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The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) plans to increase a number of broker-dealer fees this year and next in an effort to recoup a "significant loss" in revenue the BD regulator suffered in fiscal year 2011, Richard Ketchum, FINRA's chairman and CEO, told BDs on April 23.
A week before Ketchum's announcement, FINRA Board of Governors passed a number of rule proposals to increase several user-based fees, branch office and membership application fees, and the Trading Activity Fee.
Said Ketchum (left) in a letter to broker-dealers: "The broader economic downturn continues to affect trading volumes and industry revenues, which in turn has led to a decrease in FINRA's revenues and resulted in a significant loss for fiscal year 2011."
In light of this, Ketchum continued, "we have taken a hard look at spending across FINRA to be sure we are operating as effectively and efficiently as possible. This review has resulted in significant spending reductions of $36 million that were implemented as part of our 2012 budget. Cumulative savings from this effort will reach nearly $60 million by the end of 2013."
Despite this effort, he said, "the cost of meeting our regulatory mandate is still expected to outpace our revenues." With input from the Small Firm Advisory Board, Board of Governors and a new Board pricing working group, FINRA is proposing adjustments to a number of user-based fees, "all of which have remained static for more than five years—with many of them not being adjusted in the last 10 years," Ketchum said. The proposed user fee adjustments "offer the fairest approach to modernizing FINRA's revenue structure."
Changes are also being proposed to branch office and membership application fees. "These adjustments reflect the expansion of these programs and are necessary to keep pace with the cost of conducting branch exams and application reviews," he said.
In addition, FINRA is proposing to increase the Trading Activity Fee, "which we will adjust every six months (up or down), based on trading volumes," Ketchum told BDs.
A FINRA spokesperson told AdvisorOne that the pricing proposals, which must be approved by the Securities and Exchange Commission, will affect BDs of all sizes.
FINRA's 2012 Pricing Proposals Are as Follows:
Advertising Fees
For regular filings, increase the minimum fee from $100 to $125 per filing and maintain the fee of $10 per page over 10 pages. For expedited filings, increase the minimum fee from $500 to $600 per filing and increase the fee from $25 to $50 per page over 10 pages.
Corporate Financing Fees
Maintain the current fee of $500 plus a percentage of the proposed maximum aggregate offering price, increasing that percentage from 0.01 to 0.015 percent and raising the not-to-exceed cap from $75K to $225K.
New Membership Application Fees
Revise and implement a fee structure that is tiered based on the size of the firm with a premium for self-clearing firms recognizing the added layer of complexity. Such an approach would be consistent with the fee structure of other SROs to more closely reflect the level of effort required by FINRA staff to process. Proposed fees range from $7,500 to $55,000 depending on the size of the firm applying for membership.
Change in Membership Application Fee
Implement a tiered fee structure to recover incurred costs of regulatory staff. Create separate fees for distinct activities such as mergers, change in ownership, transfer of assets and material change in business to align fee with complexity of application review.
Trading Activity Fee
Adjust the Trading Activity Fee (TAF) rate structure from $0.000095 per share for each sale of a covered equity security (with a cap of $4.75 per trade) to $0.000119 (with a cap of $5.95 per trade). The proposed rate adjustment is designed to ensure proper funding of FINRA's regulatory program given the continued decline in share volume and is based on a 2011 rule filing that outlined the future process for establishing the TAF rate.
FINRA's 2013 Pricing Proposals Are as Follows:
Branch Office Assessment Fees
Restructure to establish a regressive tiered rate structure that recovers regulatory costs while continuing to maintain the one-branch-office-per-firm waiver.
Registration and Disclosure Fees
- Annual System Processing – increase from $30 to $45.
- Initial/Transfer/Non-Member Processing – increase from $85 to $100.
- Fingerprint Fee – increase from $13 to $30, and implement a 50 percent discount for electronic filings.
- Mass Transfers – eliminate current exceptions to the application of the mass transfer fee by implementing a charge for all types of mass transfers, including consolidation, merger or acquisition.
- Disclosure Review – increase from $95 to $110.
- Disclosure Review on Broker-Dealers – establish the disclosure review on BDs at the same rate as it is on individuals.
- Late Disclosure – increase from $95 to $100 for the first day late, and increase from $10 to $25 per subsequent day up to 60 days.


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DOJ Hires New Spokeswoman Who Worked for Anti-LGBTQ Hate Group
There's been another shuffled in Washington this week: This time, the U.S. Department of Justice hired a new spokesman, who previously worked for the Southern Poverty Law designed anti-LGBTQ hate group the Alliance Defending Freedom.
Kerri Kupec was named the director of the D.O.J.'s Office of Public Affairs, The Daily Beast reports. She's replacing Sarah Isgur Flores, who moved to Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein's office, sources told the newspaper.
While at the Alliance Defending Freedom, Kupec was in charge of East Coast and Supreme Court media operations. According to The Daily Beast, she "spent some time at the White House helping with Justice Brett Kavanaugh's confirmations to the Supreme Court."
Here's what the SPLC says about the Alliance Defending Freedom:
Founded by some 30 leaders of the Christian Right, the Alliance Defending Freedom is a legal advocacy and training group that has supported the recriminalization of homosexuality in the U.S. and criminalization abroad; has defended state-sanctioned sterilization of trans people abroad; has linked homosexuality to pedophilia and claims that a "homosexual agenda" will destroy Christianity and society. ADF also works to develop "religious liberty" legislation and case law that will allow the denial of goods and services to LGBT people on the basis of religion. Since the election of President Donald Trump, the ADF has become one of the most influential groups informing the administration's attack on LGBT rights working with an ally in Attorney General Jeff Sessions.
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- Beachbody® Restaurant Rescue: Greek Edition
- Put Some Flair in Your Derriére!
- Cammie Lusk Wins $1,000 with P90X® and Shakeology®
- Climbing Michi's Ladder: Arugula
- Test Your International Cuisine IQ!
You are about to have your first experience with a Greek
lunch. I will kill you if you pretend to like it.
Beachbody® Restaurant Rescue: Greek EditionBy Stephanie S. Saunders
Greek cuisine is generally simple, nutritious, and savory, combining the influences of many cultures into a melting pot of flavor. Yes, you read it right. This week, we're actually discussing a healthy international cuisine—healthy, because it uses a wide array of fruits, nuts, grains, legumes, cheeses, and vegetables, with a huge emphasis on heart-healthy olive oil. Seafood is also a huge staple of Greek eating, as are lamb, goat, chicken, and beef.
Greece is the one country in the world where McDonald's® did not prove to be a success. So how is it possible that Greece is ranked number six in the world in obesity? Some would attribute it to the increased affluence of the Greek people, which means more refined sugar, late-night eating, and greater affordability of meat. With a bit of research, you might also discover that there are some aspects of a Greek menu which might be better left unordered. Baklava, anyone? So to help you figure it out, here is our latest installment of Beachbody Restaurant Rescue, the Greek Edition.
Much of what we think of as Greek food in this country would fall into the appetizer category. What is fascinating is that many of these dishes are the direct result of various invaders' seemingly constant occupation of Greece over the centuries. Some of these dishes are also found in Italian, Turkish, and Middle Eastern cuisines. Hummus, which can be found in virtually every grocery store in America, is completely Middle Eastern, regardless of what your local Greek restaurateur might tell you. Regardless of their origin, Greek appetizers are full of flavor and could comprise an entire meal's worth of calories, as they're usually eaten with bread.
For those unfamiliar with Greek cuisine, hummus is ground chickpeas and tahini sauce; tzatziki is Greek yogurt and cucumbers; dolmades are stuffed grape leaves; olive tapenade is puréed olives and spices; baked feta cheese is exactly as it sounds; and chickpea balls or falafel are fried balls of ground chickpeas and spices. Like I said, simple and nutritious.
|Hummus, 1/2 cup
|11 grams
|25 grams
|291 milligrams
|6 grams
|Tzatziki, 2 Tbsp.
|2.5 grams
|2 grams
|25 milligrams
|2 grams
|Dolmades, 3 rolls
|5 grams
|13 grams
|167 milligrams
|26 grams
|Olive tapenade, 2 Tbsp.
|8 grams
|2 grams
|260 milligrams
|1 gram
|Baked feta cheese, 2 oz.
|15 grams
|176 milligrams
|4.1 grams
|Falafel, 4 balls
|9 grams
|21 grams
|380 milligrams
|5 grams
Like all cultures, Greece has a huge array of soups to choose from. Some are even believed to have medicinal qualities. Like Mexican cuisine, Greek cuisine has a tripe soup called patsa, which is believed to cure a common cold or a hangover, and is good for the blood, whatever that means. I still believe anything made of sheep, goat, or lamb intestines that smells like a garbage dump can't be good for you. Luckily, there are other healthy, more appealing choices. Domatosoupa is a tomato-based soup with vegetables. Kotosoupa Avgolemono is a soup with eggs, rice, chicken, and vegetables. Lentil soup is pureed lentils, in a vegetable base.
|Domatosoupa, 5 oz.
|4 grams
|16 grams
|290 milligrams
|6 grams
|Chicken and lemon soup, 5 oz.
|6 grams
|17 grams
|435 milligrams
|19 grams
|Avgolemono, 5 oz.
|4 grams
|16 grams
|200 milligrams
|9 grams
|Lentil soup, 5 oz.
|3 grams
|39 grams
|507 milligrams
|17 grams
|Patsa, 5 oz.
|6 grams
|7 grams
|221 milligrams
|14 grams
In Greece, salad making is an art form, with specific salads eaten at certain times of the year, always with seasonal produce. The Greeks also love their tomatoes, and you will find them in most salads and in many Greek dishes. As always, a salad is a fairly safe dinner starter, and Greek salads are full of pretty great stuff. A traditional Greek salad in this country consists of lettuce, tomato, onions, feta cheese, and olives. A Macedonian salad is eggplant, cabbage, peppers, carrots, and celery. The other two salads below are self-explanatory. Greek salads tend to be lightly dressed in lemon, spices, and olive oil.
|Greek salad, 7 oz.
|11 grams
|10 grams
|652 milligrams
|9 grams
|Macedonian salad, 6 oz.
|6 grams
|18 grams
|70 milligrams
|2.9 grams
|Cabbage and carrot salad, 4 oz.
|4 grams
|10 grams
|15 milligrams
|Beetroot salad, 4 oz.
|4 grams
|10 grams
|2 milligrams
|0.5 gram
Main Course
Greeks have no fear of eating meat, with special emphasis on lamb and seafood. You can find meat prepared in a variety of ways, from baked dishes combining several different meats, to entire lambs being roasted on a spit, to deep-fried seafood drenched in lemon juice. Regardless of your preference, try to consider using meat as the ancients did, as more of an accent to grains, vegetables, and cheeses. Should you be feeling particularly carnivorous, perhaps focusing on seafood and lean grilled meats and avoiding crispy pork and all things fried will save you hours on a treadmill.
Moussaka is ground lamb, eggplant, pasta, and a sauce, served in layers similar to lasagna. Lamb souvlaki is grilled lamb, marinated and served on a kabob. Chicken Athenian is a baked chicken breast stuffed with feta cheese, olives, and tomatoes. Spanakopita is a phyllo pastry shell covering baked feta cheese. Kalamaria is calamari that has been sautéed and covered in tomato sauce. A gyro is lamb and beef ground together, often served in a pita.
|Moussaka, 5 oz.
|22 grams
|22 grams
|456 milligrams
|16 grams
|Lamb souvlaki, 5 oz.
|5 grams
|2 grams
|320 milligrams
|14 grams
|Chicken Athenian, 5 oz.
|41 grams
|25 grams
|637 milligrams
|37 grams
|Spanakopita, 4 oz.
|8 grams
|38 grams
|650 milligrams
|12 grams
|Kalamaria, 5 oz.
|38 grams
|10 grams
|100 milligrams
|6 grams
|Lamb and beef gyro sandwich, 1 pita
|12 grams
|50 grams
|950 milligrams
|22 grams
The number one dessert in Greece is ice cream. There's practically an ice-cream shop on every corner. It's said that previous to the invasion of sweet shops, the Greeks would add sugar to just about anything, and create a dessert. Currently, candied eggplant isn't appealing to me, but before I never knew the pleasures of fudge brownie ice cream, who knows? The following are a few more traditional desserts you might find on a Greek menu.
Loukoumades is a Greek honey dumpling. Halvas is a candy consisting of sugar, lemon, and sesame. Baklava is a phyllo-dough pastry with nuts, honey, and a lot of butter. They're all bad for you.
|Loukoumades, 1 cookie
|4.2 grams
|69 grams
|132 milligrams
|6 grams
|Halvas, 3 oz.
|21 grams
|60 grams
|195 milligrams
|12 grams
|Baklava, 2-in. slice
|22 grams
|29 grams
|253 milligrams
|5 grams
Greece is a beautiful country with a rich history, warm people, and astounding vistas in every direction. With this incredible culture has come a delightful fusion of cuisines. Like most of the Mediterranean, the Greeks make any mealtime an event that should be celebrated with time, conversation, and various alcoholic beverages. I'm not suggesting you get hammered with your gyro sandwich on your lunch hour, but slowing down and actually paying attention to what we eat and who we're dining with can make a huge difference in the way we enjoy our meals. It also gives our stomachs time to signal to our brains that they're satiated, so perhaps we will overindulge a bit less. So next time you're eating out, give eating the Greek way a try—except for the plate-throwing part. You can probably go ahead and skip that.
Related Articles
"Beachbody® Restaurant Rescue: Japanese Edition"
"Beachbody® Restaurant Rescue: Italian Edition"
"Beachbody® Restaurant Rescue: Mexican Edition"
Got something to say? Chat with the writers and other readers this coming Monday, January 25th, at 8:00 PM ET, 5:00 PM PT, in the Beachbody Chat Room!If you'd like to ask a question or comment on this newsletter article, click here to add a comment in the newsletter review section or you can email us at firstname.lastname@example.com.
Cammie Lusk Wins $1,000 with P90X and Shakeology
After the onset of multiple sclerosis, Cammie Lusk couldn't walk, and as her energy drained away, she slipped into depression. After trying P90X and Shakeology, she found the strength and energy she needs to be the mom and wife she wants to be.
Got something to say? Chat with the writers and other readers this coming Monday, January 25th, at 8:00 PM ET, 5:00 PM PT, in the Beachbody Chat Room!
If you'd like to ask a question or comment on this newsletter article, click here to add a comment in the newsletter review section or you can email us at firstname.lastname@example.com.
Climbing Michi's Ladder: ArugulaBy Denis Faye
Arugula is just the American name for this aromatic salad green. In the UK, they call it rocket. In France, it's roquette—which is actually just a fancy way of saying rocket—but no matter what you call it, the stuff is a zingy addition to any salad.
The nutrition facts
Like many leafy greens, Arugula is nearly calorically void. Half a cup has 2 calories. It is filled, however, with some decent nutrients for those 2 calories, including 5 percent of the recommended daily allowance (RDA)* for vitamin A; 14 percent for vitamin K; and 2 percent for calcium, manganese, folate, and vitamin C. You'll also find a little bit of riboflavin, iron, magnesium, phosphorus, and potassium.
How do you eat this stuff?
Even if you're absolutely jonesin' for vitamin K, I would never ever recommend a salad made entirely of homegrown, mature arugula. I learned this one tear-filled, mouth-burning evening after making a bowl of rocket from the yield of my backyard garden. You may be able to get away with it if using milder, store-bought stuff, but still, I suggest using it as a spicy touch to a lettuce salad with a little oil and vinegar sprinkled on top. If you want to add a little zip to your pizza, wilted arugula makes a flavorful, peppery topping.
|1 cup of raw arugula (20 g)
|< 1 gram
|< 1 gram
|< 1 gram
|< 1 gram
Source: www.nutritiondata.com
Michi's Ladder is Beachbody's guide to nutritious eating. If you only ate from Tiers 1 & 2, you would have a near-perfect diet!
Related Articles
"Climbing Michi's Ladder: Artichokes"
"Climbing Michi's Ladder: Amaranth"
"The Best Food on the Planet"
Got something to say? Chat with the writers and other readers this coming Monday, January 25th, at 8:00 PM ET, 5:00 PM PT, in the Beachbody Chat Room!
If you'd like to ask a question or comment on this newsletter article, click here to add a comment in the newsletter review section or you can email us at firstname.lastname@example.com.
Test Your International Cuisine IQ!By Valerie Watson
Our nation is a fabulous mélange of cultures—and their cuisines! On one block, it's not uncommon to see a Mexican restaurant next to a Japanese teppanyaki house next to a French boulangerie next to an Indian eatery next to a Middle Eastern kebab palace. So now it's time to test how closely you've been paying attention to the various international hash houses you've sampled: match the ethnic foodstuff with the nation where it originated.
- Chiles Rellenos de Queso - Mexico. Green chili peppers stuffed with cheese and/or meat, coated in thin batter, fried, and served with piquant tomato-based sauce. Made perfectly, they're delectable. Made imperfectly, they're a lot like corn dogs with a vitamin-C-rich, green-vegetable surprise inside.
- Sauerbraten - Germany. Pot roast of beef marinated in red wine vinegar and spices. Often served with potato pancakes, apple sauce, and red cabbage. Eating this dish can give you the urge to don lederhosen and sing songs with a lot of oom-pah-pahs in them.*
(*Depending on how many beers you consume with your meal.)
- Coquilles St. Jacques - France. Scallops sautéed with white wine, shallots, and mushrooms, tossed with savory cream sauce, then placed in individual scallop shells, topped with bread crumbs and Gruyere cheese, and broiled. That's a lot of steps for one entrée, but when it's done, c'est magnifique!
- Caviar Blini - Russia. Blini are thin, yeast-leavened pancakes made from buckwheat flour. Caviar? Well, it's fish eggs, and some folks insist it's a delicacy, so who am I to argue? But if you feel the way I do, you can serve your blini with fillings that are less off-puttingly textured and flavored, including fruit, potatoes, cheese, jam, and chicken.
- Feijoada - Brazil. Feijoada is a Brazilian stew of black beans with beef and pork meats, traditionally prepared over a slow fire in a clay pot and served with white rice and oranges. The meats in question often include ears, feet, bellies, tail, and tongue, which might go a bit beyond the definition of "recycling" most of us have grown accustomed to.
If you'd like to ask a question or comment on this newsletter article, click here to add a comment in the newsletter review section or you can email us at email@example.com.
All trademarks, products, and service names are the property of their respective owners.
*Percent Daily Values (DV) are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.
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by Linda
Pinocchio and Geppetto Costume Photo 3 of 8
Rate this costume:
9 votes
|3 comments · add a comment
|Costume type:
|Costumes for Couples
This homemade costume for couples entered our 2014 Halloween Costume Contest,
A word from Sandra, the 'Pinocchio and Geppetto' costume creator:
Halloween is our favorite time of year. We met at a Halloween party 8 years ago. Ever since then we have been celebrating...We are 68 years old now, and still do this every year.. I... Read more »
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GUEST COLUMN: More guns bring more safety
Virginia Commonwealth University Professor Thomas Baker has crunched the numbers in the state of Virginia, and has determined that gun sales in the state have climbed 73 percent since 2006, while the number of violent crimes involving guns has declined by more than 27 percent.
For years, we've heard the shrill voices of those who hate your guns. "More guns on the street means more crime!" "More guns equals more murder!" and so on. And yet, clearly that's not the case.
So now the gun ban crowd is changing its tune.
Andrew Goddard, a gun control advocate in Virginia, told WTOP radio, "It's quite possible that you can sell a whole lot more guns and crime is still going down.
But is the crime going down because more people are buying guns, or is the crime going down because the crime is going down?"
I don't know anyone who thinks a decline in violent crime can be attributed to a single factor. That's not the point. The point is that, despite Goddard's new assertion, the anti-gunners have been telling us that what's happening in Virginia is impossible.
The point is people like Andrew Goddard think that Virginians would be safer with Chicago-style gun control laws, even though that flies in the face of logic and reality.
The point is, gun owners and the NRA have been right all along. It's the criminals, not the law-abiding gun owners, who are the issue.
More guns, less crime isn't just "quite possible," it's a fact.


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Monthly Sunday Tournaments!
Just a reminder that the first Rowany Monthly tournament is on this Sunday the 27th October!
What: Potluck lunch and tournament.
Where: St Peters Public School, 31 St. Peter's Street, St Peters, NSW, 2044 [MAP]
When: Site opens at 12pm. Armour inspections from 1pm. Site closes 4pm
Cost: $5 to help cover site hire. (+$5 for non member insurance levy)
The format of the tournament will be decided on the day based on there number of fighters, likely round robin, Valhalla or single kill / double elimination. This is a garbed event, and we can arrange loaner garb if needed. There is seating on site, but bringing a chair wouldn't be a bad idea.
Hope to see you there!
Yours in service,
Sigvald Sviðanda
(Information on other regular events found here)


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It was an eclectic week in gaming news, with stories focusing on everything from Syria's struggling game industry to Japan cracking down on in-game item sales that come a little too close to gambling. Microsoft made the news for the game industry's first home console subsidized by a monthly online service and reports that the Xbox 360 would finally be getting a proper web browser. We also took a look at abstractly moralistic PSN adventure Datura and some promising-looking game projects currently seeking funding in the rarefied halls of Kickstarter.
- Game over—how sanctions and violence doomed Syria's gaming industry
International economics, politics conspire to halt Syrian game industry growth.
- Subsidized Xbox 360: bad deal for consumers, missed opportunity for Microsoft
The subsidized $99 Xbox 360 is a missed opportunity for Redmond.
- EA: The Old Republic has lost nearly 25% of its subscribers since March
1.3 million active subscribers in down from 1.7 million in March.
- Japan poised to limit gambling-style collecting in social games
Meanwhile, America poised to open up to online gambling
- Bioshock Infinite pushed back to February 2013 for "tweaks"
Team needs more time for "tweaks and improvements."
- 2 million turned out for Diablo III open beta
Plus 10 million sign-ups for Call of Duty Elite
- Kickstarter Game Watch: From Rohrer to Republique
This week: DS strategy, unique stealth-action, and a new "SpaceVenture"
- Report: Kinect-powered Internet Explorer 9 coming to Xbox 360
Microsoft's system would be the last to get an integrated Web browser.
- Review: Datura forces you to figure it out for yourself
A moral Rorschach test that holds a mirror to your soul.
- Republique reaches Kickstarter goal with hours to go
Late surge pushes unique stealth title over the top


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These birthday invitation templates can work for many different birthday party ideas or party themes. We have a wide range of kid friendly party theme such as zoo party, animals, boat ride, barnyard bash, cupcake, lady bug, cartoon, jungle, and more. Design your own kids birthday invitation and finding the perfect birthday invites template online can be a tough task but Design Betty made it simple with these beautiful and cute designs that you can download instantly. Save your time and money for other party expenses such as food, drinks, cake, party sypply, and games.
DesignBetty DIY or do it yourself birthday photo invitations and announcements are a designed to save you a ton of time and money at the same time give your child's special event a unique and personalized invitation that will leave a lasting memory.


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In case of fire, a secure and reliable supply of water for underground distribution and above ground sprinkler systems is crucial for emergency management. The complete system relies on a consistent supply of water with adequate pressure and the right flow rate.
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Probiotics Side Effects
Probiotics' side effects, if they occur, tend to be mild and digestive (such as gas or bloating). More serious effects have been seen in some people. Probiotics might theoretically cause infections that need to be treated with antibiotics, especially in people with underlying health conditions. They could also cause unhealthy metabolic activities, too much stimulation of the immune system, or gene transfer (insertion of genetic material into a cell).


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These pictures from HPI Lithuania show that their drivers really love their drift cars! What amazing shots, taken at night in the cityscape around Lithuania!
Some of our most eager drifting fans, the drivers from Lithuania have taken part in multiple HPI drift challenges, check out the evidence in this super-cool video! Check out the full HPI Lithuania website here, and for loads of great drift and action pictures, click here to visit a loaded web page full of awesome pictures!


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Most of what's happening on the Houston food thing is positive. The Houston Dairymaids greatly extended their warehouse hours, further expanding this city's most important cheese source. Underbelly just opened to great fanfare. Uchi has arrived from Austin. Oxheart joins the fray next week. There's real buzz around new restaurants here. But let's not forget that traditional favorites, such as Da Marco, Hugo's, Backstreet Cafe, Tony's, and so many others keep on trucking along. This is a vibrant, even burgeoning food metropolis that has legitimate potential to become a culinary destination in the next decade.
The sad thing is that Houston faces a serious threat to its ascent up the national food ladder. A startling number of those in the restaurant, bar, and beverage scene here apparently believe they are immune from criticism. Recently, newly opened Liberty Kitchen got in a flap with Alison Cook, the Houston Chronicle's long-time and well-respected food critic. (After Cook had been tossed, seemingly with provocation, by another restaurant owner in 2010.) Just a short time ago, Hubcap Grill's owner went ballistic over a tepid review from a Dallas critic, in a torrent of profanity and violent threats. Regardless of the subsequent apology, this sort of behavior makes Houston's restaurants come off as immature, petty, and, most important, unwilling to strive for the improvement that will allow them to shine on the national stage. And these incidents have not been relegated to professional critics.
Look no further than the lightning-rod of the Houston food community's ire -- Yelp -- and the vitriolic, out-of-hand dismissals of it to understand that Houston's restaurant scene, evolving each day, is in the midst of adolescence. And there is a lot of growing up to do still.
Before going further, however, all the Yelp critics can just take a deep breath. The point here is not to say Yelp is the end-all, be-all. Or that there aren't tons of unfair comments and reviews on Yelp. (Just go look at one-star reviews of the French Laundry to see preposterous unfairness.) It's important to realize the fundamental positive that Yelp represents. For the first time, the Internet and its accessibility affords restaurant owners, chefs, staffs, and anyone involved in the industry with an unprecedented reservoir of data. As with any significant amount of information, there will be outliers. In the realm of Yelp, these outliers are mean-spirited reviews of whatever ilk or sycophantic raves. There is worthwhile information in places like Yelp, even if it isn't written in the most articulate way, and this information isn't worthy of outright dismissal. The restaurant-going public is a massive, diverse body, and doubtless the Wisdom of Crowds applies to some extent. Recurring themes in reviews and feedback, regardless of the source, should make a restaurateur perk up his ears.
Granted, any sort of feedback open to the public, such as Yelp or Google reviews of the Chowhound board, provides unfiltered information. You'll run into various types of criticism, running the gamut from constructive to unwarranted, even malicious. It's serious work to filter through the feedback you get and determine what can make you better, but that is the nature of a service industry. It's a positive thing that the amount of information you receive from customers is at unprecedented levels. It's hard enough to just run an establishment, much less figure out how to improve it. Your customers are giving a torrent of information that is readily accessible. Why reject any avenue that might provide hints on how to get better?
Restaurants are humbling. That's the nature of putting yourself on the line, every day, in an endeavor as personal as food. In many ways it is like art or writing. But if you want to be the best -- or simply better than you are now -- how do you expect get there if you turn your back on people who care enough to tell you what worked and what didn't? As it stands right now, Houston's food community is defined by the largely (at least publicly) friendly relations among its members. But given how violently a surprising number in this community have reacted to criticism, one has to wonder whether Houston's ascendant food scene believes it is beyond reproach.
Naturally, it's good to see people have a positive attitude and build up one another, rather than fall victim to petty in-fighting and cynicism. Constructive criticism, though, is an essential part of a positive environment. Offering it means you care enough to want someone or something to get better. Being called names, shouted down, or shooed away as if you don't know anything gives a clear sign not that a reviewer was unfair but that an establishment is too scared to improve or more interested in resting on its laurels.
If you close off to constructive criticism and only respond to positive reviews or feedback, the only thing you have to rely on to reach that elite level of restaurant greatness is your internal drive. It goes without saying how few people can achieve greatness alone. What's worse, though, is that a dismissive attitude like that shuns the larger group that wants to see you succeed. It also creates an us-versus-them mentality that runs contrary to the collaborative spirit cultivated among so many in Houston's industry.
At the same time, there is the difficult problem of dealing with unwarranted and malicious criticism or even outright lies. As said previously, restaurants are a service industry. Interactions with customers, regardless of how wrong they may be, must be handled with decorum. Show fundamental respect and be professional. Don't let emotions dictate your response, no matter how tempting social media might make it. Handling obstreperous customers with tact will always earn you more points with the restaurant-going public.
Elevating Houston as a culinary destination is a collaborative effort. And that effort extends to patrons, regardless of the venue in which they voice their opinions and regardless of whether they are articulate or knowledgeable enough to be considered "foodies." Customers who take the time to come out for a meal or drink speak with the most important voice: their wallets. That's worthy of respect, just as the passion, time, and creativity those in the industry is worthy of appreciation.
Thursday, March 8, 2012
Houston, we have a problem ... with criticism
Posted by Unknown at 2:00 PM
2 comments:
- Allison said...
Great article! I hope Ricky Craig reads this. I do agree that all businesses can learn something about their shops by reading reviews. I believe most people, including myself, who write reviews on Yelp or some other site are being truthful to our experience. If constructive criticism cannot be taken then perhaps one should stay out of the service industry.
- March 8, 2012 at 3:46 PM
- SirRon said...
Great post!
The food community (business and consumer) is way too sensitive. Sports and the entertainment industry see much worse criticism and impassioned fanatics and they have somehow prevailed... spectacularly in fact.
- March 12, 2012 at 8:38 AM
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Different types of lupus
There are four different types of lupus. Learn more about each type below.
Systemic Lupus Erythematosus
Systemic lupus is the most common form of lupus—it's what most people mean when they refer to "lupus." Systemic lupus can be mild or severe. Below is a brief description of some of the more serious complications involving major organ systems.
Inflammation of the kidneys—called lupus nephritis—can affect the body's ability to filter waste from the blood. It can be so damaging that dialysis or kidney transplant may be needed.
Inflammation of the nervous system and brain can cause memory problems, confusion, headaches, and strokes.
Inflammation in the brain's blood vessels can cause high fevers, seizures, and behavioral changes.
Hardening of the arteries or coronary artery disease—the buildup of deposits on coronary artery walls—can lead to a heart attack.
Learn more about how lupus affects various organs and tissues in How Lupus Affects the Body.
Cutaneous Lupus Erythematosus
This form of lupus is limited to the skin. Although cutaneous lupus can cause many types of rashes and lesions (sores), the most common—called discoid rash—is raised, scaly and red, but not itchy. Areas of rash appear like disks, or circles.
Another common example of cutaneous lupus is a rash over the cheeks and across the bridge of the nose, known as the butterfly rash. Other rashes or sores may appear on the face, neck, or scalp (areas of the skin that are exposed to sunlight or fluorescent light), or in the mouth, nose, or vagina. Hair loss and changes in the pigment, or color, of the skin are also symptoms of cutaneous lupus.
Approximately 10 percent of people who have cutaneous lupus will develop systemic lupus. However, it is likely that these people already had systemic lupus, with the skin rash as their main symptom.
Drug-induced Lupus Erythematosus
Drug-induced lupus is a lupus-like disease caused by certain prescription drugs. The symptoms of drug-induced lupus are similar to those of systemic lupus, but it rarely affects major organs.
The drugs most commonly connected with drug-induced lupus include:
Hydralazine—Treatment for high blood pressure or hypertension
Procainamide—Treatment for irregular heart rhythms
Isoniazid—Treatment for tuberculosis
Drug-induced lupus is more common in men because they take these drugs more often; however, not everyone who takes these drugs will develop drug-induced lupus. Lupus-like symptoms usually disappear within six months after these medications are stopped.
Neonatal Lupus
Neonatal lupus is not a true form of lupus. It is a rare condition that affects infants of women who have lupus and is caused by antibodies from the mother acting upon the infant in the womb. At birth, the infant may have a skin rash, liver problems, or low blood cell counts but these symptoms disappear completely after several months with no lasting effects. Some infants with neonatal lupus can also have a serious heart defect. With proper testing, physicians can now identify most at-risk mothers, and the infant can be treated at or before birth.
Most infants of mothers with lupus are entirely healthy.


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Wednesday, February 4, 2009
well the thing that i personally thought i would never have to worry about has happened. today as i went into work, my boss had posted a change. not to the full time people but to people like me who are "part time"status. my hours were cut...and imean in half
well lucky for me, well i wouldnt say that it is luck but you know what i mean b/c i would never wish anything bad on anyone that i know...but a lady got really sick so i was able to pick up her hours which put me back at what i originally had. so i am good for now. but it does worry me. i mean i dont need alot to live off of, it is my car payment that i am most worried about. i have saved alitte bit, but i hope that i dont have to tap into it anytime soon.
i have always put things like relationships and jobs in the path of what god wants me to have. i feel that he has blessed me by looking out for me and letting me be able to find my way, so i hope and pray that he continues to do so and not just for me but for others who are having the same problem as me. i could not imagine what i would have to do without working...i am too dependent on my job. i mean if i really needed $ i could not just call my family and ask for it because they dont have it either. so i really need to watch what i spend so that i am not left in a bad situation where i am in dire need of finacial assistance. so until then i will keep praying and hope that things work for the best (not just for me, but for those other families who are going thru the same problems, i know my problems are a fraction of what they have to deal with and balance)
..................until next time.....................


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Well, problem solved if you're using C++ or other languages that have lexicographic_permutation packaged with their standard library set. Some languages do and some don't, but that discussion is not à propos to this article, nor even what lexicographic permutations are or how to go about getting to them.1
But something common enough did come up in the solving of that problem, which is the question of appending to the end of lists effectively.
Now, I have a prejudice: I love lists, and by that I mean to say is that in more than a few functional and logical programming languages, the List Data Structure (uttered with reverence, and with not even (barely) a hint of mocking) provides a facility for grouping and then operating on sets of objects that I find unparalleled in other programming languages and paradigms. I can, for example, in Haskell create a list simply by typing
[0..9] or
["Mary", "Sue", "Bob"], and if I'm feeling old-fashioned and gutsy, I can iterate through those lists inductively with a:
doSomething [] = []
doSomething (h:t) = f h : doSomething t
Or if I wish to embrace the modern era of programming (like, oh, since the 1970ish-es),2 I can use
map or
fold to go anywhere I want to with a list. I mean, come on!
fold is, after all, the 'program transformer function.' If I don't like my list as it is now (or if I don't even like it being a list at all), I just
fold over it until it's exactly how I want it to be.
Like the above function, it's really just a specialization of
map, isn't it?
map _ [] = []
map f (h:t) = f h : map f t
map is just a specialization of
fold, right?
foldr ((:) . f) [] ≡ map f
So, yeah, lists rock my world.
But, you complain, I know language X [yes, the great language (flame-)war, with endless debates in the imperial senate, continues] and language X has lists and
map, so what's the big deal?
The big deal is this: have you ever tried to construct a list in language X? Is it easy as the example I provided above?
No, but ...
Yeah, no, it's not as easy. In fact, I've done quite a bit of programming in language X, and I put forward that constructing and then destructuring lists is a painfully long and tedious process:
list = new BidirectionalLinkedList ();
BUT THEN it gets better when you do destructuring:
newlist = new BidirectionalLinkedList ();
for(String elem : list) { newlist.add(doit(elem)); }
Um, and that's only after the "stunning" advances that the STL started with functionals3 grafted onto the language, so have you seen the contortions you have to go through to create a functional object to map with? And don't you dare get your template parameter off because the compiler error...? shudder!
Enough of that.
So lists are structures or collections, and structures can be viewed as objects (phenomenon), and that is a very useful and powerful way to view them and to define them:
data List t = [] | (t : List t)
No problem with that and everything is right with the world.
... until it isn't.
This definitely works, and works well, for lists in general, and it also works great most of the time for working with the elements of the list. After all, in practice, we are most concerned with the element we have worked on most recently, so, in most cases, the element we just put in is the element we'd most likely to be retrieving ... AND (generally) our interest diminishes the further (in time) we are from an element, and that translates directly into where elements are found in a list.
So, in general, lists work just fine; great, in fact.
There are specific cases where what we care about is not the most recent element, but another ordering is important. Two cases spring immediately to mind: first, queuing, and secondly (and commonly and specifically), document assembly.
In these two cases we wish to push onto the end of the list new elements, and the above definition doesn't give us access to the last element or position of the list. And to get that access, we must reverse the list so the last element becomes the first, or prepend to a reversed list. Either of these options has at least a cost in linear time when
reverse is (eventually) called.
Or, we must call
append or a function like it to append elements to the end of the working list; this also has linear costs. Either way, we pay the full price.
Now there are objects that do give us immediate access to that last element and position: deques and queues, for example, but when we go there, we give up the ease of composition and decomposition that we have with lists. We pay a penalty in expressitively with these types or in performance when using lists against their nature.
Or do we?
Well, one way of looking at lists is as objects, and above we gave a definition of lists as objects, but this is not the only way to view lists. I propose another way of looking at lists: lists can be viewed as functions.4
(:) :: t → [t] → [t]
The above definition says that
(:) (pronounced 'cons') takes an element and a list and gives a list.
Yeah, so? you ask, for this is already a well-known function in the list lexicon.
I propose we look at this function in an entirely different way:
(:) :: t → ([t] → [t])
In this case,
(:) constructs a list function from a seed element. This allows us to use this function a novel but perfectly acceptable way:
x |> list = (x:) . list
What we are saying here is that
(|>) (pronounced 'put to front') is an operator that takes an
x and puts that value on the front of
list, just like
(:) does.
The difference here (heh: 'difference') (sorry, mathematician humor) is what
list is. For
list is of type [a] (or, directly and tautologically:
list is a list), but for
list is of type [a] → [a]. Or, translating:
list is a function.
So? You've just reinvented the wheel with lists as functions now. Big deal.
Well, actually, what I've done is to reinvent the wheel as a meta-wheel, and so the big deal is this:
list <| x = list . (x:)
What we have here with
(<|) (pronounced 'put to back') is a function that adds an element to the end of a list in — wait for it! — constant time. For 'regular' lists the best you can do that operation is in linear time, and so my work of constructing a document by appending to the end of a list that was occurring in O(n²) time has just gone to a linear-time operation. Not a big deal for a small document, but we found that once a document became more than a page or two, the operation went from 'a blink of an eye' to 'keeping your eyes closed until the cows came home ... that had been eaten by wolves.' This is not the case with lists as functions: document construction became reasonable endeavor (that is, it occurred so quickly for us mere humans, living in this non-nanosecond-time, we didn't notice the elapsed time).
So, I've been a sly thing in one respect. I still haven't told you what a (functional) list is. I've defined the object view of lists, and I've declared what a function view of lists, but haven't defined them.
Here. Allow me to define them now:
empty = id
There you go. There are the 'definitions.' I say 'definitions' because with that sole definition, everything works, for to ground a functional list, we simply pass it an empty list:
empty [] ⇒ []
Or even whatever list we are working with:
empty [1,2,3] ⇒ [1,2,3]
When you append something to an empty list, you get that something back.
empty works as the seed of the 'put to' operators:
(5 |> 6 |> 2 |> empty) [1,2,4] ⇒ [5,6,2,1,2,4]
(empty <| 1 <| 2 <| 3) [4,5,6] ⇒ [1,2,3,4,5,6]
It all works!
In this article we've demonstrated that there's more than one way to look at, specifically, lists. The standard way is to view them is as objects, and for the most cases, that works, and works well: this view provides a syntax that makes list processing simple and intuitive.
We've also shown that that is not the sole way to view things, and this view can be constraining, particularly when lists are played against type as a queue or a document assembler. In these cases it becomes simpler, declaratively, to view lists as functions, and not only does that provide a syntax for simple list construction either at the beginning or the end of the list, but also provide constant-time construction at either end. Furthermore, defining this view is as simple as viewing the empty list as
id and then using the partial function of
(:) ('cons'). That's the generative view. Then, to extract the ("real") list from that view, it's as simple as sending a list (for example,
[]) to that functional list to ground the value for disposition.
In these special cases of working at the back end of a list, that aren't all that rare, the functional view of list processing gives the programmer expressivity and efficiency, eliminating the chore of appending to the end or reversing the target list. I quite enjoy list processing this way: it gives me a fresh perspective on an old friend and makes list processing in these cases easy and fun.
|There is an article at http://wordaligned.org/articles/next-permutation that provides a simple, clear explanation of the lexicographic permutation algorithm with a very nice demonstrative example if you are so inclined to investigate.
|Laurent Siklóssy, Let's Talk Lisp talks about MAPCAR in chapter 6. And, if I may: this book is one of the rare ones. It's one of those books like Smullyan's To Mock a Mockingbird or van der Linden's Deep C Secrets (with a fish on the orange book cover, no less!) or, and let us not forget the ultimate: Hofstadter's Gödel, Escher and Bach: the Eternal Golden Braid (I mean, even the title is a pun, Doug doesn't waste time in having fun, does he? He gets right to it!) that make you a better person but you don't notice it, but everybody else does, because you are constantly busting out laughing or grinning from ear-to-ear at the cleverness of their prose. Why do books about esoterica have to be so heavy! These esoteric books show that they don't have to be heavy in the lightness they deal with the subject (and deal with dealing with these esoteric subjects).
And who is that bright young man who left such a feisty review of that book back in (*le gasp!*) 2001? I can see a promising future for that boy, just so long as he doesn't get too big for his britches.
À propose de rien, what are britches?
*ahem* Yes, so those books are three of my favorites ... which ones are yours?
|Bjarne Stroustrup, The C++ Programming Language, 3rd ed., §18.4
|Such a view of lists has a name: these functional list types are called difference lists from the Prolog community. The standard Haskell library does not have Data.DList [sad loss, I say!] but this type is provided by Don Stewart of Galois in the hackageDB under the dlist package.
The Data.DList works great, but I've implemented my own system that is more than twice as fast as I provide several specialized implementations of difference list operators that take a more direct approach in their implementations (


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Message Board
Karen McCullough Message Board
Talk about the novels, new and used books that McCullough has written!
Author McCullough's Book Reviews
A Question of Fire
Catherine Bennett's bad day turns into a real nightmare when a man is shot and dies in her arms. The murder victim stole information from a group of ruthless criminals, and the killer thinks he told Cathy where he hid it before he died. After Cathy is kidnapped, threatened and nearly killed, she decides she'd better find the information before the criminals do. How else is a girl supposed to be able to make a trip to the dry cleaner in peace?...
Shadow of a Doubt
When Detective Liz Ramsey is called out in the middle of the night to investigate the murder of a young woman who may or may not be a prostitute, she recognizes right away that the case could be complicated. There's no obvious motive or suspect in the death.. She doesn't intend to become romantically involved with a witness in the case, but Greg Conyers is too attractive to ignore. The mysterious and reclusive local celebrity lives with his dying moth...
Witch's Journey
ImaJinn, Nov 20002,231pp ISBN: 1893896900 Fearful for her life because she knows the villagers will brutally kill a Calavarian Witch, Jinissa hide her innate skills. Still, when she sees a child in trouble, Jinissa ignoring her elemental flame acts to rescue the lad using witchcraft. The villagers react by shunning Jinissa except for jailing her. At her trail, everyone including the child's father testifies that Jinissa used witchcraft. She is fo...


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They say that cockroaches will be around long after man is gone, so you'd better transfer all your boxes of cereal to Tupperwares before the end of the world comes!
How We Can Fight Insecticide-Resistant Pests Better with Biological Controls
They say that cockroaches will be around long after man is gone, so you'd better transfer all your boxes of cereal to Tupperwares before the end of the world comes! Will cockroaches survive because they are so tough and we are such sissies? The heel on my boot thinks not! It's because they are well designed bugs that adapt well to changing environmental conditions.
An interesting study was published a couple of years ago that explained how fruit flies were found to be resistant to DDT, which is one of our more potent insecticides (and which is also banned in the US). The trick that the fruit flies learned was to increase production of an enzyme that allows them to metabolize the insecticideto actually use the poison we apply to kill them as a source of energy. It's sort of like a sci-fi movie where the energy-sucking alien gets stronger as the space cadet blasts it with his ray gun.
What we have on our hands in this resistant species of fruit fly is an "adaptive" pestone that adjusts to and overcomes environmental roadblocks. All pests do this; in fact, all species do this. It's a fundamental law of random genetic mutations, some of which provide advantages to a few members of the species. As the non-advantaged members of the species succumb to the environmental problemin this case, a pesticidethe offspring of the resistant member become the dominant strain in the species. It's simply survival of the fittest.
Not all species benefit equally from evolutionary adaptation. The shorter the reproductive cycle, the more chance the species can adapt to a problem. That's what makes little buggers like fruit flies and cockroaches so durable.
So, are we faced with little monsters that won't die, no matter how much poison we spray on them? To an extent, yes. But there is a good solution: adaptive pesticidesthat is, pest-control methods that adapt to the pests' own adaptations. Fortunately, we have these control methods alreadythey are part of nature. For every pest, there are a number of natural forces that keep its numbers in check. Such a "biological control" might be a predatory insect, such as a ladybug. There are over 900,000 known species of the insects that prey on other insects. Anti-insect life forms also include higher animals such as birds, rodents, or amphibians that eat insects. Even fungus, molds, bacteria, viruses, and parasites can work to keep some pests' numbers down.
As a pest evolves, so do the predator species. In the natural world, it's a constant arms race, and neither side can usually win. But by the same token, when we douse the planet with toxic insecticides, we can all lose, especially those of us with longer reproductive cycles that don't adapt as quickly to environmental challenges. The loss of predator species is a particularly bad downside of chemical pesticide use. They often fail to adapt to pesticides as quickly as the target pests, so when the target pest numbers recover and start to become resistant to the pesticides, the numbers of predators are still low, resulting in a backlash increase in pest populations.
Plants can also serve as natural insect-control agents. For instance, planting marigolds around the edge of a garden is an old trick. The marigolds contain natural chemicals that discourage pests from infesting nearby plants.
Biological control methods are starting to get wider use these days because they are non-toxic and usually more effective in the long run. Their initial cost may be higher, but given their higher effectiveness and lower impact on non-target species, they are a bargain.
Chemical pesticide manufacturers would have you and your wallet believe that only they have the solutions to your pest control problems, but nature has been taking care of pests pretty much forever. Birds and lady bugs might not seem as cool as a squirt gun full of super-morphing bug juice, but no doubt toy manufacturers will come up with something else just as cool and expensive for your kid to ask for!
Helpful books:
Great Garden Companions: A Companion Planting System For A Beautiful, Chemical-Free Vegetable Garden
Ask the Bugman! Environmentally Safe Ways to Control Household Pests
Rodale's Garden Problem Solver: Vegetables, Fruits, and Herbs
(For reviews or purchase info, click on any title to go to Amazon.com)
Other resources:
Biological Control website A Guide to Natural Enemies in North America
(from Cornell University)
Pesticides and Pest Control - articles and resources
(Grinning Planet resources page)
All Grinning Planet resources - subject index
ENN would like to thank Grinning Planet for their permission to reprint this article.


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People who eat plenty of folate had a lower risk of colon and rectal cancers in a new study that examined the effects of folic acid fortification in the United States.In addition, the study did not find any extra cancer-related danger at very high levels of folate -- as some researchers have worried -- over close to a decade.
The benefit and possible harm of folate is "definitely still an open question," said study author Todd Gibson, from the National Cancer Institute in Rockville, Maryland. But, he said, "there seems to be an association between people who report higher folate with those people who have a lower risk of colorectal cancer."
In the late 1990s, the U.S. and Canadian governments began requiring that folic acid (a synthetic form of folate) be added to grain products in order to prevent some birth defects that had been linked to low folate levels in pregnant women.
While previous studies have generally suggested that a diet rich in folate decreases the risk of colorectal cancer as well, most of those were done before fortification started, Gibson said. To see if the government mandate affected that link, the researchers used data from a diet survey started in 1995 that included more than 500,000 middle-aged and older U.S. adults.
At the start of the study, participants filled out a questionnaire about their normal eating habits and any supplements they took regularly. From that, the researchers were able to calculate how much folate they got on a typical day before and after fortification started.
For the next ten years or so, they tracked cancer registries to see which participants were diagnosed with colorectal cancer. They found a total of about 7,200 cases in their original sample, including about 6,500 that were diagnosed after the start of the fortification program.
People who ate the highest amount of folate each day (at least 900 micrograms post-fortification) were 30 percent less likely to get colorectal cancer than those who got less than 200 micrograms each day, the researchers reported in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
That was after taking into account weight, smoking, physical activity, and certain other aspects of diet. Still, Gibson said that the findings can't prove that increased folate drove the cancer benefits, because "people who report high levels of folate tend to be healthy in other ways," possibly including some the researchers didn't record.
The recommended daily allowance for folate is 400 micrograms for most adults and 600 micrograms for pregnant women. Along with fortified cereals and other grains, vegetables and beans are good sources of folate, a type of B vitamin.
As a result of fortification, the average person's folate intake through foods increased by about 100 micrograms.
Gibson's study did not find any upticks in cancer rates at folate levels far above that recommended daily allowance.
Concern over the possibility that too much folate could raise cancer risk had mostly come from studies in animals, said Dr. Young-In Kim, a nutrition and cancer researcher from the University of Toronto.
Those studies suggested that "in normal tissues, giving folate or folic acid can ensure DNA replicates and cells are grown properly," he explained. "But once cells are pre-cancerous, giving folate can increase the progression of these cancer cells."
In other words, it's possible that if someone already had cell changes that are precursors of colorectal cancer, too much folate could make the cancer grow faster.
The current findings, he told Reuters Health, are "reassuring" that fortifying grains with folate did not seem to lead to a spike in colorectal cancers. However, Kim added, "there's still a concern that those taking really high levels of folic acid (in supplements) may be detrimental."
Gibson agreed that the new report doesn't close the door on that possibility, especially because some cancers take many years to develop. More studies will have to look at the risk of colorectal cancer over longer periods of time, he said. But, so far "we don't see any evidence of increased risk," he added.
To be safe, Kim said that people who do have colon cancer should not take extra folate, and that others shouldn't see any need to overdo it.
"If people take 400 micrograms a day, I think that's going to be sufficient to meet your health benefits from folate," he said.
Based on the current study, "people don't need to change their current activities" with respect to folate, Gibson said. "Most people are getting what is considered the adequate amount."
SOURCE: http://bit.ly/rkRtC0 American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, online August 3,2011.
Last Mod: 04 Eylül 2011, 12:26


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Complete Story
Cable Show '09 sessions to feature top cable execs
By: Traci Patterson, CedMagazine.com
The Cable Show 2009 – being held at the Washington, D.C., Convention Center April 1-3 – will have two new sessions chockfull of top cable executives, the National Cable & Telecommunications Association (NCTA) announced.
The "Cable Technology and the Platform for Change" session panel will discuss how operators are preparing their technology platforms to serve new consumer demands, while leveraging existing investments in plant, performance and potential. Cable technology veteran Jim Chiddix will moderate the session, which will also serve as the CTO session for the SCTE's Emerging Technologies (ET) Conference.
The "Cable Technology and the Platform for Change" session will take place on April 2 at 2:30 p.m. EST. Panelists will include:
- Jim Blackley, senior vice president of engineering and technology, Cablevision Systems Corp.
- Michael Lee, chief strategy officer, Rogers Communications
- Mike LaJoie, executive vice president and CTO, Time Warner Cable
- Tony Werner, executive vice president and CTO, Comcast
The "Welcome to the Jungle: Marketing to Win" session panel will focus on communicating to consumers cable's value and evolving product set in a competitive environment. The panel will be produced in partnership with the Cable & Telecommunications Association for Marketing (CTAM) and will be moderated by Char Beales, president and CEO of CTAM.
The "Welcome to the Jungle: Marketing to Win" session will take place on April 3 at 11 a.m. EST. Panelists will include:
- Jerry Dow, chief marketing officer, Suddenlink Communications
- Jonathan Hargis, senior vice president of marketing and advertising, Cablevision
- Sam Howe, executive vice president and chief marketing officer, Time Warner Cable
- Peter Intermaggio, senior vice president of marketing communications, Comcast
- Joe Rooney, chief marketing officer, Cox Communications
"We can't think of a better time to assemble this incredible group of thought leaders in two areas of such critical importance to the industry," said Barbara York, senior vice president of industry affairs for the NCTA. "The existence of these sessions at The Cable Show also reflects the synergy that results from the realignment of industry conventions, conferences and events under the Cable Connection banner."
These two panels are among more than 25 sessions that will take place at The Cable Show 2009. The full slate of general, management and technical sessions will be announced in the coming weeks. Additional, up-to-the-minute information for The Cable Show is available here.
Source: http://www.cedmagazine.com/Cable-Show-09-top-cable-execs-020309.aspx


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Choose Grand Rapids' Borgman Ford & Mazda for your next car, SUV or truck!We serve nearby West Michigan communities of Byron Center, Wyoming, Grandville, Kentwood, Walker, Hudsonville and more with easy access from I-96 and Ivanrest, just a short drive from downtown Grand Rapids. Take a drive to the West side for a great deal on a New Ford or New Mazda!
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The Earthlight Honeymoon Suite
- $2.09 $2.99
- Published By: eXtasy Books
- Author: Alexis Anthony
- Page: 48
- Word Count: 9000
- Publication Date: June 19, 2011
- Heat Level:
- Available Formats: Adobe Acrobat, Epub, Hiebook, Microsoft Reader, Mobipocket, Mobipocket (.mobi), Palm DOC/iSolo, Rocket
- Categories: Erotic Romance , Science Fiction, Short Stories
Qty + -
Lisa and Steve Jackson have never had a proper honeymoon. Lisa enters a contest for a fabulous second honeymoon – and wins the grand prize! The Stiff & Slippery Pharmaceutical Company sends them on an all expense paid trip to the fabulous Earthlight Space Station. All they have to do is agree to use the company's newest aphrodisiac...
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Amazing we're down 6 with about 30 seconds to go, and the only person who takes a 3 the rest of the way was a desperation heave by Barksdale.
Meanwhile, smith and Eddie watched from the bench.
Am I the only one who thinks when you are down 6 with less than 30 seconds, you need to take a 3? You'd have to make two 3s, regardless, if they missed both all their free throws. Considering a couple weeks ago we were the best 3pt shooting team in the country, you'd think we'd try to rely on that strength, even if Eddie is in a slump. Isn't the whole reason Johnston on the team to shoot a few 3s? Wood hasn't been terrible. I just don't know how you keep Eddie and Smith on the bench the final couple mintutes, while down 10.
21st in d-1 3pt% 30th in rebounds also in top 30 in blocks. We do some things well just not consistent defending three, avoiding turnovers, shooting FTs.


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The review will be led by Labour MP Ann Clwyd who protested about the care her late husband received while he was in hospital last year.
The Prime Minister appointed the Cynon Valley MP, along with Professor Tricia Hart, the chief executive of South Tees Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, to conduct the review in the wake of the scandal at Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust.
The review will consider how issues raised by patients and their families are listened to and acted upon. It will also examine how the NHS handles concerns raised by staff and how it supports whistleblowers.
Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt said: "Complaints can be the earliest symptom of a problem within an organisation and the NHS should use them to learn from and improve their service."
Ms Clwyd added: "We all hope that when we go into hospital the care we receive will not give us cause to complain.
"However, when something does go wrong, it must be easy for patients and their carers to speak up, without fear. I am determined that the result of this review will be a system that ensures that any complaint or concern that patients or whistleblowers make will be listened to and acted upon."
Professor Norman Williams, president of the Royal College of Surgeons, said: " Patients' concerns and their experiences must be acted on, not ignored.
"We are pleased that the Government has announced that it will establish a review to look at how trusts currently act when concerns and issues are raised. In order to strengthen the system, we believe that the Government should also look at improving the representation of patient safety and dignity issues at Trust board levels. Patients must be put back at the centre of care."
The review team will report back to the Health Secretary in the summer.


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As a son of the Killing Fields born in 1982 in the refugee camp to which my family had fled following the Cambodian genocide, I have struggled for most of my life to understand the legacy of my people. Over the last year, I engaged in a series of conversations with Cambodian-Americans about our history and the complexity of their experience while photographing community members in Philadelphia, Pa.; Lowell, Mass. and the Bronx, N.Y.
The Cambodian people are among the most heavily traumatized people in modern memory. They are the human aftermath of a cultural, political, and economic revolution by the Khmer Rouge that killed an estimated two million, nearly a third of the entire population, within a span of four years from 1975-1979. The entire backbone of society—educated professionals, artists, musicians and monks—were systematically executed in a brutal attempt to transform the entirety of Cambodian society to a classless rural collective of peasants. That tragedy casts a long shadow on the lives of Cambodians. It bleeds generationally, manifesting itself subtly within my own family in ways that I am only starting to fully comprehend as an adult. It is ingrained in the sorrow of my grandmother's eyes; it is sown in the furrows of my parents' faces. This is my inheritance; this is what it means to be Cambodian.
After surviving the Killing Fields, my family, along with hundreds of thousands of survivors, risked their lives trekking through the Khmer-Rouge-controlled jungle to reach a refugee camp in Thailand. There, my mother had what she believes to be a prophetic dream. In a field, an entire city's worth of women were clawing with their bare hands in bloodstained dirt searching for an elusive diamond. To the disbelief of everyone in the dream, she serendipitously stumbled upon it wrapped in a blanket of dirt. The following day she discovered she was pregnant with me. The significance of this didn't dawn on me until I started photographing this project. It was a vision of hope and renewal, that we as Cambodians are endowed with an incredible resilience and strength in human spirit. I have seen this in the faces of Cambodians I have photographed and have been incredibly humbled. In the words of my mother, it is a miracle to simply exist.
As a result of the unique demographic circumstances of the genocide, there has been a paucity of reflection within the Cambodian community. Many second-generation Cambodians I have interviewed learned about the Killing Fields through secondary sources, from the Internet and documentary films. Such conversations were non-existent at home. Exacerbating the silence is an inter-generational language barrier; most young Cambodian Americans cannot speak Khmer, the Cambodian language, while their parents and grandparents are incapable of speaking English. As a result, we are the literal manifestation of Pol Pot's attempt to erase Cambodia's history and culture. However, in spite of this void, there exists a growing movement of young and empowered Cambodians—academics, artists, musicians, and activists—who are trying to bridge this generational chasm.
For months, the senior surviving leaders of the Khmer Rouge have been tried for crimes against humanity, war crimes and genocide in Cambodia by a United-Nations-backed international tribunal that was established in 2006. Over half a decade later, and at a cost of an estimated $200 million, the court has prosecuted only one individual, Kaing Guek Eav, known as Duch, who presided over the execution of more than 16,000 in Cambodia's most infamous prison. On Feb. 3, the tribunal extended his sentencing to life in prison. In spite of this ruling, the court is on the verge of collapse because of corruption and a lack of political will by the government to proceed beyond the trials of only the highest ranking surviving leaders of the Khmer Rouge. This is heartbreaking. I asked my mother how she felt about this: she responded, almost tearfully, that this in and of itself could never take back her suffering. Many Cambodians I have spoken with in the course of photographing this project have echoed this sentiment. But I am convinced that justice and healing must emerge from the collective will of my people.
Pete Pin is a Cambodian-American documentary photographer based in Brooklyn, N.Y. He was a Fellow at the Magnum Foundation Emergency Fund, which supported the Bronx portion of his long-term project on the Cambodian diaspora. More of his work can be seen here.


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Phase two of Coe Memorial Park project underway
Torrington >> The Parks and Recreation Commission had a special joint meeting with the Coe Memorial Park committee, Thursday night, to discuss progress with improvements at the Coe Memorial Park.
The project, which includes renovations to the parking lot, has been sent out to bid. This is the first step in phase two of the project.
Superintendent of Parks and Recreation, Brett Simmons, told the committee that there are many companies, both locally and across Connecticut, who are pulling for the project. He reported that there are 24 to 25 bids taken out currently.
Bids are due on Feb. 13. They will then be reviewed and the board will attempt to get on the City Council agenda for approval.
Simmons reported that a mandatory walk through was conducted with Fuss & O'Neill, Inc., the project contractors, to examine the scope of the project.
Coe Memorial Park committee members had several questions regarding the approval of a Fuss & O'Neill contract with a $13,500 fee for construction administration. That fee includes nine visits over the projected 90 day construction period.
Simmons informed the board that they cut down the contractors involvement to only key milestones in the project in an effort to cut costs.
Even so, committee members were concerned about the language of the contract. They felt that there were too many variables. What would happen if the project took less than or more than 90 days? What would happen if the contractors had to come for less or more than nine site visits? Committee members questioned if they would be charged more money if they ran over or if they would be reimbursed if the project wrapped up sooner than expected.
The committee is looking to save as much money as possible on the project.
"It would be double or triple the cost if we went with a construction administration who hasn't been involved and will be involved the way [Fuss & O'Neill] have been," said Jim Pescatore, Parks and Recreation commissioner. "I have faith in Brett to get every penny out of this."
The Coe Memorial Park committee and the Parks and Recreation board approved the contract with the provision that Simmons speak with the point of contact and the language be tightened up.
The two entities also discussed the 2013/2014 budget. Simmons reported that many reductions in ground supplies and building expenses were made last year, which made it difficult to lower again this year.
The Coe Memorial Park committee had wanted a 5 percent reduction, but they reversed that request after looking at the budget and seeing that it was already bare bones. Everyone agreed that there would be no place to make any more reductions. Both entities voted to approve the budget.
The special joint meeting adjourned shortly before 6 p.m. and a regular Parks and Recreation meeting followed.
Donna Winn, recreation director, gave a report to the board about upcoming events. The board also discussed the increased attendance at the teen center. They hope to provide transportation to the facility after school for children looking for something to do after school. However, this may not happen until next year.
The 2013/2014 recreation budget will see 0 percent increase in funding. They have been working towards that for several years. There are a few contractual increases that cannot be avoided but they will only account for a $175 increase on a $385,000 budget.
The 2013/2014 parks budget is split into two separate budgets; the operating and capital budget.
The operating budget will see contractual increases but it will only mean a one percent increase on a $857,413 budget.
The capital budget will take more of a hit with a 20 percent increase, but the board insisted that "it's a need." The board talked about the 26 facilities that are managed under the Parks budget. Many of them need upgrades, said the board. The facilities reserve was created to deal with these upgrades, however, it has been grossly underfunded for years. Only $1,000 has been put into the fund for the last several years. This year, the board wants to put away $25,000 to help with future projects. That money accounts for the 20 percent increase.
The board motioned to accept the 2013/2014 budgets.
Reach Kate Hartman at 860-489-3121, ext. 343.


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If I were to attempt to explain to another country how we think in this country, I'd start with "We don't." We react, scream, hoot and howl but don't think. Here's a for instance.
With all the discussion about General McChrystal and Afghanistan in general, never was the question inspired as to why we were even there. Especially after CIA director Leon Panetta said there were fewer than 100 al Qaeda in the entire country! But we're after the Taliban, right? Right? How many are they? Better yet, don't tell me. Surprise me.
We've 90,000 troops in "Pashtunistan" along with some NATO folks here and there. And we're involved in a bellum novum. It's a counterinsurgency. Quick, for $20,000 and a new car, what's a counterinsurgency? Nobody knows. Except Petraeus who authored it. Poor sumbitch. Think about it, he's demoted back to Afghanistan from Centcomm in Tampa, my hometown. Come to think of it, in summer, I'd rather be in Kabul.
And as I write each word I think to myself: nobody cares about this. Nobody. The average American thinks this has something to do with 9/11. Or something. They just don't care. They've no clue, no interest and no concern.