a home -- an ownership society in this country, where more Americans than ever will be able to open up their door where they live and say, welcome to my house, welcome to my piece of property.
Be careful what you wish for.


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Each year this event honors Austin and San Antonio's fastest growing companies. This year is no exception. Make your plans to attend. Come network and hear from keynote speaker Robert Reeves - Co-founder and CTO of Datical Software.
FYI.... I will be the Master of Ceremonies for the event!
Have A Great Day.
thom singer


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University of Georgia
School of Law
309 Hirsch Hall
Athens, GA 30602
United States
B.A., J.D., University of Texas
Health Care Liability and Regulation
Workers' Compensation
Constitutional Litigation
Tom Eaton joined the University of Georgia School of Law faculty in 1979 and was named a J. Alton Hosch Professor in 1993. After leading classes in the areas of torts, constitutional litigation, health care regulation and workers' compensation, he retired from full-time teaching in 2015.
His scholarship includes: "Rule 68 Offers of Judgment: The Practice and Opinion of Experienced Civil Rights and Employment Discrimination Attorneys" in Federal Rules Decisions (2007) (with Harold S. Lewis Jr.), "Of Frivolous Litigation and Runaway Juries: A View From the Bench" in the Georgia Law Review (2007) and "Of Offers Not (Frequently) Made and (Rarely) Accepted: The Mystery of Federal Rule 68" in the Mercer Law Review (2006) (with Harold S. Lewis Jr.). The U.S. Supreme Court in Exxon Shipping Co. v. Baker, 128 S. Ct. 2605 (2008), cited Eaton's article "The Effects of Seeking Punitive Damages on the Processing of Tort Claims." In 2009, the Southeastern Association for Law Schools awarded Eaton its Call for Papers Award for his article "The Contours of a New FRCP, Rule 68.1: A Proposed Two-Way Offer of Settlement Provision for Federal Fee-Shifting Cases" (with H. Lewis).
Eaton has testified before state and federal legislative committees on a variety of subjects, including products liability, medical consent, patients' rights and tort reform. He has served as chair of the Georgia Governor's Workers' Compensation Review Commission. In addition, he served on a state bar committee that issued a report that lead to the enactment of legislation designed to improve the collection of data pertaining to civil and criminal proceedings in Georgia courts. Eaton has also chaired the Association of American Law Schools Section on Civil Rights.
In the spring of 2003, Eaton became the first law professor to be presented with a UGA Creative Research Medal. This honor was awarded for his systematic and in-depth study of tort litigation with fellow UGA professor Susette Talarico. That same year, he was also presented with the Student Bar Association Faculty Book Award for Excellence in Teaching. In 2004, he was selected by the graduating class to be an honorary class marshal at commencement.
Over the years, Eaton actively worked with the law school's mock trial program and also shared his expertise with local high school students. In 2000, he was named Outstanding Attorney-Coach by the state bar's high school mock trial committee in recognition of his five years of service with the award-winning Clarke Central High School Mock Trial Team.
His current involvement in law consists of regularly lecturing OLLI programs on the Supreme Court, participating in the law school's Clarke-Carley Inn of Court and serving on the Georgia Legal History Foundation.
Eaton earned his bachelor's and law degrees from the University of Texas. He served as a judicial clerk to Judge Robert R. Merhige Jr. of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia following graduation and then was an associate with the law firm Graves, Dougherty, Hearon, Moody & Garwood in Austin, Texas, before joining the UGA faculty.
Attorney's Fees, Nominal Damages, and Section 1983 Litigation, 24 Wm. & Mary Bill Rts. J. 89 (2016) (with M. Wells).
Who Owes How Much? Developments in Apportionment and Joint and Several Liability Under O.C.G.A. ? 51-12-33, 64 Mercer L. Rev. 15 (2012).
The Contours of a New FRCP, Rule 68.1: A Proposed Two-Way Offer of Settlement Provision for Federal Fee-Shifting Cases 252 F.R.D. 551 (2008) (with Harold S. Lewis).
Rule 68 Offers of Judgment: The Practices and Opinions of Experienced Civil Rights and Employment Discrimination Attorneys, 241 F.R.D. 332 (2007) (with Harold S. Lewis).
Of Frivolous Litigation and Runaway Juries: A View from the Bench, 41 Ga. L. Rev. 431 (2007).
Of Offers Not (Frequently) Made and (Rarely) Accepted: The Mystery of Federal Rule 68, 57 Mercer L. Rev. 723 (2006) (with Harold S. Lewis).
The Effects of Seeking Punitive Damages on the Processing of Tort Claims, 34 J. Legal Stud. 343 (2005) (with David Mustard and Susette Talarico).
Foreword: Scholarship and Service and Report of the Governor's Workers' Compensation Review Commission, 38 Ga. L. Rev. 1241 (2004) (with David B. Mustard).
Forward: Re-Examining First Principles: Deterrence and Corrective Justice in Constitutional Torts, 35 Ga. L. Rev. 837 (2001).
Another Brick in the Wall: An Empirical Look at Georgia Tort Litigation in the 1990s, 34 Ga. L. Rev. 1049 (2000) (with Susette M. Talarico and Richard E. Dunn).
Revisiting the Intersection of Workers' Compensation and Product Liability: An Assessment of a Proposed Federal Solution to an Old Problem, 64 Tenn. L. Rev. 881 (1997).
The Limits of Advance Directives: A History and Assessment of the Patient Self-Determination Act, 32 Wake Forest L. Rev. 249 (1997) (with Edward J. Larson).
Implementation and Impact of the Patient Self-Determination Act: A Comparison of Nursing Homes to Hospitals, 16 J. Applied Gerontology 190 (1997) (with Melissa Zwahr, Denise Park, and Edward J. Larson).
Introduction: Adapting Old Rules to New Paradigms, 31 Ga. L. Rev. 367 (1997).
A Profile of Tort Litigation in Georgia and Reflections on Tort Reform, 30 Ga. L. Rev. 627 (1996) (with Susette M. Talarico).
Testing Two Assumptions About Federalism and Tort Reform, Yale L. & Pol'y Rev./Yale J. on Reg., 1996 Symposium Issue at 371 (with Susette M. Talarico).
Implementation and Impact of the Patient Self-Determination Act, 87 So. Med. J. 971 (October 1994) (with Denise Park, Edward Larson, and Helen Palmer).
Experimenting With the 'Right to Die' in the Laboratory of the States, 25 Ga. L. Rev. 1253 (1991) (with Edward J. Larson).
Governmental Inaction as a Constitutional Tort: DeShaney and Its Aftermath, 66 Wash. L. Rev. 107 (1991) (with Michael Wells).
Contract Consistent with Public Policy, 119 N.J. L.J. 24 (Feb. 26, 1987).
Comparative Responses to Surrogate Motherhood, 65 Neb. L. Rev. 686 (1986).
The British Response to Surrogate Motherhood: An American Critique, 19 L. Tchr. 163 (1985).
Substantive Due Process and the Scope of Constitutional Torts, 18 Ga. L. Rev. 201 (1984) (with Michael Wells).
Affirmative Duty and Constitutional Tort, 16 U. Mich. J.L. Ref. 1 (1983) (with Michael Wells).
Res Ipsa Loquitur and Medical Malpractice in Georgia: A Reassessment, 17 Ga. L. Rev. 33 (1982).
Causation in Constitutional Torts, 67 Iowa L. Rev. 443 (1982).
Why Constitutional Torts Deserve a Book of Their Own, 22 Seattle U. L. Rev. 857 (1999) (with Michael L. Wells and Shedon H. Nahmod).
International Encyclopedia of Comparative Law: Torts; Vol. 11, 14 Ga. J. Int'l & Comp. L. 433 (1984).
Constitutional Torts, 3rd ed. (LexisNexis 2010) (with Sheldon H. Nahmod and Michael L. Wells).
Cases and Materials on Workers' Compensation, 6th ed. (Thomson/West 2009) (with Joseph W. Little and Gary R. Smith).
Constitutional Torts, 2nd ed. (LexisNexis 2004) (with Sheldon H. Nahmod and Michael L. Wells) (2006 update).
Cases and Materials on Workers' Compensation, 5th ed. (Thomson/West 2004) (with Joseph W. Little and Gary R. Smith).
Constitutional Remedies: A Reference Guide to the United States Constitution. (Praeger Press 2002) (with Michael Wells).
Cases and Materials on Workers' Compensation, 4th ed. (West Pub. Co., 1999) (with Joseph W. Little and Gary R. Smith).
Constitutional Torts. (Anderson Pub. Co., 1995 and 1999 Supplement) (with Sheldon H. Nahmod and Michael L. Wells).
Cases and Materials on Workers' Compensation, 3rd ed. (West Pub. Co., 1993) (with Joseph W. Little and Gary R. Smith).
Tort Litigation in Selected Georgia Counties, 1990-1993: A Preliminary Report to the Georgia Civil Justice Foundation, (October 24, 1995) (with Susette M. Talarico).
Biomedical Technology and the Law: Strategies for Regulating Risk (1985) (prepared for the Kellogg Foundation).
Testimony before the Georgia Senate Study Committee on Civil Justice Reform (1996).
Testimony on H.R. 10 to Reform the Federal Civil Justice System; to Reform Product Liability Law. 104th Cong., 1st Sess. 76 (1995).
Testimony before the Georgia Senate Special Judiciary Committee (1987).


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By JENNIFER LOVEN
Since President Bush's approval rating sank to the lowest level of his presidency in May, nearly six in 10 of his appearances helping Republican candidates have been closed to all media coverage.
Unlike his barnstorming leading up to the 2002 congressional elections, when he was more popular and the divisive Iraq war had not begun, Bush has yet to hold a single traditional campaign-style rally for one of his party's hopefuls this election cycle.
Every one of his events for GOP gubernatorial, House and Senate candidates has been to raise money from faithful Republican donors — not to urge support among the broader voting public.
The GOP's control of Congress is in danger. The tendency of many Republican candidates to keep their president under wraps is represented starkly in Bush's schedule in the week ahead.
Republicans hardly have abandoned their enthusiasm for having the president exercise his talent at raising money for their campaigns. But of six fundraisers Bush is headlining this week, all but one — for Alabama Gov. Bob Riley — are private, by agreement between the White House and the campaigns.
GOP Sen. Mike DeWine of Ohio, one of the more vulnerable Republicans, is a case study in the sometimes tricky dynamics of a president's assistance.
Bush is raising money for DeWine on Monday at a private home in Cincinnati. It is the third time the president will have helped the senator, to the tune of about a $1 million each time. No other candidate has rated as many appearances from Bush, and all have happened out of public view.
Earlier in the year, there was so much discussion of why DeWine was snubbing the president whenever he traveled to Ohio that the senator eschewed his family's baseball seats to take in the Cincinnati Reds' home opener at Bush's side.
A photo of the two, taken at the airport in June when Bush last traveled to Ohio for a closed DeWine fundraiser, is the primary image of an anti-DeWine ad by the Senate Democrats' campaign committee. Above the picture of the two, smiling with arms around each others' shoulders, the ad says: "Mike DeWine likes working together … with George Bush."
DeWine's campaign stresses that all the senator's fundraisers are closed and that there is no attempt to shun the president. "Not at all," said spokesman Brian Seitchik, who added that DeWine plans to appear with Bush during a tour, open to reporters, of a business earlier Monday.
Still, DeWine's ads have emphasized his independence and ability to work with Democrats.
Ohio Rep. Deborah Pryce, the fourth-ranking House Republican, once cozy with Bush. Now she stresses her independent side as she struggles to hold onto her seat in an evenly split district. Bush is returning to Ohio on Thursday to raise money for her; this reception also is closed.
The president appears to be itching to join the battle. Highly competitive and a political junkie, he becomes invigorated in front of large and supportive crowds.
"I'm looking forward to the campaign. I'm looking forward to reminding the American people there are significant differences in between what our party believes and what the other party believes," the president said Thursday at the first of two open fundraisers in Florida. He pounded his lectern and shouted so loudly that donors sometimes had to cover their ears.
That event in Tampa, to collect cash for state Rep. Gus Bilirakis' bid to succeed his father in Congress, was in a safely Republican district.
The White House says more fundraisers will be opened to coverage as Nov. 7 gets closer, that Bush will start speaking before larger crowds in bigger venues and that he will hold some rallies. But White House press secretary Tony Snow acknowledged that the president's role through the end of the campaign will remain largely fundraiser in chief.
Republican Party and White House officials say Bush is in such great demand by candidates that he cannot fill all the requests and that he is appearing at political events at the same rate as he did in 2002.
But the nature of the events this time around is different.
In 2002, between July and the end of September, nearly all of Bush's political appearances — most fundraisers — were open. From the end of August to this time in 2002, Bush also appeared in a half-dozen areas with tough races at "welcome" events, thinly veiled attempts to marshal presidential power to boost the struggling Republican candidates smiling at his side.
But this year, in the same time period between July and the end of September, nearly two-thirds of Bush's political events are scheduled to be closed, held in private homes where the White House says media coverage would damage the intimacy and intrude on hosts' privacy.
Overall, from the first political event Bush headlined in March 2005 through the end of September, 47 percent of Bush's 68 political events — for candidates, the national GOP, several state counterparts and the campaign arms of House and Senate Republicans — will have been private. Before May's approval-rating slide, the percentage of closed events was 34 percent; since, it is 59 percent.
Of the candidates Bush will have helped by the end of this week, 16 have chosen to have him in private and 23 have elected public appearances. Two have had public and private events — Sen. Jim Talent of Missouri, in a tough re-election race, and Bob Corker, hoping to beat Democratic Rep. Harold Ford to succeed Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist in Tennessee.
Most who choose public displays, such as Bilirakis, are running in Republican-leaning districts.
Most preferring a private Bush appearance are competing in some of the toughest races. Among them are Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, whom Bush has helped twice; Reps. Clay Shaw of Florida and Dave Riechert of Washington, and Rick O'Donnell, running for an open House seat in Colorado.
Still, several Republicans in close races have not shunned Bush, including Arizona Sen. Jon Kyl, Montana Sen. Conrad Burns, and Reps. Heather Wilson of New Mexico and Jim Gerlach and Mike Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania.
As Bilirakis put it Thursday in Florida, for some people nothing beats having the president of the United States at your side.
"Today we have the honor and the privilege of hearing from a man of great character and strong conviction: President George W. Bush. I'm proud to stand on this stage with the president," he gushed.
Associated Press Writer David Hammer contributed to this report.
Copyright © 2006 The Associated Press