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In assessment, aggregation is the process of collecting data for the purpose of making a more general statement. For example, it is common practice for school districts to add together all students' test scores to find the average performance of students in the district. This process strips away all of the differences among the various cultural groups, schools, and students within the district in order to make the general statement. Even an individual student's test score is a result of aggregating all the items to which the student responded on the test to make a general statement about a student's "ability." It is also common to "disaggregate" scores to see how subgroups performed within the larger group or to investigate the students' performance in various subareas of reading (e.g., word identification, vocabulary, comprehension).There are powerful tensions around aggregation reflecting, on the one hand, the need to make general statements about students, teachers, and schools and, on the other, the problem of stripping away the particulars of individual performances and situations in the process. Not everyone agrees that it is reasonable to reduce students or schools to numbers—let alone the purposes for or the grounds on which that might be done. It is often argued that administrators need highly aggregated data to make programmatic and budgetary decisions. However, both in education and in industry, administrators make different decisions when facing aggregated data than they do when presented with data about individual people and situations. Decision making needs to consider a balance of both kinds of data.
For assessment to be considered authentic, it must include tasks that are a good reflection of the real-world activities of interest. This term arose from the realization that widely employed assessment tools generally have been poor reflections of what literate people actually do when they read, write, and speak. The logic of authentic assessment suggests, for example, that merely identifying grammatical elements or proofreading for potential flaws does not yield an acceptable measure of writing ability. Writing assessment tasks should reflect the audiences and purposes expected in life outside of school, with the real challenges those conditions impose. Similarly, reading very short passages and answering a limited number of multiple-choice questions is not a good measure of what literate people normally do when they read. Authentic assessments of reading employ tasks that reflect real-world reading practices and challenges. The authenticity of an assessment is very much a matter of the extent to which the assessment task measures what it purports to measure—a matter of construct validity.
We assess for particular purposes. When we want to know what children know and can do in a given domain, particularly whether they perform at a defined level on a specific task, we choose criterion-referenced assessment. Items in a criterion-referenced assessment are chosen because they discriminate what a person (or group) knows and can do and who has and has not reached a criterion level of performance. They are not chosen because they discriminate among individuals in determining who is better than whom. An item that genuinely measures a particular skill would not be eliminated from an assessment because everyone got it right. For example, a driver's test intends to determine whether a person is knowledgeable and capable enough to be allowed on the road, not whether one driver is more accomplished than another.To be criterion referenced, a test must clearly define the characteristics that go into acceptable performance. In literacy, criterion-referenced assessments commonly compare students' performance on a specific task against established benchmarks. These benchmarks or criteria can be expressed as numerical ranges that define levels of achievement. For example, an 80–85 score may mean strong performance among levels of achievement ranging from unsatisfactory to outstanding. Criterion-based assessment can also involve holistic scoring of writing, for example, where a score is based on a set of pre-established criteria.Compare to norm-referenced assessment.
We can think of curriculum as having three components: (1) the envisioned curriculum, (2) the enacted curriculum, and (3) the experienced curriculum. The envisioned curriculum is the intended proficiency of students as a consequence of instruction and participation in classroom events. The enacted curriculum is the daily attempt in classrooms to put the envisioned curriculum into practice. The experienced curriculum is the sense the learner makes of the enacted curriculum in the classroom and, thus, is constructed within the language of that classroom. For example, it is possible to intend to teach a particular lesson (e.g., authors' perspective) but that students not learn the lesson—either because it is not taught well (e.g., insufficient modeling, practice, support) or because the experiences of the students don't support the learning (e.g., they aren't provided with materials and experiences that invite perspective taking). As another example, if most of the reading material in one class includes racial or gender stereotypes, then that is likely to be reflected in students' learning. By contrast, students are likely to construct different knowledge about human relationships from a more balanced selection of reading material. However, the knowledge and attitudes students construct from those works are strongly influenced by the way teachers talk about them, the way teachers and other students respond to one another, and the nature of group discussions. Ultimately, it is the experienced curriculum that is our concern, and that is why students must be our primary curricular informants. However, the discrepancies among envisioned, enacted, and experienced curricula are what drive curriculum inquiry and the process of assessment.
This form of measurement was developed to help teachers evaluate a student's rate of growth in learning to read. The original idea was to have assessments that were embedded in the curriculum so they not only took no time away from teaching and learning but also did not distract teachers from the larger instructional picture. Originating in special education, a CBM of oral reading measures the number of words a child can read accurately in a minute from a standardized text (though there are comparable measures in spelling and writing). CBM assumes that a proxy variable, reading speed and accuracy (often mistakenly referred to as "oral reading fluency"), is an effective estimate of the larger construct of reading achievement and that the use of such estimates positively directs instruction.Because these assessments now use texts and word lists that are standardized and that are not part of the curriculum, the term curriculum based is no longer particularly applicable. Other assessments not normally subsumed under the category of curriculum based, such as running records of children's reading and evidence of student work collected for a portfolio, are more clearly curriculum based since they are taken while the children are working within the actual classroom curriculum.
Issues of fairness surround literacy assessment. Testing originated as a means to control nepotism in job selection, providing an independent perspective on selection to uphold fairness. But equity cannot be assured through testing alone. Those who control the assessment process control what counts, what is valued. As we point out in this book's Introduction, language and literacy assessment is laden with cultural issues and biases. Although equity cannot be assured through assessment, it must be pursued relentlessly in assessment and in schooling. It is more likely to be achieved through the involvement of multiple, independent perspectives than through the use of a single perspective.Tests have traditionally been administered, their results published, and their impact on instruction instigated with little regard to issues such as cultural, economic, or gender equity. But many equity issues affect assessment, rendering comparisons difficult and often invalid. Because traditional tests frequently reflect narrow cultural values, students and schools with different backgrounds and concerns often have not been fairly assessed.Being equitable requires ensuring comparable educational experiences for those facing similar assessments, particularly in certification or gate-keeping situations. Questions of access to sound instruction, appropriate materials, and enriching learning opportunities are critical. Educators have become increasingly aware of the connections between assessment results and levels of safety, health, and welfare support in addition to physical accessibility.
Formative assessment, often referred to as assessment for learning, is the assessment that is done before and during teaching to inform instruction. It is assessment that informs instruction. Formative assessment includes things like teacher–student conferences, listening in on student book discussions, taking records of children's oral reading, examining students' writing pieces, and so forth. Though these assessments might be standardized, they often are not. To be formative, an assessment must affect instruction.Compare to summative assessment.
These tests have significant consequences for those viewed as responsible for performance on the tests, and also for the student. For example, tests that determine whether one is accepted or rejected into the military, a university, or an educational program have significant consequences for the individual test takers. Consequences can be felt among a broader range of people, however. In the United States today, student test scores are not only used to determine whether children move on to the next grade level, but they also influence where educational resources are allocated and whether a school may continue to operate. Often, local news media publish school test scores, and property values are affected when families make decisions about where to purchase a home based on the local school's performance. When major consequences—such as the adjustment of teachers' salaries—are attached to their students' test scores, teachers will emphasize in their instruction what the test measures and reduce their emphasis on areas not covered by the test. This has consequences for the breadth of the curriculum and, thus, for the students' lives.Both the National Council of Teachers of English and the International Reading Association have position statements regarding high-stakes testing. Both organizations recommend minimizing the stakes where possible and not relying on single measures, particularly when the stakes are high.
The process of inquiry begins with a genuine question, that is, a question that motivates the questioner to persist in seeking the answers. Authentic questions are rarely well formulated or structured at the outset. Rather, structure emerges through the process of inquiry. Inquiry is not merely a matter of asking and answering questions. It is a way of engaging the world and other people. Communication and social relationships play an important role in inquiry as questioners seek the advice and expertise of peers and more knowledgeable others, share their findings, reflect upon the results of the inquiry, and take up new questions that arise.In a traditional view of classroom learning, teachers deliver information. They ask the children questions to which they already know the answers, and the students are to show they know the correct answers as well. This approach has not been very successful at helping all students become the critical, creative, and socially responsible citizens our society needs. In an inquiry classroom, on the other hand, students and teachers have a different relationship. Teacher and peers are resources for helping students answer their own questions. The community relationships are different. Instruction is based on engaging in sustained examination of personally significant topics.Assessment as inquiry involves the same principles. It requires teachers to pose questions about the teaching and learning in their classrooms and to seek answers to those questions using assessment data and the resources of their learning community.
For centuries, the book has been the central medium of communication, expressed on paper largely through the mode of writing. Today, the screen is becoming the dominant medium of communication, with increasing reliance on the mode of image. A mode is a resource for communication and representation. Examples include speech, dance, gesture, music, sculpture, photography, and writing. Humans may express themselves through a single mode, such as writing, but with growing frequency we combine modes to communicate. This results in multimodal texts such as a PowerPoint presentation or YouTube video that combines words, images, music, and movement, or an advertisement in which print and image are merged. Today's and tomorrow's learners need to acquire competence in this multimodal literacy.
When we want to know how a child performs relative to other children in a particular domain, we use norm-referenced assessment. Items in a norm-referenced assessment are chosen because they discriminate between individuals rather than assessing what a person (or group) knows and can do. To make norm-referenced assessments, assessment practices need to be standardized and test item selection must focus on maximizing the differences among individuals on a scale. An item that genuinely measured a particular skill but which all students got correct would not be used because it would not discriminate who was better than whom.Norm-referenced interpretations are based on comparisons with others, usually resulting in a ranking. For example, a norm-referenced interpretation of a student's writing might assert that the sample is "as good as that of 20% of the students in that grade nationally."Norm-referenced testing is the most prevalent form of large-scale testing, in which large groups of students take a test and the scores are grouped and interpreted in relation to other scores. In other words, the score of any student or group (school, district, state, or nation) has meaning only in relation to all the other scores of like entities (e.g., school to school, district to district, state to state). In order to make such comparisons, we have to make the assumption of "all else being equal," which is rarely justifiable. National norm-referenced tests assume that all students in our society have had similar cultural and curricular experiences. Uses of these tests also commonly ignore differences in curriculum, culture, gender, ethnicity, economic circumstance, per-pupil funding, and so forth.The main advantage of such assessments is the simplicity of the linear scale. The seductiveness of this scale is also the main disadvantage, because the scores appear readily interpretable and objective. However, the score oversimplifies the complexities of literacy and assessment. Unfortunately, norm-referenced test scores often become the most important criterion for decisions about placement and promotion, which have a powerful impact on students' and teachers' lives.Compare to criterion-referenced assessment.
Performance-based assessment refers to assessment that involves the demonstration of a particular skill and often the process of accomplishing a performance specific to that skill. Performance assessments can include, for example, such complex activities as group collaboration to write and produce a play. The concept of performance-based assessment is related to the concept of authentic assessment in that it arose from a realization of the limitations of multiple-choice tests, and other assessments of complex skills, and the difficulty in making inferences about complex skills from such assessments.
A portfolio approach to assessment uses a systematic and multifaceted collection of work that represents a student's development. For example, a portfolio might include a range of writing pieces, a book log, self-reflections, group projects, and multimedia work. Because of the nature of the contents, portfolios are both curriculum based and performance based. A primary emphasis in most portfolio assessment is on student involvement and the development of self-assessment or reflectiveness. However, in some applications, portfolios can also include teacher and parent observations.
Broadly speaking, reliability is an index of the extent to which a set of results or interpretations can be generalized over time, across tasks, and among interpreters. In other words, it is a particular kind of generalizability. For example, a common concern raised by newer forms of literacy assessment is whether different examiners, evaluating a complex response and using complex scoring criteria, will draw similar conclusions about a student's performance (whether an assessment will generalize across different examiners). Experience from scoring complex student writing samples suggests that high rates of agreement can be achieved when people are well trained in the application of specific criteria.Another example of reliability is whether a score obtained by a student on a test would remain the same if the student took the test the following day, assuming no new learning has taken place—in other words, whether the performance generalizes over time. In general, the more samples of student work we collect, the more reliable and consistent an assessment will be.Reliability is only important within the context of validity—the extent to which the assessment measures what it is supposed to measure and leads to useful, meaningful conclusions and consequences. Reliability does not guarantee a high-quality assessment. It is possible that consistent scoring can be achieved on poorly designed tests or tests of trivial skills. Indeed, reliability is easiest to obtain on low-level skills.
Summative assessment, often referred to as assessment of learning, is the after-the-fact assessment in which we look back at what students have learned, such as end-of-course or end-of-year examinations. The most familiar forms are the end-of-year standardized tests, though in classrooms we also assess students' learning at the end of a unit. These assessments are likely to be uniform or standardized.Compare to formative assessment.
Historically, a common definition of a valid measure is that it measures the construct it purports to measure. This is called construct validity. For example, if we claim that an assessment measures reading fluency, but it only measures speed and accuracy and does not include aspects such as intonation, the test would have poor construct validity.More recent conceptions of validity include an examination of the consequences of assessment practices—consequential validity. For instance, a test might have excellent construct validity as a measure of decoding ability. However, if it were used as the basis for adjusting teachers' salaries, resulting in an overemphasis on decoding in the curriculum, it would not be a valid assessment process. In other words, one cannot have a valid assessment procedure that has negative or misguided consequences for children. Consequently, a productive definition of a valid assessment practice would be one that reflects and supports the valued curriculum.
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Lafayette Board Approves School Spending Plan
The Lafayette Parish School Board met again last night to discuss spending. The board has approved a proposed $256 million spending plan for the 2013-2014 school year.
The plan has a $3,979 surplus.
The vote to approve the measure came after discussion about salaries, instructional costs and possible spending to guard against getting rid of teaching positions.
Before the vote, school board member Hunter Beasley asked the board for assurances that the board could still adjust the budget if they wanted to before it goes up for final adoption.
Chief Financial Officer Billy Guidry says the vote Tuesday means that school board staff can compile the budget to present to the public, but members will consider it again next month before final adoption.

subset: commoncrawl


text: I bought a $35 outdoor TV antenna at Radio Shack and it works great. In the Houston, Tx area I pick up over 100 broadcast channels very well. On the down side, they are mostly in Spanish, Vietnamese, College Channels and religious station and I don't watch any of those. On the up side we get almost a dozen channels worthwhile - ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX, ION and a few more.


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Author Notes: I can't get enough greens. I'm a salad addict. This is my all time favorite salad to make at home in the warmer months. I can eat it every single evening for 3 months straight and have done so repeatedly over the past 4 years. Recently I added shallots to my recipe which elevated the flavor to crazy new heights. You can leave out the shallots; heck you can even leave out most of the olive oil if you're watching your fats and it'll still be the most refreshing summer salad to pair with grilled proteins and a chilled glass of Pinot Grigio! —Brooklyn Salt
Makes: 1 entree serving
large handful arugula
heaping cup thinly sliced fennel
A few sprigs of fennel fronds, the spindly green things on the fennel stalks (if present…optional)
Lemon juice (from 1/2 lemon, save the rind!)
teaspoon minced shallot (about 1/4 of a large shallot)
Lemon zest (shave all yellow skin off the 1/2 lemon with microplane or smallest side of cheese grater)
teaspoon course salt
turns freshly cracked black pepper
piece chicken sausage
teaspoons extra virgin olive oil
Freshly shaved Parmesan cheese (use a carrot peeler to shave the cheese off the block, or buy pre-shaved)
- Place arugula, sliced fennel and fennel fronds (if using) in a mixing bowl, set aside.
- In a small separate bowl add the lemon juice, minced shallot, lemon zest, salt and pepper; whisk and let sit.
- Place the chicken sausage in a small saucepan over high heat with enough water to submerge it by about a third and bring to a boil. Let boil for about 5 minutes, turn sausage and let boil for another 5 minutes. The water in the pan should be almost cooked off.
- Transfer the sausage to a cutting board, return the pan to the stove, lower the heat to medium and let the water cook off completely.
- Meanwhile, slice the sausage lengthwise and then in half moons about ½ inch thick. Add 1 teaspoon of the olive oil to the pan, swirl to coat and throw the sausage back in. Sear on both sides by jerking the pan every minute or so until all pieces are golden brown, about 3-4 minutes total. Turn off heat.
- Whisk the 2 remaining teaspoons of olive oil into the lemon juice mixture, plus any oil from the pan you cooked the sausage in (for extra flavor, optional). Once blended, drizzle suitable amount over salad right before serving (careful not to overdress, all leaves should be coated but not dripping and no extra dressing pooling at the bottom of the bowl).
- Toss gently, transfer salad and sausage to a serving bowl and top with desired amount of shaved Parmesan cheese.
- This recipe was entered in the contest for Your Best Fennel
- This recipe was entered in the contest for Your Best Lettuce
More Great Recipes:
Salad|Arugula|Chicken|Fennel|Lemon Juice|Poultry Sausage|Shallot|Vegetable|Fall|Spring|Summer


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For introductory Physical Geography courses. The only text to focus thematically on landscape appreciation, this best-seller fosters a solid understanding of Earth and its physical geography. Its clear, user-friendly writing style, superior art program, and abundant pedagogy appeal to a wide variety of students.Darrel Hess is the author of 'Physical Geography: A Landscape Appreciation (7th Edition)', published 2001 under ISBN 9780130404688 and ISBN 0130404683.[read more]
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text: For nonnative speakers whose writing and speaking skills are at a high level. Focus on essay writing and advanced grammar. Academic Level Undergraduate Level Subject English As a Second Language Department Language Studies Credits 3 Prerequisites ESL-2010 : English as a Second Language: Composition ESL-0201 : English as a Second Language: Composition Corequisites None Return to Paralegal/Legal Assistant, Assoc. of Applied Science Academic Calendar Catalog and Class Schedules Online Learning Bookstore Register For Classes Request Information


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XF35mmF2 was announced and released prior to X-Pro2, but the product planning took place concurrently. The fact is, the product planner of X-Pro2 and XF35mmF2 is the same person. Furthermore, the product designer is also the same person.
Here is the "Design spec sheet" for the product planning of X-Pro2. You can see that the XF35mmF2 was always attached to X-Pro2. Likewise in the planning sheet of XF35mmF2, the X-Pro2 was dominantly present. Just as you figure it out, X-Pro2 and XF35mmF2 were planned and developed to be the best match for each other.
Up until the announcement of X-Pro2, we have been asked on numerous occasion, "When will the X-Pro1's successor come out?" And we have replied "When we see an advancement in all aspect." The answer did not only mean the sensor, processor, finder, and etc., but also a best matching standard prime lens.
When we talk about XF35, we cannot ignore the presence of XF35mmF1.4. It is the best-selling prime lens. So is it perfect? Not necessarily.
The speciality of the lens is the high image quality it delivers. It contributed very much to make the X Series known for its image quality. However there were a few items that could have been better. You can think of XF35mmF2 is the answer to these needed improvements.
The concept of XF35mmF2 is to make the lens for snap shooters.
First, XF35mmF2 is skinny. It's not small, but skinny. It only measures 60mm in the largest diameter. If it is smaller than 60mm, then everything would fit within the body mount. It looks nice and clean when the lens is attached to the body.
The large diameter lens is a very attractive choice, but one cannot behave naturally, if such lens was pointed at him/her. Snap shooting is not about taking a picture of a stiffened expression, or a subject striking a pose. The skinny lens also minimize the vignetting in the OVF. Everyone would like the clear view.
XF35mmF2 is also quiet. As mentioned here, X-Pro2 is about the sound. If the lens is noisy, then it is pointless to have a quiet camera. The lens also needs to be low-key. It also has to be fast. X-Pro2 is a weather-resistant camera, so the lens also has to be one.
So with all these requirements in place, we look into how we can realize them. Generally speaking, the standard lens with F2 is a backup lens for F1.4 lens. Often times, we see a compromise in the quality. But this is not the case for XF35mmF2.
In order to realize the requirements, we carefully crafted the optics and mechanics. If you look at the number of lens alone, XF35mmF2 comprises 9 elements in 6 groups (including two aspherical lenses). This construction is more luxurious than XF35F1.4. The aspherical lens is really effective for the compact optical length.
We also look into the mechanical parts of the lens. In order to meet the requirement within the small lens barrel, metal barrel with high rigidity is used. We minimized the size by making each parts with multi-purpose. XF35F2 uses all metal parts for the exterior. Like previously mentioned in this article, In order to process the fast AF, actuator and micro computer are installed.
Other criteria had to be met to be in the XF lens lineup. To have 1/3 step aperture ring, new click mechanism was developed. Two balls are positioned, so that there will be an assuring click even though the rotation distance is short.
"So, is the XF35F2 better than XF35F1.4?" you may wonder. And there is no definite answer to this.
If you want the "X image quality," then you should consider XF35F1.4. If you are in search for "Snap shooting X," then XF35F2 would be your most preferred choice. This is an standard lens with the most commonly used angle of view. It never hurts to have wider options to choose from, with wider range of characteristics.


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3:00 pm
DragonflyTV "What's Nano?/Where's Nano?" Ebony and Jasmine visit laboratories at Harvard University to find examples of nanoscale objects on their quest to "see" a nanometer. Regina, Linda, Harrison, Jared, Lorenz, and Randi wonder what examples of nanoscale science and technology they can find in their everyday lives.G
3:30 pm
Biz Kid$ "Understanding Business Ethics" Do the right thing! You'll learn with the Biz Kids as they examine several aspects of ethics in business. You'll also see the downside of not following ethical business practices. In this episode you will discover what it means for management to lead by example, and how employees must take responsibility for their behavior. D
4:00 pm
The Electric Company "A Fistful of Confetti" It's Neighborhood Record Day, and everyone in town is trying to break silly records. Francine and Jessica are both trying to break the same record - filming the most broken records on record day. When Francine tries to get in Jessica's way by giving her fake tips, The Electric Company works together to lead Jessica to victory. D
4:30 pm
Cyberchase "Zeus on the Loose" (topic: Fractions) - When the kids fail to stop Hacker from stealing Pandora's box in mythological Greece, they must solve a riddle and complete challenges to satisfy Zeus and earn a second chance. In the course of their adventure, Matt, Jackie and Inez discover that a fraction is a problem in sharing. The challenge is solving increasingly difficult problems in sharing while they confront a myriad of mythological creatures. D
5:00 pm
Lidia's Italy In America "USA: Italy's Crowd Pleasers" NULL
5:30 pm
Cook's Country from America's Test Kitchen "Super-Easy Comfort Food" NULL
6:00 pm
Pati's Mexican Table "Classic Mexican Food Battles" Jump into a Lucha Libre ring and experience the kind of fighting spirit that fuels a great love of Mexican food. These classic recipes provoke heated discussions in Mexico, but are perfectly tasty regardless of which twist on ingredients you prefer. Enchiladas in Red Tomato Sauce; Tampico-Style Steak Combo; Mexican Wedding Cookies (Polvorones). D
6:30 pm
Christina "Time to Get Happy" Not much makes us as happy as food, but can indulgences that tickle our fancy be healthy for us? With luscious cuisine as our inspiration, it surely can, especially when quinoa and tempeh are on the menu. D
7:00 pm
This Old House "Essex 2012/13, Liquid Assets" Lots of groundwork today, as Roger helps aquatic systems specialist Yorgos Gregory revive a neglected water feature, and drilling expert Roger Skillings is drilling for both a new water well and for geothermal wells. Master electrician Allen Gallant shows Kevin how he bends PVC conduit to run the new electrical service underground over hill and dale. D
7:30 pm
Rick Steves' Europe "Venice and Its Lagoon" Rick samples sumptuous art treasures, and explores back-street wonders. He cruises its lagoon, stopping in fiery Murano for glass, pastel Burano for lace, and murky Torcello for a sense of where Venice was born. Part 2 of 2G
8:00 pm
Joseph Rosendo's Travelscope "San Miguel De Allende, Celebrating in the Heart Of Mexico" At the annual Fiesta de San Miguel, Joeseph takes part in miles of processions, and enjoys fireworks and dancing. He reserves time to acquaint himself with the history of this UNESCO World Heritage colonial city, which is famous for its artistic soul.G
8:30 pm
Lidia's Italy In America "USA: Italy's Crowd Pleasers" NULL
9:00 pm
Cook's Country from America's Test Kitchen "Super-Easy Comfort Food" NULL
9:30 pm
Simply Ming "Julio Bermejo & Cooking with Spirits" We all love cooking with wine but how about using spirits? On this week's episode of SIMPLY MING, Ming shows how as he cooks with tequila. He'll be joined by longtime friend, Julio Bermejo, the tequila master at Tommy's in San Francisco. Looking for inspiration Julio and Ming explore amazing food stalls at the Ferry Plaza Farmer's Market before heading back to Tommy's to cook on the fly. D
10:00 pm
Taste of Louisiana with Chef John Folse & Co.: Our Food Heritage "Foods of Africa" Foods such as yams, red beans, rice, melons, okra and eggplant are indigenous to West Africa, the ancestral homeland of most of Louisiana's African-Americans. Dr. Gwendolyn Midlo Hall and Professor Eileen Julian give audiences an insight on the roots of much of Louisiana's African-American cuisine. Chef Leah Chase gives Chef Folse a lesson on making Gumbo Des Herbes, a traditional Holy Thursday dish. D
10:30 pm
Rick Steves' Europe "Venice and Its Lagoon" Rick samples sumptuous art treasures, and explores back-street wonders. He cruises its lagoon, stopping in fiery Murano for glass, pastel Burano for lace, and murky Torcello for a sense of where Venice was born. Part 2 of 2G
11:00 pm
Destinos: An Introduction to Spanish "Asf Fue: II" This episode is the second segment of the four-part review and covers the time Raquel spent in Argentina.G
11:30 pm
Destinos: An Introduction to Spanish "Asf Fue: III" This episode is the third segment of the four-part review of the series and features highlights from Raquel's trip to Puerto Rico.G


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This is an excerpt from Fitness Illustrated by Brian Sharkey
Don't Call It Cardio!
Back in the 1950s, our knowledge of fitness was limited to the effect of training on the heart. Training led to a reduction in the resting and exercise heart rates, so it was called cardiovascular fitness. As we began to understand the effect of training on oxygen intake and oxygen transport, it came to be called cardiorespiratory fitness. Then, in 1967, Dr. John Holloszy published a landmark study of the effects of training on skeletal muscle fibers (i.e., the cells found inside such muscles as your biceps, quadriceps, and hamstrings). The study showed that training doubled oxidative enzymes and the trained muscle's ability to use oxygen. In other words, the more a person trains, the better his or her muscles use oxygen. From that point onward, we have defined fitness as a person's maximal ability to take in, transport, and use oxygen.
The term cardio does describe one part of aerobic fitness, but it ignores the important effects of training on muscle fibers. Once you understand the full picture, you can design your fitness training program the right way. You can't become aerobically fit simply by raising your heart rate; if you could, then the mere elevation of heart rate from receiving a scare would improve fitness. Nor can you become fit by using any old variety of muscles to simply raise heart rate. Instead, you need to systematically use your large muscle groups in order to get oxygen circulating to the muscles used in the activity (running, cycling, etc.). Heart rate is sometimes used as a measure of how much oxygen you are using in order to gauge exercise intensity. But skeletal muscle (in the muscles used in the activity) is the target of training. The role of your heart is to supply the working muscles with oxygen and energy.
Read more about Fitness Illustrated.
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Adoption: Lesbian and Gay Adoptive Parents
Abbie E. Goldberg and April Moyer
Adoption by lesbian and gay parents is becomingly increasingly common. This entry presents an overview of the limited research that has focused on lesbian and gay adoptive parents. Specifically, this entry addresses the experience of adoptive parenthood for lesbian and gay parents, with emphasis on the decision-making process (that is, choosing adoption, choosing an agency, choosing an adoption type, and specifying child characteristics), the transition to adoptive parenthood, the psychological adjustment of the adoptive parents and their children, and the adoptive parent–child relationship. We end with recommendations for future research and implications for practitioners and policymakers.
Laura S. Abrams
This entry explores past and present social-scientific lenses concerning bisexuality. The author traces the rise of a bisexual movement in the 1970s to present times. The entry concludes by addressing social work's limited contributions to understanding bisexuality and proposes trends and directions for future practice and research with diverse groups of bisexuals.
Kendra DeLoach McCutcheon
Social workers have a responsibility to challenge discrimination and promote social and economic justice. To fulfill this responsibility, it must be understood how discrimination exists and the detrimental affect it has on the relationship between individuals who are disenfranchised (targeted groups) and individuals who have privilege, resources, and power (advantaged groups) (Hardiman & Jackson, 2007). This entry will present an overview of discrimination, define the various forms of discrimination, present public policy and legislation regarding discrimination, and discuss implications for social workers and the profession.
Domestic Violence in the LGBT Community
Betty Jo Barrett
Since the mid 1980s, a growing body of theoretical and empirical literature has examined the existence of intimate partner violence (IPV) in lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) communities. Collectively, this research has suggested that IPV in rainbow communities occurs at rates comparable to those documented among heterosexual populations and results in similar detrimental psychological, social, and physical consequences for victims. Importantly, however, this work has also highlighted myriad ways in which the social and structural marginalization of gender and sexual minority populations create unique vulnerabilities for IPV that are not shared by cissexual and heterosexual individuals. This entry provides an overview of this scholarship to inform strength-based social work practice with and for LGBT survivors of domestic violence at the macro, mezzo, and micro levels.
Ecological Framework
Alex Gitterman, Carel B. Germain, and Carolyn Knight
Ecological concepts and principles enable social workers to keep a simultaneous focus on people and their environments and their reciprocal relationships, not only in direct practice with individuals, families and groups, but also in influencing organizations and communities and in policy practice. Ecological concepts emphasize the reciprocity of person:environment exchanges, in which each shapes and influences the other over time. Ecological concepts are reviewed.
Female Genital Mutilation
Fariyal Ross-Sheriff and Evalyne Kerubo Orwenyo
Female genital mutilation (FGM) has been portrayed in the literature as an inhumane practice and a form of human rights abuse. Young women and girls who undergo FGM are subjected to the risk of developing infections as well as gynecological and psychological complications. Where severe bleeding occurs, the risk of death is imminent. Although FGM has been decried as an unnecessary and harmful ritual, it continues to be practiced in many parts of Africa, some parts of Asia, and the Middle East. Beliefs about the benefits of FGM are deeply entrenched in tradition and culture, making it a difficult practice to eradicate. This entry aims to portray the cultural embeddedness of FGM as the main factor in preventing its eradication. The information reviewed in this entry can be used to provide a framework for social workers to understand personal and societal reasons for FGM. Furthermore, this entry provides information that could be used to guide social workers in formulating culturally appropriate interventions with FGM practicing communities.
Feminist Social Work Practice
Cheryl A. Hyde
Feminist social work practice is based on principles derived from the political and social analyses of the women's movement. As a practice approach, feminism emphasizes gendered analyses and solutions, democratized structures and processes, diversity and inclusivity, linking personal situations with political solutions, and transformation at all levels of intervention. Feminist practice is in concert with a multisystemic approach; it complements and extends strength-based social work. It requires of the practitioner, regardless of method, to be relational and open to other ways of knowing and understanding.
Gay Men: Overview
James I. Martin
This entry explains who gay men are, how gay identity constructions have evolved since their inception, and how they continue to evolve. It also describes the health and mental health problems that gay men may present to social work practitioners. In addition, it identifies several social policies that are relevant to gay men. The entry argues that a systemic perspective that takes into account the social, political, and cultural influences on gay men is necessary for understanding the problems that such men commonly experience.
Gay Men: Practice Interventions
Robert L. Miller Jr.
This chapter explores salient concepts of social work practice with gay men. These concepts are described within a life cycle context. The illuminated concepts have been identified based on the biopsychosocial and spiritual developments in the social work literature related to this population since the printing of the 19th edition of the Encyclopedia of Social Work.
Global Gender Inequality
Melissa B. Littlefield, Denise McLane-Davison, and Halaevalu F. O. Vakalahi
Mechanisms of oppression that serve to subordinate the strengths, knowledge, experiences, and needs of women in families, communities, and societies to those of men are at the root of gender inequality. Grounded in the strengths perspective of social work, the basic premise of the present discussion emphasizes gender equality as opposed to inequality. At the core of gender equality is the value of womanhood and the need to ensure the health and well-being of women and girls. Women's participation in different societal domains including economic opportunities, political empowerment, educational attainment, health, and well-being are all impacted by their roles. Thus, structural weaknesses are major barriers for reforming efforts on global gender equality. Challenging traditional notions of gender, which is defined as behavioral, cultural, and social characteristics that are linked to womanhood or manhood, is the basis for achieving gender equality by attending to how these characteristics govern the relationship between women and men and the power differences that impact choices and agency to choose. Further, both equality of opportunity and equality of outcome are imperative for achieving gender equality among women and girls. Although progress has been made toward gender equality for many women, lower income women—as well as women who face social exclusion stemming from their caste, disability, location, ethnicity, and sexual orientation––have not experienced improvements in gender equality to the same extent as other women. Broad outcomes of gender equality around the globe include decreased poverty, increased social and economic justice, and better well-being and empowerment among men and women. Gender equality is a smart tool for economic development because it can remove barriers to access and enhance productivity gains in a competitive world.
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Teamskeet - Mybabysittersclub - The Sitter Is Stuck In The SInk
Are you a male or female wondering if you should indulge in porn watching? Do you ask yourself if you should pick up watching porn as a new hobby or pastime activity? Are you weighing the pros and cons of watching porn by yourself or with a partner? Do you want to learn various ways and methods of pleasuring yourself or your partner when it comes to anal, oral, manual or vaginal sex? Well you are in the right place friend, because watching porn isn't just fun and exciting, but watching full HD free porn is one of the best activities you can indulge in any day any time. Stuck Porn is best
There are so many benefits of watching porn; from learning new sex positions and style, to learning different sexual techniques, to knowing how to please your man, your woman or even pleasing yourself when you are alone. You get to explore your sexuality a lot more when you watch porn and determine what you like during sex, masturbation or even foreplay as a man or a woman.
You may not realize it, but watching porn is healthy. Yes, you read right, porn watching is healthy. Despite various studies saying the opposite, porn goes a long way in improving your sex life and building your confidence between you and your significant other.Porn can also be an avenue for pure entertainment and humor. The different role playing and acting involved in porn makes it a good source of entertainment and humor.
Another good thing about full HD free porn is the fact that you can just sit back, relax, grab a bottle of beer or drink of your choice and watch how other people perfect the art of love making or sexual activities ranging from lesbians eating up each other's pussies, how a brunette, teen or even milf finds pleasure from riding a big fat cock. There is the aspect of having sex in the public or even the double penetration, POV (point of view porn), and so on. So why don't you get your partner or significant other and enjoy some HD porn tonight.
All rights reserved. Stuck porn is adding full hd porn videos


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Items where Author / Artist / Editor is "Horesh, Raya"
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Abascal, Juan-Felipe and Arridge, Simon R. and Atkinson, David and Horesh, Raya and Fabrizi, Lorenzo and De Lucia, Marzia and Horesh, Lior and Bayford, Richard and Holder, David S. (2008) Use of anisotropic modelling in electrical impedance tomography: description of method and preliminary assessment of utility in imaging brain function in the adult human head. NeuroImage, 43 (2). pp. 258-268. ISSN 1095-9572


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Thai necesitaba un nuevo diseño de logotipo y lanzó un concurso de diseño en 99designs.
Un ganador ha sido elegido entre 219 diseños de 68 diseñadores freelance.
I'm a wedding/lifestyle photographer looking for a logo that I can use for my website, watermark for photos, letterhead, biz card, etc. I'm looking to attract a higher end clientele so it has to look modern, sleek, and classy.
Thai Dao Photography
My name is Thai Dao, hence Thai Dao Photography. Since this is a new business you are free to be creative as you want but the design needs to be simple yet elegant. You can view a sample of my work here:
The logo will be used for http://www.thaidaophotography.com which is currently under development.
As mentioned above I'm looking to attract a higher end clientele. I will be targeting clients within the age group of 20-35.
- Fresh, modern, clean design that will last for years to come
- Usable as a watermark for images
- Usable for web and print material (letter head/business cards)
- Usable on dark and light backgrounds
- Mostly monochromatic with perhaps a splash of one color
- I would like to see some designs with my initials in a box or circle
- Another design I would like to see is the use of my full name (Thai Dao) with the word "Photography" to the side or underneath
- Of course you are not just limited to the above two suggested designs
- Nothing too wild or distracting
- No executive block fonts
- No camera logos please
Descubre cómo funciona un concurso de diseño u obtén más información sobre nuestros servicios de diseño de logo.


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Harley-Davidson Sportster Parts
Harley-Davidson Sportsters are a popular choice, as you get reliability, speed, handling and the availability of tons of cool custom parts all in one tidy package, and for a reasonable price. Whether you have an Ironhead Sportster, 1986 – 2003 XL, or an '04 & up, we have tons of parts to help you customize your ride. Sportsters provide a great platform for choppers, bobbers, trackers, and cafe racers, or just mild customs. The selection available from Lowbrow Customs, Gasbox, Biltwell, Cycle Standard, Mooneyes, EMD and others makes customizing your bike a breeze. From hardtail frames, gas tanks, fenders, and seats to handlebars, grips and controls, we have everything you need, from mild to wild.
Lowbrow CustomsFiltroMax Universal Remote Oil Filter Mount - Black
Regular Price: $49.95
Special Price $42.95


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Here is a very brief collection of four interviews with Percy available online, a lecture he gave, and a lecture about one of his works.
(Self-interview) From "Questions They Never Asked Me" by Walker Percy
Q: Do you regard yourself as a Catholic novelist?
A: Since I am a Catholic and a novelist, it would seem to follow that I am a Catholic novelist.
Q: What kind of Catholic are you?
A: Bad.
Q: No, I mean are you liberal or conservative?
A: I no longer know what those words mean.
Q: Are you a dogmatic Catholic or an open-minded Catholic?
A: I don't know what that means, either. Do you mean, do I believe the dogma that the Catholic Church proposes for belief?
Q: Yes.
A: Yes.
Q. How is such a belief possible in this day and age?
A: What else is there?
Q: What do you mean, what else is there? There is humanism, atheism, agnosticism, Marxism, behaviorism, materialism, Buddhism, Muhammadism, Sufism, astrology, occultism, theosophy.
A: That's what I mean.
Q: To say nothing of Judaism and Protestantism.
A: Well, I would include them along with the Catholic Church in the whole peculiar Jewish-Christian thing.
Q: I don't understand. Would you exclude, for example, scientific humanism as a rational and honorable alternative?
A: Yes.
Q: Why?
A: It's not good enough.
Q: Why not?
A: This life is much too much trouble, far too strange, to arrive at the end of it and then to be asked what you make of it and have to answer "Scientific Humanism." That won't do. A poor show. Life is a mystery, love is a delight. Therefore I take it as axiomatic that one should settle for nothing less than the infinite mystery and the infinite delight, i.e. God. In fact, I demand it. I refuse to settle for anything less. I don't see why anyone should settle for less than Jacob, who actually grabbed aholt of God and wouldn't let go until God identified himself and blessed him.
Q: Grabbed aholt?
A: Louisiana expression.
(Thanks, Fr Carucci for showing me this interview)
C-SPAN has Percy's lecture "The San Andreas Fault in the Modern Mind" which was given May 3, 1989 is available online in its entirety.
Four Interviews with Percy:
1 Paris Review - The Art of Fiction No. 97, Walker Percy "Probably the fear of seeing America, with all its great strength and beauty and freedom—"Now in these dread latter days of the old violent beloved U.S.A.," and so on—gradually subside into decay through default and be defeated, not by the communist movement, demonstrably a bankrupt system, but from within by weariness, boredom, cynicism, greed, and in the end helplessness before its great problems."
2 The Modern Prognosis: An Interview with Walker Percy "The trouble is the sciences for the last two hundred years have been spectacularly successful in dealing with subhuman reality, subhuman creatures, chemistry and physics of matter, and with extraordinary progress in learning about the cosmos; but also an extraordinary lack of success in dealing with man as man, man qua man. I think it's very curious--here the scientists know a tremendous amount about everything except what he or she is. Despite the extraordinary successes of science, we do not presently have even the rudiments of a coherent science of man."
3 Doubletake Interview "Also: writers are the "Protestants" of art, with nothing but their Scripto pencils and Blue-Horse tablets; painters are the "Catholics," with concrete intermediaries, clay, paint, models, fruit, landscape, etc. This is why writers drink more and painters live longer."
4 Orthodoxy Today Interview "The nihilism of some scientists in the name of ideology or sentimentality and the consequent devaluation of individual human life lead straight to the gas chamber."


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NCSE is pleased to announce the publication of the third edition of Voices for Evolution. As NCSE deputy director Glenn Branch explains in his foreword, "Amid the dizzying panoply of creationist activity, what is gratifyingly constant is the thoughtful, balanced, and authoritative opposition from the scientific, educational, and civil liberties communities, as well from a considerable portion of the faith community. Organizations small and large, local, national, and international, have expressed their unflinching support for evolution education. Their statements are collected here, in Voices for Evolution."
After a long and contentious wrangle, the Florida state board of education voted 4-3 at its February 19, 2008, meeting to adopt a new set of state science standards in which evolution is presented as a "fundamental concept underlying all of biology." But now there are concerns that, due to a recent state law, the standards will have to be approved again.
The Evolution Learning Community at the University of North Carolina, Wilmington, will be hosting "Darwin's Legacy: Evolution's Impact on Science and Culture" — a multidisciplinary student conference to be held March 19-21, 2009.
In San Francisco for a speaking tour, Lauri Lebo, who reported on the Kitzmiller v. Dover case for the York Daily Record and then wrote The Devil in Dover: An Insider's Story of Dogma v. Darwin in Small-Town America (The New Press, 2008), was interviewed by the San Francisco Chronicle's Nanette Asimov, with the result appearing both in the newspaper (October 31, 2008) and on its podcast.
NCSE's executive director Eugenie C. Scott spoke on science education at the Innovation 2008 conference, and video of her talk is now available (from 7:40 to 27:15) on-line.
National Center for Science Education, Inc.
1904 Franklin Street, Suite 600
Oakland, CA 94612
fax: 510-788-7971
For Reporters | Store | Events


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Favorite Willie Nelson Song – Readers Poll
Country legend Willie Nelson celebrates his 79th birthday today (April 30). For 50 years, the Texas-born singer has been defining the country music genre with hits like 'Seven Spanish Angels' and 'On the Road Again.' But what is the all-time best song from the famous acoustic picker?
Choose your favorite from this list, or write in a candidate in the comments section below. Perhaps you like one of Nelson's famous duets, like 'Good Hearted Woman' with Waylon Jennings? His version of Ray Charles' 'Georgia on My Mind' is timeless, as are songs like 'My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys,' 'Always on My Mind' and 'Angel Flying Too Close to the Ground.'
After you've voted, be sure to check out our list of the Top 10 Willie Nelson songs.


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The Philadelphia Eagles never were comfortable with tailback Dion Lewis, a fifth-round draft pick in 2011, as the primary backup to LeSean McCoy. Despite an experience edge on Bryce Brown, he was banished to the bottom of the depth chart last season.
Now the new regime is moving on. NFL sources tell the Philadelphia Inquirer that Lewis is on the trade block leading up to the 2013 NFL Draft.
The writing was on the wall when coach Chip Kelly specifically mentioned McCoy, Brown and Chris Polk in his backfield plans while leaving out Lewis' name.
The Inquirer hints that the 5-foot-7 Lewis is viewed as too small for Kelly's system. It's a bit of a surprise considering similar-sized backs such as Kenjon Barner and De'Anthony Thomas excelled at Oregon the past two years.
Eagles general manager Howie Roseman shouldn't expect his phone to be buzzing with offers. Lewis has been trusted with just 36 carries in two seasons and offers little special-teams value. Unless the Eagles find a team that was high on Lewis after a stellar career at Pitt, he likely will be waived.
Follow Chris Wesseling on Twitter @ChrisWesseling.


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Once upon a time, there was a fisherman lived in a
When he got home, he put the fish in a sink. He grabbed a knife to kill the fish. But when he almost killed it, he saw the fish eyes and felt pity. He took the knife away and put the fish in washbasin and added water in it. "Don't worry, I wouldn't kill you" the fisherman said.
The fisherman went fishing again. But this time he couldn't get any fish. He went home with nothing in his hand. His stomach started to sing. He walked home slouching. He was surprised when he saw smoke came out from his kitchen.
"Who cooked in my kitchen?" he confused.
He took a peep and surprised when he saw a beautiful girl cooked in his house. "Why there's a girl in my kitchen?" he confused.
The fisherman entered the room. "Who are you?" he asked the girl.
"I'm the fish." The girl said.
The fisherman looked the washbasin and saw nothing in it. "The fish?" he asked incredulous.
"Yes. You didn't kill me and I'm very thankful. I will return your kindness." The girl said.
"That's ok. I didn't ask any return" the fisherman said.
"But I have to."The girl insisted.
"Well, I lived alone. I don't have family. If you want to be my wife, I will be very happy." The fisherman asked the girl.
The girl smiled and said "I'd love to but you have to promise me that if we have kid you can't tell him about me."
And so, the fisherman and the fish girl were married. And then they had a child called Samo. Samo was very naughty. He couldn't be advisable. He always played and never helped his parents.
One day Samo was asked to deliver lunch to his father. On his way, he met his friends and forgot to deliver his father's lunch. Samo played with his friends. When he was tired and hungry, he was resting under a tree and ate his father lunch. Meanwhile his father waited him in starve and tired. His father went home and saw Samo played. "Where is my lunch?" he asked.
"Mmm…mm.. I ate it" Samo said afraid.
"Why you ate it?" his father asked.
"Mmm..mm.. I was hungry after playing with my friend" Samo said.
"You were told to deliver my lunch but you didn't listen." his father was very furious. "I can't handle you anymore. You are very naughty. Go away from me. Don't come home anymore." His father yelled and evicted Samo from his house.
And this what happened if you can't control your mouth when you angry. His father said the words that he wouldn't suppose to say. "You… fish's son."
Suddenly, the sky was getting dark. The storm was breaking the ears. The rain felt from the sky like giant hose sprayed water all over the place. And then the water came out from the land and getting harder.
Sumo's mother was very sad. "I told you don't tell him about me" she said to her husband. "Now I'm going back to be fish again. Good by" the mother was transformed magically to be gold fish again and disappear through the water. The water was getting higher and drown the village and formed a lake.
Meanwhile, sumo run to the hill and stayed there. The hill then was surrounded by the lake.
Now the lake was known as


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Grumpy Cat, the Internet's grumpiest cat, apparently dislikes banks, or so the T-shirt bearing his likeness states, thanks to the sense of humor at the $460 million Notre Dame Federal Credit Union in Indiana.
(Click on the image at left to see larger version.)
The annual Student Return Week kicked off Aug. 21 with incoming University of Notre Dame students opening memberships at the credit union's on-campus and near-campus locations. In preparation for the influx of thousands of Gen Ys, Notre Dame FCU designed this year's T-shirts around popular Internet memes in an effort to appeal to the younger audience.
Poking fun at big banks, the Grumpy Cat meme's message reads, "I went to a bank once. It was awful."
The back of the T-shirt reads, "Be grumpy no more." Notre Dame FCU's T-shirt design touches on the unbank approach to conducting finances, and opens the door for Notre Dame FCU employees to educate younger members about the difference between credit unions and banks, the credit union said.
Notre Dame FCU employees were spotted wearing the popular Grumpy Cat Internet meme during Friday's Student Return activities, the credit union said. According to his Facebook page, Grumpy Cat's real name is Tardar Sauce and his grumpy face is splashed all over the Internet and in commercials.
"In many instances, the credit union finds that Notre Dame FCU is the first financial institution to which incoming students are exposed," said Deidre Davis, chief of marketing at the 56,000-member South Bend institution.
"We recognize what a wonderful opportunity it is for Notre Dame FCU employees to relate to this younger generation each year during Student Return Week, and our T-shirts were designed to portray Notre Dame FCU as both approachable and relatable," Davis said.
"If anything, the T-shirt designs act as an icebreaker and help start conversations about the credit union's personalized service and vast array of products," she said.


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First, let's temper our hopes and dreams: HBO hasn't asked the Jets to take part in the 2012 edition of Hard Knocks, the training camp reality show that introduced the world to Rex Ryan, the most interesting man in sports. But, and this should be front page news, Jets ownership didn't immediately rule it out.
There was a big event at today's grand opening of the NFL Store in Manhattan (literally across the street from HBO's offices), and someone asked Jets owner Woody Johnson about doing Hard Knocks for a second time. Johnson said they haven't received a formal inquiry from HBO, but didn't dismiss the idea out of hand—as brass did a year ago.
With the addition of Tim Tebow to a still-volatile cast (Santonio Holmes is still a Jet, people), a return engagement with Hard Knocks is high on the list of Kickstarters we'd fund. But even if it doesn't happen, and there's no reason to expect the Jets to embrace their circus, nothing will go uncovered. We're told multiple beat writers have already started work on their e-books on the coming Jets season, to be published next winter.
[Gary Myers, via Pro Football Talk]


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Welcome to my blog and the place where I will post my photos and musings from my life as an ultrarunner. My nickname "Shining" was given to me by a group of very special students after I finished my first 100-miler, the Massanutten Mountain Trails 100. They were the inspiration that enabled me to finish this awesome race, and I try to live each day with a "shining" attitude!
Sunday, January 11, 2009
Off season is over---time to ramp it up!
I enjoyed my four weeks "off" from serious training and am ready to get back at it! This year I am not racing until the end of March, at the Terrapin Mountain 50K on March 28. The past two years I have raced Uwharrie 40 at the beginning of February, and each year I have had slower times from my first year in 2005 when I ran 7:47 and finished second overall. In retrospect, I realized that I had not given myself a sufficient off-season after Hellgate in December, so this year I took a substantial amount of time away from running long distances over the Christmas holiday, and instead slept, ate, relaxed, swam, and hiked with my family. It was really nice to not be following a training schedule but now I am itching to get started again, so that's a good sign!
Speaking of training plans...I have been asked to help two friends prepare for MMT100 this May. In no way do I see myself as an expert on 100s, but I do see myself as someone who can offer some advice and I enjoy sharing some of the lessons I have learned while training and racing for the big one. It's been fun to put together their training schedules and I am looking forward to seeing how they respond to the programs!
I am also very excited about being coached this year for Grindstone 100---I asked a 100 miler specialist to help me prepare for the 2009 race! I wanted a new perspective on what I had been doing in training and I believe there is always room for improvement. He is going to ask me to put in some big mileage weeks starting in April (6 months out) which I hope I can handle with work. We will see!
I am logging all my training on RunningAhead, a cool online training log. This past week I ran about 43 miles with a hill session, and next week will be 60+ miles with a fartlek and hill sessions as well as a long training run on Massanutten. I like this site because it has cool graphs like the one at the top, as well as a calendar format that allows me see the entire month at once.
5 comments:
- Rick Gray said...
Sophie, I see it is now time to get serious again. Remember to have fun, but that is something you always have. I will miss you at Uwharrie and Holiday Lake. I might even dedicate a series of hills in your honor at Uwharrie. Enjoy the trails. Rick
- January 12, 2009 at 3:45 AM
- Thomas Bussiere said...
I like the graphics with the breakdown of types of runs.
- January 12, 2009 at 8:27 AM
- Sophie Speidel said...
Rick...saw you were checking out the blog at 3:38 am!!! WOW. I hope you had a great run at that hour :-)
I will miss you at Uwharrie---love that trail--but I am also glad to be recovering from 2008. I will also miss Holiday Lake, since I really want to check out the new course, but I want to recover from Wild Oak on 2.7. So many races, so little time, and only so much recovery in my old body!
Email me at
email@example.com have something to ask you.
- January 12, 2009 at 9:08 AM
- farmgirl said...
Well all I can say is it's about time you posted...
what else is up?
- January 12, 2009 at 11:48 AM
- annette bednosky said...
Hi Sophie
Great to "hear" your voice!
I must check out the website you refer to. I can relate to being ready to train again. (though just running for running sake and no personal expectational pressure is fabulously refreshing too!) I don't expect to see you at any races in the near future...as my next race in 3/2 in NY...Yet perhaps meeting in the middle for a training run would be doable?
Take care of you!
- January 13, 2009 at 3:02 PM


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International AIDS Conference Day 5: Dr. Valdiserri Speaks With Dr. Kevin Fenton From the CDC
July 23, 2010
This article was cross-posted from the AIDS.gov blog. Dr. Ron Valdiserri is Deputy Assistant Secretary for Health, Infectious Diseases, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Throughout this International AIDS Conference in Vienna, I have been fortunate to connect with colleagues old and new. Yesterday I spoke with my friend and colleague, Dr. Kevin Fenton, the Director for the National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Dr. Fenton and I spoke about some new case studies the CDC presented on at this year's conference. The first study focused on poverty in the United States. It is one of the largest studies ever examining the relationship between low socio-economic status, race, and HIV/AIDS. Another study Dr. Fenton presented on highlighted new data and research coming out surrounding the safety of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP).
The following video contains highlights from our conversation.
Read more of Positive Policy, TheBody.com's multi-author blog on law, policy and activism.
Get e-mail notifications every time Positive Policy is updated.
This article was provided by TheBody. It is a part of the publication The XVIII International AIDS Conference.
Add Your Comment:
(Please note: Your name and comment will be public, and may even show up in
Internet search results. Be careful when providing personal information! Before
adding your comment, please read TheBody.com's Comment Policy.)


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Monday Kizomba Classes
Loading Map....
Date(s) - Mon 10 Sep
8:00 pm - 10:30 pm
TLC Studio
Monday Kizomba is at the TLC studio.
Please note that Kizomba beginners need to have some prior dance experience in another dance (e.g. tango, salsa, ballroom, bachata).
If you haven't been to TLC before, please ask one of the teachers to advise on which class you should take.
No partner is necessary.
8.00-9.00pm Beginners (open to all levels)
9.00-10.00pm Improvers progressing to Advanced
10.00-10.30pm Social dancing with DJ Steve
- £6 on the door
- £5 concessions (NUS & IoW)
Add to iCal or


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Dear friends,
As a matter of long-standing tradition, we leave politics out of our dinner conversations, and understanding the gap between our political positions, this has generally been a good policy.
I am, as the majority of my fellow Americans of Cuban descent or origin tend to be, a staunch Republican, and you are, as the overwhelming majority of American Jews tend to be, staunch Democrats, so this understanding and mutual respect for our rights to each hold our independent opinions has allowed for good conversations over good food, centered around updates on our children's activities, news about family and mutual friends, and all those other topics that make good times spent with good friends, something to look forward to and cherish for years, and the unspoken decision to avoid those things that would divide us a good thing.
I am sorry, but I am going to have to broach our forbidden subject; I need to speak to you about the upcoming election.
Before you stop reading this, please take a second to reconsider. We have known one another for quite some time, and you know me for who and what I am…not a fanatical, obsessive demagogue, a political extremist, or even a one-issue ideologue. I am your friend before this conversation, just as I will remain your friend in its aftermath, a friend who holds some political positions considered too liberal to conservatives, and others that are, in the opinion of liberals, far too conservative in nature.
I am a guy with opinions, just like you. The fact that we can both hold our opinions, support the political Party and candidates of our choice, and still be able to share meals as friends is a testament to this country's greatness.
The fact that you, a Democrat, and I, a Republican, have shared meals, laughter and even a tear or two along the way paints a picture that's more real than the divided, partisan America that we see in the news so often these days.
America is great because her people are great.
This year however, things are happening that should raise an alarm in both our minds. Things of such disturbing connotations that should bring us together over a cup of coffee, and a taboo.
This year we need to discuss politics, you and I, face to face, and here is why:
"The future must not belong to those who slander the prophet of Islam." – Barack Obama, addressing the General Assembly of the United Nations, September 25, 2012
That is a disturbing statement for an American President to make, because it is either naive and ignorant, or calculated and dangerous. The problem is that even if it's only a naive and ignorant statement made by a well-meaning politician, that statement puts people like you, my Jewish friends and family, in mortal danger, and by extent, it puts me and mine in equal danger.
How can this President, a man who received a staggering 78% of the Jewish vote in the 2008 election, not understand that your very existence, and the existence of the State of Israel, slander the "prophet of Islam"?
Or in understanding that, how can he then publicly announce that people like you and I, Jews and Christians whose adherence to a religion other than Islam constitutes a de facto slander of Islam and its prophet, must not have title to a future?
Perhaps the callous contempt toward Israel exhibited by this President doesn't bother you; as Americans, we should all expect, no…demand that our elected public officials act with America first and foremost in their minds. But while we all would be correct in thinking that Israel needs America, it is not untrue that through military intelligence, it is Israel that often protects America, so as Americans, we must wonder why our President would chose to stand with people who would see us destroyed, over those with whom we share such long-standing ties with.
As Ruth R. Wisse, the Martin Peretz Professor of Yiddish Literature and Professor of Comparative Literature at Harvard University recently wrote for The Wall Street Journal:
"No citizens would seem to need a strong America more than the Jews, who are once again targeted by aggressors seeking to destroy what they cannot attain. Iran develops the bomb and threatens to annihilate the Jewish state. Fundamentalist-controlled Egypt threatens to abrogate the treaty that cost Israel the Sinai Peninsula. Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza vie over which is Israel's more effective enemy, with the latter firing more than 400 rockets into southern Israel so far this year."
As Americans, we all need to be concerned by the growing threat of a nuclear fundamentalist Islamist State like Iran, and as Americans we all need to realize that the security of the State of Israel is vital to the security of the people of the United States.
So, I am asking you, as a concerned friend, to think just a bit before casting your vote in this election. I am asking you, as another human being whose existence slanders Islam and its prophet by the mere act of not accepting him as a prophet of our mutual God, to reconsider your support for Barack Obama.
I am asking you to question the validity of the future not belonging to someone based on someone else's opinions of how the future should discharge itself…ask yourself if there is a disquieting familiarity to the idea that perceived offense based on merely existing, is a justifiable reason for one group of people to take from another group any title to the future.
In that, I am not asking you to remember, I am merely asking you to not forget.
Israel is all of us, and we are all Jews in the eyes of the world's radical Islamists.
I am not asking you to vote for any particular candidate…I don't expect that from anyone, but I am asking you to stop, and wonder why President Obama sees the future as something that doesn't belong to you, and I for that matter.
I am asking that for the sake of all our future generations, that this year you consider casting your vote as an American who stands by our friends in Israel, just as they have stood by us for so long.
I am asking that you consider voting for anyone other than Barack Obama.
We have six days to stand up for Israel and for our mutual future, and we all know that six days is more than enough time to beat anyone threatening our future.
Whatever happens, no matter what happens, I will be your friend, and I'll stand with and by you.
I hope and pray that you choose to stand by me as I stand by Israel


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Sunday, December 14, 2008
Where did all the money go?
I've always thought of money as something that is "conserved" in the physics sense, like energy. Money in = money out + money stored. So when someone "loses" money it implies that someone else got it. If I run a company that loses money, what it means is that I'm getting less money in than I'm spending on staff and supplies. But the money hasn't disappeared, its just moved from my pockets to my suppliers (and their suppliers, and so on).
But the financial institutions seem to have had billions of dollars disappear into thin air. They got poorer, sometimes so poor that they went bust, but nobody seems to have become correspondingly richer.
I guess this has something to do with fractional reserve banking, which I know doesn't conserve money. Suppose I start with £1000 and put it in a bank. The bank shows a balance of £1000, but it doesn't just hang on to my money, it loans £500 of it to Joe Bloggs, who spends it on a new TV, and the person who sold the TV also puts the money in the bank. So now the bank has $1,500 on deposit even though our imaginary economy just started with £1,000. So what happens if Joe can't pay the money back?
Can someone enlighten me?
14 comments:
- Fred said...
Actually it loans out much more than $1000, rather $9000, on the assumption that most of the time these loans will get repaid. Now you can imagine what happens if not enough people pay back :) And you can also see of how sustainable the whole scheme is...
- December 14, 2008 at 1:28 PM
The money went to the people who *sold* overpriced houses.
- December 14, 2008 at 1:35 PM
- Ramas said...
This film Money as debt is quite enlightening.
- December 14, 2008 at 2:15 PM
The answer is that money isn't conserved. Money isn't a tangible good but an abstract representation of value, and values change over time. There are a couple examples of this. Say for instance the simple question "How much cash is in the economy?". The answer turns out to be cash*liquidity (the amount a given dollar changes hands). So if I buy my Starbucks, and the bartista gets a new perm, and the hair stylist buys concert tickets... there is a lot of money in the system. If on the other hand I put cash under my bed then that latte money is effectively taken out of the system. The banks right now are holding onto cash or using it for buyouts, consumers are worried, employers are doing layoffs so liquidity is really low right now.
Also how much is a company worth? The answer is usually estimated at ('current stock price'+'value of dividends'*'outstanding shares'). At any one time though only a small fraction of a company's shares are changing hands though. So last year your a billion dollar company based on a stock price of 100$ and this year your a 100 mil company based on a 10 stock price. And that may be based on only 1% of your stock ever changing hands. So the company lost 900 million because 1 million dollars worth of stock trading hands. The same principle goes for anything that can be traded from national currencies, to iron ore.
The third point is to realize that an extremely large amount of the 'money' in the economy is in the derivatives market. These are basically sophisticated bets and contracts based on the expected price of other commodities. When a car company goes south there are always factories, machines etc that can be sold. Derivatives are not backed by anything so they are literally worthless if things don't go as expected.
This isn't to say that there are not winners in this economy. A few people saw this coming and short-sold the market and making lot of money on falling prices (they keep pretty quiet about it). Also because of the trade deficit and outsourcing laws a lot of dollars are parked in India, China, and Sandia Arabia.
- December 14, 2008 at 6:40 PM
- Matt Hellige said...
I second the recommendation of "Money as Debt", although you should be aware that it's produced by monetary reform people, and so is not exactly unbiased. (Which is fine, as long as you're aware of it.)
Another good place to start is to contemplate the difference between M3 and M0 money, and the change in the ratio over time. Wikipedia has some decent charts.
- December 14, 2008 at 8:45 PM
- David Hillary said...
Money is the measure of wealth, and this credit crisis and bear market housing market crash etc, is a loss of wealth. The loss of wealth is showing up in households going broke, losing their homes, investors share portfolios going down in value, and banks writing down the value of some of their loans.
The banking system *issues* money, i.e. demand deposits and bank notes, and the stock of money is therefore at least somewhat elastic: if people want to hold wealth in the form of money, the banking system can issue it and hold other forms of wealth such as loans. If people do not want to hold money, they can hold bonds or loans or land or buildings instead, and the banking system sells assets to redeem the money issued. Metallic money is not issued but *minted* (i.e. manufactured) and in a closed economy, the stock of metallic money is pretty much fixed in the short run, and the banking system can't make anymore of the stuff.
- December 14, 2008 at 9:08 PM
Yet Another Recommendation for Money as Debt:
- December 14, 2008 at 9:28 PM
- Barry Kelly said...
Currency, in general, is conserved, but while currency is money, not all money is currency.
Money is whatever two actors are willing to use as part of a value exchange.
For example, most people think of their current bank balances as reserves of money, even though they are almost certainly aware that the bank doesn't literally just keep the currency equivalent in a vault.
Effectively what has happened over the housing run-up is a time-based transfer of money. Money was "cheap", i.e. getting loans to build houses was easy. Now, when money is more expensive, and rates are rising, foreclosures are increasing, and bank reserves need to be increased, what we are effectively doing is paying now for all that excess housing earlier.
Oh, and don't put much credence into the Money as Debt folks. Some of their facts are correct, but the solutions they infer would cast us back into the middle ages, being deeply inefficient etc.
Oh, and gold as a backer of currency isn't much different from government as a backer of currency - i.e. fiat currency - because there's nothing to stop the government from breaking the link again, so you're still dependent on government trust. And besides, that's just currency, not money.
- December 15, 2008 at 1:37 AM
- Antti-Juhani Kaijanaho said...
It's like Fred says.
Money is created by the fiat of the government: the central bank can increase the money supply by "printing money" (actually, printing doesn't come into it, but it's a useful shorthand) and buying securities with it, and it can also destroy money by selling its securities (and "burning" the money). In the long term, the money supply should expand at the same speed as the economy, so that prices would stay stable (on average). If the money supply expands faster than the economy, inflation (increase in the general price level) occurs, and if the money supply grows slower than the economy, deflation (decrease in general price level) happens – but this happens only in the medium to long term.
Money is also created by the fractional-reserve banking system, in which your checking account balance is (mostly) loaned out but you still have the right to withdraw it at will – thus, your checking account balance exists (almost) twice, as you have it and also the loanee has it. The minimum reserve requirement set by the government limits this kind of money multiplication, since banks cannot loan out everything, they are required to have some reserves.
Of course, the fractional reserve system works only so long as most people believe that they'll be able to withdraw their balance at will but do not actually do it. A "bank run" happens when people lose faith in a bank and everybody wants to withdraw all their balance RIGHT NOW – of course, since most of it is loaned out, the bank collapses. The other thing that can ruin a bank is if too many of its debtors default – the effect is not as dramatic as in a bank run, but it can trigger one.
(An even more dangerous than bank run is if the government decides to finance its expenditure by printing money. The effect is hyperinflation – prices rise very fast, and the public loses all faith in the currency. I believe Zimbabwe is currently experiencing hyperinflation, and one of the most famous cases in history happened in Germany in the 1930s.)
The global economy has been recently on the brink of massive bank runs, which ultimately go back to the unexpectedly many defaults of the subprime loaners. The bank runs have been mostly averted by the governments printing money and loaning it out to the suffering banks (which allows them to actually give money to those who want to withdraw more than usual) – since the money is mostly loaned to the banks, not gifted, this does not immediately create a hyperinflation threat.
- December 15, 2008 at 1:47 AM
- Antti-Juhani Kaijanaho said...
Oh, another thing:
Once a bank collapses, the money it has "duplicated" goes away, contracting the overall money supply. Some economists believe that this is one of the fundamental reasons for the US Great Depression in the early 1930s. Thus, governments try very hard nowadays to avoid widespread bank collapses (and where that doesn't work, the whole country is in trouble – have a look at Iceland).
- December 15, 2008 at 1:55 AM
- Magnus said...
If this is the kind of thing you're interested in you might find NPR's Money Podcast of interest: http://www.npr.org/rss/podcast/podcast_detail.php?siteId=94411890
- December 15, 2008 at 5:56 AM
- nick said...
This is a really great movie exactly on the topic of money, the fractional reserve, programmed inflation and manipulated economic crisis: zeitgeist addendum
- December 15, 2008 at 9:21 AM
In 1637, tulip bulbs were selling for more than 20 time what a skilled craftsman could earn in a year. The tulip market eventually collapsed, ruining the economy in the process. Where did the money go? Money is belief. When the belief goes away so does the money.
If you want to look at it in terms of conservarion, the conserved items are human input and human output. Money is just the measure whereby voting gets done on how the human input gets spent. It is self relative. Cutting the total amount of money in half or doubling it essentially changes nothing. This is why arbitrarily printing more money never works.
What really happens in a bubble is that people over vote certain items. These items then get produced excessively at the expense of other ones (this is nessesary due to the conservation of human input/output).
This is exacerbated by the fact that goods can be stored and consumed later, something that delays the feedback between the voting and the impact of that voting. There can be significant (incorrect) redistribution of human labour before the the reserves get drained and the impact is felt.
To make this even worse is that human input/output can not been instantaneously switched between items. A lot of potential human input ends up idling for awhile during the subsequent correction to human labour distribution. This further restricting the actual goods people want being produced.
- December 15, 2008 at 7:18 PM
- Thiago Arrais said...
In this case didn't the TV seller get richer while the bank got poorer?
- December 16, 2008 at 12:22 PM


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St. Nicholas Day with the Federal President
Working as a press officer in the Holy See. One highlight: St. Nicholas Day with the Federal President.
Anne-Sophie Legge is press and cultural affairs officer at the German Embassy to the Holy See. Federal President Gauck paid a visit on 6 December.
"Holy Father, it is a great pleasure to be here today. I come as the Federal President to greet a fellow countryman and, above all, as an individual and Christian." With these words, Federal President Joachim Gauck greeted Pope Benedict XVI in front of his private library in the Apostolic Palace on 6 December. A moving moment which I had the honour to witness along with a few select journalists.
Available to journalists at all times
Together with the Press and Information Office of the Federal Government, I was responsible for liaising with the media during the visit. We ensured that the press programme went off smoothly and that last-minute requests could be taken on board. The journalists accompanying the Federal President had many questions, too. They wanted to know about the current situation in the Holy See, learn more about the history of the Campo Santo or find out where they could pop in to buy a rosary for their grandmothers in the evening.
Time flew during Joachim Gauck's stay in the Vatican, which lasted less than 24 hours: a private audience with the Pope, brief talks with Vatican State Secretary Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, lunch with senior Vatican dignitaries at the German Ambassador's residence and a visit to the German seminary, Campo Santo Teutonico.
Detailed planning …
I was quite excited ahead of the Federal President's arrival. He was finally coming! After all, the preparation in the Embassy had gone on for weeks. Everything had to be planned in minute detail. How and where did which journalists accompanying the Federal President have to be accredited to the Vatican? How could local German correspondents be included? Who was permitted to be present at the photocall during the audience with the Pope? Where in front of St. Peter's Square did the police have to cordon off an area for the press statement after the audience?
... and something unexpected always happens
Up until the end, there were repeated programme changes or something unexpected cropped up. For example, the call from the hotel in which the briefing with the Federal President was to take place on the eve of the audience. The room next to the one approved by an entire team from the Federal Foreign Office Protocol Division, the Office of the Federal President and the Press and Information Office of the Federal Government during a preparatory visit had been hired by a large group for a Christmas party which was set to take place at the same time. They had booked the adjacent room and the whole of the lounge until late into the night. I had horrifying visions of the Federal President contemplating a particularly serious issue and, instead of his answer, all that can be heard is a loud "bingo" from the adjoining room. A new room had to be found.
There are sure to be other visitors
In the end, all members of the Embassy were pleased that the visit had gone off well. "Until the next time," said the airport staff as the Federal President's aircraft took off and the red carpet was rolled back up. They were right, for many Germans want to visit the Pope. The next delegation will almost certainly be on its way soon.


text:
By Quentin Fottrell
Many parents remain reluctant to buy their children e-books, preferring the prospect of a few crinkled pages to that of a cracked iPad screen. But that is rapidly changing.
Though picture books didn't translate well to the black-and-white screens of the original e-readers, beloved titles like "The Cat in the Hat" now have their own iPad apps. Indeed, publishing revenue in the juvenile e-book category, which tracks books for children up to 18 years of age, jumped 233% to $64 million in the first quarter of 2012. "It's the fastest growing category in trade," says Andi Sporkin, a spokeswoman for the Association of American Publishers.
Nearly 50% of U.K. parents say giving their kids access to e-readers or tablets encourages them to read, according to a survey carried out by Ipsos Mori market research and The Reading Agency, a U.K.-based literacy charity. What's more, 42% of parents polled said they'd also bought their children a children's e-reader or else let them read their own iPad or Kindle. "Our research also shows that tablets are used by all members of the family, including children," says Jo Henry, director of Providence, New Jersey-based Bowker Market Research.
Tech-savvy younger children are adapting to e-books even faster than their older siblings, e-publishers say. Children aged 7 to 12 think of e-books like toys and find them "fun and cool," while teenagers are more interested in print versions, according to a recent survey of 1,000 tweens and 1,000 teenagers by Bowker Market Research. That age group has never known a world without e-books, says A.J. McDonald, a spokesman for e-publisher Lulu. "They are raised in an environment with computers, phones, and iPads," he says.
Publishers are churning out thousands of kids e-books that cost less than print versions. The average price of a children's e-book is $4.57 versus $10.22 for a hardback and $8.29 for a paperback, according to Bowker Market Research. Collectively, Apple, Barnes and Noble and Amazon have thousands of children's e-books. Among them are interactive reboots of old classics: An app version of Thomas Wharton's "Hildegard Sings" ($3.99) "Pop Out! The Tale of Peter Rabbit," ($4.99) an e-book version of the Beatrix Potter series.
Experts say younger children like the graphics and color of e-readers, as well as the option to hear the book read aloud even when a parent is unavailable. Children's books were not conducive to e-readers, but the release of the Kindle Fire and Nook Color last year helped change that, says Mark Coker, founder of e-book distributor Smashwords.com. "An interactive device is more exciting to children than a block of pulped and pressed paper," he says. "That's why children's e-books are suddenly becoming popular."
Also read:
- Harry Potter's Latest Magic Trick: Lower E-Book Prices
- Why Facebook Wants To Friend Your Tween


text:
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text:
First off, I just wanted to say thank you for reading the Q & A's over this past year. I've received an incredible amount of responses since this blog started in June. We have had quite a lot of you post comments as well as ask more great questions. For the remainder of the year, I would like to ask all of you just a few questions so we as a company can help better serve you.
The Pond Guy wants to ask you a question!
As the season comes to a close and our ponds go into "winter mode", I wanted to ask you your thoughts on our Q & A's over this past year:
1.) Have the Q & A's been helpful to you?
2.) Should we continue them for next year?
3.) What do you like or dislike about the Q & A?
I am looking forward to hearing your comments. Please post any of your thoughts on this blog post. Thanks again!
Filed under: Pond & Lake, Water Gardens & Features | Tagged: feed back, Q & A blog, the pond guy |


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