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The White House floats an idea that would allow illegal immigrants to become permanent residents of the United States, putting them on a path to eventual citizenship. GOP immigration point man and designated party Hispanic Sen. Marco Rubio swats it down as "dead on arrival." White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough pushes back, saying (in essence), "Fine. If you don't like it, then get your congressional colleagues to come up with a better idea."
That's a 24-hour snapshot of the latest maneuvering between the Obama administration and Republican lawmakers over one of the most contentious and potentially profound issues in Washington today.
The White House draft plan (first reported by USA Today) would allow illegal immigrants to become legal permanent residents ("green card" holders) within eight years.
RECOMMENDED: Could you pass a US citizenship test?
"The plan also would provide for more security funding and requires business owners to check the immigration status of new hires within four years," USA Today reported Saturday. "In addition, the nation's 11 million illegal immigrants could apply for a newly created 'Lawful Prospective Immigrant' visa, under the draft bill being written by the White House. If approved, they could then apply for the same provisional legal status for their spouse or children living outside the country, according to the draft."
Senator Rubio is a member of the bipartisan "Gang of Eight" senators working on immigration legislation. (The others are Democrats Michael Bennet of Colorado, Charles Schumer of New York, Dick Durbin of Illinois, Robert Menendez of New Jersey, and Republicans Jeff Flake of Arizona, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, and John McCain of Arizona.)
Meanwhile, reports The Hill newspaper, "a secretive House group is said to be close to its own proposal." This group is reported to include Democratic Reps. Luis Gutierrez of Illinois, and Xavier Becerra and Zoe Lofgren of California, and Republican Reps. Mario Diaz-Balart of Florida, and John Carter and Sam Johnson of Texas.
In a statement Saturday, Rubio said, "It's a mistake for the White House to draft immigration legislation without seeking input from Republican members of Congress."
"President Obama's leaked immigration proposal is disappointing to those of us working on a serious solution," Rubio said. "The president's bill repeats the failures of past legislation. It fails to follow through on previously broken promises to secure our borders, creates a special pathway that puts those who broke our immigration laws at an advantage over those who chose to do things the right way and come here legally, and does nothing to address guest workers or future flow, which serious immigration experts agree is critical to preventing future influxes of illegal immigrants."
"If actually proposed, the president's bill would be dead on arrival in Congress, leaving us with unsecured borders and a broken legal immigration system for years to come," Rubio said.
Among other things, the White House draft for permanent resident status is reported by various news sources to include a criminal background check, paying back taxes, and demonstrating proficiency in English and in US and American government history. The draft also expands the E-Verify programs for employers to check on the immigration status of prospective employees.
"The bill calls for an unspecified increase in the border patrol, allows the Department of Homeland Security to expand technological improvements along the border, and adds 140 new immigration judges to process the heavy flow of people who violate immigration laws," USA Today reported.
Speaking on the Sunday TV talk shows, Mr. McDonough urged lawmakers to act quickly and comprehensively on immigration – an issue of high importance to both parties, especially Republicans who clearly need to improve their position among Hispanic voters.
"He [Rubio] says it's 'dead on arrival' if it's proposed. Well, let's make sure that it doesn't have to be proposed," McDonough said on ABC's "This Week." "Let's make sure that that group up there, the gang of eight, makes the good progress on these efforts as much as they say they want to."
On CBS's "Face the Nation," McDonough said, "I hope that Republicans and Democrats up there don't get involved in some typical Washington back and forth sideshow here, and rather just roll up their sleeves and get to work on writing a comprehensive immigration reform bill."
President Obama himself is pressuring Congress to act as well.
"Let's get this done," he said in his State of the Union message last week. "Send me a comprehensive immigration reform bill in the next few months and I will sign it right away, and America will be better for it."
RECOMMENDED: Could you pass a US citizenship test?


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ESPN is reporting that a group of Titans executives are meeting tonight with free agent QB Peyton Manning in Nashville.
Involved in the talks are coach Mike Munchak, general manager Ruston Webster and chief operating officer Mike Reinfeldt.
They picked up Manning in Raleigh-Durham and flew to Nashville with him on Wednesday, and are chatting with him at the Titans headquarters.
So far the Broncos and Cardinals have met with Manning in person, but the Dolphins are still reportedly in the mix for his services.
Out of the running are the Seahawks and Chiefs.
Munchak met with free agent guard Steve Hutchinson on Tuesday, and also Packers free-agent center Scott Wells is visiting the Titans today to chat about coming aboard.
Something that would interest him a great deal more if Manning goes to Nashville.

subset: commoncrawl


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No team is hotter than the Central Connecticut baseball team entering the 2012 Northeast Conference baseball tournament this week. The Blue Devils have won eight of their last nine NEC contests, and finished in a tie for third place in the regular season standings. They will be the third seed in the NEC Tournament, beginning on Thursday, May 17, and will face #2 Sacred Heart at 3:30 p.m.
The Blue Devils have qualified for their seventh straight tournament and their 12 in the last 13 seasons under head coach Charlie Hickey.
Fans can watch every pitch of the NEC Tournament for free by logging onto NortheastConference.tv as the Blue Devils look for their fifth NEC title.
The Blue Devils, who finished the regular season with a 28-22 record and a 19-13 mark in league play, last won the conference title in 2010. They also won titles in 2002, 2003 and 2004.
Central posted at least 25 wins for the seventh straight season. It is the 11th time in 13 years under head coach Charlie Hickey that the Blue Devils have reached that mark.
Monmouth is the top seed in the tournament, followed by Sacred Heart, CCSU and Fairleigh Dickinson. Central split the season series with Monmouth and Sacred Heart, and lost three out of four to FDU. Since dropping the first three games of the FDU series, the Blue Devils have won eight of nine against league opponents.
Central is coming off a dominating four-game sweep on the road vs. Mount St. Mary's to end the regular season. Central outscored the Mount 48-9 and batted .419 on the weekend. Seven Blue Devils posted an average of over .400, and nine players had two or more RBI on the weekend.


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By far the most widespread inquiries were from women commonly afflicted by "diet resistant" fat deposits on their hips, thighs, and butts concurrently self diagnosed as "cellulite". The reported conditions were uncannily uniform; adjectives such as "cottage cheese," "dimpled," "bumpy," and "gravel like" were common. The letters also lay claim to the fat's stubborn nature, that no amount of diet or exercise would get rid of it.
All in all, the women writing these letters were at their wits end, frustrated that they were cursed with this deferent fat called cellulite that just won't go away.
Well ladies, you are not alone. Millions of women, to varying degrees, are covered with cellulite making it the most common diet related problem. Millions and millions of dollars are spent each year on creams, potions, Luffa sponges, liposuction, special massages, and the like in an effort to rid the body of cellulite all to no avail. None of the available cellulite remedies work --because there is no such thing as cellulite!
In the mid seventies a Swedish doctor discovered if he attached a name to a common cosmetic problem and created a remedy for it, vanity would drive his bank account to a level he could hitherto only dream about. Boy was he right!
Almost immediately the concept of cellulite caught on. For nineteen ninety five and ten minutes each night before bed, one could apply a special cream to the afflicted area and then rub themselves raw with a long, course, natural sponge known as a Luffa and the cellulite would go away.
Well the only thing that went away was the Swedish doctor, in the direction of the setting sun driving his new Ferrari, giggling--probably still to this day --about all of the digits in his Swiss bank account. In our minds this was probably one of the greatest deceptions of all time, it's more than 30 years later and people still think that cellulite is a viable excuse for a fat cheesy butt.
I realize that you're probably a bit mad right now - we're telling you something different that you've been led to believe for so many years - sometimes the truth is shocking, but you can use this truth to help you reach your goals much faster. So if you're still convinced that cellulite is an honest medical condition, grab a medical dictionary the next time you visit the library and look it up. All you'll find where the word should be is a space.
If you want to use the term "cellulite" to describe how the fat on a woman's lower body looks, fine. We'll accept that, however, the fat termed "cellulite" is no different from the adipose tissue residing under the skin in any other area of the body.
If there is no physical difference then why does it look different? Good question. First, you have to understand something about the skin. It's very elastic, stretching when you move, closely following the rest of the body. In doing so it must also be attached to the body. For example, the skin covering the fingers is attached to the muscles and bone by fibrous cords called irabitclae that are far less elastic than the skin itself.
Since the connective tissue is not as elastic as the skin, it will only stretch so far while being acted on by the force of expanding fat cells. Once the cords reach their limit, and the fat cells are still expanding, the cords stop and the skin in between keeps going. The point where the connective tissue is attached to the skin is the low point of a dimple. Put a bunch of these dimples together and you have what looks like a pillow case full of gravel.
Why is cellulite so hard to get rid of? Another good question, the answer pertains to the gender specific deposits of fat. To put it simply, the areas of greater fat concentration appear to be the last to go. In order to get rid of the look of cellulite you must get rid of the fat that is causing it. Remember in the realm of normal people twenty to twenty-five percent body fat is normal for a woman, while fifteen to twenty percent is normal for a male. Most of America exceeds the upper limits of their respective group creating a forum for a whole lot of cheesy looking fat.
Dieting can be deceiving; we've seen women who appear skinny up top yet are hauling around quite a load down below and scream cellulite when they can't diet it off. Even though their collar bone is sticking out and their arms are skinny, their body fat measurements are still quite high.
The bottom line is that dieting down is tough work indeed and you MUST have follow a proven system to get this fat off - otherwise you'll end up more frustrated than anything else. It's a lot easier to give up and blame a disorder than it is to religiously pass the bulk food section at the market and actually do 30 minutes of aerobics every day. If the diet and activity level of an average American were analyzed it would be very clear why cellulite is so common.


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3 races key to Michigan Congress delegation control
DETROIT (AP) -- Republicans head into Election Day with a two-seat majority in Michigan's congressional delegation and high hopes of maintaining the edge. But three surprisingly close races have Democrats eyeing an opportunity to erase the advantage.
The GOP has had reason for optimism. The party registered big wins during the 2010 midterm elections, then had majorities in the Legislature to redraw the state's congressional districts. Republicans also saw the prospect of native son Mitt Romney's presidential candidacy aiding down-ballot races.
Then a Republican incumbent in a safe congressional seat unexpectedly resigned amid a signature-gathering scandal. Democrats also put forward capable candidates in close races and Romney focused his attention on other states.
Now Democrats are focusing on the 1st, 3rd and 11th districts in their effort to wrest control of the delegation.


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Icons and Home Items
As a sub-category of the Marketplace this is the place to list your business, advertise services, or review a business or product related to icons and home items. Please keep within the guidelines. You may also want to link to, or create, a page which has a profile of your business (people, history, products, etc.).
- ArchangelsBooks.com
- OramaWorld - Byzantine Icons- Hand-painted, Old-fashioned & Silver Icons
- OrthodoxIconsOnline.com - Orthodox Christian Icons and mounted reproductions
- Come and See Icons
- Gloria Incense
- Monastery Greetings
- New Skete Products
- Religious Mall
- Byzantine Studio
- V's Cardbox offers greeting cards and magnets appropriate for Orthodox occasions.
- Orthodox Images - Iconography and Fine Art Reproductions
- Original Comboschini (Prayer Ropes) from Mount Athos Monks
- Hand-painted icons by the hand of Matthew Garrett
- Iconography by Nicholas Papas
- Religious Icons from Greece - Online retailer of Byzantine Icons
- Eastern Christian Prayer Beads
- Damascene Gallery - Fine Antique, Newly Painted and Hiqh Quality Mounted Icons
Monastery and Church stores
- Kolivart.com of the Dormition of Theotokos Orthodox Monastery of the Autonomous Archdiocese of Ohrid
- Online Store of the Holy Myrrhbearers Monastery (Otego, New York)
- Skete.com of the St. Isaac of Syria Skete (Boscobel, Wisconsin)
- St. John Chrysostomos Crafts of the St. John Chrysostomos Greek Orthodox Monastery (Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin)


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Do you know how to steer away from online banking trouble?
As European Cyber Security Month gets underway, ESET's Ondrej Kubovič offers some top tips when it comes to safe and secure online banking.
As European Cyber Security Month gets underway, ESET's Ondrej Kubovič offers some top tips when it comes to safe and secure online banking.
Introduction Mobile World Congress 2012 is almost upon us, and one of the most hotly-anticipated topics is the next generation of Microsoft's smartphone operating system Windows Phone 8, which has been kept under wraps far more tightly than its PC counterpart, Windows 8. While Microsoft was an early adopter in the creation of smartphones with
We recently noted that the data broker industry, in conjunction with social media outlets will become increasingly relied upon as a kind of shadow credit score for judging candidates' qualifications. Now we see a startup that uses your Facebook profile directly to determine a "credit score" used for microloans. We hear horror stories of lost
Sitting in an airport you rarely frequent, you grab your laptop and snap out a couple e-mails to send, and look, there's a free WiFi hotspot. Bang, you connect and send, and are off on your way. What you don't know is the free WiFi may come with a price: your login credentials and network
The US Department of Justice's announcement yesterday of the takedown of the command and control (C&C) servers for the Coreflood bots (detected by ESET as Win32/AFCore) and seizure of their domains marks another step in the growing awareness that crime, whether it is committed with bullets or with botnets, is still crime. This particular botnet,
[C. Nicholas Burnett, the manager for ESET LLC's tier three technical support, contributed the following guest blog article on the FireSheep plugin for Firefox. Thank you very much, Carl! Aryeh Goretsky] The past several days have seen the security community abuzz about a program presented in San Diego at ToorCon 12 this last weekend called
Yesterday I posted a blog about the Director of the FBI claiming to no longer use online banking at all because he almost feel for a phishing attack. A response to the blog suggested not using Windows for online banking and linked to Brian Krebs http://voices.washingtonpost.com/securityfix/2009/10/avoid_windows_malware_bank_on.html and Michael Horowitz http://blogs.computerworld.com/14806/crimeware_gets_worse_how_to_avoid_being_robbed_by_your_pc Both of these articles discuss


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Enter your travel itinerary to check the protection required for your destinations.
Register to complete a consultation for either flu or travel, complete with advice.
Find a pharmacy clinic near you, where you can complete your consultation.
Looking for a professional clinical service near you?
We offer a private consultation and referral service through our pharmacy clinics.
There are various consultation options provided by this service
Flu vaccinations
Flu vaccination consultations
Full travel consultation
Your individual travel risk assessed
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For occupational health risk
UK health department approved sources of travel advice are monitored daily.
Consultations are confirmed by trained health care professionals.
RQIA Patient Guide | Patient Terms and Conditions | Privacy Policy | Complaints Policy | Statement of Purpose RQIA


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A network as large and vast as Facebook needs to be fast—and the social network's engineering team has a new tool to help make the experience even faster.
Not satisfied with how its current set of tools was measuring site performance across its myriad data centers, Facebook has instead developed Scuba, a system for "real-time, ad-hoc analysis of arbitrary datasets."
In other words, Scuba is helping Facebook gather important data on the health and status of its server infrastructure—and fast. In a blog post by Lior Abraham, the site performance team engineer says Facebook traditionally relied on pre-aggregated graphs, or sample data stored in MySQL databases. As the site has grown, however—it now boasts just over 900 million users—these tools became slow and unwieldy.
Instead, "the same approach we use to serve News Feed stories in real-time"—where data is stored primarily in memory—"can be used to serve statistics data about our internal systems," he wrote.
As a result, queries now take less than a second to fulfill, "even traversing hundreds of millions of samples and hundreds of gigabytes of data." Employees also have the ability to view heat maps of racks and servers based on such factors as CPU consumption and packet throughput, or find data on "sick" machines that are performing the least effectively.
However, speedy access to such massive amounts of data has a tradeoff. Because the tool is designed for real-time analytics in the here and now, "we typically only keep around 30 days of data," said Abraham in an e-mail exchange with GigaOm.
Scuba's front-end, meanwhile, is designed to visualize all of this data in an easy and simple to understand manner, using what the team describes as "goggles." Nearly any dimension, including "page, server, source version, datacenter, and country, to name just a few common ones," can be aggregated and visualized as a dataset.
Internally, the tool has proven successful. Abraham says that dozens of engineers contributed features and fixes, "and now over 500 employees use the tool monthly."


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Looking for a hairstylist specialised in taking care of your hair in ALTRINCHAM
37 HAIR COMPANI (PART OF MYSALON PROMOTION), welcomes you for a unique and unforgettable salon experience.
37 HAIR COMPANI (PART OF MYSALON PROMOTION) offers solutions and the latest trends in haircuts, colour, hair care and styling for a total look. Trust the professional expertise of your hairdresser and you will find innovative Kérastase products to achieve the best look for you.
If you've received your voucher for the MySalon promotion by Kérastase find your participating salons. Making a search? Make sure the MySalon promotional filter is checked. Only 220 participating Salons. Book & Redeem on or before 15th November 2020. Full Ts&Cs Apply.


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Project RETAIN: Providing Integrated Care for HIV-Infected Crack Cocaine Users
|The safety and scientific validity of this study is the responsibility of the study sponsor and investigators. Listing a study does not mean it has been evaluated by the U.S. Federal Government. Read our disclaimer for details.
|ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT01614106
Recruitment Status : Active, not recruiting
First Posted : June 7, 2012
Last Update Posted : July 22, 2020
- Study Details
- Tabular View
- No Results Posted
- Disclaimer
- How to Read a Study Record
|Condition or disease
|HIV AIDS Substance Abuse
|Behavioral: Retention Clinic
|Not Applicable
This study will evaluate the efficacy of an integrated "Retention Clinic" in achieving virologic suppression among HIV-infected cocaine (including crack) users by using a two-group randomized, prospective trial.
Participants will be randomized to one of two groups: 1) "Retention Clinic" group and 2) Treatment as Usual. The intervention content of these groups is briefly described below:
Retention Clinic (RC) Group: This group will receive comprehensive and integrated services from a Retention Clinic. Services include HIV primary care, substance abuse treatment and mental health services, as needed. Participants in this group will also receive hands-on assistance with navigating through the clinic and accessing these services from a patient navigator.
Treatment as Usual (TAU) Group: This group will receive no protocol directed intervention. They will get the standard retention services from their local clinic.
All participants will provide informed consent and will complete a baseline audio computer-assisted self-interview or ACASI focusing on drug use, mental health, demographics and socio-economic factors, HIV care, and drug treatment history as well as blood draws for viral load and CD4 count. Follow-up assessments consisting of both ACASI and blood draws in all groups will be collected at 6 and 12 months post-randomization. Medical records will be reviewed to document use of HIV care, drug treatment and mental health services during the study period.
|Study Type :
|Interventional (Clinical Trial)
|Actual Enrollment :
|360 participants
|Intervention Model:
|Parallel Assignment
|None (Open Label)
|Primary Purpose:
|Official Title:
|Project RETAIN: Providing Integrated Care for HIV-Infected Crack Cocaine Users
|Study Start Date :
|January 2013
|Actual Primary Completion Date :
|December 2017
|Estimated Study Completion Date :
|December 2021
Experimental: Intervention
The Retention Clinic will incorporate HIV primary care and mental health services with on-site substance abuse treatment and patient navigation. The central components will include: Primary HIV Care; Mental Health Services; Skill-building; and On-Site substance abuse treatment (including Motivational Enhancement Therapy and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy).
Behavioral: Retention Clinic
The central components of the Retention Clinic will include: Primary HIV Care; Patient Navigator services (including Informational support, Educational information, Motivational/Emotional support, Skill Building activities); Mental Health Services; and On-Site Substance Abuse Treatment (including Motivational Enhancement Therapy and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy).
No Intervention: Treatment as Usual (TAU)
The treatment as usual (TAU) group condition will represent standard of care at both of the participating clinics. Standard of care at both clinics includes primary HIV care, the provision of mental health services, and the assignment of a clinic case manager. These case managers meet with patients when they first come to clinic and then meet with them as needed and typically offer substance-using patients a referral to substance abuse treatment in the community as needed. Case managers usually do not follow up to determine the uptake of these referrals.
- Virologic suppression [ Time Frame: 12 months ]To evaluate the effectiveness of the integrated "Retention Clinic" in achieving virologic suppression (defined as having an HIV-1 viral load <200 copies/mL at 6 and 12 months) among HIV-infected cocaine (including crack) users
- Attendance to HIV Care Visits [ Time Frame: 12 months ]To evaluate the effectiveness of the integrated care Retention Clinic in increasing attendance at HIV care visits.
- Adherence to HIV Treatment Regimens [ Time Frame: 12 months ]To evaluate the effectiveness of the integrated care Retention Clinic in increasing adherence to HIV treatment regimens.
- Attendance to Substance Abuse Treatment [ Time Frame: 12 months ]To evaluate the effectiveness of the integrated care Retention Clinic in increasing attendance at substance abuse treatment.
- Decreasing Substance Use [ Time Frame: 12 months ]To evaluate the effectiveness of the integrated care Retention Clinic in decreasing substance use.
Choosing to participate in a study is an important personal decision. Talk with your doctor and family members or friends about deciding to join a study. To learn more about this study, you or your doctor may contact the study research staff using the contacts provided below. For general information, Learn About Clinical Studies.
|Ages Eligible for Study:
|18 Years and older (Adult, Older Adult)
|Sexes Eligible for Study:
|Accepts Healthy Volunteers:
Inclusion Criteria:
Participating individuals must:
- be at least 18 years old
- be HIV-seropositive (confirmed via medical record/laboratory results or via rapid HIV test in conjunction with confirmatory test or viral load)
- meet one of the following: a) have an (*)AIDS-defining illness OR b) have a CD4 count <350 cells/uL AND a viral load >1000 copies/mL in the medical record in the past 3 months OR c) have a CD4 count <350 cells/uL AND a viral load >200 copies/mL as obtained via baseline blood draw OR d) have a clinical profile indicative of a persistently detectable HIV viral load (>200 copies/mL) attributed to non-adherence to HIV medications as per PI evaluation of the individual and/or individual's medical record
- report (OR have evidence in the medical record of) any cocaine (including crack) use in the past 3 months OR (**)have a positive toxicology result for cocaine via the study toxicology screen
- agree to have their blood drawn for CD4 and viral load testing
- report living in or near either Miami, Florida (FL), or Atlanta, Georgia (GA), and be able to return for follow-up visits
- provide locator information
- be able to communicate in English
- provide written informed consent
- sign a HIPAA Authorization form/medical record release to facilitate medical record abstraction
- be willing to go to the study clinic
(*)Site PI discretion will be used to assess whether or not the AIDS-defining illness is a good indicator of eligibility. For example, if a patient does not meet the CD4 and viral load criteria and does have an AIDS-defining illness, the Site PI will assess the AIDS-defining illness to determine whether or not the patient is a suitable candidate for the study.
(**)Per PI discretion, the urine toxicology screen may be administered as part of the screening process if the participant's self-report and/or medical record data renders him/her ineligible on the drug use criterion.
Exclusion Criteria:
Individuals will be excluded from study participation if they:
- do not meet any one or more of the above-described inclusion criteria
- are receiving patient navigator services for HIV care and/or substance abuse treatment
- have significant cognitive or developmental impairment to the extent that they are unable to provide informed consent
- are terminated via site PI decision
To learn more about this study, you or your doctor may contact the study research staff using the contact information provided by the sponsor.
Please refer to this study by its ClinicalTrials.gov identifier (NCT number): NCT01614106
|United States, Florida
|Jackson Health System-Special Immunology Clinic
|Miami, Florida, United States, 33136
|United States, Georgia
|Grady Health System-Ponce De Leon Center
|Atlanta, Georgia, United States, 30308
|Principal Investigator:
|Lisa R. Metsch, Ph.D.
|Columbia University
|Principal Investigator:
|Carlos del Rio, M.D.
|Emory University
|Responsible Party:
|Lisa Metsch, Stephen Smith Professor and Chair of Sociomedical Sciences Department, Columbia University
|ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier:
|Other Study ID Numbers:
R01DA032098 ( U.S. NIH Grant/Contract )
|First Posted:
|June 7, 2012 Key Record Dates
|Last Update Posted:
|July 22, 2020
|Last Verified:
|July 2020
|Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated Drug Product:
|Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated Device Product:
Drug Users
Crack-Cocaine Use
HIV Primary Care
Substance-Related Disorders
Chemically-Induced Disorders
Mental Disorders


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text: Robot Dreams has been covering the Robo-One competition in Japan and just posted this video of one of our PhantomX Hexapods in a qualifying round for the 4.5 meter dash. It's always awesome to see our crawlers traversing the globe, and soon enough there will be a PhantomX Hexapod in every city, in every country. Not that we're planning a hexapod uprising or anything. Definitely not.


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Skógafoss, Iceland
Skógafoss is located on the Skógá River in the south of Iceland at the cliffs of the former coastline.
After the coastline receded the former sea cliffs remained, parallel to the coast over hundreds of kilometres, creating a clear border between the coastal lowlands and the Highlands of Iceland.
Drama at Reynisfjara Beach, Iceland
Reynisdrangar - Legend says that these stacks originated when two trolls dragged a three-masted ship to land unsuccessfully and when daylight broke they became needles of rock. Perfect dramatic sky and moody atmosphere to go with the story.
Reynisfjara black sand beach was ranked in 1991 as one of the ten most beautiful non-tropical beaches in the world.
Reynisdrangar Cliffs, Vik, Iceland
Legend says that these stacks originated when two trolls dragged a three-masted ship to land unsuccessfully and when daylight broke they became needles of rock.
Situated under the mountain Reynisfjall in the village of Vik, in south Iceland, they are surrounded by a black sand beach that was ranked in 1991 as one of the ten most beautiful non-tropical beaches in the world.
Diamond Beach - Jökulsárlón, Iceland
The most unique place is visited in Iceland. A black sand beach laden with diamonds provides quite a contrasting scene. The Ice enters the ocean at the nearby Jökulsárlón glacial lagoon. and gets washed back to the shore by the waves. A true marvel of nature.
Goðafoss - A different perspective
A long exposure shot of Godafoss from the foot bridge. Most pictures of this iconic waterfall are from the foot of the falls or right on top. Here is Godafoss from a different angle - one of the most spectacular waterfalls in Iceland.
Behind a Curtain of Water, Seljalandsfoss, Iceland
This waterfall is one of the most popular waterfalls and natural wonders in Iceland. The waterfall drops 60 m and is part of the Seljalands River that originates from the volcanic glacier Eyjafjallajökull.
Convergence - Reynisdrangar, Vik, Iceland
A long exposure shot of the Reynisdrangar cliffs as seen from the beach in Vik, Iceland. The sand on the south coast od Iceland is black as coal and the sky was overcast and grey and this shot was taken late evening so the scene lacked colour. I decided to process this image as a black and white as I want it to be more about the shapes of the rocks, the cliffs and the ripples in the stream joining the sea.
Reynisdrangar are basalt sea stacks situated under the mountain Reynisfjall near the village Vík. Legend says that the stacks originated when two trolls dragged a three-masted ship to land unsuccessfully and when daylight broke they became needles of rock.
All states of water - Jökulsárlón, Iceland
Solid, Liquid and Vapour...
Jökulsárlón developed into a lake after the glacier started receding from the edge of the Atlantic Ocean. The lake has grown since then at varying rates because of melting of the glaciers. The icebergs that calve from the glacier edge move towards the river mouth and get entrenched at the bottom. The movement of the icebergs fluctuates with the tide currents, as well as being affected by wind. However, they start floating as icebergs when their size is small enough to drift to the sea. These icebergs are seen in two shades: milky white and bright blue, which depends on the air trapped within the ice and is an interplay of light and ice crystals.
Curvy Mountain Road - Mývatn, Iceland
The otherworldly landscape of Iceland is filled with strange looking lava formations, mountains, bubbling mud pools, lakes of turquoise water and geothermal vents.
The mountains in the Mývatn area are known for their different colours, you can find mountains in red, yellow, orange, white, green, brown and many other colours.
Gullfoss, Iceland
Located in South Iceland on the Hvítá (White) river which is fed by Iceland´s second biggest glacier, the Langjökull.
The water plummets down 32 meters in two stages into a rugged canyon with walls up to 70 meters in height.
In the early 20th century international investors wanted to harness the power of Gullfoss to produce electricity.
Sigriður Tómasdóttir who grew up on the farm sought to save the waterfall. Sigriður using her own money hired a lawyer in Reykjavik to defend her case.
The trial lasted years and Sigriður went several times barefoot on traitorous terrain to Reykjavik to follow up on her case.
Her struggle to preserve the waterfall brought to people´s attention the importance of preserving nature and therefore she is often called Iceland´s first environmentalist.
1 AM at Vík í Mýrdal, South Iceland
The village of Vík is the southernmost village in Iceland. In 1991, the US journal Islands Magazine counted this beach as one of the ten most beautiful beaches on Earth. Its stretch of black basalt sand is one of the wettest places in Iceland.
There is no landmass between here and all the way to Antarctica and the Atlantic rollers can attack with full force.
Vík lies directly south of the Mýrdalsjökull glacier, which is on top of the Katla volcano. Katla has not erupted since 1918, and an eruption may occur soon which could melt enough ice to trigger an enormous flash flood, large enough to obliterate the entire town. The town's church (on the left in this picture), located high on a hill, is believed to be the only building that would survive such a flood. Thus, the people of Vík practice periodic drills and are trained to rush to the church at the first sign of an eruption.
Mirror Image - Vik i Myrdal Church - Vik, Iceland
This cute little red and white church on top of a small hill in Vik in South of Iceland, is surrounded by a dramatic landscape and jagged peaks.
Reason i chose this composition is because the bright colour of the church perfectly complimented the foggy mood and I loved hot the shape of the church is a mirror image of the shape of the mountain in the background.
Stöðvarfjörður Harbour, Iceland
Stöðvarfjörður is a small beautiful village in east Iceland which boasts the world famous Petra's Stone Collection.
It sits on the Northern shore of the fjord of the same name, and has about 200 inhabitants.
Reynisfjara Beach, Vik, Iceland
The Black sand beach of Reynisfjara is close to Vik. It features an amazing cliff of basalt columns resembling a step pyramid, called Hálsanef.
This is a shot taken from the top of the Vik Cliffs after a 3 HOUR hike. Totally worth it!
Blue Water & Black Sand - Kirkjufjara Beach, Iceland
Took me a couple of tries to get the correct shutter speed to get some streaks in the waves. Kirkjufjara is a black sand beach in south Iceland near Vik. Famous for it picturesque coast line and abundant bird life in Summer. Access to the beach was closed in Jan 2017 following a drowning accident. This is a shot from the top of the cliffs looking down at the beach.
Taking a stroll on Mars - Námaskarð, Iceland
A shot trying to capture the otherworldliness (if that's a word) of this Alien landscape. I decided to include the couple in the shot to show the scale of the place.
Icelandic Horses Landscape
These small yet majestic horses are an integral part of the Icelandic culture (almost 100,000 of them in a country of 320,000 people).. They have 5 natural gaits: walk, trot, canter, tölt and flying pace.. Their sure footedness will get you across rough terrains.. These horses, moments after this picture was taken, walked right up to us and we got to experience just how friendly they are..
A drive on Mars? - Námaskarð, Iceland
Would you like to drive on Mars? Someday soon maybe. until then the closet you can get to the feeling is in Námaskarð in Iceland.
Located near Lake Myvatn, Námaskarð is a geothermal wonder. Black rivers, ore deposits and bubbling pools of sulfur create a landscape that's rich with colorful minerals and is continuously steaming.
Adding primary colours, Skogafoss, Iceland
A common perspective of this amazing waterfall. This photographer couple with their bright primary coloured jackets were adding brilliant colours to the scene. I couldn't resist making them a part of my composition. I think adding a human element helps depict the scale of this massive and beautiful work of nature.
Situated on the Skógá River in the south of Iceland, Skógafoss is one of the biggest waterfalls in the country with a width of 15 metres (49 feet) and a drop of 60 m (200 ft).
Lake Mývatn Pseudo Craters
Myvatn pseudocraters in northern Iceland.. pseudocrater or rootless cone only looks like an actual volcanic crater. They are formed when hot lava flows over ground containing water, causing a steam explosion.
Jökulsárlón Ice Beach
Opposite the road from the Glacier Lagoon is the beautiful black sand beach of Jökulsárlón where you can see ice-bergs and crystals that have washed up from the sea.
This beach is also called the diamond beach because of the shiny ice cubes spread all over the black beach.
In Hell, Heaven on the horizon, Námaskarð, Iceland
Located near Lake Myvatn, Námaskarð is a geothermal wonder. Black rivers, ore deposits and bubbling pools of sulfur create a landscape that's rich with colorful minerals and is continuously steaming.
Looks like we are standing in Hell and can see heaven (beautiful snow covered peaks) just over the horizon.


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Could drought end tomorrow?
With local meteorologists talking about one, two, or even three inches of rain and the National Weather Service calling for a nearly 100 percent chance of rain Wednesday, August 18–- and with hurricane season intensifying–- the 2010 drought that has gripped Central Virginia could be coming to an abatement, if not an end.
19 comments
There are no water use restrictions because the reservoirs are still at 89.8% of capacity as of this morning. You may remember reading about the difference between a climatologic drought and a hydrologic drought back in 2004 when we really had a problem. Four dry months is nothing in terms of depleting the reservoirs and ground water. It took four years of drought for the reservoirs to get down below 50%. And we are using a lot less water per day on average than we were before restrictions were imposed back then.
Mr. Brown, seems like you live in the county. If that's true, you don't live in Charlottesville. No wonder then that it gives you nothing in exchange for your taxes.
"And by the way, if you see your mom this weekend,
Be sure and tell her: Clayton, Clayton, Clayton!!!"
"The sky is falling! The sky is falling!" cried Chicken Little.
"Hush," said Henny Penny. "People will mistake you for Hawes Spencer."
"But it's going to RAIN!" Chicken Little explained.
"Rain rain go away, come again some other day,'" said Henny Penny. "Or--'into each life a little rain must fall.' You've heard--'Rain on their parade'? Note the recurring theme. Every so often, it rains."
"But we might get wet!"
"We're fairy tale animals, not journalists. We have calm good sense. Last time Hawes predicted a 100% chance of rain we got not one drop. This time, a little drizzle. Not enough that the streets are wet but still, his record is improving."
"So we don't need to run and tell the king the sky is falling?"
"The Hook already did. Needless to say--now the sun is out."
yaaaawwwwnnnn.....what was that you were saying? i was asleep. give me some red-purple and we'll talk
@tw -glad you got a good sleep. Rain yes, flooding no, at best, weather forecasting is an inexact science, but still was great to get a good dosing; if croaking is any indication, my frogs are happy this morning .
My tomato plants are jumping up and down. Yea haaaaaaaa.
It's interesting to note, that after months of an official drought, there have been no water restrictions in our community this summer, and not even a drought watch.
Betty, I think this is only because the prices are high enough already. If they thought they could get by with it again, they would have used the 2010 drought as an excuse to raise the prices another 15% to 25%.
Let there be no mistake, Mac. People are using less water now because it's almost cheaper to take a shower using cheap beer.
The reason for the reduced consumption is irrelevant to the question of why further restrictions (or rate hikes if you prefer) have not been imposed.
Great, it figures. I will be moving a storage-unit load of furniture to Richmond Tues afternoon and Wednesday morning. Oh, well, we need it.
You people should try Richmond. Basic water/sewer/trash almost $100/month. Property taxes over $1.20 per hundred value. City/county relations that make the dust-ups between Charlottesville and Albemarle seem like a tea party (pardon the expression). The only thing I have found more expensive here is real estate. Granted, that impacts every single person here, but the idea that we are bled dry by our government is simply false.
Mr. Brown, if you really think you'd be getting more service in an urban area, you are kidding yourself. You think cops are unresponsive here? In the cities, you have to tell the 911 operator that you see a weapon to get them to show up. $5000/yr seems like a bargain--you probably have paid off the mortgage, or it's chump change, as long as you didn't pull all the equity out of your property for granite countertops.
Taxes are the price we pay for living in a civilized society; they pave our roads, build our bridges, and educate our children (even if you don't have kids in school, you can't possibly believe it's in the public interest to not fund schools). We don't get to opt out.
You are very fortunate to be sitting on such a nice nest egg. Be grateful for what you have.
Charlottesville/Albemarle has seen a steady rise in water and sewer rates, drought or no drought. People I know are chosing to move away or not come here, because of the high cost of living in this community. Look around lots of "for sale" signs in all parts of the city and county. Ny guess is, the population of our area will decrease, even if UVA does grow; it won't be enough to compensate for the manufacturing jobs leaving the area and the retirees chosing more affordable places to live out their golden years -which aren't so golden in this economy.
Where is the sun?
PS "prainva" you may not be bled dry but I am. I would pay more in Richmond but I would get more. Here I pay less, but I get nothing. So pay something for something in Richmond or pay something for nothing in Cville, which is better.
My taxes for a 4 acre lot and a fairly simple 3 br/2 bath home? OVER $5000!!! They say the land alone is worth over $500,000 or $125K PER ACRE. Awfully tough for me to swallow when we paid less than $17,000 for the property in 1971, the land is not sub-dividable and I couldn't sell the house for even the land assessment in this economy but the county says it's "Fair Market Value". And to boot I am on a fixed income and have no pension only my savings and social security.
What do I get for over 5K? I don't use the schools. I find the police unresponsive and inadequate. When I call about the ninja bike racing on Saturday night at 2 am the response is always we don't have an officer to respond and even if we did they can't catch a motorcycle they are too fast.
I have a volunteer fire squad, so my taxes aren't going there. They charge me to go into Mint Springs. They don't take my trash or my recycling. They don't provide me water or sewer. They don't maintain the right of ways. So just exactly what do I get for my 5 large in taxes? When I go to the county office building the staff is generally (but not always) rude. So I am not paying for service. Just what the helldo I get exactly PLEASE prainva tell me what the helldo I get?
its going to rain....(snore)
This rain looks like more than a snore --running out to clean out the drain so the basement doesn't flood; lots of yellows on the weather map coming our way.
Looks wet in my backyard- big puddles and still a prediction of heavy rain this afternoon. I'm taking my umbrella to work.


text:
2012 Rosa Parks Memorial Award
Caroline Hunter
Member, Massachusetts
Presented to a nominee who, like Rosa Parks, inspires others to champion the cause of human and civil rights.
(Download printable format, PDF, 86 KB, 1p)
Civil Rights activists and ethicist Derrick Bell once wrote: "Courage means putting at risk your immediate self-interest for what you believe is right. In fact, risk-taking is probably the most defining act of an ethical life." Rosa Parks put at risk her immediate self-interest for what she believed was right. So, too, did Caroline Hunter.
At the age of 21, fresh out of Xavier University, New Orleans, Hunter landed a good job as a chemist at the Polaroid Corporation. Then one day, quite by chance, she spotted in her workplace an enlarged South African photo identification card. The year was 1970, decades before the anti-apartheid movement in the U.S. had gathered steam. But Caroline Hunter knew the significance of that photo identification card. It was part of what Nelson Mandela called "the hated document"— that is, the South African passbook all Blacks in South Africa were required to carry at all times. It was an important link in the chain that the Apartheid regime used to control and monitor the movement of Blacks.
Polaroid had in fact been doing business with the apartheid government of South Africa for years. Most important was its ID-2 system, which consisted of a camera, instant processor and laminator. It could generate a photo identification card in just two minutes and more than 200 in an hour—exactly the technology the apartheid government needed to enforce its Pass Laws Act.
After finding the mock passbook, Caroline Hunter and her colleague (and later husband) Ken Williams, a photographer at Polaroid, launched their campaign. They distributed fliers around the workplace, alerting their colleagues to Polaroid's complicity with apartheid. They organized demonstrations outside the company's headquarters, and they spoke out to the larger community. Up until this point, Polaroid had a reputation as a liberal company—"an equal opportunity employer." But the Polaroid management did not take well to the protests, and they fired Hunter and Williams. But the pair's hard work and sacrifices paid off. By 1977, Polaroid completely pulled out of South Africa, and the international divestment movement, which eventually crippled apartheid, was on its way.
Quite fittingly for a person of conscience, Caroline Hunter went on to become a teacher. She was a secondary science and math teacher, and she organized a number of school-community projects such as the Supplementary Learning Center for atrisk youth. She also taught math to parents of Boston public schools students in Saturday workshops.
In the 2000s, Caroline Hunter became an assistant principal, after earning her Masters of Education from Harvard Graduate School of Education. As such she was responsible for the management of all student data in the Cambridge Rindge and Latin School. Now retired, she has never ceased being a social justice activist.
- NEA Human and Civil Rights Awards Program
- 2012 Award Winners
- Past Award Winners
- 2012 Joint Conference on Concerns of Minorities and Women


text:
Fran Warren, the singer behind the 1947 big band classic "A Sunday Kind of Love," has died, The Associated Press reports. She was 87.
A spokesman for the singer-actress said that Warren died of natural causes on her birthday, March 4, at her home in Brookfield, Conn.
A Bronx, N.Y. native, Warren (real name: Frances Wolfe) performed on a chorus line at the Roxy Theater before auditioning with Duke Ellington's big band at 16. She didn't join his band, but she started singing with bands led by Randy Brooks, Art Mooney, Billy Eckstine, Charlie Barnet and Claude Thornhill soon after. It was with Thornhill's band that she topped the charts for the time with 1947's "A Sunday Kind of Love."
Remember other celebrities who died this year
She went solo the following year and reached No. 3 on the charts singing "I Said My Pajamas (and Put On My Pray'rs)" with Tony Martin. Her last chart hit was in 1953 with "It's Anybody's Heart."
During the heyday of her singing career, Warren also appeared on several TV variety shows before graduating to a supporting role in the 1952 film Abbott and Costello Meet Captain Kidd. She also co-starred in the musical comedies The Pajama Game and Finian's Rainbow.
Warren went on to tour with Harry James in the 1960s and trumpet player Joe Cabot from 1979-1982.
Warren is survived by two daughters, a son-in-law and two nieces.


text:
Item Description
Certificate of appointment of G.W. Brown as agent for the Kansas Executive Committee
Author: Free State Executive Committee
Date: December 10, 1855
Certificate issued by the Free State Executive Committee appointing George Washington Brown, editor of the Herald of Freedom newspaper, as its agent to pursue immediate admission of Kansas as a state under the provisions of the Topeka Constitution. James H. Lane signed the certificate as chairman of the Executive Committee.
Location of Original: KSHS Call Number: George Washington Brown Collection, #297, Box 1, Folder 1
Item Number: 100201 Number of images: 1
Keywords: Brown, George W. (George Washington), 1820-1915; Certificates; Free state cause; Free state government; Lane, James Henry, 1814-1866; Topeka Constitution
pg. 1


text:
With a new Associated Press-GfK poll showing that Republican Mitt Romney has erased Obama's 16-point advantage among women, the president tried to keep a GOP abortion controversy alive. The risers behind him stacked with female supporters, Obama made a veiled reference to Indiana Senate candidate Richard Mourdock's comment that pregnancies resulting from rape are "something God intended."
"As we saw again this week, I don't think any politician in Washington, most of whom are male, should be making health care decisions for women," Obama said. "Women can make those decisions themselves."
It was the president's first mention of Mourdock's comment at a rally, but Obama said Wednesday night on "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" that "rape is rape." His campaign also has been intensifying its criticism of Romney for refusing to pull his support for Mourdock, even though the Republican presidential nominee said he disagrees with Mourdock's comment.
Beyond the statement from an aide, Romney and his aides have tried to avoid the subject. While picking up breakfast at a downtown Cincinnati diner Thursday morning, Romney refused to answer repeated questions about Mourdock's comment and whether he would call for Mourdock to take down a TV ad Romney filmed for him earlier this week.
Ignoring questions from reporters standing a few feet away, Romney instead posed for pictures with kitchen staff and greeted surprised diners during the brief stop at the First Watch cafe.
Romney's campaign reached out to women by sending Ann Romney on daytime's "Rachael Ray" show, where she prepared her meatloaf cakes recipe and took cameras along on a trip to Costco to shop in bulk for family gatherings. Mrs. Romney said that, with 30 mouths to feed, her family always eats buffet-style and that "Mitt is often at the front of the line."
Romney was kicking off a daylong swing through three Ohio towns, sharpening his focus on a state critical to his hopes of winning the White House. The Republican's advisers say their internal data has him tied to win the state's 18 Electoral College votes, but public polling has shown Obama with a slim lead.
Romney is working to cast Obama's campaign as focused on small issues while the Republican ticket is focused on fixing the nation's serious fiscal problems.
"His campaign seems to be smaller and smaller by the day," Romney told more than 2,000 people in an airplane hangar off the tarmac in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, on Wednesday as his campaign plane loomed behind him. "Attacking me is not an agenda for the future."
The AP-GfK poll released Thursday shows the presidential race still a virtual dead heat nationally, with Romney favored by 47 percent of likely voters and Obama by 45 percent. That result is within the poll's 4.2-point margin of error.
Although national polls show the race is close, Romney is struggling to overtake Obama in the state-by-state march to racking up the 270 Electoral College votes needed for victory. Romney has far fewer paths to reaching that threshold than Obama, who starts with more states - and more Electoral College votes - in his win column. The race is centered on just nine states, where polls show competitive races: Ohio, Florida, Iowa, New Hampshire, Virginia, North Carolina, Colorado, Nevada and Wisconsin.
The president's morning rally kicked off the second day of his 40-hour battleground state blitz. After spending the night on Air Force One en route to Florida, he was heading to Virginia and Ohio before heading back to the White House.
Shortly after 7 a.m. and less than five hours after his day ended in Las Vegas, Obama was at a Krispy Kreme doughnut shop near downtown Tampa, and minutes later delivered the still warm doughnuts to a nearby firehouse. He said he wanted to come by early - noting he is not often out this early - to thank them for all they do.
Obama then spoke to about 8,500 people at a morning rally in Tampa, a swing area of battleground state Florida.
With a full day of campaigning still ahead of him, Obama's voice was already hoarse. But he told the enthusiastic crowd he was "just going to keep on keeping on until every single person out there who needs to vote is going to go vote."
He noted to cheers that he was going to Chicago later Thursday to participate in early voting and that first lady Michelle Obama already mailed in her ballot.
Obama's campaign also announced joint rallies Monday with Bill Clinton in Orlando, Fla., Youngstown, Ohio, and Prince William County, Va. The president also picked up an endorsement from former Secretary of State Colin Powell, a Republican who supported Obama in 2008. Powell praised Obama's handling of the economic recovery, telling "CBS This Morning," ''I think we've begun to come out of the dive and we're gaining attitude."
Hunt reported from Cincinnati. Associated Press writers Nedra Pickler and Julie Pace in Washington and Steve Peoples in Cincinnati contributed to this report.


text:
This website is under a cutover period, please refer to the new link provided here.
IBM recognizes that a diverse supplier base is integral to company profitability and strategic objectives--solidifying the connection between customer satisfaction and winning in the marketplace. IBM's supplier diversity program expands purchasing opportunities for businesses owned and operated by minorities, women, lesbian and gay, veterans and service disabled veterans, and disabled persons. Purchasing opportunities are also expanded for our non-profit organizations that hire disabled persons and for HUBZone companies.
Building and maintaining a community of diverse suppliers increases IBM's opportunity to hear new ideas, apply different approaches, and gain access to additional solutions that respond to customer needs. Such collaboration helps IBM deliver innovation, quality products, and world-class service to a growing global marketplace.
Minority owned businesses are defined as being at least 51% owned and controlled by one or more individuals from any of the following ethnic groups: Black, Hispanic, Native (including Eskimo and Native Hawaiians) and Asian Americans; or is "minority controlled" by 30% of its voting stock, board of directors and management.
Women owned businesses are defined as being at least 51% owned and controlled by one or more women.
LGBT owned businesses are defined as being at least 51% owned by one or more lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgendered individuals.
Suppliers that wish to have minority owned, women owned or HUBZone business designation within IBM's systems must provide appropriate certification(s). Suppliers must acquire and maintain valid certification(s) from the following agencies and/or associations, as appropriate. Where multiple designations apply multiple certifications from multiple agencies/associations are required.
Associations and agencies include, but are not limited to, the:
Michael K. Robinson,
Global Supplier Diversity program director
If you would like to register your company as a diverse supplier in one of our Supplier Diversity Registration portals, please complete the appropriate registration document, and send to the designated E-mail address listed below. Potential diverse suppliers are reviewed and identified using the data contained in the form. Only fully completed forms will be considered. Note that completion of this form does not guarantee future business.
All commodities except technical services
IBM Global Diverse Supplier Registration
If you have any questions or require any details about our supplier diversity program, please contact the appropriate program manager from the list below:
Mary M Hellem, Small Business Liaison Officer (SBLO)
Responsibilities: Business Consulting Services—Federal;
Agencies: Dept of Education, Dept of Homeland Security, Dept of State, Dept of Transportation, Dept of Treasury, GSA (annual), USPS (quarterly)
DoD, DoE, USDA, USPS, Customs Constituency, Veteran, Asian Constituency
Phone: 703-920-0304
Raynard A. Nowden, Program manager
Responsibilities: FFATA reporting and administration and mentoring, LBGT
Phone: 301-803-6806


text:
Paris, 17 October 2006
A new Hubble image of the Antennae galaxies is the sharpest yet of this merging pair of galaxies. As the two galaxies smash together, thousand of millions of stars are born, mostly in groups and clusters of stars.
The Universe is an all-action arena for some of the largest, most slowly evolving and surprising processes known to mankind. A new picture taken by the Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS), onboard the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, shows the best ever view of the Antennae galaxies - seemingly a violent clash between a pair of once isolated galaxies, but in reality a fertile marriage.
As the two galaxies interact, thousand of millions of stars are born, mostly in groups and clusters of stars.
The brightest and most compact of these are called super star clusters.
The two spiral galaxies started to fuse together about 500 million years ago making the Antenna galaxies the nearest and youngest example of a pair of colliding galaxies. Nearly half of the faint objects in the Antennae are young clusters containing tens of thousands of stars.
The orange blobs to the left and right of image centre are the two cores of the original galaxies and consist mainly of old stars criss-crossed by filaments of dark brown dust. The two galaxies are dotted with brilliant blue star-forming regions surrounded by pink hydrogen gas.
The image allows astronomers to better distinguish between the stars and super star clusters created in the collision of two spiral galaxies. The observations show that only about 10% of the newly formed super star clusters in the Antennae will live to see their ten millionth birthday.
The vast majority of the super star clusters formed during this interaction will disperse, with the individual stars becoming part of the smooth background of the galaxy.
It is however believed that about a hundred of the most massive clusters will survive to form regular globular clusters, similar to the globular clusters found in our own Milky Way galaxy.
The Antennae galaxies take their name from the long antenna-like 'arms' extending far out from the nuclei of the two galaxies, best seen by ground-based telescopes.
These 'tidal tails' were formed during the initial encounter of the galaxies some 500 million years ago. They give us a preview of what may happen when our Milky Way galaxy likely collides with the neighbouring Andromeda Galaxy about 6 billion years from now.
Notes for editors
The Hubble Space Telescope is a project of international cooperation between ESA and NASA.
For more information, please contact
Brad Whitmore, Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore, USA. Email: whitmore @ stsci.edu
Lars Lindberg Christensen, Hubble/ESA, Garching, Germany. Email: lars @ eso.org
Ray Villard, Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore, USA. Email: villard @ stsci.edu
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text:
Your Agile Concierge
Allyson Bowers, CSM, CSPO, CAL, ACSM
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- Tuesday, August 11, 2020
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- Duration
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Virtual Advanced Certified ScrumMaster (A-CSM)
Class Overview
Anyone is welcome to take this course, however, to receive your Advanced Certified ScrumMaster (A-CSM™) you need to:
- Complete the two-day Certified ScrumMaster Certification (CSM)
- Complete the two-day Advanced Certified ScrumMaster (A-CSM™)
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VIRTUAL Class is delivered through Zoom Platform and led in real-time by a Braintrust expert instructor.
Led by our expert Agile trainers, this virtual, online leadership experience delivers the quality you've come to expect from The Braintrust Consulting Group from the convenience of your desktop or laptop. Virtual Advanced Certified ScrumMaster (A-CSM℠) is a full immersion into the world of the ScrumMaster role. The online class explores Agile Facilitation and Agile Coaching and how the ScrumMaster uses these skills to support the team, the Product Owner and the Organization. The class is full of real-world examples and practical tools and techniques that can be implemented immediately at your workplace. The class is a deep dive into your role as a ScrumMaster and the online, instructor led exercises demonstrate key concepts and let you experience the next level of Scrum firsthand.
- The Agile values in your organization
- How to best facilitate and coach team members, customers, executives and stakeholders
- Techniques to help your team on their journey to self-organization
- Expanding the impact of Scrum in your organization
- Identify ways to scale Scrum and Agile beyond your team
- Digital E-book: Scrum for the Rest of Us Included
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We're so sure that you'll love our new virtual classes that we're offering a 100% satisfaction guarantee on all virtual classes. If you aren't completely satisfied with your virtual experience, we'll let you attend one of our future, in-person classes for free. (*some exclusions apply)
Miljan Bajic
Miljan is a very passionate Agile coach who truly enjoy challenges. As an Agile coach (CEC), trainer (CST), and mentor, he's supported many organizations in their Agile and Lean journeys. Additionally, he teaches Agile Leadership and Process Improvement at University of Southern Maine and Organizational Change at University of Southern New Hampshire. Miljan is also a frequent speaker having participated in many international conferences and Agile events in Europe and United States.
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I arrived with a good understanding of Scrum and still found the course tremendously valuable. They did a great job of providing a great value for all skill levels.Karl, Guthy-Renker
"An invaluable resource for learning, improving or cementing an understanding of Scrum."Matt, Naxos of America
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As a Virtual Advanced Certified ScrumMaster (A-CSM) class participant, I want to learn…
- To explain Agile and Lean Values and Principles, so that I can better appreciate Scrum
- To understand Agile Facilitation, so that I can better support my team
- To understand Agile Coaching, so that I can coach my Team, Product Owner and Organization
- To explore self-organization, so that I can support my Development Team in becoming Self Organized
- To explore team dynamics, so that I can help my team work together better
- To explore Definition of Done, so that I facilitate my team creating one
- To understand the Value of Engineering Practices, so that I coach my team on how to incorporate them
- To understand Service to the Product Owner, so that I can effectively support my Product Owner
- To explore resolving impediments, so that I can effectively support my team
- To understand Scaling Scrum, so that I can understand the pros and cons of scaling
- To explore Organizational Change, so that I can effectively support my organization
- To explore Scrum Mastery, so that I can expand my personal ScrumMaster skills
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Sounds great...
... when's the Android version coming though? :-(
Bicycle trade organisations have commissioned a satnav app that, they claim, steers cyclists away from busy roads and shortens journey times. The Bike Hub Cycle Journey Planner shows bicycle-friendly shortcuts that avoid traffic congestion and gives priority to downhill routes. A bike shop locator displays directions to …
You can read about similar apps based on the same routing data and maps here:
It's a bit confusing to cover because this isn't the standard dog-eat-dog competing proprietary software model. Instead they're mostly building on the same data resource provided by OpenStreetMap (for general mapping), OpenCycleMap (for bike specific mapping) and CycleStreets (for bike routing).
These are all "open" to various degrees and so you'll be able to access them in a variety of ways on a variety of platforms, much like the profusion of platform specific Wikipedia apps and mobile web versions.
There's an update on our blog about the CycleStreets Android app, and I believe BikeHub (the guys whose app is featured in this article) are also planning to do their great app soon for Android.
Our own app is at www.cyclestreets.net/mobile with a full placefinder, turn-by-turn and a photomap for adding Photos. Android app is in the works - http://github.com/cyclestreets
Our API is published, at: www.cyclestreets.net/api and it would be great to see more apps on a range of platforms coming forward :)
GO, because cyclists don't like to stop :)
It will only encourage the adoption of a platform thats taking us back to the nightmares of Windows XP.
Use your resources to improve the app on the iPhone. Who knows you could even make money from this if you ever decided to release a Pro version... on iOS that is.
"Maybe it'll encourage London cyclists to obey traffic lights, but , cynical pedestrians that we are, we doubt it"
And maybe the huge choice of in-car sat-navs with speed camera locations will encourage drivers to drive according to the road conditions?
Having said that, there are lot of twattish London cyclists, you don't see much of that kind of behaviour oop north anyway.
"Having said that, there are lot of twattish London cyclists, you don't see much of that kind of behaviour oop north anyway."
Depends what you define as "oop North" but I suspect that I am much further North than you. The main pedestrianised street here has No Cycling signs everywhere but they are completely ignored. You even have to be careful in the pedestrian underpass for cyclists speeding through ignoring the No Cycling signs.
As a cynical cyclist (who stops at red lights, doesn't use bike paths in the wrong direction and won't ride on pedestrian paths), I'd say that cyclists will start obeying red lights when pedestrians stop walking on bike paths/lanes...
Take care, whatever mode of transport you're using.
You are wrong mostly, see: http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/TravelAndTransport/Highwaycode/DG_069837
62 Cycle Tracks. These are normally located away from the road, but may occasionally be found alongside footpaths or pavements. Cyclists and pedestrians may be segregated or they may share the same space (unsegregated). When using segregated tracks you MUST keep to the side intended for cyclists as the pedestrian side remains a pavement or footpath. Take care when passing pedestrians, especially children, older or disabled people, and allow them plenty of room. Always be prepared to slow down and stop if necessary. Take care near road junctions as you may have difficulty seeing other road users, who might not notice you.
[Law HA 1835 sect 72]
63 Cycle Lanes.
relates to lanes on roads and pedestrians shouldn't be walking on them, should they
Some Mums & Dads seem to think childrens buggies being a wheeled vehicle can use Cycle Lanes/tracks!
Disabled buggies are also a significant hazard in cycle lanes here on the costa geriatrica.
Whilst ensuring I'm not inconveniencing other road users going through red lights can often be the safest option for all.
Funny you should mention this. The first route I asked of it was from home to my office, it chose a route which is lighter on traffic than the one I take, but does include a 20% incline to a height which I can happily avoid by taking the main(ish) road.
I'm not trying to be critical, this is a welcome addition to my cyclist tool kit, especially as a relative novice, but it's not perfect and no substitute for reading a proper map.
"Maybe it'll encourage London cyclists to obey traffic lights, but , cynical pedestrians that we are, we doubt it."
Because, of course, you never get a motorist ignoring traffic lights do you?
...oh hang on a moment though, for every cyclist who flies past me while I'm waiting for the lights to turn green, I probably get a dozen or more motorists who do the same. But of course that doesn't make a good anti-cyclist rant, does it?
You live in London.
I'm very, very sorry for you. In the civilised world of the North East of England (and the NE of Scotland, come to think of it) out traffic- generally- sticks to what the lights tell us. Maybe a cheeky rush-though-a-yellow every so often I'll admit- and frequent exceeding of the speed limit- but from what I've seen they're generally not particularly disruptive to rule-abiding road users.
Cyclists, on the other hand, have a far higher percentage of twattishness. And that even applies in Aberdeen where _everyone_ is an utter twat. Seriously, BMW X5/Audi Q5 driving Aberdonian mothers are less often disruptive to the traffic flow/pedestrians than cyclists.
" for every cyclist who flies past me while I'm waiting for the lights to turn green, I probably get a dozen or more motorists"
Bollocks. Utter utter lies. Its a rare that cyclists take any notice red lights. That might just be where I live, but most go strait through them, and I have only once seen a motorist ignore a red light (as apposed to running one late).
The TfL paper maps have been reissued with no real changes other than to remove indication of many one-way streets - well, that and plastering Tory/Barclays blue over them and putting some clown's mug on them.
It appears that cyclists have got pissed off with TfL's total lack of cycling nous (don't mention the fucking advert for Rupert known as 'Skyride') and have gone thier own way to produce cycle maps that actually mean something to cyclists and not just ride the Barclays routes on Barclays bikes for the ego boost that Boris gets for doing fuck all except gurning to cameras.
As a confident cyclist (who treats red lights as give way signs) I can categorically state that jumping red lights increases rather than decreases my safety on the roads. I always give way to pedestrians (no need to annoy anyone).
And I'm not alone in thinking this. TFL's own Cycle Safety Action Plan states that whilst there is a public perception that jumping red lights is dangerous, the stats don't back up that impression.
No doubt this is public perception formed by people who never ride bikes and hence have no idea whatsoever how dangerous it is to start moving at the same time as all the other vehicles who will drive too close behind, overtake too closely, overtake you and then turn left right in front of you (or just turn left without bothering to properly overtake you) or rush to turn right in and run you over when you're heading the other way.
So as a commuting cyclist, all I ask is that you accept that I know what is safe and what isn't - I'm hardly going to risk my life going through lights now am I?
What you say makes a lot of sense, but I understand the public perception.
I have only started cycling again in the past couple of months after a 12 or so year break, basically since I was a child/adolescent. I don't jump red light at the moment as I know I don't fully appreciate all the factors I need to consider when doing so, my current background is in 1500KGs of steel after all. I mention this as I see on the road cyclists who jump lights in a sensible manner, looking and being considerate and those who just 'go for it', it's the latter group who give all of us a bad name and don't help anyone.
Let's face it, some light touch regulation would be a little inconvenient for the proper cyclists in the short term but I think has the potential, if worked correctly to have some long term benefits in terms of road user attitude and cyclist behavior.
"No doubt this is public perception formed by people who never ride bikes and hence have no idea whatsoever how dangerous it is to start moving at the same time as all the other vehicles"
Frankly, if this is the case for you then you're doing it wrong.
As a cyclist of 20+ years and over 250k miles who obeys traffic signals regardless of his own personal opinion, I would like to thank you sincerely from the bottom of my heart for being one of those who reinforce the negative perception of cyclists in the minds of self-righteous motorists everywhere, a small minority of whom feel perfectly at liberty to act aggressively towards cyclists.
Even if your untested theory is correct, it doesn't change the fact that obeying the law is not optional for you or for anyone else on the road. Your argument is as hollow as the "I'm a safe driver and should be allowed to drive at 50mph in x/y/z 40mph zone" twaddle trotted out with alarming regularity by similarly pinheaded motorists.
Please - learn how to ride in prime and stop jumping red lights.
You can be both confident and dead.
You'll find that a suitably overlooked motorcycle moving at speed* through a junction at green will do that for you one day. The number of bleedin' cyclists who think, like you, that red lights, give way signs and such are advisory that I've had a "near miss" with while biking through London in the past is quite scary.
*Even at 30mph, taking a 500cc or larger machine in the side is *really* going to ruin your day.
"gives priority to downhill routes"
That appears rather clever as I always though the net ascent or descent in a route is dictated solely by the difference in altitude between the start and end points. Whenever I've cycled between two points approximately as the same hight above sea level, I've always been rather of the impression that more downhill has also mean a compensating amount of uphill. As the latter takes rather longer to complete than the former, then the net pain appears to increase.
Personally I've always looked for the routes that involve the least amount of climbing and let the downhill parts sort themselves out. I will now have to search for these legendary downhill all the way routes, especially the circular ones, along with looking for those damned elusive magnetic monopoles.
As another cycle commuter (OK, not all the time these days) I would say that whilst I understand the issues of cyclist passing through/jumping red lights. It's still not something I would do as it just sets a really bad example and tends to lead to "retaliation" or remonstrations from motorists (I have gone through temporary lights at roadworks however, as there is often room to pass safely inside the cones out of the traffic flow).
A bit more tolerance and understanding of each others views from pedestrians, cyclists, motorists (including taxi & bus drivers etc) is whats really required.
Okay, so I thought I'd try the route planner out and see how it fared against the TfL journey planner. I asked it to advise a route from my office off Regent St in the West End to my house in South London.
Within 200 yards it had directed me over a pavement and down a pedestrianised street, over a pedestrian crossing, and down a pedestrianised alleyway, and then the wrong way down a one way street to St James' Square, and then down the wrong, one-way exit of said square into traffic on Pall Mall. It didn't improve much from there, taking in other one way streets, main roads and frankly lunatic detours and right hand turns on major roads. Absolutely nuts.
Almost as if it had been programmed by a cycle courier or cursed lycra lunatic that is so loathed by the majority of Londoners.
The much maligned TfL Journey Planner is an absolute winner by comparison.
Priority to downhill routes? Kind of silly when your destination is higher than your starting point. Different cyclists have different preferences when it comes to climbing. Some prefer one short sharp climb to a long gentle gradient if they've got to climb at all, some prefer it the other way. Some cyclists would rather add several miles to their journey than endure a few hundred yards of climbing, some would always go for the shorted route.
My home is about 120 metres higher than my place of work. There are various routes which vary from about 250m of climbing to 330m. The my preferred route is the one with the most climbing and it's not the shortest. Don't get me wrong, it's not that I love climbing. It's that, even though it's a couple of miles further there is a lot less traffic and very few busy urban junctions. So it's actually quicker to do it the hard way.
As for safety I'm not convinced that staying away from busy urban roads is safer. IME you're just as likely to get clouted by cars on quiet rural roads, and when you do get hit you'll get hit harder. On these roads traffic tends to be faster, but the roads narrower. As a result car drivers who feel that it is compulsory to pass cyclists as soon as they see them are more likely to make a dangerous move. Cars coming up behind at 60mph only to discover oncoming traffic precludes their passing are more likely to clout you up the chuff than they would at half that speed. Car drivers encountering oncoming traffic when passing a cyclist on a blind crest or bend (a daily occurence) will instinctively swerve into the cyclist to avoid hitting the oncoming traffic.
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