Are studies created or discovered?
There is no such word as a blunder in blitz.
The last few years have seen a couple of Canberra schools take an end of year chess tour to the ChessKids National Schools Finals and the Australian Schools Teams Championship (ASTC). This year Curtin Primary School had teams in the Primary and Primary Girls Finals, with the Curtin Girls Team continuing on to the ASTC Finals in Perth.
In the ChessKids event the Curtin Girls finished runner up behind Doncaster Gardens Primary. Emma Dunstone and Lucy Sugerman both scored 5/7 for Curtin, with Emma picking up the Bronze medal on tie break. In the Primary Open Michael Kethro, representing the Curtin Open team picked up the Gold for best individual performance with 6.5/7, beating out Ari Dale on tie break.
Full results from all the sections are at the ChessKids website.
A while ago I saw part of a discussion on using computers to compose problems and studies. While I didn't read the whole discussion, and indeed I've now forgotten where I read it, there was one point I found interesting. It was the suggestion that studies aren't composed, as all possible chess positions already exist. Instead all that happens is that the correct evaluation of an existing position is found.
While this seems to have an undeniable logic about it, it of course doesn't explain why some problems are more highly regarded than others. This is because while all positions may exists, some positions are more interesting than others. As an example compare the following study by Grigoriev against the well known position of wKe6,wPe5,bKe8. While both have the same evaluation (White wins), the Grigoriev position poses a greater challenge.
The 2010 ACT Junior Chess League Transfer tournament was won by brother and sister team of Megan and Allen Setiabudi. They scored an impressive 10/11 to finish a point ahead of Harry Press/James Ashton, and Joshua Bishop/Matthew Bennett. I teamed up with O2C Doeberl Cup organiser Charles Bishop to form the only all Adult team in the event, and we managed to finish in 4th place on 8/11. Funnily enough we each had a child in the teams that finished just ahead of us, so that is an achievement of one sort.
The event was a 'fun' event and was played in good spirit. We were the victims of a little bit of Transfer skulduggery when in one game Charles's opponent helpfully reminded him he hadn't pressed his clock. When Charles pressed his clock the same opponent then helpfully pointed out he had left his king in check and claimed the game. "Just part of transfer" was my comment to Charles after the game.
Once again it was a popular event with 32 teams (64 players) taking part, including a number of new teams. At the end of the event the participants were rewarded with a big pizza dinner and I suspect their may be a number of kids looking to take a day off school tomorrow as a result!
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Nc3?! Nxe4 is one of the openings that on one hand is considered dubious (for White) and yet I have a very poor score against. I've lost games in Olympiads, drawn games from advantageous positions, and I was once even mated in under 10 moves! So when I do win from this position I now feel quite pleased.
The above quote appeared in the November issue of the British Chess Magazine and was part of an interview that Anatoly Karpov had given concerning the 2010 FIDE elections. It is part of a larger explanation about why he failed in his election bid, and is part of the belief this loss was due to a betrayal by groups of countries. Of course the problem with the above quote is that most of it isn't true.
What Kaprov said concerning the New Zealand Chess Federation was refuted in the same issue of BCM. NZCF President Paul Spiller pointed out a number of errors in the statement, including the impossibility of Karpov speaking to him 2 days before the vote, simply because he was not in Khanty-Mansiysk .
As for the claims concerning the Papua New Guinea Chess Federation, they are also not true. While the Papua New Guinea Chess Federation held the proxy for New Zealand, our delegate voted as per the instructions of the NZCF, and significantly, these instructions had not been changed at any point before the Congress (as pointed out by Paul Spiller in BCM). He also stated that the PNGCF 'supported the other side', which is also not true. Although the FIDE elections were conducted as a secret ballot, and Karpov would have absolutely no idea who voted for who, unless he was told by the delegate/federation concerned, by simply checking with the PNGCF, we would have happily told him that we in fact abstained, and voted for neither candidate. This fact was known to members of his campaign team prior to the election, and I certainly made no secret of it after the ballot either.
Ideally in this post I would be able to quote a Karpov apology after I had explained to him the facts of the matter, however he is a hard man to catch. The closest I got was via some helpful ex-members of his campaign team. Unfortunately they have found it just as difficult to contact him over this matter and so I have no idea if he even knows what he said was untrue. Ironically later in the interview he said "It is important that people know the truth about what happened." As it turns out, the interview probably wasn't that helpful for any future campaign (and not just for the untrue things said), but for Karpov it ultimately may not matter. The word from inside the camp is that Karpov is done with FIDE politics and won't be making a run in 2014.
The annual ACT Junior Chess League Transfer tournament is being held this Sunday (28th November) at Campbell High School, Trealor Cres, Ainslie, ACT. Registrations start at 12:45 and entry is $10 per player. Although Transfer is a partnership game, don't worry if you don't have a partner as there will be plenty of teams put together on the spot. If you need a refresher on the rules, the this post on my Chess Rules blog should bring you up to speed.
This is always a popular event, and most importantly, is not restricted to juniors. Any one can play, and there are usually a large number of adults who take part. In fact last year I suggested that this tournament is a de-facto Australian Transfer Championship, and as no one challenged this claim, I am happy to make it again this year! So as they say, "come on, if you're hard enough".
While it is still 5 months away, the 2011 O2C Doeberl Cup is now accepting entries. The website for next years tournament is up and running with all the details of the 4 main tournaments (plus the lightning event). The Premier is once again 9 round swiss with title norm opportunities, and a prize pool of $12,350. The Major (Under 2000) has a first prize of $1500 while the Minor (Under 1600) has a first prize of $750.
About 3 years ago I posted an article on this blog about the potential development of a real chess playing robot. In the article I suggested it might become a reality in 3 to 5 years time. This week there was the news of Vladimir Kramnik playing blitz against a robot, so it looks like it is getting closer.
However I say 'closer', as opposed to 'here', as the setup for the Kramnik game fell short of what I had envisaged. Based on the news report and pictures, it looks like the game was played on a DGT board against a robot arm. I'm guessing the board transmitted the moves to a computer running a chess program, and the computer then told the robotic arm controller the actions to take in reply. Visually impressive, but on one level, fairly simple (not saying I could have built such a system btw).
What I would like to see is (a) a system that can play on any kind of board using vision processing to determine the moves (b) a robotic arm to play the moves, press the clock, and set up the pieces for the next game and (c) be mobile so it isn't restricted to one specific location in a tournament. And for extra credit, a voice recognition and response system that allows the program to analyse at the end of the game.
Not much to ask for really, although my meagre attempts at part (a) haven't had good results so far.
In the Sunday morning round of the Vikings Weekender there was an interesting arrangement of players in the middle boards. Three ACT juniors, who had all started their chess careers at the host club, were seated at adjacent boards. While such an arrangement can sometimes cause difficulty for the Director of Play (certainly in less formal tournaments), the only trouble they caused was for their opponents. Each game was heavy on tactics, and each game finished reasonably quickly.
The 2010 Vikings Weekender turned into a real battle, with the top 4 seeds fighting to catch up with day 1 leaders Andrey Bliznyuk and Blair Mandla.
In the first round of the day Bliznyuk defeated Mandla to take the sole lead with 5/5. Round 6 saw Bliznyuk maintain his lead with a win over Anton Smirnov. The win also guaranteed Bliznyuk a share of first place as he was now a full point ahead of the the chasing pack. Going into the last round Bliznyuk faced Endre Ambrus, who despite winning all his games up until this point, had also taken 2 half point byes, putting him on 5/6. Ambrus continued his winning run, defeating Bliznyuk with a succession of nice tactics, leaving them sharing first on 6/7. Blair Mandla had a chance to catch them but could only draw with Vladimir Smirnov to finish half a point back. Also tying for third were Junta Ikeda who scored 3/3 on the second day, and Alan Setiabudi, who went through the event undefeated.
Full results and prize winners are available at the Vikings Chess Club webpage.
A healthy field of 55 players fronted up fir the 2010 Vikings Weekender in Canberra. There were a couple of last minute withdrawals amongst the older junior players (due to the pressures of schoolwork) but it was a strong field nonetheless.
For the first time the tournament added an extra Saturday round (4 today, 3 tomorrow) as the feeling was that 6 rounds wasn't enough to sort the field. However there were a number of players who took half point byes for the evening round, including a couple of the top seeds. As it turns out this was a smart move on their part as round 4 saw a number of significant upsets.
After 4 rounds the only players on 4/4 are Blair Mandla and Andrey Bliznyuk. Bliznyuk defeated top seed Max Illingworth, while Mandla won over second seed Junta Ikeda. Tied for third are Vladimir Smirnov and Endre Ambrus (who both missed round 4) and Allen Setiabudi (who drew with Ikeda in round 3).
A full crosstable of the event is available in the comments section.
American GM and author Larry Evans passed away a few days ago. While not so well known to the latest generation of chess players, he was a notable figure as a play in the years after the Second World War, before achieving more fame as Bobby Fischer's collaborator (he wrote the intro's to 60 Memorable Games) and second. In later he years he also filled the job as the protector of Fischer's legacy, going so far as to keep fighting the battles Fischer left behind in retirement.
As an author his best work was probably "New Ideas in Chess", first published in 1958. A manual on positional chess, it is a book that would help almost any player, regardless of strength. He was also a long time columnist for Chess Life, providing both tips to improving players, and his take on the world of chess politics.
A full obituary appears on the Chessbase website.
The following miniature was played at the Belconnen Chess Club this evening. Black lost a pawn due to the 'breaking a pin with check' trick, but tried to hang on by starting a kamikaze run with his king. It didn't survive long. At the completion of the game White demonstrated one cute variation where the Black king makes it all the way to the end of the board before being checkmated by castling. I've included the variation on the notes.
The title of this post comes from a comment on the Chessvibes site concerning the current World Blitz Championship. Certainly at the top level, you might see less blunders than your run of the mill blitz event, but of course the quote is referring to the fact that blitz is pretty much "anything goes".
This hasn't stopped Carlsen and Aronian putting there stamp on the event, scoring 10/14 at the end of the first day. The other big talking point (at least amongst the chattering classes on Chessvibes) is the performance of Hikaru Nakamura. Having held the top spot on ICC in Blitz for a number of years he was considered one of the favourites, but a horrible 1/5 start left him in the middle of the field at the end of day 1.
Results from this 3 day event can be found here. There is also live coverage of the games, but given the time limit 3m+2s, it is kind of hard to follow everything at once!
The other day I was annotating a game for the upcoming issue of Australian Correspondence Chess Quarterly. The game started with Botvinnik Gambit in the Semi-Slav, and given how well known (and often played) this line is, it was hardly surprising I found the first 15 moves pretty familiar (especially as it involves a queen sac by White). In fact I even played the black side of the position back in 1995, and suffered the fate of most players with the black pieces (ie I lost). Doing a bit of digging to see how far back this specific line goes I was surprised that it was first played in 1959. Previously I had been aware of Hollis v Baumbach 1976 (via Jon Speelman's "Best Chess Games 1970-80"), and indeed Speelman himself believed the queen sac was a creation of Hollis', but it seems that it had been played at least 3 times previously.
Here is the original game, which actually ends in a win for Black. Since then however the scales are firmly tipped in favour of White, including the upcoming game in ACCQ.
I've commented on the unfairness of simul coverage previously, where no matter how well the simul giver plays, it is the games they lose that get published (unless you are Alekhine of course). So to balance the equation here is a quick win by GM Ian Rogers from the simul against the leading ACT Juniors. However the identity of Ian's opponent is disguised as the traditional A.N. Other, mainly because he was the +1 board at the simul. (ie he wasn't a junior but a later ring in). At the completion of the game there was a thought he may have resigned a little to early, but it turns out he was dropping material no matter how he played it.
I've also added some pictures from yesterdays simul to my photo collection. Just click the My Chess Photos link on the left of this blog.
The ACT Junior Chess League organisers quite a lot of chess activities for its members. Apart from tournaments and schools chess events, it runs a development program fro junior players. The culmination of this coaching program is the Grandmaster Coaching Weekend. This year GM Ian Rogers (along with FM Junta Ikeda and FM Endre Ambrus) took 3 groups of junior players and taught them a number of important (and interesting) ways of becoming stronger chess players.
On the last afternoon of the weekend Ian then gave a simul, both to the kids in the GM groups as well as the other development squad students. The simul was over 33(+1) boards and kept Ian, and his students occupied for the good part of three and a half hours. While Ian received a stern test from quite a number of players, he showed his skill as player hasn't been diminished by retirement, scoring 33 wins and 1 loss. The loss was to Joshua Bishop, who is making a habit of picking up GM scalps in simuls, having defeated GM David Smerdon earlier this year. Book prizes for the simul also went to Wenlin Yin (who unfortunately missed a winning line in his game) and Harry Press (the final game to finish).
The British teams competition, the 4NCL started the 2010/2011 season last weekend. I'm a keen watcher of this series, in part because a number of people I know take part in the competition. For example, the White Rose team is managed by my PNG team mate Rupert Jones, and they have got off to a good start over the first 2 rounds. After narrowly defeating the e2e4 team (which they slightly outrated), they scored a bigger victory (and a big upset) by winning 5.5-2.5 against Guildford A&DC, who outrated them by an average of 126 points across the 8 boards. So White Rose share joint first in their division and once again have good chances of qualifying for th European Club Championships again.
Only a week to go before the third of the Canberra chess weekenders, the Vikings Weekender. While it has always been considered the smallest of the three (the O2C Doeberl Cup and the ANU Open being the other 2), the last few years have seen fields of 60+ take part, which isn't too shabby. As a result of the good numbers in the last couple of years (plus some extra sponsorship), there has been an increase in the prize fund.
Already this years event is looking stronger as well, with 5 players (Illingworth, Ikeda, Smirnov, Ambrus and Brown) rated over 2100. Of course there will also be a number of up and coming Canberra players in the field (and not just juniors) so this may be the most wide open tournament for years.
You can enter online here (register early and pay on the day, there is no late fee!) and see the tournament brochure here.
The so called 'Sofia' or 'Corsica' rules concerning draw offers have become so widespread in top level tournaments that it is more of a surprise when they are not in effect (eg at the 2010 Olympiad). However one thing I have noticed is that the enforcement of the rules tend not to be black and white, with 'entertaining' repetitions, and shortish games late in a tournament tending to slip by.
When I saw the results from the last couple of rounds of the Tal memorial (9 draws in 10 games), I figured that the organisers had had their pound of flesh and were showing some mercy to the players. Of course this wasn't the case, as most of the games were played to 'exhaustion' or in the case of the game below, ending with a creative perpetual.
If you do take the time to play through this game, the fun stuff starts on move 21, although the computer evaluation quickly hits zero, as the best lines are indeed drawing ones.
Details of the 2010 Womens World Championship have been announced, including the pairings for the tournament. The event is a 64 player knockout, running from the 2nd to the 25th of December. Arianne Caoili is the representative from Oceania (after winning last years Oceania Zonal) but looks to have a tough time of, being seeded 55th and therefore getting a tough first (and subsequent) round pairing.
If you wish to follow this event, then here is the official website.
Looking for an unsound 'hack' line against the Dutch. The Staunton Gambit with 4.g4 might just be the thing. Based on the game given below, Black can quickly find him or herself in a pile of trouble, with White steaming through the centre. However, as I said in the first sentence, it seems to be unsound. Black scores quite well against it in practice (with 4. ... h6 being the recommended move), although thus hasn't GM's like Bronstein or Conquest from wheeling it out. So if you are looking to play exciting chess, give it a go, but if winning is your thing, then it might be better to pass.
The 2010 Fisher's Ghost weekender attracted a good field of 46 players. A number of players traveled up from Canberra (only 2 hours on the freeway), and by all reports did quite well.
Outright first was taken by IM George Xie (6.5/7) with Max Illingworth, Vladimir Smirnov, and Angelito Camer a point back in second place.
I'm not sure what the minor placings were, but Nick Beare picked up a rating prize, while Glenn Ingham had the pleasure of winning the following game against a much higher rated opponent.
The caravan moves on, with the latest stop the Tal Memorial in Moscow. However it is an almost complete change of cast, with only Kramnik backing up from Nanjing. Nonetheless it is once again an incredibly strong event.
Unlike the smaller double round robins where players tend to be a little conservative, this 10 player single round robin got of to a fighting start with 4 decisive games in the first round. The second round was a little quieter (only 2 wins), with 5 players sharing first place. There is live coverage starting at 11pm Canberra time, but as the official website is in Russian, a direct link to the games is here.
One of the criticisms of faster tournament time limits is that it doesn't allow players to play complex endings. While this is certainly true, I always felt it did reward players who knew their endgame technique. For example, a lot of Australian weekend events are played with a G60m+10s time limit, and a player who knew how to play "technical" endings could really clean up.
Today I saw a number of endings that fell into the category of "technical endings". They were all rook and pawn endings, they were all against the same player, they were all better for the players concerned, and the net score was 0.5/3. Granted the defending player made the task as difficult as possible, but he should have dropped at least 2.5 points.
The most amusing example is shown in the diagram. It is White's move and moving the rook along the rank (except to a7 or h7) is enough to win. However the game went 1.Kh5? Rh1+ 2.Kg6?? (not seeing the danger) 2. ... Rxh6+ Draw agreed. Interestingly White had demonstrated good technique to get to this position, but fell at the final hurdle.
Via Chessbase comes the news that Magnus Carlsen has decided to drop out of the current World Championship Cycle. In an open letter to FIDE Carlsen lists a number of objections to the current world championship format, some to do with the current cycle, but some of a more 'historical' nature.
One of his major objections is that the reigning world champion gets a free ride to the championship match, and draws comparisons to the football World Cup, where the reigning champion has to qualify for the final like everyone else. His proposal (for the next cycle) is to have an 8-10 player tournament to decide the World Champion.
It will be interesting to see what the other leading players make of all this. I suspect he won't find much support (either with the top players to the general public), as historically chess has been a sport where you have to beat the champion to become the champion. That is not to say the current system is perfect, but the overall framework (Candidate matches with a matchplay final) is generally accepted as a good system, it is just the mechanics that need improvement.
I'm hardly a 'power user' of Chessbase, so there are a lot of features that it has that I have yet to discover. In fact I'm still using Chessbase Light, although I've at least upgraded to the premium version.
But every now and then I poke around looking for a new feature that might be useful. For the Olympiad I discovered "Prepare against White/Black" under the Players tab, although in the end it did me little good. I might have been better to use the "Dossier" function under the same section, as this provides slightly more useful information.
Testing this feature on my own I games I discovered a couple of interesting things.Firstly Chessbase is missing a large set of my games, although this isn't a bad thing. Secondly there are a couple of openings I do really badly against, although what they are will remain unpublished for the moment. And thirdly there are a couple of players I have a horrible score against.
Due to the incomplete record it actually understates how badly I've done against certain players. For example it says I am -3 against Ian Rout (over 5 games) when I'm pretty sure it would be about -10 over 15 games (including yet another loss last week!). I suspect this poor score against Ian also impacts on my poor score in certain openings, so to balance the ledger I'll show a game from an opening where I actually score well (75%!), and coincidently, where I actually won against Mr Rout.
From a 10s per move finish to a game played at the ANU Chess Club this evening.
First question: What should the result be? Second question: Does it depend on whether it is whites move or blacks?
The final of the Cape d'Agde tournament saw a remarkable showdown between Vasily Ivanchuk and Hikaru Nakamura. In the first game of their 2 game match, Ivanchuk decided to play the Kings Gambit, and managed to win after Nakamura declined to take the pawn. Then needing to win the second game, Nakamura decided to also play the Kings Gambit. In this case Ivanchuk did take the pawn, and held on to draw the game, and win the match.
While I'll include the first game below, it is better to go an watch the video of the final at www.blip.tv, especially to see the body language of both players as their opponent s-l-o-w-l-y pushed the f pawn forward 2 squares!
As I've mentioned on this blog previously, I've always thought that Emanuel Lasker was a vastly underrated figure in the court of public opinion. I would certainly have him in my top 5 of all time great chess players, and not just at number 5 either. I've heard various reasons for his lack of recognition, including the fact he established no school or style, and that he didn't write much (but neither did Capablanca).
Now I'm not sure about the second reason, as I recently purchased a copy of "Lasker's Manual of Chess". According to the preface it was originally published in 1925, and is what I would term an 'old fashioned' chess text book, covering the entire chess spectrum, including how the pieces move, opening theory, how to play end games, and pretty much everything else in between. I suspect in those days the idea was to try and produce "The" chess book, rather than specialise.
While the book is full of a number of interesting games (from Lasker and others) I've instead dug up what is possibly Lasker's last victory (at least in a published game). It is against Ossip Bernstein and was played in New York in 1940.


I have been on the diet for three weeks. this past week has been my birthday, so got off a little. but have lost NO weight. Am I usual and is it harder to lose at my age?
Yes. Due to increasing age, and decreasing activity often due to aging, our metabolism becomes a bit lower every year, which means that in order to even stay the same weight, we need to take in a bit less food every year. For most weight-challenged older people, it is a chore to keep from gaining weight, and losing weight becomes extraordinarily difficult.
I am 74 years old, and a lifetime dieter who has used computer food tracking daily for the past 15 years, so I have an enormous data base of my own calorie records. My personal example: During 16 months of dieting around 2005, I lost 75 pounds while eating an average of about 1230 calories per day. During the past 10 years, I've very slowly gained 20 pounds while eating an average of about 1000 calories per day. At present in order to Even Maintain my current 26 BMI, I now have to average no more than 900 calories per day.
No S is not a calorie counting diet, but I've found knowledge about calorie burn information helpful. There are many (mifflin) BMR charts online, but for your convenience, here is a link to one I often use. https://www.calculator.net/calorie-calculator.html IMPORTANT: the chart numbers show the "AVERAGE", it is common for weight-challenged people (such as me) to be up to 20% lower than the "Average" shown on the chart.
The good news is that, at least according to Valter Longo Phd, who's a longevity specialist, over 65 it is a good thing to be even obese. Maybe not morbidly obese, but I suspect that no morbidly obese even get to over 65 so that's a moot point.
It is a common assumption that there are very few morbidly obese people older than 65, but you might be surprised to learn how many "healthy" morbidly obese older people there are here in the world.
The anti-fat bias in our society often causes people to believe and state things that just aren't true. Around age 21 after the birth of my first child, I was morbidly obese without any health problems, I once had an obtrusive dentist tell me that I was far too fat and unless I lost weight I wouldn't live to see age 30. Interestingly enough, even though I yo-yo dieted throughout my life - and existed much of that time in severe obesity - I never developed any serious health problems, and in my late 40s, weighing 271 at a BMI of 52.9 I was STILL in good health when I chose to have a Gastric Bypass which was then (in 1992) still an experimental procedure. I did that because I wanted to stop being fat - It wasn't for health reasons, but in order to avoid the anti-fat bias of our society. I just got fed up with being treated the way that our society commonly treats people who are really, really fat. If you are interested in learning more details about my weight history etc, you can find it in the ABOUT ME section of my blog, DietHobby.
It is not uncommon for morbidly obese people to live into their 70s and 80s and beyond. Even I, personally, have seen quite a lot of morbidly obese people in their late 60s and 70s who appear to be functioning quite well for their age, and appear to be no worse off than their thinner counterparts.. and appear to be even better off than some of their thinner counterparts.
I am morbidly obese, so my comment had no anti-fat bias, be reassured. One of the beautiful benefits of this experience is that I feel great sympathy and tenderness for all my fellows fatties. And I don't have a shadow of sense of guilt or shame, I took good care of that.
Anyway, I can see what a stress this condition gives to my body and how limited is my ability to move, so I don't expect to live particularly long unless I lose weight. I am not condemning myself for it, there are many reasons why people may not make it beyond 65, some of those reasons being even sillier than eating, and it's ok. I do believe in reincarnation so for me it's not such a disaster in any case. It's like going to bed at night, if an evening I am tired early, no biggie.
If you were healthy at a BMI 52.9, well done. Also well done in losing all this weight.
I've read a fair amount of Longo's work and I'd be curious where he says it's okay to be obese, though I will say that he talks a lot more about modified fasting and the quality of the diet than about being thin. I actually wouldn't be surprised if he didn't think people do NOT need to be thin. He's from one of the Blue Zones, and from pictures I've seen of some of the older women there, they aren't necessarily very thin. I use his modified fasting protocol several times a year (not for weight loss) but will stop by the time I'm 70.
It can be pretty shocking how little food it takes to sustain the body. If you truly want or think you have to lose, you might have to be willing to eat a lot smaller or fewer meals. Only you can know if that's worth it to you.
VL says quite clearly in his book on longevity that old people shouldn't strive to be thin, but I heard the comment on them fairing better when "obese" in an interview and maybe that was just for emphasis. He mainly encourages eating more proteins, over 65, to overcome the increased fragility that comes with age (ayurveda would put it as vata aggravation, and gives recommendations that may be interesting too), and so he suggests to add eggs and goat cheese to the pescatarian diet. He mentions the centenaries from Sardinia ( a blue point), who eat pecorino in old age.
When I read it, it got my attention because, as I'm 55 and very overweight, it will likely take quite some time for me to be thin again, and so I thought: fantastic, well that is so typical, by the time I manage to be thin again it will actually be recommended that I gain weight.
Anyway VL is just one guy and we all better do what feels best for us, I mostly mentioned him because it's an unusual position and he's a specialist of longevity so not too random. My mom is 85 and definitely on the thin side (BMI around 18) and she's healthier than me. They told her she has bones of a 60 yo. And she wouldn't want to gain weight if the world ended for this.
Btw Oolala I am doing a monthly 5-days fast (not the mimicking thing because I find water fast just more practical). Or mostly planning to, my second one is starting tomorrow. I would love to know more about your experience with it!
and so I thought: fantastic, well that is so typical, by the time I manage to be thin again it will actually be recommended that I gain weight.
oh my gosh you are hilarious Margot. Love having you on this forum.
Thank you Auto, what a really nice thing to say! glad to be here in such great company.
Have to agree with Auto, you are a welcome addition on here. From what I'm reading, you must be doing something right as to your health.
Wow thank you so much, that's very encouraging!


If I can't see their posts, how can I be outraged by them? At least 50% of the internets is fueled by being offended, I hear.
madbean wrote: If I can't see their posts, how can I be outraged by them? At least 50% of the internets is fueled by being offended, I hear.


A parole letter is a type of letter that is written by a person who is currently incarcerated or by his or her closest supporters. The purpose of a parole letter is to attest to the current character of an offender in hopes of being released early by a parole board.
A parole letter will include a history of conduct during incarceration as well as plans for the future. It will be read by a parole board who has the authority to grant or deny parole so it should be written with care.
The second paragraph should describe the crime and the role that the offender played in taking part in it. It should have a good amount of detail so that the parole board sees that the offender is taking responsibility for the offense.
In addition, this is not an area to complain about the sentence or role that an attorney played. If alcohol or drugs were a part of the reason why an offender committed the crime, they should just state that they were drunk or high and avoid placing the blame on these substances.
The third paragraph should include an expression of remorse for committing the crime and hurting another party. An offender should express their true feelings regarding the pain they have caused for the victim and their loved ones.
The fourth paragraph should describe the steps taken by an offender to reform themselves. These should be specific items such as earning a degree, working with a mentor or finding spiritual guidance. An offender can explain their situation when they first started their sentence and the progression of the steps that they took to better themselves.
In the fifth paragraph, specific steps should be listed as to how the offender will live once they are released. These could include having a support system, a job, a place to live and other positive aspects that help keep them crime free.


Goal 3 of the New Zealand Biodiversity Strategy aims to halt the decline of indigenous biodiversity by (a) maintaining and restoring a full range of habitats and ecosystems and (b) maintaining and restoring viable populations of all indigenous species and subspecies across their natural range and maintaining their genetic diversity. Meeting that goal requires knowledge about the extent and status of species, habitats and ecosystems across a range of scales, including how well the full range of ecosystems is represented within the national conservation network.
Goal 3 of the New Zealand Biodiversity Strategy1 aims to halt the decline of indigenous biodiversity by (a) maintaining and restoring a full range of habitats and ecosystems and (b) maintaining and restoring viable populations of all indigenous species and subspecies across their natural range and maintaining their genetic diversity. Meeting that goal requires knowledge about the extent and status of species, habitats and ecosystems across a range of scales, including how well the full range of ecosystems is represented within the national conservation network.
Landcare Research developed the Land Environments of New Zealand (LENZ) classification as a quantitative, multi-scale system to underpin ecosystem conservation and management. LENZ classifies New Zealand's terrestrial land environments based on their environmental similarity. Land environments serve as a simpler surrogate for more complex ecosystems for which we have incomplete information and provide a framework to help assess progress toward Goal 3.
The LENZ system consists of 15 underlying data layers on which the classification is based and 4 classification layers dividing New Zealand into 20, 100, 200, and 500 land environments. When coupled with other land information systems, especially the Land Cover Database (LCDB) and Protected Areas Network (PAN-NZ) database to generate the Threatened Environments classification, LENZ helps quantify: (a) condition of land environments, (b) ‘representativeness' within the protected areas network, and (c) susceptibility to future loss, primarily through land clearance. The LENZ underlying data layers also have a range of uses related to assessment of land suitability and economic potential.
An unexpected offshoot of LENZ has been the use of the underlying data layers to help evaluate the suitability of land for different uses11.
DOC's use of LENZ enables much more effective conservation outcomes to be achieved from ~$75m spent annually on protecting biodiversity. DOC spends about $187.5m annually on conservation, with about 40% of the expenditure focused primarily on biodiversity retention goals (T. Stephens, pers. comm.). Cost-effectiveness analysis has shown that the most cost-effective mix of projects produces cost:benefit gains of 1000-fold. DOC uses the LENZ classification to assess environmental representation - a key component of ecological integrity - in identifying the best mix of projects to maximise biodiversity outcomes.
LENZ is one of five ecological classifications used by MfE for national state of the environment reporting4, which forms the basis for international assessment (e.g. by the OECD) of New Zealand's environmental performance. Recognising that better prioritisation and national direction would help focus restoration and protection efforts, in 2003 MfE encouraged improved regional management of biodiversity by providing the LENZ data set (classification layers and underlying data layers) on CD to all regional and district councils in New Zealand to use in their biodiversity and conservation planning. In July 2009 MfE made LENZ more accessible and easier to use by making it available online12 with a Creative Commons attribution licence that allows the public to freely use, share and distribute the data.
Landcare Research's development of LENZ occurred in three phases. Foundational work took place as part of the FRST-funded Biodiversity Indicators Programme (1996-2000; $250,000 was allocated to LENZ) and regional trials funded by MfE. MfE also provided funding for the final classification (dataset, books, data CDs) (2000-2002, $900,000 in total). Uptake and maintenance from 2003 to the present was initially funded via sales of data CDs (~$10,000 to $150,000 per annum in revenue), aligned Capability Funding from MoRST, and a Terrestrial Freshwater Biodiversity Information Systems (TFBIS) project to co-fund regional workshops. Even if only the benefits quantified by the small sample of LENZ users interviewed for this case study are accounted for, the rate of return on the science investment easily exceeds 9% per annum.
Department of Conservation Statement of Intent 2009-2012.
http://www.doc.govt.nz/upload/documents/about-doc/role/policies-and-plans/statement-of-intent/statement-of-intent-(2009-2012).pdf . LENZ was used to assess environmental representation for the Department of Conservation´s Vital Sites Project. See Overton & Price, 2008.
Ministry for the Environment 2007. Environment New Zealand 2007.
Horizons One Plan. LENZ was used to identify and quantitatively classify habitat types to support policy frameworks developing around biodiversity (providing a crucial component of the policy framework) and underpin both the regulatory and non-regulatory methods for the implementation of the One Plan. In the work, LENZ was combined with other types of information, such as natural vegetation types, wetlands extent, and current land cover to assess areas of high priority for protection or restoration.
Ausseil A-G, Gerbeaux P, Chadderton WL, Stephens T, Brown D, Leathwick J 2008. Wetland ecosystems of national importance for biodiversity: Criteria, methods and candidate list of nationally important inland wetlands. Landcare Research Contract report LC0708/158. 174 p.
Landcare Research assessed the biodiversity outcomes of the High Country Tenure Review process for LINZ.
LENZ underlying data layers have contributed to land use suitability evaluations for Taupo, analyses for Taupo and the Waikato region and for creating land use suitability layers for the Waikato Region Integrated Spatial Decision Support System (www.creatingfutures.org.nz).
Ausseil A-G, Dymond J, Shepherd J 2007. Rapid mapping and prioritization of wetland sites in the Manawatu-Wanganui Region, New Zealand. Environmental Management 39: 316-325.
Leathwick J, Wilson G, Rutledge D, Wardle P, Morgan F, Johnston K, McLeod M, Kirkpatrick R. 2003a. Land environments of New Zealand - Nga Taiao o Aotearoa. Auckland, David Bateman. 184 p.
Leathwick J, Morgan F, Wilson G, Rutledge D, McLeod M, Johnston K 2003b. Land environments of New Zealand: A technical guide. Auckland, David Bateman. 237 p.
Overton JMcC, Price R 2008. Identifying vital sites to avert biodiversity loss in New Zealand. Landcare Research Contract Report LC0708/095 to the Department of Conservation.
Price R, Briggs C 2008. Threatened environments classification for the West Coast Region, New Zealand.
Rutledge D, Price R, Ausseil AG, Heke H 2004. National analysis of biodiversity protection and status: methods and summary results. Landcare Research Contract Report LC0405/042 prepared for the New Zealand Ministry for the Environment. 30 p.
Rutledge D, Briggs C, Price R, Ausseil AG, Belliss S, Morgan F 2005. LENZ regional workshops final report. Landcare Research Contract Report LC0405/126 prepared for the New Zealand Terrestrial and Freshwater Biodiversity Information System Programme (TFBIS). 22 p.
Rutledge D, Briggs C, Price R 2007. Condition and trends of terrestrial coastal environments. Landcare Research Contract Report LC0506/148 prepared for DOC. 67 p.
Walker S, Price R, Rutledge D, Stephens RTT, Lee WG 2006. Recent loss of indigenous cover in New Zealand. New Zealand Journal of Ecology 30: 169-177.
Walker S, Price R, Rutledge D 2008. New Zealand's remaining indigenous cover: recent changes and biodiversity protection needs. Science for Conservation 284. 82 p.


Can I expedite a passport if I'm replacing a limited passport?
Question: Hi, my passport is limited because I lost my previous two. I was told that the person in charge of renewing my passport would make the decision whether I am to be given another year-long passport or a full-validity one.
I'm contracted to work abroad (in China) for another year, and I need to extend my work visa, but my current passport expires in February next year. I'll be home in the US for about a month in July/August. I'm hoping to expedite my passport so I can get another work visa for China during that month so I can leave on my scheduled date. Is this possible?
Also, the visa I'm hoping to get requires 6 months validity for my passport, which I will have on my old one if I were to apply now. Would you recommend me getting my visa in my current passport before I renew it, or would renewing my passport invalidate that visa?
Answer: Yes, you can expedite the replacement of your limited-validity passport. There are a few ways to do this since you will be in the U.S. for a month.
You can request expedited service when you mail the completed application form and other required documentation to the address on the form. This method takes 2 to 3 weeks to get your application processed so it is probably not the best option given the fact you also need to obtain a visa.
Another option is to visit the nearest regional passport agency. You first need to schedule an appointment by calling 1-877-487-2778. You can get your passport replaced the same day using this method. To locate the agency nearest you, click the link below.
Finally, you can apply through a professional expediter if you cannot visit a regional agency in person. Expediters are registered with the regional agencies and have experience in obtaining passports quickly. To apply online for this service, click the link below.
Replacing your passport will not invalidate your visa. However, it would either require you to carry two passports (the old one with the visa and the new valid one) or apply for a request to have the visa transferred to your new passport. Applying for the China visa after you replace your passport would avoid this.
Note, professional expediters can obtain both your passport replacement and Chinese visa for you. The advantage is that you do not have to visit or send your documents to two different locations.


I am bored, let's speculate where do you see the story heading.

Spoilers: (Highlight to reveal)
With Brainiac Superman leading an army of Daxamites, Kryptonians and Czarnians, which can match the Lantern Corps, which heavy hitting races or individuals do you think we will see in Injustice 3?

Spoilers: (Highlight to reveal)
Lobo motivated by revenge, fights against the Czarnians or he could be released from Darkseid's torment to lead the war against the Regime.

Surely the rest of the Corps would react to the incoming threat: Larfleeze makes a deal with the remaining Guardians to claim some of Superman's "possessions" as spoils of war. The Sinestro Corps could have Mongul as an ally.

Green and White Martians could be the first victims of the Regime as they begin to conquer the universe starting with Mars; that way Martian Manhunter won't be neglected by DC.

Atlantis will fall in line with the Regime but Aqualad could go either way.

Superman hacks the Metal Men, Amazo and Red Tornado adding them to his neural network, since every game so far has had hacking scenes: the 1st being Evil Cyborg hacking Good Cyborg and the 2nd was the Brother Eye scene.

Despero did die in the comics but he could always revive himself and attack the regime with his army.

Flash might gather up speedsters to change the past with the help of the time traveler Booster Gold.

The Terminans and Icon might also be a possibility.
I am bored, let's speculate where do you see the story heading.
With Brainiac Superman leading an army of Daxamites, Kryptonians and Czarnians, which can match the Lantern Corps, which heavy hitting races or individuals do you think we will see in Injustice 3?
Lobo motivated by revenge, fights against the Czarnians or he could be released from Darkseid's torment to lead the war against the Regime.
Surely the rest of the Corps would react to the incoming threat: Larfleeze makes a deal with the remaining Guardians to claim some of Superman's "possessions" as spoils of war. The Sinestro Corps could have Mongul as an ally.
Green and White Martians could be the first victims of the Regime as they begin to conquer the universe starting with Mars; that way Martian Manhunter won't be neglected by DC.
Atlantis will fall in line with the Regime but Aqualad could go either way.
Superman hacks the Metal Men, Amazo and Red Tornado adding them to his neural network, since every game so far has had hacking scenes: the 1st being Evil Cyborg hacking Good Cyborg and the 2nd was the Brother Eye scene.
Despero did die in the comics but he could always revive himself and attack the regime with his army.
Flash might gather up speedsters to change the past with the help of the time traveler Booster Gold.
The Terminans and Icon might also be a possibility.


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The word "Witchcraft," for most, conjures mental images of pointed hats, broomsticks, and bubbling cauldrons filled with green goo. Witches are thought to be part of the past, and anyone who claims they are one must be delusional, right?
Witchcraft is not a religion.
It can be practiced in tandem with different religions, such as Christianity, Judaism, Hinduism, etc. Wicca is a particular branch of Witchcraft with its own religious tenets. Wicca is a form of Witchcraft, but not all Witchcraft is Wicca.
It's all about energies and nature.
The "magic" part of Witchcraft has less to do with shooting electricity from your fingertips than it does with being attuned to the energies of others, nature, objects, and yourself. One of the main beliefs in Witchcraft is that everything contains energy. For example, certain plants and crystals contain calming energies. These objects can be used to help calm someone if they find themselves in an especially anxious mood. The use and manipulation of energies is a central part of Witchcraft.
It is neither good nor bad, it just is.
The stereotype that Witchcraft is an "evil" or "satanic" practice is almost completely false. I say almost because each person's Craft is different than the next, meaning if one so chose they could limit their practice to negative or destructive Magick. The vast majority of Witchcraft is positive and used for self-improvement.
So, why has such a practice seen a resurgence in American within the last decade? In a society so heavily ruled by technology, Witchcraft can seem lackluster and old-fashioned in comparison. Are people drawn to it because it provides an escape from modern culture? Are they drawn to the dark and mysterious aesthetic of it? Do they use it as a way to rebel? The answers vary from person to person. As a longtime Witchcraft practitioner and blogger, here is what I've found from those in the Witchcraft community.
"I was inexplicably drawn to it."
I hear this from many Witches. Sometimes people have an innate fascination with the mysterious or macabre, and Witches are usually one of the first such figures that American children are exposed to. Some become fascinated, not only by the mythology of Witches but by the historical components, like the infamous Salem Witch Trials which took place in the late 1600s in Salem, Massachusetts. Because of the integration of Witches into American culture, it's no wonder that some grow up with an interest in Witchcraft.
"I wanted to be apart of a community."
The Witchcraft community is a vast one, especially online, and surprisingly harmonious. Within any spiritual practice, there will be various opinions, beliefs, and preferences. This has the potential to cause rifts and divide a community, but the majority of the Witchcraft community understands that Witchcraft is a general and malleable practice that can be shaped to fit every Witch's comfort level and needs. Because of this, there exists a general acceptance within the Witchcraft community.
"It makes me feel powerful and in control."
This is the reason why I got involved in Witchcraft. After living with anxiety and depression for many years and feeling pretty helpless and out of control, learning about and practicing Witchcraft helped me feel safe, powerful, and stable. It also allowed me to become connected to nature and the energies of the world. Because Witchcraft helps one to have a way to control their own energies as well as the energies around them it creates a sense of power and fearlessness that many lack. This is especially important for those with mental illness, those who have survived abuse, those who are disabled, and people of color.
There are hundreds of other reasons that people choose to practice Witchcraft, but what does that have to do with modern America? For starters, many young people in America feel discarded and powerless. We live in a time where around 70% of college students graduate with tuition loan debt and only about 27% of college graduates obtain a job in their field after graduation. Earning money and becoming financially stable has become increasingly more difficult for young people in America.
The battle for social justice has become increasingly heated in recent years and has put people of color and LGBT+ people in dangerous positions within our society. Because of the lack of safety for these groups in public, the online community has become a battleground for the spread of information. It's obvious why Witchcraft would speak to oppressed groups like these. It provides a sense of control in an unstable and uncontrollable society.
Witchcraft is also unabashedly feminist. Women face many uncertainties in the world today. Even in America, reproductive rights are slowly being stripped away, equal pay continues to be an issue, and trans women are belittled, denied basic freedoms, and even murdered on an almost daily basis. Feminism is a concept that is embraced in Witchcraft, which has long been considered a female-centric practice. This is not to say that men can not practice Witchcraft, they absolutely can, but there is an undeniable aspect of gender equality and female worship in many kinds of Witchcraft.
All of these factors have influenced young people to embrace Witchcraft, and while they are political, social, and economic, they are not any different from the reasons why people choose to practice more "traditional" or "established" religions or spiritualities. Belief systems are meant to provide comfort, nourish kindness and empathy, build community, and ignite passion. Witchcraft does all of these things in a way that makes sense to young Americans.


How will Google Hummingbird affect my website?
This is the question of the day. I decided yesterday that I needed to get more up to speed with the changes. Here are two articles you absolutely have to read to get quickly up to speed.
Where do I find out more about Google Hummingbird?
Yesterday, I started a search study and it really hit me that I need to study the effects of Google Hummingbird as it applies to search. This is the biggest Google change since 2001. This means the rules have completely changed. After reading the two articles, I decided to try some of the ideas mentioned in these articles and others. The first action I recommend you take is to read several articles regarding this topic. You will receive a number of different perspectives and ideas for you to think about.
What affects will I see from Google Hummingbird?
Right now, I have seen a major drop with some of my sites with respect to keyword searches. The past few days I have been flabbergasted by the sudden changes. Many sites that consistently ranked high on the first page of Google have now fallen off to page 3 or 4. This is completely unacceptable.
It used to be that if you had a solid, domain name that counted for something. This is not the case anymore. Keyword search does not hold as much weight from an organic standpoint. This last statement is the issue I am really struggling with and I am trying to find out if this really is the case or if I need to do some tweaking.
Will Google Hummingbird force me to go back to Google Adwords and paid advertisements?
A number of articles suggest that an active Google Adwords account is necessary if you want to be a Google Player. I am not ready to completely abandon organic search and switch over to paid search ads.
What should are next steps be with respect to Google Hummingbird?
For me, I am in listening mode. I am reading the findings of others and evaluting their information to see if it makes sense or not for my particular situation.
In addition, I am closely looking at Google Webmaster Tools to insure all of my sites are up to date with no errors and Google Analytics to see what type of traffic I am receiving and if there are any different factors that have ocurred since Google Hummingbird was implemented.
I am also looking harder and closer at Google Plus there appears to be a strong correlation to sites that are represented by people who have a large number of people in their circles as opposed to those of us with far fewer connections. Google Plus is becoming a part of search each and every day.
Now is the time to do your research and learn more about Google Hummingbird and its impact on your current search-marketing strategy. Start learning. There isn’t a book out there yet that can help you and you ultimately need to look much closer at the traffic coming into your site and see where you can start making changes. If you have some thoughts on this topic, please send them to me. I can be found on Twitter.
“Image courtesy of Idea go/ FreeDigitalPhotos.net“.


The key difference between FDM TDM and WDM is that FDM divides the bandwidth into smaller frequency ranges and each user transmits data simultaneously through a common channel within their frequency range. TDM allocates a fixed time slot for each user to send signals through a common channel while WDM combines multiple light beams from several channels and combine them to a single light beam and sends through a fiber optic strand similar to FDM.
Data transmission is the process of sending data in the form of signals from the source to the destination. Multiplexing is a technique in data transmission. It is to take multiple signals and combine them to a composite signal so that it transmits over a signal communication channel. FDM, TDM, and WDM are three multiplexing techniques.
Bandwidth is the total capacity of a channel to transmit data. In FDM, the complete bandwidth is divided among the users. Therefore, each user gets its own bandwidth or a frequency range. In other words, all users can use the channel at the same time but they have their own bandwidths or frequency ranges to transmit data.
On the sending end, all the signals are combined to a single signal using a multiplexer. Afterward, the signal travels through the channel. On the receiving end, there is a demultiplexer. It separates the composite signal back to separate signals. One drawback of this multiplexing technique is that, since all signals transmit at the same time, there is a possibility of crosstalk. In brief, FDM divides bandwidth and provide frequencies for the users. It does not divide time among users.
In TDM, the users can get complete channel bandwidth to send signals but for a fixed time slot. It scales the time among the users. Assume that there are three users as u1, u2 and u3 and the fixed time slot is t0. First, u1 will get the entire frequency bandwidth for t0 time. When u1 transmit data, the other users cannot transmit data. After that time slot is over, u2 can transmit data for a t0 time. When u2 transmit data, the other users cannot transmit data. Then, u3 transmits data for t0 time.
In brief, TDM divides time not the bandwidth among users. They can only transmit signals within the available time slot. As only, one signal transmits at a time, the crosstalk in TDM is minimum.
Fiber Optic communication use WDM. The concept of WDM relates to Physics. When a white light beam goes through a prism, it separates into individual colored light beams by the prism. Each light beam has different wavelengths. This scenario works vice versa as well. The individual color beams combine back to generate a white light beam.
WDM combines multiple light beams from channels using a multiplexer and sends them as a single light beam through an optic fiber strand. On the receiving end, the demultiplexer separates the single light back into multiple light beams and sends them to their own channels. Overall, WDM is similar to FDM but, the transmission occurs through fiber optic channels. Therefore, the multiplexing and demultiplexing involve optical signals.
What is the Difference Between FDM TDM and WDM?
FDM is a transmission technique in which multiple data signals are combined for simultaneous transmission via a shared communication medium. TDM is a transmission technique that allows multiple users to send signals over a common channel by allocating fixed time slot for each user. WDM is a transmission technique that modulates numerous data streams, optical carrier signals of varying wavelengths into a single light beams through a single optical fiber.
FDM divides the bandwidth into smaller frequency ranges antransmitsser transmit data simultaneously through a common channel within their frequency range. TDM allocates a fixed time slot for each user to send signals through a common channel. User gets the entire bandwidth within that time slot. WDM combines multiple light beams from several channels and combine them to a single light beam and sends through a fiber optic strand similar to FDM.
FDM stands for Frequency Division Multiplexing. TDM stands for Time Division Multiplexing. WDM stands for Wave Length Multiplexing.
FDM uses analog signals. TDM uses digital and analog signals. WDM uses optical signals.
The difference between FDM TDM and WDM is that FDM divides the bandwidth into smaller frequency ranges and each user transmit data simultaneously through a common channel within their frequency range, TDM allocates a fixed time slot for each user to send signals through a common channel and WDM combines multiple light beams from several channels and combine them to a single light beam and sends through a fiber optic strand similar to FDM.


I was severely injured while skiing in New Hampshire - do I have a case?
By Law Offices of Peter E. Hutchins PLLC of Law Offices of Peter E. Hutchins PLLC posted in Injuries on Saturday, January 4, 2014.
The answer to this question, unfortunately, is probably "no." New Hampshire has an immunity statute which affords broad protection to ski area operators from claims for injuries to skiers. The statute, which prohibits civil lawsuits for injuries arising from "inherent risks" of the sport, has been very broadly interpreted by the New Hampshire Supreme Court, particularly in the case of Cecere v. Loon Mountain, a case which I handled a number of years ago. Basically, if you are injured due to any defect in the mountain or its maintenance or operation, no matter how gross the negligence or serious your injury, you cannot bring a lawsuit for your injuries. Cases which do survivie include collisions with other skiers, however, your claim must be against the skier him or herself, and NOT the ski area. The hope in that instance is that the negligent skier has homeowner's insurance which will cover your damages. Another exception is a defect in the tramway or lift - if a lift collapses or otherwise causes an injury to a skier, there may be an exception in the immunity statute which would allow the injured person to recover. The lesson to be learned, therefore, is that when it comes to skiing in New Hampshire, you are on your own, and the law will find that you accepted the risks of skiing when you made the decision to ski. So, be CAREFUL out there.
By Law Offices of Peter E. Hutchins PLLC of Law Offices of Peter E. Hutchins PLLC posted in Injuries on Saturday, November 16, 2013.
President's Obama's announcment this week that he is extending the ability of people who have had their individual health plans canceled by one year is causing confusion among policy holders and govenment officials in Hampshire. In early October, thousands of New Hampshire residents with individual health insurance plans from health carriers such as Anthem received notices that due to the restrictions and conditions of the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, their current policies were no longer available and were being canceled. These people were directed to contact the health carrier for options, or to search for new coverage in the "exchange," through the now infamous healthcare government website. In the fact of extreme political pressure, particularly in light of the President's prior promise that "if you like your current health plan, you will be able to keep it," Obama announced this week that policyholders will be allowed to keep their current plans for an additional year. The problem that I have been hearing with this new twist, however, is that the plans that have been canceled are no longer available. In other words, trying to extend your old plan is like trying to purchase a product that is no longer being manufactured, and is no longer available for purchase on store shelves. Therefore, while the President's proposal may soften political pressure from some circles (although that appears doubtful), the question is will it have any effect for the policyholders that have already had their coverage canceled? The New Hampshire Insurance Commission was also caught by surprise by this announcement, and must now determine whether such a retroactive extension of canceled health insurance plans is possible under New Hampshire law and New Hampshire's insurance regulatory scheme. Stay tuned. The problem with all of this is that people are facing a potential "gap" in their health coverage, which could have catastrophic results in the event of a serious personal injury from an auto accident or through the negligent conduct of others. This is all the more reason that, at the very least, people should make sure that their personal auto insurance policies and homeowner's policies, and in particular medical payment limits and uninsured motorist limits are sufficiently high to cover the anticipated medical expenses associated with such accidental injury.


I've been talking about going to Nationals since the dates were first announced a couple months ago, but the thing that has gone unspoken so far is that in order to meet this goal, in order to achieve THIS dream, there's one that I have to give up.
My partner and I have talked about this at length, with emotions running high. He would love for us to keep trying, to not give up, but he also understands my decision, and why I'm choosing powerlifting.
This isn't about not wanting to give up my body. I know it LOOKS like I'm giving up the family dream to achieve my personal dream. I would drop everything in a heartbeat, if I knew for a fact that I could get pregnant again and carry it to term. But bodies are fickle friends.
This past summer, I was supposed to compete. I was signed up to compete in a pretty major, nationally-recognized competition, and I was stoked. And when I found out I was pregnant, I gave up my spot (and the 100-something dollar entry fee).
No baby, no competition. I had nothing to show for any of it.
I felt so, so empty. I was no longer pregnant, and thanks to the pregnancy and the D&C, I couldn't train to deal with my emotions either, and I lost a lot of the gains I had made earlier this year. I felt like I had lost TWO important things in one tragic moment.
So now, faced with the unknown, I'm choosing powerlifting. Nationals is in July, and between now and then, I'm going to have to put in a lot of work. I'm going to have to put my body through a lot of work, and I'm going to need to stay focused on my goal. I'm going to need to choose powerlifting for the next several months, as opposed to treating it like a filler activity to occupy my time while I'm trying to get pregnant. Powerlifting is something I can rely on.
I don't know what it says that I can more easily trust my body to lift over 400 pounds than to carry a baby to full term, but *shrug* I guess that's just how it goes. The first loss, we could accept as really terrible luck. The second? Well, now I'm starting to feel like it's ME. I feel like _I_ can't rely on myself to "get the job done."
And I know this feeling of not trusting my body, because I've been through it before. After I hurt my knee five (?) years ago, I did keep trying to go back to roller derby, but any fall I took (and in derby, you take MANY) rendered me useless. I couldn't trust my body to keep me safe anymore.
Maybe it's selfish after all, but I want a break from that kind of pain. Really, I never want to experience that kind of hope and then anguish that comes with pregnancy loss ever again. I don't trust that my heart can put itself back together after a third time. I don't want to give myself a chance to find out.
So for now, I'm taking solace in iron. This is the one thing I know I CAN do. This is the basket where I will put my eggs. (My metaphorical eggs, not my, uh, actual ones.) Maybe if I focus on this for a while, over time I can learn to fully trust my body again. Maybe I will have another child someday, maybe I won't, but at least if I shift my feelings of yearning towards something I have more control over (my numbers), then maybe I can learn to forgive my body a little in the process. And then we can mend, and then we can play.
You are so strong Thu. Sending you all my love and hugs.


Read through the American Film Institute's list of the top 100 films and you'll notice the prominence of movies with male protagonists: Citizen Kane, The Graduate, The Godfather, Raging Bull, The General. There but outnumbered are Snow White and All About Eve.
Berlin-based artist Daniela Comani recognized this "overdose," as she puts it, and created posters and framed DVD covers from her own invented "film history." In the films she imagines, genders are switched — All the President's Men becomes All the President's Women. She has done work such as this before, obsessively photographing well over 100 classic novels and then subtly altering the titles digitally (a vintage version of Bernard Shaw's Woman and Superwoman is particularly striking).
Her altered movie posters can be understated, too. "People don't realize the change right away but feel that there is something wrong," Comani says via email. "I am interested in a subtle irritation, which leads to rethinking our social structures: What if history were different?"
Comani enjoyed David Lynch's 1980 film The Elephant Man when she saw it as a teenager. "When working on the poster, I realized the double meaning of the sentences: 'I AM A HUMAN BEING' ... 'I AM A MAN,'?" she says.
Those words appear in all caps on the original grainy, dark poster. Did they imply, maybe without intending to, that men were the primary humans? And what did changing "man" to "woman" do in this context?
It makes the film's premise more "precious and ambiguous" to Comani, who wrote short plot synopses of each film for My Film History, the book she published in 2013. She describes The Elephant Woman as being about disfigured Johanna Merrick, who has been exhibited in a circus "to her great anguish" but will "finally begin to live like a human being."
In Alfred Hitchcock's 1956 version of The Man Who Knew Too Much, Jimmy Stewart plays a doctor on vacation in Morocco with his wife, played by Doris Day. They both learn of a plot to assassinate a foreign prime minister, but it's the doctor the villains seem more worried about.
In Comani's version, the image barely changes but the woman is emphasized. "Our interpretation of pictures changes automatically depending on the title," she says. "When reading The Man Who Knew Too Much, we look at the man's face. When reading The Woman Who Knew Too Much, we look at Doris Day's face, asking ourselves what her expression might mean."
"I couldn't resist giving Catherine Deneuve the moustache," says Comani, who faithfully reproduced the creases and faded colors of a vintage poster for Luis Bunuel's Belle du Jour, then drew on the star's face as a teenage prankster might. "With all those carefully shaved men in the background, it had to be done!"
In Bunuel's 1967 film, the restless stay-at-home wife of a bourgeois doctor wanders into a brothel and becomes a prostitute by day. Comani imagines the wife as the doctor and the husband as the comfortable but restless one who begins acting out sexual fantasies. "I find my version — the flipped version — much more thrilling and, above all, less obvious," Comani explains. "The original film from 1967 is full of stereotypes ... a man's fantasy! And those stereotypes and clichés are the actual protagonists of my project."
Charlie James Gallery, 969 Chung King Road, Chinatown; through Feb. 28. cjamesgallery.com.


How some women are approaching bank loans.
Are bank loans still difficult for women to obtain? "Maybe 15 or 20 years ago that was the case," says Maria Coyne, executive vice president and national sales manager of community banking for KeyBank National Association.
"However, banks are now much smarter about serving their female clients and understanding their needs."
Coyne, who manages Key4Women, a resource for women business owners, says that in the past two years, KeyBank has loaned more than $2 billion to female entrepreneurs. That includes lending $150,000 to Sharon Thompson, 50, president of Ambience Salon Spa in West Chester, Ohio. The $2 million company was in business for six years before Thompson applied for an SBA loan.
"As you know, SBA loans can be very laborious," says Thompson. "Our bank representative kept in constant contact and guided us through the process." For Thompson, the process of obtaining a loan included preparing personal financials, submitting a business plan with an updated P&L statement and balance sheet, and completing extensive loan applications.
To land a loan, Thompson advises, "Be sure your financials are accurate, be organized, build a strong business plan and establish a good relationship with your bank."
Dana Spain-Smith took a different approach when seeking capital for her $3.5 million Philadelphia-based new media publishing company. "I bid three banks against each other," says the 38-year-old CEO of DLG Media Holdings LLC. "Bidding the banks against one another is like any business deal: Research and negotiation are key."
Spain-Smith recommends not jumping at the first offer you get. "Remember, you're offering the bank something they want just as much as they're offering you something you want. If your business is growing and your plan is strong, banks both want and need to lend to you."
After negotiations in which she leveraged her personal wealth and reputation to get a better deal, Spain-Smith ended up with a line of credit against accounts receivable and a loan against personal property. "In essence, I persuaded the banks that being associated with an 'award-winning' businesswoman with roots in the community and a public face would be beneficial to the bank beyond what interest rate I pay or how many points they get," she explains. The result? A below-average interest rate with no prepayment penalty and no required deposit balance.
The bottom line: Just because a bank uses boilerplate loan applications doesn't always mean you have to do it by the book. Get creative when you go for that loan.
Want more information for and about women entrepreneurs? Go to womenentrepreneur.com .


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Political transformation and the Polish accession to the European Union are periods that encourage to undertake research aimed at understanding the positives and negatives of phenomena accompanying this period.
Presented elaboration is in line with the scientific discourse on inequality in the social development of rural areas, the marginalisation of the elderly, the perception of the changes that have taken place since 1989 and their perception by people aged 60+ living in rural areas.
The areas of society's existence, who are villagers are rarely the subject of research in the European Union, particularly in Poland . According to the report of the European Commission Poverty and Social Exclusion in Rural Areas, rural areas require a specific approach (system of indicators) to study social exclusion. Research among the rural population is difficult to implement because of the still undetermined methodology for the study of these areas, even in the old EU countries. In the literature, there are no methodological standards.
Social exclusion does not have a one-dimensional character, on the contrary, it is a multi-faceted concept. In broad terms social exclusion refers to a situation in which an individual or a social group do not participate or have limited opportunities to participate, in accordance with the law, in various areas of social, economic, cultural or political life, including the use of public goods and social infrastructure, resources gathering and acquiring income in a dignified manner.
For the purposes of this study, social exclusion is defined as a feeling of being "worse" than others, above all in terms of material status, limited/difficult access to public goods, health, loneliness, lack of social assistance. It is also the digital exclusion, which in the era of freedom of movement, migration and new forms of communication, is very important.
A.E. Woodward and M. Kohl stated that "Social exclusion is a term derived from the discussion of social problems. It covers all or nearly all the problems of modern societies, such as unemployment, discrimination, isolation, material deprivation, poverty".
An important aspect of the social exclusion is its relational character. It was therefore considered that in the study of social exclusion, rural area should have a special attention, because inhabitants of these areas are more frequently than urban dwellers among excluded, or at risk ofbeing excluded. The problem of social exclusion requires a multifaceted approach and empirical diagnosis.
Important elements that characterise the concept of social exclusion are: the excluding situation corresponding to the question of what/who excludes?, unit excluded, i.e. who is excluded? and what does the exclusion concern (what is the unit deprived of)? Social exclusion is not just about a lack of material resources and the inability to participate in a consumer society, but also refers to non-participation or inability to participate in other areas: social, economic, political and cultural.
The factors that pose the biggest threat to the exclusion include, among others: age above 60 years old, disability, loneliness (physical exclusion); living in rural areas, education below secondary level (structural exclusion); addiction to alcohol and drugs, troubles with the law and a feeling of discrimination (normative exclusion); poverty and unemployment (material exclusion), the digital exclusion. These types of exclusion were the subject of the studies. Attention was also paid to the importance of social exclusion for the viability and sustainability of development from the point of view of civilisation gap between the villages and towns in Poland.
H1. The degree of social exclusion of "aboriginal" inhabitants of rural areas in Poland is getting worse, which is due to dependence on the low assessments of the quality and dignity of life.
H2. Subjective assessment of the quality and dignity of life is determined by the assessment of the availability of public goods, social assistance and the current Polish socio-economic situation.
Among the representatives of local governments, social welfare centres, non- governmental organisations (NGOs) and entrepreneurs using focus group interviews, one group in each province (qualitative research).
Empirical studies of quantitative and qualitative character including visual sociology were completed in 2014 at the Collegium of Management and Finance of Warsaw School of Economics at the Consumer Behaviour Research Unit. The study was funded by the National Science Centre within the framework of the project "Social exclusion - the quality and dignity of life for people aged 60+, "aboriginal" inhabitants of rural areas in Poland" (2013/09/B/HS4/03603).
The project was implemented in three stages.
Phase I included the review of data from secondary sources, and quantitative and qualitative research. The quantitative research was carried out on a purposive- quota sample of 400 residents of four provinces (100 respondents from each, the Warmia-Mazury, Podlasie, Lublin, Świetokrzyskie) in 2014-2015. These provinces are a part of the eastern region, the so-called Poland B. The selection criterion of provinces was the highest poverty rate in Poland. Age 60+, the status of "aboriginal" inhabitant of the rural areas, exclusion or threat of exclusion because of the difficult economic and social situation (e.g. disease, lack of family support) were adopted as the main criteria for selection of respondents. Respondents were nominated by a social worker, a member of the parish clubs, or an employee of a local government. Pollsters conducted individual interviews with PAPI technique using an own questionnaire, numbering 62 questions characterising the level, quality and dignity of life. During the quantitative study sociological photography was used. Visual sociology consists of taking pictures, creating documentation of respondent's environment, as the image of living conditions. The primary advantage of using in the study visual sociology is that it complements the information collected within the framework of PAPI interviews and it verifies the respondents' declarations.
Qualitative research involved conducting focus group interviews (FGI) in four cities (Lublin, Białystok, Olsztyn and Kielce). The meetings were attended by a total of 24 people. Respondents were representatives of local authorities, mayors and representatives of municipalities, representatives of the care centres/ social welfare centres, aid workers, local community leaders, representatives of non-governmental organisations and representatives of the parish clubs involved in charity and social work (e.g. the members of Caritas and the local aid units), i.e. people who know the everyday problems of older people of their region and who affect the life and functioning of the local community. Quoted experts' statements are the result of interviews' transcripts, which is appropriate for qualitative research.
The results of the study were the inspiration to organise a national conference, which was held in Warsaw on 22 January 2015. Its effect is a monograph published under the title "Social exclusion of elderly people in rural areas - myth or reality", members of the project team presented selected results of empirical research conducted in 2014.
Is the feeling of social exclusion result of the assessment of quality and dignity of life?
Is the feeling of existence on the margin of life a result of the accompanying thoughts of respondents that no one needs them that they have no influence on anything and are not the subject of interest from local and central authorities?
Is there a symptoms' interaction of social exclusion based on age, gender and assessments of quality and dignity of life?
The quality of life is understood as spiritual and emotional subjective states, addressing the needs of existence and life in certain external conditions (access to health care, modern telecommunication infrastructure, public transport, social welfare, family, neighbours). The human environment constantly changes, as the same man does - primarily he is aging - which will exacerbate the symptoms of social exclusion. Even if the external environment does not change, quality of life can change, because one gets used to the conditions in which he lives, which may change independently of his will. Quality of life also depends on the environment's pressure.
The study included the dignity of life, category introduced by J. Drewnowski to social studies, and continued by T. Slaby. The dignity of life is about not feeling states of a sense of injustice and social deprivation, which may result from the negative aspects of living in a changing economic and social realities. The dignity of life corresponds to the challenge in social studies of advisability of assessing the effects of the market economy, taking into account new consumer behaviours that build their social status. According to W. Ostasiewicz a basic premise of a new methodology for measuring social life is the identification of "ill-being" (state and causes of exclusion), which is determined by the material factors, living in specific socio-political conditions and in an increasingly degraded environment, aggressive market activity and own mental aptitude. The term is particularly appropriate to the situation of poverty, unemployment, loss of physical and mental health, unfavourable demographic changes, the condition of natural and artificial environment and social exclusion, which are, among others, in Poland a result of systemic changes, accession to the European Union, and the economic crisis. Z. Bauman says that "the social denial of the one's own dignity, impairment and humiliation", which today poor people are experiencing, is the most important factor characterising their current situation, sort of the equivalent of exploitation that played a critical role in previous eras and systems.
The result of the third phase of studies is the development of the final report, which outlines the methodology works and their results after the implementation of the research and also two monographs (in Polish and English) were prepared. The analysis of the research results in the context of the answer to the question formulated as a research objective has been made and research hypotheses have been verified in the third phase.
Analysis of the impact of differentiation degree of subjective assessments of the exclusion's degree and subjective judgments of the quality and dignity of life (categories determined by human needs) showed the impact of different reasons for being excluded.
The monograph consists of five chapters.
In Chapter I reference is made to the changes that have occurred in the rural areas in the years 1990-2014. It discusses trends of changes in rural areas in the twentieth and twenty-first century. Rural areas defined as areas located outside the administrative borders of towns occupy 93.1% of the Polish territory. Adopted study period is characterised by a large and diverse transformations in the countryside - the transformation of the system and the Polish accession to the European Union, which entailed costs and benefits. It is also a period oflong-term processes - decrease of rural area population due to general population disruralisation, disagrarisation and restratification that began before 1989, but gained momentum in the years in question, as confirmed by the submitted statistical data. This chapter also presents the perception changes by the aboriginal rural population aged 60+ in the light of the results of quantitative and qualitative research. Characteristically, the majority of respondents (42%) do not see the changes that have taken place, in their subjective opinions, their lives look like they used to be. Slightly less people think that their life is better, or rather better (41%), only 5% of respondents indicated the answer "definitely worse". According to the vast majority of respondents older people currently have no influence on anything, they just want to live peacefully, but without financial problems, and the family and neighbours are their support in the difficult moments.
Chapter II is devoted to the considerations about the financial situation of people living in rural areas with special emphasis on seniors. Based on data from secondary sources, mainly from the Central Statistical Office, an analysis of the income situation of the population living in rural areas has been conducted. The structure of expenditure and level of equipment of their household in durable goods have been analysed. It shows an improvement in the average financial situation of households and rising level of durable goods. Also there were presented results of empirical research (quantitative), in which respondents were older, aboriginal villagers. Analysis of the socio-economic situation of households in this group of the population consisted of sources of means of support, the use of durable goods and selected services - health, culture and tourism. The main source of income of surveyed rural population was retirement pension, or disability pension (89%). Elders, aboriginal villagers benefited primarily from the medical services paid for by the National Health Fund (NFZ), and most often it was a visit to a primary care physician. The most common form of cultural participation was watching TV. A small percentage of respondents have gone on a trip recently. This chapter also contains a subjective assessment of material and housing conditions in relation to other people of a similar age living in the same village.
The third chapter is devoted to social exclusion, which is presented in the light of theory and empirical research. Social exclusion is a concept which has its objective and subjective connotation. At the same time it is a universal phenomenon, and therefore occurs at all stages of social life and in all cultures, and in fact it corresponds in some way with the problem of inequality and social discrimination that characterised the societies regardless of time and space. The ideas of theorists, and at the same time ancestors of contemporary views on social exclusion have been discussed. In most studies education, lifelong learning are the most important factors for preventing exclusion both at the individual and society level. This chapter also shows the impact of the transformation of social exclusion, with particular emphasis on the rural population. Deficits regarded by residents were presented as symptoms of social exclusion.
The fourth chapter discusses the problem of the quality and dignity of life in the context of the exclusion of elderly rural population in the light of the study results. Social exclusion is a multidimensional concept. In the empirical study of social exclusion of the aboriginal people of the Polish rural areas aged 60+ one used qualitative (i.e. soft), and quantitative (i.e. hard data) variables, resorted also to sociological photography. It gave a rise to the need for the use of statistical methods for the description of distributions of the answers, but also the attempt to use methods of multivariate analysis. It was assumed that the degree of social exclusion varies primarily due to the subjective evaluation of the quality and dignity of life, as a result of living in certain conditions that affect the degree of satisfaction of needs shaping the quality of life. The search for determinants was held through the one-way and two-way variance analysis in order to answer the question of whether the selected variables potentially differentiating assessments of social exclusion may be the elements of the set of diagnosing variables, and thus a tool of social policy. The analysis of interdependence based on the two- dimensional distributions (so-called 'crosswords'), which allowed to numerically assess the strength of dependencies of the determinants of social marginalisation and logistic regression model, in which marginalisation as the dependent variable took the form of a binary variable, has been used. Multivariate analysis was preceded by a description of the structure of the distribution of answers to questions that have been selected as characterising the situation of the respondents in relation to their quality and dignity of life, and thus determining the state of social exclusion of aboriginal people aged 60+ from rural areas.
Union has repeatedly emphasised that the elderly have the right to a dignified and independent life, which has been expressed in numerous documents. In 2010, the European Parliament adopted a Resolution entitled "Demographic challenge and solidarity between generations", which calls on Member States to make the elderly active as one of the priorities for the coming years, and 2012 was the European Year for Active Ageing and Solidarity between Generations. Thus one has created the opportunity to pay more attention to the elderly, the need to promote solidarity, cooperation and understanding between generations and, promote the participation of young people and older people in joint initiatives. The senior policy is getting more and more attention in Poland pointing to the causes and consequences. The aim of the senior policy in Poland is to support and provide opportunities for active healthy aging and opportunities for continued autonomous, independent and fulfilled life, even when some functional limitations are present. This chapter also highlights local policy for the elderly in the rural areas. After P. Bledowski one highlighted and discussed areas that determine the effectiveness of measures implemented in relation to the elderly. These are firstly the correct and regularly updated diagnosis of the situation and the needs of the older generation, secondly monitoring of activities undertaken by various actors at national and local level and, thirdly rational management of public funds, allocated for the implementation of these activities. The results of quantitative research can provide information about the situation and needs of the older generation the residents of studied provinces.
Categories crucial for the undertaken research issue, such as quality of life, dignity of life, and social exclusion are complex concepts, and research on them belongs to fundamental research problems in economic sciences and the social sciences in general. Obtained research results, according to the authors, will affect not only the development of science, but also the development of society in the context of the blurring of social inequality. This study is considered as a contribution to further investigations and research.
The authors hope that the undertaken issue will be of interest to a wide circle of readers - students, researchers, business practitioners, and representatives of social policy for whom the social exclusion is an interesting issue and research area.
Presented work is in line with the scientific discourse on inequality in the social develop ment of rural areas, the marginalisation of the elderly, the perception of the changes that have taken place sińce 1989 and their perception by people aged 60+ living in rural areas. The areas of society's existence, who are villagers are rarely the subject of research in the European Union particularly in Poland.
Categories crucial for the undertaken research issue such as quality and dignity of the life, social exclusion are complex concepts and researches on them belongs to funda mental research problems in economic and social Sciences in generał. Obtained research results, according to the authors affect not only the development of science, but also the development of society in the context of the blurring of social inequality. This study is considered as a contribution to further investigations and research.