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Destruction of the steamer Bavaria by fire off the east coast of America
The "Bavaria" on fire
The Herald says: The English bark 'Dorothea Thompson', Captain Frostick, from Oporto to St. Helen's, S.C., arrived last night, bringing the passengers, officers and crew of the steamship 'Bavaria', Captain Williams, bound from New Orleans for Liverpool, and burned at sea on February 6th.
The cargo of the 'Bavaria' consisted of 4,356 bales of cotton, 1,000 barrels of resin, and 269,000 Mexican dollars. The officers, passengers and crew left the ship with nothing but what they stood in. The petty officers, cook, waiters, firemen and crew, numbered forty one in all.
They are all well...
Could it be one of a big American salvage company's projects ?
The Mexican dollars could represent more than 8 tons of silver... But surely in deep water.
Want to know more about the story ?
Comments (13)
1. 30/06/2012
More information from archives are for sale, if you are still interested...
2. 30/05/2011
I would like to know more about the baravia shipweck. You didn't mention a year, what year did they set sail from New Orleans? Please send me any info you may have.
3. 22/03/2011
How do I go about getting more info on the Steamship Baravia.
4. 20/07/2010
yes tell more i want to go find it!!
5. 17/04/2010
Sou radiestesista sensitivo para metais. Consigo localizar naufragio com tesouro pesquisando na costa ou litoral. Procuro equipe para pesquisa.
6. 10/11/2009
I am looking to learn more about treasure hunting, particularly marine treasure hunting. First of all, is it possible to make a living out of treasure hunting in todays world, and is there really much treasure left to be hunted?
Have you personally ran many expeditions to shipwrecks and if so, how much luck in finding loot have you had?
Lastly, how have you come to know about these shipwrecks, and all the information on the site?
Thankyou please do reply, and know that I'm very serious about taking up treasure hunting.
7. 02/02/2009
yes i would like to know more! I know that you do not [most likely] have the exact coordinates but which mainland did it sink nearest to? which ocean? and has it been seen since
8. 31/10/2008
269,000 Mexican dollars represent several tons of silver !!!
With the nowadays price for precious metals it could be a good project, even tough I believe the coins have melted with the fire on board...
What would be the price to sell your files ?
9. 28/10/2008
thats pretty cool
10. 22/09/2008
If they knew where the ship was wrecked was there wouldn't be any treasure.
11. 04/07/2008
are people right now down in the ocean trying to find it
12. 03/07/2008
First question. 1Where exactly was the ships location upon sinking? 2How much if it is really silver. Would it be worth today?
13. 19/06/2008
Is it known where this ship was wrecked?


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Today in U.S. Naval History: March 13
Today in U.S. Naval History - March 13
1895 - Award of first submarine building contract to John P. Holland Torpedo Boat Co.
1917 - Armed merchant ships authorized to take action against U-boats.
1959 - Naval Research Laboratory takes first ultraviolet pictures of sun.
1963 - USS Albany (CG-10) and aircraft from Navy Airborne Early Warning Squadron Four from Roosevelt Roads, Puerto Rico aid five ill crewmembers of Norwegian freighter Jotunfjell.
For more information about naval history, visit the Naval History and Heritage Command website at history.navy.mil.

subset: commoncrawl


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The Stillwater Police Department Patrol Division is the largest division within the department. Individuals assigned to the Patrol Division consist primarily of uniformed officers who actively patrol the city streets in marked police cruisers. Although the list of services provided by patrol officers is extensive, a short description of their duties includes:
Typically, officers are initially assigned to the Patrol Division upon completing their initial training as a police recruit. Officers work one of three shifts: 1st Watch (night shift) from 9:30 p.m. until 7:30 a.m.; 2nd Watch (day shift) from 7:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m.; or 3rd Watch (evening shift) from 4:30 p.m. until 2:30 a.m. This schedule allows for an overlap between shifts, particularly during the night time hours when, not only hour activity level tends to increase, but the severity of activity increases also. Each officer works 40 hours per week with four days on duty and three days off duty. This schedule does not include special assignments, court appearances, or many other activities required of our officers.


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I created a page this week for the Stampin Sisters in Christ challenge, and I absolutely love it. The challenge was to use something new: a technique, embellishment, colour combo etc. Well, I tried all sorts of new things on my page and I am so glad I did.
The paper I used is from the CM Fabulous Designer Prints range - the design is very helpful on one side for giving you layout ideas. It's the first time I've used this range. I drew on the swirls up the right hand side of the page using the new Doodling Templates and Double tipped grey pen. The grey and pink is also a new colour combo for me... it seems a little girlier than my usual pages, but I was colour matching Emma;s clothes, and the colours work.


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Twinkle is a pretty white and tabby young adult female who was discarded by her prior family when they moved , right before a major snowstorm. Thankfully, someone rescued her and she was brought to last hope after receiving emergency medical care. Twinkle is a quiet girl who takes a little time to get to know new people but she has a heart of gold and is really a very sweet cat. She loves to be petted and cuddled. She's waiting to meet you at our Wantagh adoption center.
Come visit me at the Adoption Center in Wantagh, New York.


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Graduate student
Brown University
Can you give some background on yourself and your research?I graduated from Tougaloo College with a bachelor's degree in chemistry. Now, I am an M.D.-Ph.D. candidate in the pathobiology department at Brown. Currently, this is an exciting time for me in the laboratory of Jonathan Reichner. We are addressing a fundamental question regarding integrins and their modulation of neutrophil function and behavior. My thesis work details the phosphoproteomic analysis of primary human neutrophils and may have implications for a variety of immune and autoimmune disorders. Using mass spectrometry to study phosphoproteomics is innovative, powerful and indispensable, in that it provides critical information at the protein level. After completing my doctorate, I will transition back into medical school to finish the remaining two clinical years, finally attaining my M.D.-Ph.D. My ultimate goal is to become a pediatric endocrinologist, primarily focusing on childhood obesity which results in the onset of Type 2 diabetes.
What did you expect from your participation in our Congressional visits program?I intended to use this Hill Day opportunity as a platform for addressing issues that are crucial to the viability of research. Although I had a number of expectations, my main goal was to provide a real life example of an aspiring physician-scientist who has been afforded the opportunity to engage in scientific biomedical research. Because of the training I am receiving, I am, and will, continue to contribute and advance the field of science and medicine. Funding that has been provided by the National Institutes of Health has accelerated and advanced the research that is ongoing in our laboratory and has allowed a multidisciplinary collaboration between immunology and proteomics. This has resulted in the use of innovative techniques to understand the molecular biology of a very important defense cell of our immune system. I hoped to convey this message very clearly to congress with the expectation that their belief in the power of research and the long-term investment in its goals and vision will be strengthened. At a time when all federal spending is being scrutinized I am pleased to be able to make a stand for increasing the budget for the NIH and thus supporting education, high tech job creation, translational research, patient care, drug development, increasing scientific literacy among our citizens and other breakthroughs that will help the entire population.
More from the current issue


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A few days ago, I was delighted to speak to Scott Horton of Antiwar Radio, in what was our 29th interview (available here) since he first sought me out over four years ago, but our first interview since June this year. Scott particularly wanted to discuss "You Don't Like the Truth: 4 Days Inside Guantánamo," the harrowing documentary about Omar Khadr, the Canadian citizen and former child prisoner, which is based on footage of his interrogations by Canadian intelligence agents in the summer of 2003, when he was just 16 years old.
I attended a Q&A session after a London screening of this film back in June, and also took part in a discussion about it on Press TV (available in two parts here and here), so I was pleased to be able to revisit it, especially as the story of Omar Khadr is so central to the injustices of Guantanamo, and also because, barring any last-minute horrors on the part of the Obama administration, he is due to be released from Guantanamo to Canada on October 31.
Khadr was only 15 when he was seized in July 2002, after a firefight in which he allegedly threw a grenade that killed a US soldier — although serious doubts have been expressed about whether he actually threw the grenade, as he was apparently unconscious, face down, and half-buried under rubble at the time, and his lawyers claimed that the initial reports of the firefight were amended afterwards to incriminate him. Read the rest of this entry »
I wouldn't be alive without the NHS, and nor would my wife, and nor would my son, so it's a cause that's very, very dear to my heart. Less selfishly, it's also dear to my heart because it's paid for by general taxation, and is free to anyone at the point of entry, and at the point of exit, and is therefore a service for everyone, regardless of their income. However, while I recognise that certain types of cost-cutting reforms may be required, I cannot trust the Tory-led government to do so responsibly. Despite David Cameron promising to protect the NHS from "top-down reorganisation," and promising to protect frontline services from the coalition government's swingeing nationwide programme of cuts, he and the Tories have lied.
Andrew Lansley's Health and Social Care Bill proposes exactly the sort of "top-down organisation" that David Cameron said wouldn't happen on his watch, and is a monstrosity, as almost everyone involved in the health service recognises (see here, here, here and here for examples).
However, despite colossal opposition, the government has refused to scrap it, and is now trying to push it through the House of Lords. See here for information about the proposed privatisation that the government doesn't want to you to see, and see here for information about Lansley's ties to private companies eager to make money out of the NHS. And for information about how the government's cuts are already undermining frontline services, see this report in yesterday's Guardian.
I have covered this saga since it began, and will continue to do so, but for now I'd like merely to ask you, if you haven't yet signed the 38 Degrees petition to save the NHS from the Tories' juggernaut of privatisation, to PLEASE do so now, and then to forward it to everyone you know. You can share it via Facebook here, and via Twitter here. Read the rest of this entry »
On Saturday, as protestors in 951 cities in 82 countries took to the streets and public spaces to protest about the gross inequalities of modern life (with 1 percent of the population having a wildly disproportionate amount of money, power and influence), the thousands who gathered to "Occupy London," hoping to establish a camp in Paternoster Square, next to St. Paul's Cathedral, unfortunately found their day dominated by a heavy-handed police presence, as I reported in an article entitled, Occupy London: Are We Free to Protest, or Is This a Police State?
First of all, Paternoster Square was blocked, then the first few hundred protestors were "contained" in front of St. Paul's, and then, as night fell, the police made a few violent efforts to clear the area, before giving up and allowing a limited overnight camp to proceed.
The end result was as the authorities hoped. An occupation that would have numbered in the thousands, and would then have attracted many, many more thousands of people, if it had been allowed to proceed unmolested, was indeed "contained," with just 250 people camping the first night, and a clear message sent out to potential protestors, letting them know that the police don't have any problems with violence if the "Occupy" movement shows any signs of becoming a significant irritant. Read the rest of this entry »
Freelance investigative journalist Andy Worthington continues his 70-part, million-word series telling, for the first time, the stories of 776 of the 779 prisoners held at Guantánamo since the prison opened on January 11, 2002. Adding information released by WikiLeaks in April 2011 to the existing documentation about the prisoners, much of which was already covered in Andy's book The Guantánamo Files and in the archive of articles on his website, the project will be completed in time for the 10th anniversary of the prison's opening on January 11, 2012.
This is Part 27 of the 70-part series. 337 stories have now been told. See the entire archive here.
In late April, I worked with WikiLeaks as a media partner for the publication of thousands of pages of classified military documents — the Detainee Assessment Briefs — relating to almost all of the 779 prisoners held at Guantánamo since the prison opened on January 11, 2002. These documents drew heavily on the testimony of the prisoners themselves, and also on the testimony of their fellow inmates (either in Guantánamo, or in secret prisons run by or on behalf of the CIA), whose statements are unreliable, either because they were subjected to torture or other forms of coercion, or because they provided false statements in the hope of securing better treatment in Guantánamo.
The documents were compiled by the Joint Task Force at Guantánamo (JTF GTMO), which operates the prison, and were based on assessments and reports made by interrogators and analysts whose primary concern was to "exploit" the prisoners for their intelligence value. They also include input from the Criminal Investigative Task Force, created by the DoD in 2002 to conduct interrogations on a law enforcement basis, rather than for "actionable intelligence."
My ongoing analysis of the documents began in May, with a five-part series, "WikiLeaks: The Unknown Prisoners of Guantánamo," telling the stories of 84 prisoners, released between 2002 and 2004, whose stories had never been told before. This was followed by a ten-part series, "WikiLeaks and the Guantánamo Prisoners Released from 2002 to 2004," in which I revisited the stories of 114 other prisoners released in this period, adding information from the Detainee Assessment Briefs to what was already known about these men and boys from press reports and other sources. This was followed by another five-part series, "WikiLeaks and the Guantánamo Prisoners Released After the Tribunals, 2004 to 2005," dealing with the period from September 2004 to the end of 2005, when 62 prisoners were released. Read the rest of this entry »
October 15, as I discussed in an earlier article, was a global day of action, with events taking place in 951 cities in 82 countries, inspired by the revolutionary movements in Tunisia and Egypt, the mass mobilization of citizens in Greece, and the indignados in Spain, which has taken off in America in recent months through "Occupy Wall Street."
In London, the plan was to occupy Paternoster Square, next to St. Paul's Cathedral, where the London Stock Exchange is situated, but from the moment I approached St. Paul's yesterday afternoon (at about 2.30 pm, cycling from London Bridge), it was clear that a clampdown was in place — with police vans everywhere, and lines of police blocking all the entrances to Paternoster Square, where notices had been posted, stating, "Paternoster Square is private land. Any licence to the public to enter or cross this land is revoked forthwith. There is no implied or express permission to enter the premises or any part. Any such entry will constitute a trespass."
When I finally found the crowd — in front of St. Paul's and spilling onto Ludgate Hill — I was delighted to see that thousands of people had turned up, but bitterly disappointed that the police had sealed off those closest to St. Paul's from everyone who arrived afterwards, and had shifted the focus of the event from the protestors to the police, and fears and doubts about what they would do. Read the rest of this entry »
Today, October 15, is a global day of action, with events taking place in 951 cities in 82 countries, according to 15october.net, where, under the heading, "united for #globalchange," campaigners worldwide have been planning events over the last few months, with the intention of starting a global movement to change the world.
Inspired by the revolutionary movements in Tunisia and Egypt, and the mass mobilization of citizens in Greece, and the indignados in Spain, this movement has taken off in America in recent months through "Occupy Wall Street," a manifestation of the movement in New York which, growing from a seed planted by Adbusters, began a month ago, was initially ignored by the mainstream media, but then became too big to ignore, spawning similar movements across the US (see the "Occupy Together" website), and both inspiring movements in other countries and tying in with already existing movements around the world, all of which have sprung up in the wake of the revolutionary movements in the Middle East.
While this global movement is confusing to the establishment because it lacks clearly defined leaders and manifestos written in stone, its aims are readily comprehensible, as is obvious from its statements. Those protesting recognize, as the British campaigning group UK Uncut states succinctly on its website, that banks, corporations and the super-rich are bleeding the rest of us dry, and that tax evasion and state subsidies to banks are equivalent to the cuts imposed on the rest of us in this new global age of cuts and austerity. Read the rest of this entry »
As the war in Afghanistan begins its second decade, the reasons for it to be brought to an end are compelling — the ruinous financial cost ($460 billion and counting), the ruinous human cost (over 1,400 US military deaths, and tens of thousands of Afghan civilians killed), and the utter pointlessness of the occupation itself. Having driven out al-Qaeda and the Taliban within a few months of the invasion, the US military, has, for most of the last ten years, been bogged down fighting a regrouped Taliban and an array of other Afghan "insurgents," fighting to free their country from foreign occupation.
A fourth reason, less generally noticed, is that the Afghan war led to the creation of Guantánamo, a prison touted by the Bush administration as a facility for holding "the worst of the worst," but in reality a brutal and failed experiment, which never held more than a small number of genuine terror suspects, but, which, nonetheless, has proved resistant to calls for its closure.
Around three-quarters of the 779 prisoners held at Guantánamo were seized as a result of the invasion and occupation of Afghanistan, either in Afghanistan itself, or after crossing from Afghanistan into Pakistan after the US-led invasion, where the authorities (up to and including President Pervez Musharraf) were particularly interested in the bounty payments offered by the US military for al-Qaeda and Taliban suspects. As President Musharraf admitted in his 2006 autobiography, In the Line of Fire, in return for handing over 369 terror suspects to the US, "We have earned bounty payments totaling millions of dollars." Read the rest of this entry »
"'Outside the Law' is a powerful film that has helped ensure that Guantánamo and the men unlawfully held there have not been forgotten."
Kate Allen, Director, Amnesty International UK
"[T]his is a strong movie examining the imprisonment and subsequent torture of those falsely accused of anti-American conspiracy."
Joe Burnham, Time Out
As featured on Democracy Now!, ABC News and Truthout. Buy the DVD here (£10 + £2 postage in the UK, and worldwide) or here if in the US ($10 post free).
The first autumn screening of the documentary film, "Outside the Law: Stories from Guantánamo" (co-directed by Polly Nash and Andy Worthington) takes place on the second anniversary of the film's launch, at the University of Aberdeen, as part of a human rights film festival, from October 17 to 23, which also includes screenings of two films about Burma — "Burma VJ" and "This Prison Where I Live," "The Green Wave" (about the Iranian elections in 2009, and the state's brutal clampdown on the pro-democracy movement), and a film about Scottish Gypsy Travellers. See here for further details, and see below for specific details about the screening of "Outside the Law: Stories from Guantánamo." Read the rest of this entry »
When I think back to the already forgotten scandal of how David Cameron cosied up to Rupert Murdoch, seeking to allow him an unacceptable media monopoly via the planned BSkyB buyout, and when I now hear about Liam Fox's dirty dealings with his buddy Adam Werritty, pretending to be an official representative of Her Majesty's Government in MoD-related meetings around the world, I can only reflect on how the same kind of dodgy meetings and corrupt business deals have been incessantly taking place regarding the Tory-led coalition government's planned privatisation of the NHS, with consultants like McKinsey and KPMG, and how the sordid realities of political life mean that the government cannot be trusted when it promises that it is trying to save the NHS rather than destroy it.
The Tory-led coalition and its deeply untrustworthy ministers — up to and including the PM — are not the only politicians compromised by their business dealings, because the Labour government was, essentially, no different. But although, in a general sense, almost the entire political establishment is thoroughly discredited through the knowledge that money talks more than principles do, and that we the people (except the richest ten percent) are irrelevant to politicians' plans (except every four or five years when they want us to vote for them), I find it difficult to sit idly by while the government pushes ahead with its monstrous plans to destroy the NHS in England as a universal healthcare provider. Read the rest of this entry »
On Day 17 of the renewed hunger strike by prisoners in Pelican Bay State Prison, and other prisons in California, prisoners, their relatives and their supporters fear that there will soon be deaths amongst the hunger strikers, because, as SF Bay View reported yesterday, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) "has been treating the current strike, which began on Sept. 26, as a mass disturbance and has refused negotiations."
As the article explained, prisoners have begun to report "grave medical issues." A relative of a striker at Calipatria State Prison said, "Men are collapsing in their cells because they haven't eaten in two weeks," adding, "I have been told that guards refuse to respond when called. This is clearly a medical emergency."
As I explained yesterday, in my article, Pelican Bay and American Torture: Prisoners in Long-Term Isolation Continue Hunger Strike Despite Authorities' Brutal Response, in an attempt to stop the strike, the CDCR has been isolating prisoners regarded as leaders in Pelican Bay, moving them from the Security Housing Unit (SHU), where they have been in almost total isolation — some for years, some for decades — to Administrative Segregation (Ad-Seg).
To give some sense of the horrors of the system, the hunger strikers have stated that "513 of the 1,111 prisoners held at Pelican Bay have been in solitary confinement for 10 or more years, and 78 have been held for more than 20 years without access to light or open space for prolonged periods of time." Moreover, there are three other SHUs in California, and nationally at least 75,000 prisoners are currently held in solitary confinement, even though it is self-evidently a form of torture when used for more than a short period of time. Read the rest of this entry »
Investigative journalist, author, campaigner, commentator and public speaker. Recognized as an authority on Guantánamo and the "war on terror." Co-founder, Close Guantánamo, co-director, We Stand With Shaker. Also, singer and songwriter (The Four Fathers) and photographer.
Email Andy Worthington
Love and War by The Four Fathers
Stonehenge: Celebration & Subversion
Please support Andy Worthington, independent journalist:


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Bucks for Brains team brings in $4.7 million
February 18th, 2008
The Kentucky Spinal Cord Injury Research Center (KSCIRC) at the University of Louisville has received three federal grants totaling $4.7 million to find therapies for spinal cord injuries. KSCIRC also will receive at $300,000 grant from the Kentucky Spinal Cord and Head Injury Research Trust.
The center, part of UofL's Department of Neurological Surgery, will use the three National Institutes of Health (NIH) grants to examine cell-based and drug-based therapies for spinal cord damage.
Federal dollars for independent research are becoming increasingly scarce, according to Scott Whittemore, UofL's Dr. Henry D. Garretson Chair in Spinal Cord and Head Injury Research and KSCIRC scientific director.
"Decreased funding at the NIH means that these grants to independent researchers are more competitive than ever," Whittemore said. "That's why we are thrilled to announce three major grants in such a short period of time."
- A grant of $1.6 million over a five-year period will allow Whittemore to continue research on genetically-engineered mouse cells aimed at re-growing myelin. Myelin is the insulation around nerve fibers that allows them to conduct signals to and from the brain to the spinal cord and limbs. Whittemore serves as principal investigator in this research.
- A grant of nearly $1.6 million will fund work by assistant professor Qilin Cao to encourage adult stem cells to regenerate myelin-producing cells in rats and fight the formation of scar tissue after spinal cord injury. His work, along with Whittemore's, also has potential for treating multiple sclerosis. Cao collaborates with Whittemore.
- A grant of more than $1.5 million will fund investigation into how drugs based on very small molecules can be used to boost neuron regeneration in the adult brain. In addition to its potential for spinal cord injury, this research may help victims of stroke, Huntington's disease, Alzheimer's disease and ALS (also known as Lou Gehrig's disease). Theodore Hagg, Endowed Chair in Neurological Surgery, received the grant.
Hagg and Whittemore are Bucks for Brains hires. Whittemore and Bucks for Brains researcher Michael Hetman received the $300,000 grant from the research trust.
"Thanks in large part to Bucks for Brains, our Department of Neurological Surgery is seventh in the nation in terms of NIH funding," said UofL President James Ramsey. "Over the last six years, $8.6 million from private donors was matched by $6 million from Bucks for Brains. The return on this investment now tops $47.1 million."
Related Link
Kentucky Spinal Cord Injury Research Center


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Coalition begins decentralisation process
Media Release
19 April 2017
The Coalition Government has embarked on its decentralisation program, Minister for Regional Development and Deputy Leader of the Nationals Fiona Nash announced at the National Press Club today.
Minister Nash said regional people deserved the benefits of government departments and the careers and flow-on benefits they bring just as much as city people do, noting Australia's departments are far more centralised than those in the US and UK.
"I'll be responsible for creating a template for government Ministers to assess which departments are suitable for decentralisation by mid-year," Minister Nash said.
"Departments will need to either indicate that they're suitable to move to the regions or justify why all or part of their operation is unsuitable.
"All portfolio Ministers will need to report back to Cabinet by August on which of their departments are suitable to be moved to regional Australia, and relevant Ministers will need to report to Cabinet with robust business cases for decentralisation by December.
"Moving government departments to the regions puts more money in our towns, more customers in our shops, more students in our schools and more volunteers in our local fire brigade.
"It also creates more career opportunities for our children to enable them to stay in the communities they grew up in. Those careers will help lure some of our young guns back to the bush as well as some city people to our regions, relieving the burden on our bursting capital cities.
"It's important for government to lead by example and invest in rural, regional and remote Australia, creating long term careers and confidence in those communities—and we're doing it.
"While people are stuck in traffic on Melbourne's Monash tollway or Sydney's M7, country people are getting to work in five minutes and parking out the front of their favourite restaurants.
"Shifting to the country makes sense both for government departments and capital city residents."


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Traditionally infants who have a myelomeningocele has the defect (hole) closed in the first 24-48 hours after birth. There was a recent clinical trial who looked at the difference between doing a closure surgery at birth versus before birth. The idea behind this was that prolonged exposure of the spinal nerves to amniotic fluid could impact the damage to the nerves, and so by doing surgery at 24 weeks gestation, the nerves were less damaged as well as a positive impact on hydrocephalus and chairi II malformation.
The MOMS study was a 8 year research study in the United States, and it finished in March 2011 with positive results. Results of the study was published in March 2011 and it was covered in various news media.
I did not pursue prenatal surgery when I was pregnant with Nickolas. During my pregnancy the MOMS trial was still in a trial stage and I was not eligible by living in Canada (among other reasons).
When the research was released in 2011 I did a review about my feeling about the research trial and risk versus benefit on my personal blog. http://www.riddingfamily.blogspot.ca/2011/02/spina-bifida-in-news.html
Spina bifida is one of the only non-terminal indications for prenatal surgery. And it is GREAT for future parents who get a diagnosis. I wonder what it will do to doctors who recommend termination for a fetus that could have surgery? That being said, this surgery IS NOT A CURE. It is never meant to be a cure. It was meant to see the impact on the various complications from spina bifida. Specifically hydrocephalus, and chiari malformation.
So it is not risk free. This affects this mother, this pregnancy and subsequent pregnancies with multiple scars on the uterus. It is not something to take lightly (Not that ANY of the women who participated took this surgery lightly).
Premature labour, premature water breaking were significant. Not only are these kids going to be born with spina bifida, but also risks of being premature.
The need for a shunt was decreased (but not eliminated). Only 65% of the prenatal group met the criteria for a shunt placement - and only 40% had a shunt placed. (Not quite sure why there is a difference between needing a shunt and getting one - but maybe I'm not reading it right). The postnatal group (like the general SB community - I think) had 92% had criteria and 82% had a shunt placed.
The second primary outcome does say that the mental development index and functional level (not sure why mental and motor was clumped together) was significantly better in the prenatal surgery group. Looking at the actual numbers of the mental development index - there wasn't a significant difference between the 2 groups.
About the functional level - yes there was a difference. 32% of the kids who had prenatal surgery functioned at 2 or more levels higher! I'm amazed. As well as more likely to not use assistance to walk.
I do not mean to be negative about the article or in any way about the women and children who participated. I can only imagine how brave it is to be part of an experimental study where your child and yourself is put at risk (and/or benefit). It is a great thing for those who participated and those who planned and wrote about the study. It is an excellent study that opens to door to so many new possibilities. But I've studies so many research papers during my nursing school years, and I guess my mind still critically analyzes these papers.


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-------------------------------------------------- From: "MURATA Makoto (FAMILY Given)" <firstname.lastname@example.com> Sent: Saturday, June 05, 2010 7:28 PM To: <email@example.com> Subject: Re: [css3-text-layout] margin-before/after/start/end etc. and :ttb pseudo-classes > Andrew, > > We still have to choose either or both of a) stylesheets or b) documents > for specifying directions. Having both a) and b) has advantages as well > as disadvantages such as complexities. Although some content is written > assuming vertical directions, I am tempted to choose a) even if some > content is tied to a particular writing direction, since a) hits more than > 80%. > After all, stylesheets can be used only when we give up contents such as > "See page 31" and "See above". > I am not sure I understand what is the problem and what complexities you are talking about. I do know that "let's just quadruple number of dimensional CSS properties" *will* increase complexity of the whole system... Ok, back to :ltr/:ttb. p:ltr and p:ttb are just advices like: this <p> element is now in LTR or TTB environment. Not less not more. If needed you can ignore such advices and use something like: html[enforced-dir="ttb"] * { direction: ttb; block-flow: horizontal; } or html[enforced-dir="ltr"] * { direction: ltr; block-flow: vertical; } or any other form of enforcements available in CSS, e.g. !important in UA's and user's sheets. That would be close to "dirty hack" of course but if you do need this for your user's good ... -- Andrew Fedoniouk http://terrainformatica.comReceived on Sunday, 6 June 2010 04:19:53 UTC
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.3.1 : Monday, 2 May 2016 14:38:36 UTC


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UHC Names Dan O'Brien New Vice President of Finance
Jul 18, 2012, 03:50 ET
CHICAGO, July 18, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- UHC announces the appointment of Dan O'Brien as vice president of finance. O'Brien will manage all of UHC's finance-related activities, including the development and monitoring of UHC's strategic financial objectives.
"With his deep understanding of UHC and its financial needs, Dan is a great addition to our senior management team," said Irene M. Thompson, UHC president and chief executive officer. "He has already helped shape UHC into a more cost-efficient organization, and we believe the short- and long-term financial goals he has set will continue to benefit us and our members."
Prior to joining UHC as controller in 2002, O'Brien was a senior audit manager at Ernst & Young. He earned a bachelor's degree in business administration from the University of Notre Dame and is a certified public accountant.
About UHC
UHC is an alliance of the nation's leading nonprofit academic medical centers, which are focused on delivering world-class patient care. Based in Chicago, Ill, UHC fosters collaboration with and among its 116 academic medical center and 275 affiliated hospital members through its renowned programs and services in the areas of comparative data and analytics, performance improvement, supply chain management, strategic research, and public policy. UHC helps its members achieve excellence in quality, safety, and cost-effectiveness. Formed in 1984, UHC's membership includes a majority of the nonprofit academic medical centers in the United States. For more information, visit uhc.edu.


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Rhinoplasty Showcase #3
This beautiful, young professional was concerned her nose did not match the delicate features on the rest of her face. Previous nasal trauma further damaged the tip of her nose. The patient complained, "The tip of my nose has no definition and is so "blah-looking."
Keep in mind that each patient is unique and your results may vary.
Concern Area #1 shows an underdeveloped lower third of the nose resulting in an unbalanced appearance, in combination with her other facial anatomy. Concern Area #2 shows evidence of nasal trauma with collapse of the left lateral structures.
The collapsed lateral nasal wall was corrected through an open rhinoplasty with osteotomies, the bone is divided. Extensive septal cartilage grafting reshaped her lower nasal vault and spreader grafts restored her dorsal nasal lines.
Her long term results are delightful. Her new nose matches her gloriously delicate facial features. Both surgeon and patient are thrilled with her outcome.


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A community fundraising drive is underway to fill the coffers of the Hood River City Police Department's Sunshine Division.
On April 12 the "Ray of Hope" program will be one of the beneficiaries from the 5th annual Delta Kappa Spring Auction. Both a silent and oral auction follows a "Putt'n on the Ritz" evening of food and fun that begins at 6 p.m. in the Hood River Elks Club.
Auction items include a two-night stay in Sunriver, Seahawk tickets, an excursion on the Mt. Hood Railroad, baked goods, gift certificates and a night on the town package. Door prizes will also be given away and raffle tickets will be sold for a 25-inch color television.
Prior to the auction, a buffet dinner with a variety of selections will be served and tickets ($10) should be purchased by April 8 from Waucoma books or Delta Kappa members. A limited number will also be available at the door.
Other recipients of the auction proceeds will be Hospice of the Gorge and the Hood River High School Scholarship Fund. For more information call Betty Draper at 386-1018.
The new Sunshine Division will also benefit from hot dogs and root beer float sales at Safeway that begin during the last weekend in April and continue on weekends through the summer months. The local grocery store will also sponsor a "Ray of Hope" golf tournament sometime in August.
Lieutenant Jerry Brown said more than $900 has been raised since collection containers were placed in area businesses at the start of the year. These funds are being used to give area residents, and sometimes visitors, a one-time boost toward overcoming financial obstacles. He said the money is turned over confidentially to individuals of all ages who are already seeking to better their quality of life.
"We're trying to fill in the gaps and augment other programs but we're not trying to take the place of any other service," said Brown.
Most of the referrals for expenditures are made by Community Resource Office Aaron Jubitz and School Resource Officer Tiffany Hicks. Brown said since these officers are regularly circulating among residents and students they are more privy to local needs.
But Brown said the new program allows flexibility and a small amount of money was given to a stranded motorist and additional funds used to buy clothing for an at-risk teenager.
"If you spend $100 and have even a 10 percent chance of that child changing his direction it's going to save a whole lot more money than if somebody doesn't intervene," said Brown.
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Zoe Fur Square Flat White
Item# 124262591
22.0" L x 13.8" H x 22.0" W 9.5 lbs. white Faux Fur Furniture Seating 191607330192 FUR19
The "similar styles" price noted is our researched retail price at a point in time of similar style of aesthetic item at another retailer offering home décor products. Like other home décor retailers, we work with a variety of partners to source our products, making each one unique to At Home. Copyright © 2018 At Home Stores LLC. Selection, quantities and pricing of products may vary by participating store. All rights reserved.


text: Opnext Inc. of Eatontown, N.J., announced that James Horiuchi, the company's vice president of North America sales, has been promoted to senior vice president, global sales, effective immediately. He replaces Christopher Lin, who left the position after six years to pursue other interests. In his new position, Horiuchi will be responsible for global sales, including North America, Europe and the Asia Pacific region. He has more than 23 years of experience in sales, research and development, manufacturing, and senior management in both the Japan and US, including more than 10 years in the fiber optics industry. He has been with Opnext since 2001. Before that, Horiuchi was employed at Infineon Technologies and Hitachi Semiconductor America. He received his MBA from Santa Clara University in California. Opnext, formerly Hitachi's Fiber Optic Components business unit, supplies laser-based optical components to the communications, security, medical systems and consumer electronics markets.


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Office Party
- Steve Cramer
- 14 August 2008
This article is from 2008.
Tasteless delights
Seldom were ham and cheese so well combined in a sandwich as in Cal McCrystal's interactive version of that familiar titular institution, the office party. The show may be disrupted here and there by its structure, but this seems to do nothing to dampen the spirits of its revelling guests.
What this piece amounts to is a series of variety turns linked by the conceit of a cringey event of the kind we've all attended at some time or other. In Edinburgh University's Appleton Tower – a cavernous multi-storey monument to architectural errors of the 70s – the perfect venue has been found for the show. Festooned with red balloons and draperies, it feels every tacky inch the part.
The series of turns has a flavour of the burlesque, from the comic CEO (a strong Glenn Wool), who apes the rapacious, over-privileged boss, to an all-singing, all-stripping version of Chris de Burgh's 'Lady in Red'. Topped off with a pole dancing routine and a trapeze act (from the splendidly agile Abbi Collins), there's some entertaining work on show for the average, mildly boozed-up audience.
On the night I dropped in, the punters showed willing to participate in various games involving disrobing, eating and pub quizzing. There were high spirits all round from an audience divided up in teams from the fictional firm, from executives, to accounts and on through the ranks to the cleaners. On the night, though, there was a vague sense of milling about in this great hall that broke up the entertainment, with various pauses to buy drinks from the bar interrupting the flow. All the same, when the acts came, they were pretty strong, with some nice crowd pleasing from the likes of Ursula Martinez, who led the crowd in a bawdy bit of Hispanic sing-along in a particular highlight. I suspect that with a little tightening up, this will be a good, boozy night out.
Udderbelly's Pasture, 0844 545 8252, until 25 Aug, 8pm, £12–£18 (£10).


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RECEIVING the Nobel prize does not necessarily stop great scientists making foolish statements. William Shockley won a Nobel for his work on transistors, but nevertheless managed to spend the latter years of his career making racist comments and even writing about the mental inferiority of black Africans.
Last week, James Watson, co-recipient of a Nobel prize for the discovery of the structure of DNA, made blatantly racist comments regarding the supposed mental inferiority of black Africans. The response has been swift. His comments were widely condemned and he was suspended from his post at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory. Unlike Shockley, Watson later apologised for his remarks.
But what of the research in this area? Does the condemnation of Watson's words stem from solid science or from political correctness?
The goal of the comment is, I guess, not just another attack on Watson. It is to show that
The problems with our understanding of intelligence and race show that the criticism being levelled at Watson is based on science rather than political correctness.
The two arguments used are our problems with race as a socially constructed concept, not a biological one. It derives from people's desire to classify. The second argument is our poor understanding of intelligence. Thus talking about racial differences in intelligence is doubly suspect, and thus unscientific.
But let me compare this with the statement of Watson and then apply a bit of logic (still, I guess, a part of science). The offensive statement of Watson, as far as i was able to track it, was:
I am inherently gloomy about the prospect of Africa because all our social policies are based on the fact that their intelligence is the same as ours - whereas all the testing says not really.
Now, even professor Sternberg admits in his comment that there are differences in measured values of mental capabilities between various `groups'
The tests as they stand show some differences between various groups of children. The size of the differences and what groups do best in the tests depend on what is tested. For example, with various collaborators I have found that analytical tests of the kind traditionally used to measure so-called general abilities tend to favour Americans of European and Asian origin, while tests of creative and practical thinking show quite different patterns. On a test of oral storytelling, for example, Native Americans outperform other groups.
So there are differences. Whether the concept of race is well defined or poorly is beside the point - there is quite a lot to discuss on the subject. But to be able to absorb science based solutions to the problems of great social importance requires exactly such analytical capabilities, which even Sternberg admits might be real.
But let's assume, contrary to the cited findings, that there are no genetic differences in analytical intelligence between `groups of different origin'. That it is all due to upbringing and education. Certainly this component of the differences would be of great importance when we compare the US and African societies. But does it change the message of Watson even by an iota? Shouldn't we reconsider our social policies? After all, we do adjust the way we present things to different people on a daily basis, the best universally accepted example being the gradual way science is introduced in schools. And there are no cries of horror that we treat seven year olds as having different analytical capabilities than university students. No accusations of `childism'.
So, even if all the difference is intelligence shown by inhabitants of Africa are due to environment, is it not even a stronger reason to adjust our social policies? In most places all the schooling their kids receive is practical thinking and oral storytelling: tribal tradition (including the inter tribal violence) and handling a Kalashnikov. This certainly does not help in understanding, for example, the complex issues of environment protection and economic growth in harmony with Nature. Yet, even in the countries where situation is better and real schools are accessible, there are voices to get rid of the Eurocolonialist science. For example for replacing mathematics with `ethnomathematics'. And as far as I have been able to track it down, this new science still has to produce any significant result apart from the fancy name. As a result of such mistreatment `the poor would get poorer'. Ant this is hardly the result we all desire.
In this context, the call of Watson to adjust our policies to reality of a different situation, whatever the reason of the difference, is hardly racist. I argue that the attacks out of political correctness, not science. That the race and intelligence are complex and multivalued notions does not inhibit any knowledge about them. And logical reasoning is still a part of science. So lets stop acting out of the gut feelings and perhaps consider the issue logically.


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How do you count words? Ashley Wagner discusses the question as part of our video on the number of words in the English language.
Definición de carraspear en Español:
verbo intransitivo
- 1
Emitir una tos leve repetidas veces a fin de aclarar la garganta y evitar el enronquecimiento de la voz.
después carraspeó, impostó la voz y declamó con fuerza
Further reading
'Compliment' or 'complement': what's the difference?Read more
A lot of people get compliment and complement confused: they're pronounced in the same way and have very similar spellings but they have completely different meanings.
Should you capitalize the word "Internet"?Read more
The question of whether the word internet should be capitalized is so passionately debated and rife with controversy that it has its own Wikipedia article.
14 ways to hugFind out more
We've delved into the Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary to come up with some historical substitutions for hug as a verb.


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The MCA BlogConnecting with others one story at a time
Parents' Guide to Protecting Children from Asbestos in Schools
Millions of children who attend schools in the United States built before the 1980s are at risk of being exposed to harmful asbestos – yet there are important steps parents can take to protect their children.
Those steps include:
- Understanding the risk of asbestos exposure;
- Knowing their school's responsibility under federal laws intended to protect students, teachers and other school employees;
- Inspecting their school's asbestos management plan;
- Being persistent in demanding to see public records and asking questions of school administrators;
- Seeking guidance from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) if danger is suspected.
"Just because a school contains materials made with asbestos should not be reason for parents and caregivers to panic, but they should be understandably concerned," says Alex Formuzis of the Environmental Working Group (EWG) in Washington, D.C., which has done extensive research into the hazards of asbestos in American schools.
Linda Reinstein, president of the Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization (ADAO), agrees. She urges parents to be "vigilant" in making sure federal laws and regulations intended to protect students, teachers and other school employees in schools are enforced. "As a mesothelioma widow and mom, I've learned the hard way – asbestos kills," she says.
Nearly all U.S. schools built between the 1940s through the 1970s contain asbestos, which was widely used as a fireproofing building material. In fact, any building constructed before 1981 is presumed to contain asbestos, according to the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).
Why Asbestos Vigilance Is Important
As the Mesothelioma Cancer Alliance reported last week, more than three decades after the EPA issued a warning about the dangers of asbestos in American schools, the potential harm to students, teachers, and other school employees continues to exist. In Orange County, Ca., three elementary schools in the Ocean View School District were closed in 2014 after asbestos was discovered in school buildings during a modernization project. In Chicago, inspectors found friable asbestos that was damaged or showed the potential for damage in school corridors, restrooms, teachers' lounges and auditoriums at 184 public schools, putting students, faculty and staff at risk.
"Across the United States, too many students and teachers continue to be at risk of inhaling harmful asbestos fibers in their schools' classrooms, cafeterias and hallways," states Megan Boyle, writing in Healthy Child, Healthy World, a website aimed at empowering parents to take action and protect children from harmful chemicals. Earlier this year, the site published Boyle's excellent blog post titled "How to Talk to Your Child's School about Asbestos."
As children go back to school this year, here are some steps that parents should take:
Understand the risk of asbestos exposure
If you child's school was built before 1980, it almost certainly contains asbestos materials. The mere presence of asbestos in schools doesn't necessarily mean there is an immediate danger as long as asbestos remains undisturbed. But if asbestos-containing materials are disturbed during repairs or modernization projects or becomes friable – that is, easily crumbled by hand or contact – asbestos fibers can be released into the air and inhaled.
Asbestos has long been identified as a carcinogen, and there is no safe level of asbestos exposure.
Bottom line: You should be especially vigilant if your school is undertaking a modernization or repair project, as many older schools are.
Understand the law and regulations aimed at protecting students and teachers
The Asbestos Hazard Emergency Response Act (AHERA) of 1986 requires public, private and charter schools to inspect their buildings for asbestos-containing materials and prepare management plans and to take action to prevent or reduce asbestos hazards. The inspections must be conducted every three years, according to the EPA.
Under the law, schools are specifically required to do all of the following:
- 1. Perform an original inspection to determine whether asbestos-containing materials are present and then re-inspect asbestos-containing material in each school every three years.
- 2. Develop, maintain an asbestos management plan and keep a copy at the school available for public inspection. The management plan contains important information, including the date of the last inspection, whether asbestos was discovered and any remedial actions are being taken.
- 3. Provide yearly notification to parent, teacher and employee organizations on the availability of the school's asbestos management plan and any asbestos-related actions taken or planned at the school.
- 4. Designate a contact person to ensure the responsibilities of school are properly carried out. The contact person is required to be available to answer questions from parents and the public.
Understand your rights to inspect inspection reports and a school's management plan – and be relentless in demanding access to them
Inspection reports and the asbestos management plan are public documents. The school is required to keep a copy available to parents and others for public inspection. So parents should be persistent in seeking access to those records.
"If those records are not readily accessible from the school's front office or the school district, I'd urge parents to demand they make they available," says the EWG's Formuzis. "Those records are, in many ways, the best evidence of whether or not their children are in the areas of the school where asbestos is present."
If you suspect danger, seek answers and guidance from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
That advice comes from ADAO's Reinstein. In fact, the EPA provides helpful information on its web site, including a posting dealing Asbestos Laws and Regulations and another on School Buildings. The information is available in both English and Spanish-language versions.
In urging vigilance, Reinstein says that nothing is more important than protecting students and teachers.
"Students, teachers and staff should be protected from asbestos," she says. "The fear of the unknown is unimaginable when a child has been exposed at school. With each cough, a parent waits in anguish, wondering if their child will one day be diagnosed with an asbestos-caused disease. There is no safe level of asbestos exposure, as prevention remains the only cure."


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One step back, but two steps forward sums up the year for both Ammirati Puris Lintas and Lowe & Partners/SMS. They began 1999 as sibling Interpublic Group of Cos. agencies, but were smushed into one as Lowe Lintas & Partners Worldwide by yearend. Ammirati founder Martin Puris left as his name came off the door.
Each shop had its share of problems. Ammirati resigned the Iridium account after it dwindled from $140 million to just $10 million, and dealt with the resignation of Richard Hadala, a management consultant hired to head the agency less than a year earlier. Meanwhile, Lowe was dealt a heavy blow when Mercedes-Benz of North America moved its estimated $100 million account to Omnicom Group's Merkley Newman Harty, New York. It had its own management ordeal finding a replacement for its president, who quit in late 1998.
By mid-year Lowe hired two well-known and respected ad execs, Bruce Kelly and Rob Quish, to head North America and the U.S., respectively.
Interpublic announced it was merging the two agencies in October. The Lowe management team took most of the top spots; Nancy McNally, former exec VP-account services director at Ammirati, became general manager of Lowe Lintas. Well-regarded industry veteran Michael Sennott also joined the team from McCann-Erickson Worldwide to the take the No. 2 worldwide post under Chairman-CEO Frank Lowe.
Looking ahead
The new agency seems to be getting better already. Lowe's strong management and creative, combined with Ammirati's global network, have convinced most clients to stay put. Still on the fence, though, are two key ones: Burger King and United Parcel Service of America. Whether they stay or go will set the tone for 2000.


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This semi-detached holiday property is situated on the popular Glendoral resort which is within a short walk of both Porth and Lusty Glaze beaches. There are well maintained communal grounds and allocated parking.
The split level accommodation comprises an open plan living space with modern fitted kitchen and French doors to the balcony. There are superb views to the sandy beach, sea and coastline beyond. There are two double bedrooms, both with en-suite and the master having sliding doors to the private garden.
An excellent investment opportunity with an established holiday letting history and we recommend viewing, particularly to appreciate the ocean and beach views.
Double glazed front entrance door with double glazed window beside to;
Ceiling light, stairs up to;
OPEN PLAN LIVING / DINING ROOM 6.71m x 3.53m & KITCHEN 2.67m x 2.24m
Wood flooring, double glazed window to the front, double glazed window to the rear with views over the beach & sea, double glazed French doors to the balcony, television point, seven recessed spotlights. Kitchen area – A range of base units incorporating stainless steel sink unit, built in oven, four ring gas hob, plumbing for automatic washing machine, space for fridge, part tiled walls, double glazed window to the front.
Stairs down to;
Radiator, doors to;
Low level WC, recessed spotlight, fitted wash hand basin.
3.68m x 3.56m Double glazed sliding doors to the rear garden, wood flooring, ceiling light, radiator, door to;
Fitted shelving, fitted wash hand basin with cupboard under, heated towel rail, paneled bath with shower over, low level WC, four spotlights, double glazed window to the front.
4.04m x 2.64m Radiator, ceiling light, wood flooring, coat hooks, double glazed window to the rear overlooking the rear garden, door to;
Panelled bath with shower over, heated towel rail, low level WC, fitted wash hand basin with cupboard under, part tiled walls, double glazed window to the front.
Decked balcony with timber balustrade. Stunning views to the beach and sea beyond.
Enclosed lawned garden with timber and wall boundaries.
Leasehold. 999 year lease granted June 2004. Service charges of approx. £1000 per annum.
Our prices reflect the true market and our sales force are the most proactive in the area. If you are interested in selling and with a minimum of hassle then call us… more information...
Having a second home or holiday home is simple when you let the professionals manage it for you. Hassle free and with the potential of a healthy income, Harbour Holidays can provide… more information...
We are frequently asked to sell properties discreetly. These properties are not advertised in any press or on the web. To find out if we have any that might be of interest to you… more information...
Registered Company Number: 04991702 Jackie Stanley Limited, 1 North Quay, Padstow, Cornwall PL28 8AF |
Tel: 01841 532555 | Fax: 01841 533115 | email@example.com
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Thank you for showing an interest in this excellent property. Please enter your
name and email and/or phone number below and we will contact you to arrange a viewing.
Alternatively you can contact one of our branches during office hours:
Rock: 01208 862 424
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Exciting new search facility makes locating your perfect property even easier. We have included the new Draw a Search feature...
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with emails. We understand how busy you are and only want to send you relevant properties
that you might be interested in.
Draw an area on the map by clicking anywhere on the edge of the area you want to
search inside. Keep adding points to make the area and finish by clicking on the
first point again. You can drag any point on the area to make adjustments. Click
'Save My Area' to store it and go back to the search box. 'Start Again' will clear
the area and 'Cancel' will take you back to the search box without saving anything.
Use This Area
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Back in the days when I was active in IIE, I used to talk to Kevin McManus all the time. These days, it is all I can do to follow his great articles on Linked In Pulse. I want to share his latest one on procedures. Kevin shares some of the history of procedures and how they have evolved over the decades.
My Take
In my experience, we have a love/hate relationship with procedures. We recognize that they have major benefits.
- They help us standardize processes. Both for the way we do it ourselves each time and among many people doing the same process. This ensures consistency, ts are crossed, is are dotted, things don't slip through gaps.
- They help us evaluate processes. If we know how a process should be done, we can check to see if it is done correctly and completely. If we know what the results should look like, we can verify that they do.
- They help us evaluate personnel. If we know the time required to complete a process, we can measure if it was. And at what level of quality.
- They help us reduce cognitive load. If you can refer back to a process description, you don't need to remember all the steps. You don't need to remember decision branch points.
- They help us train new employees. All we need to do is show them the documentation and then check back in a couple of cycles.
But we also recognize they have serious limitations too.
- They reduce innovation by forcing a process to be done the same way each time.
- They are not resilient when circumstances don't fit the standard.
- They are not agile when the world changes around us.
- They can't accommodate special requests from customers.
There are also behavioral challenges.
- When a procedure doesn't match reality, employees are forced to choose between breaking the rules or doing a poor job. We see workarounds crop up all over in domains such as health care (but not aerospace).
- They force employees to suppress their creativity, often at the expense of intrinsic motivation for the job.
We can try to make procedures longer. We can try to add more contingency branching points to them. We can apply a tight-loose-tight management that is recommended for agile systems. But still, many of these challenges remain.
Your Turn
What is your experience with procedures? Have you found any good solutions for the challenges listed here. Or other challenges you can share?
Let us know.
Image Credit: Sweet Process


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This makes me lol.
I'm Vish and I have this obsession with technology and gadgets. I spent the first major part of my life in an Arabian country called Bahrain, followed by about nine years in India. I've lived in the UK for about 6 years so far, and really like it here. Among other things, I'm a big fan of science fiction, music and various TV shows. On this blog I'm gonna be reviewing all the gadgets and tech that I've owned over the years. Well, as much as I can remember I guess. But to start off, I'd like to illustrate the origins of my digital love. Sort of a tech memoir, so to speak.


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The Boys: The Sherman Brothers' Story -- Film Review
Credited with 1,000 songs and music for 50 movies, they wrote "It's a Small World" and top 40 hits and upbeat tunes for Disney's "The Jungle Book" and "Mary Poppins," as well as non-Disney projects including "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang." Filled with a wealth of archival material, personal photos, original recordings and a parade of interviews with famous collaborators and friends, this is the story of a troubled relationship -- or lack of one -- that makes the film a cut above the standard musical biography.
An illuminating addition to the growing catalog of Disney lore, "Boys," which opens in limited release May 22 via Walt Disney Pictures, will be big with film buffs, Disneyphiles and fans of wholesome movie musicals. It's also an ideal candidate for cable television. Many certainly will identify with the problems of a dysfunctional family and find the songs familiar, but boxoffice prospects are modest.
It's ironic that the duo that made beautiful music together and, for better or worse, introduced "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious" into the lexicon has been estranged for years, a state of affairs largely hidden from the public. The temperaments of these brothers, sons of the successful composer Al Sherman, couldn't be more different: Dick is affable with a sunny disposition and easy smile; older brother Bob is reflective, a brooding romantic, emotionally wounded by his experiences in World War II.
But the friction that drove them apart fueled their creativity. It was a case of can't stand him/can't have a career without him. But what a career. Starting out as starving artists, they wound up under long-term contract at Disney.
Produced and directed by the songwriters' sons, Gregory V. Sherman and Jeffrey C. Sherman, as both a tribute to their fathers and a vehicle for possible detente, the film skirts the edges of psychological inquiry but doesn't probe too deeply. The origin of the estrangement is hinted at but remains a mystery.
The families, who grew up without knowing each other, are in the dark, and neither elder Sherman sheds much light on the subject. Although the rift is a source of pain and bafflement for both of them, their lack of insight is a product of a generation allergic to insight and their partnership a testament to the unknowable nature of creative chemistry.
Screened: San Francisco International Film Festival (Walt Disney Pictures)
Production: Crescendo Prods., Traveling Light Partners
Directors: Gregory V. Sherman, Jeffrey C. Sherman
Executive producers: Stephen Buchsbaum, David Permut, Ben Stiller, Stuart Cornfeld
Producers: Gregory V. Sherman, Jeffrey C. Sherman
Director of photography: Richard Numeroff
Music: Richard Sherman, Robert Sherman
Editor: Richard Evirs
Rated PG, 101 minutes


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In 1961, Freedom Riders fighting for civil rights were greeted at their destinations by angry, violent mobs. This year, as they stepped off the bus, they were greeted with music and thunderous applause.
Forty college students joined them on this year's ride from May 6 to Monday, retracing the route of the first Freedom Ride from Washington D.C. and completing the unfinished trek.
The 2011 ride was organized by PBS in conjunction with last night's premiere of a documentary about the Freedom Riders. Both the film and the ride are commemorating the 50th anniversary of the first Freedom Ride and subsequent rides it inspired in 1961.
Forty students, a group of men and women of different races, just as the Freedom Riders were, were chosen from a group of 1,000 applicants, PBS officials said.
Anna Nutter, a junior studying American history at Bowdoin College in Maine, said she applied because "there's a certain kind of learning that you can't accomplish in the classroom." For her, this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to learn about a movement in history that had always "humbled" her, she said.
Nutter said traveling with the Freedom Riders was overwhelming at times.
"It's truly fantastic to talk with them," she said by phone during the trip. "It's very hard to sit next to a person you've read about in history books and strike up a conversation. Sometimes I don't even know how to enter into a conversation with them because I feel like I have not gone through what they've gone through. I'm in awe of them, but as they've talked about their children and their lives, I've realized that they're human."
Charles Person was 18 in 1961, when he joined the first Freedom Ride from Washington. He was the youngest person on the bus and one of the most brutally beaten during the riot in Alabama. But he said the students who rode with them this month also deserve the titles of Freedom Riders.
"I've been impressed with their intellect and enthusiasm," Person said. "They have the type of passion that is necessary to take on a trip like this. They're interested in immigration policy, LGBT rights, gender equality, the sour mood of the country, the repression of teachers and labor unions in some states -- the type of issues you would think young people would not be interested in." Person said the bus stopped at a church at one point, and the choir sang songs popular during the civil rights movement.
"The way the young people responded to that song -- at that point, they had earned the rights to be student Freedom Riders because it was the same kind of passion we had as Freedom Riders."
New Orleans native Jerome Smith was supposed to be on the first bus ride, but was jailed for protesting in New Orleans before the bus left. But he was among a group who decided to continue the rides that had ended in Alabama.
However, the buses they took from Montgomery stopped in Jackson, Miss., and Smith and the others were arrested for sitting in the waiting room reserved for whites. When a court injunction barred any new Freedom Rides through Alabama, civil rights groups decided to fill Mississippi's jails.
Smith was deeply involved in the New Orleans chapter of the Congress of Racial Equality, and about 40 percent of the 436 Freedom Riders were trained in nonviolence teachings in New Orleans.
In a last-minute schedule change, the bus retracing the Freedom Rides this month stopped Monday in front of the New Zion Baptist Church in Central City, which was a central place in the New Orleans civil rights movement. Smith spoke of New Orleans' prominent place in the civil rights movement, and brought up criticisms that New Orleans had not been represented enough in PBS's documentary.
"We didn't fear nothing," Smith said of the city's civil rights activists. "The only thing we feared is that we could not do enough."
The bus later pulled into the Ashe Cultural Arts Center, where a crowd filled a block of Oretha C. Haley Boulevard. Martin Behrman Charter School's marching band played several songs for the riders as they got off the bus, and Mayor Mitch Landrieu made an appearance later during the event to praise the civil rights activists and encourage the students.
Civil rights "only looks different now," said Carol Bebelle, co-founder and executive director of the Ashe Cultural Center. "They protested in diners and buses, and today we have to worry about good education and keeping people out of jail and making sure people have opportunities."
Katie Urbaszewski can be reached at firstname.lastname@example.com 504.826.3300.


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Hidden Value : Kirloskar oil engines
October 29, 2006
Analysis date: Aug 2006
Kirloskar oil engines, a company from the kirloskar group has two main business segments
Engines: This business segment accounts for almost 80 % of the revenue and is the main business segment. This business caters to the farm sector, power sector, industrial machinery, Construction and material handling equipment. In addition the company has contracts/ relationships with OEM manufacturers, the armed forces and has its own service dealers and service personnels. The company has products in a wide HP ranges and has technical collaborations too. The highest volume comes from the small engines segment followed by the medium engines.
Autocomponents: This business segment accounts for the balance 20% and had an above industry growth due to capacity constraints. In addition the company has OEM relationships with some prominent companies such as maruti, sundaram clayton etc. The main products are valves and bearings
Other business: Some other minor businesses such as manufacturing grey iron castings, trading, power generation and sales (which is under review due to dropping sales)
The Company has benefitted from the recent improvement in the capital goods sector and upturn in the power sector. The period from 1996 to 2001 such low growth (20% in almost 6-7 years). Due to the improvement in the business climate the topline and margins have improved dramatically in the recent past. The company is seeing good volume growth in its core business and has also delivered good performance in the export sector which crossed 100 Crs this year.
Due to the nature of the industry (capital goods) with limited and large buyers, and due to cyclical nature the topline and margins are also cyclical. The NPM has fluctuated between as low as 2-3 % to 15 % in the recent past. I would put the average NPM at 6-7 % over a complete business cycle.
The company has become fairly efficient with the Fixed asset turnover ratios expanding from 4-5 to 7-8 in the recent past. Wcap ratios have gone through a dramatic improvement and is now almost 14. This freeing up of the capital has raised the ROE from 8-10 % to almost 30% +. In addition on a total capital base of 795 Cr, almost 500 Crs is investments.
This 500 Crs of investment at market value is almost 1000cr which translates into almost 95 Rs/ share (net of debt)
Valuation: The last year Netprofit is almost Rs 10 / share (net of exceptional items). With almost 95 Rs / share of investment, I would value the stock at approximately 350 Rs / share (max). There are various assumptions behind this valuation, namely
1. Rs 18/ share for current year's earnings are during a cyclical high. The average earnings are more like 14-16.
2. Rs 95/ share of investments is not really realisable as a major part of this investment is in other group/ JV's, which are unlikely to be sold off soon.
3. The company has some competitive advantage such as customer relationships, some economies of scale etc. But in the end it is in a cyclical industry with moderate to weak pricing strength and hence I would not accord the core business a PE multiple of more than 16-18.


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• Ex: problem of producers and consumers, where a process writes to a shared buffer and anotherprocess reads from it.
In a distributed system there is no shared memoryand thus the whole nature of communicationbetween processes must be rethought. Processes to communicate, they must adhere to rules known as protocols. For distributed systems over a wide area, these protocols often take the form of several layers and each layer has its own goals and rules. Messages are exchanged in various ways, thereare many design options in this regard, an important option is the "remote procedure call." It is also important to consider the possibilities of communication between groups of processes, not only between two processes. In distributed systems, the absence of physical connection between the different memories of the teams, communication is performed by message transfer.
The standard ISO OSI
To send messages using the standard ISO OSI (Open Systems Interconnection), a layered model for communication of open systems. The layers provide multiple interfaces with different levels of detail, the last being the most general. The OSI standard defines the following seven layers: physical, data link, network, transport, session, presentation and application. The OSI model distinguishes two types of protocols, connection oriented and connectionless protocols. In the first, before any data transmission requires a virtual connection, which must end after sending. Connectionless protocols do not require this step, and messages are sent as datagrams.
The client-server model of communication based on a simplification of the OSI model. The seven layers that provides produce a waste of the transfer speed of the network, which will be used only three layers: physical, data link and request / reply. Transfers are based on the protocol request / response and eliminates the need for connection.
Group communication
We can also categorize groups of processestaking into account the role played by the membersthat compose them: peer groups and hierarchical groups. If in a group there is nodistinction between the processes that formed anddecisions are taken collectively, is said to be apeer group. However, if relations are establishedhierarchy in a group, where some processes have a greater say than others, we speak of hierarchical groups. Each of these organizations group has its advantages and disadvantages. In hierarchical groups, if they fail the processes that make decisions, can produce a mismatch of the other members for as long as this situation remains. Inthe peer group does not produce this effect, if it fails one of its members can continue working (witha smaller group).