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|Single-serving nut butters in under 5 minutes
|Potential gourmet nut butter fodder: your inspiration may be different
|Date-Maca-Maple Almond Butter
This was my favorite. The acidic-berry-sweetness of the maca is so unbelievably luscious mashed into the mellow, earthy almond butter.
- 2 T almond butter
- 1 tsp maca powder
- 1 date, finely chopped
- 1/4 tsp vanilla
|Cinnamon-Raisin-Maple Peanut Butter
Want your kids to idolize you? Use this and thinly sliced, ripe bananas in their lunch sandwich tomorrow, on whole-grain bread. A classic combo, divine on toast for breakfast.
- 2 T peanut butter
- 1 tsp raisins, finely chopped
- 1 tsp agave nectar
- Dash of cinnamon, to taste
|Fluffernutter Butter
- 2 T peanut butter
- 1 tsp Ricemellow Creme or other vegan marshmallow
- 1/4 tsp vanilla
|Chocolate Peanut Butter
Feel free to substitute hazelnut butter, but this is much more economical.
- 2 T peanut butter
- 1 tsp cocoa or raw, powdered cacao
- 1 tsp agave nectar
To make these, simple blend all ingredients well in a ramekin with a spoon. You can use any nut butter [eg, cashew, almond, peanut, soy] and you can basically add anything that is compatible. My simple advice is: taste! If you want to make larger batches, or if you are lucky enough to own a Vitamix like my F-stop, do check out my pal Julie Hasson's excellent primer here.
Nut Butter-Compatible Add-In Ideas
- Chopped, dried banana, apricots, apples, raisins, dates, figs or cranberries
- Cinnamon
- Garam Masala or Cayenne [In tiny quantities]
- Canned pumpkin [Yes, really! Try a spoonful with cinnamon and nutmeg as a carrot dip]
- Maca Powder
- Agave Nectar
- Maple Syrup
- Brown Rice Syrup
- Cacao, Cacao Nibs or Cocoa Powder
- Ricemellow Creme or Vegan Marshmallow
- Vegan Mini-Marshmallows
- Vegan Chocolate Chips
- Vanilla or Chocolate Vegan Protein Powder
- Crumbled Vegan Graham Crackers
- Dried Coconut
- Acai Powder
- Vanilla, Coconut, Almond, Rum or Banana Extract


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With two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning, Crowder's Kala Crisp drilled a double to the wall in center field to score Morgan Coleman from first base as the Lady 'Riders earned a walk-off victory over Jefferson College 7-6 on Monday at Lady 'Riders Field.
With two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning, Crowder's Kala Crisp drilled a double to the wall in center field to score Morgan Coleman from first base as the Lady 'Riders earned a walk-off victory over Jefferson College 7-6 on Monday at Lady 'Riders Field.
Crowder dropped game two of the doubleheader in five innings 15-4.
While the day didn't end well for the Lady 'Riders, their win in game one was one to remember.
The Lady Vikings tagged Crowder starting pitcher Madison Barnes for two runs in the top of the first inning, but the Lady 'Riders would answer in the second with five runs to move ahead 5-2. The Lady 'Riders sent 10 batters to the plate in the frame, which was highlighted by a two-run triple from sophomore Jessica Neely with two outs scoring Payton Appleberry and Alexis Navarro to make it 4-2. Neely would later score to make it 5-2.
The Lady 'Riders added another run in the fourth after Neely singled, moved to third on a sac bunt by Shelby Stuck and scored on a Carson Forge single to make it 6-3. It would remain that way until the sixth when Jefferson's Kara Pochon, Christina Young and Emily Hills all scored to tie it 6-6.
Barnes would go on to earn the win despite allowing six runs on six hits and nine walks in 6 1/3 innings. Ashton Worth tossed 2/3 of an inning, walked one and allowed a hit in relief.
Neely finished with two hits, two RBIs and scored twice. Forge, Brooke Hulsey, Coleman, Crisp and Alexis Navarro also had hits. Stuck, Forge and Navarro had an RBI apiece.
"We played well," Lady 'Riders coach Lori Videmschek said. "We didn't pitch well. We made big pitches in key situations, but we just had too many walks."
The Lady Vikings weren't as forgiving in the nightcap, however. They plated three runs in the first, seven in the third and five more in the fourth to take a 15-2 lead in the top of the fourth. Crowder would answer with two runs in the bottom of the fourth, but it wasn't enough to prevent the mercy rule after five innings.
Errors plagued Crowder to no end in the loss. The Lady 'Riders committed 11 miscues that were charged to them on the scoreboard, while the Lady Vikings also had 12 hits and drew three walks.
"You can't give (opponents) six and seven outs in an inning and expect to win games and that's what it came down to," Videmschek said of the game two performance. "We've got to get better defensively. A lot of it is we just lose focus, and they've got to learn how to keep focused. That's the big key. We had three errors on the infield that cost us four runs in one inning. You can't do that (against) good teams."
Neely had two more hits in Crowder's six-hit attack with two RBIs while also scoring twice. Stuck, Coleman, Crisp and Navarro also had hits, while Coleman had an RBI and Stuck and Navarro scored once.
The Lady 'Riders (25-14) travel to Maple Woods for a 2 p.m. tilt on Thursday in Kansas City, Mo.

subset: commoncrawl


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PapaSkisNTrikes wrote: »I assume TCEd jests about the kitchen table, but, on a similar note, I have found that our picnic table is perfect. Regardless of which side of the trike I need to access, I have a nice bench on which to sit. Of course, my wife requires that, first, I remove the picnic table cover. :-(


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|photo credit: Richard.Fisher
As you may have noticed from the anticipation, excitement, and general hullabaloo…we recently opened an exhibition chock full of Terra Cotta Warriors. And while museum people tend to find every exhibit that comes through our doors fascinating (part of the reason we take the leap from avid exhibition attendees to employees of said institutions) there are some things – King Tut, T. rex, and the Terra Cotta Warriors among them – that seem simply to have universal appeal.
Other exhibitions do well with particular demographics (history buffs loved Benjamin Franklin, engineers and art lovers packed in to see Leonardo da Vinci, kids couldn't get enough of the Dino Mummy) but some topics fascinate across the board. Whether from historical importance, sheer size or the stunning nature of a discovery – some artifacts from our collective past stand out, almost demanding that we come and experience them for ourselves.
Due to this, Terra Cotta Warriors: Guardians of China's First Emperorhas created a lot of conversation – both in our exhibition halls and online – and so we thought we'd address some of the common questions here – and do a little mythbusting of our own.
The Terra Cotta Warriors on display at HMNS are fake. FALSE.
The exhibition contains 17 authentic Terra Cotta figures, including 11 warrior figures – but also court officials, acrobats, musicians, servants and more. Its fascinating to see the incredible detail crafted into each individual warrior – as well as the ways in which various stations in society were represented in clay. The warriors are imposing, the generals are enormous – but the kneeling servant is child-size.
All of the artifacts on display were excavated from the necropolis of Qin Shi Huang, China's First Emperor. They were brought to Houston as part of an agreement with the Museum of the Terra Cotta Warriors and Horses of Qin Shi Huang, Peoples Republic of China.
The exhibition does contain a few replica figures, however these are labeled as such. The replicas were included to represent horses and carriages that have recently been excavated, and are too fragile to travel.
Some confusion may also have arisen due to the existence of the Forbidden Gardens, in Katy. This display recreates the Emperor's entire necropolis, in one-third size replica figures.
This exhibit has been to Houston before. FALSE…and TRUE.
We've heard this several times, but no one seemed to know where the rumor came from. The exhibition itself is newly created and has certainly never been to Houston before it opened here May 22. However, the misconception seems to have arisen from another exhibition that came though Houston, with Terra Cotta Warriors. Thank you to Laurie, one of our intrepid volunteer docents; Donna; one of our fabulous Museum bloggers; and David, a collections registrar from MFAH, for helping us track down the answer!
In 2000, the Museum of Fine Arts hosted The Golden Age of Chinese Archeology; Celebrated Discoveries from the People's Republic of China, an exhibition of Chinese art that did contain several authentic figures from the terra cotta army. Organized by the National Gallery of Art, the exhibition covered a large span of time – from the prehistoric era to the late 10th century A.D. – and surveyed a broad range of highlights of Chinese archaeology.
Terra Cotta Warriors: Guardians of China's First Emperor, currently on display at HMNS, is a totally new exhibition that contains the most Terra Cotta Warriors and other "Level One" artifacts ever allowed to travel outside of China at once – there are 11 warriors alone, alongside many other kinds of tomb figures, such as acrobats and musicians. It's also a much more specific look at the time in which the warriors were created – around the end of the 2nd century B.C. – the first time the lands today known as China were unified. A visit to this exhibition is the very best look at these marvels you could possibly get outside of Xi'an, China where the Warriors were discovered.
All of the Terra Cotta Warriors have been found and excavated. FALSE.
It is estimated that 7,000 or more warriors were created to accompany the Emperor to the afterlife – but only 1,000 have been fully excavated. Just recently, two decades after initial excavations ceased, Chinese authorities began new excavations in Xi'an, utilizing new technology that will preserve the warriors' original colors.
Though excavations continue in the necropolis, the actual tomb of Qin Shi Huang remains intact, due to the high levels of mercury found in the surrounding soil – suggesting that the "rivers of mercury" said to have flowed through the tomb were actually left there and likely stil make the area to toxic to excavate.
Have you heard a Terra Cotta myth that needs debunking? Leave it in the comments and we'll do our best to get to the bottom of it!


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Hi all, I've posted here before about my LO being "skinny" when his dr suggested I try supplementing or rice cereal. That was a month ago and I did neither - just nursed more, stopped pumping for future storage and just tried to give him 100% of my supply. I don't have oversupply issues at all, if anything I've always worried it wasn't enough (mostly because my right breast just never pumped as much milk as the left, and because he isn't a pudgy baby). Now he is 5 months and gained about a pound in the last month. I think he's gotten longer too - seems like at least an inch.
In the last week he has gone from pooping once a day (or every other day) to several times a day. I noted this with some concern because he is also really fussy about feeding for many of the middle day and late afternoon / early evening. This weekend he's had low grade fever off and on along with fussy behavior, not settling well at night, and one green poop last night and today. Oh, and he's congested. I've been doing lots of saline for that.
I gave up dairy a whole back due to his milk protein intolerance - I think I may have had some inadvertent dairy recently so I don't know if the green poo is from that, or is it teething.
I am having quite a time with getting him to nurse and to settle down...I know he hasn't felt good, and I worry that he isn't eating as well.
He's got a happy and laid back personality normally so this has been rough for me. It seems like he's gone from being a great nurser (for business and pleasure!) to sometimes it's like I'm trying to poke him with a hot iron, he screams so much. Even getting to our comfy spot and putting him on his nursing pillow will freak him out when he's in one of those moods.
It all feels very fragile right now. Any advice or help? Sorry for the long vent. I just want my reliable baby back!
Don't know if this is teething, and not something else (stomach bug, dairy issue, cold?) but it is rough!!


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Alexandria Library Donations Policy
Gifts made to the Alexandria Library become the property of the Alexandria Library Board and the City and cannot be returned to the donor.
The Alexandria Library reserves the right to decide when, where, and under what conditions donated materials may be used, displayed, or withdrawn from the collection.
The Library does not appraise donated books or other materials.
If the donor wishes to have the materials donated appraised for tax purposes, the arrangements for and the cost of appraising the value of gifts will be borne by the donor.
The Alexandria Library Board will not accept gifts of principal for investment, the income of which is to be used for Library purposes, unless the gift is for $25,000 or more. Further the restrictions placed on any gift must be approved by the Board. Gifts of less than $25,000 may be given with suggestions as to the use of such funds.
Revised 6/02, Reviewed 1/05


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Have you ever wanted to convert files without the need to download software ?
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text:
From NBC/NJ's Athena Jones
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Obama promised to be a partner and champion for America's Hispanics if he wins the White House.
In a roughly 45-minute speech and question-and-answer session at a conference of the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials Saturday, Obama highlighted his work with Latino leaders and called the Hispanics "an aspirational community that embodies the best of the American Dream."
VIDEO: When Barack Obama and John McCain spoke at a meeting of Hispanic voters in Washington D.C., they weren't side by side. But NBC's Lee Cowan reports that didn't stop them from sniping at one another.
The presumptive Democratic nominee hopes to win over Latino voters, a key voting bloc in several states, including places like Colorado and New Mexico, red states where he is campaigning in the hopes of turning them blue. The senator plans to address League of United Latin America Citizens national convention here on July 8 and the National Council of La Raza annual conference in San Diego on July 13.
"This election could well come down to how many Latinos turn out to vote, and I'm proud that my campaign is working hard to register more Latinos, and bring them into the political process," he told an enthusiastic crowd. "Because I truly believe that if we work together and fight together and stand together this fall, then you and I together -- not only will we change registration rolls, not only will I win the presidency -- but we are gonna change the political map. We are gonna change it from top to bottom. We will create the kind of empowerment in your communities that we have not seen ever in this United States of America."
Obama, whose speech followed rival John McCain's, was warmly received with a standing ovation and chants of "O-ba-ma" and "Si se puede!"
He began by acknowledging the historic nature of his own candidacy.
"I'm proud to be here today not just as the Democratic nominee for President, but as the first African-American nominee of my party, and I'm hoping that somewhere out there in the audience sits the person who will be the first Latino nominee," he said to applause.
He went on to restate his support for comprehensive immigration reform that focuses on both enforcement and providing a path to citizenship for the roughly 12 million people here illegally and he criticized McCain for changing his position on reform due to what he called "politics."
"There is one place where Sen. McCain and I agreed and we used to work together to offer change on immigration and I -- he deserves great credit as a champion of comprehensive reform. I admire him for it," he said. "I know that he talked about that when he just spoke before you, but what he didn't mention is that when he was running for his party's nomination, he walked away from that commitment. He said that he wouldn't even support his own legislation if it came up for a vote."
During the Q&A, Obama answered questions on the housing crisis, infrastructure issues, immigration reform, healthcare, education, the effect of globalization on jobs and about ending the war in Iraq, saying the Latino community has "borne the brunt of service and casualties" in Iraq and arguing that ending the war would free up more money for foreign aid to Latin America.
He closed his speech with a little bit of Spanish, saying "We are all Americans. Todos somos Americanos."
While McCain's appearance was interrupted several times by anti-war protestors, none interrupted Obama, though about a dozen Code Pink protestors were posted outside the hotel holding signs that included, "Viva la paz" (long live peace.)
McCain campaign spokeman Brian Rogers sent this response to Obama's attack: "It's quite audacious for Barack Obama to question John McCain's commitment to immigration reform when it was Obama himself who worked to kill the Senate's bipartisan immigration reform compromise last year. Barack Obama voted for five 'poison pill' amendments designed by special interests to kill the immigration reform deal. These efforts were strongly opposed by Senator Ted Kennedy (D-MA), the Democrat who led the fight for immigration reform, because he understood they would have the effect of ending the bipartisan work toward immigration reform.
Rogers said Obama had "never reached across the aisle to lead in a bipartisan fashion on an issue of major importance to the American people when his own political interests were at risk" and called him a typical politician.
The Obama campaign, though, sent out its own rebuttal, saying McCain actually thanked Obama for his "commitment to this issue" on the Senate floor on May 25, 2006.


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JIN firstname.lastname@example.com_county.toronto.globe_and_mail 2007-10-11 published
JIN, Robert, M.D., M.H. Sc., F.R.C.P.C.
(October 27, 1958-October 8, 2007)
Peacefully at Hill House Hospice in Richmond Hill, Ontario, in his 49th year. Loving husband of Nora TUOR, dear son of Paul and Jane, brother of Andrew (Anne) and dear uncle to Melissa and Sonia JIN. Robert received his M.D. in 1982 from the University of Toronto and a Masters of Health Science in 1994. Dedication and commitment led to an esteemed career in Community Medicine and Public Health. Bob will be sadly missed but lovingly remembered. Many thanks to Doctor BERRY and Mary JAMIESON at Sunnybrook Hospital and their Oncology staff. Also, the commitment and caring of Dr. BERGER and Hill House Hospice staff are much appreciated. Friends may call at the Garden Chapel of Tubman Funeral Homes, 3440 Richmond Road (between Bayshore and Baseline Road), Ottawa on Friday, October 12, 2007, from 6-9 p.m. Funeral service in the chapel on Saturday at 11 a.m. Interment Pinecrest Cemetery. If you wish to make a donation in memory of Robert please consider the Hill House Hospice, 36 Wright Street, Richmond Hill, Ontario L4C 4A1 (www.hillhousehospice.com). Condolences, donations or tributes may be made at www.tubmanfuneralhomes.com
J... Names JI... Names JIN... Names Welcome Home
JIN - All Categories in OGSPI


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Local agencies and organizations receive funding
The Boonville City Council will award $181,288.63 to local agencies and organizations. This decision was made after the regular Tuesday night city council meeting.
Local organizations requested $362,426 altogether. With approximately $194,000 to give away, each council person decided on what organization they wished to fund. The amount awarded was determined by averaging the recommendation from each council member. The total of the recommendations was divided by the number of council members(8). A show of hands of five for awarding the averages and three against prompted the averages to be accepted.
Ward One Councilwoman Kathleen Conway said she awarded money to organizations who primarily feed the hungry people in the community.
Ward Four Councilman Mark Livingston did not agree with the averages because he gave an organization funds when no one else did. The average was then divided by eight, making the amount much smaller.
Discussion began on why the entire amount of funds were not awarded. Conway said she was not happy with awarding all of the funds because they had lowered the amount given from $240,000 to $194,000. Ward Three Councilman Hayes Murray said he thinks the city should start giving less money to area organizations and focussing on city infrastructure. He said the city should not act as a charitable organization.
The Howard County Sheriff requested $50,000 but will receive $27,908.88. The Howard County Persecuting Attorney requested $25,000 but will receive $15,030. The New Franklin Police Department requested $14,000 but will receive $10,958.75. The Cooper County Prosecuting Attorney requested $38,983 but will receive $27,710.38. The Cooper County Sheriff requested $50,000 but will receive $40,947.50. M.U.S.T.A.N.G. requested $25,000 but will receive $22,625. The City of Blackwater requested $2,000 but will receive $1,125. The City of Pilot Grove requested $2,000 but will receive $875. The Boonslick Heartland YMCA requested $64,800 but will receive $22,000. The Boonslick Senior Center requested $6,500 but will receive $1,625. The University 4H Program requested $5,000 but will receive $187.50. The Friends of Historic Boonville requested $500 but will receive $62.50. The C.C.B.C. requested $25,000 but will receive $2,250. Unlimited Opportunities requested $5,664 but will receive$1,208.The Boonville Jaycees requested $5,000 but will receive $125. Neighbors Helping Neighbors requested $8,000 but will receive $2,125. Pick Up Boonville requested $700 but will receive $125. CCPH requested $5,000 but will receive nothing. The Blackwater Community Club requested $3,000 but will receive nothing. The Cal Ripken 60th Anniversary Celebration requested $4,300 but will receive $375. The Bunceton Fire Department requested $13,329 but will receive $2,663. The CCPH Disease and Prevention requested $2,000 but will receive $250. Howard County Fire Protection requested $6,000 but will receive $1,125. The Friends of the Library requested $650 but will receive nothing. The New Franklin Silver Liners requested $300 but will receive nothing.


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Central Christian men's soccer team loses, 2-0
CONCORDIA, Neb. — Concordia College scored a pair of second-half goals Wednesday night to blank Central Christian College's men's soccer team, 2-0.
Concordia dominated the action with a 19-7 advantage in shots, but Tiger goalie Alex Akrawi time and again came up with some key saves, totaling six for the game.
"We were fortunate to be 0-0 after one," CCC coach Aaron Hoxie said. "They were better in the second, but it was still a winnable game. They are well coached and exposed our flaws, however, we beat ourselves because we are selfish players and dribble too much. Or we just don't know how to play. Either way that is my fault."
CCC, now 6-4-1, hosts Bellevue at 2:30 p.m. Saturday.


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MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says it has finished its cleanup of arsenic contamination in a south Minneapolis neighborhood a full year ahead of schedule.
The EPA used $20 million in stimulus funding, plus other money, to clean up more than 600 properties. EPA removed more than 50,000 tons of contaminated soil, filled the yards with clean soil and replanted plants and grass. The cost totaled $28 million.
The Superfund site is around the former CMC Heartland Partners Lite Yard at Hiawatha Avenue and 28th Street, where a pesticide containing arsenic was produced. Contamination is believed to have blown into surrounding neighborhoods. Long-term exposure to arsenic has been linked to cancer.
EPA Regional Administrator Susan Hedman was joined by city and state officials at a commemoration for neighborhood residents Tuesday.
Online: South Minneapolis Residential Soil Contamination Superfund site: http://www.epa.gov/region5/sites/cmcheartland


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Avocado-Spiked Corn Soup
|Day Part
|Dinner, Lunch
|Menu Part
|Cuisine Type
This coarsely pureed corn soup has a cayenne zing, enhanced with sweet cubes of fresh avocado.
1⁄3 cup canola oil
1 lb. 8 oz. chopped onion
1 lb. 4 oz. diced celery
8 oz. shredded carrots
3 lb. yellow corn kernels
1 1⁄2 tbsp. chopped fresh thyme
3 qts. water
Salt, to taste
Freshly ground white pepper, to taste
Cayenne pepper, to taste
1⁄3 cup fresh lemon juice
11 California avocados
Carrot threads, for garnish
1. Heat oil in saucepot. Sauté onion, celery, and shredded carrots until soft, about 10 min.
2. Stir in corn, thyme, water, and 1 tsp. salt; simmer 20 min.
3. Coarsely puree mixture in blender or through foodmill; return to pot. Stir in salt, white pepper, and cayenne; heat through.
4. Remove from heat; stir in lemon juice.
5. Dice 8 avocados; stir into soup. Slice remaining avocados. Use with carrot threads to garnish soup.


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A former homeless man who is struggling to get his life back on track has appeared in court again after an attempted shoplifting offence.
Chesterfield magistrates' court heard on Monday, April 14, how Ross Beardsley, 26, of Brockhill Court, on Chapel Street, Brimington, Chesterfield, was spotted by staff at Asda attempting to steal a DVD box set of Game of Thrones after he had already been sentenced for two thefts in March.
Prosecuting solicitor Ian Shaw said: "This attempted theft was foiled by the diligence of shop staff who saw Beardsley in the store on CCTV cameras. He had gone to the DVDs and picked one box set up and headed towards the clothing department and bent down slightly out of view of the camera and then went to the ground floor and exited without the box.
"The box was recovered and the plastic where the security tag was placed had been damaged. Beardsley said he had gone into Asda with the intention to steal."
Beardsley pleaded guilty to the attempted theft of the DVD box set which happened on April 12.
The defendant's offence breached a conditional discharge he was given on March 24 for two thefts on March 8 and 9 from the Co-op store at Brimington, Chesterfield.
Felicity Clarke, defending, said Beardsley has been homeless and suffers with epilepsy.
She said: "For the first three months of being homeless he committed no offences. He lost his job and home but got himself into a property on March 13. He had stolen to eat or stolen to sell to get food."
District Judge Andrew Davison warned Beardsley homelessness and poor health are no excuse for resorting to crime and if his behaviour continued he was facing custody. His case was adjourned until April 24.


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Hi Marlene, Your description certainly sounds as if you B12 deficiency, particularly when you combine your B12 levels with your symptoms. You will see many protocols on the web-site for getting better. One thing that you need to do before you decide which one is best for you, you need to work out why your are deficient. as this may help you choose the correct protocol. Thus, do you think it is your diet (vegan or vegetarian), genetic problems (methylation associated mutations),, metformin use, hypothyroidism, atrophic gastritis, etc, etc., or is it the colitis? Colitis can be the cause or the effect. If you have colitis, you will also have other B group deficiencies, and possibly vitamin D deficiency, and in addition most oral, sublingual, nasal spray treatments will be almost ineffective.
Hi Marlene, Here are all the supplements that I take. I still have my period, and I definitely notice a cycle as to how good or bad I feel, so keep in mind, as a woman, it doesn't matter if you are post or pre menopausal, you are going to have a certain number of good days and a certain number of bad days each month.
Anyway, I take Natural Factors Sublingual Methylcobalamin 2 5000mcg daily Phillips Magnesium Caplets. 2-3 daily Feosol Bifera 1 caplet daily-ish Vitafusion PowerC 2 Gummies Daily Phillips Colon Health. Probiotic caps. 1 Daily Sundown Naturals inulin Fiber Prebiotic. 4 capsules daily Vitafusion. Platinum 50+. 2 Gummies Daily Nature Made Super B Complex. 1 caplet Daily Vitafusion Vitamin D. 2 gummies Daily
I avoid artificial sweeteners as best I can. I would avoid them altogether, but they put them in so many products now, even Wrigley's gum, that I can't eliminate them completely.
I drink unfiltered apple cider vinegar diluted in water, or take the apple cider pills about once a week. More often makes me feel better, but, you know how it is.
I haven't tried it yet, but I probably will, try Royal Jelly. If you are severely allergic to bees, you can't use it, and you have to only start with like 1/8 of a teaspoon a day, but it is supposed to be good for what ails ya.
I don't exercise at all (I know, I know). I took a Tai Chi class a few years back, and it did give me a feeling of well being. Something like that, or yoga might help you.
So, try taking the things I listed for a month or two, and see how you feel. Though, I you may want to take 2 B12's in the morning, and 2 at night. Also, wait a little while if you are going to try the Royal Jelly, or even the Vinegar. See how you feel with the vitamins first.
If you don't notice an improvement after 2 months, have yourself checked for allergies, viruses and the like, and parasites.
I also drink only water most of the time. Soda gums up the works,and I can feel alcohol in my system for days. I do take aspirin almost daily, but I only use enteric (coated), and never take it on an empty stomach. I also try not to take acetaminophen — I find the fact that they keep lowering the dosage and telling us what not to have with it troubling (after it being sold for over 60 years, they're just finding out about it now?)
Just one more thing, coffee was giving me heartburn, so I now take roughly 2-3 Jet-Alert tablets a day until I can kick the caffeine ( yeah, right). They don't have the same kick as coffee, but one pill gives me quite a bit of stamina for 3-4 hours. That might help you a bit, and for nausea, get some Clove gum, Amazon sells it.
In the summer I take Zyrtec, sudafed, and sometimes for dizziness, prescription Meclizine, which is GREAT, I can even read a map while my husbands driving, and I don't feel like I need to throw up.
I know where you're coming from, so I hope my drug list helps.
laurie roberts says
The numbers of moderate or severe sore throats in the first year of the trial were as follows:
We must assume that the data for the surgical groups cannot include the immediate postoperative period as one episode of sore throat (because if they did, the mean in the surgical group would have to be > 1). Therefore, the number of episodes of moderate to severe sore throat should be 1.1 (SD 0.27) in the surgery group.
Data on the number of sore throat days in the surgical and control groups are only available for 31 and 33 children respectively (72% and 69% of those enrolled) (see
Womens Avril Ls Dress Tommy Hilfiger 9h6D1zQXl
, Table 5). Here sore throat days immediately after surgery are included and "the number of days for each subject for each follow-up year was standardised on the basis of 365 days". Data on the mean number of sore throat days are as follows:
The number of days with sore throat postoperatively varies considerably. In the
Paradise 1984
trial a mean figure of 4.9 days is reported. In the later studies there is a mean of 6.3 days with a wide range from 0 to 21 days (
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). Furthermore, it is interesting to note that despite the fact that the trial included only children who were severely affected by throat infections, following enrolment in the trial many of those in the control (non-operated) group had few episodes of infection and these few were usually mild. Of the 48 children in the original control group, seven (15%) had elected to have surgery before the end of the first year and were excluded from analysis. Another six children were excluded because of loss to follow-up (n = 4) or not completing the whole 12-month period (n = 2). Of the 35 remaining children, however, 26 (74% of that group; 54% of the whole control group) had either a single episode of moderate or severe sore throat or none at all.
Of the 95 children treated with surgery (children of the randomised and non-randomised studies combined), 13 (14%) had surgery-related complications and six of them (46% of the children that suffered from surgery-related complications; 6% of the children treated with surgery) required one or more extra days in the hospital. The primary and secondary haemorrhage rates were both 2%, of which none required transfusion.
In the
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; Paradise 2002b trials, the authors present their results in a slightly different way. Data are presented for the number of episodes in the first 12 months ( Paradise 2002a ; Paradise 2002b , Table 2). However, the mean number of episodes and the range is given, along with the 95% confidence interval for the mean. For the purposes of this review, the standard deviation of the mean has had to be imputed, by dividing the confidence interval by four and multiplying by the √(N-1), where N is the number of subjects in the relevant group.
The Reviewing editor and the reviewers discussed their comments before we reached this decision, and the Reviewing editor has assembled the following comments to help you prepare a revised submission.
In general all of the reviewers felt the body of work was very impressive, and brings important new information to the field. Using live imaging, genetic/physical perturbations, quantitative data analysis and modelling they explore morphogenesis of the Drosophila pupal wing and how tissue shape changes in the Drosophila wing are related to cell shapes and mechanics. It also reveals the importance of Dumpy-dependent attachment of the disk to the cuticle. The authors develop a method to extract cell-level contributions to tissue area changes and tissue shear, and demonstrate that the various drivers of tissue shape are changing with time in interesting and robust patterns. In addition, the authors develop a fairly simple continuum model for tissue shape changes that can fit all the data in WT, mutants, and ablated embryos. This work demonstrates that both external boundary conditions as well as internal force generation are necessary to generate the WT cell shape. The deformation of wing tissues in normal and dumpy mutants is decomposed into contributions from cell growth, rearrangement and mitosis. An effort is made to distinguish autonomous cell behaviours from responses to stresses that arise from hinge reshaping and pinning of the blade margins. The experiments have been done carefully and bring important new information to the field.
In their revised version of the manuscript the authors should address the following points raised by the reviewers.
1) Calling ṽ the change in the "shear" is not precise. Some people use "shear" to refer to "shear stress" instead of shear strain. Why not call it the shear strain?
2) Why is there no autonomous active pressure in Equation 3 , which is the analogue to the active shear stress in Equation 4 ?
3) Why does Equation 52 in the supplemental include a viscous contribution to the pressure (and that's what the authors say they fit), but Equation 3 includes no such term? It is not clear when the dissipative term is included and when it is not.
4) Given that several main results in this paper rely on the fact that there is a delay ( τ d ) between the cellular topological changes ( R ) and the cell elongation ( Q ), and that this delay seems to be about 4 hours, it would be extremely useful to have some discussion of what is generating that delay. Naively, I would expect that cell elongation would drive rearrangements instantaneously—changes to shape should immediately generate T1s in fairly generic geometries. I find the existence of τ d to be incredibly surprising (although the data is convincing that it exists.) So this 4 hour timescale must be something having to do with a signaling cascade specific to biological systems? Are there any candidates for this?
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Trust environment settings for proxy configuration, default authentication and similar.
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A user-created
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MINNEAPOLIS — Minnesota has worked hard to overcome the season-ending injury to star Trevor Mbakwe and those four straight losses to open Big Ten play.
Ah, but the challenge for the Gophers has barely begun.
Starting Thursday against rival Wisconsin, they play five of their next six games against teams currently ranked in the Top 25 to close out the month. Next Tuesday, they host No. 3 Ohio State. After a game at Northwestern, Minnesota returns home to face No. 11 Michigan State and No. 23 Indiana. Then there's the rematch with the 21st-ranked Badgers in Madison.
"The good teams that are going to be playing after the season are the teams that do their work. They get it done this time of year," coach Tubby Smith said.
The Gophers have won five of their last seven games, but with so many underclassmen playing key roles and so few victories over NCAA tournament-contending teams, they're arguably one of the conference's most mysterious teams. When they struggle, it isn't pretty with their leading scorer and rebounder Mbakwe wearing a knee brace and watching from the bench.
But there has been enough flash — inspired sequences and clutch contributions by starters and reserves — to create plenty of intrigue about these remaining games. Last season at this point, the Gophers were well into their free fall that resulted in a 17-14 record and Smith's first sub-20-win season since 1993.
"It's crunch time. February and early March is the time you've got to really buckle down and get ready to play and finish out strong, because we know how important that is," said backup center Elliott Eliason.
At 5-6 in the Big Ten and 17-7 overall, the Gophers are squarely on the NCAA tournament bubble. They will probably need a few more wins over quality opponents to put themselves in position for an at-large bid. The good news is they've got plenty of those tough foes left on the schedule.
The hard part is that they have to actually beat them, beginning with the Badgers, who won six straight games until a loss last week to Ohio State.
"We're definitely very excited to play, very anxious and very focused at the same time because we know how much it matters, not only for our fans base in beating Wisconsin but for ourselves and our goals of trying to be in the tournament," Eliason said.
Five of Minnesota's next seven games to finish the regular season are at home.
"I don't care who you're playing. It's better to have it this way," Smith said.
The coach was apparently concerned enough about creating a favorable environment in which to face Wisconsin that a message was sent from his Twitter feed for the first time in more than 15 months. "We need all our Gopher fans fired up!" Smith tweeted.
The first sellout of Williams Arena this season was for the last game there, an overtime win over Illinois.
"The fans were really behind us. It was a battle and I think that really helped us pull it out," said starting small forward Austin Hollins.
As Smith acknowledged, the talent gap is small between his current starting five and the guys who relieve them off the bench. So maybe it shouldn't be such a surprise that the reserves combined for 40 of the 69 points in winning at Nebraska Sunday and 39 of 77 in the victory over Illinois two games before that. The mass substitution Smith has often used to keep legs fresh for defensive pressure and running fast breaks has worked better lately than arguably any other stretch in his five years at Minnesota.
Eliason was sporting stitches on his upper lip Wednesday as a result of a practice collision with starting shooting guard Joe Coleman, one sign of the physical drills and scrimmages they've been having lately. The players are also keenly aware of how critical it is for them to play well over the next three weeks to avoid the letdown of another March without a ticket to the big dance.
"That and then coach Smith is trying to light a fire under us," Eliason said.
No extra motivation is needed when the Gophers play the Badgers, who again have several key players from Minnesota.
"Homegrown kids make a difference, and when they're playing for your rival it makes it even tougher to compete against them," Smith said. "I'm sure they'll come in with their families and everybody, and they'll be fired up to play."
Follow Dave Campbell on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/DaveCampbellAP


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So, I had posted earlier about my 2 month old's nipple confusion. She started increasingly fighting breastfeeding over the past few weeks due to having to take bottles when I'm at school 5 hours a week. When she refuses to nurse, I have been pumping and then bottle feeding her- which was getting exhausting.
One of you suggested that I put the bottles away for good - but, I just can't watch her go hungry and not feed her. So, today I remembered that I still had my nipple shield from the first few days of breastfeeding when my nipples were still inverted. (they're not anymore! yay!) I try to get her to nurse directly from the breast for up to 10 minutes before I resort to the shield but it works EVERY time!
I've done a lot of research and I think this is a good temporary solution. I was wondering if anyone has used them to get the baby back to the breast and if so, how was your experience with milk production? A decreased supply is my biggest concern.


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blog.caucho.com anniversary!Wednesday, February 25th, 2009
This blog is now 1 year old! A year ago today, we made the first blog post. Thanks to everyone who's read, subscribed, and commented!
A quick update on what's going on this week: the Resin team is working on the big changes for Resin 4.0 including the dynamic server support that offers distributed sessions, distributed object caching, and remote application deployment. The JavaEE 6 compliance work for Resin 4.0 is also under way, with the team focusing on EJB 3.1 Lite this week. The Quercus folks are working on improving the already awesome performance and reducing the memory footprint. Dynamic languages can be rough on the allocation system..
I've been finishing up a whitepaper on Resin 4.0 and all its new features that should provide an in-depth introduction to what Resin 4.0 does and how it does it. We'll be distributing it at TSSJS next month in Las Vegas and on the website soon. I'm also working on Hessian Flash/Flex this week, bringing it up to speed with the latest Hessian 2 protocol fixes. In addition to the rigorous regression test that we run, I'm planning on writing an application in Flex for the next training course that should find any problems that show up in real use.


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text:
The Kansas City Royals put third baseman Mike Moustakas on the 15-day disabled list Saturday because of a fractured left thumb, another setback for the team's sputtering offense.
Moustakas, a 2007 first-round draft pick from Chatsworth High, originally was hurt April 26 while tagging out the Angels' C.J. Cron and attempted to play through the injury until Wednesday, when he said he could no longer grip a bat. He is batting .258 with a team-high seven home runs and 13 runs batted in.
Rangers add Stubbs
Texas signed free-agent outfielder Drew Stubbs and moved Josh Hamilton to the 60-day...


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STOCKTON - The man charged with killing six members of a Lodi family, including an unborn child, in an Oct. 22 car crash appeared briefly in San Joaquin County Court on Monday.
STOCKTON - The man charged with killing six members of a Lodi family, including an unborn child, in an Oct. 22 car crash appeared briefly in San Joaquin County Court on Monday.
Ryan Morales, 28, was still using a wheelchair at the hearing before Judge Franklin Stephenson. He did not enter a plea Monday. The case was moved to Dec. 16 for further arraignment before a different judge.
Morales is suspected of driving at freeway speeds while under the influence of alcohol on Ham Lane at Vine Street on Oct. 22. He crashed into two cars at the intersection, including one that held Luis Miranda Ochoa, 32; Viviana Rodriguez Salgado, 31, and her unborn child; Irvin Miranda, 12; Jose Luis Miranda Rodriguez, 6; and Stephanie Rodriguez, 5, who all died. It also held Eden Miranda, 9, who survived.
Police continue to investigate the crash. Preliminary information revealed in search warrant affidavits indicate that Morales was driving 100 mph and had recently consumed with his father a 750-mililiter bottle of apple-flavored vodka before getting behind the wheel of the GMC Yukon.
Authorities also said Morales was not licensed to drive, and a background check indicates he has a lengthy arrest record, including a recent count of recklessly evading police in Alameda County.
The San Joaquin County District Attorney's office is charging Morales with six counts of murder in the crash, calling his actions a "complete disregard for human life."
Morales' court-appointed defense attorney, Sam Behar, refused comment following the Monday hearing as did members of the Morales family.
Contact reporter Keith Reid at (209) 546-8257 or email@example.com. Visit his blog at recordnet.com/lodiblog.


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Value Line is regarded as the best independent research available. More than just recommendations, Value Line provides the rationale behind its picks for greater understanding.
Fourth-Quarter Earnings Season is Right Around the Corner
Now that 2012 is done and in the books, investors will be eager to see how some of the world's top drugmakers fared. With several members of "big pharma" scheduled to release fourth-quarter, and full-year results in the coming weeks, we anticipate much of the focus will be geared toward pipeline development and how new products are performing following one of the largest patent cliffs in the industry's history. Some noteworthy releases include Johnson & Johnson (January 22nd JNJ - Free Johnson & Johnson Stock Report), Pfizer Inc. (January 29th PFE - Free Pfizer Stock Report), and Merck & Co. (February 1st MRK - Free Merck & Co. Stock Report).
Merck Pulls the Plug on Tredaptive
Merck recently announced it will stop selling the cholesterol-fighting drug, which is primarily sold in overseas markets, after the treatment was shown to be ineffective and potentially harmful. Sales of Tredaptive, which is approved in 70 countries and sold in 40, have been suspended across the board after findings revealed last month showed it didn't reduce heart attacks and led to non-fatal serious side effects. Given that the product generated less than $20 million in 2012, we do not foresee its absence to have any meaningful impact on the top line going forward, but it is a situation worth monitoring due to the significant amount of patients who have been prescribed the drug. Tredaptive was never approved in the United States.
High Hopes for Eliquis in 2013
The stroke prevention drug, to which Pfizer and Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMY) are co-partners, looks to be one of the industry's next blockbusters after gaining U.S. regulatory approval at the end of 2012. It was the final regulatory hurdle the drug had to pass after already being approved in Japan and Europe during the weeks prior. Management at both companies believe Eliquis could have a huge impact in 2013 as it has shown significant advantages over the current atrial fibrillation treatments on the market. Analysts are estimating the drug could reach peak sales of more than $5 billion a year later in the decade. Eliquis is expected to be widely available in the U.S. during the first quarter of 2013.
Strides ' Agila Unit is Generating Interest among Large Pharma
A few of the world's largest drugmakers have expressed considerable interest in purchasing the injectable-medicines unit of India-based drug supplier, Strides Arcolab Ltd. While details of a potential acquisition have not yet been disclosed, both Pfizer and Novartis (NVS) are said to be among the big-time names looking to add Agila to their corporate umbrellas. Analysts estimate the unit could fetch up to $2 billion.
At the time of this article's writing, the author did not have positions in any of the companies mentioned.


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Hi I'm an Italian student.
I use VMware to emulate XO on my Windows XP.
The image that I use is that:
The image works fine!
I have mounted this image on my two laptop with my WiFi Router Dlink setted to an open network without protection.
With this configuration I see each laptop.
With one laptop I can invite a second to an activity, but the condivision of the activity don't works, do you know why?


text:
PORTLAND, Maine - Credit union membership in the United
Kingdom has more than doubled in the past decade; assets have
more than tripled in value; and U.K. legislative reforms
enacted earlier this year have presented even greater
prospects for credit union growth. To help meet a growing
demand for member services, Association of British Credit
Unions Limited (ABCUL) Chief Executive Mark Lyonette visited
the United States last week to learn how a central business
model developed for credit unions in Maine could be adapted
for the British credit union system.
Credit unions in the United Kingdom recently reached the
million member milestone, but many institutions remain
relatively small and financially restricted in terms of
product and service development. As such, ABCUL's member
credit unions have petitioned the trade association for a
shared business model to centralize data processing and offer
more products and services to an even broader population
base. A data service bureau would also help reduce the number
of third-party service providers the credit unions would
otherwise have to contract separately.
At ABCUL's request, World Council of Credit Unions
organized Lyonette's visit to Maine last week to learn
how the state league's credit union-owned subsidiary,
Synergent, has managed a successful central business model
for 41 years.
Originally named the Maine Credit Union League Services
Corporation, Synergent was founded to provide credit unions
greater convenience through a form ordering service. Within
just a few years, it established a data processing center to
meet the credit unions' growing needs. Today, Synergent
provides checking, ATM debit cards, shared branching and
direct marketing services for credit unions. Synergent's
ongoing operations also include writing custom code in
response to credit unions' requests for tailored products
and services.
"Many centralized credit union systems achieve
efficiencies by offering the same products for all credit
unions," said Brian Branch, World Council president and
CEO, who joined Lyonette in Maine last week. He noted that
Maine's core data processing system offers a variety of
choices for add-on products that allows credit unions to
achieve both efficiency and entrepreneurial innovation in
serving members.
Synergent, a credit union service organization, generates
US$27 million in revenue and US$10 million in data processing
annually. Its products and services now reach over a half
million members in northern New England, New York and
southern Connecticut. The company bills credit unions per
member rather than per transaction, and longer contract terms
lower the per member fee. There are now 600,000 members using
Synergent's system.
During his visit, Lyonette met with executives from Evergreen
Credit Union in Portland and Atlantic Regional Federal Credit
Union in Brunswick. Atlantic Regional began using
Synergent's services in 1982 and has since grown to
18,300 members and US$250 million in assets. President/CEO
Roger Sirois explained how shared branching has helped the
credit union reduce expenses by being able to keep its branch
offices closed on Saturdays when members can access services
through other credit unions in the network. Sirois also
emphasized the importance of the core processing system's
flexibility, which he said drove credit union innovation and
allowed small credit unions to offer an array of products on
par with larger financial institutions. He said that 2011 was
the first time walk-in traffic at Atlantic Regional was less
than its web traffic.
John Murphy, president/CEO of the Maine Credit Union League
and Synergent, saw the opportunity to work with World Council
to host ABCUL as a chance to help strengthen credit union
popularity in the United Kingdom.
"The Maine League, Synergent and Maine's credit
unions are committed to sharing information and collaborating
with other credit union systems around the world to
strengthen credit unions and promote growth globally,"
Murphy said. He noted that the Maine Credit Union League and
Synergent previously hosted similar visits with officials
from the Rwandan credit union movement. "We enjoyed
doing it again and look forward to other collaborative
opportunities in the future," he said.
Synergent continues to provide guidance as ABCUL develops a
central business model for credit unions in the United
Read more about the collaboration at Branch's blog, http://makingadifference.posterous.com.
World Council of Credit Unions (WOCCU) is the global
trade association and development agency for credit unions.
World Council promotes the sustainable development of credit
unions and other financial cooperatives around the world to
empower people through access to high quality and affordable
financial services. World Council advocates on behalf of the
global credit union system before international organizations
and works with national governments to improve legislation
and regulation. Its technical assistance programs introduce
new tools and technologies to strengthen credit unions'
financial performance and increase their outreach.
World Council has implemented more than 290
technical assistance programs in 71 countries.
Worldwide, 51,000 credit unions in 100 countries serve
196 million people. Learn more about World Council's
impact around the world at www.woccu.org.


text:
OKANOGAN Voter turnout for the Aug. 6 primary election was 26.39 percent in Okanogan County and 36.82 percent in Ferry County.
Final election returns show incumbent Sen. John Smith, Colville, garnering 9,804 votes in the 7th Legislative District, or 50.38 percent, and challenger Brian Dansel, Republic, getting 5,636 votes, or 28.96 percent district-wide.
They will move on to the Nov. 5 general election.
Mike Brunson, another challenger from Springdale, received 4,020 votes, or 20.66 percent.
All three are Republicans.
In the non-partisan Coulee Dam mayor's race, F. Gregory (Greg) Wilder received 187 votes city-wide, or 65.85 percent. Incumbent Gayland (Quincy) Snow received 73, or 25.7 percent.
Both move on to the general election.
Another challenger, Shawn Derrick, garnered 24 votes, or 8.45 percent.
For Nespelem School Board director position No. 3, incumbent P. Jolene Marchand received 61 votes, or 48.03, and challenger Dorothy Palmer got 38, or 29.92 percent to move on to the general election.
Another challenger, Enid T. Wippel received 28 votes, or 22.05 percent.
In the other Nespelem board race on the primary election, Nancy J. Armstrong-Montes received 75 votes, or 59.52 percent, and incumbent Andrew C. Joseph Jr. got 38 votes, or 30.16 percent.
Both move on to the general election.
Challenger Zekkethal "Val" Vargas-Thomas garnered 13 votes, or 10.32 percent.
In a four-way race for the Omak School Board, Dennis D. Carlton received 686 votes, or 45.58 percent, and Megan Azzano got 340 votes, or 22.59 percent.
Both move on to the general election.
Bowing out of the race are Ken Crofoot, 314 votes, or 20.86 percent, and Eric Hein, 165 votes, or 10.96 percent.
Use the comment form below to begin a discussion about this content.


text:
U.S. Equal Employment
Opportunity Commission
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) is a small Executive agency created in 1964 with the mission of eradicating employment discrimination in the workplace. It is charged with administering Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VII), the Americans with Disabilities Act (the ADA), the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (the ADEA), and the Equal Pay Act (the EPA). EEOC's duties are carried out by approximately 2,300 employees dispersed among 15 strategically located district offices across the nation and a headquarters office in Washington, DC. The EEOC FOIA program is decentralized and monitored from headquarters.
EEOC receives an atypically large number of FOIA requests for a Federal agency, and particularly for one of its size. In a typical fiscal year, EEOC will receive between 14,000 and 17,000 FOIA requests, over 95% of which are processed by 15 district offices. In fiscal year 2005, as reported in the EEOC Annual FOIA Report, EEOC received a total of 16,282 FOIA requests. More than 15,000 of these requests sought access to employment discrimination investigative charge files (charge files) which are located in the district offices. The remaining FOIA requests and appeals were processed at EEOC headquarters in Washington, DC, by staff in the Office of Legal Counsel. To support this level of FOIA activity, a sizeable portion of EEOC's budget and staff must be diverted for FOIA duties. For example, according to our cost accounting data for fiscal year 2006 through April 15, approximately $878,280 in salary payments and 25,270 staff hours were dedicated to file disclosure under FOIA and under Section 83 (EEOC's own disclosure rule). The bulk of this responsibility falls upon staff in the district offices, creating some tension between the EEOC mission and FOIA duties.
The information gathered for review of EEOC's FOIA Program pursuant to the Executive Order included EEOC's Annual FOIA report data, data gleaned from EEOC FOIA request and appeal files, records concerning EEOC's FOIA policies and procedures, informal comments and questions from EEOC staff and the public, and input from other agencies with comparable levels of annual FOIA receipts.
EEOC's review disclosed that:
To enhance the availability of frequently requested information without the necessity of a FOIA request
Make EEOC purchase cardholder information available on the FOIA website and in the conventional reading room
Make advisory letters to EEOC stakeholders available on the FOIA website and in the conventional reading room.
Assess what other types of frequently requested records could be made available to the public without the necessity of a FOIA request
Purchase cardholder information on website, April 2006
Advisory letters on website, May 2006
Initial review of agency FOIA records to ascertain which records are suitable for frequently requested records disclosure, August 2006
Annual review of agency FOIA records to ascertain records suitable for frequently requested records disclosure, August 2007
Increases in the numbers and types of frequently requested records available on the website and conventional reading room
To increase disclosure of charge files under section 83 of the Compliance Manual as a quicker alternative to disclosure under the FOIA. (Over 95% of all FOIA requests to the EEOC are for access to charge files.)
Agreement to revise section 83 of the Compliance Manual to also permit disclosure of records from closed ADEA and EPA charge files to charging parties.
District Directors to be encouraged to disclose Title VII and ADA charge files pursuant to section 83 of the Compliance Manual instead of treating requests for such files as FOIA requests.
Revision of Compliance Manual to permit disclosure of ADEA and EPA charge files under section 83.
Meeting to discuss revision of section 83 of the Compliance Manual, March 2006
District Directors to be encouraged to disclose Title VII and ADA charge files under section 83 of the Compliance Manual, July 2006
Revision of section 83 of the Compliance Manual to permit disclosure of ADEA and EPA charge files to be drafted and circulated to the Commission for approval, December 2006.
Reduction in the number of FOIA requests for charge files.
To provide user-friendly FAQs on topics including: how to make a FOIA request; disclosure of charge files; and the types of records not disclosed under FOIA.
Assign FAQs to staff to write
Place FAQs on EEOC FOIA website
Revise and update FAQs on an as needed basis to keep information current
FAQs placed on line: July 2006 and September 2006
FAQs updated on an as needed basis
User-friendly FAQs available on line - number of hits will be tracked
To update and revise the FOIA Reference Guide
Assign an OLC attorney to revise and update the Guide to make it more user-friendly, with links to agency FOIA Officer addresses, telephone and fax numbers and short explanations of how the nine exemptions and three exclusions are applied to EEOC records.
FOIA Reference Guide assigned to OLC attorney for redrafting, March 2006
Revised and updated FOIA Reference Guide on EEOC website, May 12, 2006
FOIA Reference Guide on website - number of hits will be tracked
To increase automated processing of FOIA requests
Encourage all Field offices to process FOIA requests electronically. (EEOC headquarters already receives and responds to FOIAs electronically.)
Meet with other agencies with similar FOIA volumes to discuss and examine methods being used to manage their FOIA work
Conduct A-76 competition to take advantage of best available technology for FOIA file disclosure function
Encourage all Field offices to process FOIA requests electronically, July 2006.
Meet with other agencies with similar FOIA volumes to discuss and examine methods being used to manage their FOIA work, September 2006.
A-76 process completed, September 2007.
FOIA file disclosure function is performed using best available technology.
To reduce any existing backlog of pending FOIA requests by 5% by 09-30-07 and by 5% by 09-30-08.
Determine the size and scope of the existing backlog -- number of FOIAs that took more than 20 business days to process (excluding timely extensions memorialized in writing) and which were still open at the end of FY 2006. (This step is necessary because the FY 2005 data are unreliable and incomplete.)
Communicate backlog reduction goals to EEOC's 15 Regional Attorneys.
Work closely with Regional Attorneys who have the greatest backlogs to improve efficiency of their FOIA processing.
Monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of the preceding goals and strategies and amend if necessary.
Determine the size and scope of the backlog by December 15, 2006.
Communicate backlog reduction goals to Regional Attorneys by December 30, 2006.
Work with Regional Attorneys on an ongoing basis to help reduce their backlogs.
Backlog at the end of FY 2007 is reduced by 5%.
Backlog at the end of FY 2008 is reduced by 5%.
Revised October 26, 2006
June 7, 2006


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Hi all!
I got DIY Inspired myself and made this adorable wreath and spent NO MONEY! Here is a picture of my inspiration and of the one I made. If you'd like to see the full step by step photo tutorial here it is! I'm pretty proud of this one! :)…Continue
Added by DIY Inspired on August 24, 2012 at 3:26pm — No Comments


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The Authority for Western Snowmobiling - SnoWest brings you the information you want since 1974. SnoWest Magazine prides itself on giving you more in-depth information and a better perspective on how to make your snowmobiling experience more enjoyable. SnoWest's seasoned editorial staff spends more time riding the deep fluff of the western mountains than all other snowmobile journalists combined. It's more than a job... it's their passion. You'll read about the latest trends, hottest new products, tech tips, product reviews, as well as all the happenings with the major manufacturers. You'll receive 8 issues packed with information, starting in September running thru March. From performance to where to ride, you'll find SnoWest Magazine is your snowmobile magazine of choice
- Publisher: Harris Publishing


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- Inside Athletics
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CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (Feb. 25, 2010) - After winning four of its six games last week, including a sweep over Furman, the ETSU softball team looks to improve on its record when the Lady Bucs travel to Chattanooga and play in the Frost Classic this weekend.
ETSU (4-3) picked up wins over Furman, Temple and Eastern Illinois last week and were led by the hot bat of freshman Arielle Garner (Buchanan, Ga.) and the strong arm of Jessica Duncan (Ooltewah, Tenn.).
Garner led all ETSU hitters with a .471 batting average - going 8-of-17 with two doubles, a home run, four runs scored and three RBI. The Buchanan, Ga. native, who posted a .765 slugging percentage along with a .571 on-base percentage, hit safely in five of the six games played.
Meanwhile, Duncan went 2-1 with a 1.11 ERA (3ER/19.0IP) and struck out 17 hitters. The Ooltewah, Tenn. native limited the opposition to a .175 batting average and tossed one complete game in three appearances (two starts). The right-hander began the week with a win over Furman - tossing six innings of two-run ball - while fanning five Paladin hitters. Then, on Saturday afternoon, Duncan tossed eight innings in the 2-1 victory over Eastern Illinois. Duncan allowed the lone run on three hits and fanned a career-high nine batters.
The Lady Bucs open up play with Central Connecticut State (10 a.m.) and Ball State (12:30 p.m.) on Friday; while facing UT-Martin (10 a.m.) and Rutgers (3 p.m.) on Saturday. ETSU closes out the tournament with another Tennessee rival in Tennessee Tech on Sunday. First pitch on Sunday is set for 12:30 p.m.
Fans unable to make the trip to Chattanooga can access live stats by visiting www.gomocs.com or clicking the link above.
For more information on Lady Buccaneer softball, visit www.ETSUBucs.com.


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General Comments: Futures closed a little lower on ideas that most of the crop losses had been factored into prices already. Prices acted weak and it does seem as if the market has priced in crop losses for now. Greening disease and what it might mean to production prospects continues to be a primary support item. Weather is good for production overall, but more rain is needed. Temperatures are warm in the state, and conditions are dry, and talk about the potential for more fruit drop and poor development of the crop for next year continues. Harvest in Florida of mid and early oranges is over, and the Valencia harvest is continuing. Bloom has been reported in groves in all production areas of the state. Brazil is seeing near to above normal temperatures and scattered showers. Drier weather is expected this weekend.
Overnight News: Florida weather forecasts call for mostly dry conditions, but some precipitation is likely on Thursday. Temperatures will average near to above normal.
Chart Trends: Trends in FCOJ are mixed to down with objectives of 117.00 and 108.00 May. Support is at 132.00, 131.00, and 124.00 May, with resistance at 138.00, 139.00, and 140.00 May.
General Comments: Futures were lower as traders saw USDA forecast less planted area for the US this year. Some traders think that US planted area will increase from the estimates released last week due to more favorable Cotton futures prices and sinking Corn and Soybeans futures prices. Weather will also be watched as more wet weather in the Delta and Southeast could create less interest in Corn and more in Cotton to avoid having Corn pollinate in the hottest time of the year. Demand ideas remain strong overall based on the strong export paces seen in the USDA reports in recent weeks and on reports of tight domestic and world cash markets. Demand is still said to be strong, and sales for exports have held up well given the price strength in recent weeks. Some producers in the Delta are noting the recent price rally and might decide to plant more Cotton this year.
Overnight News: The Delta and Southeast will see mostly dry weather until a few showers appear over the middle of the week in southern areas. Temperatures will average below normal. Texas will get dry weather except for a few showers tomorrow. Temperatures will average below normal early this week and near to above normal by Friday. The USDA spot price is now 82.39 ct/lb. ICE said that certified Cotton stocks are now 0.424 million bales, from 0.418 million yesterday.
Chart Trends: Trends in Cotton are mixed. Support is at 87.10, 86.20, and 85.60 May, with resistance of 89.10, 89.80, and 90.45 May.
Next page: Coffee, Sugar and Cocoa


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Okay, here's the blog entry I promised to write back in May. It's fucking long, so I won't blame you if you don't read it. If you're one of the amazing people I met and made friends with up in Oofunato, I really hope I don't lose your friendship because of this post. But I need to get this done so I can forget, forgive, and move on.
As you may recall, All Hands was the name of the group I volunteered with in Oofunato from May 21 – 28. I mentioned after returning from that trip that I hadn't been all that impressed with the organization, and that I would write a blog entry about it.
The reason I haven't already done it is simply because I feel weird about calling out a group that is doing really important volunteer work. On the other hand, I feel the need to get this off my chest.
Let me open by saying that I'm a dick. It will help if I'm clear with that up front. Me = dick. Anyone who knows me will probably agree that I'm a hyper-critical puckered anus of an excuse for a human being. And it's true. It's one of the reasons I was able to work in I.T. for so long: that job was constantly about finding new problems or inefficiencies and trying to fix them. It's also what I try to do when I work on Theatre. A play is a problem, a question of how best to tell a story, that I try to solve—never to my own satisfaction, I might add.
So, now that we've cleared that up, here are my problems with All Hands:
Bad Communication & Organization
Probably all non-profits suffer from this to some degree, and with as many projects as All Hands has going on in the world, I can't say I'm shocked. I think they may have expanded operations too quickly. The bulk of the paid staff appear to have been lifted from volunteers on other projects (mostly Haiti); they're really young and not very experienced. I've heard it joked that the left can't organize. I don't think that's true, but certainly the hippy-dippy attitude towards organization didn't help. Examples:
- Time sensitive emails did not get answered promptly.
- It happened a lot but the most annoying one was: One of my emails about whether I needed to bring certain bulky items of gear sent two days before I left for Oofunato didn't get answered until about one hour before my arrival in the city.
- Despite the fact that they were expecting me the evening I arrived (as requested, I was sending constant updates about my ETA as things changed) and that people frequently arrived in the late evening, the All Hands HQ has absolutely no markings at street level, nor are the inside lights visible from the street. If I hadn't been sure about the location on google maps, I probably would have wandered around for an hour trying to find the place.
- They had not told me that I'd need a copy of my Japanese health insurance card (I'm still not sure why), which I needed to get my wife to fax in after I was already there.
- I had to convince them that they didn't need to see my passport (and in fact, by law, I was not required to show it to them), and that they could use my driver's license instead. Despite the fact that there were other long-term expats in the group, as well as native Japanese, it seemed that they were at a loss in terms of handling me
- House rules were not communicated clearly (more on this and Marc's insane "No Sign" rule later)
- Towards the end of the week I was there, the group meetings which we had every day after dinner were averaging about 90 minutes in length.
- Their introductory letter said that vegetarians would be accommodated, but advised us to have a sense of humour about it because food was sourced locally and that sometimes getting vegetarian meals might not be possible. On arrival, I was told that ALL lunches were non-vegetarian bento. Ha-ha-ha.
There was more, but that's what I can remember off the top of my head.
The Young Bunch
As I mentioned before, most of the paid staff are not very experienced. Most of them aren't yet comfortable with the idea of being an authority figure, I think, and tend to take a kind of elementary school-teacher approach to it.
Granted: it's a hard line to walk between trying to treat everyone like equals, but also assert your authority when necessary. The Flying Spaghetti Monster knows I've failed at exactly the same thing. But I was expecting a group of admins who had had more experience at, you know, administrating.
This is partly my problem too. I don't respond well to authority figures who I feel are even more clueless than I am. No matter how much I like them (they were all very likeable people).
A group like this is going to get cliquey. There's nothing you can do about it. You've got some people who are more charismatic than others, you've got some people who everyone knows because they've been there since day one… and then you've got schmucks like me who fade into the wallpaper. This is going to happen.
But if you're a paid staff member, I expect you to be above this crap. The first night I was there, since I was sleeping in the main common room (common practice for people's first nights), I could hear the staff and some of the volunteers who had been yanked into doing some of the office work being catty about about people. This did not impress me, and it was clear right from the beginning that there was an "in" group, and like a bunch of high schoolers, they were going to gatekeep the hell out of it.
You can say this is sour grapes on my part because I was on the outside of that group (and the other groups as well). But I'm always on the outside, and I'm perfectly happy doing my thing on the periphery. What bothers me is that people who are being paid to handle the volunteers can't even seem to pretend to be above it all. Later on, when I had a problem with another volunteer, I didn't feel I could talk to anyone about it because she was a member of that main "in" group. (In fact, she'd been one of the people keeping me awake that first night being catty.)
The two older members of the team, Satoshi and Marc, the two directors of the project, did hold themselves aloof from the cliques, but I didn't feel comfortable going to them for other reasons, which we'll get to.
"Cultural Sensitivity"
All Hands is an American group, with most of the volunteers coming from outside Japan, mostly the US and UK, so they need to be extra careful to make sure the community doesn't reject them. Oofunato is a small town, and I don't think it's a stretch to say that while small town people can be extremely friendly, they can also be wary of outsiders. Accordingly, All Hands was worried about making sure their volunteers, many of whom would be considered a bit rough around the edges, didn't do anything to upset the locals. Totally understandable.
They had some weird policies carried over from the project in Haiti: don't give gifts, and don't accept gifts. Just before I got there, they'd been persuaded to ease the rules on accepting gifts. We live in a gifts-based culture here. It's a matter of pride for some of the locals to give things in thanks for the work that the group was doing. They weren't doling out lavish presents: they would just drive by and drop off some Coca-Cola, or invite a few people in for tea or soup. Refusing these tokens would have been very rude.
The rule on gift-giving, however, had not been lifted. I came with an entire suitcase full of art supplies that I ended up bringing back with me to Yokohama because I was told I couldn't give them away. (One of the other volunteers talked about arranging to have them donated to a local school on a hush-hush basis, but it never happened.) A gift of a guitar to an evacuee girl in the center we were staying at had also be made on the sly.
I'm not sure who they got their initial advice from, but by the time I got there, most of their "cultural sensitivity" information seemed to be coming from this sour, middle-aged woman from Tokyo. She would scold people for leaving their slippers or shoes pointing the wrong way outside the door, among other things. I shouldn't need to write this, but Japanese people leave their slippers the wrong way around all the time. In fact, not three meters from the door to our common room in the community center, the residents in the center were doing exactly that.
Guess who my partner was on my first crew?
We were going to clean baths at an evacuation centre, and the work pants I'd brought to Tohoku were Japanese-style construction pants (nikka-pokka), which are tight in the ankles, and not very easy to roll up. So I changed into my casual clothes.
Have I mentioned I normally don't wear pants? I wear a kilt.
A casual kilt, but a kilt nonetheless. Great for a job in a place that would leave pants soaking wet.
Well, this sourpuss I mentioned earlier takes one look at me, and it's not a nice look. I smile, but before I can say "hi", "おはようございます", "nice to meet you", or any of the other things one might say to someone when meeting him or her for the first time, she puckers up her face as if passing a kidney stone and says: "Is that what you're wearing?"
"Can you change your clothes?"
I figure that's going to be the end of it, and I'm not going to stand around and let a fight start so I go to my bag to pack my mini-bag for the day. As I do, I hear her speaking sharply in Japanese to the woman she's sitting with. I can make out enough to know she's bitching about me, so I stop what I'm doing and say: "何ですか?どうした?" Basically: "What is it? What's the problem?" It's a little bit rude of me, but this type of person gets under my skin easily and I've only had about three hours sleep thanks to the chatty staff last night.
I take a deep breath and make an attempt to politely explain why I've chosen to wear this article of clothing. She goes quiet.
Fifteen minutes later we're downstairs, and I see her talking to Satoshi (one of the two project directors I mentioned earlier), and the next thing I know I'm being trooped upstairs again to talk to Marc (the main project director). I don't actually talk to Marc: Satoshi pulls me aside and has a talk with me. I try to be reasonable: the guy's in a tough position, and he's either decided it's more important to keep sourpuss happy than me, or he's accepted her claptrap that I'm going to upset the (mostly older) residents of the evacuation centre. He speaks English perfectly, which leads me to wonder if maybe he hasn't actually spent a lot of time in Japan. If he had, he'd probably know better.
I make the point that I'm not fresh off the airplane, I've lived in Japan for almost a decade, and that I've already volunteered, kilted up, in several volunteer centres, with no negative results, and he tells me that this isn't a volunteer center in Tokyo or Chiba. (If you've been reading this blog, you'll know that I'd been working in other Tohoku volunteer centres.) He then does his best to mollify me with some weak-ass "It's okay that you want to be different, BUT" bullshit , using his best "conflict resolution" voice, which I think they teach you in management school to use on assholes. What they don't teach you, I guess, is how fucking condescending it sounds.
Frankly, if this former corporate suit can't understand that I wear a kilt for the same reason other people might prefer a certain style of shirt, then I'm not going to win this, am I?
I swallow my fucking pride and change into the carpenters' pants, realizing that while this sourpuss from Tokyo doesn't have any more insight into Tohoku culture than I do, because my face isn't a Japanese one, I'm going to get zero credit for any of my knowledge. I never expected to be put in this position by a group of foreigners.
Later, I found several other expats who complained about the same thing (many of whom were fluent in Japanese). They weren't being taken seriously by the gang in charge on matters of culture either because they weren't Japanese.
The Great Communicator
So Marc was the other director of the project. He left before I did, being replaced by Chris 1 (I think of him as pretty-boy Chris). I liked Chris, but by that time I'd had it with the group's culture and I'd decided I was just going to concentrate on the work and then go home at the end of my tour.
Marc, I like less. Like all the others, he's a decent man. The world is a better place for having Marc in it, and I'm not sure I can say the same about myself.
Having said that, I was not impressed with his management style. On my second night, my first night in the community centre I was going to call home for a week, I got a tour of the facilities with the other newcomers. We came to a set of shelves with food all over them. Some of it was snack food, and some of it was more substantive. We were told we could eat it. Throughout the evening, I watched people do just that.
I'm used to eating late, like around 20:00 or 20:30, so I wasn't really hungry at dinner time. But by the time 21:00 rolls around, my stomach's growling. So I take a piece of bread and put some peanut butter on it. The next thing I know there's a guy making a bee-line for me.
"That bread's for breakfast. You're not supposed to eat it now."
Oh. Whoops. "Oh, sorry," I say, genuinely penitent (I don't like to break rules like that), "No one told me."
"Well, I'm telling you now," he replies.
Maybe 40 minutes later, I seek him out and apologize. I did break a rule after all. Even though I don't think I was snippy (I think he was), I apologize for that as well. Why? I guess naivety. I think that by apologizing to him it will give him an opening to apologize to me. But he doesn't. He just accepts my apology.
The morning after, we have a morning meeting at the HQ, but before that, we have a pre-meeting at the community centre at which we're scolded as a group for eating breakfast bread.
Okay, I get it. All Hands provides the breakfast food; it costs them money. The snack foods are things that people have given to us, or that other people have bought and dumped in the communal area. If we eat the breakfast food at night, there's less at breakfasts, costs go up, etc. I get it.
Someone suggests a sign and we get treated to a speech by Marc about how he doesn't like signs all over the place, because if there are signs, it means people aren't communicating. Fair enough: we don't want post-it notes with rules on them stuck onto every available surface. But come on! By his logic, we should tear down road signs, because we should just communicate our way around town. Besides, since when are signs not a form of communication?
No one's saying to put up a sign that says "Don't eat!", but a simple sign over top of the breakfast food that reads "breakfast food" would not only make people stop and think about whether or not they should eat it, it would help remind those giving the tours to tell newcomers: "Only eat this food in the morning."
(The next day is our day off. Chris 2, who I think of as EM Chris (effective microorganisms, don't ask), goes to the grocery store and buys half a dozen loaves of bread and sticks them under a sign that reads "24-Hour bread" in English, and "Fuck You" in Anti-establishmentese. Awesome guy.)
As the initial director of the project, it's Marc who sets the tone for the whole group, and I think he could have done a better job. At least now I understood why there was no sign on the HQ at street level.
(Although, as a side note: every night at dinner, there would be sign over the vegetarian food. Somehow that was okay.)
"Now Class, Aren't We Ashamed of Ourselves"
For a group that seemed so concerned about harshing anyone's buzz by having too many signs, they certainly did impose a lot of rules on the group who stayed in the community centre. Marc oversaw the community centre group, which, by the time I got there, was where most of us were staying.
I can understand his concern. Unlike at the HQ, we were living among Japanese people and even some evacuees at the centre, so there was a need to be less shouty and rude. Not that the group was shouty or rude at all. It wasn't.
The community centre had a 22:00 curfew, and limited us to certain hours for taking baths, but there were other rules imposed on us by Marc and All Hands. Aside from the "breakfast bread", there was the rule that all luggage had to be off the floor and on the shelves that lined to wall. This was a rule that kept getting repeated to us despite the fact that there was no room for everyone's shit on those shelves. In the sleeping room I was in, my bags alone took up a shelf and a half on the only shelving unit we had to share between initially 7, later 15 people. I also wondered about the safety of this policy, given the intensity of the aftershocks that were still ongoing in the area (yes, there were people sleeping directly under the shelves).
Further, while drinking (booze) was allowed in the HQ, we were not permitted to drink alcohol in our centre. The Japanese volunteer group staying there did. The residents did. But we weren't allowed to. I don't drink anyway, but I did see people get drunk outside of the centre and none of them were badly behaved.
And that's what it came down to. The group was extremely well-behaved. I'm used to touring with actors, who will tear screen doors off of trailers and other dumb stuff, so I was prepared for the worst: practical jokes, lots of shouting, vomiting, etc. But this group was incredibly well-behaved and respectful, and it drove me crazy that at every meeting, the staff would be scolding us for some minor infraction of some rule (sometimes a violation that hadn't even happened yet, but that they were anticipating for some reason).
The one big time a rule got broken was when five people came back after curfew at the centre and snuck in through a side door. Strangely, as far as I could tell, they didn't really catch that much hell. And honestly, while you wouldn't want to encourage that kind of thing, they snuck in quietly, nobody from the centre saw them come in, and they didn't make a big deal of it. Now, probably what they should have done is the 20 minute walk to the HQ and slept on the common room floor, but still, for a major infraction of the rules, the damage was 0.
But the next day at the daily meeting, we sat there for a quarter-hour lecture on "blah blah blah, these people know who they are, blah blah blah, next time, there WILL BE CONSEQUENCES!". Five fucking people, and you need to lecture the rest of the group, who had done nothing wrong—to do what? Put the fear of a stern talking-to from a 22 year-old in them? This was sort of the final straw for me, twenty-somethings scolding us like we were 15 year-olds on a school trip, and it's when I resolved to just put my head down and get through all the meeting bullshit and just keep my mind on the work.
I mean, if someone breaks a rule like that, you pull them aside, give them a ticking off, and then you punish them or you don't. There was no reason to talk to the rest of the group as if this was going to give us "ideas" or something.
So they went way too far in one direction as far as rules-enforcement on our bases. The worksites were another story.
As far as I could tell, there were no worksite rules—at least none that covered volunteer safety. When we arrived on our first day, they made us each sign a waiver form (which they did not send us to read beforehand—seriously, WTF?) that basically said if anything happened to us volunteers, it was our own damn fault. It went on to say that the team leaders were amateurs who didn't know what they were doing and we were not obliged to follow their instructions if we felt unsafe.
So this may have absolved All Hands from any legal responsibility for us, but they seemed to think it absolved them of any ethical responsibility as well. There were a LOT of onsite accidents, mostly from people being too gung-ho. Everything from lacerations to punctures to fucked-up backs, you name it. Some of it was probably inevitable, but a lot of the accidents could have been prevented with a few safety rules. A lot of the volunteers wore their injuries with pride, but this is exactly the sort of culture that workplace rules are there to counteract. Workplace rules are not just there to protect workers from management, but to protect workers from themselves.
There were also no mandatory breaks. On my first day of heavy crew cleaning the canals, there was one guy who didn't even stop for lunch. The team leader pushed us really hard, and I felt guilty even stopping for the four or five minutes it took to pull off my sewage-soaked gloves and drink from my water bottle. Later in the afternoon, after I'd run out of liquid, I felt such pressure to get done, I didn't take what would have been a 15-minute break to walk to the hose and fill up my bottles. I ended up severely dehydrated (I didn't piss once that day between 8:00 and 18:00), dizzy, and with an aching head.
And while that was totally my own fault, and I learned from it (and changed to a crew that had a more concerned team leader), I saw other people push themselves even harder than that on a regular basis. They're real heroes and everything, but All Hands should be taking more responsibility for the health and safety of its volunteers. Part of that is telling someone: "No, you need to take a break right now. I don't care if it 'breaks your rhythm'; you're no good to anybody dead." The team leader took pride on pushing his team to get the maximum amount of work done, but didn't seem to realize that his other responsibility was the health and safety of his crew.
What's interesting in this whole rules thing is that the rules that were heavily enforced were the ones that, if broken, might potentially make All Hands look bad in the community. Safety of the volunteers barely registered as a concern. The project started in March, but the week I started was apparently the first week they bought steel inserts for our shoes (to avoid nail punctures)—and there weren't enough, particularly in the larger sizes. Also, there reportedly HAD been mandatory breaks at some point, but they'd been removed because people had complained that it broke their rhythm if they were in "the zone".
Jesus, mother of piss, this got long. I really expected this to be four or five paragraphs, tops. I didn't realize it was going to be a novella. Anyway, if you've read this far, you're a fucking saint or a masochist, so thanks. I really needed to get this into the public space to feel that I'd spoken my mind about it.
I mean no disrespect to the people up there with All Hands, doing fantastic work (yes, even those people I've basically called douchebags in this post). And on some level, I want to go back and join them. I just found that it wasn't an environment I felt safe or valued in, and I'll have to find another way to get back up to Tohoku and do my part.