text: Karolin Luger December 2012 // 3204 Before Karolin Luger was chosen to be the National Lecturer at the 57th Annual Meeting of the Biophysical Society, before she completed a postdoc or got her PhD, before she completed high school at a 'garden-variety' gymnasium in Austria, she was the youngest child, feeling a little left out of the lively discussions between her electronics- and physics-inclined brothers and father. As family lore would have it, math and physics were 'not her thing.' But for a love of nature—which started with a childhood fascination with planting seeds and looking at things under a microscope, and came to fruition in a middle school biology class when she asked how RNAs were connected with the correct amino acids and "didn't get a very clear answer"—Luger might have chosen a different path. As it was, however, "that class was when it dawned on me that not everything was 'known' yet," she said, and headed for a scientific career. After completing gymnasium with a specialty in foreign languages, Luger attended the University of Innsbruck. "The only way to study biochemistry was through a chemistry degree," said Luger. Given her interest in nature, she went for a degree in microbiology with an emphasis in biochemistry instead. With a Master's degree in biochemistry under her belt, Luger moved to Switzerland to attend the Biocenter at the University of Basel to work on her PhD. Finishing her PhD in biochemistry and biophysics with 'great colleagues and a wonderful mentor' kick-started her rise to success. As a graduate student, Luger took an advanced lecture course on x-ray crystallography. "The lectures were excruciatingly boring," she said. However, she was intrigued by the beauty of diffraction patterns and how they could provide information on structures, so Luger dedicated her postdoc with Tim Richmond at the University of Basel to learning crystallography. Her postdoc experience was longer than expected, as she picked a difficult system to work on, but remained "blissfully ignorant of that fact until I was way too deep into it." After overcoming the challenge of obtaining diffracting crystals and solving the phase problem, "I spent a rather lonely year in a dark airless room, hand-building a very large model on a very slow computer. After that," Luger reflected, "everything else seemed comparatively easy – starting my lab, getting grants, even solving more structures." The beauty of structures and their intricacy still takes my breath away. I'll never get tired of that. -Luger Would she recommend that new scientists start with a tough challenge? "While it may have worked for me, it could certainly be dispiriting for a young researcher," she said. "It depends on the type of person you are." Knowing when to push forward and when to call it quits has been an ongoing challenge for Luger. "It can be difficult to remain optimistic when a long-term project isn't going so well, and even more difficult to decide to 'pull the plug,'" said Luger. While completing her postdoc, Luger gave a talk on the x-ray crystal structure of the nucleosome at the Cold Spring Harbor Meeting on Mechanisms of Transcription. Her future colleague, Laurie Stargell, then an assistant professor at Colorado State University (CSU), met Luger at the meeting and described the talk and paper that came out of it (published in Nature) as "classic in every sense of the word." At the time of the talk, the nucleosome was the largest and most complex protein-nucleic acid assemblage to be crystallized, and it came at a critical time in chromatin research, just as nucleosomes were being acknowledged as important regulatory components of genes. "The information obtained from the crystal structure of the nucleosome," Stargell explained, "propelled the re-emergence of chromatin as a highly significant field of study." The ground-breaking nucleosome paper was also the first time Luger appeared on the radar of Biophysical Society President Jane Richardson, who named her National Lecturer for the 2013 Annual Meeting. "Karolin gave a gorgeous talk at the 2011 Nucleic Acids Gordon Conference," said Richardson. "Her talk was well-presented and had a take-home message that many, especially young biophysicists, could appreciate." Her diverse background—"I specialize in not specializing too much," according to Luger—has helped her keep an open mind to using a variety of approaches to answer questions. Moving from DNA sequencing (when there were no facilities to do it) as an undergraduate to protein folding, enzymology and spectroscopy as a PhD student, followed by x-ray crystallography as a postdoc, has brought her to understand and respect many different ways to solve problems. As a favorite she chose the high-resolution electron density map of a new protein complex. "It is thrilling to see, for the first time, how it all fits together," she declared, "The beauty of structures and their intricacy still takes my breath away. I'll never get tired of that." Now a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator and a Distinguished Professor at CSU, her research focuses on investigating the assembly and disassembly of nucleosome structure by a group of proteins known as histone chaperones. Her lab also works on proteins that shape chromatin architecture by interacting with nucleosomes, as well as the effect of histone post-translational modifications and histone variants on nucleosome and chromatin structure. "It is such a fun set of projects," Luger said, "every project in the lab is tightly interconnected with almost all other projects—histone chaperone function is affected by histone post-translational modifications; chromatin architectural proteins affect nucleosome dynamics… and more." Luger counts collaboration among one of the most rewarding aspects of her work. "Collaborative projects force me to think outside the box." Her current projects involve interacting with three separate research groups, who are all tackling the same questions with different approaches. Also top on her list of perks? Getting to be a geek. "I love the sheer geekyness of biophysics," Luger admits, "all the shiny and complex equipment, applying many technologies to answer a question, and sometimes 'tricking' the system by devising approaches to study aspects of macromolecules or assemblies that aren't inherently accessible to being studied." Stargell, now a professor and associate chair at CSU, has worked with Luger extensively since 1999 sharing several publications, working together as PIs/co-PIs on various grants, and presently working together. "Karolin is an absolute joy to have as a colleague," says Stargell. "She is a thinker and a doer, who constantly pushes the envelope of chromatin research using a wide range of approaches." Luger is "so thrilled to have the opportunity" to be the National Lecturer at the Annual Meeting. "I am tempted to take a picture of the audience from the podium," she said. "I think this will be the largest number of biophysicists in one room I'll ever see!" Luger is honored to be included on the list of National Lecturers, remembering Roger Kornberg's talk as an inspiration to a (then struggling) structural biologist. Outside of the lab, Luger enjoys gardening. In her small garden, she grows lettuce, tomatoes and squash, and says that had she not become a scientist, she might have a very different career today. "If I had a smidge of talent at piano, I might have done that," she joked, "But since I definitively don't, I would enjoy running an organic farm." She also enjoys reading fiction, and spending as much time outdoors as possible with her husband, daughter, and two dogs. "Living in Colorado, there's always hiking, snowshoeing and camping —although not nearly enough!" Go Back Previous Profile Bryan "Trevor" Sewell Next Profile Mihály "Stoci" Kovács Tags: nucleosome x-ray crystallography Switzerland Karolin Luger BPS Annual Lecturer Austria University of Basel Colorado State University slack-lining Related articles Chan Cao Chrystal Starbird Hugues Abriel Lukas Tamm Dorothy Hodgkin


text:
WASHINGTON – The United States will help poorer nations harvest their methane emissions (search) and turn them into clean-burning fuel, which will reduce pollution that contributes to global warming (search), Bush administration officials announced Wednesday.
The heads of the Environmental Protection Agency (search) and the Energy Department (search), along with President Bush's senior environmental adviser, said the plan would tap the power of the market to reduce release of methane, a heat-trapping atmospheric gas that largely goes to waste.
The plan involves spending up to $53 million over the next five years as part of an agreement with seven countries to help poorer nations harvest emissions of methane primarily from landfills, coal mines and oil and gas systems.
Methane is already captured from coal mines and landfills in the United States and used to generate electricity, officials said. Because of this, U.S. methane emissions in the United States were 5 percent lower in 2001 than in 1990.
The administration, meanwhile, has opposed restricting emissions of carbon dioxide, the industrial gas most cited by scientists for warming the atmosphere like a greenhouse. President Bush had supported regulating that gas in his 2000 campaign.
Methane represents 16 percent of global greenhouse emissions; carbon dioxide (search) is 74 percent, according to the administration.
The United States is joining with Australia, India, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Britain and Ukraine to develop the methane market. Canada and Russia also sent representatives to consider joining the group.
Mike Leavitt (search), the EPA administrator, cited significant energy, safety and environmental benefits.
He called it "a partnership that has the double benefit of capturing the second-most abundant greenhouse gas and turning it to productive use as a clean-burning fuel."
Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham (search) said the agreement "will benefit the economies of developing nations across the world."
They said it could potentially eliminate enough methane gas each year to have the effect of removing 33 million cars from highways for a year or cutting all emissions from 50 coal-burning power plants.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Part of the Employment Series
Series About:
For many, identity and occupation are linked. Our self-image is often formed by our career accomplishments and how those affect our family's perception of us. It's no wonder, then, that a career change can throw every aspect of life into a tailspin.
Initially, it's exciting to land that dream job or receive a promotion, with a larger paycheck to boot. The new position may afford a nicer house — and maybe a few more luxuries. But how long will the excitement last? Even positive change can be stressful. Will you have to work more hours or weekends? Will you have a long commute? Can you live up to the boss's expectations?
And if that new job is in a new city, you're in for even more stress. Relocation challenges the entire family, particularly where school-aged children are concerned. Leaving friends behind can extend the turmoil.
Unwelcome or unexpected career changes can be even worse. Companies fold and people are fired. In some cases, a working environment becomes so unbearable that resignation seems to be the only option. Depression, fear and anxiety are all common feelings during times like these. You may wonder how your family will pay the bills. Will your spouse have to take another job? How can you regain your self-confidence?
The average American will change careers five to seven times before retirement. That means a lot of upheaval. No matter how many times you change jobs, you never seem to get used to the stress of adjusting.
Keeping the lines of communication open with your family and including everyone in the decisions can ease the transition, providing a sense of security for the changes ahead.


text:
MMR (measles, mumps and rubella) vaccine
The MMR vaccine is offered to children to protect them against serious and highly infectious illnesses called measles, mumps and rubella.
Babies are given the 1st dose of the MMR vaccine when they're 1 year old. They're given the 2nd dose at 3 years and 4 months.
After 2 doses of the MMR vaccine, almost all children are protected against measles and rubella, and almost 9 in every 10 are protected against mumps.
After the MMR vaccine, there may be some redness and swelling where the injection is given. Babies or young children may also have a high temperature.
The main ingredient of the MMR vaccine is a small amount of weakened measles, mumps and rubella viruses.
Page last reviewed: 08/04/2020
Next review due: 01/09/2023


text:
Ignorance or 'shonky' data?
This short TED talk video called 'In Pursuit of Ignorance' by neuroscientist Stuart Firestein is well worth the time to view particularly for schools who have fallen into the trap of believing in the importance of National Standards data as evidence of student achievement.
Testing is destructive! |
Firestein, who chairs the biological sciences department at Columbia University, teaches a course about how ignorance drives science. In it -- and in his 2012 book on the topic -- he challenges the idea that knowledge and the accumulation of data create certainty
Learning from Aussie mistakes
In Australia school principals have lost the battle about the imposition of standardised testing of their students.
Phil Cullen, the ex Director of Primary Education Queensland, has long been almost a lone voice against such an educationally destructive procedure.
The testing agenda has been pushed worldwide by corporate influences who believe that to improve education requires measuring test results and from them sorting out failing schools. In New York this means rewarding teachers whose students do well and firing those who don't. Performance pay! This business oriented approach has been implemented to various degrees in a number of Anglo-American countries, including New Zealand, as part of the Market Forces ideology. This approach has been called the Global Education Reform Movement or GERM
Unholy alliance |
Phil recently sent me an Australian 60 Minutes. television programme that reports on the Australian testing programme ( called NAPLAN).
This is another excellent short video. which shows how New York lawyer and ex Superintendent of New York school ( and Rupert Murdock ) influenced the Australian NAPLAN testing. Recent research is showing that this testing, so loved by politician and parents, has not resulted in any improvement and has caused a narrowing of the curriculum and teaching to the tests.
'Right now across the country one million students, their parents and teachers are sweating on the NAPLAN results - the national numeracy and literacy tests.
NAPLAN began in 2008 to compare all students across the country and better help those who are falling behind.
We adopted the idea from New York where teachers are promoted or sacked on the back of the results. But we haven't done that here and instead the pressure falls on the students to perform.
Teachers here claim NAPLAN retards growth and restricts creativity.
A NAPLAN revolt is underway, with one principal even likening the tests to child abuse.'
If National returns after the next election watch this space!!
Principals and teachers need to 'get political 'and support parties that trust teachers who value their professionalism and who are prepared to work with them to ensure every student has the opportunity to develop their gifts and talents - rather than being sorted out by 'shonky' National Standards.
It is important that New Zealand school principals do not become seduced by their National Standards data as it seems many are.
A focus on short term gains , as a result of a focus on subjects being tested, will slowly destroy the creative teaching New Zealand was once recognised for. Principals and schools need to work together to protect their professional voice.
We are going the wrong way! |
Natural born learners -at risk in some schools!
A third video clip has been recommended by Sir Ken Robinson whose own videos have reached millions of viewers. The recommended TED talk by Alison Gopnik features how young children learn from a very young age - that children are true scientists. It is this innate desire to learn and make sense of experiences that school should build on. rather than being subverted by imposed testing.
Children are natural born learners! |
"Babies and young children are like the R&D division of the human species," says psychologist Alison Gopnik. Her research explores the sophisticated intelligence-gathering and decision-making that babies are really doing when they play
There are voices out there for creative schools to listen to - Phil Cullen, Young Zhao, Alison Gopnik and Sir Ken Robinson - the list goes on. Those those not sensitive to such voices will be trapped, or seduced, by the ideology of Joel Klein, Rupert Murdock and in NZ National and ACT 'market forces' politicians.
We have a choice!
It seems to me that schools have a choice. To meekly comply and go along with imposed directions, or to fight for what is worth fighting for.


text:
TechRadar Verdict
- +
User friendly
- +
- +
Quality BD-R recordings
- +
Remote control
- -
Dated looking GUI
- -
Adverts within EPG
- -
No CI slot
Why you can trust TechRadar
Steve Jobs may have dismissed Blu-ray, but when it comes to watching and archiving HD movies, IP delivery and hard-disk storage have some way to go before they can match the convenience and efficiency of optical media.
And for the significant, but niche, group of enthusiasts who like to archive either TV broadcasts or their own digital home video recordings, a Blu-ray/PVR combi is the ultimate living room recorder, especially when it has dual Freeview HD tuners.
A couple of years ago, Panasonic bestowed a brace of Blu-ray recorders on the world with its Freesat models, so it was no surprise when the 500GB DMR-BW880 and 320GB DMR-BW780 recently rode in to town on the coat tails of Freeview HD.
When Freesat launched it was hampered by copy restrictions that prevented ITV HD shows from being archived. Happily, this situation is not an encumbrance to Freeview, as present rules allow BBC HD broadcasts to be copied on to Blu-ray multiple times, while those from ITV and C4 may be copied once (and you can make further limitless standard-definition copies).
Considering how cutting-edge the DMR-BW880 is under the hood the box itself looks somewhat bland. The fascia is split into two dropdown panels; one hides the optical disc drive, the other, through which the LED display shines, reveals some basic transport control buttons, composite video/stereo phonos and inputs for DV, SD card and USB.
With Top Up TV now offering Sky Sports, the absence of a CI slot could prove critical for sports fans. The front edge of the otherwise nondescript top is festooned with 14 barely visible badges such as AVCHD, GuidePlus+ and DTS-HD MA, with the Freeview+ HD, DVB and Gracenote logos getting full prominence on the front right panel.
The latter has significance for anyone likely to use the BW880 as a music server; the hard disk can store 40,000 tracks and has a folder structure similar to an MP3 player with artist, album, playlist, favourite and random options.
Despite charging a princely sum for the BW880, Panasonic doesn't provide any built-in flash memory, and to enjoy BD-Live you need to supply your own 1GB SD card.
The company did at least find room for both optical and coaxial digital audio outputs. All common video formats can be output, with the exception of component video. Up and running It takes some time to get to grips with the BW880.
If, like me, you take the plug 'n' play approach before reading the 120-page instruction manual, you'll be pleased to know that the machine tunes itself in and asks you to set basic preferences such as power saving settings.
Within minutes, I was watching BBC 1 and instinctively pressed the okay button on the remote to access the channel list. No programme info is provided here but scrolling up and down and selecting a channel is reassuringly fast.
Considering Panasonic's deck is such a complex beast, both the menu system and remote control are well laid out, and the latter deserves special praise. It's a nice size, has good ergonomics and colour coding, not to mention the fact that all the vital functions are easily and logically accessed.
One key button allows you to switch between the HDD, BD, USB and SD drives. For the most part Panasonic's user interface works very well, but, like the box itself, it looks dated and not nearly as slick as those used by the likes of LG and Samsung.
Even more offensive, though, is the GuidePlus+ sponsored Freeview EPG, which carries poster adverts that even Gene Hunt would find archaic. Advertising has its place, but the EPG page isn't one of them.
Another annoyance about the EPG is that you entirely loose the picture and sound of the current broadcast. The EPG shows seven channels in two-hour segments and you can switch between list and grid view. You can filter by genre, but not according to definition type (HD or SD), and you can directly view the channel or set a recording timer, including series link.
The EPG does tell you if a show in standard definition is also available in HD, and you can pad out recordings manually or change the title. Banner info when watching a live TV broadcast shows Now and Next descriptions, whether it's HD or not, as well as what the audio format is and what else is being recorded at that time.
All TV shows are recorded in DR (direct record) mode using the same bitrate (8Mbps for HD, 4Mbps for SD) as the original, to the hard disk. The 500GB HDD has a handy 130-hour HD capacity.
The HD Freeview tuner is first rate. The BBC Make Up Department should take note: the orange line across Gary Lineker's forehead has never seemed so obvious!
Image clarity and detail are a match for Sky HD and any other Freeview HD tuners. Standard-def pictures are also excellent, especially if you set the output to 1080p and partner the box with a decent screen.
One caveat is that detail drops-off just a tiny bit with recordings, presumably as a result of re-encoding. On all but the largest of screens it will be barely noticeable, but certainly on a Samsung UE46C8000 I noticed skin tones appeared blotchier. Fortunately, no more detail is lost when recordings are copied on to Blu-ray.
Sonic shortage
Audio clarity is also very good, but the BW880 doesn't output Dolby Digital surround sound. This is because broadcasters use the AAC codec, in order to ensure provision of Audio Description, and the box can't transcode from AAC to DD (few units can, in fact).
When spinning Blu-rays, though, the likes of Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby TrueHD, and DTS-HD MA can all be bitstreamed via the HDMI output. The Direct Navigator button on the remote is the gateway to recordings, which are displayed with a thumbnail. You can view shows by genre, as well as those not viewed and AVCHD files archived from your camcorder.
In all modes unviewed shows are flagged up and icons tell you how many Blu-ray copies can be made of HD ITV and C4 programmes. To copy archived material to Blu-ray you might want to convert from DR to HG, a process which is done in real time, but can be done when the machine is in standby. While this lowers the bitrate by around 50 per cent, it's still considered HD.
The reason to do this? Because nowhere in the manual or onscreen does it tell you that if you wish to play a finalised Blu-ray recording in another brand's player you have to convert from DR mode.
A number of useful editing options are available such as chapter marking, splitting, changing the thumbnail and renaming. Blank disc formatting can't be done if the hard disk is recording a show, but after that it's fairly straightforward to select titles for copying, as the Panny walks you through the process of selecting the copy mode and direction and which shows you want.
Despite some rather sluggish disc-loading times, the DMR-BW880 is a very decent Blu-ray deck. The incredible Avatar disc looks clean and pure, as the deck renders plenty of fine detail in Sully's T-shirt and in the bristle of his beard.
Multimedia playback is not as broad as some machines and it oddly refused to show my reference JPEG snaps, but MP3 and DivX HD played back without any problem.
Clearly, the DMR-BW880 won't be everyone's cup of tea, and it bears a price tag commensurate with its early adopter status. But if Blu-ray archive recording from Freeview HD is your bag, this is a highly accomplished machine that comfortably delivers the goods – plus a few others besides.
Follow TechRadar Reviews on Twitter: http://twitter.com/techradarreview


text:
The requirements for the storage system for our workloads can be summarized as follows:
1. Elasticity: We need to be able to add incremental capacity to our storage systems with minimal overhead and no downtime. In some cases we may want to add capacity rapidly and the system should automatically balance load and utilization across new hardware.
2. High write throughput: Most of the applications store (and optionally index) tremendous amounts of data and require high aggregate write throughput.
3. Efficient and low-latency strong consistency semantics within a data center: There are important applications like Messages that require strong consistency within a data center. This requirement often arises directly from user expectations. For example ''unread'' message counts displayed on the home page and the messages shown in the inbox page view should be consistent with respect to each other. While a globally distributed strongly consistent system is practically impossible, a system that could at least provide strong consistency within a data center would make it possible to provide a good user experience. We also knew that (unlike other Facebook applications), Messages was easy to federate so that a particular user could be served entirely out of a single data center making strong consistency within a single data center a critical requirement for the Messages project. Similarly, other projects, like realtime log aggregation, may be deployed entirely within one data center and are much easier to program if the system provides strong consistency guarantees.
4. Efficient random reads from disk: In spite of the widespread use of application level caches (whether embedded or via memcached), at Facebook scale, a lot of accesses miss the cache and hit the back-end storage system. MySQL is very efficient at performing random reads from disk and any new system would have to be comparable.
5. High Availability and Disaster Recovery: We need to provide a service with very high uptime to users that covers both planned and unplanned events (examples of the former being events like software upgrades and addition of hardware/capacity and the latter exemplified by failures of hardware components). We also need to be able to tolerate the loss of a data center with minimal data loss and be able to serve data out of another data center in a reasonable time frame.
6. Fault Isolation: Our long experience running large farms of MySQL databases has shown us that fault isolation is critical. Individual databases can and do go down, but only a small fraction of users are affected by any such event. Similarly, in our warehouse usage of Hadoop, individual disk failures affect only a small part of the data and the system quickly recovers from such faults.
7. Atomic read-modify-write primitives: Atomic increments and compare-and-swap APIs have been very useful in building lockless concurrent applications and are a must have from the underlying storage system.
8. Range Scans: Several applications require efficient retrieval of a set of rows in a particular range. For example all the last 100 messages for a given user or the hourly impression counts over the last 24 hours for a given advertiser.
Some less tangible factors were also at work. Systems with existing production experience for Facebook and in-house expertise were greatly preferred. When considering open-source projects, the strength of the community was an important factor. Given the level of engineering investment in building and maintaining systems like these –– it also made sense to choose a solution that was broadly applicable (rather than adopt point solutions based on differing architecture and codebases for each workload).


text:
According to Dr Annette Baudisch of the Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research in Rostock, Germany, current methods of comparing patterns of ageing are limited because they confound two different elements of ageing -- pace and shape.
"Some organisms live a short time, others live a long time. This is the pace of ageing. Short-lived species have a fast pace of ageing, and long-lived species have a slow pace of ageing. Pace describes how quickly the clock of life ticks away. For humans it ticks slowly, for small songbirds like the robin it ticks very fast," explains Dr Baudisch.
By contrast the shape of ageing describes how much mortality -- the risk of dying -- changes with age. One way of measuring the shape of ageing is the 'ageing factor'. For example, the common swift has an ageing factor of 2, meaning mortality doubles during its adult life, compared with modern humans, who have an ageing factor that exceeds 2000.
"At the age of 15, only 2 out of 100,000 girls in Sweden die, but one out of every two women aged 110 will die. This large difference in mortality at the beginning and end of adult life means that for humans the shape of ageing is steep, whereas in other species like the common swift it is shallow. And in some species the risk of death can even fall with age, with older individuals having the least risk of dying. This seems to be the case for the desert tortoise, and for alligators or crocodiles."
Using data for 10 different groups of animals from herring gull, European robin, common swift and lake sturgeon to Dall mountain sheep, African buffalo, wild and captive chimpanzees, hunter-gatherers and modern humans (Swedish women), Dr Baudisch classified how each species aged in terms of pace and shape of ageing.
Of the species she analysed, Dr Baudisch found that although modern humans are the longest-lived, they also age most strongly.
Adult life expectancy for Swedish women (that is the remaining life expectancy after reaching maturity) is about 70 years, whereas a robin's adult life lasts just 1.7 years. But over that adult lifespan, ageing is so strong in the human that the ageing factor is 2132, but for the robin only about 2.
"Comparing robins with Swedish women, humans have a slow pace of ageing whereas the robin's is fast, so in terms of length of life the humans are doing best. But if we look at the impact ageing has on death rate the robin wins. Its shape of ageing is fairly flat whereas the humans' is steep, indicating that death rates increase markedly with age," she says.
Dr Baudisch's results have important implications for evolutionary biology and the study of ageing: "We need to compare species to understand how evolution has shaped the biology of ageing in different species, but current methods of comparing patterns of ageing across species are limited because they confound the pace and shape of ageing. Not accounting for this difference can lead to incorrect conclusions about which species age more than others."
"Separating pace from shape of ageing gives a clearer picture of the characteristics of ageing. It could reveal that certain species are very similar to each other in terms of their shape of ageing, species that we would maybe never have grouped together. Ultimately, this should help us identify the determinants of ageing -- the characteristics that determine whether death rates goes up or down with age and reveal species that can successfully avoid ageing," she says.
In more everyday terms, her results might make us re-think common expressions, such as "live fast, die young." As dying young in Dr Baudisch's terms corresponds to a small ageing factor and dying old to a large one, "live fast, die young" only applies to some short-lived species.
Robins live fast and die young, but even though Dall mountain sheep only live for around 4.2 years, their ageing factor is 7.
"Not all species with short lives live fast and die young. Robins do, but mountain sheep do things differently. They also live pretty fast but die older. From the data I have, it seems that live fast die young is only one option; you can also live fast and die older, or live slower and die young, or live slow and die old. There might be every combination in nature. That's something we need to find out in the future with better data."
Story Source:
Materials provided by Wiley-Blackwell. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.
Journal Reference:
Cite This Page:


text:
This is a demo store. No orders will be fulfilled.
Save $100 when you mix and match select stud earrings and jackets - $299.99 for two! Discount applied in cart.
Shopping for stackable jewelry? Find stylish and stackable rings, bangle bracelets, and pendants to compliment your style.
Create the perfect layered look with a selection of rings and bracelets from our stackable jewelry collection at Helzberg Diamonds. Create your own personalized style by choosing stacking rings to perfectly complement each other, as well as stacking bracelets and bangles for added flair
Stacking rings are the perfect every day option to add to your wardrobe. Dainty, colorful, and easy-to-wear, stackable rings will become your everyday favorite, and an option to match every outfit. Pair stacking rings with matching layered bracelets to complete the look.
Stackable rings and bracelets are the perfect way to personalize your wardrobe. Looking to add to the collection? Browse our personalized jewelry options, as well as full jewelry collections at Helzberg Diamonds. Get stacking--and shopping--today!


text:
INDIANAPOLIS >> Former LSU star Tyrann Mathieu thought he hit rock bottom when Les Miles kicked him off the team last August for failing multiple drug tests.
He was wrong. Eleven weeks later, Mathieu and three of his ex-teammates were arrested at his Baton Rouge apartment for marijuana possession.
Now, after undergoing drug treatment and seeking counseling, Mathieu is trying to restore his reputation and return to the game he loves.
"I know what it's like not to have football, I know what it's like not to be the center of attention, I know what it's like to be humiliated and I'm not going down that road again," Mathieu said Sunday at the NFL's annual scouting combine in Indianapolis.
It's certainly not the path Mathieu expected to take into the NFL.
A year ago, the hotshot cornerback with the catchy nickname "Honey Badger" was considered a Heisman Trophy front-runner.
Instead, he wound up in a two-week drug treatment program run by former NBA player John Lucas and tried to rebuild his image even as it continued to take hits.
When police searched Mathieu's apartment in October, they found a marijuana grinder, a digital scale and 10 bags of high-grade marijuana, seven of which were in another ex-LSU's teammate's book bag.
"That's when I decided to go to rehab," Mathieu said.
Since then, Mathieu insists he's cleaned things up — pointing to the fact he sought out counseling, got a sponsor and has refocused his efforts on making it in the NFL.
His height, he measured in at just under 5-foot-9, and his troubled history that are raising red flags among team decision-makers. A month ago, some analysts thought the laundry list of problems might leave Mathieu undrafted in April. Now, his stock is rising again and he's in Indianapolis like most of the other 300-plus draft hopefuls — trying to assuage doubts about themselves.
It's a tricky journey with a potential pitfall in every answer.
On Sunday, when Mathieu was asked about the last time he used an illegal substance of any kind, Mathieu blurted out Oct. 26, 2012 — the day after his arrest. Whether he was being honest, misunderstood the question or made a simple slip of the tongue didn't matter. If he does that again in the 15-minute team interviews, it could wind up costing him money.
How did Mathieu get himself into this mess?
"Half of it, I think, is that you actually start believing the hype, believing the clippings," he said, trying to explain what had happened over the last 12 months. "The other half, I think, is that you're young and you want to have some fun."
Adding a six-figure salary to the mix could complicate matters.
But Mathieu is far from alone in trying to find redemption in this draft. A handful of defensive back with character questions rolled through the media room at Sunday's combine. The list includes names such as:
— Bacarri Rambo, who failed two failed drug tests at Georgia;
— Sanders Commings, Rambo's former college teammate, who was suspended last season after being charged with domestic violence and faced his own battle with marijuana two years earlier;
— Greg Reid, who was booted off Florida State's team following last summer's arrest on marijuana possession charges;
— And Hawaii's Mike Edwards, who was kicked off Tennessee's team following a 2009 arrest for attempted armed robbery. Eventually, he pled guilty to reckless endangerment as part of a plea deal.
Each of the five, including Mathieu, expected questions about these issues.
Yet each used remarkably similar language to explain what happened, making it seem as if the answers were rehearsed, at best, or disingenuous, at worst.
"It's behind me. I'm moving on from that situation," Rambo said. "I'm a better person and I've learned from my mistake."
Mathieu, however, is could be the best known and arguably the most talented cornerback in the draft. He says he hopes to run the 40-yard dash in 4.4 seconds, fast enough to perhaps keep him in the upper echelon of cover cornerbacks in Indy.
But he hasn't played a game in 13 months, and by the time preseason games begin, the layoff will be 19 months.
Those who know Mathieu best believe he will excel in the pros.
"He'll make a big impact in the NFL, too," said ex-LSU teammate Tharold Simon. "A lot of people think he won't, but I know he will. He will be a key contributor in the NFL."
Others aren't so sure.
"I think he's a better football player than he is an athlete," NFL Network analyst Mike Mayock said. "He's short and probably speed deficient. He's probably a slot defender with return skills. I know he's going to come in here and say all the right things, but I think how he handles things with the teams is what really matters."
Mathieu is ready to put their angst to rest, too, and forget about his past.
Instead, he wants to spend the next two months focusing on what he has to do to get back in the game.
"I'm not focused on money right now. I just want to play football because I've played it my whole life for free," he said. "I know I made some mistakes. At the end of the day, I think I can overcome them."


text:
Payment Options
Traffic / Criminal Offenses
- We accept cash when paying in person at the office
- We accept cashier's checks and money orders
- We accept credit/debit cards online or over the phone through Official Payments
We do not accept personal checks on any fines.
Payment Plans
We do make payment plan agreement under certain conditions, there is an additional $15 fee added to the fine if not paid within 30 days from date of judgment. The additional fee is a requirement of State Law and cannot be waived by the court.
Civil Cases
- We accept cash, cashier's checks and money orders.
How Payments Can Be Made
- Payments can be made in person at the office, Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
- Payments can be made through the mail.
- Payments can be made by credit/debit card either by internet or telephone. Instructions are available in both English and Spanish.
Important Information
Before making a payment via credit/debit card you must first call the court at 940-433-2969 to get all required information for proper processing of your payment. You will need to know the following before proceeding with your payment:
- Amount that you need to pay. No partial payments unless there is a payout agreement
- Be sure to get the confirmation number when your payment has been accepted by official payments
- Bureau Code Number: 6627
- A convenience fee of $5.95 is charged on all payments paid online or over the phone
- Docket Number or Cause Number
- Payments may take 5 business days to process
Phone Payments
Credit/debit cards accepted over the phone:
- Call 800-272-9829
- Call the court at 940-433-2969 to obtain the exact amount owed and your case number
- Select Option Number 3
Our Jurisdiction Code is 6627.
Online Payments
Credit cards accepted online at Official Payments:
- Call the court at 940-433-2969 to obtain the exact amount owed and your case number
- Go to Official Payments
- Select Local Payments
Enter Jurisdiction Code 6627.


text: As the manufacturer of Ethernet switches, we provide a series of 100 Mbps switching hubs and 1000Mbps Gigabit Ethernet switches of 5 port, 8 port, 16 port and 24 port. Desktop or standard rack mount dumb switches. All these Ethernet switches are dedicated for faster, more economical, convenient and secure connection in LAN.


text:
Music Review: Andrew Peterson, "Light for the Lost Boy"
By Amy Hauck, Contributing Writer
Veteran singer songwriter Andrew Peterson returns this month with his latest release, Light For the Lost Boy, a project with 10 new songs that are pensive but reflective of hope. Musically he is consistent with his well – loved sound and his trademark storytelling is ever present. In fact, several tracks on this album were greatly influenced by his reading of Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings's novel, The Yearling. The relationship between the boy (Jody Baxter) and his fawn serves as a metaphor that weaves its way through this album and perhaps, into the hearts of listeners as well.
The metaphor speaks of loss. Of grieving something that slipped between one's fingers and leaves behind the unsettling feeling that it was possible to have grabbed a hold of it somehow. Appropriately, the project begins with an elegiac tone, where nature is literally bowing down, the trees are "wringing their hands" and the "leaves go by like a funeral band." He ends "Come Back Soon" by crying for deliverance in the "womb of the world," but listeners must commit to the rest of the album to fully understand what it is he is calling for deliverance from.
Lyrically, Peterson consistently grapples with humanity's spiritual longing for home. Songs like "The Voice of Jesus" and the "Ballad of Jody Baxter" wrestle with the concept of vanished youth through the eyes of an older and more experienced storyteller that longs to revisit the innocent wonder of his childhood. He juxtaposes youth and vigor with the pain of knowing that time is a merciless pursuant. In his personal writing, Peterson explains that he has a secret grief for his children; "they inherit a world teeming with graces and wonders and mystery—and yet they too will" realize that this "innocence so fine will fray." Light For the Lost Boy, strives to shed light on this dissonance, but reminds listeners that they are not alone, "even to the end."
One of the highlights of this project is that it gleams with metaphor, yet sometimes the figurative language can feel overbearing. While Peterson strategically intertwines concepts to paint a fuller picture for listeners, he is occasionally in danger of coming across trite, and flirts with ambiguity. However, he maintains a sage-like presence throughout Light for the Lost Boy, advising and shedding light on the fact that we are not "alone in this great darkness."
The final song echoes the first, with the line "come back soon," and a yearning for The Redeemer to come and make all things right again despite the "endless ache" of "longing for the world before the Fall." In the end, Peterson does a fair job of depicting the frayed and fragile existence of the world, whilst pointing toward faith and keeping "the fire alive."


text:
Being right doesn't necessarily mean being convincing: as Hillary Clinton is learning, intelligence, fortitude and emphasis don't guarantee that one can capture the imagination of an audience. Director Kimberly Peirce's Stop-Loss, a drama about the consequences of the Iraq War, may be the best of its kind to date; along with co-writer Mark Richard, Pierce does an awful lot right. But Peirce's didactic rectitude drowns out her humanism—as her protagonist embarks on a road-movie path, one can imagine her with a clipboard, checking off political points. The film's audience, if indeed there is one, is likely to be as split as the country.
Given that this is an MTV Film being marketed largely to the audience most likely to join up for military service, maybe Peirce's approach is more fox-like than crazy. There's never any doubt where her sympathies lie: with the red-blooded soldiers who love and serve their country. Setting aside for a moment the true purpose and efficacy of the War in Iraq, the rub is that many soldiers are victimized by a policy known as "stop-loss," which enjoins them to second and third tours of duty.
Ryan Philippe plays Staff Sgt. Brandon King, an Army man looking forward to his discharge after completing his tour of duty and collecting the Purple Heart and Bronze Star. Instead, "by authority of the President," he's stop-lossed. On principle, Brandon rejects this "backdoor draft." He's held up his end of the bargain, and he's "done with killing." Before he knows it, he's AWOL and unsure how he'll get along as a wanted man. Brandon's stance drives a wedge between him and his best friend, Steve (Channing Tatum). They, alcoholic Tommy (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), and wounded warrior Rico (Victor Rasuk) share emotional scarring from their time in the shit, depicted in an intense, expertly executed Tikrit-set action sequence.
Once Brandon goes AWOL, Stop-Loss turns into a road movie, with variable results. Each stop serves a purpose in informing the audience, though some are dramatically clumsy. So too is the tagalong presence of Steve's girlfriend Michelle (Abbie Cornish), a point in a hastily sketched love triangle. A visit with the family (screenwriter Richard, Laurie Metcalf, and Steven Strait) of a fallen comrade rings true—a chance encounter with a fellow AWOL soldier and his family not so much. Peirce embroiders it all with consumer-video-styled montages well-crafted to resemble real soldier videos (with the first five minutes of Stop-Loss alone, Peirce puts Brian De Palma's Redacted to shame).
Peirce, who scored with Boys Don't Cry nearly a decade ago, regularly evinces technical prowess; the sound design, for example, is intimate in realistic scenes and skillfully evocative in hallucinatory ones. And she gets good work from her ensemble, particularly in the creditable performances of the young men playing the good-ol'-boy soldiers. It's just a shame that she overplays her hand by depicting two out of the four soldiers as slipping so easily into the delusion that they're back in Iraq (with the third, short a limb, confined to a hospital and the fourth drowning in depression and the bottle). It's understandable that guilty survivors who saw what these men saw are permanently damaged, but it doesn't make the dramatic redundancy any more subtle or shake off the memory of the picture's best war-themed forebears.
The film excels when it focuses on the men's roots, uncomplicated love of country, and domestic complications. Peirce gives smalltown attitudes an authentic feel as the soldiers resettle, whether its Brandon calling his father (Ciarán Hinds) "sir" or Steve and Michelle's marriage too-publicly healing wrong. The film teeters on the balance until arriving at its genuinely moving and depressingly honest final act. Peirce brings us to the brink of Brandon's limited options: submitting to the government, living forever a fugitive, or leaving the country he loves. The choice the film makes feels dramatically right, chased by sober stats about the army of "stop-lossed" men fighting in our name.
[For Groucho's interview with Kimberly Peirce, click here.]
Paramount delivers a very fine DVD transfer for Stop-Loss: clean, detailed, film-like, and married to a Dolby Digital 5.1 surround soundtrack. Plus, the round-up of special features serves the film as a piece of cinema and a thematic reflection on the modern warrior.
A commentary by director Kimberly Pierce and her co-writer Mark Richard delivers an energetic discussion about the film's inspirations and production challenges.
"The Making of Stop-Loss" (20:57) effectively conveys the commitment of the cast and crew, and shares secrets like the dislocated shoulder that shut down production and allowed needed rewrites (the featurette also includes excerpts of Pierce's research interviews). Participants include Pierce, Richard, military advisor Sergeant Major James Dever, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Victor Rasuk, Ryan Philippe, and Channing Tatum.
"A Day in Boot Camp" (10:02) gives an intimate look at the actors' five-day training, with Dever, Philippe, Gordon-Levitt, Tatum, and military advisor Master Sergeant Tom Minder.
Deleted Scenes (18:33 with "Play All" option and optional commentary) include "Hometown Cooking" (2:36), "Roy King and Son" (2:16), "Leaving the Base" (1:05), "Need a Ride to Austin" (1:37), "Dropping Shorty Off" (1:04), "Michelle Offers to Drive" (1:38), "Veteran's Support Network" (2:18), "Check Out" (:36), "D.C. Visit" (1:11), "Senator Worrell" (2:12), and "Beach" (2:01). Lastly, we get previews for American Teen, The Ruins, Star Trek, Iron Man, and Shine a Light.
Review gear: |
Panasonic Viera TC-P55VT30 55" Plasma 1080p 3D HDTV
Oppo BDP-93 Universal Network 3D Blu-ray Disc Player
Denon AVR2112CI Integrated Network A/V Surround Receiver
Pioneer SP-BS41-LR Bookshelf Speaker (2)
Pioneer SP-C21 Center Speaker
Pioneer SW-8 Subwoofer


text:
The contents of this post are simply an exercise in dealing with a theoretical situation. It in no way constitutes a threat or some kind of ominous portend of some pending action on my behalf, nor is it related to any possible real life situation at this time. It's simply ruminations on a horrible topic I've oft wrestled with in my own mind.
In the comments to my last post, I made a statement that might seem a bit hyperbolic or perhaps a bit of false bravado. I responded to J. Dantes of Koanic soul,who made the argument that nothing is worth a man losing his honor, including his own children.
I disagree vehemently with this sentiment.
As a young Father (well, I'm not young, but certainly young at Fatherhood), I now realize there is nothing I would not sacrifice for my child, including my honor.
Because I love my child more than my life itself.
I've been at this blogging thing in the manosphere for almost 5 years now, and over all this time, I've thought long and hard about the various topics we discuss regarding marriage, divorce, and the entire racket of child support designed to enslave men and force them to subsidize the destruction of their own family, while enduring alienation and kept from even minimal contact with their children.
What would I do, faced with the same scenario?
How could I handle going through the kind of hell Bill Price has painfully documented at the Spearhead?
I am fully aware of the risks I undertook in purposefully having a baby with my wife.
She could one day fall out of love, and play the "I'm just not haaaaapppy!" card and take my child away with the assistance of the law. And there is nothing legal or law abiding that I could do to stop it. I don't think it's highly likely, yet I'd be foolish to think it was impossible.
So what would I do?
I've come to the conclusion that the only remedy to this potential scenario is a policy of mutually assured destruction.
This is not something I need to ever say or do IRL. I would never threaten it as some means of trying to scare or manipulate my wife. And no, I have no intent to ever lay out the specifics of my planned response either here, nor anywhere else.
This is only something that would become expressed in real life should the worst case scenario occur first. I will only say this: my plans do not involve murder, wanton destruction or any other sort of random act of psychosis that seems to be increasingly more frequent in occurrence in our rapidly declining civilization.
For instance, where I to discover my wife were having an affair and she were contemplating divorcing me -- or any of the other scenarios we in this sector of teh interwebz regularly write about and discuss -- I have already determined my course of action in response to the potential loss of custody and a basic rights as a Father to my child. I hope this never happens, but I'm mentally prepared for it just the same.
If you take my child from me, you have effectively taken all meaning from my life. I will have nothing to live for. You will have destroyed me. I will have nothing to lose. Faced with such a scenario, I will issue Fair Warning....and no, I would not lash out at innocent bystanders. I would focus my actions on the people solely responsible for which I can identify and actually reach.
As I wrote in the last post's comments:
I'll tell you this much, if anyone tries to take my kid from me, you'll hear about the "crazy dude in Hawaii" who went out with a bang.
What do I mean by "bang?" May you never find out, but rest assured, I am not going to blow anything up.
But I digress.
The chances of this happening based on my current assessment of my relationship with my wife and my family make this scenario extremely improbable, if not near impossible. But if there's one thing I've taken from immersing myself in the anti-establishment sector of teh interwebz, it's that I now know that faced with the possibilities of a system that is designed to chew up and spit out any Father at any moment, and to use his own children against him, I know that I must always consider the worst case scenarios and plan.
But don't worry. At this stage, it's purely theoretical...but the convictions behind it are strongly held after close to 5 years of rumination on this particular subject.
What would I do?
I'm curious to know if any other married with children bloggers read my blog have ever thought of the possibilities and what you would do if you suddenly found yourself faced with the impending horrors of the Divorce/Family Court industry? And please, no specific references to illegal actions...but I wonder if anyone else has reached the same conclusions I have?
Many Game/PUA proponents will say "it won't happen to me because I understand Game and how to manage my LTR." I've implied that myself. But I'm not foolish enough to believe it could NEVER happen to me...because it could. I've seen it happen up close and personal to family and friends. I had a long time friend commit suicide over these precise issues, and I had to clean up the mess he left behind.
I've seen little children's entire worlds come crashing down on them because one or both parents decided to destroy their families through the "family" court system.
I'd be a fool to think I've got it all figured out and delude myself into thinking "it couldn't happen to ME!"
I'll do my best to try and ensure it won't, and I do think having the kind of awareness gained from blogging and reading in this part of teh interebz would make it much more likely that I could recognize trends, patterns and behavioral changes that would give me an early warning that the chances of my family destruction are increasing, and that I'd be able to address the problems head on, with a clear mind and wide open eyes, and that I'd face ugly truths head on and not fall prey to rationalizations.
As I've written before, my personal motto is Hope for the best, prepare for the worst.
To reiterate, this post was nothing more than a mental exercise of planning for the worst-case scenario. It's nowhere near close to being a real situation...but one never knows what the future holds, eh?
Rest assured, unless you ever log onto this blog and find I've changed my blogging name from "Keoni Galt" to "Keoni Kaczynski," chances are this post may be the first and last time I ever feel the need to express such a dark, nihlisitic sentiment ever again. God willing.


text:
There are so many face shapes in this world. It seems like every time I read a story about finding "the right haircut" there are only 4 (maybe 5) face shapes to choose from– but not everyone can be squeezed into those little boxes. Over the years, I've spoken with many people who have always thought they were one face shape (and followed the guides for that face shape) only to learn that their face was another shape entirely. Perfect example– one of my clients had always thought she had a heart shaped face just because she had a pointed chin like Reese Witherspoon. The thing is, you can have the pointed chin of someone who has a heart-shaped face but if your hairline is more narrow, as my client's was, you would fall more in the diamond family.
For today's post, I've created a guide that should help you find your real face shape and in my next few posts, I'm going to be talking about what to do with each one. I really hope this helps and please keep in mind that it's very common to fall into more than one face shape family!
UPDATE: Find the tips and tricks for your face shape by clicking these links!


text:
UN chief and Security Council welcome ceasefire between Israel and Hamas
"I commend the parties for stepping back from the brink," Mr. Ban said, as he briefed the Security Council via video-link from Tel Aviv. "Our focus now must be on ensuring the ceasefire holds and that all those in need in Gaza – and there are many – receive the humanitarian assistance that they need."
The Security Council in turn issued its own statement to the press unanimously welcoming the agreement. It called on the parties to both uphold the agreement and to "act seriously to implement its provisions in good faith."
The Council also expressed its "continued support for the ongoing international efforts to consolidate this agreement."
Mr. Ban noted that the agreement marked a "huge relief" for the people of Gaza and Israel and for the international community that the violence is stopping.
"But we are all aware of the risk," he added. "And we are all aware that there are many details that must be solidified for a broad, durable ceasefire to take firm hold over the longer term. It is imperative that both sides stick to the ceasefire in order to allow these underlying issues to be addressed in a sustainable fashion."
The ceasefire between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas, which controls Gaza, was announced today in the Egyptian capital, Cairo, just over a week after the latest wave of violence – which includes rocket attacks against Israel from Gaza, and Israeli airstrikes on Gaza – began.
The violence claimed the lives of 139 Palestinians, more than 70 of them civilians, and wounded more than 900, according to the UN team in Gaza. It also displaced 10,000 people in the territory, which is home to 1.7 million Palestinians.
Since 14 November, rocket fire has resulted in the death of four Israeli civilians, while 219 are reported injured, most of whom are civilians, said Mr. Ban. One Israeli soldier was killed yesterday, while 16 others have been wounded, one critically.
"My paramount concern throughout has been for the safety and well-being of all civilians, no matter where they are," said the Secretary-General. "Innocent people, including children, have been killed and injured on both sides. Families on both sides were forced to hover in fear as the violence raged around them."
The Council statement said members "strongly commend the efforts of Egyptian President Morsi and others to achieve the ceasefire." It added they also expressed "strong appreciation" for the efforts in this regard of Mr. Ban.
In his comments to the Council, Mr. Ban said that the current crisis underscored that the status quo was unsustainable, and that long-term solutions must be found to the problems of Gaza, and for the Palestinians as a whole.
"A negotiated two-State solution ending a prolonged occupation and ending the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians is more urgent than ever," he said. "Achieving this vision, which has been affirmed by this Council repeatedly is long overdue and paramount to the stability of the region. Only a just and comprehensive peace can bring lasting security to all."
In its statement, the Council "affirmed the need for the people of Israel and the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip to live without fear."
Council members also called on the international community to "contribute to improving the living conditions of the people in the Gaza Strip, asking for this to be done "through providing additional emergency aid through appropriate established channels to the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip.
According to the Council, the international community would "work in this regard with Israel, the Palestinian Authority, and Egypt for the expeditious and unimpeded delivery of such humanitarian assistance, including of food, fuel and medical treatment."
Saying they "deplored" the loss of civilian lives that have occurred, Council members reiterated the need to "take appropriate steps to ensure the safety and well-being of civilians and their protection in accordance with international humanitarian law," their statement said.
The members of the Council also stressed the "urgency of the restoration of calm in full, and reiterated the importance of achieving a comprehensive peace based on the vision of a region where two democratic States, Israel and Palestine, live side by side in peace with secure and recognized borders."
Mr. Ban cancelled a previously-scheduled trip to travel to the Middle East "as a clear signal of the need for international diplomatic mobilization to prevent a further escalation that would put the whole region at risk and to strengthen the commendable efforts led by Egypt to reach a ceasefire."
During his three-day visit that began on Monday, Mr. Ban met with Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi, League of Arab States Secretary-General Nabil ElAraby, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, and Jordan's King Abdullah, as well as several other leaders. He also met with United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton while in Jerusalem.


text:
At next week's meeting, the trustees will vote on a proposed $672 fee increase for full-time undergraduate students as well as increases for part-time and graduate students. The trustees will also vote on a proposed $990 tuition increase for full-time non-resident students.
In addition, the trustees will take action on proposed changes to state regulations that will allow the chancellor to furlough management and executive employees.
These are a few of several measures the CSU is implementing as part of a comprehensive, balanced approach to solve the budget deficit which stems from a historic reduction in state support. Given the magnitude of the deficit—the largest in CSU's history—no single solution is sufficient. The CSU's plan includes a combination of employee compensation reductions focused on furloughs, student enrollment reductions, an increase in student fees, and additional cuts that will be implemented campus-by-campus.
"These are not easy choices," said CSU Chancellor Charles B. Reed. "We are asking everyone to make sacrifices so that we can continue to serve as many students as possible and to preserve as many jobs as possible under very difficult circumstances."
Here is a look at the effects of the reduction in state funding on the CSU and the actions the CSU is taking to respond:
State Budget Impacts on CSU Students:
State general fund support of the CSU for 2009-10 is expected to be $1.6 billion, $500 million below the level of state support provided a decade ago. At the same time, the CSU is serving 100,000 more students than it did a decade ago. To preserve quality and access and to maintain the resources needed to serve students, the CSU has been forced to take the following actions:
- Limited student enrollment this past fall.
- Reducing its enrollment by 40,000 students in 2010-11.
- Closed student enrollment for winter and spring 2010.
- Proposing to raise full-time undergraduate student fees by $672 per academic year and non-resident tuition by $990 per academic year beginning fall 2009.
CSU's Steps to Minimize the Impact on Students:
- One-third of the proposed State University Fee increase will be set aside for financial aid.
- This set-aside, as well as increases in financial aid included in the federal stimulus package, is expected to fully cover the fee increase for 187,000 of CSU's 450,000 total students.
- CSU expects to receive an additional $81 million in Pell Grant awards for its neediest students. The CSU is the largest recipient of Pell awards in the country with more than 120,000 students receiving grants.
- Federal tax credits, increased work study and student loan improvements will also offset the fee increase for many students.
- The CSU is deferring State University Fee payments for the summer and fall 2009 term for CSU students who experience delays receiving Cal Grants from the California Student Aid Commission due to the state budget deficit.
State Budget Impacts on CSU Employees:
Employee salaries and benefits make up 85 percent of the CSU's operating budget. To manage the deficit, the CSU is forced to reduce labor costs and has taken the following actions:
- The CSU has implemented a salary freeze for executives and a hiring freeze for non-essential positions.
- The CSU is proposing to furlough its 47,000 employees, including management and executives, two days a month with the exception of public safety personnel. This would reduce spending by about $275 million and preserve 22,000 course sections or 15 percent of classes for students for the academic year.
- The CSU is in the process of negotiating furloughs with several of its labor unions as their labor agreements do not include provisions for furloughs. To date, the California State Employees Union (CSUEU) has reached a tentative agreement.
CSU's Steps to Minimize the Impact on CSU Employees:
- The CSU is implementing a furlough option to save the maximum amount of jobs possible. In addition, furloughs are temporary and do not affect employment status, health benefit eligibility or retirement benefits.
- Furloughs reduce salary expenditures for the CSU while preserving jobs for employees and course sections and classes for students.
- The CSU is covering its payroll. CSU employees will continue to be paid as normal and will not be subject to the IOUs the state controller is currently issuing.
State Budget Impacts on the CSU's Operations:
The state budget deficit has required the CSU to curtail construction projects and modify operations as follows:
- More than 130 infrastructure projects on CSU campuses were suspended last December and restarted in April.
- There is still a suspension on lease revenue bond funded projects, including five that are CSU projects.
- The state budget has not provided funding for increased costs in energy, electricity and other operational necessities.
- The state budget has not provided funding for increased costs in employee health benefits which have risen by $8.4 million this year.
CSU's Steps to Minimize the Impact on its Operations:
- The CSU last fall implemented employee travel restrictions.
- The CSU last fall canceled all non-critical equipment and supply purchases.
- The CSU is covering the increases in costs for employee health benefits.


text:
"For their work, separately and collectively, to chart a course of the exploration of TeV scale physics using multi-TeV hadron colliders."
Background:Estia Eichten received his B.S. in Physics in 1968 and his Ph.D. in Physics in 1972 from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Eichten joined the Theory Group at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory in 1981 and has held their highest scientific ranking (Scientist III) since 1989. He was an Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Research Fellow and is a Fellow of the American Physical Society and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Eichten's research has been devoted to the study of strong dynamics and electroweak symmetry breaking. In QCD, he has contributed to the study of heavy quark-antiquark systems (quarkonium) and heavy quark effective theory in the continuum and on the lattice. Eichten and Kenneth Lane have studied the possibility that electroweak symmetry breaking arises from dynamical symmetry breaking associated with a new strong interaction. They explored the theoretical and phenomenological consequences of this beyond-standard-model physics. They showed that an extended Technicolor is necessary to give fermion masses in such theories. Eichten has also made significant contributions to the theory and signatures of quark/lepton substructure. These ideas will be tested at the Large Hadron Collider at CERN. Eichten has recently been exploring the physics potential of a multi-TeV muon collider.
Ulrich Baur, Chair; Z. Bern; J. Lyyken; L. Reina; A. Smirnov


text:
We live in a beautiful neighbourhood. As residents, we have a duty to keep our area safe, so that we can enjoy the tree-lined streets and parks more fully. That is why a group of dedicated residents established PINELANDS NEIGHBOURHOOD WATCH in 2001 – a community driven platform that ensures effective and quick response to criminal activity and ensures that members of the community are empowered with information via well developed communication channels.
The result is the PINELANDS NEIGHBOURHOOD WATCH in partnership with the South African Police Services (SAPS) and the Cape Town Community Police Forum (CPF).
To ensure effective management and excellent results we ultimately divided the area into 6 smaller blocks (sectors). Each block will have its own block leader and we will work together to enhance PNW (Pinelands Neighbourhood Watch). Just click here or on the PNW MAP above to see which block you fall under.
If you are unsure please contact us via the contacts page.
We achieve our objectives through the following five mechanisms:
- Community neighbourhood patrols/walks/cycles
- Continual development of our existing 2-way radio network – this ensures direct communication between the community, SAPS, armed response companies etc.
- A system of logging suspicious activity (cars and people)
- Collecting information on criminal activity that enables analysis. As a result we can ensure targeted action and tracking of incidents by SAPS.
- A long term objective is to install a License Plate Recognition (LPR) camera system that alerts patrollers to suspicious vehicle entering our area
PNW needs every member of the community to be involved – there are no criteria and we can all do our bit. So if you are a home owner, tenant, dog walker, retiree, worker, mother or work from home; we would genuinely welcome your involvement. Don't leave your safety and that of your family up to someone else.
We are here to be the EYES and EARS of the police! We are not taking over the work that they do but we recognise that we can do an immense amount to ensure that SAPS use their resources to maximum efficiency. Please go to the membership page and sign up so we can watch out for each other. You can make a huge difference!


text:
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
From nycsubway.org
Photography Rules
SEPTA Photography & Filming Guidelines states: Personal Photography. SEPTA welcomes amateur photographers and artists - many of whom capture their visits in photographs or in sketch books. In return, we simply request they use common sense and courtesy to others in pursuit of photo and short videos for their personal use.
PATCO Photography, Filming & Video Policy states: Non-Commercial/Personal. Photographers and artists are welcome on the DRPA/PATCO facilities and are expected to be courteous and to use good judgment while photographing or sketching. Recent security concerns regarding all public transportation facilities required a tightening of security procedures in and around the DRPA/PATCO system. The reality of the times has not resulted in a prohibition of photography and members of the public still have the right to take pictures. However, DRPA/PATCO police and other law enforcement officers working under the guideline recommendations of the Federal and State Office of Homeland Security may question persons photographing and sketching transit systems as to their intent (commercial, artistic, hobby, etc.).
SEPTA South-Eastern Pennsylvania Transit Authority - Official Site. The official site of Philadelphia's transit agency, with maps, schedules, fares, and more.
Philadelphia Trolley Tracks. Info about Philadelphia's streetcar system, including route info, rosters, and photographs past and present. Also suburban trolley systems.
DVARP Delaware Valley Association of Rail Passengers. DVARP is a rail and transit advocacy group for south-eastern Pennsylvania.


text:
A new mega-contract for quarterback Matt Ryan sits at the top of Atlanta Falcons general manager Thomas Dimitroff's agenda after the 2013 NFL Draft.
With only $2.4 million available in salary-cap space, the Falcons will have to make sacrifices to free up money for Ryan's contract.
Free-agent tracker
NFL free agency is under way. Follow all of the latest rumors and signings in our free-agent tracker. More...
The squeeze already is being felt on the offensive line. The Falcons announced the release of veteran right tackle Tyson Clabo on Thursday morning. Clabo had been designated as a post-June 1 cut by the Falcons, a source told NFL.com's Ian Rapoport, saving the team $4.5 million with the move. Clabo's agent, Chad Speck, announced the news on Twitter.
The Falcons decided Clabo's salary was a luxury they could no longer afford. Lamar Holmes, drafted in the third round of the 2012 NFL Draft, is the top in-house candidate to take over. Ryan's offensive line becomes one of the Falcons' biggest question marks, with new starters at center and right tackle.
A Pro Bowl pick in 2010, Clabo has started 91 consecutive games the past six seasons. Second only Andre Smith on the right-tackle market, Clabo shouldn't lack for suitors. The Miami Dolphins, Cincinnati Bengals, Jacksonville Jaguars, Arizona Cardinals and Detroit Lions all could use an offensive tackle and Clabo has already heard from Dallas Cowboys and Jaguars, Rapoport reported Thursday.
Follow Chris Wesseling on Twitter @ChrisWesseling.


text:
As a child, I had a running commentary in my head when I was playing. It wasn't really my voice... When you step on the field, you can hear the presence of the crowd. There is sound--the sound of noise. When you are immersed in the game you don't really hear the crowd. You can almost decide for yourself what you want to hear. You are never alone. I can hear someone shift around in their chair. I can hear someone coughing. I can hear someone whispering in the ear of someone next to them. I can imagine that I hear the ticking of a watch.
Zinedine Zidane, World Cup final, July 9, 2006: photo by David Ruddell, 2006


text:
JDSU has hired Susan Spradley as senior vice president and general manager of the Communications Test and Measurement (CommTest) business segment.
Reporting to David Heard, CommTest's president, she is responsible for the development and management of the communications test product portfolio, including instruments, probes, software applications and service assurance solutions.
Spradley brings more than 20 years of telecommunications industry experience to JDSU, serving in executive positions at Nokia Siemens Networks and Nortel. Spradley was appointed by President Obama to serve on the National Security Telecommunications Advisory Committee and is chair of a White House and National Science Foundation initiative, called U.S. Ignite, to promote U.S. leadership in developing applications and services for broadband and software-defined networks.
"Sue brings unique experience and strong relationships with the world's leading network equipment manufacturers and service providers to JDSU," said Heard. "She is ideally suited to advance our communications test growth strategy as we transition from traditional test and measurement to providing an integrated portfolio of instruments and software for the enablement of networks, services and applications."
At the same time, the company has formally given the job of CFO to Rex Jackson, who had been serving in that capacity on an interim basis. Jackson has served as acting CFO since September. He joined JDSU two years ago as senior vice president of business services, with responsibility for several corporate functions, including information technology.
"Rex's strong performance as acting CFO and his deep knowledge of the company's strategy to drive profitable growth – combined with his prior experience as a public company CFO – make him an excellent choice for this key leadership position," said Tom Waechter, JDSU's president and CEO.


text:
Jennifer Lopez did not bring Marc Anthony to meet Prince William and Catherine the other night. Instead, it was her mother. And now... just in...
JLo and Marc Anthony are OVER.
"We have decided to end our marriage. This was a very difficult decision. We have come to an amicable conclusion on all matters. It is a painful time for all involved, and we appreciate the respect of our privacy at this time."
They just celebrated their 7th wedding anniversary. Admit it. You did not think they would make it 7 years. I remember I did a poll when that happened. It happened like 5 minutes after she left Ben Affleck. And most people picked 6 months as the maximum amount of time it would be before she left Marc.
7 years and two children later...
And it's her 3rd divorce.
As for what precipitated the break – from what I understand, it's not infidelity. But there may be something there with how controlling he seemed to be, paranoid, and possessive. It was evident on carpets, we saw it ourselves a few years ago at the Oscars. I remember Ben Mulroney interviewing her and Marc standing behind, glaring, on high alert, and I wrote at the time that it felt a little... too intense. She's over it now. She's over the accusations, she's over the jealousy, she's over giving into it.
This announcement came pretty much right at the end of the work day on Friday New York time. They wanted to bury it before the weekend, the same move Brad and Jen pulled in 2005. Here's what I do know:
They've been working on this all week, negotiating how to handle this announcement and control it before it exploded on its own. I'm told that there was a magazine - not People - who had a hold of this days ago. They've been dealing and bargaining for days to hold off so they could get their sh-t together. Behind the scenes it was a mess, with her side the driving force eager to benefit from the situation, get it out there and start a clean break. As always when it comes to a JLo break up, when she's done, she is DONE. And she's been done for a while. My sources say that it was Marc who was stalling, especially as there were some business interests at stake. There was the matter of his debt, and the two were supposed to collaborate on a few projects but he needs those more than she does, considering how successful she just was on Idol.
Which means...
You know JLo. She falls in love fast and hard. There will be another by 2012. Guaranteed. And she'll be married again before 2013. What's your prediction? I'd love to hear it. Email me, let me know.
File photo from Wenn.com


text:
Photo: Courtesy of Five Seed Farm and ApiaryCities all over the country are addressing the lack of access to fresh and healthy food on the part of their residents, but few are in as much of a bind as Baltimore.
Like Detroit, and other cities known for their class and race disparity, Baltimore has been losing population and gaining vacant land at a fast pace in recent decades. The result is vast swaths of neighborhoods located far from grocery stores. Baltimore gave itself a D on its own 2010 Health Disparities Report Card, which found that 43 percent of the residents in the city's predominantly black neighborhoods had little access to healthy foods, compared to 4 percent in predominantly white neighborhoods. Meanwhile, more than two-thirds of the city's adults and almost 40 percent of high school students are overweight or obese.
In other words, the situation is a dire one. But it's not all bad news; in fact, the city of Baltimore is going to great lengths to make a change.
Speaking on a panel at the recent Community Food Security Coalition Conference in Oakland, Calif., Abby Cocke, of Baltimore's Office of Sustainability, and Laura Fox, of the city health department's Virtual Supermarket Program, outlined two approaches to address the city's food deserts. Both were presenting programs that have launched since Grist last reported on Baltimore's efforts to address food justice. And both programs come under the auspices of The Baltimore Food Policy Initiative, a rare intergovernmental collaboration between the city's Department of Planning, Office of Sustainability, and Health Department. They also show how an active, involved city government and a willingness to try new ideas can change the urban food landscape for the better.
According to Cocke, Baltimore's Planning Department has a new mindset. She calls it a "place-based" model. "In the past," she says, "growth was seen as the only way to improve the city, but we're starting to look at ways to make our neighborhoods stronger, healthier, and more vibrant places at the low density that they're at now."
Intercropping farms within the urban landscape
In cities like Oakland — where well-known urban farmer Novella Carpenter was slapped with a large fine recently, resulting in a public push for changes to the zoning laws — shifts in urban policy have been largely reactive. Other cities, like Detroit, have taken a hands-off approach. Thanks to Baltimore's Office of Sustainability, however, the city is actively encouraging the creation of small entrepreneurial farms on vacant lots to bring more healthy fresh food to city residents.
In 2010, planning officials met with urban farmers to find out what they would need to grow food in the city. Planners mapped out 20 publicly owned parcels (ranging from one to 12 acres) that met the farmers' criteria. City officials then encouraged experienced commercial and nonprofit groups to submit a business plan. Of the 10 initial responses, four commercial farms — including Five Seeds Farm and Seed and Cycle — and one nonprofit, Real Food Farm, were qualified to start farming.
The parcels will be leased to the would-be farmers for a mere $100 a year, and the city will make start-up capital available for those who need it. Baltimore is also rewriting its entire zoning code, one major goal of which is to facilitate farming within city limits. In addition to making its citizens healthier, says Cocke, the city hopes to "transform vacant lots, increase environmental awareness among its citizens, create green jobs, and raise its profile as a leader."
Image: Center for a Livable FutureBringing the supermarket to libraries and other public spaces
Urban farming is a useful way to make more people aware of where their fruit and vegetables comes from, but it can only provide so much food. That's where Baltimore's Virtual Supermarket program — a creative public-private partnership that utilizes the city's libraries to bring fresh groceries to remote neighborhoods — enters the picture.
According to Fox, the original idea was to launch the program in churches in underserved areas. But city officials quickly found that most people didn't feel comfortable going into unfamiliar churches. Not to be deterred, and recognizing a good idea, the city began looking at other easily accessible neighborhood spaces, and eventually settled on public libraries.
Working with The Center for a Livable Future at nearby Johns Hopkins University, the health department conducted a mapping project to target neighborhoods with no access to fresh food, low vehicle ownership, low income, and high mortality rates from diet-related diseases. They found that as much as 18 percent of Baltimore qualifies as a food desert, using these criteria. (This data is the basis of the city's first official "food desert map," which will be released in January 2012).
Partnering with Santoni's, a local, family-owned grocery chain, the city launched Virtual Supermarket in March 2010 in two public libraries. Users place orders from the city's free-to-use library computers, and Santoni's staff members deliver the food. Customers can pay with EBT cards, cash, or credit/debit cards.
Today the program includes three libraries and one school, and its success has enabled the city to hire a full-time community organizer to recruit potential customers at senior centers and public housing complexes. To date, 150 different customers have made 700 orders.
Although the city prohibits tobacco, it doesn't regulate what types of foods people can buy. Nonetheless, 60 percent of the Virtual Supermarket customers polled reported that their diets have improved. Most importantly, according to Fox, the program keeps Baltimore residents from having to travel an hour by bus to the nearest store, or pay to take one of the numerous unofficial cabs that line up outside the city's grocery stores. She says she sees it as a "health equity program," adding, "why should someone have to pay $15 to get their groceries home in a cab when someone in a wealthier neighborhood who owns a car would pay 25 cents?"
What's next for Baltimore? For one, the city is upping its focus on cooking. They'll soon be staging cooking demonstrations at farmers markets and other locations, and launching a program to get citizens talking to their neighbors about nutrition and cooking.
Last March, Baltimore also became one of the first cities in America to hire a full time Food Policy Director. Holly Freishtat works out of the Office of Sustainability in the Department of Planning. As Fox sees it, embedding healthy food policy into the planning department makes complete sense. After seeing some city residents endure an ongoing ordeal simply to get fresh food on their tables, she says, "Where you live affects your whole being."


text:
A Sarah Schenirer of our times, Mrs. Chaya Newman was a trailblazer in the field of women's Jewish education. She inspired and guided thousands of students and fellow educators with the careful curriculum she created, and example she set. She had the rare gift of bringing out the best in her students, commanding respect while remaining as loving and accessible as a grandmother. Mrs. Newman shaped Bruriah into a top school known for its stellar academic reputation, the close relationships between teachers and students, and as a place where limudei kodesh and limudei chol were not in opposition but instead complement each other. She welcomed students from diverse backgrounds into Bruriah, and the school's alumnae reflect this inclusiveness.
Mrs. Newman was able to think big, while maintaining her careful attention to detail, especially when it came to her students – she would notice, and compliment, even the smallest achievements. Sitting in the front row during production rehearsals, she would retie someone's sash, note the lighting, and admire the set. Multiple times a week she spoke to the student body, through the morning announcements students grew to love. In particular, the month of Elul marked a unique practice of Mrs. Newman – she recited the perek of L'David daily with the entire student body, every line pronounced just so in a pattern that strikes a chord in the memory of every Bruriah student.
While she was known and loved by thousands, no one can paint a picture of what Mrs. Newman uniquely accomplished more accurately, more movingly, than the students whose lives she changed. After hearing of her passing, we asked students and alumnae to share how she changed their lives, and the stories came pouring in. The responses, sampled below, range from the general to the specific. All, however, pay tribute to a humbling truth about one person's ability to alter the Jewish future.
Mrs. Newman was known for her aphorisms, each one containing a bite-size slice of riveting truth. One such aphorism, to which she dedicated her life was: when you educate a girl, you educate a family. Taking that to the next level, when you educate a family, you educate a future. May we be worthy to learn from Mrs. Newman's example, continuing to build up the Jewish future in her memory and honor.
Student Testimonials:
Rochel Sokoloff, Bruriah Graduating Class of 1975
Mrs. Newman , a"h, came to Bruriah when I was in ninth grade. It was my first year at Bruriah, and hers as well. I had heard that she learned to drive over the summer preceding the school year in order to make the trip to Elizabeth from Flatbush. That single fact amazed me. I saw it as a sign of determination and the sheer will of dedication. I was right. Mrs. Newman set in motion a high school resplendent with fine teachers, both in Kodesh and Chol. Our Kodesh teachers, many of whom traveled in from Lakewood every day, inspired me and shaped my future in a myriad of ways.
Some fifteen years after graduation, I began my own career in chinuch habonos, first as a high school teacher, and today as Dean of Students in Tichon Meir Moshe in Far Rockaway. Mrs. Newman's leadership continued to inspire me, as I participated in a number of Torah U'Mesorah workshops she ran. What a thrill for both students and principal to work together! Most recently, I was looking forward to participating in the Torah U' Mesorah Principal's Fellowship, which she headed. Alas, the Ribono Shel Olam decreed otherwise. I will however continue to inculcate in our students the wonderful lessons she taught me, both as a student and as an educator. Mrs. Newman, we will continue to walk in your footsteps and dedicate ourselves, as you did, to inspire our students to reach for the stars.
Malka (Witkin) Korbman, Bruriah Graduating Class of 1976
As a Bruriah alumnus from Mrs. Newman's "earlier" days at Bruriah, (I was in the first 9th grade to be in the present main building which we had lovingly referred to as "the new building" at that time…) and as a sister, sister in law, aunt and mother to numerous Bruriah alumni – Mrs. Newman was not just "a principal" – she was a legacy. She hired amazing faculty who introduced us to Tanach, Historia, Halacha, and Hashkafah on a much higher level than we ever thought possible. These mechanchos were wonderful role models for us and helped to shape the way we and our daughters are building our own "batim ne'emanin b'Yisrael".