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The March 31 USDA reports were bullish for both the supply and demand side of corn.
The quarterly stocks report has been notoriously volatile. Traders expected the USDA to "correct" its previous estimate. The January 10 quarterly stocks report estimated stocks on December 1 at 10.426 billion bushels (264 million tonnes), 363 million bushels (9.2 million tonnes) below the average of analysts' guesstimates. Instead, the new data again surprised the market. March 1 stocks were estimated at 7.005 billion bushels (179 million tonnes), 93 million bushels (2.36 million tonnes) under the average guesstimate. As indicated quite clearly in the chart below, the bottom of the market coincided with the release of the January 10 stocks report. The new data have extended the recent rally to seven-month highs.
Estimates for ethanol usage have remained steady at 5 billion bushels. For now, this lays to rest fears that demand for the bio-fuel would taper off without generous government subsidies. With robust feed and ethanol consumption, US domestic demand is solid.
Rounding out the bullish demand side is the continuation of strong US exports. Export commitments stand at 41.3 million tonnes, above the USDA estimate for annual sales which is 40.64 million tonnes. And there are five months remaining in the marketing year. At 22 million tonnes, shipments are about average for this time of year.
The Chinese government has not yet clarified its position on allowing imports of GMO corn. As we've pointed out in the past, however, it is not as large an issue as its made out to be in the news. The USDA estimates total Chinese imports from all sources at 5 million tonnes, a bit under 5% of total world trade. The US has already shipped 2.6 million tonnes, with 1.16 million tonnes of outstanding sales.
The March 31 USDA planting intentions report also surprised to the bull side. U.S. farmers are forecast to plant 91.691 million acres, down
sharply from last year' s 95.365 million acres. It was well known that soybeans stood to capture significant acreage from corn (soybean area is estimated at 81.5 million acres, up from 76.5 million in 2013-14), but the average analyst guesstimate of 92.748 million acres was way off the mark.
The harsh winter weather we had this year should support prices as well because soil temperature is below what is considered normal for planting. Together with rainy weather, planting delays are expected. While this opens an additional vulnerability, it is still very early to worry about late planting. Last year the crop was very late, but excellent growing weather in the latter stages of the summer growing season led to a record crop regardless.
It is widely expected that the Ukrainian crop will be smaller for 2014-15 because farmers will have difficulty obtaining financing for seed and fertilizer due to the financial crisis.
South American crops are now being harvested. Estimates have been volatile, but there shouldn't be any great surprises.
Despite the record crop harvested in the US last fall, 2013-14 ending stocks will be 20% to 25% below initial estimates because demand has been so strong – particularly exports. Even though global output of 967 million tonnes was a record by far, inventory levels were not rebuilt to comfortable levels because demand for US corn – as illustrated – was much higher than expected. The prospects of a smaller US crop for next fall has traders worried that inventories could once again fall to dangerously low levels.
Remain long December corn as per our January 14 recommendation. Raise stops to $4.50 per bushel, close only.
December corn


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- Premier League
Sagna committed to Arsenal
Bacary Sagna has promised Arsenal fans he is "100% devoted" to their club, despite January links with a move away from the Gunners.
Recent media reports suggested Sagna, 29, would welcome a move to Paris Saint-Germain, leading to concern from sections of the Arsenal faithful over the possibility of another high-profile exit.
The former Auxerre defender is back in his native country this week for France's friendly with Germany and the right back told L'Equipe he is happy at Emirates Stadium.
"I'm 100% devoted to my club. I'm only thinking about defending Arsenal's colours until the end of my contract," Sagna, who is in talks with Arsenal over extending his current deal beyond 2014, said.
"The supporters are annoyed with me when they hear my name linked to PSG, but I haven't got anything to do with that. I've had no contact whatsoever."
Sagna has not represented his country since September 2011 after breaking his leg last season in games against Tottenham Hotspur and Norwich City.
He admitted that when news came through last Thursday he had been included in Didier Deschamps' squad for Wednesday night's game in Paris, there were "tears in [his] eyes".
He said: "I couldn't speak I was so emotional. In my head, I was thinking back to a year ago, and the games against Tottenham and then Norwich. I went over everything that had happened and said to myself: 'Finally some good news'.
"When I arrived at Clairefontaine, I took pictures of the bed, of my kit. I need souvenirs of my comeback. When I received my packet of kit, I opened it straightaway and looked at the new stuff. It's nice too."
Though he has overcome his injuries, Sagna has been unable to shake the rancour he feels towards Bradley Johnson, the Norwich defender whose tackle broke his leg a second time.
He said: "At that moment, I felt hate towards destiny. I was also annoyed with my opponent, because he didn't have to overdo things. For me, it was deliberate. I'm still angry with him today. You can injure someone, but after that... I will never forget it."

subset: commoncrawl


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April 01. 2013 8:28AM
Danbury to study leaving Newfound Area School District
By DAN SEUFERT
Union Leader Correspondent
DANBURY — At the prompting of Danbury residents, the Newfound Area School District school board has begun studying the possibility of the town leaving the district.
At town meeting last month, Danbury residents overwhelmingly voted for a warrant article that asked the school board to conduct a formal study on the costs and changes required for a town to leave a school district.
Danbury residents are concerned about their future in the Newfound district, said town selectman Jim Phelps, and want to see if it makes sense to leave.
"There's no hue and cry from Danbury to leave the school district," Phelps said. "The people just want to study the idea and go from there."
Danbury has a K-5 elementary school and sends its students in grades 6-8 to Newfound Middle School.
Town residents last year heard news of a district plan to move Danbury's fifth-grade students to the middle school as a cost-saving measure, but that plan was dropped when Danbury residents protested.
Phelps said people in his town are dealing with decreased enrollments, as are other towns in the district.
Danbury students have the longest ride of any students in the district into Bristol, so residents want to consider their options, he said.
"There's really no consensus yet, but things are changing in the district and I think people want to know what's possible," he said.
School board Chairman Vincent Paul Migliore said the board will announce tonight that it has begun the process of investigating the legal and financial consequences of a town leaving the school district.
At the board's next meeting on April 8, Barrett M. Christina, staff attorney with the New Hampshire School Board Association, will address the potential withdrawal of a town from a school district, Migliore said.
The boards of selectmen in all district towns — Bristol, Danbury, Alexandria, Bridgewater, New Hampton, Hebron — have been invited to next week's meeting.


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For Immediate Release
Posted: Jul. 26, 2010
OHA awards $50,000 grant to Nursing Pathway Program at WCC
The Office of Hawaiian Affairs (OHA) has awarded a grant in the amount of $50,000 to Windward Community College's Employment Training Center (ETC) Health Programs for students enrolled in the 2010-2011 program year.
The grant will support the enrollment of qualifying students into the Certified Nurse's Aide (CNA) course at Windward Community College, which is the first step in the CNA to LPN to RN Nursing Pathway Program. Upon completion of the eight-week course, students receive support to take the American Red Cross (ARC) certification exam in preparation for securing employment as a CNA. These students will then have the opportunity to pursue higher education by continuing in the Pathway Program that is based on Native Hawaiian traditions. Students may then apply to LPN training and ultimately, have the opportunity to earn an associate of science degree as an RN.
"This generous grant award affords us the privilege of recruiting students into our program who really need the tuition support," said Dr. Jamie Kamailani Boyd, coordinator of Health Programs at WCC.
Tuition, uniforms, books and the American Red Cross CNA exam fee will be provided to qualifying students accepted into the Certified Nurses' Aide course as a result of the grant. Case management support and job search training services will also be provided.
The CNA to LPN to RN Pathway Program functions to meet the employment training needs of at-risk populations – persons who are socioeconomically disadvantaged, academically underprepared, underemployed, unemployed or hard-to-employ. The Pathway Program provides opportunities for employment training, job searching and higher education for those who must overcome barriers to accessing more traditional forms of education and training.
For more information about the CNA to LPN to RN Pathway Program, call 235-7328.
For more information, visit: http://etc.hawaii.edu/CNA.


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South Tyneside's answer to The Chuckle Brothers, councillors Iain and Ed Malcolm seem obsessed with re-discovering their Scottish roots.
In September Mr Monkey revealed that council leader Miss Piggy, aka Iain Malcolm was partial to a bit of weekend cottaging after he bought a hideaway in Hawick in the Scottish Borders. CLICK HERE.
Not to be out done by his brother, 'Big' Ed Malcolm the wannabee MP for Houghton and Washington East decided to get in on the act and recently bought himself a kilt – not just in any tartan but a Clan Malcolm tartan.
When word reached the members lounge his collegaues pissed themselves laughing especially at the thought of 'Big' Ed in a kilt with his deformed size 3 feet stuck on the end of his short bandy legs. One senior Labour councillor who likes a wee dram reckons Ed is determined to beat Red Rumcouncillor George Elsom to the title of Twat of the Year.
But Mr Monkey reckons Ed's purchase had more to do with winning a few extra votes in the old County Durham pit villages of the Houghton and Washington East Parliamentary constituency than his desire to rekindle his Scottish roots.
It seems this gesture could be is a last ditched attempt to persuade former miners and their families – many of whom have Scottish roots – to vote for him in the upcoming selection ballot.


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JIM PEPPER pushes aside brambles, strides across spongy bottom land, and scrambles up a rocky embankment. About 50 yards from the road, he stops and looks around at what appears to be nothing but a patch of Rhode Island woods.
``We're standing in the mill,'' he says. ``The water ran down this trough,'' he explains, gesturing to stone walls and arches under the overgrowth.
Mr. Pepper is a visionary with a twist. Not only can he peer into the future to see what might be, he also can gaze into the past to see what has been. Now he is seeing Mammoth Mill, once a bustling woolen factory on the Blackstone River in North Smithfield, R.I. These neglected ruins are all that remain of the 1836 mill, which was torn down in 1930 - but to Pepper, they are the substance of things hoped for.
Pepper is the executive director of the Blackstone River Valley National Heritage Corridor Commission. He has guided a pair of journalists to this obscure spot to make a point about his job and the work of the commission.
``Mammoth Mill is symbolic of so many places in this valley that are unknown and unseen. Our job is to make them known,'' he says. Although Pepper has no plans for the site yet, his imagination already is leaping ahead to a day when the plot, tidied up and properly ``interpreted'' through signs and diagrams, may inform tourists about America's early industrialization.
The Blackstone River Valley National Heritage Corridor is one of five regions that have been designated ``American Heritage Areas'' by Congress. Besides the Blackstone River Valley in Rhode Island and Massachusetts, there are the Illinois and Michigan Canal National Heritage Corridor in Illinois, the Delaware and Lehigh Canal National Heritage Corridor in eastern Pennsylvania, the America's Industrial Heritage Project in southwestern Pennsylvania, and the Quinebaug and Shetucket Rivers Valley National Heritage Corridor in Connecticut, which Congress approved just this fall.
If a bill in Congress that passed the House of Representatives is reintroduced and enacted by the 104th Congress, 10 more zones from Georgia to Washington State will be designated national-heritage areas and become eligible for federal matching funds. The legislation would establish a mechanism whereby additional regions could obtain heritage recognition by Congress in the future.
As important as they are, however, federally sanctioned heritage areas are just the crown jewels of a burgeoning movement to revitalize distinctive but underrecognized parts of the American landscape. Scores of places in nearly every state have acquired or are seeking a degree of official or unofficial classification as heritage sites.
It is primarily a grass-roots movement, explains Shelley Mastran, a program director at the National Trust for Historic Preservation in Washington and the executive director of the recently formed National Coalition for Heritage Areas (NCHA). Referring to a long list of putative heritage areas compiled by the National Trust, Ms. Mastran says, ``These are initiatives that are or have the potential to become heritage areas. Some of them are just self-anointed.''
But many other heritage areas have progressed beyond the gleam-in-the-eye stage, Mastran says. Their proponents are working with state governments and the National Park Service to create programs through which a heightened ``sense of place'' can help achieve environmental, economic-development, and historic-preservation goals.
Massachusetts, New York, and Pennsylvania have their own programs for recognizing heritage areas, though sometimes by other names. New York, for instance, has established the Hudson River Valley Greenway Council, a regional-planning compact among 240 cities and towns in 10 counties from Albany to New York City. Despite its name, the members of the compact are cooperating on a much broader array of initiatives than are implied by the term green way, says David Sampson, director of the Hudson River Valley Greenway Council.
Asked if he thinks that interest in heritage areas and other forms of regional planning is growing, Mr. Sampson says he responds to speaking invitations all around the country, and he has traveled to the Czech Republic twice to consult on green ways.
What, exactly, is a heritage area? ``This question has as many definitions as there are heritage areas,'' the NCHA observed last January in the first edition of its quarterly newsletter, Heritage Links, because ``no two heritage areas are exactly the same....'' But the organization says the ``basic components'' of heritage areas include:
* A sense of place and identity.
* Regional scope and management.
* Large-scale natural or man-made resources that unify the region.
* A variety of land uses.
* Predominantly private ownership of land and resources.
* Local, regional, state, or national significance.
* A common goal or ``big idea.''
One could almost say (although it would make many proponents of the concept wince) that heritage areas are theme parks - except that the theme in each area is not imposed by a Disneyesque developer, but rather grows out of the unique geography, history, and living culture of the region.
In contrast to national or state parks, heritage areas - where most property remains in private hands - are an approach to resource conservation and management that emphasizes partnerships among all levels of government, environmentalists, business people, and citizen groups.
Pepper says that, in the Blackstone River Valley, he has seen the regional cooperation that is fostered by the national-heritage concept start to bridge divides between environmentalists, historic preservationists, and community planners on one side and business people and property owners on the other side.
``If you push the time horizon out a distance, most people all want basically the same things - livable communities, good places for their kids to grow up, places with a mixture of jobs and green spaces and recreation facilities,'' Pepper says. ``Once you have identified common goals, then it becomes a question of, `How do we achieve it?' That's when meaningful planning really begins.''
According to Pepper, planning for community development and resource management is often misunderstood. ``Too many towns just have a permitting process, not a true planning process,'' he says. ``When communities and regions develop real, long-term plans, there are fewer fights over specific permitting issues. And people feel empowered when they have effective planning tools in their hands.''
Pepper was hired by the Blackstone River Valley National Heritage Corridor Commission in 1989. A career employee of the National Park Service who previously worked in Alaska, he cheerfully calls himself a ``pro-government liberal'' and says he came to the job with a wilderness lover's distrust of business people.
But Pepper says he has learned a lot about planning from corporate executives. ``Business types often are more skilled than bureaucrats and yuppie environmentalists at establishing long-range goals and setting up implementation schedules,'' he admits.
As Pepper wheels a van along the highways and byways of the Blackstone River Valley, the words rush out as quickly as parts of the waterway that once was called the ``hardest working river in America.'' In nearly every town and village he passes through, indeed, around almost every bend of the road, Pepper points to a historic site, a distinctive piece of architecture or Americana, a scenic vista or significant landmark, a restoration project, new heritage-area signage, or - and there are still many of these - evidences of neglect, disrepair, and pollution.
``The Blackstone River Valley, like many regions that are candidates for recognition as heritage areas, had been largely forgotten,'' Pepper says. ``There are many places in America that have become anonymous, that we don't see, and that have lost a lot of their own self-consciousness as an identifiable place with a history and heritage that are worth preserving.''
The Blackstone River Valley National Heritage Corridor extends 46 miles from the outskirts of Worcester, Mass., south to Providence, R.I., where the Blackstone River empties into Narragansett Bay. The 250,000-acre zone encompasses some 40 cities, towns, and villages, together with forest and farmland.
While the corridor includes wilderness areas like the rugged Purgatory Chasm State Park, its distinctiveness as a heritage area stems from what Pepper calls the ``cultural landscape'' more than from its natural features.
A National Park Service publication calls the Blackstone River Valley the ``birthplace of the American Industrial Revolution.'' In 1790 Samuel Slater, an English mill boss, engineered America's first successful watered-powered cotton-spinning mill on the river at Pawtucket, R.I. Over the following decades, manufacturing spread along the swift stream and its tributaries, dotting their banks with textile mills and other factories, each surrounded by clusters of worker housing. These company-owned mill towns are the valley's most distinguishing feature.
Based on a National Park Service inventory of the region's natural and historical assets, Congress voted to help preserve the Blackstone River Valley's cultural landscape in 1986. It established the boundaries of the national-heritage corridor, created the commission to be a funding and planning catalyst (but without zoning, eminent domain, or other powers to regulate land use), and provided $250,000 a year - raised to $350,000 in 1991 - for the commission's operations and as matching funds for a variety of conservation, historic-preservation, and economic-development uses. Congress also has given the commission about $4.2 million over the years for bricks-and-mortar projects.
The annual authorization pays for, among other things, Pepper's five-person staff, which includes a National Park Service ranger and a community planner. The staff works out of a refurbished former depot of the Providence & Worcester Railroad in Woonsocket that was donated by the state of Rhode Island.
But the real development money for heritage-area projects comes from state, local, and private sources. Pepper estimates that he has leveraged federal dollars with other funds on a scale of 15 to 1.
While the commission provides funds for historic preservation, Pepper emphasizes that it is not interested simply in saving isolated structures or ``little vest-pocket displays of historic sites.'' For instance, he says, when the town of Blackstone asked the commission for funds to restore an old church that had been condemned, the commission refused to help unless the town developed a more comprehensive heritage-protection plan, as it subsequently did.
As another example of how the commission tries to spread ripples, Pepper takes his visitors to a small, attractive riverside park where a mill once stood in Valley Falls, R.I. Pointing to signs of refurbishment around the park, Pepper says residents in the run-down neighborhood have become convinced that their community has value.
``We're constantly on the lookout for these little `gene pools' of potential revitalization, where we can make a difference,'' he says.
Pepper says he is heartened by the extent to which many local companies have caught the spirit of the corridor's purpose. For instance, he says, in Slatersville, R.I. (founded by Samuel Slater's brother, John), Polytop Corporation, a maker of container lids and other plastic products, has spent more than $1 million to purchase and rehabilitate a vacated mill and surrounding worker housing. The company is collecting the stories of former factory workers in an oral-history project.
Despite such evidence of success, national-heritage areas have encountered opposition from two directions: some factions within the National Park Service, and the property-rights or so-called ``wise use'' movement.
Skeptics in the park service voice doubts about heritage areas primarily because they fear that money for such areas will detract from funding for national parks. Moreover, Pepper says, many of his colleagues in the park service have what he suggests is a hidebound approach to safeguarding precious national assets.
``They believe that to protect a resource, the government has to own it,'' Pepper says. ``For them, Yellowstone is the model: You put land behind red-velvet ropes and keep people away except under tightly controlled conditions.''
Pepper and other heritage-area supporters like A. Elizabeth Watson, a conservationist and the chair of the NCHA, believe that critics within the National Park Service are shortsighted and are missing an important wave in the future of conservation and environmentalism.
``Americans need more places to go to experience their heritage,'' Ms. Watson says. ``We need to build partnerships to preserve the American landscape, not just lock up land in national parks.''
Both Pepper and Watson see signs that some critics in the park service are softening their attitudes toward heritage areas.
Resistance to heritage areas from the property-rights movement is predictable, since some ``wise use'' activists oppose government involvement in decisions affecting private property.
Heritage-area advocates like Mastran and Watson of the National Coalition for Heritage Areas wonder if property-rights groups understand heritage areas and know that management authorities in the areas lack coercive powers over land use. ``I don't think they have a clue,'' Mastran says. ``They just used the bill as another vehicle for raising their favorite issues.''
Sampson of the Hudson River Valley Greenway Council also is puzzled by right-wing opposition to heritage areas. ``They seem like a very Republican idea: using private planning and investment to improve the quality of life and to revitalize communities,'' Sampson says. ``It's a market economy that makes heritage areas and green ways work.''


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by Rian Hunter
Dropbox is a startup company located in San Francisco that has probably one of the most popular file synchronization and sharing tools in the world, shipping Python on the desktop and supporting millions of users and growing every day. Dropbox uses Python on the client-side and server side as well.
This talk will give an overview of the first two years of Dropbox, the team formation, our early guiding principles and philosophies, what worked for us and what we learned while building the company and engineering infrastructure. It will also cover why Python was essential to the success of the project and the rough edges we had to overcome to make it our long term programming environment and runtime. Finally it will give some insight into the future of Dropbox and where the project is going.
United States United States, Atlanta
9th–13th March 2011


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Slovenia – Aerial view resort Lake Bled. Aerial FPV drone. Slovenia Beautiful Nature Castle Bled.
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Danielle Elizabeth Collins, 46, formerly of the Hood River, Ore., area, died Nov. 11, 2009, of respiratory failure at Southwest Medical Center in Vancouver, Wash.
Danielle died from complications of hematomacrosis that she had dealt with the past few years.
She was born March 7, 1963, in Oklahoma. She lived in the Gorge area the past 10 years.
Danielle graduated from Beverly Hills High School and attended University of California at San Diego. She married David McCune and moved to Husum, Wash., after retiring from Microsoft as a test engineer in 1999.
They founded the Hood River Wine Bar at 110 Third St. in Hood River in 2002. Danielle founded Hood River Wine Bar Gourmet Foods, marketing her olive tapenade recipe which was sold throughout the country.
She later was co-founder of Imagine Design Works in Stevenson, Wash.
Danielle loved cooking, gardening, birds and her beloved dogs, Merlot and Chablis. She was continually seeking to find the God within.
She touched many lives by sharing her optimism and enthusiasm.
Danielle is survived by her father, Ewel Collins, of England and Oklahoma; and mother, Donias Lee, of Virginia; brother Aaron Collins Lee, of Virginia; and sister Dionne Collins Lee, of Virginia.
No formal service will be held. Danielle will be buried on a family plot in Oklahoma.
On Dec. 6 from 2-5 p.m. there will be a gathering in memory of Danielle at the Pines Tasting Room in Hood River. Cards and condolences will be collected at the gathering and forwarded to Danielle's family.
If you would like to, bring a dish to share.
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NASCAR seizes part of Johnson's car
Five-time NASCAR champion Jimmie Johnson and crew chief Chad Knaus are back in the spotlight at one of racing's biggest stages — and not for the right reason.
NASCAR confiscated part of their Daytona 500 car Friday because of illegal modifications, a rocky start to Speedweeks for a team trying to bounce back from its worst season.
Sprint Cup Series officials determined the No. 48 Chevrolet had illegally modified C-posts, an area of sheet metal between the roof and the side windows. It could lead to penalties for Knaus and the team.
Officials cut off the C-posts and planned to ship them to NASCAR's research and development center in Concord, N.C., for further testing. In the meantime, the parts in question were put on display for other teams to examine, a routine procedure for the sanctioning body.
NASCAR allowed the Hendrick Motorsports team to fix that area of the car before practice begins for the Feb. 26 Daytona 500. Qualifying is scheduled for Sunday.
"Well, it's a hell of a way to start the 2012 season," said Ken Howes, vice president of competition at Hendrick Motorsports. "But the car obviously failed inspection and NASCAR has directed us how they want it fixed and we're busy doing that. We're waiting on some parts to arrive and we'll put it back together and run it through inspection again."
The No. 48 team could be fined, docked points or both following the series' premier event.
"There's always a potential, but we'll just wait until after Speedweeks is over with," said Robin Pemberton, NASCAR's vice president of competition.
Knaus has been caught cheating before.
Most notably, he was ejected before the 2006 Daytona 500 after NASCAR found illegal modifications following a qualifying session. Last season, Knaus was caught on camera telling Johnson that if he won at Talladega he needed to "crack the back of the car," apparently to build an explanation in case the car did not pass post-race inspection. Nothing came of that situation.
Knaus has been fined and penalized several other times, too.
This situation doesn't appear to be as serious as it was in 2006.
"Ejection? No, no, we're good," Pemberton said. "That was a little bit different because that was a post-event we'd already been in. That wasn't a pre-race inspection or pre-qualifying inspection."
Knaus skipped a three-day testing session at Daytona last month. He was on a Hendrick Motorsports-approved vacation to South Africa that most who know the tightly wound crew chief believe will help him over the course of NASCAR's grueling 11-month schedule.
Johnson guessed it had been almost a decade since Knaus took his last real vacation. His commitment paid off with 55 victories since 2002 and a NASCAR-record five consecutive championships. His run with Johnson was snapped last season by Tony Stewart, and Johnson finished a career-low sixth in the final Sprint Cup standings.
It's unclear whether Knaus intentionally broke the rules or was merely pushing the limits of template tolerances.
Howes said modifying C-posts would provide an aerodynamic advantage.
"Yeah, any bodywork area, everybody's always looking," Howes said. "It's an area that you'll go as far as you can because, yes, it will affect the performance of the car. That's the nature of this kind of racing, especially at Daytona. That's an area that teams will work in. The 48 obviously went too far."
He said he hasn't asked Knaus for an explanation on how or why the modifications were made. He said it could be that the template didn't fit properly.
"You work within the templates the best way you think and you're trying to do a better job than the next guy," Howes said. "And I did not see the grid on the car, so I can't tell exactly where it missed, but NASCAR said it wasn't right, so it's not right. We don't have an argument with that."
Series director John Darby said he believed the other three Hendrick Motorsports cars – those driven by Jeff Gordon, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Kasey Kahne – passed inspection.
He added that the No. 48 team should be able to get things fixed.
"If you watch the damage that they can repair in 50 laps, they're very, very talented," Darby said. "They are pretty simple panels. It's a matter of cutting the old ones out, welding new ones in. It'll obviously go back through inspection to make sure all the templates are correct."


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On 22 December in that year, Pepys noted: This day I hear for certain that Lady Castlemaine is turned Popish. In illustration of this entry, Lord Bray-brooke printed an extract from a letter of the count dEstrades to Louis XIVin which he wrote that the marriage of chevalier de Gramont and the conversion of Madame de Castlemaine were published on the same day. This fact would never be gathered from the statement in the Memoirs, that Gramont was recalled to France by his sister, the marchioness de Saint-Chaumont, who told him that the king had given him leave to return. When he arrived, he found that it was all a mistake. His brother, marshal de Gramont, had orders from the king for him to go back again without appearing at court.
Sir William Musgrave fixed the date of the occurrences recorded in the Memoirs from 1663 to 1665; but Cunningham fixes the longer period of May, 1662, to October, 1669, supposing, as we have already seen, that Gramont remained in England until the end of the book.


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Pop star Kelly Clarkson received an early Christmas present when her boyfriend proposed on Friday.
The Since U Been Gone hitmaker, who began dating talent manager Brandon Blackstock earlier this year, took to her Twitter.com page on Saturday to share the happy news.
She tweeted, "I'M ENGAGED!!!!! I wanted y'all to know!! Happiest night of my life last night! I am so lucky and am with the greatest man ever."
The singer also shared a photo of her sparkling new ring, adding, "Everyone has been asking about my engagement ring, so here it is… It's a yellow canary diamond with diamonds around it and Brandon designed it with (jewelry designer) Johnathon Arndt! They did an amazing job! I can't wait to make Brandon's ring with Johnathon as well!"
Just last month, Clarkson admitted she was thrilled to be spending her first Christmas with Blackstock, the stepson of country singer Reba McEntire.
She said, "You know what – and this is going to sound like I'm making a joke, but it is so not. It is serious. I am not alone for the first time for Thanksgiving and Christmas and I am very happy. I've been praying for so long and he's so great."
Pop star Kelly Clarkson received an early Christmas present when her boyfriend proposed on Friday.


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January 19. 2013 11:28PM
Ted Siefer's City Hall: School budget raises tax cap query, and the survey says ...
By TED SIEFER
New Hampshire Union Leader
On Monday, Superintendent Thomas Brennan presented his preferred budget for the coming school year: $160 million.
Yes, that's a big number, but there wasn't the sticker shock that there was last year, when he proposed a $162 million "progressive" budget that exceeded the tax cap by $10 million.
This time around, the difference between the preferred budget and the tax cap budget is about $4 million.
Mayor Ted Gatsas said the numbers presented Monday represented a good starting point. "We're talking about a 3 percent difference," he said. "We might be able to find common ground."
Brennan's $160 million budget proposal, which calls for hiring 41 new teachers, runs more than 70 pages.
It's safe to say school board members will have more to say about it as the numbers get parsed. But Jim O'Connell, for one, already doesn't like it. The founder of Citizens for Manchester Schools, which has been clamoring for increased school funding since last year's budget talks, told the aldermen on Tuesday that the budget would come nowhere close to restoring staffing levels to what they were before last year's mass layoffs.
A bigger question may be whether the school board presses forward with Brennan's preferred budget or goes with the budget limited by the tax cap, which restricts increases in spending to the rate of inflation.
Citing a legal opinion furnished for the district last year, Brennan has said the school board is not obligated to propose a tax cap budget to the aldermen - who have the ultimate say over the school and city budgets.
It so happens that the Charter Commission delved into this very question on Wednesday. But the panel's legal counsel, Richard Lehmann, didn't exactly settle the matter.
The relevant passage of the charter is 6.15(A)(3), which states that "in submitting their proposed budgets to the board of aldermen, the mayor and the school district shall not propose total expenditures exceeding" the cap.
"Reading the charter," Lehmann said, "it's not clear to me whether the budgets are taken individually or in the aggregate. I think you could probably make the case either way. As people tasked with revising the charter, that may be something you want to clarify."
This matters because it means that the aldermen could, at least theoretically, consider a school budget that exceeds the tax cap while reducing the city budget so that the overall budget stays below the tax cap.
The mayor was emphatic that the charter requires both the district and the city to propose tax-capped budgets, saying, "I don't know how anybody can come up with a different legal opinion when it says precisely 'in submitting their proposed budgets to the board of aldermen, the mayor and the school district shall . '"
That is what the city solicitor said last year when the question came up. We'll see whether the school board presses the issue this time around.
- - - - - - - - - -
The results are in. Last month, the Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce sent out a survey to its members to gauge their opinions about the city school system. The online survey had 217 respondents.
According to the survey, 69 percent believe "funding" is the biggest problem facing the district, followed by a "lack of books and technology" at 40 percent.
A slim majority - 51.6 percent - answered "no" when asked whether Manchester graduates were "adequately prepared for entry into post-secondary education studies or the work force."
It's worth noting that the survey did not ask whether respondents believed there were problems with the school system.
Rather, under the question about the greatest challenges facing the district, they could choose "I see no problems with the school district." Only one person chose this option.
It's safe to say that the chamber has already concluded that the school system is cause for concern.
The president of the chamber, Robin Comstock, told the Charter Commission earlier this month that its members believe "there is something wrong with education in this city."
It's also worth noting that only 12.4 percent of the respondents said they have children in the district schools, while 35.9 percent said they had children in the district in the past.
So how did the respondents derive their generally negative opinion of the schools?
Most - 55.3 percent - said they based their opinions about the schools on "word of mouth," followed by the media, at 47.1 percent.
- - - - - - - - - -
After much gnashing of teeth over his enviable travel schedule, Mark Brewer, the director of the Manchester-Boston Regional Airport, finally appeared before the aldermen last week.
And yes, he did appear to be the tannest guy in the room, but we won't speculate whether that had anything to do with him being fresh back from a business trip to Hawaii.
Most of the aldermen made it clear at their meeting Tuesday that they don't share the mayor's concern over Brewer's "excessive" travel.
They voted to approve trips that would have him out of the office for 110 business days - 22 weeks - between now and the end of the 2014 fiscal year.
Brewer's future travel schedule is even heavier than this year's - and that's what first prompted the mayor's concern.
Much of the travel stems from Brewer becoming the chairman of the American Association of Airport Executives.
"There are 5,000 members of this group, and I've worked my way through the association," Brewer said. "The travel obligations for this coming year are significantly more."
Brewer said his role with the group allows him to boost the profile of the Manchester airport.
The only no votes against approving the travel schedule came from Gatsas and Alderman Joe Kelly Levasseur, who asked Brewer whether it was possible to get itineraries in advance in order to determine whether he really needed to be away for the duration of the trips.
One alderman had some fun with the issue.
"On your fourth day in Hawaii, what'd you have for lunch?" Alderman Jim Roy asked Brewer. "Don't worry, that was a joke."
Ted Siefer may be reached at
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text:
Linked by Thom Holwerda on Mon 26th Apr 2010 18:38 UTC
Invented by IBM, the death knell sounded by Apple. Sony has announced it is going to cease selling diskettes altogether, with the last bastion being Japan. Sales will be ceased there too, even though Sony still managed to sell 12 million of them there last year. While Memorex and Imation still produce and sell diskettes, this move by Sony surely means it won't take long for the rest of the market to vanish, too.
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RE[2]: Bring Back the Shielding
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About Winona Ryder(Click Here To Hide)
Winona Ryder is an American actress. She is best known for her role in Beetlejuice. Winona Ryder has dated Johnny Depp in the past and currently sees Blake Sennett. GossipCenter.com has pictures of Winona Ryder and video clips with news updates
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Fishing and hunting in North Dakota contributed an estimated $1.4 billion in annual input to the state's economy, according to a report by the Department of Agribusiness and Applied Economics at North Dakota State University.
The report, commissioned by the North Dakota Game and Fish Department, tracked hunter and angler expenditures for the 2011-12 hunting and fishing seasons, and is similar to other studies conducted periodically since the late 1970s.
"The last time we commissioned an economic impact study was about 10 years ago," said Game and Fish Department Director Terry Steinwand. "These studies help alert us to any major shifts in hunter and angler activities or participation.
Overall, anglers and hunters in North Dakota spent $642.9 million dollars on equipment, vehicles, boats, travel, lodging, food and many other items. In addition, these expenditures generated nearly $727 million in secondary economic benefits, gross business volume, secondary employment and state-level tax collections, according to the NDSU researchers.
According to the report, resident hunters and anglers accounted for $555.7 million of total expenditures, while nonresidents contributed $78.6 million. Anglers spent $425 million and hunters $217 million.
These direct and indirect expenditures from resident hunters and anglers generated approximately $35 million in state-level tax collection. Nonresidents generated another $5 million.
"We know that hunting, fishing and other outdoor recreation are an important quality of life factor for many North Dakotans," Steinwand said. "This report reinforces the notion that economic activity associated with our outdoors is significant as well."
Compared to spending in the 2001-02 season, total direct expenditures by resident hunters and anglers increased by $43.6 million, and by $4 million for nonresidents.
Complete or executive summaries of the report are available from the Department of Agribusiness and Applied Economics at NDSU, by contacting Edie Nelson at (701) 231-7441 or email@example.com. In addition, these publications can be found online at http://agecon.lib.umn.edu/.


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The best way to make your home safe: Start childproofing early -- before your baby's born, since that's when you actually have time to do it, or before such milestones as crawling or walking. Begin with a few safeguards, then add more as your child grows. Here's how -- and when -- to start:
The kitchen
Before you bring your baby home:
Buy a fire extinguisher that's rated for grease fires (the label should say that it's meant for the kitchen). Read the instructions carefully when you get it. If you can, practice once -- outside, so you don't make a mess -- then refill or replace it. And remember that you should use your extinguisher only for a small, contained fire; for one that's larger or spreading, evacuate and call the fire department.
Before your baby crawls:
Get in the habit of putting her in a safe spot when you're cooking. An infant in a bouncy seat or car-seat carrier (on the floor) -- or, once she can hold her head up, in a high chair or a play center -- is much safer than one on the loose in the kitchen. Scalding is just one big danger: You might trip over her as you take a boiling pot off the stove.
Practice safe cooking. Turn pot handles toward the rear of the stove; cook on back burners whenever possible.
Move all cleaning supplies into adult-height cabinets. Never store household chemicals in containers originally used for food or beverages.
Before your baby cruises or walks:
Install safety latches on cabinets and drawers -- especially on those that contain knives or other sharp objects.
Keep step stools and chairs away from counters, so little adventurers can't climb up and fall off. (You also don't want them to be able to reach knives and other dangerous things.) This precaution may sound obvious, but experts say lots of people don't do it.
Keeping mealtime safe:
* Place your baby's high chair away from objects in the kitchen or dining room that he could easily grab. Strap him in, and never leave him unattended.
* If you use tablecloths or place mats, be extra vigilant -- your child can tug on them and inadvertently pull off the heavy dishes or hot liquids resting on top.
* When microwaving food for your child, release the steam and stir the food before serving. (Don't heat formula or stored breast milk in the microwave because it can create dangerous hot spots. Run the bottles under warm water for a few minutes instead.)
* Avoid choking hazards. Until your child turns 4, don't feed him nuts, seeds, popcorn, hard or sticky candy, whole grapes or cherries, chunky peanut butter (use the smooth kind), or chewing gum. Cut up firm, round foods (grapes, cooked carrots, hot dogs, etc.) into small pieces -- about a quarter inch -- before serving.
Dana Sullivan, a mom of three, is coauthor of The Essential C-Section Guide, and writes for Health, Real Simple, and O.
The bedroom
Before you bring your baby home:
Inspect the crib
* It should be put together securely, with all parts tightened.
* Slats should be no more than 2 1/8 inches apart.
* The mattress should fit snugly in the frame -- if you can fit two fingers between the mattress and the side of the crib, your baby's head can get trapped, creating a suffocation risk.
* The corner posts should either be flush with the end panels or tall enough to support a canopy if there is one.
* The sides of the crib should be 9 inches above the mattress support when the sides are lowered, and 26 inches above the mattress support in its lowest position when the sides are raised.
Most new cribs meet the standards above, but it's always a good idea to double-check. When buying, check for a certification seal from the Juvenile Products Manufacturers Association (JPMA). If you have a used or older crib, you'll also want to look at the recall list provided by the Consumer Product Safety Commission to make sure your model hasn't been recalled.
Inspect your smoke detectors. Replace batteries every six months. There should be a smoke detector outside each bedroom, and one on each level of your home. You should also install a carbon monoxide detector outside the bedrooms, and near the kitchen.
Before your baby crawls:
Install safety gates at the bottom and top of stairs and in front of areas that haven't been childproofed. (For the top of stairs, look for gates that screw to the wall rather than using pressure gates.) New gates that meet safety standards display a certification seal from the JPMA.
Cover all electrical outlets. Your child's at the perfect height to poke objects into them.
Don't leave your child alone on your bed or changing table. Falls from such spots are the leading cause of injuries in babies and toddlers.
Before your baby cruises or walks:
Install window guards in rooms on the second floor and above. (Screens aren't sufficient to prevent falls.)
Move chairs, cribs, beds, and other furniture away from windows.
Secure wires and cords so lamps, TVs, etc., can't be pulled down. Screw dressers and bookshelves to the wall, or buy specially designed straps to attach them to walls, so eager climbers can't tip them over.
A toy chest should have safety hinges, so it can't close on your child's fingers (or neck).
The bathroom
Before you bring your baby home:
Turn down the water heater so the temperature is no higher than 120 degrees Fahrenheit. At 140 degrees, a baby can get a serious burn in 5 seconds; even at 130 degrees, it could happen in 30 seconds. (If your water heater just reads "warm" and "hot," turn it to warm, run the tap for a few seconds, fill a glass, and test the temperature with a meat thermometer; adjust until it's about 120 degrees.)
Before your baby crawls:
Keep him out! The floor's slippery, the surfaces are hard, and there's that endlessly fascinating toilet-a drowning hazard. A door latch, lock, or knob cover will do the trick.
When you bring your baby in for a bath, watch him every moment -- infants can drown in just a couple of inches of water. Skip bath seats, which offer a false sense of security because parents often think they can leave their child unattended in them, and try one of the new baby baths available for kids from birth to age 2.
When bathing your baby, test the water temperature with your elbow (it's more sensitive than your hand).
Move razors, medications -- even nonprescription ones -- and cleaning supplies to an out-of-reach cabinet. Keep more potent prescriptions, like sleeping aids or heart drugs, and dangerous cleansers, such as bleach or toilet bowl cleaner, under lock and key.
Don't discard any medications in the bathroom trash can, where kids can find them. Instead, flush unused pills down the toilet; pour liquids down the drain.
Before your baby cruises or walks:
Protect sockets near the sink from water. Outlets in the bathroom (and kitchen) should have ground-fault circuit-interrupters (GFCI), which turn off the power source if they get wet. Older homes may not have them. If yours doesn't, look for GFCI wall plates at home stores. They're easy to install on standard outlets.
Clear your counters. Put curling irons, hair dryers, nail scissors, and other dangerous objects in a latched cabinet.


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Liked spending time with her family and crafting
Patsy "Pat" Kronk, 65, of Holts Summit went home to be with her Lord on Tuesday, March 19, 2013. She was born March 26, 1947 in Lake Ozark, the daughter of the Floyd C. and Zelda (Barnhart) Brown.
On December 30, 1962, Pat was united in marriage to Larry Kronk in Lake Ozark. He survives her passing.
Pat was a member of the Seventh Day Adventist Church. She enjoyed crafts, gardening, and spending time with her family and grandchildren.
Along with her husband of 50 years, Pat's memory will forever be cherished by her sons, Curtis Kronk of Holts Summit, and Darin Kronk and his wife Ricki of Lake Ozark; two brothers, Floyd Brown of Cole Camp, and Chuck Brown of Lake Ozark; sister, Wilma Zeh of St. Louis; seven grandchildren, Chase, Jessica, Brian, Mark, Amy, Karlee, and Makayla; and five great-grandchildren.
She was preceded in death by her parents and brother, Dean Brown.
Funeral services will be held at 1 pm on Sunday, March 24 at the Seventh Day Adventist Church in Jefferson City with Pastor Neil Dye officiating.
The family will receive friends from noon until the time of service.
In lieu of customary memorials, the family suggests donations be made in Pat's name to a charity of the donor's choice, c/o Debo Funeral Home, 833 Court Street, Fulton, Mo. 65251.
Condolences can be sent by visiting www.debofuneralhome.com.


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Well put mike,a must for any serious wave kiter,TONYmike dubs wrote:I think the point is that it really is your last option when everything else has failed. The theory of packing down a kite after rolling the lines up, is fine until you try it in a stormy sea. i would challenge anyone to do it without difficulty and panic in 30 knots, 6ft+ waves and a strong tide, where most of the time you cant even see the beach.
As for swimming in, most people totally over estimate their ability to swim in open water, let alone stormy seas. I swim over a mile 3x a week and i would really struggle to do any distance in stormy conditions where your ability to swim efficiently or breathe properly in a panicy situation wearing harness and wetsuit, after getting exhausted trying and failing to sort your kite out.
I think it will be the best $100 I spend but never use.
Dont die of arrogance or overconfidence, even if you don't get one.


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Yale Women's Hockey Center Scheduled to Receive Stem Cell Transplant
NEW HAVEN, Conn. –The stem cell transplant that Mandi Schwartz needs to help win her battle with cancer will include a breakthrough procedure pioneered by one of her doctors at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Care Center. First, though, the 22-year old Yale women's ice hockey center must undergo more chemotherapy, as tests have indicated that she is no longer in remission.
Mandi, a native of Wilcox, Sask., is battling acute myeloid leukemia. This type of cancer starts inside the bone marrow and grows from cells that would normally turn into white blood cells -- cells of the immune system. Mandi was initially diagnosed in December of 2008, the first semester of her junior year at Yale. After multiple rounds of chemotherapy she was first declared to be in remission in the spring of 2009. She returned to Yale in January of 2010 and resumed practicing with the women's hockey team, but she was re-diagnosed this past April and had to return home for chemotherapy.
At that point it became clear that Mandi would need a stem cell transplant -- essentially, a new blood and immune system -- to survive. Stem cells have the ability to change into any of the body's cell types. In Mandi's case, they will be used to give her new blood cells and new immune cells.
The stem cells for transplants like the one Mandi needs can come from the bone marrow or peripheral blood of an adult donor or the blood left over in the umbilical cord after a baby is born. In order to limit the risk of complications, the stem cells must come from a donor who is a close genetic match to the patient.
For transplant purposes, genetic matches are judged by comparing proteins -- or markers -- found on most cells in the human body. The immune system uses these markers, known as human leukocyte antigens (HLA), to recognize which cells belong to that body and which do not. A close match between HLA markers can reduce the risk that the recipient's immune cells attack the donor's cells or that the donor's immune cells attack the recipient's body after the transplant. There are many different HLA markers, but transplant donors and patients are primarily compared for matches of eight to ten markers that are most important in transplant outcomes.
Mandi has been unable to find a bone marrow donor that is a genetic match -- 16,000 leukemia patients diagnosed each year cannot. None of her family members are matches. Inspired by Mandi, bone marrow donor drives have been held throughout her native Canada and the United States. The Yale Athletics Department has held drives each of the past two springs, adding more than 1,600 people to the National Marrow Donor Program's "Be The Match" registry. A series of drives in Canada added more than 2,600 people to Canadian Blood Services' "OneMatch" registry. The people that registered at these drives may be called upon someday to help save the life of a patient, like Mandi, with a life-threatening illness.
With no matching stem cell donor available, the best option is to get the stem cells for the transplant from umbilical cord blood. Cord blood has advantages as a stem cell source: fewer viral infections are transmitted with it, and -- because umbilical cord blood lacks well-developed immune cells -- there is less chance that the transplanted cells will attack the recipient's body (graft-versus-host disease). Using cord blood thus does not require the extremely close genetic matching of bone marrow transplants.
Because of the low volume of blood in umbilical cords, two cord blood units (from two different births) are typically used in transplants. The major disadvantage to using umbilical cord blood for a transplant is that each unit has fewer stem cells than other sources (approximately 1/10th). Because of this low number, engraftment (the generation of infection-fighting white blood cells of the new immune system following transplantation) in adults from a cord blood transplant takes about 26 to 28 days, compared to 15 for a bone marrow transplant. While waiting for engraftment patients run the risk of getting infections that can be fatal. That is where the breakthrough technique that will be part of Mandi's transplant protocol comes in.
When the Schwartzes were looking for a hospital for the transplant, they were drawn to Seattle Cancer Care Alliance, which is operated by Fred Hutchinson Cancer Care Center, University of Washington Medicine and Seattle Children's. As it turns out, they will now have the benefit of working with a doctor who has pioneered a way to speed up the process of engraftment and thereby limit the risk of infections. Dr. Colleen Delaney, an oncologist and researcher in Dr. Irwin Bernstein's Clinical Research Division lab, has been conducting a unique clinical trial using cord blood for the last four years.
In 2002, researchers in the Bernstein Lab found a way to increase the amount of stem cells in cord blood. They rapidly grow the cells on a protein called Delta, which activates a gene that keeps the cells from maturing into more specific cells. With the increased amount of stem cells involved in the transplant, engraftment is likely to happen more quickly.
The first human transplant using a cord blood unit whose stem cells had been "expanded" using this technique was performed in July of 2006. The technique has since shown promising signs of speeding up the time to engraftment.
A search of the umbilical cord blood registries located two umbilical cord blood units that were identified as "5-out-of-6" matches based on Mandi's HLA type. Because umbilical cord blood stem cells require less strict matching criteria, transplants can be performed even with 4-out-of-6 matches.
The cord blood units that will be used in Mandi's transplant came from two separate donors who are, and will remain, anonymous. They were donated to public cord blood banks and located by a registry search performed by the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance.
The chemotherapy that Mandi underwent back home at the Allan Blair Cancer Centre in Pasqua Hospital in Regina put her in remission, which is necessary in order for her to be able to receive the transplant, for a second time. She was found to be in remission on June 9, and she was discharged from Pasqua Hospital on July 11. Mandi, her parents and her fiancée Kaylem Prefontaine then made the trip to Seattle from her home in Saskatchewan by RV. They then met Dr. Delaney and their transplant team. Her attending physician is Dr. Rainer Storb, a longtime Hutchinson Center transplant physician and researcher.
In between medical appointments, Mandi and her family have taken time out for some other activities, including hiking. On Sunday Aug. 8, Mandi threw out the first pitch at the Seattle Mariners' game vs. Kansas City at Safeco Field.
Mandi's transplant had been scheduled for Aug. 27, but was postponed once it was learned on Aug. 11 that the cancer had returned for a third time. She will have to undergo more chemotherapy to put her back in remission, and then a date for the transplant can be finalized.
As has been the case throughout her battle, Mandi's reaction to the news of her relapse was inspiring. She had to undergo a procedure on Wednesday that took approximately five hours, but she did not let that stop her from her continuing efforts to build up her strength.
"Carol and I came back to make supper for Mandi, but she texted me telling us to hold off with supper because she wanted to go work out first when she got out," Rick said. "What a kid! Still wants to work out even after hearing the bad news."
In preparation for her transplant, Mandi will have to undergo more chemotherapy and total-body radiation starting the week before the transplant. This part of the procedure is designed to ensure that all of the existing cancerous cells are eliminated and to further suppress Mandi's immune system to prevent her from immediately rejecting the new donor cells.
The transplant itself is similar to a transfusion and takes a few hours. The stem cells are placed in the body through a vein, and find their way to the bone marrow to create new blood cells and immune cells.
After the procedure, the next milestone that everyone will be watching for is known as "engraftment": the transplanted stem cells beginning to grow in Mandi's bone marrow and manufacture new blood cells and immune cells. This signifies the birth of Mandi's new immune system, and could happen within a few weeks of the transplant.
Complete recovery of Mandi's new immune system takes approximately a year. Following the transplant, she will be monitored regularly through blood tests to confirm that new blood cells are being produced. She will spend several months in Seattle before she can return home to Saskatchewan.
While Mandi's transplant will utilize cord blood, the need for bone marrow donors for patients like her remains great. Just two weeks ago, another donor who registered at a Yale bone marrow donor drive was called upon and donated stem cells to help save a 55-year old man with a life-threatening illness. This was the second confirmed donation from one of the Yale bone marrow donor drives. Mandi and her family continue to encourage all adults to sign up as bone marrow donors, and for expectant mothers to sign up as cord blood donors.
In order to raise awareness of the need for bone marrow donors and umbilical cord blood donors in general, and to help the Schwartz family with expenses, Mandi's Yale teammates have been organizing several events. Rising junior forward Aleca Hughes (Westwood, Mass.) raised more than $6,000 and added approximately 70 people to the bone marrow donor registry at the Chowder Cup Tournament last month. Rising senior defenseman Samantha MacLean (Mississauga, Ont.) is organizing a bike ride from Toronto to New Haven, "The Ride for 17" (Schwartz' uniform number), to raise awareness and funds at the end of August.
Report by Sam Rubin '95 (email@example.com), Yale Sports Publicity
1. Send Mandi a card or letter showing your
Mandi Schwartz
Box 308
Wilcox, SK S0G 5EO
2. Send donations, checks made out to "Mandi Schwartz", to the above address.
3. Become an umbilical cord blood donor:
- Click here to visit the U.S. National Marrow Donor Program's page with information about umbilical cord blood donation.
4. Join the bone marrow donor registry:
- Click here to visit the U.S. National Marrow Donor Program's "Be The Match" website to learn how you can request a bone marrow donor testing kit or find a bone marrow donor testing drive near you.
- Click here to visit the DKMS Americas bone marrow donor page.
- Click here to visit the Canadian Blood Services page.
- Click here for the U.S. National Marrow Donor Program's list of International donor centers if you are not in the U.S. or Canada.
For more information about Mandi and how you can help, visit http://www.yalebulldogs.com/mandi


text:
|2008-07-24, 16:33
|Link #61
Senior Member
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: Between a rock and a hard place.
Age: 33
I'm better at editing than writing. I used to edit for our school gazette. I'd post a piece of a story I wrote here, but I'm really not that good.
I understand the meaning you're trying to convey now. I just thought it sounded odd at first. But after re-reading it and on further thought, I think your choice of word was actually fairly accurate. Apparently Random House thinks so too :
–verb (used with object) 4. to drop or set down heavily: She plopped her books on the desk.
|2008-07-24, 22:33
|Link #62
Junior Member
Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: 42N 71W or so
Editing can be an art in itself, heh. I did a brief stint as an editor for a regional magazine, and I was shocked that even people who had English and Journalism degrees could have such a stunted grasp of their own language. The perennial it's/its, not knowing when to use who vs. whom, even things like forming relative clauses....soooo many errors. Not to mention the insidious thesaurus addicts...
I think editing becomes an art in itself when the editor has a piece in front of him so riddled with errors and crap that all he can take away from the piece is maybe a vague sense of the overarching idea. So the editor can take that idea, use his knowledge and abilities, and turn a slab of marble into a David.
How do you deal with trying to delineate between a writer who uses ungrammatical constructions as a stylistic aspect? I sometimes struggle to figure out when stylistic errors are acceptable...and when they're just errors. In high school, I had a huge argument with an English teacher about a paper I wrote; he gave it an F because his policy was that at that level of school even one sentence fragment was inexcusable. I used one stylistically, and he proved loyal to his policy. That was one hell of a bad day. The argument ultimately turned into one of critical and literary theory, and I called him an anal retentive prescriptivist...that got me a trip to the principal. Though he acknowledged it was a fairly intelligent act of disrespect.
Sorry, I've been going off on tangents all day. You should share some of your writing. How can you know if you're good or not if no one else sees? Besides, it's clear even from your posts here that you've an ability with words. I understand the feeling completely though; writing is such a personal thing, letting others read it almost feels like admitting to something shameful, or if it's received negatively it can feel insulting or humiliating. So even though I'd definitely be interested in reading your work, I won't bug you about it if you're so unsure.
And I'm stopping now before my train of thought veers off yet again, heh.
|2008-07-25, 01:46
|Link #63
Senior Member
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: Between a rock and a hard place.
Age: 33
I tend to write in that style also, especially in high school. I've gotten away with it a lot of times on essays because instead of fragmented sentences, I made use of commas, colons and semi colons - enough to drive our professor crazy. He'd use the red pen on me. You can never get away with fragments though, but sometimes they'll let excessive commas slide.
Too bad he gave you an F. I'm pretty sure if it was done in Creative Writing class, you'd have a different outcome. Oh well, you have to play by the rules, even though it's really no fun.
I haven't written anything in the past few months. I made a bonfire with some friends and threw in some of my stories from freshman year of college. I actually wrote a story called "Bonfire" , which I tried looking for all of three minutes ago, and am now lamenting over probably have tossed them in the flaming pit during that time :/
I'll post something once I stop being finger lazy and type things up into WORD. Probably will do it sometime this weekend. In the meanwhile, I'm looking forward to seeing more of your work.
|2008-07-25, 09:44
|Link #64
Gregory House
IT Support
There can't be a writer if there's no reader.
|2008-07-26, 06:10
|Link #65
At least it's on the book
This is my favorite story that i created. I have posted this in my blog, infact . :]
Hope you'll enjoy it.
Spoiler for title:
a short story created by mine.
(names and places mentioned are not on my intention, it's just a co-incidence that i used it.)
Rina, a stage-4 cancer patient had only had one week life span. she's really depressed when she knew about it, but she knew that she couldn't do anything about it, so she accepted it fully. while her boyfriend, Paul couldn't accept the truth, that her girlfriend will die after one week.
One monday afternoon, while Rina is on the garden, watching the butterflies touch the flower's beauty, and smelling the flower's sweet scent, and singing with the nature, under the shade of a sturdy oak tree, Paul came, brought some chrysanthemums, Rina's favorite flowers.
As soon he entered the garden, he heared Rina singing a song, titled over it by Katherine McPhee.
"Wanting you to be wanting me, no that ain't no way to be. How i feel, read my lips, beacause i'm so over-" She suddenly stopped, knowing that Paul's presence is near her.
"Come on Paul, i know you're there. come here." As soon as those words came out of Rina's mouth, Paul came. "How you'd know i'm here?" he asked. "Your scent is unique, it's one of a kind. It's easy to notice." As soon as those words start to enter Paul's mind and ears, he handed over the chrysanthemums to Rina, then followed by a kiss on the cheek.
"You brought this again. Thanks." then she smiled. Then, a silence occurs on the two of them. After a minute of silence, Paul break the silence, then said, "You're just going to accept it like a gift came from someone?" Then a sad expression follows. Rina stood up from the the giant roots of the oak tree, that's full of trimmed grass, with a good soil, good enough to touch someone's body when they die;and said, "Yes. I'm going to accept it like this, like a gift came from someone. Fate is unchangeable, no one can oppose it, no one can fight it, but everybody has to accept it, even though it's hard. So, i'll answer yes. I'll accept it, and i accepted it before. I accepted the fact that i'll die."
Paul, on the other hand, couldn't resist anymore what his girlfriend is saying, so, he speak and said, "No, you won't die. If i have to, i would use all my gold and shares, just to cure you. So, we-" Rina touched Paul's lips, and hushed gently, and said, "I don't want to suffer anymore. Do you want me to suffer? I know, you wouldn't like it. See me suffer is very hard for you, right? So i'll end it."
Rina released her index/point finger on Paul's lips, then hugged him. Paul, who's teary eyed already, said, "But i just-" Rina hushed, then said, "I don't want to leave here, leaving you like that. I'll be restless. I'll be a haunting soul, looking for someone who can soothe you. I don't want you to suffer too, so please, don't be sad. Just erase my illness on your mind, and visualize me as clear as the blue sky, as clear as a sanctuary under the sea. Would that be okay? Would that be favorable?" Paul, who got his tounge and mind stunned, just nodded. She added, "Let's make my last minute memorable. Let's meet on the park where we met before, under the big mapple tree, on the bench. Can you fulfill it?" Paul, regained his voice back, said, "Yeah, i will." They did the pinky-finger promise, to prove that it will be a promise. "Okay, then, it's a promise."
Days have passed. Rina became weaker and pale, pale as a vampire. However, she strives and fights harder, just to meet up at the meeting place, to fulfill what she promised. Friday evening, she wrote a letter for Paul, a letter of thanks and goodbye. On the letter, it said:
My beloved Paul,
"I'm so happy you came into my life. I'm so happy that our destinies crossed, followed in meeting each other, and became lovers. You're my answered prayer. You're the greatest gift i ever had. A girl could ask for to a man. You have everything. Stunning good looks, a big heart, heart that loves, and shows great affection."
On the day of the meeting, when Rina came, she saw Paul on the bench, singing. "You'll always be a part of me, I'm part of you definitely, girl don't you know you can't escape me, oh darling 'cause you'll always be my baby. And we'll linger on, time can't erase a feeling this strong, no way you're never gonna shake me, oh darling 'cause you'll always be my baby.." Upon hearing that, Rina decided to approach Paul.
"Am i late? " She asked. "No, i just came here by now." Then, she sat beside Paul, then laid down on Paul's shoulder. Then, Paul held Rina's hands. He felt it's kinda cold, coldness that surrounds him. Then Rina spoke, and said, "Thank you Paul. Thank you for everything. I have no regrets." Then Paul said, "That's nothing. I also want to thank you too. For loving me and being there for me. I love you." Rina replied, "I.. I.. I..." She held her last breathe, and died. Paul knew that this would happen, and he's now prepared for it.
Nights of sadness and depression have passed, and the funeral had gone. Paul recovered from what happened, he finally moved on.
On a monday afternoon, Paul visited at Rina's house, then headed directly to her room. As he entered, a sudden blow of wind followed.
"Nothing has changed, it's quite simple, but elegant". As he entered inside, he noticed a letter on Rina's study table;with Paul's name in it. He slowly grabbed it, and opened it.
Paulo reads.
My beloved Paul,
"I'm so happy you came into my life. I'm so happy that our destinies crossed, followed in meeting each other, and became lovers. You're my answered prayer. You're the greatest gift i ever had. A girl could ask for to a man. You have everything. Stunning good looks, a big heart, heart that loves, and shows great affection."
"Your affection had made me strong all through this years, strong enough to face anything and everything. So i want to thank you for all of that. "
"Goodbye Paul, goodbye. Don't worry, I'm still on you, all of me is still in you. Only my body had passed away, but not my soul, and our memories."
His voice changed as he read the last part.
"Paul. I love you, and that will be..
He smiled but a bit teary and whispered, "For eternity."
Last edited by Cake-kun; 2008-07-26 at 06:35.
|2008-07-26, 07:35
|Link #66
Every word must conjure
Good effort! A romance short story tinged with a bit of sadness, and then a kind of bittersweet ending... Not my kind of story, but it was worth the read
You need some work on your grammar & tenses, though. It slips in & out of past & present tense, which is confusing to any reader. If you're going to write another story or continue with this one, just keep everything in the past tense. It's easier to handle & easier for the reader to follow too.
Also, other more specific comments on the story:
Spoiler for More Comments:
|2008-07-26, 07:39
|Link #67
At least it's on the book
@ shelter:
Thanks. :] well, i'll admit, i'm not too good at english. (unlike before.) But well, i'll try to correct my faults next time i create a story.
Thanks for the comments and compliments. ;]
|2008-07-30, 21:06
|Link #68
Dietrich fan #681675
Spoiler for an anecdote that relates to said "convenience":
|2008-08-01, 00:12
|Link #70
Graphic Designer
Well seeing as I had positive feedback for Part One I thought I'd write another part. Though, I do suppose the initial line could use something.
Sorry if it seems rather short. They always look longer in the reply composition.
|2008-08-01, 02:54
|Link #71
Honyaku no Hime
Join Date: May 2008
Location: In the eastern capital of the islands of the rising suns...
Just a reminder since its 1st Aug today that the http://100words.com/ - challenge begins! Write 100 words in a day for the month, i sent off an email to asking bout what happens if you mis like 2 days (get disqualified) - but im going to be offline for a spell this month, so waiting for a reply to see if there's a way around it else i'll try it and see how far i can get, lol.
The latest batch of stories peeps have posted here are saved on word, i'll finish reading/commenting on them sometime in the next week ^^
keep em coming!
|2008-08-01, 13:58
|Link #73
Senior Member
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: Between a rock and a hard place.
Age: 33
Regarding 100words.com, the site doesn't actually keep track or disqualify people automatically. They have no possible way of knowing that you cheated. Some people prefer to write their entire entries offline and fill them in later (before the deadline). It's just more fun to split brain cells over cramping for 100 words a day, rather than doing it whenever. But either way, it really helps to keep the creative juices flowing.
|2008-08-02, 14:07
|Link #74
Honyaku no Hime
Join Date: May 2008
Location: In the eastern capital of the islands of the rising suns...
Nonetheless I've started it, 2 days in, so will see how it goess ^^
Next post to follow is in response to the latest batch of stories posted, prob will end up a DP, hence warning in advance.
|2008-08-02, 14:51
|Link #75
Honyaku no Hime
Join Date: May 2008
Location: In the eastern capital of the islands of the rising suns...
Right, here we go again!
Each person's stuff is spoilered within a spoiler and goodness knows what other bb code tags i've overdosed on, lol. Because spoilers place text in a box the same as quotes (grr), I've bolded+italic my comments in the middle of your stories, so you know it's from me.
Going in order of post, so let's begin
First off is Arceon
Spoiler for Arceon's part one:
As it turns out, you posted a part 2 anyways , so this is my reply to your part two about 2 weeks after I read the initial one. ^^
Spoiler for part 2:
K, next is Usuratonkachi's girl in the bar story
I guess since I live in a capital city, libraries are a dime a dozen, so I take for granted that we have lots of resources here compared to peeps who may be in the countryside >.>
In that case, if you have any particular favs of romancey novels of hers (did I link you to her website I wonder) I can give you a rough rundown on each story, character and general feel to see if you like it before you actually go spend money on it ^^;;
Whenever youre ready, come bug me on my profile or PM or in the dead poets society club and Ill try to get you started.
For now (hurray) more girl in bar story for me ^^
Spoiler for bargirl tale:
Next person is Claude_Desravines
Spoiler for between pathetic and charming:
In regards to this:
This isnt limited to writing, its to most creative arts, be it playwriting, painting, fiction, composing music, writing lyrics and so on.
Just think of stripping naked and having to stand in the park, bare to all. (Short of being an exhibitionist)
Itd most likely be embarrassing, nerve racking, or to personalise things a little, think of it as the first time of stripping naked for the first time to someone you care about.
To some artists, they can never be so objective about parting with their work to pass to others, but it is part of the process of having to grow and mature in our crafts. We're our own worst enemies/critics, so a pair of eyes that isnt our own is always valuable
Right continuing on, next is Cake-kun!
Spoiler for cake-kun's tale:
Last but not least, is Whitepearl's re write of her earlier tale ^^
Spoiler for Hayden and Co story:
Just a general note, as Ive noticed in a few posts (and something Im just as guilty off from time to time) keep note of your tense use. It generally is written in the past, but Ive caught a few verbs written in present tense causing inconsistency, so just something to note when you guys write or proof check yourselves ^^
I actually broke that 50,000 word limit per post (as i was suspecting I would for quoting everyone's stories in one post) and had to start cutting.
Don't think the admins will consider slightly increasing it for this thread, lol - nonetheless, they were awesome to read, thank you for your efforts for writing them. ^^
But a lovely batch of work, as always keep those virtual quills scratching and the stories coming. ^^
|2008-08-02, 18:31
|Link #76
Dietrich fan #681675
The meeting with Heather was supposed to have been in real time, along with Jocelyn getting Hayden's attention (both were supposed to be in the morning). Now I might consider having it as a flashback during the afternoon...I'll figure out something.
BTW, my avatar may have deceived you but I'm a male
|2008-08-03, 04:01
|Link #77
Honyaku no Hime
Join Date: May 2008
Location: In the eastern capital of the islands of the rising suns...
(edit: i caught the mistake i made, oops~~)
Lots of guys have female avvies, but yeah i had you pinned as a girl via your writing (and prob nick in addition) - this is probbaly the first writing thread i've been in that'll be male dominated just cause there's so few lil girls on this forum ratio or percentage wise, but i gotta confess - high school drama and relationships is something i typically read from the female lot, but nice surprise eitheway ^^
Strike 2 for gender confusion, i think i mixed someone up in my last post as well, lol.
No wonder the IRC lot tend to think I'm a guy x.x
Last edited by Mystique; 2008-08-03 at 15:40.
|2008-08-05, 15:41
|Link #79
Senior Member
Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: England
Age: 28
I used to enjoy planning out and writing stories, although eventually I gave up. It did prove a lot harder than what one would think. I did hear that it was hard to write books from the words of authors, but I did not expect t'would be as hard as the way I found it. Their is a lot more to it than what one would assume.
I started writing two stories that caught my main attention, although after some planning and starts to the chapters I found myself quite...stuck as it were. I also have two more ideas for novels although it is too hard to put what I think and the actions in which the people are to take, into words. Two wonderful storys that I imagine all the time, but cannot type out due to my struggling of thoughtful phrases and words. I ditched the previous two ideas that I posessed and thought of two new ones. Ones in which were influenced by many things and I imagined to be wonderful, yet I have not started to type up or plan properly. One in which is mainly based on war, betrayal, a little romance, a 'lot' of drama, and revolves around one certain individual, an adolescent male, that is living through these certain events. I am always thinking about new parts and chapters in which would be great and add to the story.
If anyone actually reads this then thankyou. If you have any ideas in ways in which to help me then that would be greatly appreciated too. I have the basic plot anyhow, of the one I like the idea of best.
|2008-08-06, 02:49
|Link #80
Senior Member
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: Between a rock and a hard place.
Age: 33
A piece of a novel I wrote about a young couple living the suburbs. This is not the beginning. I was working on this novel for five years until I lost my back up file and this was what I could recall from memory, though I made some of this stuff up on the spot half an hour ago . :/
|literature, writing
|Thread Tools


text:
Through the Lens of: Hiroshi Sugimoto
Artsy Editorial
Series: American Landscapes
Signature: Signed and Numbered by Josef Hoflehner
Josef Hoflehner's photographs of cities and landscapes are filled with silence and solitude. Working mostly in black-and-white, he emphasizes the relationship between the natural and the man-made, placing figures or physical traces of human presence against vast, sometimes eerie emptiness. Impeccable composition and rhythmic play of light and dark give his work a painterly, highly formal quality. "I like empty spaces," Hoflehner has said. "I prefer bad weather. I love snow and ice … and trees. I mix up or change my style often. I like to experiment with focus and time."
Austrian, b. 1955, Wels, Austria, based in Wels, Austria


text:
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Every morning, you ask your digital assistant for the news and weather while you're getting ready for work. From there, you check the traffic with your smartphone, strap on your smartwatch, set some mood music for your pet for the day, have your digital assistant set your home's thermostat to "away" mode and head out to the garage. You open your smart garage door before you realize you forgot to turn on your security system — but that's not a problem, you have an app for that.
All of this technology touch seems perfectly normal these days. Absolutely everyone has a WiFi network at home to feed all of these neat tools that we collectively call the Internet of Things (IoT). Unfortunately, not everyone has a very secure WiFi network, which opens up IoT devices, computers and the network itself to attacks by nefarious types who would use them for tasks you probably didn't have in mind.
Before you catch Alexa trying to order a DIY rocket kit from Acme without your authorization, let's go through some basics of WiFi security to keep your home network and IoT devices protected.
There are basically four types of security you'll find in a wireless router, some are much better at protecting you and your devices than others. As with anything to do with technology, the more modern protocols are going to be better at protecting you than older ones, so if your router is more than a couple of years old it might be time to consider an upgrade. Check this list to see if it has an appropriately secure protocol available first, though:
WEP. Wired Equivalent Privacy is a protocol reaching back to 1999. It was essentially the first wireless security type, so if this is the only option you've got available on your router, get yourself to Best Buy. This router cannot deal with modern challenges, bottom line. You might as well not have any internet security.
WPA. WiFi Protected Access was created in 2003 as a response to the many problems with WEP. A new security standard known as Temporal Key Integrity Protocol was developed that was much stronger than the encryption used with WEP, but it still used a similar implementation, so was problematic.
What happens when a company misleads consumers and intentionally pollutes the environment? We asked some of our authors to comment on the recent Volkswagen emissions scandal . Check out what they had to say below and share your own thoughts in the comments.
As an environmentalist, I probably shouldn't say this, but I love my car.
For starters, I love its exceptional fuel economy—an average of 37.5 miles per gallon in the four years I've owned it and typically up to 45 mpg on the highway, a significant boost above the U.S. vehicle fleet average of 23.6 mpg. I love its understated style—sleek, compact, and modern without looking flashy. I've even come to love the feline purr of its diesel engine, the little rumble that signals its latent power.
Unfortunately, my dream car is something of a mirage. That's because I'm the owner of a 2010 Volkswagen Jetta SportWagen TDI, one of the nearly half a million VWs that, as the company now admits, was secretly manipulated to evade U.S. and California clean air regulations. VW sold me, and hundreds of thousands of other Americans, a vehicle whose green promises ("clean diesel!") were little more than a smoke screen.
Let's be real: Owning a car is a regrettable necessity in our sprawling, industrial landscape. I'm lucky enough to live in a region—the San Francisco Bay Area—where I don't have to drive much. I commute by bike and train, and I can get everything I need within walking distance of my home. Most weeks, my car sits curbside gathering dust and leaves. But on the weekends, my family and I like to get away to the seashore, the forests, or the mountains—and for that we need a car.
Continue reading more of Jason's thoughts .
The deliberate deception on Volkswagen's part represents a breach of trust that will undoubtedly affect the company's reputation and brand image for years to come. But the ripple effects of this scandal are even broader. For those who are cynical about capitalist motives, it simply reinforces the unfortunate stereotypes of corporate greed and manipulation. For those who respect the efforts of global corporations to be environmentally and socially responsible, myself included, it represents a setback in public perception of the business community. From my experience, the large majority of companies work hard to uphold their values and ethical standards, and are sincerely dedicated to the sustainability goals that they profess. Occasionally they are guilty of errors in judgment, and we have certainly witnessed a number of incidents where automotive companies clearly failed to protect the safety of their customers. However, even though no one was physically injured by Volkswagen's actions, the company grossly violated the basic claim of their product—clean diesel engines. This is an unprecedented insult to society, comparable to the Enron scandal, and I expect that in the near term it will taint the credibility of corporate sustainability programs in every industry.
My book (Island Press, 2012)on the evolution of the Corporation–past, present and future–explored the changes that were needed in policies, prices and institutions to change the DNA of the Corporation. Today's economy and politics is dominated by the ethically challenged DNA of 'Corporation 1920,'steeped in the economic philosophy of Milton Friedman, and guidedsolely by the pursuit of profits, with their goals mis-aligned with society, generating trillions of dollars in social costs: the negative externalities of "business-as-usual."But Iwas able to find and describe many successful instances of the new DNA–corporationswith social purpose, positive externalities, achieving private profits without inflicting public losses. And every so often,Ihear or see something that makes me thinkIhave found another one….
Such was my impression whenIvisited Volkswagen in Wolfsburg a year ago, to teach a seminar.Ilearnedthat their cars and assembly lines were being designed to ensure each model and chassis could take four types of engines: petrol, diesel, hybrid and electric. It seemed a very pragmatic way of staying open to business for a fossil-fuel-free world of tomorrow. But in hindsight, it was more likely a pragmatic way of staying open to a diesel-engine-free future. Volkswagen is guilty ofmisdemeanouron a massive scale but it looks like they are not alone. Recent research by the Institute for Transport Studies at Leeds University, UK,suggests thatMercedes, BMW, Ford, and Mazdadiesel cars are even more polluting than Volkswagen, and up to the same software deceit. How can an entire industry go so wrong? Very simple: by being driven solely by the pursuit of financial profits, totallyignoring the wider world of human, social and natural capital that they depend on and have impacts on. That is why we need a new corporateperformancemeasuring system such as Akzo-Nobel's"4D-PL"concept, see www.corp2020.com . You cannot manage what you do not measure. Accountancy regulators need to wake up from their sleep of a century, andrealisethat thefinancialreporting of 1920 is simply NOT good enough for 2020!
The composition of the population and the type of health care delivery system will dictate the optimal design of the screening program. The components to consider include who will do the testing ( e.g. , physician, nurse, technician), where the screening will take place ( e.g. , clinic, health fair), and how it will be financially supported.
Screening for albuminuria in individuals with diabetes has been advocated to be performed once every year. In case of a positive test, it is advocated to repeat testing twice within 3 to 6 mo. If two of the three tests are positive, then treatment to lower albuminuria should be started ( 41 ). Thus far, no hard data are available for the optimal time interval for albuminuria testing in individuals with hypertension or in other groups. As progression of albuminuria may be slower in individuals without diabetes than in individuals with diabetes, it seems acceptable to perform albuminuria testing in individuals with hypertension or other risk categories every 3 yr.
Both in type 1 diabetes ( 50 ) and in the general population ( 51 ), progression and regression of albuminuria can be observed. After 4.2 yr, UAE had regressed in 9.8% individuals in the general population, whereas progression was found in 11.4%. Progression and regression of albuminuria were most prevalent in the group of individuals with a UAE of 15 to 30 mg/d (21.3 and 47.4%, respectively). This suggests that especially in individual with a borderline elevation in UAE, repeated testing every 3 to 5 yr is indicated.
Lowering of BP with agents that interfere with the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system, such as ACE inhibitors or ARB is most effective for lowering UAE. It has been shown in patients with manifest renal disease (
, those with overt proteinuria of >300 mg/d) that the extent to which proteinuria is lowered during treatment predicts the prevention of both CKD and progressive cardiovascular disease (
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). It is highly likely but not proved that the same will hold true for individuals with microalbuminuria. Thus far, however, we cannot define a certain cutoff level below which albuminuria should be lowered; we suggest use of the same cutoff as for the definition of microalbuminuria: <30 mg/d.
There is compelling evidence that screening for albuminuria should be carried out in individuals with diabetes. Evidence is accumulating that it also should be implemented in individuals with hypertension and in individuals with increased cardiovascular and renal risk. Further studies are needed to confirm that systematic screening for albuminuria also is cost-effective in the general population. The short-term benefits for prevention of cardiovascular disease may outweigh those of the long-term prevention of ESRD.
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