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(A warning this is a very long piece, but to properly review the literature takes time and space.)
The issue of drinking in pregnancy is one that is rife with emotions – rightfully so. We have ample evidence that heavy drinking drastically increases the risk of a child having Fetal Alcohol Syndrome or Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder. But what about lighter drinking? Specifically, what about the women who choose to have the occasional drink during pregnancy? Although complete abstinence is the recommendation, is anything more a known risk?
I am not going to say that people should be drinking at all – you certainly shouldn't be drinking a lot or binge drinking – but questions remain around light drinking as a choice so I do want to review the evidence here so people understand what choice they are making. Now, there is a ton of literature on the topic, so to keep things under a hundred pages, I will focus on addressing all of the research articles the National Organization on Fetal Alcohol Syndrome have listed as supporting their "no light drinking" stance as well as the higher quality categories of studies (i.e., longitudinal, genetic, and meta-analyses). At the end, I will discuss some of the methodological problems that come with this research so that the results can all be taken with this information in mind.
The NOFAS Studies
NOFAS lists five studies as supportive of their view regarding 'no light drinking is safe in pregnancy'. Below is a breakdown of the findings for each one and whether or not they support the "no drinking" stance being taken. (I have labeled each study in the same manner as NOFAS so that people can better map what they have said and what I am saying.)
The University of Queensland, 2013[1]
Listed conclusion: "Women who regularly drink as little as two glasses of wine per drinking session while pregnant can adversely impact their child's results at school."
What the authors examined was how "light to moderate" drinking was associated with child school performance at age 11. Drinking was categorized as never, <1 glass a week, 1-6 glasses a week, and 1+ glass per day. They also categorized "binge" drinking as asking about how many times the person (they asked moms and dads) had consumed more than 2 pints of beer, 4 glasses of wine, or 4 pub measures of spirits in a single sitting during the first 3 months of pregnancy, with answers including never, 1-2 days, 3-4 days, 5-10 days, and 10+ days. Academic outcomes were national curriculum tests. In addition, some variables were considered for confounders (e.g., SES, marital status) but mental health was absent.
The researchers found no effect on cognitive performance of maternal alcohol use up to 1 drink per day (there was a linear increase in performance linked to paternal alcohol use, but that's a topic for another day). In fact, when the confounders were controlled for, more alcohol use was associated with greater performance at age 11 until 1+ drinks per day. The immediate effect was for "binge" drinking (4 or more glasses of wine in a single sitting) with an immediate difference between the never and 1-4 days, even when the confounds are controlled for. Notably, postnatal binge drinking was not associated with any changes in child cognitive performance.
Conclusion? The results do not support the idea that light drinking is linked to lower cognitive performance.
Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, 2012[2].
Listed conclusion: "Reduced birth length and weight, microcephaly, smooth philtrum, and thin vermillion border are associated with specific gestational timing of prenatal alcohol exposure and are dose-related without evidence of a threshold. Women should continue to be advised to abstain from alcohol consumption from conception throughout pregnancy."
In this study, the authors examined a large cohort of women who self-referred to a counseling program in California between 1978 and 2005. Data on alcohol consumption was assessed during the pregnancy and the outcome variables of interest were physical deformations associated with FAS, which were assessed by a dysmorphologist who was blind to the women's exposure.
The researchers assessed various confounds like smoking and exposure to other medications and drugs, maternal education, etc., yet none of them were included in the final analyses due to a very odd statistical decision. The researchers decided to only include a variable as a confound if it altered the effect of alcohol by more than 15%. I have never heard of such a decision and, in fact, confounds are supposed to be included en masse and based on both theoretical and statistical significance. There are many valid reasons for why they need to be included and included in a certain manner that go beyond what I have time to explain here. Suffice it to say that this is a problem and a bit of a big one.
Ignoring this problem, what did they find? Well, they did find increased risk of certain physical features starting at 1 drink per day (7 drinks per week) and only for drinking in the second half of the first trimester. There is no other information for risk less than this amount given the way they ran their analyses. Thus, their statement that there is no evidence of a threshold is slightly disingenuous given they cannot assess the lower levels of alcohol consumption. Also, 7 drinks per week, as you will see, would actually place someone in a "heavy" drinking group based on some of the more recent prospective studies being done. This will be further discussed in the section on defining light drinking.
Conclusion? The data as is does not support the idea that light drinking is associated with an increased risk of physical malformations, but nor does it reject the idea.
International Journal of Epidemiology, 2012[3].
Listed conclusion: "Even low amounts of alcohol consumption during early pregnancy increased the risk of spontaneous abortion substantially."
In reality, this study is such a mess, I don't quite know what to say about it, but will do my best (and luckily the researchers themselves acknowledge some of the problems here). This was a large-scale Danish study examining pregnancy loss associated with alcohol exposure and included a huge cohort of women. Prenatal alcohol exposure was assessed as women were referred to the study, so some reported prospectively and some retrospectively. Notably, the restrospective assessment was from women who miscarried and then were referred. Many confounds were considered and included and fetal death was examined in various time brackets (i.e., up to 12 weeks, 13-16 weeks, 17-21 weeks, and 22+ weeks).
When looking at the cohort as a whole, there were significant relationships between drinking and pregnancy loss starting with 2-3.5 drinks per week (which would definitely be classified as "light" by nearly all studies). This only holds for miscarriage up to 16 weeks, after which alcohol has zero effect (even with higher levels of drinking). The mess and problems come when the researchers analyzed the data only for those women who were referred early and before any pregnancy loss (i.e., the true prospective cohort). With just these women, there was a statistically significant risk associated with .5 drinks per week up to 3.5 drinks per week of miscarriage in the first trimester (but not after), and no risk at all for any time period of 4 or more drinks per week. So heavier drinking did not increase the risk, but lighter drinking did. See what I mean by messy?
Now why exclude those who entered after a miscarriage? Because, as discussed in this paper, other researchers have found that while alcohol is often underreported prospectively, it is often overreported after a pregnancy loss. This means the inclusion of these individuals would bias results towards significance when in fact, they may be closer to the null. And of course, the findings that there was no relationship at the highest level of drinking for those who reported prospectively raises huge questions about what exactly is being assessed here. (Even more confusing, though not statistically significant, the odds-ratio estimate for fetal loss after the first trimester puts drinking as a protective factor, which makes no sense.) The researchers also acknowledge that they don't know the potential mechanism for their findings given that a large prospective study of 32,000 pregnancies involving risk of physical malformations in relation to moderate alcohol consumption (which was classified as less than 6 drinks a day) found no effect of alcohol[4].
Conclusion? Even the researchers admit this study has uncertainties to it, so it is not conclusive of anything really.
Alcohol Research and Health, 2011[5].
Listed Conclusion: "This study found that drinking at low to moderate levels during pregnancy is associated with miscarriage, stillbirth, preterm delivery, and sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS)."
First off, this isn't a "study", it's a review of the research. Second, it didn't really find these things. The review was a lit review looking at these outcomes listed above, but also included an excellent section on methodological limitations in the research. I would highly recommend reading this for an understanding of how hard this research can be. But the question is what they found in their review, limitations notwithstanding.
Miscarriage? They concluded that moderate to heavy use is definitely linked to miscarriage. For light drinking, they report, "a review (Henderson et al., 2007) examining the impact of light to moderate prenatal alcohol exposure concluded that there is no consistent evidence for an increased risk of spontaneous abortion at these lower levels of exposure. The studies described above also seem to support that conclusion." (p.88)
Stillbirth? Relationships were found for women drinking 14 or more drinks per week, more than 5 drinks per week, and ever drinking. However, as noted in this review regarding the finding that ever drinking increased the risk: "Data were further analyzed to examine the amount of alcohol consumption, and the increased risk was almost completely attributed to those who consumed five or more drinks per week." (p.88)
Preterm delivery? The two studies that didn't suck (which is basically how the authors put it – they were very unimpressed with the data in this category) found no effects of light to moderate drinking on preterm delivery. One study found effects with 10 or more drinks per week, the other only found it for "binge drinking at any point in pregnancy and heavy drinking during the first trimester" (p.89) Two other studies were discussed, but one didn't measure level of alcohol consumption and the other only looks at days of drinking, not amount drank on a given day.
SIDS? The authors report that there isn't great data on this, with only small-scale studies on the matter that don't include all confounds. However, what we do have is mixed with some studies finding any alcohol early in pregnancy increases the risk, and some finding only binge drinking affects risk (which may or may not be due to assessment of drinking). Interestingly, one study found decreases in infant alertness and increases in infant irritability along with lower sleep-related movements in women with the highest reported alcohol use, suggesting a possible mechanism for higher-levels of alcohol intake.
Conclusion? Higher levels of alcohol use are related to all of these outcomes. Light drinking, not so much, though there remains the possibility of a link for SIDS if large-scale research finds anything to support the smaller scale studies.
Alcohol, Health, and Research World 1997[6].
Listed conclusion: "Even a small amount of alcohol may affect child development."
The link from NOFAS doesn't work so I searched all articles from 1997 and one seems to be the one and that is what I will discuss here. Again, this isn't a study but a brief review of the literature and is focused predominantly on FAS and not the broader spectrum of disorders. This review highlights some important facts, such as how difficult it is to assess FAS and FASDs given the nature of development. Cognitive deficits often do not show until later, at a time when the facial features associated with FAS are reduced due to normal changes in facial features (such as length and width). As such, a lot of what is defined is done by using guesswork and assuming the same associations known to exist for more severe cases of FAS. (I highlight this because it's very interesting given that the neurocognitive and behavioural deficits are similar to those associated with a variety of other disorders and delays. Similarly, FAS and FASDs often co-occur with other developmental delays and disorders. There are many possibilities for this, including that alcohol is the underlying factor in many of these outcomes or that the other disorders and delays are responsible for the deficits attributed to prenatal alcohol exposure when FAS is not conclusively assigned.)
In terms of their review of dosage and effect, they state that it varies by outcome, with the effects on the central nervous system occurring at a threshold level (i.e., there is a safe amount of alcohol that one can drink before seeing any effects), but that the effects on postnatal growth are linear (i.e., there is a dose-response with even minimal drinking resulting in an effect). In the research on this linear relationship[7], however, the researchers determined linearity by only looking at the jump from 0 drinks per day to 1 drink per day (i.e., 7 drinks per week). They cannot ascertain if there is a threshold effect less than this amount.
Notably, the authors suggest that the research demonstrates that these growth deficits disappear in more advantaged groups. Thus, there seems to be a prenatal alcohol exposure by SES interaction with more disadvantaged groups suffering the growth deficit at lower levels of alcohol exposure, but not more advantaged groups (e.g., [8]). This again highlights the potential for other environmental factors to influence outcomes and interact with prenatal alcohol exposure.
Conclusion? The data doesn't say much of anything about "light" drinking, but supports the idea that there are difficulties associated with moderate-heavy drinking. It also highlights factors in assessment, which is important.
Other Studies
Longitudinal Prospective Studies
There are two large-scale, longitudinal, prospective studies underway looking at the effects of alcohol use and later cognitive and behavioural outcomes. I will discuss briefly how these studies have been conducted and what their findings are before turning to their flaws.
The first of these studies is out of the UK and uses the UK Millenium Cohort to determine the effects of light, moderate, or heavy drinking on postnatal outcomes. Contrary to much of the aforementioned research which considered "light" drinking to be 1 drink per day, the definitions here were as follows: Light drinking was 1-2 units per week and occasion (i.e., if you drank 3 units once per week, you would not qualify), moderate drinking was 3-6 units per week or 3-5 units per occasion, and heavy drinking was 7 or more units per week or 6 or more units per occasion. As you can see, the "light" category is significantly less than most other studies. Of course, there was also an abstaining group. In addition to assessing alcohol use and child outcomes, the researchers also controlled for various confounds including infant, socio-economic, and family psychosocial factors (including mother's mental health, SES, etc.). As of this time, the study has followed children to 7 years of age and found no emotional, behavioural, or cognitive deficits associated with light drinking at any of the time points assessed[9][10][11]. In fact, in the research to date, there has been a J-shaped curve with the light drinkers having children who outperformed the abstainers, even after controlling for the potential confounds (but we'll talk more about this in a moment). Further, there were no effects when the pregnancy was planned or not, suggesting that the timing of light alcohol use was not an issue.
The second large-scale, prospective study comes from Australia and followed children up to age 14, an important step as much of the research on FASDs suggests that deficits may not become apparent until adolescence. In this study, the drinking groups were as follows: abstainers, occasional drinking (up to one standard drink per week), light drinking (2-6 units per week), moderate drinking (7-10 units per week), and heavy drinking (11 or more units per week). Child outcomes were assessed at birth and then ages 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 10, and 14 on a variety of child behaviours, both externalizing and internalizing. In addition, various maternal sociodemographic information (e.g., maternal education, family income, etc.), maternal smoking, and family functioning were included as covariates. Across all time points, there was no evidence of any internalizing or externalizing problems associated with alcohol use in the first trimester (there was an odd finding of greater externalizing with only occasional drinking later in pregnancy, but given the lack of an effect for heavy drinking, it is likely an issue of type 2 error). In fact, after controlling for the various confounds, the children in the light drinking category showed fewer behavioural problems across development.
The major issue that arises in these studies is really not just one issue, but a chaotic mix of statistical problems. Namely, the light drinking group is consistently more advantaged than the abstaining groups and has different drinking patterns. So abstaining and heavy drinking are more associated with lower SES, intelligence, nutritional status, and so on whereas light drinking is associated with higher levels of these variables. Now, some have referred to the inability to control for this as simply reflecting "residual confounding". This means that although researchers do regularly control for some of these factors (and these longitudinal studies have, as I'll discuss below), they can't fully control for everything and variables like nutritional status (which go along with SES) often aren't included. What we really have is not only residual confounding, but also disparate subgroups, which means that the relationships between drinking and various outcomes are different for these different groups; in this case, we would expect different relationships by SES, which seems to be what we find.
However, this then implies that the relationship between drinking and various outcomes isn't the same across these groups. If it's biological, wouldn't we expect the same? Yes, but also no. And this brings us to statistical issue number 3 (after residual confounding and disparate subgroups): Third variables. It is highly likely that the relationship between drinking and outcomes is moderated (or possibly even mediated) by other variables, such as nutritional status, genetics, or something else. So we have a mix of almost all the major statistical elements that influence relationships and these can all affect the relationship in almost any way so we can't say that the research is inherently conservative or liberal in the findings. Now, the longitudinal studies have controlled for many of these confounds, but that's not enough.
The UK Millenium Study did attempt the best they could do in the analysis at age 7[11] by using a quasi-experimental design which matched individuals on a range of SES factors between the two groups and made comparisons between these groups. This means that we are looking at the difference in outcomes when people are similar on the confounds instead of just statistically controlling for it, and again, some of the same benefits were found, but many did disappear (though no deficits became apparent). BUT this also is imperfect as it can't look at the potential interactions or third variables and still may not fully control for the confounding effects, particularly of genetics, and this was beyond the scope of these longitudinal studies.
Genetic Studies
One of the major findings of recent years is a set of alleles that are associated with the absorption and use of alcohol. As such, some studies have started looking at drinking outcomes based on the presence or absence of these alleles. One of the first such study was also the first to show a detriment on IQ at age 8 of light drinking (defined as 1-6 units of alcohol per week) based on the presence of these particular alleles[12], with a greater detriment based on the presence of more alleles known to influence the ability to metabolize alcohol. Basically, the researchers examined the impact of these alleles on IQ for both abstainers and mothers who reported drinking lightly separately and found a negative effect of alleles for the light drinkers, but not for the abstainers. This is suggestive but not conclusive.
Needless to say, further research including genetics has been done using what is called a "Mendelian randomization approach". This is a method used when there are so many confounds that groups cannot be adequately compared and so a third genotypic variable hypothesized to be related to the variable of interest (e.g., the genotype is related to alcohol consumption), but not related to the various confounds (e.g., the genotype is not related to SES or other potential confounds), is used as the measure instead. In the work on prenatal alcohol exposure, a specific genotype (ADH1B) is often used because it is associated with alcohol metabolism, is randomized during meiosis, and is unrelated to the various lifestyle factors that are confounds in much of the research. Using this method, one study examined late prenatal alcohol exposure in predicting asthmas and hay fever and found, contrary to the association based on drinking status, there was no relationship when examined using Mendelian randomization[13].
Another study[14] looked at cognitive development using the Mendelian approach and examined data for those who were moderate drinkers (<7 units of alcohol/week) independent of the group. Two outcome variables included a standardized IQ test and scores on a national academic test. With respect to IQ, there were no effects of light drinking using this approach (i.e., children of women without the rare allele did not fare worse than those who carry it), but there was a difference on the academic test. With the academic test, the children of mothers who carried the rare allele (and thus were more likely to abstain) scored, on average, 1.7 points higher. However, this result actually included the heavy drinkers who had the largest effect size, though the effect might still hold otherwise, but for this study, even the authors concluded, "[T]here was no robust statistical evidence of genotype x alcohol interaction, assuming a linear trend for drinking categories."
At this stage we are left with some suggestion that perhaps there is a genotype x alcohol interaction, but we still don't have the research to say anything conclusively. Everyone would be wise to keep an eye out for the results of future studies, though even these methods are not bulletproof as the randomization does still include individuals with the rare genotype who still drank, just significantly less so than those with the more common genotype. What we do have though is evidence that the benefit to light drinking seen in the longitudinal studies is likely due to other confounding factors and should not be used to justify inherent benefits to light drinking.
There have actually been several meta-analyses or systematic reviews on the issue of light drinking. With respect to pregnancy and birth outcomes, one systematic review[15] considered miscarriage, stillbirth, intrauterine growth restriction, prematurity, birthweight, small for gestational age, and birth defects as outcomes and found no evidence of adverse effects of alcohol use at less than 84 g/week. This is in line with an earlier meta-analysis looking at fetal malformations which found no effect of drinking up to 2 drinks/day[16]. Another more recent meta-analysis and review also found no effect of prenatal alcohol exposure up to 1 drink/day on low birthweight, preterm birth, and small for gestational age[17].
With respect to cognitive and behavioural outcomes, there are two meta-analyses in recent years. One meta-analysis looked at infant mental development[18] and found no effects at ages 6-8 months or 18-26 months, but did find weak effects at 12-13 months (even when adjusted for covariates). Notably, most of the studies were done on low SES families and may reflect interactions with other environmental factors (remember the point above of low-SES families faring worse in the studies examining prenatal alcohol exposure). Another meta-analysis looking at neuropsychological outcomes[19] (i.e., academic performance, attention, behaviour, cognition, language skills, memory, and visual and motor development) found effects for binge and moderate drinking, but no effect of mild prenatal alcohol exposure.
Of course, all of these meta-analyses are only as good as the research inside and the research often suffers the same statistical problems discussed above and the methodological issues below.
Methodological Problems
Defining Light Drinking
One of the biggest problems comes in the definition of "light drinking". As you may have already gleaned from the readings above, many studies include up to 1 unit of alcohol per day as "light" whereas other research considers it to be 2-3 units of alcohol per week. With differing definitions of "light drinking", it becomes difficult to make comparisons or even to know what we're talking about when talking about light drinking.
The second issue is the understanding of a unit of alcohol. In research is it pretty clear cut in that one unit is a specific amount, but individuals taking part in research and who are pregnant may not realize what this amount is. Take the Queensland study, for example, where the conclusion is "2 glasses of wine" yet the measured amount is 4 units, or glasses. Why the discrepancy? Because in the UK, the average wine served in a restaurant is closer to 2 units, or 300ml (1 unit is 150ml of wine). Thus the number of units per glass will depend on where you are, but 4 units is just shy of 1 bottle of wine, so whether this is defined as "heavy" or "moderate" drinking remains up for debate. It certainly isn't "light" drinking, though. However, as research on alcohol use depends upon self-report, when people don't understand how much alcohol is in a unit versus a glass they might be served at a bar, they can often underreport their alcohol use. (Of course, for the purposes herein, underreporting actually serves as a liberal bias which would mean we'd be more likely to see effects of "light" drinking.)
Some research, as discussed above, does seem to suggest that certain genes may influence the likelihood that someone who drinks at all will have a child with a deficit (though even that is mixed). It is also worth noting that according to one research review, only 6% of children of alcoholics will develop FAS. This suggests that there are other factors – likely some heritable – that influence the likelihood of being negatively impacted by prenatal alcohol exposure. Research into these factors is a must as anything that helps identify higher-risk individuals is a good thing.
There are a few confounding variables that should be considered and yet aren't always. In US research, for example, we know that women with higher IQ and education are more likely to drink which may mask the effects of "light" drinking on certain outcomes. Some research does control for this, but not all does. This is particularly important for any outcome that is expected to be related to SES or maternal IQ – such as child cognitive development. This should not, however, matter for physical markers of FAS or FASD and theoretically, it's hard to suggest it should matter for certain behavioural outcomes like hyperactivity.
In addition, certain variables that matter to all non-physical outcomes are often ignored, one notable example is maternal (and paternal) mental health. When included, mental health has found to be far more predictive of behavioural outcomes often attributed to prenatal alcohol exposure yet it may be a third variable situation in which mental health affects both drinking and the child outcomes. Another example is prenatal (and postnatal) nutrition[20]. This difference in nutrition may also explain why there are clear SES and race relationships with FAS with lower rates in the offspring of middle class mothers as opposed to lower class mothers, despite higher drinking rates reported for middle class women.
There are many variables to consider as drinking alcohol (especially larger amounts) rarely occurs in the absence of other risk factors. These factors will be more or less relevant depending on the outcome of interest and may serve as independent risk factors and/or ones that interact with alcohol exposure to increase the risk of negative effects.
Alcohol Timing
When people drink matters a lot, as much as the amount. First trimester drinking is highlighted as the worst time in terms of outcomes, which causes concern amongst women who drank before knowing they were pregnant and is what led to the patronizing CDC recommendations. What we do have, though, does suggest that drinking in the first half of the first trimester is not high-risk and in fact is more "all or none" with enough damage to cause a miscarriage or nothing at all. This makes sense theoretically given that implantation hasn't occurred and thus transfer of nutrients from mother to fetus is all but absent (it occurred earlier). This is one of the problems with animal models as their day 1 of gestation is the equivalent of approximately 4 weeks post-fertilization for humans. Unless we study human alcohol timing, we can't glean a lot of information from animal research.
One of the things that has to occur with research is a plausible mechanism. Researchers are starting to identify the epigenetic changes that take place with exposure to moderate alcohol using animal models which gives us ideas as to how FAS can occur. With FASD, we are missing the "how" for many of the assumed links and this may be where certain third variables, like maternal mental health, come into play, but more research is needed.
I leave it up to everyone to read the findings and make their own decision on the risk of light drinking (and taking the most conservative estimate, it means 1-2 drinks per week), knowing that, yes, the only way to absolutely avoid FASD is to not drink at all. Discussing the research does not mean that anyone is suggesting people should drink and especially does not speak to drinking more than lightly.
But what if you choose to drink?
The evidence does not support the demonization of women who choose to have the occasional drink and luckily associations like NOFAS also don't support any legislation that would charge women for making this choice. The lack of known risks means that we cannot judge a woman for this occasional drink as the research continues to fall in one direction, though clearly isn't wholly complete yet. Education is key and with education, women can make their own decisions. Notably, education doesn't just come in the form of fear-mongering, but in providing the evidence as well as any needed assistance.
When it comes to public policy, I understand that the aim is for the greatest reduction in harm, but I personally don't see the push to demonize light drinking as actually helping on a large-scale compared to other possible interventions. Light drinkers are not at risk so far as we can tell right now (future research notwithstanding), despite research really wanting to find something wrong, and so efforts to reduce their drinking may yield no benefits. Moderate to heavy drinking is, and when we focus efforts on just saying "don't drink" we miss the people most at risk. Why? Because there are almost always underlying reasons for the drinking they do and we are failing dramatically in other areas – such as mental health and nutrition associated with poverty – in our society. I would much rather see a brief intervention of mental health screening at all doctor's visits (regardless of pregnancy) with proper referrals for those who score above a given cut-off than checking in on drinking behaviour (which is likely lied about anyway). This would serve to inherently reduce alcohol use all around, but also may help those children whose behaviours are being driven by mental health problems in the home, regardless of alcohol use (which research does tell us is a far bigger problem than light drinking).
One thing is for sure: We need more research into the risk and protective factors that exist if we are to help as many families as possible.
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NEW YORK (CBS.MW) -- Alltel on Tuesday attempted to ratchet up pressure on CenturyTel to reconsider its buyout offer, but the rural-based phone carrier quickly brushed off its larger rival.
In a letter to CenturyTel's chief executive, Alltel CEO Scott Ford argued that his company's previous $9.2 billion takeover bid, announced Aug. 14, had received support from some of CenturyTel's largest shareholders. Seven of the top 10 also are invested in Alltel AT, +1.20%
Ford also argued that CenturyTel's business strategy is flawed and that the company has not managed its wireless or landline businesses as well as rival carriers.
For those and other reasons, Ford said, it's in the best interest of CenturyTel CTL, +3.19% and its shareholders to link up with Alltel.
Reflecting increasing bitterness surrounding Alltel's unsolicited offer, CenturyTel CEO Glen F. Post dismissed Ford's letter as "clearly misleading," saying: "We have no intention of engaging in your public letter-writing campaign."
On Tuesday, shares of Alltel fell 5 cents to $57.75 and CenturyTel slid 29 cents to $34.89.
Monroe, La.-based CenturyTel is trying to sell its wireless business and focus on accumulating more landline phone service in rural areas. Alltel initially sought the wireless unit and then expanded its offer to include the entire company.
Yet talks broke down in early August, prompting Alltel to go public with its offer. At this point, however, there's not much Alltel can do aside from issuing the occasional plea for talks.
All that's done so far is alienate CenturyTel executives, who've accused Alltel of improperly disclosing sensitive information and using the media to browbeat them into merger discussions.
Still, a wall of anti-takeover provisions protects CenturyTel, and much of its voting stock is concentrated in the hands of employees or longtime shareholders. The company's board, meanwhile, doesn't have to discuss the offer until its next meeting in 2002.
Unless Little Rock, Ark.-based Alltel sharply boosts its initial offer -- about $43 a share -- few analysts expect CenturyTel to reconsider.
"Your letter does nothing more than urge us to reconsider the same proposal that our board unanimously determined, after careful consideration, was not in the best interests of CenturyTel," Post said in his reply to Alltel. "There is no reason to reconsider that decision."

subset: commoncrawl


text:
An Uncompromising Digital Solution
The Challenge
In 2009, Landsec, the UK's largest commercial property company, found themselves with a challenge.
Their customer facing shopping centre websites no longer met the needs of today's digital savvy consumers.
The Solution
Over the past nine years, we've worked alongside Landsec to develop a "White Label" system. One master website which holds all the functionality required for any of the shopping centres in Landsec's portfolio.
That master website is then reskinned to match the branding of the particular centre. Store logos and descriptions are then added to the site through a central content depository, saving hours of administration and content entry.
In-depth scoping sessions with a range of centres across the portfolio were vital in understanding how one platform could cover a range of requirements from flagship centres such as Trinity Leeds and Bluewater to other properties, such as Xscape. We've also looked at how our customers use the website to make sure that we're growing and adapting the digital experience to their needs over time.
The White Label system offers each centre maximum flexibility regarding branding, functionality and user experience. It has grown over the past nine years to be a mobile-centric experience as we follow the device usage of our customers.
The Impact
90% saving on annual website update costs.
Since launch, the White Label system has become the flexible, cost-effective and scalable solution Landsec needed it to be and we continue to work with them to refine White Label to be a more valuable asset to Landsec and their customers.
Good worked with us to create a cost effective, robust and agile digital platform. Our return on investment has exceeded expectations with the White Label concept continuing to give us economies of scale for the creation of new sites and campaigns.Craig O'Donnell, Head of Information Systems, Landsec


text:
Paul Cox is looking to return to winning ways on Saturday as fourth placed Sutton United come to Nethermoor.
In the penultimate home league game of 2017 Sutton provide a strong test after a good start to the campaign.
Our Press Preview has all the news and views ahead of the match.
Powered by Wakelet
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text: I am running K9 Mail on a stock droid and have two email accounts. One from work and a second from Comcast. They have been working great for a month and Friday the Comcast account stopped showing up on my phone. I have rechecked the account settings and they seem to be OK. I have also restarted the phone with no luck. Any thoughts on what to try next? thanks Carl


text:
I'd like you to meet my new best friend, the Hornet.
She's a beauty.
She's bright. She's colorful. She's powerful. She knows how to get the job done. She's a leader. She's fast and smooth. People clear a path for her when they see her coming! I'm learning she can be a bit high maintenance, but, hey, she who lives in a glass house...right?
Ever have a friend who really can calm you when your stressed? The Hornet is that friend for me. When I'm with her, I can really tune out. I begin to feel as smooth as she is. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel and track my progress. She's the kind of gal that helps you feel more satisfied with yourself and your surroundings. To me, she is Wonder Woman.
I love spending time with the Hornet. My life can be in shambles, but within a few minutes with her, I really feel like I've accomplished something. She's almost as good as prozac.
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
My New Friend, The Hornet
Posted by Jenny Nash at 10:01 PM
2 comments:
Care to comment? Be my guest! Just remember, be classy -- not too sassy! (My young fans may be reading!)
Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)


text:
There are many reasons for a dog to limp. No matter what the cause is, limping is typically a reaction to pain. The most common problems we see that cause limping are a soft tissue injury, a bone injury, a tumor, or a damaged ligament.
First, See a Veterinarian in the Area:
If your dog is limping, he or she should be seen by a local veterinarian in Durham or Chapel Hill to determine the cause and treatment, and also to provide pain management.
Some dogs are at higher risk for problems with one or more limbs. The risk factors include obesity, over-nutrition of a large breed dog when a puppy, trauma, and genetics.
What Causes a Limp?
Obesity causes additional stress on joints, just as in people, making dogs who are overweight at higher risk for joint problems including arthritis. Large breed puppies should be fed a puppy food specifically formulated for them. Their skeletal structure matures more slowly than other dogs. If they are fed a puppy food that encourages their bones to grow too fast, they may be prone to problems later in life.
Trauma can also cause limping. A dog that has a leg injury is apt to favor the injured leg. Some injuries can also cause problems later in life. A joint that was injured may be more likely to develop arthritis than other, non-injured joints. Genetics can also play a role in limping. For example, some breeds of dogs are predisposed to hip dysplasia. Combining two or more of these factors will compound the risk.
Dogs that have suffered an injury to a limb may limp. In some cases the limb may not be able to support weight and the pet will hold that limb up. Similar to humans, an injury can range from a muscle pull to a fracture. Diagnosis will provide your Durham or Chapel Hill veterinarian with the information needed to recommend the best treatment.
When limping is caused by disease, it may be neurologic such as stroke, a metabolic disease, cancer, or an infectious disease. Tick borne diseases are examples of diseases that may cause a dog to limp. This is why it is important to provide a good tick preventative to your dog.
Getting a Good Diagnosis for Your Dog:
When a dog is seen by a veterinarian for limping, we have several tools available to aid in diagnosing the cause. Your veterinarian will start with a physical exam, and decide what diagnostic tools will provide the best information. These may include bloodwork, x-rays, ultrasound, or CT or MRI.
The information and diagnoses will be used by your veterinarian to recommend treatment options and provide pain management for your dog. Treatment and pain management may include prescription pain and anti-inflammatory medication, antibiotics, supplements, rest, weight loss, splint or bandage, and physical therapy or rehabilitation.
An early diagnosis of limping can prevent additional injury, making treatment less costly. Remember that limping is a dog's reaction to pain. It is important to start appropriate treatment as soon as possible. If you find your dog limping, please make for an appointment so that your veterinarian can help you decide on the best treatment options.


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With this eco-friendly kit, offer the treat of nature's calming influence and reduce your carbon footprint.
The Terra Green amenity collection awakens the senses with a robust aroma-therapeutic lemongrass scent and natural, deep-cleansing properties. 1 oz. tube products feature Braille-marked caps. Complete amenity kit includes 1 oz. travel size shampoo, conditioner, body wash, body lotion and 1.5 oz. bar soap. Also includes shower cap and loofah. Its packaging is made from recycled materials featuring soy-based ink and all liquids and soaps are biodegradable.


text:
Youth hockey is on the rise in the United States and Maryland is no exception.
According to USA Hockey, 2016-2017 marked the seventh consecutive year of an increase in the number of youth hockey players and the first time the number of youth hockey players in Maryland topped 10,000.
The problem for youth hockey players, unlike those in basketball or lacrosse, is it's difficult to play beyond the youth level while staying rooted to the Old Line state.
"If you want to play college hockey, unfortunately there aren't a lot of choices for kids who live outside of the traditional hotbeds of hockey, New England, Minnesota and Michigan," said Murray Gunty, founder and chief...


text:
Discover what makes a great first impression. Tammy Hwang, Business Development Coordinator (City of Hamilton's Global Hamilton office) and Co-founder (CoMotion Group), will lead us in a workshop on how to perfect your pitch in preparation for job fairs, interviews and networking events.
- Learn how to market your skills and talents to a potential employer.
- Make new contacts and meet young professionals and entrepreneurs from around the city who will help you practice, give you feedback, and make suggestions on how to better present yourself.
The event will be separated into two parts:
- First part: Interactive presentation by Tammy Hwang on how to perfect your elevator pitch and network effectively
- Second part: Practice networking session with young professionals, entrepreneurs and employers
Doors open: 6 p.m. Presentation: 7 p.m. Networking: 7:30 p.m.
Note: CoMotion can seat 100 people in its main event space comfortably for the presentation portion of this event. Seating is first come first served so be sure to arrive early!
FREE admission. Refreshments provided. Share your experience using #GHCPitch.
Venue sponsor:


text:
Courses & Exams
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Sree Vidyanikethan Degree College (SVDC), Tirupati
Tirupati (Andhra Pradesh) Estd : 1996 Approved by : NAAC Type : Private
Sree Vidyanikethan Degree College is situated in Tirupati in Andhra Pradesh state of India. Established in 1996, it is accredited from NAAC Hostel facility is not available for its students. Additional campus facilities such as Canteen, Computer Lab, Library, Cls. Room, Trans., WiFi are also there.
Top Courses & Fees View All
B.Com 1 Courses Available
BSc 1 Courses Available
MSc 5 Courses Available
M.Com 1 Courses Available
- Canteen
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SVDC, Tirupati Placement
Sree Vidyanikethan Degree college provides placement assistance to all its students. The dedicated placement cell regularly conducts grooming sessions of the students in areas like soft skills, interview facing skills, behavioral skills hereby making them industry-fit. In the recent years the college has witnessed some well known recruitment companies walking-in and being invited ...
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text:
December 15 – FIFA president Gianni Infantino has been accused of turning a blind eye to match-fixing when he was UEFA's general secretary during the 2010-11 scandal that rocked Turkish football.
Fenerbahce won the 2011 Turkish Super League on goal difference from Trabzonspor that year but 36 officials and players were later convicted of match-fixing, including the club president, Aziz Yildirim who was handed a six-year jail term though he and other defendants were subsequently acquitted in retrial.
UEFA enforced its own sanctions against Fenerbahce, banning the club from the Champions League for two seasons. But according to The Guardian newspaper, Infantino allowed the Turkish Football Federation to apply lesser sanctions than those in the TFF's own disciplinary regulations, which would have relegated Fenerbahce and seriously affected broadcasting revenue.
According to the newspaper, in January 2012 the TFF general secretary, Ebru Koksal, wrote to Infantino, asking if it was permitted under UEFA's rules for the TFF to "amend" the sanctions in its own disciplinary regulations. The TFF proposed that instead of relegating Fenerbahce, the club would be stripped of the 2011 championship, have 12 points deducted, be fined and withdrawn from European competition.
Infantino replied that it would not break UEFA rules for those lesser penalties to be applied. The Guardian quoted Infantino as telling Koksal: "The task of dealing with this matter is primarily the responsibility of the TFF.
"We can say, on behalf of UEFA, that taking all circumstances into account, your proposal appears to constitute a reasonable, proportionate and appropriate response to address this matter."
The president of the TFF at that time, Mehmet Ali Aydinlar, has stated publicly that agreement was reached with UEFA to prevent Turkish clubs from losing huge amounts of money and was the result of "negotiation".
Erdem Egemen, a lawyer acting for Trabzonspor, told the Guardian: "We are still contesting TFF's decision not to apply its own disciplinary rules and we are asking that Fenerbahce be stripped of the championship, which must be awarded to Trabzonspor."
In a statement, Infantino, who has long been keen to be seen persuing a zero tolerance approach to match-fixing, commented: "At that time, UEFA was at the forefront in eradicating match-fixing with pioneering measures in place
"Close cooperation with police and judicial authorities throughout Europe was initiated and implemented, and finally, strong disciplinary decisions were taken … These are the facts and are clear."
Contact the writer of this story at email@example.com


text:
Have reviewed my last post on the first volume of this storyline I didn't make it obvious that Clive Barker is credited as co-writer. He created the Cenobites in a book called The Hellbound Heart which was then roughly used to make the first Hellraiser film which he directed as well, he didn't write Hellraiser II which introduced the vision of Hell ruled over by the mysterious diamond shaped entity, the "Leviathan" but it appears to have had its blessing considering it's an integral part of these comics. Unfortunately this minseries directly follows a prior out-of-print one, which gave us original series heroine Kirsty Cotton as a High Priestess of Hell along with original "Pinhead" Elliott Spencer. They are now confined to a small globe, acting out memories over and over. The new High Priest of Hell is an ex-private investigator called Harry D'Amour who got his own paranormal team together including Tiffany, the girl Kirsty saved in the second film. Somehow he has ended up the "Pontifex" and has discovered that the Hell he manages is planning to invade the mortal realm. He's already recruited Tiffany to his cause, though one of her team was lost in a tangle with an "Eremite" and now he has his own plans in motion while fending off assassination attempts from the human realm and, as we find out in this collection, from the Other Hells. So lets crack on.
We begin with Rajeev, Tiffany's group's member who died in volume one being resurrected by an Eremite. Lacking in skin, the Eremite orders Rajeev to solve the puzzle box which summons Harry who restores his skin and tells him he has a job for him to do.
|Harry recruits Rajeev.
Harry: "...Or one with a bunch of circles, or whatever. Don't ask me for specifics, we're along way from Sunday School".
We then cut to later on as one of the men in the group is aghast that Harry ordered them to stand down and he'll take care of them. They debate if he can be trusted, if he is the same Harry they knew before he became Hell's pope.
That night the Children of Lost Salvation are having a ceremony. Amongst their numbers is Rajeev. He opens the puzzle box and summons many Cenobites led by the female one. But there is a catch, Tiffany and Co. have drawn the "Glyph of the Solutent" which strips them of invulnerability.
|Lets you and he fight.
Later the leader of the Children reopens the box summoning the Cenobites but this time they are ready for them. They fight and the female Cenobite escapes back through the Hell portal to get reinforcements. Harry is giving a somewhat unethusiastic speech to the gathered hordes when the female Cenobite arrives and tells him, "demons from another Hell have defiled our Lord's halls".
Thankful for the interruption, Harry follows her back to where the Children are. He recognises the leader as "Butterfield". He and Harry crossed paths in the past and Butterfield wants revenge. Harry realises they have "talismans", ie: crosses to protect them from Hell's attacks. But he has one as well, meaning they are at an impasse.
|Harry D'Amour and his trusty firearm.
Tiffany and Co. say they want some answers from Harry, no "bullshit". He says it's a bad time and tries to leave but he is stuck in a summoning circle. "Your timing is awful" he says and we return to the battle between the rest of the Cenobites and the Children. As they fight, Butterfield gazes upon the Leviathan saying "the objective is in sight."
Somewhat under duress, Harry tells them he resurrected Rajeev to bring Cenobites into the world so they could kill demons. Utilising the Cenobites thusly "seemed like a good idea at the time". Irritated that they won't set him free he fires his gun at them though Tiffany pushes his target out of the way and she shoots him in the torso.
Harry: "Everyone gives me shit about the gun. You have no idea how often it comes in handy".
Rajeev appeals to him wanting to know why he made him a monster. Harry says he didn't want to see him undergo an eternity of damnation. Then suddenly something starts forcing the half open portal to Hell open and urgently Harry says they need to set him free, "or we're all dead."
|Harry does some fast talking.
Theo, of the human contingent attacks the Raparee with a knife, but it swats him to one side. Harry tosses him the cross to protect himself with, but then the Raparee's attention is drawn to him. "oh.. shit" he says. The Raparee gets trapped in the binding circle as well. Theo goes to erase it, but Harry just tells him to rub out the glyph. Using petrol and a match, another of Tiffany's group, Norton, burns the Raparee up.
|Defeating the Reparee.
Which we don't hear because the action cuts to the conflict in the Cenobite Hell. They are having to fall back because they can't attack the invaders. The invading demons are moving the bodies of the Cenobite dead around, at first they can't figure out why, then the female Cenobite realises they are marking out a massive Glyph of the Solutent around Leviathan.
Harry confirms to Tiffany's group that the invaders want to assassinate Leviathan. Norton says they have talismans, a demon killing knife and a Cenobite army, lets use them tactically. They assault the leaders of the Children and take them out bar Butterfield who grabs Theo and holds a knife to his throat saying he wants escorting back to the escape portal.
|Butterfield tries to escape.
Butterfield's other arm gets ripped off and Harry says he will kill him after "lots of torture." Tiffany's group make their way back to the mortal world, but Tiffany is deep in thought as the others debate the helping of one Hell against another. The others go through the portal and then Tiffany, using the puzzle box, shuts it with herself still in Hell.
Tiffany: "Kirsty... I'm going to get you out of here."
Butterfield is being tortured by Cenobites who want to know why he was sent to kill Harry. Butterfield doesn't seem too bothered and grins that "I know something you don't." Then Tiffany appears from behind and using the mystic knife, kills Butterfield's tormenters. She asks him where Kirsty he is, he'll say he isn't going to tell her, but he will show her. So she frees him after her threats to torture it out of him has him laughing in her face.
|Tiffany breaks Butterfield out.
As Tiffany and Butterfield make their way through the labyrinth, he transforms into a worm like being saying he'll need a new form for the fight to come. They arrive at the room where all the memory globe prisons are being kept. She peeks inside Kirsty and Elliott's and they are currently enacting a memory of Elliott's.
Tiffany appears to them both and they recognise her. She and Kirsty run from Elliott. Kirsty tells Tiffany that Elliott's powers now come from another Hell. Tiffany tries to keep him at bay with the demon killing knife, but it doesn't work in the mind prison. He then slashes Tiffany's throat with it and Kirsty yells that she is going to kill him. He then puts his hands round Kirsty's throat and says he'll kill her, she says fine go ahead.
And suddenly the three of them are out of the mind prison and back in Cenobite hell. Kirsty says she spent all that time trying to break out, "when all I needed to do was give up". And she hugs Tiffany. Harry arrives on the scene and Tiffany angrily asks why he didn't tell her where he was holding Kirsty all this time.
He says he didn't tell her because he knew he would try and rescue her and "because of what might happen if you succeeded." A huge hole opens in the floor and Elliott collapses in pain. Then he arises, transformed into some hellish new type of demon as Harry says "I did tell you".
|Elliott and Kirsty are free, but at what cost?


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Product Description
I am excited to announce that Fort Henry Custom Knives is now an Authorized Dealer for Steel Flame ~ look for more Steel Flame products on my website very soon!
Fort Henry Custom Knives is proud to be a direct Dealer for Steel Flame Jewelry
~ Direct from the Maker ~
This is in my opinion one of Derrick's most recognizable Signature pieces ~ a hand carved Sterling Silver Large Virtus Dagger ~ the word VIRTUS translates as VIRTUE from Latin.
You may have seen Derrick's pieces on several of the actors of both "The Expendables" movies. Here is a shot of Dolf Lundgren wearing his Virtus Dagger with a Steel Flame Seed Bead Chain.
A substantial size and weight ~ the Dagger is almost 3 1/4″ long. This piece is cast of Solid Sterling Silver with amazing detail.
Both the Sterling Silver Bail and Dagger have an excellent Dark patina with Highlights and a Red synthetic Ruby Center Heart Stone.
The Designer – Derrick Obatake born and raised in East Los Angeles has been designing and making jewelry for over 35 years. At an early age he was taught to be a machinist by his father. He is a Graduate Gemologist from GIA and has had formal training in traditional jewelry arts: Diamond setting, model making, casting, finishing and fabrication. He has extended experience in Die striking, and 3D CAD design.
"I like to blend old school craftsmanship with new age technology to create an out of the box style that is hopefully refreshing and empowering." Derrick Obatake
Every original Steel Flame piece is Signed


text:
Day 52 Action:
Music lifts the soul and inspires millions. In times of extreme hardship music is sometimes the only joy that is left to a person.
Throughout human history it has been a powerful antidote to oppression. Songs written to triumph over the unjust, console the heart, and lead the charge all at once. This music offers solace and hope. It provides rest and time to recharge our core and embolden our spirits once more.
Whatever music gets to the heart of you and your fight fits this bill. This healing salve comes in every variety. Not to put too fine a point on it, but music is magic.
We hope you have uplifting, goto, good-vibe tunes to lift your spirits today, and every day. If not, or you're looking to add to your repitoir, here are some of our favorites we'd like to share. And we hope you share them too.
Do you have a favorite song you'd like to share with us? We'd love to add it to our list.
This Land is Your Land 1976 – Judy Collins, Pete Seeger, Arlo Guthrie and Fred Hellerman with wonderful justice affirming introduction by Studs Terkel.
If I Had a Hammer, Live from Newport – Peter, Paul and Mary
The Times They are a Changin' 1964 – Bob Dylan
A Change is Gonna Come – Sam Cooke
We Shall Overcome – Morehouse College, 2009 Glee Club
Oh, Happy Day – Mahalia Jackson
Oh, Happy Day – Sister Act 2 (We at WKTB have a thing for music in the movies)
There's a Meeting Here Tonight – Joe and Eddie (The Limelighters are also renowned for this song, but this is a great version.)
Know Your Rights – The Clash
This Little Light of Mine – Soweto Gospel Choir, South Africa
From our Happy Heartbeats page:
I Can't Keep Quiet – MILKC and a cappella choir perform at The Women's March on D.C.
I Can't Keep Quiet – MILKC and choir of 1300 people.
We Are The World – U.S.A for Africa Aid
La Marseillaise from Casablanca – If you don't understand why this is here, watch, then be comforted by the knowledge that when the loud, garish, singing, of a goose-stepping anthem feels like it's beginning to drown out your world; the power of The People who believe in Good and True and Just should not be underestimated.
(Extra Special Note: The French characters singing here were actual European refugees who had spent the war persecuted by Nazis… that defiance and pride is not an act.)
Actual WKTB Fortune.
Hope is being able to see light despite all the darkness. – Desmond Tutu.
Music is the unending beacon that bursts through the darkness and pummels it into little tiny pieces you can stomp on and then vacuum away. – WKTB


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Named after William Forsyth, prominent English horticulturist, director of the royal Flowers of Forsythia garden at Kensington.
Olceaceae. GOLDEN BELL. Highly ornamental, free-flowering shrubs, with opposite, simple or ternate leaves and showy yellow flowers borne in great profusion along the slender branches in early spring. One of the showiest early-flowering shrubs, with handsome, clean foliage, remarkably free from in sects or fungi, and remaining unchanged until late in fall. The upright forms are well adapted for the borders of shrubberies and the pendulous form for covering walls, fences, arbors or porches. They grow in almost any kind of garden soil, and are hardy North. Propagated readily by greenwood and hardwood cuttings; also by seeds. The branches of the pendulous form often take root at the tips when touching the ground, and send forth vigorous shoots, like some brambles or the walking-fern. Two species in China, much cultivated in Japan, and one recently discovered in southeastern Europe. Low shrubs, glabrous throughout, with slender, quadrangular branches and opposite, serrate leaves. Flowers 1–3, axillary, pedicelled; calyx and corolla deeply 4-lobed, lobes of the corolla oblong, longer than the campanulate tube; stamens 2, included : fr. a 2-celled, dehiscent capsule, with many winged seeds.
Suspénsa. Shrub, to 8 feet, but the branches often lopping on the ground and taking root. Leaves broad-ovate or oblong-ovate, serrate, 3–4 inches long. Flowers, 1–3, about 1 inch long, golden yellow, tube striped orange yellow within. Calyx about as long as tube: capsule ovate, about 1 inch long. China. Two varieties can be distinguished.
- Sieboldi, Zabel (F. Sieboldi, Dipp.). Low shrub, with very slender. pe dulous or trailing branches. Leaves. mostly simple, broad ovate or ovate.
- Fortunei, Rehder (F. Fórtunei, Lindl.). Of more vigorous growth, with upright or arching branches: leaves. often ternate, ovate or oblong-ovate: corolla with more narrow and twisted segments.
F. suspensa is an excellent shrub for the margins of groups, because it finally rolls over and meets the greensward. It can also be trained over an arbor. Less common than F. viridissima, but better.
Intermèdia, Zabel (F. suspánsa x viridissima). Shrub, with slender, erect or arching branches. Leaves ovate-lanceolate, sometimes 3-lobed or ternate, coarsely serrate, 3–4 inches long. Flowers almost like those of F. suspensa. Often confounded with forms of F. suspensa. In foliage it resembles much the following, which has the leaves narrower, always simple, usually serrate only above the middle, with smaller teeth. It is as hardy as F. suspensa and very floriferous.
Viridissima, Lindl. Shrub, to 10 feet, with green, erect branches. Leaves oblong-lanceolate or lanceolate, always simple and generally serrate only above the middle, very dark green, 3–6 inches long. Flowers about 1 inch long; corolla with rather narrow, twisted lobes of bright, somewhat greenish yellow; calyx about half as long as tube. Less hardy and graceful than the other species.


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The first time I saw Oz the Great and Powerful, I said to Mime, "Oi, this is so much like Alice in Wonderland." She agreed (as she should). Yesterday, I was re-watching it aaaaand my list-making brain decided to calculate the similarities. Which then turned into a post.
1. the main premise
Main character is unhappy with world. They attempt to run away from difficulties (Oz getting punched in the circus and Alice marrying a really ugly guy) and end up in falling/flying into another world. This world has singing flowers and strange creatures. Most are insane (all the witches from Oz and the Mad Hatter & co from Wonderland).
Similar, is it not?
2. the scenery
This is Oz…
And this is Wonderland….
3. this song
They're also composed by the SAME guy: Danny Elfman. (For the record, he's a marvellous composer. I love all his soundtracks! Particularly the Fireside Dance that I posted above.)
4. this dress
They're not the same, exactly, but come on! They're even STANDING the same way.
5. a character offers food that shouldn't be eaten
In Oz the Great and Powerful, Evanora turns her sister Theodora (yeah, blame the parents for rhyming their children's names) into a Green Thing (not Hulk, though) with one bite from a green apple.
In Alice in Wonderland, Alice puts multiple things in her mouth that she shouldn't. It causes her to change size. (This is a great warning against eating food you find lying around.)
6. freakish creatures
In Oz the Great and Powerful (I'm getting exhausted typing that out. I'll call it OGP, okay?), they have flying baboons.
In Alice in Wonderland (acronyms we looove them…so AiW now, okay?), we have a Jubjub bird, which does basically the same thing as above. It just has a beak.
7. this dress too
The china doll in OGP:
Aaaand, Alice, in her signature blue:
8. oz and the mad hatter wear the same (sort of) hat
Oz himself wears a smart black top hat:
While, the Mad Hatter's hat is…insane. It's still a top hat, okay?
9. animal sidekick wears a blue coat
Look at the monkey from OGP:
Now look at the dear White Rabbit from AiW:
Is that not a similiar/the-same COAT?!
10. the cover art is. the. same.
With the feel of let's-throw-everything-on-here, Oz the Great and Powerful has cover at that looks like this:
….while, Alice in Wonderland looks respectively like so:
At least the font is different, I guess.
my conclusion?
Someone doesn't have enough IMAGINATION!
Okay, okay! I joke…but not really. I am a die-hard Alice in Wonderland fan. Everything from the costumes, to the characters, I utterly adore.
While I laughed during Oz the Great and Powerful, I was disappointed with the awkward dialogue and cliche lines ("let's get out of here!"). I also though Oz was a pathetic jerk, which was the point, I guess. But it bugged me.
If I had to pick, it'd be Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland. No competition. I, for one, am just very surprised at how similiar these movies are. And how the movie-making-people manage to get away with it.
Instead of packing, Cait has been watching movies. It happens, okay? But she is proud to announce that she has one book for each of the days she'll be away. This makes her feel happy and safe. She may make a poll when she gets back, to see which ones you'd like to read reviews of. She also just received a package from HarperCollins Australia with All The Truth That's In Me by Julie Berry for review. This made her day.


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Wednesday, 3 February 2016
UPDATE: Bristow Helicopter Enroute Port Harcourt To Lagos Crashed
The good news is the fact that the 11 passengers/crew on board were reportedly rescued alive.
The Accident Investigative Bureau (AIB) said there were nine passengers and two crew members on
board the aircraft with registration number: N5BQJ. However, Michael Akindele, LASEMA's general manager, said no life was lost in the incident. "The helicopter ditched inside the ocean, however all the 11 persons on board are alive," he said. "Agip, Mobil and Shell oil companies provided speed boats, while Bristow Helicopter also provided landing boat for the evacuation of the survivors.
"Their survival is in adherence to the use of life jacket and the recently conducted emergency preparedness simulation of air crash by NEMA, LASEMA and other stakeholders. "Further investigation on the crash will be looked into by the relevant authorities."
Posted by Paul Olarewaju at 14:08:00
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Shenzhen Xinli Intelligent Robot Co.,Ltd
Contact: Cindy Zeng
Moblie: +8618025330919
Fax: +86-755-23402323
Add: F4/A, Building 5, HanHaiDa High Tech Industrial Park, TianLiao, Gongming Town, GuangMing New District, Shenzhen, China
Email: email@example.com
Self-Balanced Vehicle, Scooter, Electric Scooter manufacturer / supplier in China, offering Hot Mini Maximum 18km Self Balancing Electric Scooter, 12V Power Adapter with UL FCC Ce GS SAA, 36V 2A Lead-Acid Battery Charger with Fan Inside and so on. ESWING three wheel electric skateboard
Model NO.:ES1353
Running Distance:16km
Brake:Front V-brake / Rear Drum Brake
Max Speed:20km/H
Battery Type:Lithium Battery
Frame Material:Aluminum
Voltage of Battery:67.2V
Maximum Loading Capacity:75-120kg
Wheel Hub:Alloy Hubs
Wheel Size:26"
Charging Time:Less Than 1 Hour
Battery Cell:18650*12
Origin:Shen Zhen
Conditon: 100% Brand New
Color: As Picture Showed
Feature: High class quality and very durable, Good Working Condition and Easy to Install.
Power: 201-500W
Voltage: 60V
Distancetravelled: 20-25km
Motor Size: 14 inches
Max. Speed: 16km/h
Load Capacity: 120kg
Max Gradient: 15 degress
Size: 165 *380*450 mm
Net Weight: 10kg
Motor Power: 350W
Inner Material: Aluminium alloy
Outer Material: ABS
Packing Included:
1 pc in a carton, it included a Self-Balanced Vehicle, a charger, a pair of training wheel, a safe belt and installation tool.
Our Advantage:
We have been in this line for over 10 years, our product has the following characteristics:
1. Reasonable price
2. High quality
3. Long service life
4. Low noise, steady performance
5. Complete range of specifications
Moreover, we have very rich experience and can provide good service for you.
Website: www.eswing.net
Mail: email@example.com


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- ccacmarketingAsked on January 04, 2017 at 06:44 PM
why did it happen and how can we prevent this in the future? We were just removed from the bounce list by jotform with from our previous ticket today.Page URL:
- JotForm SupportChriistianAnswered on January 05, 2017 at 12:10 AM
There are several different reasons why an email address may get added to the bounce list. It can be due to the recipient's inbox being full, the email address is inactive, or if your email server is unavailable. It can also be due to the email server rejecting the email due to suspected spam.
In case an email address gets added to the bounce list, you can check it on your end by following this guide: How to Remove Your Email Address from Bounce List. To prevent further bouncing issues, please see our guide here: How to Prevent Email Bouncing Related Issues.
Please let us know if you need further assistance.


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Today began with a walk to the shop for myself and my three youngest .
A walk to the shop may just look like a walk to the shop,a hurried chore a normal everyday thing.
Not for us!
For my eight year old It was a lesson in maths and nature study as well as .
He took it upon himself to carry the basket and add up a running total as we got our shopping.
He and his sister ran from flower to flower as they lead me around the block on our way home. They now know what a crocus looks like and Evie still insists upon calling Daffodils Laffodils.
I spent some time helping to assemble some holy week calanders with Charlie,Eva and Summer.
I had intended to keep them for holy week but this way we get to admire them for longer.
So you see...that was art and religious studies lessons
Summer and Jasmine had a walk down to the post office and charity shop later in the morning. Summer needed to post a birthday card to a friend in Denmark and she found a doll in the charity shop that she is painting up or reborning to make her look more life like.
And of course thats more art added to the mix.
I helped Gypsie bake some scrummy cheese scones which we all enjoyed with our lunch .
shall we call this a maths or science lesson ,there was weighing and measuring but also the mixing of ingredients ...um...you can decide!
There has been yet more baking this afternoon as summer baked cakes and jam pinwheels.
charlie has played on the computer .
That's ICT lessons...right!
And there has been swinging and bouncing ...That can be todays PE!
Oh yeah ,looks like we have it all covered .


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Odd Job NationPosted: July 5, 2009 by fievel in Labels: Business Ideas, Musing
Came across an article in CNBC today, "Wanted: Fake Employees"...
Interestingly, some filmmaker started a business venture, called 'Odd Job Nation' that makes taking on odd jobs during this recession way cool. They have jobs like...
1) Foosball player
We are in need of a seriously talented fooseball player. Our office has had a reigning champ of foosball for way to long, and as a result, said champ has become overly cocky and boastful of his foosball superiority. He needs to be put in his place and annihilated by a foosball pro. If you think you can beat our champ, you will be rewarded with free beer during/after the match. If you can beat our champ, you will be given a $40 prize!
2) Mermaids for a birthday party
Perhaps fulfilling a long-harbored "Splash!" fantasy, one poster is looking for a couple of women to pose as mermaids and swim around the pool at a birthday party in July. The pay is $150 for three hours, and they will provide the costume if necessary, but there is one teensy caveat: You have to do it topless.
Trust the Americans to come up with anything cool and wacky.


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Darren Clarke hit a final round of 69 to end the tournament in tied 15th place on five under par at the Tshwane Open.
Clarke recorded three birdies and two bogeys in his closing 18 holes.
Michael Hoey carded a 74 to finish joint 59th on two over with a round which included one birdie, three bogeys and a double.
South African George Coetzee fired a 65 to win on 14 under.


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Welcome home Spirit!My family arrived last night with my darling cat in tow - quite literally, as she was transported in a special cat carrier that is designed to be taken on planes and has wheels and a pull handle, just like a suitcase. When we got her home at first she wasn't too happy with me and spent all her time alone in the kitchen or foyer. As the night wore on though, she decided that forgiving me was better than sleeping on the floor and she ended up in bed with me: as I knew she would.
My brother did a great job of taking care of her, especially considering that she beat up his cat every chance she got, but there is one thing that he neglected. Spirit is a long-hair and needs to be thoroughly brushed once a week all summer long. When she arrived home last night she hadn't been brushed in I don't know how long and hair would fly around if you just looked at her. So this morning I have to spend a good half hour grooming her, which she happens to love so it makes good bonding.
It's amazing to have her home again. I've missed her so much. Pictures to come.


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In addition to battle loot, there are random chests of treasures, hidden closets, and other random piles of valuables, hidden in the world. Keep an eye out for tiny icons that look like containers, closets, shelves, and so forth. They often hide valuable and usable items for your party. When in major towns, there is often a vendor of some form with which you can both sell your valuables to and buy better equipment.
The view of the world map on your screen can be moved around to show any part of the current area that you have already explored. This is controlled by movement of the mouse cursor on the screen. I found this to be a bit too sensitive in its willingness to move about. Thus, when I was moving the mouse to click on some part of the control bar at the bottom of the screen, the map would shift downward, or when I moved it to click on a member badge to work with their inventory, the map view would skew off to the left.
Besides the many battles that you will face, there is a story which unfolds as you play Avadon 2. You will need to search out information, discover what certain groups are doing, defeat certain special enemies, and so forth. There are points in the game where you make decisions to let an enemy go or fight them to the death. There are also some plot twists where you might decide to fight someone, only to later discover that you were after the wrong person! Twists like this add a realistic feeling to the game, since, as a member of the elite force, you need to act on the information you gather, which can be wrong or at least incorrectly interpreted. Avadon 2 does a good job as a real RPG game, giving you the ability to make decisions based on how you play your character. Then, based on your decisions, the world responds.
The worse part of playing Avadon 2 for me was the game's graphical interface. As an older member of the game playing crowd, lower level tiny graphics are a real burden. The view of Avadon 2 is overhead. Tiny images represent members of your party, enemies and monsters, and other items in the environment. Members of your party are also represented with badges on the screen that show health, fatigue, and give access to member inventory and skills. On the bottom of the screen is a control bar that provides quick access to the active members skills and inventory, as well as game related controls like saving the current game status, access to the journal, and so forth.
Control of the game is pretty much through use of the mouse. Point at a location on the map, and your party heads in that direction, point to a particular monster and your active party member tries to attack it. Overall, the interface worked pretty well, but takes a little getting used to. I did run into a few issues where I expected something to happen and it didnt, such as opening the character windows. I also found the looting function a bit on the clunky side.
The audio in Avadon 2 was pretty minimal. It consisted mostly of some theme music and environmental effects. Nothing very realistic, but enough to provide some ambience for the game.
Overall, Avadon 2 is a really good game, true to its RPG nature. If you can get past the interface the game is well thought out and nicely implemented. It truly reminds me of the classic RPG games I played back in the 80s. The people at Spiderweb Software did an excellent job of capturing the true essence of a classic RPG game. If you are a fan of the genre, you will enjoy playing Avadon 2: The Corruption.
True to RPG nature Game is fun to play and entertaining
Graphics are low level and somewhat difficult to deal with


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The b Wordclimbing, family Monday, January 28, 2008
You might think that since I live with 3 women I'd be used to that one word that starts with a "b," but I'm not. My 43 years have left me unprepared. I sound like Porky Pig every time I try to say it, which is more frequently now that the girls are teenagers. I try to use the word, but quickly find a substitute when I can't spit it out. The word I'm talking about, of course, is "b-b-b-boyfriend."
Elizabeth started having an interest in a nice young man last spring, and eventually our household started using the "b" word. The word fits – they like to spend time together, talk on the phone, sit closely when we're watching movies. He's polite, smart, talented, sensitive and fosters a relationship with her parents (one of which is me, of course). So my reluctance has nothing to do with the person himself, I just don't like to use the word. Something about it goes against the grain of my protective fatherly instincts.
Since the girls were little, people have told me things like, "You're going to have to beat the boys off with a stick!" They've given me advice on how to intimidate the boys that come home for approval. Joel told me his gun always "needed cleaning" whenever his younger sister brought home a new boyfriend. I don't typically go for such theatrics, though.
Last summer I was looking for rock climbing partners, and my radar was up when Tony started coming around our house. Would it be weird to invite my daughter's
boy "friend" rock climbing, though? When I learned that Tony confessed a fear of heights, my decision was made; I invited him along.
Our first outing broke the ice. We climbed the local limestone icon called "Sugarloaf" which is visible from my front porch. Sugarloaf isn't a huge climbing challenge, but standing on top gives a thrilling perspective of our home town. Tony was sufficiently impressed, and by the end of the outing he was starting to catch rock climbing fever and was anxious to go again every time I had a day off.
Eventually I took him on a climb called The Pedestal at Devil's Lake. I traversed the Pedestal's first pitch and belayed him off a tree. On the tricky crux, Tony's hands greased off the holds and the rope came tight below me. My belay device caught his fall before I even knew he fell. "That was scary," I heard him say from around the corner. Neither of us could see the other, but it was clear that I'd have to lower him off the climb because he had swung onto a blank section of rock. My belay device was jammed tightly though, and it took some time to transfer the load and free up the device.
In my efforts to get him back safely to the ground, he had a good long time to…contemplate life. He was wearing my glacier harness; not so comfortable, to say the least. He hung helplessly off the end of my rope, finally admitting that, "I can't feel my 'boys'!"
I held my reply.
By the time his feet touched the ground, his legs were too numb to stand. How's that for intimidation, Joel? Score one point for me.
In October we enjoyed our last outing of the fall, this time at Taylor's Falls. The hardest climb we attempted all year included a rather intimidating setup above the St. Croix River. There is no access to the base of the climb because the cliff drops directly into the river. I lowered down and started the climb back up, feeling bold from the security of a top belay rather than taking the lead from below. I jumped for a hold, knowing that if I missed I'd be caught in a heartbeat. I did miss. But I wasn't caught. As I waited for the rope to come tight I closed my eyes until I splashed into the river below. My breath caught short and my feet scrambled to find purchase on something near the cliff. It turns out I knocked Tony off his feet with my fall, compromising the belay. Fortunately my fall ended in a splash rather than in a puff of dust Wile E. Coyote style. "Beep-beep," score one point for
the boyfr Pham!
A week ago I thought it'd be fun to climb up Sugarloaf after a fresh batch of snow. We brought crampons and ice tools to make it a real alpine-like adventure. It took much longer than I expected to lead up to the first platform because I had to brush off all the snow and look for adequate holds for my spikes. The belay bolts were buried in snow and hard to find, and by the time I brought Tony up his hands were getting very cold. The temperature was hovering near zero degrees, and the wind was getting pretty stiff as I climbed upward. We decided to end our little outing, so I climbed to the next small ledge where I could set up a rappel off fixed chains. I anchored in and lowered Tony down rather than bringing him up to the next ledge. But I got tangled in the rope as he descended, and I was pulled off my little ledge and became helpless to lower him any further. The setting sun was fire red and the intensified wind instantly froze my face. My fingers turned to wood as I tried to correct my mistake. For a short time we both dangled helplessly at opposite ends of the rope. It was only by working together that we got back safely to the ground. I don't know which us gets intimidation points for that one. Maybe we should stop keeping score.
Tony and I are planning a climbing trip to Colorado next summer. We're both really psyched, and it's been fun to help him shop for gear. We're planning the details together; when to leave, what to eat, what climbs we want to do. We're anxious for the rock climbing season to begin so we can improve our skills. We're united in our passion and we're pursuing a common goal. In short, I guess you can say we're bonding.
It may take some time to get warmed up to the "b" word, but "friend" is coming pretty easily.
3 comments:
January 29, 2008 at 7:14 PM
Tom, Is this one going to the newspaper? It should. I really enjoyed reading this. Anne
Tom Smart
February 2, 2008 at 5:20 PM
Unfortunately I'm out of the newspaper pool, so I guess not. This is something I'd submit if I were still doing it, though.
October 31, 2008 at 10:35 PM
Goodness, Tom, are you the most awesome and wonderful dad or what??? Can you imagine if the father of any girl you admired in high school had spent time with you this way? What an investment in the life of a young man. No matter where his relationship with your daughter goes in the future, you have set an incredible example of fatherhood/manhood for him.


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Lady Lamb
Monday, Mar 6th, 2017
7:00 pm - 10:30 pm
- This event has passed.
A special performance in the Living Room of the house inside Meow Wolf's "House of Eternal Return"
Support from AJ Woods
Lady Lamb (aka Aly Spaltro) will release her "Tender Warriors Club" EP this December 1st via Mom+Pop in conjunction with an upcoming solo, acoustic Living Room Tour.
Written between her original hometown of Maine, current hometown of Brooklyn, Portugal and in a home studio in rural Sweden, where she also recorded the EP, "Tender Warriors Club" is Spaltro's attempt to focus on intimacy and vulnerability, both musically and thematically.
"These songs served as a path for myself that making a conscious effort to stay tender, and be kind and patient towards myself when handling my own fears is the most fruitful way to maneuver them in personal relationships. Tender Warriors Club is not just a collection of songs. It is meant to serve as an emblematic space for people to relate in the shared interest of emotional vulnerability, using music as the collective form of self-expression. It is my hope that this work and concept can be a reminder to both myself and others to find the courage to remain sensitive through emotional challenges. I'd like to bring these themes into intimate spaces musically, without amplification or a traditional stage, as a means to connect through the aforementioned concept that striving to express oneself with tenderness is ultimately a strength."both fear and love: internally and externally, before and after
Born and raised in Albuquerque, New Mexico, AJ Woods has been a part of the underground Southwestern music scene for nearly a decade. In that time, Woods has released two full-length albums on Denver, Colorado's Tinyamp Records (S/T, 2013, The Fence, 2016), as well as EPs, singles and live recordings, which have earned him comparisons to Jason Molina, Bonnie "Prince" Billy, Neil Young and Townes Van Zandt. Still, "Woods'[s] lyrical style, guitar playing and singing are his own—something that can't often be said." (Alibi) He's played with acts such as Mutual Benefit, William Elliot Whitmore, Julie Byrne, Richard Buckner, Big Sis and Des Ark, among many others. With music and lyrics that are "poignant and powerful," (ABQ Free Press), Woods creates not only songs, but "unpretentious poetry….This guy's for real." (Alibi) A teacher, a musician, a poet, whatever he is, in times like these, when our sense of reality is shifting and dissolving, Woods's music is a grounding force. It brings us back to the cold, hot, hard, soft, wet, dry earth on which we live and depend, the music; it reminds us that we have hearts, bones that break and heal, blood that can leave us; that we are related to, made and capable of many things. Since the critically acclaimed release of his latest album The Fence, Woods has toured California, opened up for the Handsome Family, and is currently at work on new music and plans for a tour.
"AJ Woods possesses the rare gift of direct eloquence."
-M. Brianna Stallings, ABQ Free Press
"Woods's music stands out from the pack ….[His] chops are grade A, his songs are worthy of a Drag
City release….The 10 tracks on The Fence deal with the more hazardous class of memories and
heavy life experiences that, without an outlet, can mire one in hopelessness and the morass of
depression…Woods'; songwriting…is some of the best of 2016….Physically tiny, yet massive in content, this cassette."
– Geoffrey Plant, Weekly Alibi


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A new study is shedding some light on what appears to be a life-threatening issue: emergency room doctors are missing the warning signs of strokes in a large number of patients. Interestingly, the study found that nontraditional stroke patients such as women and people under the age of 45 were more likely to experience a delayed diagnosis or misdiagnosis.
In the study, researchers analyzed emergency room and inpatient records collected from nine states during 2008 and 2009. They found that, of all of the hospital admissions for strokes, there were nearly 24,000 potentially missed stroke diagnoses during the previous 30 days. This included about 2,200 "probable missed strokes," which are defined as emergency room visits in which the patient was discharged with dizziness or a benign headache.
This means that approximately 13 percent of stroke victims had sought emergency room treatment for a stroke within 30 days of their eventual stroke diagnosis, but that their stroke had gone undiagnosed. As stated above, women and young people were more likely to experience a misdiagnosis, as were minority patients.
It is easy to see how this alarming rate of delayed diagnosis could aggravate stroke symptoms and effects. In fact, a different study states that diagnostic error is a cause of fatal strokes over 30 times more often than misdiagnosis of fatal myocardial infarctions. And at the current rate of approximately 1.3 million strokes or similar events occurring every year in the U.S., the scope of the potential harm from stroke misdiagnosis is enormous. Hopefully, this study is the impetus for new diagnostic tools and methods at hospitals in New York and around the country.
Source: MedPage Today, "Stroke Rounds: Early Signs of Stroke Missed in Many Cases," Todd Neale, April 8, 2014