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The two most powerful technologies of the 20th century—the nuclear bomb and the computer—were invented at the same time and by the same group of young people. But while the history of the Manhattan Project has been well told, the origin of the computer is relatively unknown. In his new book, Turing's Cathedral, historian George Dyson, who grew up among these proto- hackers in Princeton, New Jersey, tells the story of how Alan Turing, John von Neumann, and a small band of other geniuses not only built the computer but foresaw the world it would create. Dyson talked to Wired about the big bang of the digital universe.
Wired: Because your father, Freeman Dyson, worked at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, you grew up around folks who were building one of the first computers. Was that cool?
George Dyson: The institute was a pretty boring place, full of theoreticians writing papers. But in a building far away from everyone else, some engineers were building a computer, one of the first to have a fully electronic random-access memory. For a kid in the 1950s, it was the most exciting thing around. I mean, they called it the MANIAC! The computer building was off-limits to children, but Julian Bigelow, the chief engineer, stored a lot of surplus electronic equipment in a barn, and I grew up playing there and taking things apart.
Wired: Did that experience influence how you thought about computers later?
Dyson: Yes. I tried to get as far away from them as possible.
Wired: Why?
Dyson: Computers were going to take over the world. So I left high school in the 1960s to live on the islands of British Columbia. I worked on boats and built a house 95 feet up in a Douglas fir tree. I wasn't antitechnology; I loved chain saws and tools and diesel engines. But I wanted to keep my distance from computers.
Wired: What changed your mind?
Dyson: If you spend time alone in the wilderness, you get very attuned to living things. I learned to spot the trails left by life. When I looked at the digital universe, I saw the tracks of organisms coming to life. I eventually came out of the Canadian rain forest to study this stuff because it was as wild as anything in the woods.
Wired: You write about "digital organisms." Is this what you mean?
Dyson: Digital organisms, while not necessarily any more alive than a phone book, are strings of code that replicate and evolve over time. Digital codes are strings of binary digits—bits. A Pixar movie is just a very large number, sitting idle on a disc, while Microsoft Windows is an even larger number, replicated across hundreds of millions of computers and constantly in use. Google is a fantastically large number, so large it is almost beyond comprehension, distributed and replicated across all kinds of hosts. When you click on a link, you are replicating the string of code that it links to. Replication of code sequences isn't life, any more than replication of nucleotide sequences is, but we know that it sometimes leads to life.
Dyson: What other kinds of digital organisms can we see?
Wired: Besides obvious ones like computer viruses, we have large, slow-moving megafauna like operating systems and now millions of fast-moving apps, almost like microbes. Recently we've seen enormous conglomerations of code creeping up on us, these giant, multicellular, metazoan-level code-organisms like Facebook or Amazon. All these species form a digital universe.
Dyson: Are we in that digital universe right now, as we talk on the phone?
Wired: Sure. You're recording this conversation on a digital recorder—into an empty matrix of addresses on a chip that is being filled up at 44 kilobytes per second. That address space full of numbers is the digital universe.
Wired: But haven't we written down numbers for centuries?
Dyson: Yes, we had clay tablets, counting pebbles, the abacus, ledgers, and punch cards. Writing and retrieving numbers isn't new. But the computer accelerated information processing to the speed of light. That velocity fundamentally changed everything.
Wired: So how did this parallel light-speed universe begin?
Dyson This vast digital world, where we can get almost anything anytime, goes back to the very first address memory in the MANIAC. Its dimensions were only 32 x 32 x 40 bits. That's 5 kilobytes, or room to record about a fraction of a second of this conversation!
Wired: And how fast is this universe expanding?
Dyson: Like our own universe at the beginning, it's more exploding than expanding. We're all so immersed in it that it's hard to perceive. Last time I checked, the digital universe was expanding at the rate of 5 trillion bits per second in storage and 2 trillion transistors per second on the processing side.
Wired: How did the MANIAC project get started?
Dyson: The von Neumann project was funded to do H-bomb calculations. It was a deal with the devil: If they designed this ultimate weapon, they could have this fantastic machine.
Wired: So the creation of digital life was rooted in death?
Dyson: In some creation myths, life arises out of the earth; in others, life falls out of the sky. The creation myth of the digital universe entails both metaphors. The hardware came out of the mud of World War II, and the code fell out of abstract mathematical concepts. Computation needs both physical stuff and a logical soul to bring it to life. These were young kids who had just come through World War II, who could repair the electronics on airplanes and get them flying the same day, and von Neumann put them together with mathematical logicians who could imagine a universe created entirely out of 0s and 1s.
Wired: Who were some of the heroes in this creation myth?
Dyson: Alan Turing was the logician with the original idea. Julian Bigelow was the engineer who built the actual machine, and biologist Nils Barricelli saw where it was all going. Johnny von Neumann had the government money and confidence to make it happen, and his wife, Klari von Neumann, wrote the code.
Wired: What was Turing's vision?
Dyson: Turing, as a 23-year-old graduate student, derived the principles of modern computation more or less by accident—as a byproduct of his interest in something called the Entscheidungsproblem, or Decision Problem. It can be stated as: Is there a formula or mechanical process that can decide whether a string of symbols is logically provable or not? Turing's answer was no. He restated the answer in computational terms by showing that there's no systematic way to tell in advance what a given code is going to do. You can't predict how software will behave by inspecting it. The only way you can tell is to actually run it. And this fundamental unpredictability means you can never have a complete digital dictatorship with one government or company controlling our digital lives—not because of politics but because of mathematics. There will always be codes that do unpredictable things. This is why the digital universe will never be a national park; it will always be an undomesticated, unpredictable wilderness. And that should be reassuring to us.
Wired: Where did the idea of the address matrix come from?
Dyson: Turing gave us a one-dimensional model, a linear sequence on an unlimited tape. John von Neumann and colleagues, starting in 1945, gave us a two-dimensional implementation—the address matrix, which stored strings of bits at randomly accessible coordinates as if they were locations on a chessboard—a design that underlies all computers today. In von Neumann's scheme, you used 10 bits to specify an address and 10 bits to specify an instruction for what to do at that address. Each address stored 40 bits, which might be data or further instructions. So when you put 20 bits into the matrix you would get at least 40 bits back. The moment the electricity was turned on for the first time in the summer of 1951, computers started generating new numbers, and those numbers generated more numbers, and the cycle hasn't stopped since.
Wired: Were there alternative schemes in the beginning?
Dyson: Yes, there were many alternatives. Von Neumann's architecture just happened to have a head start. And it turns out he was consulting for IBM, so all these ideas were being mainlined right into IBM headquarters, without any patent restrictions.
Wired: Did they envision what their creation would eventually become?
Dyson: They would have completely understood what is going on today in computers. But they would have been utterly amazed 60 years later to see that everything is still running exactly as they left it in 1952! They all thought their design would last a year or two, and then a better one would come along.
Wired: Could their design still be replaced?
Dyson: Probably not at the fundamental, cellular level. The microprocessor is just so cheap, powerful, and effectively self-replicating that it is unlikely to be replaced—though it may become the substrate for something else.
Wired: What were these guys like?
Dyson: They were hackers. They were young men and women, mostly in their twenties. The ones in their thirties were considered old. They did all the things hackers do: working all night, living for their code, arguing over whether a problem was due to software or hardware. They kept logbooks where they left notes telling the next shift what they had done, and they filled them with dark nerd humor, the same sort of sarcastic jokes you find on email and comment threads today. Von Neumann was warned by the director that his "computer people" were consuming too much sugar—when sugar was still rationed. And they were fast. They completed the entire project in less time than it took me to write about it!
Wired: In your story you give the engineers as much credit as the theoretical geniuses.
Dyson: They were trying to build this machine in a place—a former farm on the outskirts of Princeton—that didn't have any workshops or engineering facilities. They had to build their own electric power supplies and do their own wiring. Right after World War II, everything was rationed, including lumber, so they bought unrationed firewood to use as lumber. They were just making the whole thing up as they went along.
Wired: Other than bombs, what did they use the MANIAC for?
Dyson: They were gung ho on numerical weather prediction, and they made amazingly good progress in the first few years. Remember, all they had was 5 kilobytes of memory, running at a speed of 8 kilocycles. Yet by 1954 they were predicting weather for the northern hemisphere.
Wired: What were they wrong about?
Dyson: In 1948, von Neumann gave a speech on the future of computing in which he said that the proper order of magnitude for a computing machine seemed to be about 10,000 switches. He was way wrong. Your laptop has billions of switches.
Wired: What did they get right?
Dyson: Vacuum tubes in the early machines had an extremely high failure rate, and von Neumann and Turing both spent a lot of time thinking about how to tolerate or even take advantage of that. If you had unreliable tubes, you couldn't be sure you had the correct answer, so you had to run a problem at least twice to make sure you got the same result. Turing and von Neumann both believed the future belonged to nondeterministic computation and statistical, probabilistic codes. We've seen some success recently in using that kind of computation on very hard problems like language translation and facial recognition. We are now finally getting back to what was envisioned at the beginning.
Wired: Did you discover anything in your research that surprised you?
Dyson: I was surprised by the close calls between failure and success. The ENIAC was the American wartime computer project built to calculate ballistic trajectories. The two main guys who invented and built the original ENIAC, Presper Eckert and John Mauchly, formed their own company to build and sell computers. They were doing quite well and then mysteriously had their security clearance revoked, which cost them their government contracts and put them out of business—to the great benefit, eventually, of IBM. Success in technology was as unpredictable at the beginning as it is today.
Wired: Did they see computation in the quasi-biological ways you do?
Dyson: The moment von Neumann got the computing machine running, Nils Barricelli showed up, trying to evolve self-replicating, crossbreeding digital organisms. He encouraged strings of code to replicate with small variations to compete in solving a problem or a simple game. The winning code gained computing resources. Like biological life, no one designed them. Fifty years later, I went back to the basement storeroom where the project was started, which at the time was the institute's main network server room. One of the servers was working full-time to keep out all the self-replicating computer viruses trying to get in. Barricelli's vision had come true!
Wired: Did they have any concerns about what they were creating?
Dyson: Shortly before Barricelli's experiments, mathematician Stan Ulam asked von Neumann if they should be worried about using the term organism to refer to code. Von Neumann didn't shy away from hydrogen bombs and end-of-the-world weapons, but he was hesitant about "creating life" and other Frankenstein stuff.
Wired: Where is this digital universe headed?
Dyson: We have created this expanding computational universe, and it's open to the evolution of all kinds of things. It's cycling faster and faster, and it's way, way, way more than doubling in scale every year. Even with the help of Google and YouTube and Facebook, we can't consume it all. And we aren't really aware what this vast space is filling up with. From the human perspective, computers are idle 99 percent of the time, just waiting for the next instruction. While they're waiting for us to come up with instructions, more and more computation is happening without us, as computers write instructions for each other. And as Turing showed mathematically, this space can't be supervised. As the digital universe expands, so does this wild, undomesticated side.
Wired: If this is true, what's the takeaway?
Dyson: Hire biologists! It doesn't make sense for a high tech company to have 3,000 software engineers but no biologists.
Wired: One last question: What do you mean by "Turing's cathedral"?
Dyson: In Turing's 1950 paper, "Computing Machinery and Intelligence," he argued that when we build intelligent machines, we will not be creating souls but building the mansions for the souls that God creates. When I first visited Google, right about the time it went public, I walked around and saw what they were doing and realized they were building a very large distributed AI, much as Turing had predicted. And I thought, my God, this is not Turing's mansion—this is Turing's cathedral. Cathedrals were built over hundreds of years by thousands of nameless people, each one carving a little corner somewhere or adding one little stone. That's how I feel about the whole computational universe. Everybody is putting these small stones in place, incrementally creating this cathedral that no one could even imagine doing on their own.
Senior maverick Kevin Kelly (
firstname.lastname@example.com) interviewed James Gleick, author of The Information, in issue 19.03.


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It didn't matter that the 13 Marines on their way home from Afghanistan had been fighting in a war that no longer dominates the news or that they were stopping only for a short time in Chicago before flying to San Diego.
When USO volunteer John Colas heard with just an hour's notice that the Marines' plane was bearing down on O'Hare International Airport, he and others scrambled to make sure they got a hero's welcome.
"We want these kids coming home to realize that they haven't been forgotten," said Colas, a 74-year-old retired Marine.
The reception started with a water salute in which their plane taxied underneath an arch of water from fire truck hoses.
The Marines, who had spent the better part of five days getting on and off planes to get home from the other side of the world, were then met by cheering USO volunteers, firefighters, police officers and airport workers as they walked into the terminal.
A short time later, boarding another jet for San Diego, the Marines learned that American Airlines -- which has a policy to upgrade servicemen and women in uniform whenever possible -- had six empty seats in first class for the group.
That gesture was followed by seven first-class passengers who jumped out of their seats for the other Marines so they could sit together.
"It was incredibly touching," Capt. Pravin Rajan said in a telephone interview after returning to Camp Pendleton in California. "Afghanistan is a very complex and ambiguous war ... and a difficult thing to keep track of so it is amazing when we are 10 years (into) a war and there is still that kind of community, that level of support, the level of willingness to go out of one's way."
The welcome home started with a phone call. Stephanie Hare, a native of Illinois who now works in England, called the USO at O'Hare and explained that her fiance, Rajan, who had served seven months in Afghanistan, was with a dozen other Marines on a plane bound for Chicago from Baltimore.
"I just thought if they could get them some Chicago pizza, champagne or something, that would mean a lot," she said.
On the other end of the line was Colas, whose duties include welcoming servicemen and women.
He told Hare he'd try to do something in the hour or so before the flight landed. But Colas cautioned that while volunteers make an effort to welcome military personnel whenever they come through the airport, he wasn't sure he could pull anything off so quickly.
Nevertheless, he got on the phone with the police and fire departments, the airlines and anyone else he could think of.
"There must have been 15 Chicago firemen and an equal number of Chicago police and they formed a corridor for the Marines when they got off the airplane," he said.
Rajan said the Marines didn't know what to make of it, starting with the slightly unnerving experience of looking out a plane window to see a fire truck. "For a second, we were like, 'Are we in trouble?"' he said.
Marines enjoy impromptu welcome at Chicago airport
It didn't matter that the 13 Marines on their way home from Afghanistan had been fighting in a war that no longer dominates the news or that they were stopping only for a short time in Chicago before flying to San Diego.

subset: commoncrawl


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25 June, 2013 | (01 hr)
Sign In to access this Webcast
Amid the uncertainty in the wake of the global economic and financial crisis, how can companies look beyond their day-to-day challenges to map sustainable growth strategies?
Often, executives manage with an operational mindset and a short-term horizon. The potential impact of medium term changes is much harder to gauge, especially when disruptive forces reinforce each other four to six years out. Scenario building is a useful tool to guide executives in making strategic decisions by sketching plausible future states of a firm's business environment.
During this webcast we will look at:
- Understanding the key steps to be taken in scenario planning, including outlining the drivers, the "givens", the barriers and uncertainties
- Getting a gist of The Conference Board's key knowledge areas including global demand, innovation and energy
- Learning from practical examples from The Conference Board and SAMI Consulting programs
- Sharing thoughts and ideas about best practices.
Who should attend
Executives from strategic planning, finance and marketing, or any other department involved in strategy building and forecasting
Desirée van Welsum
Desirée van Welsum is an economist, managing The Conference Board Business Scenario Program. She has over 10 years of experience in applied economic research and policy analysis on private and public sectors in the economy. Prior to joining The Conference Board, she worked at the OECD, the...Full Bio
John Reynolds
John Reynolds has wide experience at Director/Board level in Government Departments and Agencies. In 1998 he was asked to set up the Future Unit, which generated influential reports and established future thinking across Whitehall. He also invented the unique creativity centre futurefocus@d...Full Bio
Colin Fletcher
After holding research and lecturing posts at the Universities of Exeter and Cambridge, Colin worked first with Economic Consultants Ltd and then with Peat Marwick Mitchell (now KPMG) on a variety of strategy and marketing assignments and on various project planning, development an...Full Bio
Bart van Ark
Bart van Ark is a Senior Advisor of the Economy, Strategy and Finance (ESF) Center at The Conference Board. From 2008 until September 2020 he was Chief Economist and Head ...Full Bio


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The Met Ball draws serious and sublime fashion
All eyes in the fashion world were on the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute Gala -- aka the Met Ball -- in NYC on Monday. This is the annual event at which celebrities and fashionistas kick it up a notch and wear their most dramatic looks. Actresses Jennifer Lawrence and Sarah Jessica Parker shared a laugh on the red carpet (perhaps about Parker's Gatsby-esque headpiece?), while co-chairs Riccardo Tisci and Rooney Mara seemed to be dead serious. Mara's frilly white gown betrayed the theme of this year's fashion exhibition, "Punk: Chaos to Couture," in the silver zippers at the waist. Nina Dobrev wore a more elaborate take on the theme in her corseted sweeping black dress. Kim Kardashian wore a floral Risci gown with matching gloves, which led to a disturbing sense that she was missing her hands as they blended in with the dress. To see what I mean, and for more photos from the event, see our photo gallery.
Kim Kardashian and Kanye West reportedly attended a Met Gala eve dinner at Vogue Editor Anna Wintour's home Sunday night. No word on what they might have been discussing. But Kardashian wore Prada for the occasion. [UsWeekly]
The Otis College of Art and Design bestowed its inaugural Style Icon award on Sally Perrin, creative director of Perrin Paris, at a scholarship benefit Saturday. [Los Angeles Times]
Amanda Bynes, who is retired from acting at age 27, has become somewhat infamous for her rather odd tweets. In one of the latest, she writes that she has had a nose job to remove "webbing" between her eyes. On The Times' Ministry of Gossip blog, our Christie D'Zurilla says, "Huh?" [Los Angeles Times]
U.S. Rep. George Miller, writing an opinion piece for WWD, says that in the aftermath of numerous tragedies in garment factories in Bangladesh -- including the collapse of a multistory building that killed hundreds of workers in April -- "American consumers and leaders in the fashion industry have a moral imperative to ensure that these tragedies do not happen again. The only way forward for the global brands to improve conditions and worker safety is an effective, enforceable and binding commitment." He calls on retailers to sign the Bangladesh Fire and Building Safety Agreement (some, like Calvin Klein, Tommy Hilfiger and Arrow, already have; others, like Wal-Mart and Gap, haven't). The Democrat from the San Francisco Bay Area said consumers need to know "which brands will accept blood on their labels and which will not." [WWD]
Moda Operandi to offer looks from Met Gala
PHOTOS: "The Great Gatsby" looks and merchandise
Sharon and Jack Osbourne honored at "Race to Erase M.S." gala


text: You make it sound as if he's being treated badly, when he's not. Like everyone keeps reminding me, he gets the most screen-time out of Ash's Pokemon with the obvious exception of Pikachu, and he has license to do pretty much anything he wants because that's what his audience desires. I find it really ironic that some fans are trying to make Oshawott seem like a Pokemon that's been abused by the writers when it fact its those same fans who are abusing him by bashing him for every little thing he does. Oh and why is it that Axew gets to do whatever he wants too, but unlike Oshawott, he rarely gets called out for his actions? I'm probably the only person here who commented on his lack of self control and maturity when he went and messed with the switches.That still doesn't make that right. People are still allowed to dislike how Oshawott is treated.


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These are the walls of a Human-Computer Interaction Institute lab at Carnegie Mellon, and as you can see, they provide plenty of opportunities to create such interactions on the fly when you snag your sweater on some spiky solder leads or that ZIF socket handle. Chris Harrison, a PhD student, bought old motherboards on eBay by the pound to completely adorn the lab in mo-bos. And while this is great for the computer science lab and maybe OK for the garage (maybe), don't even think about doing this in your bedroom if you ever want to have sex again. It does look pretty sweet, though.
[Chris Harrison via Neatorama]


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"I Love Lucy" fans are getting get an early Christmas gift.
CBS will air, at 8 p.m. Friday, the rarely seen "Christmas Episode," which features Lucy and Ricky (Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz) and the Mertzes (Vivian Vance and William Frawley) decorating the Ricardos' Christmas tree and reminiscing about the arrival of Little Ricky.
Continue reading "CBS to air rare 'I Love Lucy' Christmas episode Friday" »


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Happy Thursday!
This week in science, we completed lesson Unit 6 Lesson 1.We started our Unit about natural resources. When we come back next Monday we will conduct a science experiment about conserving natural resources. In social studies we covered Chapter 7 Lessons 1 and 2. We are learning about how America was discovered.
We have started our science experiment, thank you for bringing in all of the materials needed for it!
Book mobile is tomorrow so remind your student to pack their library books! We finished "Who is Malala Yousafzai?" today and ACR tested on it.
The 100th day of school is next Friday; our classroom will of course be celebrating! I am giving the students the choice… they can dress like they are 100 years old or 100 days old! Students can bring snacks or drinks if you choose to but it is not required!
This Tuesday Mr. Will wasn't able to bring in the ozobots. So, we will be doing this with him next Tuesday morning!


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Chloe (Express)
Provided free-of-charge to customers in Singapore who are unsure about their ring size. Select 'Not sure, send me a Ring Sizer' below to have it mailed to you around 1 to 2 working days.
Tiara uses US sizing, approx 1/2 of SG size. eg. SG16 is US8.
For international customers, please print the ring sizer here.
- 1.5 Carat Platinum-Plated Ring.
- Top Grade Cubic Zirconia Simulated Diamonds in Prong Setting.
- 3 Layers Silver Plating for Colour Protection.
- Excellent Clarity & Proportion.
What is Cubic Zirconia?
Cubic Zirconia (also known as CZ) is similar to a diamond with its brilliance and crystal clarity. It is created in a lab yet it dazzles with a brilliant sparkle like a diamond.
Cubic zirconia is colorless, hard, and flawless and most cannot tell the difference between a cubic zirconia and a diamond with naked eyes.
It looks so much like a diamond and is an affordable alternative to diamonds. It is clear and flawless enough to rate a "D" on the diamond scale for color. Cubic zirconia started being produced in 1976 because of its diamond-like qualities and overall durability.
Is cubic zirconia a diamond?
Cubic zirconia is not a diamond though it is difficult for the naked eye to tell the difference between a cubic zirconia and a diamond.
Many people, unless they have a trained eye or a special instrument, cannot tell the difference between the two. It is a stone that is as brilliant as a diamond but much more affordable. It is almost as hard as diamond on the Mohs scale of hardness. Cubic zirconia is an 8.5 and a diamond is a 10.
What is the cubic zirconia price?
Compared to diamonds cubic zirconia is more affordable. However, today these stones can come in exceptionally high quality and be priced rather high. To determine the price of cubic zirconia, you would have to know what the carat weight is.
They are not priced nearly as high as diamonds, but they can be quite expensive. As with anything, some cubic zirconia stones are better than others, and the only real way that it can be distinguished is through a jeweler's loupe (a magnifier).
Care for Cubic ZirconiaCubic zirconia is easy to care for and requires little effort to maintain. Avoid rough handling and store items of jewelry separately to avoid scratches. Wash gently in lukewarm soapy water.
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The family of a Worcester man who died after a struggle with police at a sobriety checkpoint three years ago has settled the case against police, the family's lawyer said.
The family of Kenneth Howe, 45, received $1.3 million from the Massachusetts State Police on behalf of MSP and Essex County Sheriff's Office and $300,000 from the town of North Andover, according to Frances A. King, the Boston lawyer representing Mr. Howe's family. The Essex sheriff's share of the payment was $550,000, according to Assistant Superintendent Maurice Pratt.
"I just hope they learned from this," Ms. King said. "It was a horrible, unnecessary tragedy."
Spokesmen for Massachusetts State Police and the Essex sheriff's office said that no one in their departments was disciplined as a result of what happened at the checkpoint.
"After this incident, the state police formed a committee of three ranking officers to review protocols surrounding sobriety checkpoints. The committee's report is still in draft form, but its work did not find any shortcomings or problems with checkpoint protocol," spokesman David Procopio said.
The North Andover Police Department did not respond to a request for comment.
Asked why the settlement payment was made if no discipline was deserved, Assistant Superintendent Pratt, who also is the communications director for the Essex sheriff, said, "The matter is closed and we're not going to comment on it."
The settlement agreement was reached in April just as the federal civil rights suit was about to go to trial.
Mr. Howe's death while in police custody was investigated by the office of Essex District Attorney Jonathan W. Blodgett. The office had no comment Friday on the settlement.
Mr. Blodgett held a press conference two years ago to announce that state police detectives attached to his office and ranking officials at state police headquarters found no wrongdoing.
No criminal charges were brought against any of the 20 state troopers, 18 North Andover police or two sheriff's department employees at the checkpoint where Mr. Howe was arrested after a state trooper alleged that he attacked her. Mr. Howe had been a passenger in a friend's car towing a boat bought earlier in the evening.
Ms. King, a Worcester native, said in an interview that the settlement means "the family is taken care of financially, at least." Mr. Howe left a widow, Margaret Howe, and three daughters.
The settlement "shows they (police) took it seriously," Ms. King said. Although she is not aware of any police officer being disciplined as a result of Mr. Howe's death, she said, "I truly hope that the police realize what they did."
Among the evidence the plaintiffs were prepared to use was a video by Worcester police that is shown to police trainees that gives a "3-minute rule," Ms. King said. It says that if police keep anyone face-down and prone for more than 3 minutes there is a serious risk of injury or death, she said.
It says that a detainee should be rolled over to make sure his or her airway is free, she said.
Time-stamped photos taken by a photographer for the Eagle Tribune, to whose property the checkpoint was adjacent, indicated that Mr. Howe was held on the ground for 11 minutes, Ms. King said.
In depositions, Ms. King said, the defendants said they did nothing wrong, and none expressed remorse. But, she said, "They did not get away with this without paying, and they were punished" by the settlement.
Mr. Howe was pronounced dead at 12:25 a.m. Nov. 26, 2009, in Lawrence General Hospital, where he was taken about 1 hour after he had been arrested and taken to the state police station in Andover.
At his press conference two years ago, District Attorney Blodgett said, "The medical evidence reveals that while Mr. Howe had injuries associated with a strenuous physical struggle, he did not have any associated with purposeful hitting, punching, kicking, or striking with an object."
"Just because the medical examiner said the death was a homicide," the district attorney said, "it does not mean the death was a result of criminal action."
Mr. Howe did not comply with any of the orders that were given to him at the scene, Mr. Blodgett said.
But Ms. King said at her own press conference the following day that the medical examiner said the death was a homicide caused by "blunt impact of head and torso with compression of chest."
She said, "The only way anyone could believe that somebody didn't strike Mr. Howe is if you want to believe that Mr. Howe, with his hands and legs bound, administered the blunt impact himself that caused his death."


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TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (AP) Alabama quarterback AJ McCarron, who has led the Crimson Tide to its second straight national title game, said he will return for his senior season instead of entering the NFL draft.
McCarron made the announcement in a statement released by the school on Wednesday.
``I had many goals for myself when I came to the University of Alabama,'' the junior said. ``I have been lucky enough to achieve some of those goals, but some are still ahead of me. There were many factors in my decision to return to Alabama for my senior year but, after talking with my family and coaches, I knew it was the right choice for me.
``I love the University of Alabama, my coaches, my teammates and our fans. I am excited to have the opportunity to play with my brother (sophomore tight end Corey McCarron), continue to grow as a leader, continue to help our team win football games and develop even further as a quarterback. The NFL has long been a dream, but I think another year at Alabama can only help my chances of being successful at the next level.''
McCarron leads the nation in passing efficiency headed into the BCS championship game against Notre Dame on Jan. 7 in Miami, and he was MVP of the BCS championship game against LSU last season. He is 24-2 as a starter.
McCarron has thrown for 2,669 yards and a school-record 26 touchdown passes against just three interceptions this season. His 45 career TD passes is second in Alabama history.
``We are pleased that AJ has decided to return for his senior year next season,'' Alabama coach Nick Saban said. ``He's done a great job for us and has really grown, not only as a quarterback and a player, but as a leader of our team. Like I've said before, we want to help our players make sound decisions when it comes to what is best for their future. Our goal at Alabama is to help our guys develop a career off the field by graduating, become the best football players they can be during their time here, and try to win a championship while preparing them for the possibility of playing in the NFL.
``AJ has great support from his family and the people around him. He showed very good maturity in looking at all of the factors and making an informed decision on his future.''
Alabama starts practicing for the championship game on Tuesday, Dec. 18.


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Kim and Cliff are doing some travelling to the Church History Sites and have been gone for the last two days. So yesterday, me and the boys did some travelling of our own. My sister Karie is visiting New York City for a few days so yesterday we went down to see her. Doug had some research to present in Brooklyn for the afternoon so it worked out perfectly. Here's a little re-cap of our trip: (for posterity.)
Woke up shortly after 6 a.m. with high hopes of catching an early train.
Realized that packing for one day is surprisingly hard and left late.
Drove for two hours listening to the following:
Can we listen to kid music? Can we listen to a different c.d.? What's happening? Can we skip this part? This is boring! I wish I could go to school today. I don't want to miss school. I'm tired! I don't want to take a nap! I'm not tired! I don't want to rest! I'm hungry. Can I have a snack? Why can't I talk? Why do I have to look out the window? Why are we going to New York? Why is Aunt Karie going to be there? Did you bring anything for me to do? I'm bored! RRRRRRRRROOOOOOAAAAARRRRRR!!!!! (Max)
AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!(terrified Sam)
Are we late? Are we going to miss the train? Why are we going on a train? Is that the train? Where is the train? Are we there yet?
Repeat ad nauseum.
9:20 a.m. Arrive in New Haven, Connecticut to catch the commuter train to New York City. Thoughts of comfy seating and dining cars flit through my head.
9:30 a.m. Board commuter train which is very similar to the subway. Dining Car dreams vanish.
9:33 a.m. Boys are excited to be on a train.
9:40 a.m. Boys are sick of the train. Except for Gabe who is really wants to explore the filthy floor.
9:46 a.m. Loud yammering starts again all while boys either stand, sit, fall, crawl, claw, punch, push, and/or pull.
9:47 a.m. Think wistfully of minivans with child restraints.9:50 a.m. Someone steps on Gabey's head while we're trying to change a poopy diaper. Screaming ensues.
9:51 a.m. While comforting Gabey, we realize his shirt is already soaked with drool and we forgot to bring a bib or spare shirt. In addition, his shirt smells like mildew and it's getting worse the wetter he gets.
10 a.m. Doug falls asleep in self defense.
10 a.m. Emily pokes herself in the eye just for something fun to do.
--I've blanked-out the rest of the train trip.--
11:20 a.m. Arrive in Grand Central Station where we meet up with my sister Karie and her friend Lori. With two youngest boys in the double stroller, I threaten Max's life a few times, and send Doug off to his Research Thingamajig.
Lori is in town for some business and, while in town, has been invited to meet Glenn Beck and attend a taping of his CNN News Program. Karie is tagging along just for fun. (The injustice of this whole situation is, Karie has just come to know and love Glenn Beck recently. I've loved him for Much MUCH longer and listen to his radio show at least bi-weekly if the kids aren't demanding my attention.) Emily is EXTREMELY JEALOUS.
After hanging with Karie and Lori for awhile, they leave to go meet Glenn Beck. (Still jealous!!!)
The rest of the day is filled with an EXTENSIVE amount of walking, stroller pushing, and child scolding...but I'm going to have to get to that tomorrow. I know most of you have just been skimming for the last 12 paragraphs anyway. (You miss good stuff that way, ya know!)
Part 2 tomorrow!
***It should be noted here that taking the train DOES have several advantages! The avoidance of hazardous driving conditions and the problem of parking in "The City" are two of the largest. And for those two reasons alone, I'd probably do it again!***


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Fair Trade Certified Sales Up 30 Percent in Grocery Stores
Fair Trade USA Releases Sales Data from SPINS at Natural Products Expo East, Announces New Products and New Partners During National Fair Trade Awareness Month and Honest Tea Converts All Iced Teas to Fair Trade Certified
Oct 14, 2010, 08:00 ET
OAKLAND, Calif., Oct. 14 /PRNewswire/ -- Fair Trade USA, the leading third-party certifier of Fair Trade products in the United States, celebrates National Fair Trade Awareness Month with a multitude of news announcements from household brand names to coincide with the Natural Products Expo East in Boston.
Fair Trade has generated significant momentum during 2010 in the United States. Ben & Jerry's and Green & Black's kicked-off the year by announcing they would convert 100 percent of their products to Fair Trade Certified™ ingredients; Green Mountain Coffee converted two of its top iconic blends—Our Blend and Vermont Country Blend—to Fair Trade; certified coffee imports were up 25 percent and 47 percent of all imports were also organic; Fair Trade cooperative CECOVASA was awarded the People's Choice Award at the Specialty Coffee Association of America's Cupping Competition; and the Fair Trade Towns USA campaign increased the number of official Fair Trade Towns from 13 to 20, including Boston.
And now SPINS, the first company to offer Natural Products sales data to the industry, has issued a report that builds on that strong foundation. SPINS reports that sales of Fair Trade Certified™ products at grocery stores grew by 30 percent this year, to $140 million, lead by growth in packaged coffee (44 percent), and ready-to-drink tea and coffees (51 percent).(1) Other notable double-digit contributors include the refrigerated juices & functional beverages category that was introduced in 2009 (98 percent), carbonated beverages (38 percent), chocolate candy (29 percent), and shelf stable functional beverages (10 percent). Frozen desserts are up eight percent and teas are up four percent, with cocoa and hot chocolate as the only category to experience a decline, down eight percent.
This is yet more proof that even in tough economic times, consumers care. In 2009, the BBMG Conscious Consumer Report stated that three-fourths of consumers (77 percent) believe they can make a difference by buying products from socially and environmentally responsible companies, and two-thirds agreed that even in tough economic times it's important to buy products with social and environmental benefits (4 point scale). And over half (51 percent) agreed that they are willing to pay more.
Additionally, just in time for Natural Products Expo East, Fair Trade USA is proud to announce:
What's New(s)
- Honest Tea announced today that it is committed to expanding its Fair Trade Certified™ offerings to include its entire tea portfolio. In 2003, Honest Tea launched the first Fair Trade Certified™ bottled tea in the U.S. with its introduction of Peach Oo-la-long. Since then, the company has continued to increase its Fair Trade offerings. Over the past three years, Honest Tea expanded from seven to 19 varieties. With this new initiative, all 27 of its teas will be transitioned to Fair Trade Certified™ starting in December 2010. The company expects the transition to be completed by the end of the first quarter of 2011.
New Partners Featuring Fair Trade Certified Products
- Twinings continues its tradition of quality by offering a new line of fully Organic and Fair Trade Certified teas, hand-selected from the world's finest tea gardens. Made without any artificial ingredients, Twinings Organic and Fair Trade Certified teas provide a natural and wholesome tea experience. Available in a variety of Blacks, Greens and Herbals.
- Tea Forte invites consumers to get in mint condition with launch of Fair Trade Certified MINTEAS, organic, functional tea mints for daily well-being. Delicious and refreshing Cacao Mate for energy, Ginger Pear with gingko for focus, Lemongrass Yuzu for relaxation, Lime Mojito for wellness and Matcha Chai for fitness. A convenient way for today's on the go consumer to embrace a life of health and wellness.
Well-Known Brands Expand Fair Trade Offerings
- Ben & Jerry's and Green & Black's kicked-off the year by announcing they would convert 100 percent of their products to Fair Trade Certified ingredients;
- Green Mountain Coffee converted two of its top iconic blends—Our Blend and Vermont Country Blend—to Fair Trade;
- Choice Organic Teas, the first exclusively organic tea crafter in the United States and the first in the country to introduce Fair Trade Certified™ teas, has been selected to carry the Jane Goodall "Good For All" brand, featuring the name and image of Dr. Jane Goodall, DBE, with its new product line extension. Oothu Garden Green, Wild Forest Black, Decaffeinated English Breakfast, Rooibos Superfruit, and Yerba Mate Mint form an exceptional collection of flavorful teas.
- Frontier Natural Products Co-op™ introduces Simply Organic® Gluten-free Brownie mix. It's all natural and built around great-tasting Fair Trade Certified™ organic cocoa.
- Glory Bee Foods introduces Fair Trade, organic honey available in 12 oz squeeze bears or raw packed in 18 oz glass jars.
- Whole Foods Markets adds six ready-to-drink, Fair Trade Certified 365 Everyday Value® teas.
Additionally, Maggie's Organics has been working with Fair Trade USA to pilot a program that extends the protections and benefits of Fair Trade certification from the farm and into the factory. We anticipate that Maggie's Organics will soon join Tompkins Point Apparel and Hae Now as the first-ever brands to sell Fair Trade Certified apparel. With this new label, consumers are able to vote with their dollars to support cotton farmers around the world and say no to sweatshops.
In 2009, consumer and industry purchases generated more than $48 million in additional income and funding for education, health care, clean water and other vital social services to support the more than 1.2 million people in Fair Trade farming communities around the world.
SPINS (www.spins.com) is the first company to offer Natural Products sales data to the industry. Established in 1995, SPINS is now the premier provider of industry reporting and consulting services for this rapidly expanding sector. SPINS' comprehensive offering includes retail measurement services, content-based reporting, consumer information and consulting services.
Fair Trade USA (previously TransFair USA), a nonprofit organization, is the leading third-party certifier of Fair Trade products in the United States. Fair Trade USA audits and certifies transactions between U.S. companies and their international suppliers to guarantee that the farmers and workers producing Fair Trade Certified goods were paid fair prices and wages, work in safe conditions, protect the environment, and receive community development funds to empower and uplift their communities. Fair Trade USA educates consumers, brings new manufacturers and retailers into the Fair Trade system, and provides farming communities with tools, training and resources to thrive as international businesspeople. Visit http://www.fairtradeusa.org for more information.
Editors Notes:
- Data for 52 weeks ending Sept 4, 2010; growth rates are over the prior 52 weeks
- Data includes all food, drug, mass merchandisers and natural food stores; excludes Walmart, Whole Foods Markets and private labels
- The majority of Fair Trade Certified product sales come from coffee sold brewed, private label, Walmart and Whole Food Markets.
(1) This data is for the 52 weeks ending Sept 4, 2010; growth rates are over the prior 52 weeks
Media Contact: Stacy Geagan Wagner, Fair Trade USA
510-663-5260 /
Interviews available at Natural Products Expo East
SOURCE Fair Trade USA


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You are visiting the United Kingdom site. You might be interested in the Sverige site.
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Vacant city lot with some space on it perhaps for a shop or put a roof over your head. If your looking for an investment then this could be for you. Buyer to verify all.
|New Value: $15,000
|New Value: $15,000
This property search is part of the Coldwell Banker Evergreen Olympic Realty, Inc. website. Listing information is courtesy of the WA-NWMLS and Coldwell Banker Evergreen Olympic Realty, Inc.. Property information is based on available data that may include MLS information, county records, and other sources. Listings marked with this symbol: provided by Northwest Multiple Listing Service, 2020. All information provided is deemed reliable but is not guaranteed and should be independently verified. Properties subject to prior sale or rental Information has not been verified by agent and should be verified by buyer.


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Diamond Hogs Eliminated In NCAA Regional
Season ends with loss to Kansas State
A season that began with a no. 1 ranking in the nation and expectations for a national championship run came to an end Sunday night, and short of the desired goal.
The Arkansas baseball team (39-22) was eliminated from the NCAA Tournament with a 4-3 loss to host Kansas State in the final of the Manhattan Regional.
Brian Anderson, the Razorbacks' top hitter during the regular season, led them with a 1-for-2 night with two walks and two RBI.
Arkansas jumped out to an early lead in the first inning with three consecutive hits: Joe Serrano led off with a single, followed by a double to right field by Dominic Ficociello. Anderson drove them both in with a single to right to give the Razorbacks a 2-0 lead.
Three batters later, after a wild pitch advanced Anderson to third, Matt Vinson bounced a single through the ride side for a run to make it 3-0. But the first inning was where Arkansas' scoring would begin and end.
Kansas State answered on an RBI single by Blair DeBord in the fourth inning to score Austin Fisher.
Two batters later, pinch-hitter Mitch Meyer hit a high fly ball to right center that Tyler Spoon caught on a diving play with the bases. It brought in a run and was scored as a sacrifice fly, but the play kept Arkansas ahead, 3-2.
Sophomore reliever Jalen Beeks came into the game for Arkansas in the seventh after Michael Gunn walked the first two batters he faced in the inning. After a sacrifice bunt moved both runners ahead, Beeks threw two wild pitches, allowing both runs to score and give Kansas State the lead.
Despite the loss, Arkansas had two players named to the regional all-tournament team: Spoon and pitcher Ryne Stanek. Spoon finished the regional batting 5-for-17 (.294) with four RBI and two runs scored. Stanek pitched 7.1 innings, allowing only one run on two hits in a 3-1 win that eliminated Wichita State on Saturday.


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As UFC middleweights Cung Le and Rich Franklin were getting set up inside the octagon early Sunday morning in Macau (mid Saturday morning in the U.S.), FUEL TV play-by-play man Jon Anik noted that, at 40 and 38 years old respectively, both were "on the back end of their primes."
In case you couldn't tell, that's a polite way of saying they're old. It's kind of like calling a fighter "well-traveled" or saying he's "a grizzled veteran."
It's not fooling anyone, but it sounds nice.
As Le proved with one solid right hand on Franklin's jaw in the UFC on FUEL TV 6 main event in Macau, old fighters can still get a taste of glory every now and then. Maybe they're even uniquely capable of savoring it for what it is. Unlike the young up-and-comers who are sure that the pot of gold is just around the next corner, the elder statesmen of this sport are trying to slow time down rather than speed it up. They're not trying to make stuff happen so much as they're trying to make it last.
Le chalked his victory up to a "lucky punch," and he was half-right. He was lucky that Franklin stuck his chin straight up in the air after a low kick, just waiting for a counter right hand to find its way home. Le didn't need a second invitation. For all his kicking brilliance, it was a simple looping punch that sent Franklin flopping face-first into the mat midway through the first round. It was one of those knockouts in which you can't tell if the losing fighter suffered more trauma from the initial blow or from the collision with the floor.
In a post-fight interview, Le called it "the biggest fight of my life," which seems about right. His drubbing of Frank Shamrock resulted in more material for his highlight reel, but here he beat a respected former champ in the main event of the UFC's debut in China, and at a time when his MMA career was starting to look like it could go either way. Now he's 2-1 since coming to the UFC, and can pretty much call his own shots with regards to his next move. You know, within reason.
For instance, Le's not going to fight for a UFC title any time soon. And since the UFC has yet to match him up against any opponent who's south of 30, he's probably not going to square off against one of the young hot shots of the middleweight division. So where does that leave him? Probably right about where he already is, facing off against other fighters who are on "the back end" of their primes, and getting paid pretty well to do it. That's justifiable – since why wouldn't you want to see Le fight? We already knew he could flick out kicks the way other people throw jabs, and now we know he can hit for power too. So what if he's 40? As long as he gets to compete in the UFC's version of a seniors tour, he's still plenty competitive.
But there are always those mixed feelings about seeing two, shall we say, distinguished fighters duke it out. On one hand, it's better than using them as puppy chow to feed to some hard-charging 25-year-old. On the other hand, we can look at where they are in their careers and tell that some things have passed them by. Winning starts to seem like treading water: You're not exactly improving your position, but it's better than the alternative.
I realize that sounds depressing, but it's not. It's actually one of the better-case scenarios. At least Le is the type of fighter who can really still do it at 40, as opposed to the type who just keeps telling himself and others that he can. Then you always wonder whom he's really trying to convince.
On the flip side of the coin, there's Franklin. He's closing in on 40 and has been doing the win one/lose one tango for the last several years. Guaranteed, here's where some people will tell him to call it a career. That train always rolls into the station right on time.
He could quit if he wanted to, and no one would think any less of him. Even if he trudges on, he has to know that he can only delay that retirement party for so long. But then, you think he wants to go out like this? You think he wants our last memory of him to be one where he's facedown on the canvas? No way. And besides, he just got caught. Who's to say he can't come back and catch somebody else? Who's to say he can't get that taste of victory on his tongue one more time before it's over? Plus, there's always the money, which doesn't hurt either.
Maybe the best way to approach these things in the twilight of your career is to do it like Le, who seems almost physically incapable of planning for the future. When asked at the post-fight press conference where this victory leaves him, he replied simply: "With a win. I don't know, but definitely it's going to lead to some large pizzas."
See what I mean? When you know time's running out whether you like it or not, limiting your future plans to the very next meal might be the smartest thing you can do.
For complete coverage of UFC on FUEL TV 6, stay tuned to the UFC Events section of the site.
(Pictured: Rich Franklin and Cung Le)


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Corruption Around the World : Causes, Consequences, Scope, and Cures »
Journal Issue
Volume/Issue: 1998/63
Series: IMF Working Papers
Author(s): Vito Tanzi
Publisher: INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND
Publication Date: 01 May 1998
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5089/9781451848397.001
Keywords: role of state, regulations, bribes, wages, salaries, wage, bribe
Corruption is attracting a lot of attention around the world. The paper surveys and discusses issues related to the causes, consequences, and scope of corruption and possible corrective actions. It emphasizes the c...


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Now showing items 1-1 of 1
A Survey of Medicinal Plants Used by Kavirajes of Barisal Town in Barisal District, Bangladesh
(The American-Eurasian Network for Scientific Information (AENSI), 2010)
A substantial section of the population of Bangladesh is poor and more than a third of the total population of 150 million people lives below the poverty line (i.e. having a daily income of less than US$ 1 per day). The ...


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1 campsite nearby of Faissault
Main destinations of Ardennes
- Monthermé
- Vireux-Molhain
- Thilay
- Signy-le-Petit
- Sedan
- Revin
- Rancennes
- Neuville-Day
- Matton-et-Clémency
- Les Mazures
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In this topic, I'll be presenting information on my telemetry dashboard and airborne hub projects.
These are designed to use the FrSky 2-way module/receiver system (due out this month) and will allow you to monitor such things as your model's speed, altitude, distance, heading, rate of climb/sink, receiver battery voltage, e-power battery voltage etc.
I'm using PIC processors because they're cheap and can be had for free (all you have to do is ask Microchip for sample units), plus there's a free C compiler and workframe (MPLab) available for download from the microchip website.
The transmitter-end is where the dashboard goes. Right now, my prototype system needs less than 20 components (including the LCD).
The receiver end is where the "hub" goes. This is also based on a PIC processor and allows the connection of a large number of sensors and other devices if you need to. Initially, I'll just be using a simple GPS module which will provide almost all the information required. Shortly I'll replace the current GPS module with one that has a helical antenna and that should provide much better results in aerobatic aircraft where the orientation of the model may be far from level most of the time.
Rather than use the analog inputs that FrSky provide, I'm going to use the processor in the hub to measure the battery voltages (which means you'll be able to get a voltage for each cell of a multi-cell LiPo if you want). Using this method, I'm also able to provide a good measure of data compression and pre-processing so as not to overload the limited bandwidth of the telemetry downlink channel.
Other sensors planned are a pitot-based airspeed sensor, a barometric altitude/variometer sensor, a tachometer and a G-sensor.
Although this system is designed primarily for the FrSky, it is flexible enough that it will also be adaptable to work with other telemetry-enabled RC systems if/when they appear. If there's enough demand I might even reverse-engineer the Hitec one too.
I will be publishing full project pages on the RCModelReviews website but this part of the forum will be used to keep people updated with any day-to-day progress and to answer any questions you might have.
Any questions?


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Resurfacing Stamped concrete.
Published by the concrete professor
Concrete repairs by The Concrete Professor are for those looking to repair their existing Stamped or Colored concrete to look new again. We have multiple ways to correct problems that others have told you can't be done. I have been in the Decorative concrete business for over 35 years and recently realize that my extensive information about proper repairing of existing concrete is immense. Call today to speak to me where ever you are in this country or outside of the US. I will direct you to the proper person and approach. Ted Mechnick 732-915-6391 View more posts


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For those who worry about infidelity, there is good news to be found in the MSNBC.com/iVillage Lust, Love & Loyalty survey. Bed hopping is not as common as we think, and a big reason why more people aren't wandering is that we love our boyfriends, girlfriends, spouses.
But no matter how loving and well-intentioned we are, some people do stray — 22 percent of survey takers in monogamous relationships say they've cheated on their current partner.
The survey backs up earlier research that shows, despite a persistent belief that many more people are cheating, the infidelity rate usually hovers around 25 percent over the course of a relationship, says Adrian Blow, a marriage and family therapist and assistant professor at Michigan State University.
The survey also shows there is no one type of cheater. Young or old, married or living together, kids or no kids, assorted relationships show similar rates of infidelity. In that sense, "everyone is vulnerable," Blow says.
Why even a strong marriage might be susceptible is partly illustrated by another of the survey's results. People do not tend to cheat with strangers. By far, most paramours are found among the ranks of friends and co-workers.
"If someone has a great marriage, but some hot opportunity comes along, like a colleague you are attracted to, you can be vulnerable," Blow says.
Infidelity, to borrow cop talk, is often a crime of opportunity.
But why, after months or years or even a lifetime of faithfulness, does anybody take the opportunity? And is there anything we can do immunize our relationships against wandering?
The obvious answer to the first question is sex. Men and women both cited a strong physical attraction, and men especially cited a craving for more sex and sexual variation, as reasons for straying. And while most people — 70 percent — say cheating is never OK, of those who felt it could be justified, the top rationale picked was a partner losing interest in sex (18 percent).
But "sex" is complicated.
Research into why people seek sex outside their committed relationships has been going on for decades, but experts still don't think they can say much of anything with certainty.
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Battling biology?
University of Washington sociologist Pepper Schwartz, author of "Prime: Adventures and Advice About Sex and Love in the Sensuous Years," thinks the very idea of monogamy explains why some stray. Biologically speaking, she says, human beings aren't built for it.
"I think what most of us say is, 'I want to make myself precious to someone. I do not want to lose him or her. I do not want to fight. I want to follow my religious teachings.' But these are cultural, religious or practical reasons for being monogamous, not biological," she says.
When we fight biology, we often fail to live up to our own ideals. "It's like how people say, 'I am always on a diet, so why I am still so fat?'" Schwartz says.
Our ideals can be pretty strict when it comes to fidelity. Majorities of both men and women consider sending a sexually flirtatious e-mail cheating. And 21 percent of women say even sexually fantasizing counts as cheating; only 12 percent of men agree with that.
This variation, these differing standards of what cheating is, is why Dr. Stephen Levine, co-director of the Center for Marital and Sexual Health in Beachwood, Ohio, and author of "Demystifying Love: Plain Talk for the Mental Health Professional," wishes we would drop words like "cheating" and "infidelity" altogether. He believes they are so pejorative, they prevent our society from addressing the issue in realistic terms. "The trouble is the public, and especially political discussion, that puts everything in black and white, right and wrong and alienates everybody, keeps everybody silent." So human motivation is rarely addressed because cheating is just "wrong," period.
Beyond sex
Whether we are biologically predisposed toward monogamy or not, many people never go outside their relationship for sex. Why not? Well, experts believe that sex is often a secondary consideration. How can that be when so many cited it in the survey?
Men and women both have emotional needs for intimacy, mental connection and esteem. For many, sex is the currency used to purchase these. Often, we want to know we could have sex with somebody outside our relationship more than we want the actual sex. We want to feel wanted and important. And somebody must really want us if they're willing to sex up a married person.
If we already have those feelings of being wanted and needed and desired, we are less apt to seek them elsewhere even if we lust for sex. As Schwartz points out, if it really were just sexual release men were after they could always hire a prostitute or try a casual hookup, but most men don't.
Of course, some men — and women, too — can be so ego driven or immature they need constant affirmation of their desirability, no matter what. But all people crave a sense of freedom to be themselves in their relationships, to be fully open to another person, to be accepted.
Levine believes that over the course of a life, people change, as do our circumstances. There is no other relationship — not with friends, business associates, or even our children — in which we are expected to live with one other person for years, perhaps for the rest of our lives, and not only be able to get along, but to remain intimate with only that person, no matter what life brings us. The entire enterprise is fraught with possible failure.
But our desires and the fact of change may themselves hold the keys for success. They can be opportunities for deeper intimacy.
A woman who never fantasized about the UPS guy may suddenly develop an interest in brown shirts and shorts, but be afraid to express this new tick for fear of raising questions in her lover's mind. Being able to tell her lover opens a door onto a new way to play.
Blow believes such openness is vital. For example, he says, some couples may enjoy using porn together or separately, and the survey indicates that a minority believe using porn separately constitutes cheating. Where things get sticky is when porn use is kept secret, Blow says. "The harmful thing is secrecy."
He isn't referring just to secrets about having sex with another person or using porn, but all kinds of secrets. We tend to accumulate secrets during a relationship. We hide our distaste for a partner's clothes, their family, the way they behave at parties, the fact they've gained so much weight, or that we would really like to chuck our secure job and live on a boat. We are afraid of hurting a loved one, or just don't want an argument. So things fester and space is driven between lovers.
Work with me, baby
"Take fantasies," Blow offers. "A guy worries 'Oh my wife might judge me, shame me, I have to keep this part of me inside. I must hide from her' instead of saying 'I am having this fantasy, work with me on it.'"
When we feel we have closed off part of ourselves, our need for intimacy can lead us to open it to another. A truly intimate relationship in which such sharing is accepted can move toward greater levels of intimacy, Blow says. "I think when you hide things, cannot talk about things, in relationships where lots of things are off the table, people become ripe for plucking."
Nothing is foolproof, of course, but being willing to defy the social, personal, or religious views we carry into a romantic relationship, by understanding how idealized — and therefore unrealistic — love and marriage have become in popular culture, it's possible to let go of secrets "and create familiarity and intimacy and trust in an otherwise sex phobic society," Schwartz says.
We all have fantasy lives. But couples who create taboos around those fantasies, she says, leave "no room for your psyche, and you might get it elsewhere."
You're likely to stay monogamous, she continues, "if you have a very hot relationship, with lots of friendship, if you turn each other on, go away for weekends, watch erotic movies, call her at work and say 'If you come home for lunch, I'll make it worth your while."
Brian Alexander, a California-based freelance writer, MSNBC.com Sexploration columnist and Glamour contributing editor is working on a new book about sex for Harmony, an imprint of Crown Publishing.
© 2013 msnbc.com


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Jimmy Kimmel Claims He's Behind 'Twerk Fail'
Talk show host Jimmy Kimmel says he filmed the "Worst Twerk Fail EVER – Girl Catches Fire" video with a stunt woman about two months ago as a prank. Jonathan Welsh joins the News Hub to discuss.
This transcript has been automatically generated and may not be 100% accurate.
... the the ... Ch Ch Ch Ch ... the ... the the the the the the ... the video and a young woman attempting a handstand version of ... working on it went viral on YouTube last week when not millions of use and any national media attention ... turns out like much meaning to beat him all the time the stands and that's the last ... last last ... cycle ... the the the the ... I ... I ... joining me now is Wall Street Journal ... reported The Wall ... then ... it's it's pretty it's pretty good right ... through to the videotape mess that mean that it agreed to meet the ball ... doing that aam ... is ... he's very funny I'd I'd I just didn't have the likable to ... insistence on pushing the boundaries ... I think it is he here you know ... late night TV is the credit market now and Kimmel is it a miss label is being ... the route for for the younger audience doing things a little bit out there ... um when when people bought the great history as the lead anyone to walk the ... comedian it gets to keep them doing yourself in this is just someone places like the thing is none of them accidently kills preferred term I've somethings Collender rows and turns that is all pretty mild because that was done by a stunt person under ... I assume the fire marshal standing nearby ... presumably some some heat heat protection underneath those I mean it's a lot alike and ... aam you think this is gonna be that the new wave of late night comedy so this response on the sums up we won't know quite what's going on and so of Atlanta I do I think so because ... you know there's ... there's this changing of the guard going on in in you ... Jimmy Fallon ... reading in the wings can ... that worked for coming coming on now and ... you know the arguments he's trying to establish an identity on TV sort of white ... unit agreed to pass the course in the land was then ... I'm ... Kimmel it is seen as being ... ahead of the team he has a personality on one screen I think people most expect this kind of prank from him now ... someone was designed by now but comedy is that as as it changes obviously goes through three cycles ... this is a low point last week that pushed them gets pushed too far off ... lands and people get upset and and you sleep you wanna get loose Madoff summing every time unless I write this happens right ... so what you think giving someone goes to fall soon I'm just as you know and until something that is considered distasteful although it maybe wasn't intended to pay ... I mean it's down to happen but I really had trouble imagining what that might be because of all those the people seem to been stung by ... miners out in the pub after we ... went to the site with it when we saw in this in the sixties aam we we Sorrell as the obscenity trials of of of a comedy ... which which were funny and that retains the place of a two-week Derica Masonic some of weight loss tips on ethos don't read to them the mall ... but it to be you know that the sackings alright ... well it's it's it's hard to stay with the kids is now in a revered but you know when you go over Lenny Bruce or were Richard Pryor you know Eddie Murphy or ... is that depending on him pick a decade ... I'm ... it's it's it's hard to say that he's gonna have to ... outdo him self next time because you know ... a little bit of pyrotechnics with deception thrown in the home probably won't cut it next time so ... will ... will see I it's it's it's hard to imagine but ... you know with with the state of the reality TV ... being with this I think ... late night TV is like catching up to do this on the onthe outreach scale ... you know ... come to think what catching up on the country's eighty two nd Jimmy Swatch and he's been on a demo model ... this does Eric the yes J live maybe hell


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Heidi Klum along with husband Seal strolling through Central Park with their four kids Leni, 6, Henry, 4 1/2, Johan, 3 1/2, and Lou, 8 months in Manhattan, New York City Sunday (June 20).
Adam Sandler at Twin Castle Hamburgers with his wife Jackie and their two daughters -Sadie, 4, and Sunny, 19 months in North Hollywood, CA on Saturday (June 19).
Actor Sean Penn drops his kids, Dylan and Hopper off at Miami International Airport after they spent Father's Day together.
Posted by Alisa / Labels: Katie Holmes and Tom Cruise / Comments: (0)
Actress Katie Holmes her 2 daughter Suri and stepdaughter Isabella Cruise were spotted in New York City yesterday (June 21). The girls father is Actor Tom Cruise, Kate has another step child Connor. Connor and Isabella's mom is Actress Nicole Kidman.
Actress Salma Hayek and her cute as can be daughter Valentina out and about in New York on Sunday (June 20).


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(CBS News) NEW YORK - Police have turned up possible new evidence in the Etan Patz case.
Investigators searched the home of Pedro Hernandez, who confessed to killing 6-year-old Etan in 1979.
Police say they found a toy and children's clothing that appear to be from the same time as the boy disappeared.
Among the items were a couple of clothing items, specifically a pair of black pants, apparently short pants, and a Matchbox toy, a Matchbox vehicle, one of those little cars that kids collect.
Police went in with a search warrant to seize computers, looking for digital media, any writings -- whether Hernandez had written about the case or his confession or anything else. And when they came across these children's clothes -- there's no little kids who live in that house, so that struck them as unusual, and they actually kind of stopped what they were doing and got the search warrant amended so that they could seize those items, as well. They went to the court and wanted to add children's clothing and toys to it and took them.
But there will be a process here where they have to document that evidence, photograph it and either show it in evidence bags or those photographs to the Patz family and say, 'Does this look familiar?" There's some debate right now as to whether the clothes might have been too big.
A delay of this length in getting a search warrant - Hernandez was arrested May 24 - is unusual. The normal procedure would be you arrest a person, you figure out where you need to search, you get your probable cause, you place officers there to get control of the premises so nobody can go in and remove anything, and then you execute your search warrant. So seeing it a couple of weeks later is a little unusual, but the probable cause that they went in with, again, was for computers and then they kind of stumbled into this and it took them by surprise.
It isn't unusual for a killer to keep personal items from a victim. If you talk to an FBI profiler, they would say one of the offender characteristics of serial killers, killers of small children, is to collect trophies. And that could be what (investigators) they were looking at the possibility of here.


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Posted 8 years ago
(30 items)
The restored phonographs at this dealer's booth were incredible - all in good working order. These instruments looked brand new, and unfortunately I didn't snap a pic of his fabulous collection of Nipper memorabilia and models (the RCA puppy).
Listening to an old wax cylinder on this gramophone instantly took me back to my childhood in the late '80s - the 1880s that is. :)


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How much for a print of the Nando one?
Forza Ferrari
Great drawings!! Love the F40..
Bravissimo przemson! I've just found this thread today and must congratulate you for your wonderfully skillful
and tasteful images. You have great talent and I hope you can make a go of it professionally and full-time
if that's your wish. I've always envied those with the gift for drawing and illustration and delight in all the
authentic detail and character in your work. Art? well art today is almost ANYTHING 'artists' say it is
and for many you have to take their word for it?! Your talent is undeniable and I wish you well in all your
professional endeavors.
Just superb!!!
My favourite the Porsche 917 Gulf!
Wow I have to admit, you are extremely gifted and talented. Keep up the good work, I love the attention to detail and just the style of all your artwork.
nice job.
any moto stuff?
Thank you
Another piece from the Racing Legends series:
Bruce McLaren
Hope you like the drawing..
Some new stuff.
The Ferrari 458 Italia and The Work in Progress image.
Hope you like it.
Fantastic, There incredible,
Racing is life and life is a risk - Michael schumacher
After 7-8 hours the second part of Ferrari drawing
458 Italia part II
Hope you like it.
Hi guys,
I've started a blog about my drawing couple months ago.
Please feel free to visit and comment my writeups.
It's just a begging so I hope my next posts will be more interesting:)
2013 McLaren MP4-12C
You can also chceck the W.I.P in my blog
Hope you liek it..
The car that you all well know
1967 Mustang Shelby Cobra GT500 Eleanor
Hope you like it..
What a dream!!!
Congratulations again, my friend!
This is ART!!!!!!!


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John Kerry is set to arrive in Israel on Monday evening. | Palestine Monitor
The armed wing of Hamas said it captured an Israeli soldier late Sunday, a claim the Israeli military has not confirmed. More than 500 Palestinians and 18 Israeli soldiers have been killed since Operation Protective Edge began two weeks ago.
The Al-Qassam Brigades, the military branch of Hamas declared that they captured Israeli soldier Shaul Aron on Sunday night. Israeli Ambassador to the UN Ron Prosor dismissed the statement, according to Al Jazeera.
The Al-Qassam brigades did not clarify whether the soldier was captured dead or alive. News of the kidnapping sparked celebrations across the West Bank, East-Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip, Ma'an News reported.
Gilad Shalit, an Israeli soldier, was held captive in Gaza during 2006-2011. Hamas brokered the release of more than 1,000 Palestinian prisoners in exchange for Shalit. At the moment over 5,000 Palestinians are kept in Israeli prisons.
By Monday evening, at least 50 Palestinians were killed as the Israel's Operation Protective Edge entered its 14th day, according to Ma'an News Agency.
The victims included three extended families. Five members of the al-Yaziji family were killed in strikes in the Gaza city. Eleven members of the Siyam family in Rafah were pulled out of the rubble after their house was destroyed in an airstrike. In the Khan Younis neighborhood, 16 members of the Abu Jami family died under Israeli bombing.
Hamas said its fighters destroyed an Israeli army jeep in retaliation for Israeli attacks on the Shujaiyeh neighborhood on Sunday.
Members of Al-Qassam brigades arrived to southern Israel through tunnels from the northern part of the Gaza Strip on Monday. Israeli forces reported they "killed more than ten terrorists".
Sunday became the bloodiest day so far, as more than 150 Palestinians were killed. Over 500 Palestinians have lost their lives since the beginning of Israel's operation in Gaza. The UN says majority of the victims are civilians.
At least 20 Israelis, mostly soldiers, have also died in the operation.
Over 83,000 people have sought shelter at UNRWA (United Nations Work and Relief Agency) schools in the Gaza Strip, according to the organization's spokesperson Chris Guinness. The amount of people seeking shelter has increased by 400% in the last four days. UNRWA has appealed for $60 million international aid for Gaza.
The number of people fleeing Israeli attacks in Gaza has surpassed the amount during Operation Cast Lead in 2008-2009, Electronic Intifada reports.
The UN Security Council called for an immediate cessation of hostilities in its meeting on Sunday. The UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon demanded Israel to "exercise maximum restraint".
The US President Barack Obama has raised concern of the increasing number of casualties on both sides.
US Secretary of State John Kerry traveled to Cairo on Monday to work on a ceasefire between the two parties. Haaretz reported that Kerry was coming to Israel later on Monday.
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Troncoso feeling good after heart scare
CHICAGO -- On the night the White Sox arrived in Minneapolis to start a seven-game road trip a little less than two weeks ago, Ramon Troncoso woke up two or three times with pains in his chest.
The White Sox veteran reliever didn't think much of it at the time.
"But then the second day, it was when the pain was getting worse," Troncoso said.
Troncoso was placed on the 15-day disabled list with Pericarditis, which is an inflammation of the tissue around the heart. It's a malady Troncoso had for the first time in 2010 with the Dodgers, so he kind of suspected the same condition when the pain began.
Then again, any pain around the heart causes pause for concern.
"I got confused. I was worried," Troncoso said. "I don't really exactly know it was Pericarditis again. It's the same symptoms of pain of somebody having a heart attack. It's really painful, and doctors said that they didn't really know what caused it."
Having rejoined the team this weekend, Troncoso hopes to pitch again this season for the White Sox.
"I'm going to start my physical activity Monday again," Troncoso said. "I'm going to start playing catch and see how it feels, and I'm going to have a plan to throw a bullpen and go back to the game."