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EHS Career Trends/Certification
Professional Development for 21st-Century EHS Careers!
By Justin Scace Jul 12, 2019 EHS Career Trends/Certification
Did you miss our EHS on Tap podcast episode with Jill James, Chief Safety Officer with Vivid Learning Systems and host of The Accidental Safety Pro? If so, catch up by reading the transcript of our conversation! Jill had some great ideas on how you can proactively learn and develop your professional knowledge, not just for the benefit of your own environment, health, and safety (EHS) career, but also for the benefit of your organization as well.
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This episode was originally released on May 30, 2019, and you can listen to the full audio here.
Justin Scace: Hello everyone, and welcome to EHS on Tap. I'm your host, Justin Scace, Senior Editor of the EHS Daily Advisor and Safety Decisions magazine. Now, professional development is essential to advancing a career in any occupation, and of course, the environment health and safety field is no exception. There are many opportunities for development out there for the 21st-century safety professional, ranging from traditional certifications to supplemental training to brand new educational programs supported by digital delivery methods.
With so many options and in many cases so little time, EHS pros may wonder what's the best course of action for continuous career development. While every individual's path will vary, our guest today has some great ideas on how you can proactively learn and develop your professional knowledge not just to the benefit of your own career, but also to the benefit of your organization as well.
Joining us today for our EHS professional development discussion is Jill James, Chief Safety Officer with Vivid Learning Systems, an HSI company. Jill has been a workplace safety professional for 24 years, with 14 years of experience as a Senior OSHA Safety Investigator with the state of Minnesota, and nearly a decade in the private sector as a safety program manager. She has a Master of Industrial Safety degree and a bachelor's degree in community health education, and has worked in settings ranging from medical clinics to education to bio and life sciences in support of the poultry industry.
Jill has been at Vivid for the past five years, and she has a passion for supporting her fellow safety professionals, whether she's keynoting a conference, appearing in the Vivid Supervisor Safety Tip video series, blogging about workplace safety issues, or hosting her podcast, The Accidental Safety Pro. So Jill, thanks so much for taking the time to be with us here at EHS on Tap!
Jill James: You're welcome, Justin. Thank you so much for having me.
Justin Scace: You're welcome. Now, let's get started off by talking about some of the more traditional avenues of professional development, such as certifications like certified safety professional (CSP) and certified industrial hygienist (CIH). What sorts of credentials and certifications should be getting the attention of EHS pros today? What kind of impact can they make on their careers?
Jill James: Justin, I guess as far as what should be getting attention, and credentials, and certifications, I'm going to leave that to the academics to answer. There's over 900 safety degree programs in the United States, at college campuses all over the place. There's various certifications from organizations like the Board of Certified Safety Professionals (as you've indicated) that people can pursue and go after. I think it would be interesting to talk with the academics about what they are seeing for trends. What are they seeing as advantages? What is the best leverage for people at various life stages in their career path, as it were?
What I would like to talk about is what is the impact that education can have, I guess for me personally, since I can't talk as an authority for everyone who has various levels of education in safety and health, but I can talk about my own experience and what it did for me. I think you had indicated that I have a master's degree in industrial safety.
Justin Scace: Right.
Jill James: First of all, that was a really obscure thing I had never heard of back when I began pursuing it. When I was finishing my bachelor's degree, it just stumbled upon me through an internship opportunity in safety. I thought, "Well gosh, what is that? No one talked about workplace safety." By way of impact, I think that that's still something that can be discussed today with people who are thinking of pursuing careers, particularly when they're looking at college, like does anyone talk about safety?
I think it's on all sides of the profession to be continually educating the next generation that this is a really viable place to pursue a career. What did a formal education give me by way of impact? I look back at what I learned, and what I've leaned into the most in the workplace settings where I've been, one of the strengths that I continually go back to, is how to read and interpret regulatory text, and to take it even further to really look at my sources when I'm doing research in my field.
Anyone who's listening to this who has done the work of workplace safety knows that there isn't just one place to go for everything. There's lots of consensus building, standard organizations who are doing research. When we're in our practice, doing our work, every day is a new adventure where something may come our way that we've never heard of before, or maybe we've heard a little bit about. We need to immediately pivot and start teaching ourselves and finding those resources.
I think the background that my academics gave me in terms of reading and interpreting regulatory text, and really looking for sources that are credible, is what I do almost every day when I'm looking things up. I always go to the OSHA website first as my place to look. However, as anybody knows who's ever read regulations, it's kind of, "Oh man, you got to really slug through it."
Justin Scace: Oh yeah.
Jill James: If I'm just going to use a search engine to search the topic, then the first thing I do when I start reading articles is try to figure out the source, and the sourcing. If I can bring that back to a consensus building organization, someone with credibility, I'm really looking at what are those citations, what are they referencing before I'm going to use that as something to educate myself or educate someone else with.
I would say that the impact my education had on me like that is the biggest thing, in addition to (of course) a lot of traditional safety practices that are teaching me hazard recognition skills and the hierarchy of controls, things like that, and very specific things about life safety or whatever it is. If I'm going to look at the impact of that education as a whole, and the thing that I use most often, it's really that knowing your resources, knowing your sources, and knowing how to interpret and search for the information that you need.
Justin Scace: Great. So, to talk a little bit more about formal education, it seems like it's playing a little bit of a stronger role today. When I talk to some EHS professionals who had been on the job for a while (you mentioned that your master's programs was a relatively rare thing), a lot of these EHS pros that I talked to that had been on the job for a long time, when I asked them how they got started, quite a few of them say they just fell into the safety position, because they were experts in that particular industry, or some of them came over from human resources, or someplace like that.
Whereas now, some of the more recently graduated safety professionals, they're coming out of college with degrees specifically for safety or environmental compliance fields, or risk management. So, do you think this specialized formal education will become more of a career necessity in the coming years?
Jill James: Maybe. I think we are definitely at a point where we're seeing a shift, but to back up what you were talking about before about older safety professionals, when I started in this field, you mentioned 24 years ago, I looked at my mentors, and how did my mentors come into the practice. What did that look like back then? They were, first, all male, and all of them were former military. None of them had formal educations in safety, but they all had different aspects where safety had touched their careers, particularly in the military, and one of my mentors was in the labor movement. He had been tapped by the governor at the time to become an investigator with OSHA because of his work in labor in the automotive industry. The roots of who started as a safety professionals in the way back machine when OSHA was first adapted had many of those attributes of former military, or out of the labor movement, that kind of thing. Then as our field has progressed, it's a little bit ambiguous, our field. In that, there isn't a direct path, "you have to have X, Y, and Z credentials," to be able to practice as a safety professional.
It's not like, let's say, the nursing practice or profession where you can start out as a certified nursing assistant, move into a licensed practical nurse, and then into an RN as a registered nurse. Safety doesn't have that expectation in order for you to do the work. I think that we'll likely always continue to see people who are learning at their workplace. They fell into the job, as you said, and they have to figure it out.
Then there will be those of us who have the formal backgrounds in education. I think we are going to continue seeing both, because we don't have that defined, "you must have this" in order to do the work, if that makes sense. I think that, as you indicated, people fall into the profession, that's exactly what my podcast, The Accidental Safety Pro, pun really intended by way of how you accidentally came into the practice. Every single person that I talk to has this winding road of how they came into it.
Some of them are traditionally educated in safety and health practices. Some have degrees in psychology. I've talked to people who have a degree in journalism, or biology, or no degrees at all and who have worked in a profession and taught themselves, or were mentored to learn their particular craft in the way that they did. It's really fun to listen to all their stories. I guess what I'm seeing as our demographics are shifting now, and we're seeing really large next generations with our millennial generation, and our Generation Z really dominating the workplace, particularly coming up in the next year where they're outpacing by size, by size as a cohort. They're bigger than everybody.
What seems to be more in common with them is a formal education is something, is some kind of background. Now, whether when it comes to practicing safety, that's going to be safety degrees, I think that's an interesting thing to be paying attention to, but the more and more younger people that I'm talking with and interacting with, they have some formal education. It just might not be in safety. As a professional practice, and by way of many of us, many people listening here and being mentors themselves, I think it's really on us to start talking about safety as a STEM discipline.
We hear about STEM practices and STEM education everywhere. Like it's something that we need more of in our country, and particularly helping young women see that they have a place in STEM jobs. Safety really is that. Safety really hits on that science and technology, and engineering, and math depending on what your workplace is, and where you go into. You might be dabbling in a little bit of all of that, or really refining some of your work in a particular area with maybe in science, or maybe in technology.
I think that we can all do a service to our practice, our professional practice, by really talking about safety and health as a STEM profession. It's part of it.
Justin Scace: Interesting. Now, to shift gears just slightly, a big topic lately in the safety world is that EHS managers need to gain more of a voice with their company leadership, find that seat at the C-suite table. Now in order to accomplish this, they need to do more than just hone their technical and their subject-specific skills. They need to brush up on their business or financial acumen, and also work on soft skills as well, things like how to network effectively and be a persuasive advocate for safety. Any advice on how safety professionals can pursue this particular kind of professional development?
Jill James: Right. So, this is a question that I get asked quite often and is also a question, or a topic rather, that comes up whether you're reading it in a blog post or attending a conference. It's like, how do you get the ear of, how do you tap into the leadership as a safety professional? I guess one of those things to start with is assume that your leadership doesn't understand your job. Don't assume that they get it and they know it. I've had CEOs who have come to me and said, "Jill, I don't understand what that safety role is. We have it in our company, but how do I measure it? How do I look at it? What do they do? What do I need to be asking from my role to ensure the work is getting done, because I don't even know what it is?"
That's not to say that leadership is disengaged. It's just that they wouldn't know the intricacies of everybody's jobs otherwise. Safety professionals can't assume that their leadership understands their work. So, it's for us to educate them, but I would caution anyone from taking a deep-dive education and like, "They need to understand everything I know about safety as well," but really pick and choose what it is that you share, and how it is that you share it.
Anecdotal story: When I came into private sector after being with OSHA for a very long time, my work with OSHA was to investigate, write reports and documents, things that pleased the Attorney General's office. I was great at documentation, great at writing, great at making an argument for something that was ironclad. Then I come into private practice, and the first thing that I ask for from the administrator of the place that I was working, I shored up my case just like I would as a regulator, as a safety cop, literally.
Justin Scace: Sure.
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Jill James: The response that I got via email from that administrator was, "Two to three bullet points. I can't even read all of this. I don't even know what this is." I so overeducated, and I was like, "Oh my gosh." Like a hard-stop failure, I am not working for the government anymore. I have to change the way that I approach, and also figure out what makes your leadership tick. What sort of things do they want to know about? What kind of questions are they asking? How do you find that out if you don't necessarily have a seat at the table?
Maybe you start by talking with others who do have cursory seats at the table. Maybe you're talking in your organization with people who have to report to your leadership team often and find out what sort of metrics do they look at. What kind of questions do they ask, and find out what kind of language do they speak so that you can craft your information that you're going to share with them, or they'll request that you make in a way that they like to consume information.
For example, in the company that I was with prior to being with Vivid, the leadership team that I had the opportunity to report to, I learned how they consumed information. One of the CEOs of the company liked everything broken down by cost per employee. That's how he wanted to view things, the questions that he asked. When I was putting together information on worker's compensation costs by injury, or if I was putting information together on what it was going to cost to do an initiative like implement a training system, he would want to know, "What does that cost per employee?" I knew that every single time I could anticipate the question. He would parse things out that way. It's how he wanted to consume information.
Then the president of the company who was president in an administrative role that then worked with other companies within the organization, he always wanted to know information by which of the 11 companies that we as an administrative function support are utilizing this information. What are my outliers? If we are implementing a training system, or an SDS management system by way of example, which of the companies are actually utilizing what we're paying for? Where are my outliers? So that he could pick up a phone and say, "Hey, you're wasting our money, because you only have a 30% adoption rate for this thing that Jill is trying to do." So, he wanted to consume information in that way.
I knew that when I was putting things together for them, I needed to speak the language that they wanted and present things, and anticipate the questions that they'd be asking. I think that talking with people within your organization is really important to find out how do they want to consume things. Then if you're maybe not even in that position yet, so how can you build your business sense, if you will? Maybe talk with other people who are in types of jobs that are different from yours. Maybe people who have leadership roles, maybe if you're just getting started and you're new in the safety profession, maybe talking to other people like accountants, or talking to operations managers in your sphere of influence, whether that's in your family, or your friend network, and having them help educate you in it, or going to sources within your organization.
It would be really wise—let's say you're working in education, and education classically uses fund accounting practices versus cost accounting practices. Going to an accountant in your organization, or to the CFO in the organization and say, "Teach me how you do the basic 30,000-foot view of accounting in this organization, so that I know when I'm asking for money, or I'm trying to establish a budget, tell me how you do that." Because with fund accounting, which are (I'm going to really simplify this, and I'm not an accountant), I picture buckets of money, right?
Justin Scace: Uh-huh.
Jill James: Buckets of money, and each bucket has a certain assignment, and you can't ever dump one bucket into another. So, that would be different than cost accounting. So, having someone in your organization explain that would help you know how to make presentations and ask questions, so that if you get shut down, you would understand why. Like, "Oh, I asked for it wrong. I can't do that in this organization, because it's just not how they function from a method perspective." I guess as far as pursuing any professional development, if I'm asked that question personally, what I would love at this stage in my career if I could go back to school, I'd get an MBA. That'd be my thing.
Justin Scace: Do you think that a safety manager should have in their back pocket, like, an "elevator pitch" should they ever bump into a chief executive, just basically I can tell him or her the basics of what I do, and just in a minute or two?
Jill James: Yeah, right. So, it might be a question [from the executive] like, "How's it going? What are you up to these days?" Maybe have those two or three things that are top of mind that you can rattle off.
Justin Scace: Great.
Jill James: Yeah.
Justin Scace: So, getting more into the nitty-gritty of what's out there right now, there's a wide array of development and education opportunities out there for each as professionals. You mentioned something like there's 900 programs out there, but there's also everything from conferences to webcasts to trade association memberships to podcasts. So, what opportunities are really standing out right now as far as providing value? Are there any development opportunities that you feel might be being a little bit overlooked by today's safety professionals?
Jill James: Right, good question. I think it depends on what phase of your career you're in. Maybe if you're just getting started, it's like drinking from the water hose, right? You want to try to get as much information as you can, but also you don't want to feel overwhelmed. How do you specifically choose? If I'm just getting started, I'd be looking at things that I would be thinking were establishing my baseline. What would baseline be for me? I'd be pursuing opportunities. It could be at a conference. It could be at a podcast. It could be reading blogs to help me establish my baseline if I don't understand how to find great sources when I'm doing my research in safety, I'd be looking for that.
If I'm in a particular field of practice, what do I need to know about that particular practice? If I'm working in, let's say, the medical field, what does my baseline knowledge need to look like about what our safe work practices right now are to prevent sharps injuries? What do I need to know about exposures my employees might have in chemotherapy work areas and places where drugs are mixed? That'd be my baseline. I'd want to look into my industry in that regard. Or if I'm in a warehouse or a shipping place, what do I need to know about ergonomics? That would be my baseline where I'd be trying to educate myself in that regard.
Then, as your career continues, and you look at conferences, and you look at the titles of things, it's like, I've been doing this a long time. Yes, I've seen all that stuff. Those aren't necessarily always appealing to me, but maybe what's new that could enhance the career that I'm in right now. So, where do people go to consume their information? I think it also depends on your generation, and I think it also depends on the budget that you may have or don't have.
I do feel really strongly that—you asked the question, was there anything that's being overlooked—work your network. Safety and health professionals are often referred to as a little family, because we are a little family. There aren't lots of us, and what else is unique about us is we are often solo operators wherever we are. I think that's where we get that little family piece, because when we find one another, it's like, "Oh, I got this brother. Oh, I got this sister. I got this cousin in this different place." We stick together as a practicing cohort, if you will.
I know that LinkedIn in particular seems to be a supportive place for safety professionals to be able to collaborate and get together. In our little tiny family, we're very willing, because our work isn't proprietary, to share with one another. I know that I have my specific safety professional friends and colleagues that I go to for specific requests, or if I'm going to run something by someone, and they know the same about me. It's also remembering, don't be the person who's always asking, but be the person who's offering them information as well, and continue to build that network over your career. That will also be that place where you can do literally your own professional development custom to where you're at in your career, and the topics that you're working on in your job at a given time.
That's not to say that trade associations and conferences, and places like ASSP or the National Safety Council or the Board of Certified Safety Professionals, they're all absolutely wonderful sources to go. I think that they're the common default places to go. Don't forget about just working your own network, and finding those favorite bloggers, or your favorite podcast like we're doing now where you could do an education for yourself.
Justin Scace: So, on the flip side of all these opportunities, are there any opportunities to be wary of? Are there any instances of educational "opportunities" that are maybe perhaps predatory, like promising credentials, certifications, or other career boost claims that aren't really recognized in the field or provide actual value?
Jill James: Right. The easy one that comes to mind right away are people who are offering OSHA 10 and 30 courses who are not authorized trainers. Apparently, it's a big enough deal that OSHA actually has published a watch list of people that you should be wary of and don't take a course from them, because they're not authorized to give that certification, and they'd put it on their website. I always find that interesting like, "Wow, has that really happened?" Apparently, it does. It's a big enough deal that they publish a list, but otherwise when you're looking at what should you be wary of, I think I'd go back to what I had said at the beginning of really look at your source.
When you're reading something before you're going to take it as truth, really look at the source. Is what you're reading in an article, in a blog, was it written by an actual safety professional who's citing good sources? Is it someone who was writing to get information into the ether to be able to draw people to a company? It could be a professional writer who's just loading some text with the words that you want to search for when you're searching something in Google.
I'd be wary of that. I'd scroll to the bottom, find out who's the source, what are they using as sources before you start gobbling up the information and wasting your time only to find out, "Oh man, this was not credible." Then as far as vendors go, I think it can be both. I think vendors can be great resources. They can be people who become your trusted advisor … and they cannot. I think it's doing a gut check, and again asking about credibility. I know that I've gotten some great education. When I was first trying to teach myself about arc flash, and in particular about fire-rated clothing, I went to a vendor, and the vendor that I took free education from happened to have people who were topical experts, and they talked about why it was they were an expert, and where they got their credentials from. I learned so much from them. Same is true with an electrical safety company that I recently partnered with on something, and they hang their shingle out as electrical safety experts. Okay, well what makes you an expert? Tell me more about that.
I think it's very fair for us as a safety and health professionals when we're meeting vendors who are maybe offering free webcasts, or a free education seminars that you could go to, to really ask those questions before you say yes to those opportunities. "Tell me more about your expertise. Tell me more about why you're an expert in this field." So that you are not wasting your time.
I think that's just a healthy question to ask in so many aspects of life. You're right, are there things to be leery of? Yes. Are there wonderful vendors and providers who can become your trusted advisor and actually are topical experts? Absolutely. I think you need to really ask those questions and figure that out.
Justin Scace: Absolutely. What other obstacles might an EHS professional face when pursuing his or her professional development? I imagine that this can vary quite a bit depending on the size of your company, or how much management invests in or buys into this opportunity. What are the big problems and the obstacles that need to be considered? How can they be overcome?
Jill James: Right, and so I think figuring out early on in your career that professional development is really necessary in this field, necessary by way of you can't know it all, and none of us do, and it's a constant learning curve, and also setting that expectation early with your employer. Some employers are going to have professional development baked into an employee's career path, and that's fantastic. Some are not.
Justin Scace: Yeah, right.
Jill James: I know that my first job with the government with OSHA, they had a specific percentage of time each month that they wanted you to be spending on professional development, and you had to log that on a report as to what you were doing. There was a certain allocation. Well, that hasn't happened in my career since. So, it's I think determining and defining with whomever your manager is early on, and asking that question, "What does professional development look like here?" If the response is, "I don't know," or it's quiet, well then you need to work on that together.
Talk about that. What do you think would be an acceptable amount of time to spend on professional development? Is there any budget for that? What might that look like? Then bring a solution to them when you're working on that. Think about, is there a conference that I want to go to, might be one thing. Is there some really specific topical course that I need to take on something specific to my work? Maybe you just started a job, and process safety management is a giant piece, and you don't really know anything about that, and you want to take a week course somewhere and learn about that, then how can you get the funds for that, and how can you ask for that?
I think by way of professional development, I don't think it always needs to be about going to a conference either when you're trying to ask, "What can ongoing professional development look like?" I think it would also probably be wise to ask and give maybe examples, like I've researched some stuff with our insurance broker, or with our worker's compensation carrier. They offer these kind of courses, whether it's a webcast, or whether it's something that's in person, and maybe you need to travel for, but it's free, so you'd ask, "Could I take the time to do that? Could I be reimbursed for the mileage? It's free, but could I do that?"
I think there's lots of ways you can build your own professional development portfolio that you can put to your manager, whoever that is, and say, "This is what I'm going to need this year. Can we continue having these conversations year over year? Because growing in my profession is important to me and is going to be important for me to be successful in this organization. Here's what that looks like."
Justin Scace: That's great. As EHS is expanding as a field, safety culture is becoming more widely viewed as an integral part of organizational culture and learning and development culture. So, what do you think this will mean for professional development? Do you think EHS education will spread maybe even beyond its function and become just as important to other professionals in the workforce as a whole?
Jill James: Yeah. I think that—
Justin Scace: That's what we hope, right?
Jill James: Right. I think that safety professionals, maybe we've got the corner on that culture thing already just as individual people in our practice. Safety professionals by and large, if I'm going to generalize the profession, are people who are a culture of caring. That's usually why we got into it, is that we genuinely care about human beings. Of course, we're going to have exceptions to that like we do in any practice, but I think as a whole, we are people who generally care about sending people home whole and healthy, and we invest all of our energy into that. We know that in order for us to be successful in what we're doing, we're building relationships with people.
We're not going to be successful if we're being the safety cop who everybody is afraid of. We're not going to be effective being timid either, but we are going to be effective when we're building relationships with people, and our employees know that we genuinely care. Does that transfer across the company into lots of other avenues of a healthy corporate culture? It absolutely does. Safety is just an element of a healthy corporate culture. So, I think that we as safety professionals can hold our hand up when our companies are working on corporate culture and really talk about what we do in our practice day to day, and how we build those healthy relationships in the work that we're already doing.
When I think about my own company, and the culture that we have, and the culture that we have that we say is a healthy one, how do we do that? It's the same as we would with safety. It's looking at our employees and how can we be supportive and caring and transparent in what we're sharing with them. How are we meeting them where they are? We had recently what we call an "all hands" meeting, which many companies practice all hands. We'd get everybody together, and the president of my company had specific information that he wanted to be transparent about and update our employees on, and talk about where we're going in the next quarter, and in the next year.
Then he invited two other people to share information with the company. I happened to be one of them, and one of my coworkers happened to be another one. The three of us got together, and we really talked about how are we going to craft this message? Not craft as in to be manipulative, but craft as in how can we ensure that our employees are able to consume what we're sharing with them in a manner that they readily take in information?
My president said, "Jill, you're good at talking to people and meeting them at their heart," which this is my safety background. My other coworker, "You're really pragmatic. So, people who need to see things that are sketched out and pragmatic, you're going to be good at that." Then he said, "What am I missing? What are we missing here?" I said, "Well, maybe you need a bead on the culture of the company right now as in how are employees feeling about their day to day work right now."
He's like, "That's right. Okay, so how do we do that?" Well, we got together with what we call our culture connection teams, which is really an actual thing that we have in our company where employees are working cross-functionally across all departments. Getting to know one another, and talking about their work. We met with that cohort of people. He was able to ask that question like, "Give me a bead on our employees right now. How are people feeling? Are they excited? Are there any struggles anywhere? What are they talking about when you're getting together? So that I can weave that into the message that we're putting out at this all hands meeting."
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So, he was a listener, and incorporated all of that into an all hands. All hands became not only an update about where we're going and where we are and what we can look forward to, but it was also the genuine care of our employees and addressing things that matter to them. The feedback that we got afterward from employees was amazing. It was exactly what we had hoped for. It was like, "Oh, and I really loved when so and so said this, because I totally understood what he was saying when he put out a bullet point of list and showed us path and progression, and I love that." And other people who are like, "Oh my eyes glazed over when he started to do that stuff, but man, Jill, I loved what you said because it's so true what you said about X, Y, and Z about our you know." The president's got the, "Oh, I really trust that guy, because he knows us, and he listened to us." That's what builds healthy culture, but it's also paying attention to how do you craft that message. How do you say things in a way that hits all of your employees where they are by way of what kind of learners they are? How do they take information? Can safety have a seat at that table? Absolutely.
I think in fact that we can leave that, because it's what we do every single day in genuinely caring for people and listening to them. I absolutely think we can leave that initiative.
Justin Scace: Definitely. Any final words of advice for our audience of EHS professionals, on just what you think is a key factor in helping them pursue their professional development?
Jill James: By way of final thoughts and what should employees be thinking about for their professional development, maybe it's especially if you're starting out is to acknowledge that the work of safety and health isn't a transactional one. It's more about, yes, you have to know the ins and outs of the practice of the place that you're working of course, but a successful safety professional needs to continue focusing on people just as much as they're focusing on the practice itself, and the day to day things of keeping people safe. It's this balancing act.
I think the success is doing both and finding your niche in that, and asking for help, and also working your network, and finding your mentors no matter how long you've been at it.
Justin Scace: That's great. Yeah, those are some really good ideas for environment health and safety professionals who are looking to further their professional development. Thank you again, Jill, for joining us today on EHS on Tap!
Jill James: You're welcome, Justin. Thank you for having me.
Justin Scace: You're very welcome. To our listeners, be sure to keep an eye out for new episodes of EHS on Tap, and keep reading the EHS Daily Advisor to stay on top of your safety and environmental compliance obligations, get the latest in best practices, and keep your finger on the pulse of all things related to the EHS industry. Until next time, this is Justin Scace for EHS on Tap.
Jill James has been a workplace safety professional for 24 years, with 14 years of experience as a Senior OSHA Safety Investigator with the State of Minnesota and nearly a decade in the private sector as a safety program manager. She has co-written a safety law applicable to the construction trades, and has worked in settings ranging from medical clinics to education to bio and life sciences in support of the poultry industry. Jill has been at Vivid Learning Systems for the past 5 years, and she has a passion for supporting her fellow safety professionals whether she's keynoting a conference, appearing in Vivid's Supervisor Safety Tip video series, blogging about workplace safety issues, or hosting her podcast The Accidental Safety Pro.
EHS on Tap is an environmental, health, and safety podcast by BLR's EHS Daily Advisor. On each episode of EHS on Tap, our host will discuss emerging legal, regulatory, and policy issues with industry experts and the impacts to everyday safety and environmental professionals. EHS on Tap topics run the gamut of contemporary issues facing EHS managers and professionals today.
Download the podcasts on iTunes here, and also be sure to visit our SoundCloud page for a full listing of all of our episodes!
Tags: EHS careers, EHS on Tap, Jill James, podcast, professional development, Vivid Learning Systems


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One Man's Quest to See the World's Mammals
Follow Matthew
Jon Hall searches for primates and other mammals in Guyana. Photo © John Hall
When we arrived with lawn chairs, neighbors strolled by and asked if we were setting up to enjoy the sunset.
"Yeah," I said uneasily.
I lied. In reality, I was trying to show my friend a pocket gopher. That friend had just driven nearly 4,000 miles to do so. I figured "sunset viewing" would be easier to explain.
Instead, we poked holes in the mounds of the churned soil of gopher mounds, hoping to temporarily annoy the rodents into patching the holes, allowing us a glimpse of this mammal that rarely appears above ground.
We stared at the holes from our chairs. Nothing. We paced around, poking more holes where the earth had been tilled by gophers. Nothing.
Is Mammal Watching the Next Birding? By Matthew L. Miller
Top 10 Night Safaris: When the (Wildlife) Freaks Come Out By Matthew L. Miller
Where to See 10 Impossibly Elusive Mammals By Matthew L. Miller
I could sense my friend, Jon Hall, was getting ready to move on to our next mammal spotting opportunity. I stared at the hole in a trance. And then: was that a puff of dust? Or did I imagine that?
Then I saw the round, gray head with two black, beady eyes poke out of the hole and begin patching it.
"Jon!" I hissed frantically. "Jon, now!"
He fumbled with his camera and bolted towards me, eyes wide. The gopher disappeared. I removed the soil, making a fresh hole, and we settled in for more waiting. Fifteen minutes passed. I glanced at Jon, but he still peered down the hole hopefully.
Whiskers. Movement. A gopher head. It reappeared, clearly popping up and showing off its cool little head.
Northern pocket gopher. Mammal #1,838 for Jon Hall. He has seen snow leopards, wolverines and pygmy hippos in the wild. But right now, he broke into a huge grin and fist bumped me. He said, "Thank you, awesome day, thank you." Then fist bumped me again.
Jon's on a quest to see the world's mammals, and he's having fun doing it.
Jon Hall holds a solenodon, a mammal he found in the Dominican Republic. Photo © John Hall
The Start of an Obsession
Keeping lists of birds is, of course, one of the most popular nature hobbies. Birding enthusiasts keep counts from their backyards to the far reaches of the globe. Although mammals include some of the most charismatic and well-known species on earth, keeping lists of species sighted is relatively unknown.
Sure, many nature lovers want to see grizzlies and wolves in Yellowstone, or plan safaris to see Africa's wonderful megafauna.
Jon Hall takes that wildlife viewing to a different level. He'll spend night after night mist netting bats in the Central American rainforest. He sets live traps across the desert to see new rodent species up close. He plans expeditions everywhere from city garbage dumps to remote Himalayan peaks in order to see the world's mammals.
A hammer bat from Sierra Leone. Photo © John Hall
Growing up in the United Kingdom, he loved animals and wildlife documentaries, but he didn't really begin keeping track of sightings until he went on a volunteer assignment to Zambia. He began noting all the wildlife he saw, including birds, mammals and herps.
When his mother insisted he return to the United Kingdom for a "real job," he moved and suddenly found himself without elephants and antelopes. "It just crushed me," he says. "It was so busy and gray and crowded. I knew I had to start appreciating the local nature."
And he decided to do that by birding. He headed out to a local nature preserve for an adventure. "It was just awful," he says. "There were all these people, many of them old men walking around with raincoats and binoculars. The place was just full of birders. I knew I needed to do something else."
An emperor tamarin was one of Jon's prized finds during a recent trip to Peru. Photo © John Hall
He turned to mammals, as he already had a relatively impressive list from Zambia. It began to grow, and in 1999 he moved to Australia, primarily to look for wildlife. "There was so much to see, it really started to consume me," he says.
When he received a tip on a vagrant southern elephant seal, and drove 1,600 kilometers round trip in a day to see it, he recognized that this had become something other than a side hobby. He had become a collector of mammal sightings.
"I collected soccer stickers when I was six," he says. "Now I get a thrill when I tick off all the animals on a field guide page."
A water chevrotain found in the forests of Gabon. Photo © John Hall
Mammal Mania
Through my job, I meet a number of people with nature-related obsessions. While I often find myself admiring their zeal, they make less-than-ideal dinner companions, and can be downright unpleasant on trips. This isn't the case with Jon.
For the past 20 years, he's worked on different ways of measuring wellbeing and progress, currently with the United Nations' Human Development Index. Whereas most measures of progress focus on how the economy grows, his work takes a more expansive view than money changing hands. He's looking at how long people live and how educated they are in addition to their incomes.
He has a keen sense of humor and loves talking pop culture. His two surprisingly tolerant teenage kids tease him about his tendency to cry during children's movies. He banters with cashiers and wait staff, and they'll think he's joking when he says he's on a trip to see ground squirrels.
But make no mistake: He's here for the mammals.
The spotted bat was one of his most-wanted North American species until he found one in Arizona. Photo © John Hall
Seeing 1,838 species of mammals takes an incredible level of trip planning, dedication and willingness to suffer. He has seen some of the rarest and most elusive species on earth. He recalls, for instance, the time he visited a China reserve that was trying to promote ecotourism trips.
"At the time, people said there was no chance of seeing a giant panda," he says.
A landslide closed the road into the reserve, so he hiked 25 kilometers into it. He spent days with his guide hiking around bamboo, and saw lots of interesting wildlife. And on one of the final days, they tracked a giant panda…and saw it feeding on a nearby slope. "That panda is just etched into my brain," he says.
But he also likes seeing more, well, obscure species. "Bigger is not better," Jon says. "Some of the smallest mammals are some of the best. Bats are fascinating in their ecology, and up close, they are very different looking. Many rodents are beautiful."
For small rodents, he sets live traps. "Opening traps is like Christmas morning to me," he says. "You look inside to see if there is something new."
A black mongoose spotted in Namibia. Photo © John Hall
I ask him if he worries about hitting a mammal watching wall. He has seen many of the world's most iconic species. Getting new ones can be difficult. His trip to see me began in Cleveland, and he brought his two kids. Before he arrived at my Idaho home, he had covered thousands of miles, and seen one new species: a long-tailed vole.
"In some ways, if I ran out of mammals it would be a relief," he says with a laugh. "It would certainly make my life simpler, and make personal relationships easier. But I haven't reached that point. I still get excited at the prospect of a new mammal."
Jon has recently married, and while his wife loves the outdoors, she does insist on couple time during his normally frenetic trips. He also says he has learned to take time to enjoy the journey, the scenery and other aspects of the trips than the mammals.
"But seeing new species never gets old," he says. "It's like pictures from your kids. Some are worth putting on the refrigerator. But none of them are ever terrible. Each is special in its own way. Mammals are like that."
Searching for snow leopards in the Kyryzstan winter. Photo © John Hall
The Hobby Grows
While mammal watching may never rival birding as a wildlife pastime, it is certainly growing – in no small part due to Jon Hall. He runs a Mammal Watching web site and blog filled with trip reports, new sightings and tips.
Technological improvements as simple as better flashlights and as complex as thermal imagers have assisted in seeing new species. And many formerly remote places are now accessible.
"We are the most privileged generation in history in terms of wildlife viewing," Jon says. "There is still a lot of wildlife to see. And travel and logistics make it easier for us to get around. We have a better chance to see a variety of wildlife today than any generation ever has and likely any generation ever will."
Jon examines a babirusa skull. He saw this bizarre wild pig alive in the wild in Sulawesi. Photo © John Hall
He mentions snow leopards, once considered legendarily difficult to spot in the wild. The author and naturalist Peter Matthiessen spent months with one of the world's foremost biologists and never got a glance. But Jon saw one in a week, as do many current visitors if they go to the right national park.
The ease of wildlife watching today, of course, is opportunity tinged with more than a touch of sadness. Some species are easier to see because their habitats are smaller, mere islands in a sea of development. And then there's the elephant in the room, so to speak: the carbon footprint of jetting around the world to see wildlife.
"It is an important issue," Jon says. "I try to offset my travel with carbon credits. I designate mine to a park in Sierra Leone where I saw pygmy hippos. Carbon markets are really the only income for that park. Many places need economic incentives to conserve parks and wildlife, and I think mammal watching can help."
A Cameroon scaly-tail from Gabon, one of the very few photos of this species . Photo © John Hall
The New Species Buzz
This was Jon's third visit with me in Idaho; he still finds new things to search for here. And after only seeing one new mammal in 4,000 miles, I hoped my own knowledge of local wildlife could up his species count.
We saw Northern Idaho ground squirrel, a recent taxonomic split. Like many ground squirrels, this one came relatively easily, as they are diurnal and live in established colonies. We also caught a bushy-tailed woodrat in a Havahart trap set next to my woodshed. And there was the northern pocket gopher.
Three mammals in 24 hours. While those sightings won't make most wildlife watchers deviate from Yellowstone, Jon was over the moon. But still searching.
"Seeing a new species is one of the greatest feelings in the world," he says. "I'll bathe in that happiness and reflect on it. For about ten minutes. Then I'm thinking of the next mammal."
And as Jon slaps my back again and thanks me for the gopher, he looks up the sagebrush hills, his eye catching on distant conifer forests. "So, ready to go spotlighting for flying squirrels?" he asks with a grin.
Tags: Conservation Science, Mammal Watching, Outdoor Rec, Wildlife
Matthew L. Miller is director of science communications for The Nature Conservancy and editor of the Cool Green Science blog. More from Matthew
By Clive R Barlow | Reply
Greetings from The Gambia …a cheerful & very enjoyable read on a man with a meaningful mission – keep kickin. .. with bws Mammy Watta (aka w af manatee) !
By Craig Smith | Reply
Great story. I am member of mammal wathcing.com and share Jon's passion. One question I have is : how do you afford to travel? As a Univerasity Professor, I can afford one big o/s trip each year, but could not afford to do it constantly.
By Valerie Ward | Reply
Does the Nature Conservancy sponsor "Wildlife Viewing" trips?
By Maggie Frazier | Reply
Great article! What a fascinating way to live. And to be able to do it this way. There are so many creatures that have become extinct even before we "knew" they existed. And almost all of the ones pictured here – I had never seen before. A hammer bat or a spotted bat?? The only word that describes it is fascinating! Love reading about & seeing pictures of animals – all of them – and their habitats.
By Mike J Poremba | Reply
So cool! I thought I was the only one!
By Bradley Rasmussen | Reply
Might have to be my next quest after I get tired of the fish!
By Matt Miller | Reply
I've actually kept a list of mammals longer than fish. I have fished avidly my whole life but for most of that time was focused on trout and bass. To see a lot of mammals, you have to travel, and often really far. When I had a kid, I found that mammal watching expeditions were less feasible. I went fly fishing for peacock bass in Florida, and saw other fish, and wondered if anyone kept lifelists. That led me to Roughfish, and various social media sites, and that community.
On an individual trip, it is easier to see a large number of mammals than catch a large number of fish. (If you're in the right area). But you can get a lot more fish by fishing wherever you go. I won't get a new mammal in Washington DC but can likely catch a new fish there.
By Coke Smith | Reply
Love this article! Read again today! If I can reach half of Jon's count I will be happy!
Also In Mammal Watching
Nature Nerd Trivia: Bats
By Justine E. Hausheer
4 Fun + Informative (+Free) Apps for Upping Your Nature Knowledge
Meet the Goat Antelopes: Strange, Large Mammals of the Mountains
Discovered: The World's Highest-Dwelling Mammal

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Vitor Pereira is starting to look like the No.1 choice to replace David Moyes.
Everton appear to have found their man in the quest to replace David Moyes with FC Porto boss Vitor Periera emerging as the favourite to take over at Goodison Park, according to the Liverpool Echo.
The 44-year-old is closing in on a second Portuguese Liga title in as many years after his side clinched a dramatic victory over closest league rivals Benfica on Saturday.
Pereira succeeded current Tottenham boss Andre Villas Boas at the 2004 Champions League winners, after the 35-year-old departed for Chelsea in 2011.
A league trophy immediately followed for the former assistant to AVB and with the manager looking to defend that honour this season his name is increasingly being linked with a move to England.
It is looking more and more of a possiblity that Pereira will leave the Estadio do Dragao in the summer as he will have reached the end of his current contract and as yet looks unlikely to sign a new one.
Everton have been keeping tabs on the Portuguese since the departure of Moyes to Manchester United and he would follow in the tradition of both AVB and Jose Mourinho in coming to the English Premier League on the back of success at Porto.
Unlike Mourinho the Toffees target is less attracted to the media and limelight and concentrates more on his footballing tactics than mind games.
"Portuguese people are strategic, with a huge work ethic" Pereira said.
This is unlikely to be an issue with Everton fans who prefer a grafter who gets on with their job as manager, rather than someone who is overly flamboyant.


Stable CVS 1.11.16 has been released.
I'll make the corresponding patch merging soon, if it isn't done, yet.
CAN-2004-0418 and CAN-2004-0414 (from upstream's changelog).
This patches worked for me for rebuilds at RHL9, FC1, FC2 and RHEL3.
Do FC1/2 get an update or "only" a patch?


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Third Eye Blind, Eve 6 Trade Pranks On Campus Invasion Tour
MTV News Staff mtvnews 11/03/1998
Third Eye Blind and Eve 6 are currently on the road together as part of MTV's Campus Invasion Tour, and it looks like the road has brought out the merry pranksters in both groups.
At a concert stop last week in Auburn, Alabama, an inebriated Eve 6 frontman Max Collins stole a bowl of candy from the front desk of the hotel the groups were staying in, and blamed it on his fellow tourmates, telling the staff, "I can do anything I want because I'm in Third Eye Blind."
Collins later returned the bowl, but the next night Third Eye Blind conspired with a local police officer to approach and arrest Collins after Eve 6's set, claiming that the hotel wanted to press charges against him. When a handcuffed Collins spotted 3EB singer Stephan Jenkins backstage with a video camera, he started to wonder what was up.
"I noticed Stephan Jenkins is hanging out with a camera," Collins told the MTV Radio Network, "and
then I kinda peer around the halls as we're moving out, and there's every single person on the crew, everyone in Third Eye Blind, Bobby -- their tour manager, taking photos, pointing, laughing. The whole bit ..."
"Clapping," added guitarist Jon Siebels.
"It was completely set up," continued Collins, "completely set up. And all three of us bought it."
"I didn't know," Siebels said.
"We had no idea," Collins admitted.
"And our tour manager," drummer Tony Fagenson related, "who does our front of house sound at the mixing desk, he comes running up 'cause he's only heard that, 'Max has just been arrested.' So he comes bolting up, going, 'What happened?'"
"I've never seen him so frightened," Collins said, "because that's like a tour manager's worst nightmare."
"So, we're gonna get you back Third Eye Blind," Fagenson said in a warning, "just you watch out." [28.8 RealAudio]
Third Eye Blind and Eve 6 will continue having fun on the road at the other band's expense when the Campus Invasion tour plays Hofstra University in Hempstead, New York on Tuesday.


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Vibration Dampener
Stanislas Wawrinka
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Gore Island may refer to:

 Gore Island (Queensland) in Australia
 Gore Island (Baja California) in Mexico

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


COMPRESSED GASES (deeply refrigerated, flammable, non-flammable and poisonous) such as butane, oxygen, liquid nitrogen, aqualung cylinders and apparatus containing mercury i.e. thermometers.
EXPLOSIVES, munitions, ammunition including blank cartridges, hand guns, fireworks, flares and pistols.
FLAMMABLE LIQUIDS AND SOLIDS, such as lighters that need inverting before ignition, lighter fuels and refills, matches, fire-lighters, paints and thinners.
OXIDISING MATERIALS, such as bleaching powder and peroxides.
POISONS AND INFECTIOUS SUBSTANCES, such as insecticides, weedkillers and live virus materials.
Thanks for your usual cooperation and do enjoy flying with us.


An aromatherapy blend to help restore optimism, promote wellness, and calm the mind.
This aromatherapeutic calming scent eases irritated spirits with a natural blend of essential oils. Jasmine, geranium, and cypress help inspire a sense of positivity to ease feelings of frustration and negativity.
For those who are more prone to, ahem, teeth grinding when the going gets worse, Harper also has an Irritability Treatment made with cheerful citrus and floral notes, calming patchouli, and roman chamomile to comfort.


text:
Posted by: Editors Team
Comments::Comments
Restaurant Row's Pre-Theater Dining, NYC
On the quaint, tree-lined street that, since the early Seventies, has been known as Restaurant Row, you will find some of the best cafes, trendy bars and pubs as well as fine pre-theatre dining restaurants in the entire city.
Frankie and Johnnie's - Restaurant Row
A celebrated New York institution, Frankie and Johnnie's is no ordinary steakhouse. The atmosphere and menu have changed with the times to keep pace with the tastes of the city's foodies and night owls.
Yet, despite these changes, Frankie and Johnnie's still retains the character and offbeat charm that made the place an instant hit when they opened their doors as a speakeasy, back in 1926.
There's an interesting story behind the name. Legend has it that, to gain access to the speakeasy, patrons knocked on a nondescript, unmarked door and uttered the password "Frankie", as soon as a small peephole was opened.
If the party at the door "checked out" then the attendant simply replied "Johnnie" and you were good to go. That's all there was to it! Those two words unlocked the door to a world of glamour, flappers, dancing till sun-up and free-flowing bathtub booze.
Eventually, though, the rollicking good times came to an end. When Prohibition was repealed, the speakeasy closed down and was reinvented as a steakhouse.
But, the folks at Frankie and Johnnie's still know how to provide their patrons with a great night out. Now, though, it's all perfectly legal, but no less of a fun time.
If you're heading to the theatre for a matinee show, you just might want to look into their $30 lunch Pre-Fixe menu.
An unbeatable deal, this delectable menu gives you three unforgettable courses with multiple choices.
Appetizer temptations range from the market soup of the day, a Caesar salad and F & J's classic signature salad to a superb golden corn bisque that's made with crème Fraiche, grilled corn and chives.
Your main course options include broiled salmon, French chicken breast, a petite filet mignon with brandy peppercorn sauce and Baked three-cheese tortellini.
For dessert, choose,( if you can!), between warm apple strudel with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or mousse au chocolate and crème anglaise.
If you love a nice, juicy steak, then this is the place to get it! They have every savory and succulent cut imaginable, from sirloin, rib-eye and T-bone to a huge slab of porterhouse for two.
They also do a fantastic veal chop Parm and chicken Parm that is topped with melted mozzarella and tomato gravy that tastes as though it came straight from your Nonna's kitchen.
To assuage the guilt from indulging in this feast on a plate, both the huge chop and chicken Parm are served with a side of broccoli. Nonna and mom would approve.
Aside from creamed and sautéed spinach, sides include potatoes done up eight different ways.
You can get your spuds French fried, mashed, baked, Au Gratin style, Lyonaisse or cottage-fried. They even have potato pancakes.
Critics have acclaimed Frankie and Johnnie's as being the "longest running show on the Great White Way". And, they're not wrong. From the theatrical setting and aplomb of the servers, who know how to make their customers feel welcome, to the stunning presentation of the food on your plate, Frankie and Johnnie's is all about the show.
But, unlike some Broadway musicals that are long on glitz without much depth, there's a tremendous amount of substance here beneath the glitter. Frankie and Johnnie's will satiate all of your senses.
www.frankieandjohnnies.com
Lunch: Tuesday through Saturday..............11:30 AM to 2:30 PM
Dinner: Tuesday through Saturday.............4:30 PM to 11:30 PM
Sunday...........................................4 PM to 9 PM
Swing 46 Jazz and Supper Club - Restaurant Row
Sometimes a night out on the town can get a bit more complicated than it has to.
When texting back and forth with your sweetheart or friends, it's easy to become caught up in the moment when you're trying to plan an evening that includes drinks, dinner and dancing.
You can get stressed out navigating all the reviews and information that's available on scores of nightclubs, lounges, bars and restaurants.
Really, who wants to map out an evening that consists of hopping on a subway or taking a cab to get from one place to another? After a long day at the office, that's not anyone's idea of fun.
Well, if you make a reservation at Swing 46, you won't have to worry about navigating your way all over the city. They've got everything you're looking for, all under one roof.
Swing 46 Jazz and Supper Club offers dining, dancing as well as great food and cocktails every night. Not to mention dance lessons, a swing DJ and live bands!
How much better can it get? We're glad you asked! To put the icing on the cake, as it were, Swing 46 has a daily happy hour, from 5 until 7 PM, with half-price drink specials at the bar.
The venue features music and dance styles from the fabulous swing era, a time when you couldn't keep your feet still if you tried, the moment that the band started playing.
You can lindy hop, jitterbug, waltz, foxtrot and freestyle to your heart's content. Dance like no one is watching. It's your time to shine.
If you haven't been out on a dance floor in a while, that's no problem. When the clock strikes nine, a professional instructor, from one of New York's leading dance studios, will show you just how it's done. You'll be stepping out like a pro in no time at all.
You'll dance to the music of seasoned professionals like the Stan Rubin orchestra with Joe Politi, Ron Sunshine and his Swing Dance band and Sarah Hayes' Swing Society.
Sunday through Thursday, you can enjoy live music from 8:30 PM until 11:30 PM. On Fridays and Saturdays, the band takes the stage between the hours of 9:30 PM till 1 AM.
Celebrating 18 years of keeping the sounds of swing alive and well in the Big Apple, Swing 46 has recently undergone a change of ownership.
Long-time employee and manager John Akhtar has taken the helm from the original owner Judith Lalor. Sharing a common vision and love of both Swing music and the hospitality industry, John and Judith are working together to make the Swing 46 experience exceed your expectations.
The food that comes out of the kitchen more than holds its' own with the music and ambiance.
Between the hours of 5 and 7 PM, they offer a $40 three-course Pre-Theater menu. This is ideal and ever so convenient if you have tickets to a show. Most theatres are within a few short blocks of Swing 46.
Appetizer selections include a salad of organic field greens that are dressed flavorful with a homemade sage vinaigrette. You will also relish the fresh mozzarella that comes with tomatoes and a balsamic glaze.
As far as enticing entrees go, there is a divine pasta primavera and a dish of rigatoni and shrimp in a scampi sauce, on the menu.
The Pre-Fixe also features both meat and fish options like a roasted half chicken, salmon filet and BBQ ribs with sweet potato fries.
The standout sweet ending is the warm chocolate brownie with fresh cream. Be forewarned, this dessert re-defines decadence. It might just be richer than the Rockefellers.
There are also a couple of items that are not on the pre-fixe menu but can be ordered a la carte and are certainly worthy of your attention.
The Swing Tri-Color salad is composed of arugula, endive and radicchio with walnuts and fresh strawberries in a house made blue cheese dressing.
At first glance, you might think that bacon and scallops make for strange bedfellows. but they go surprisingly well together and the horseradish-infused mashed potatoes make for an unusual but delicious side.
Swing 46 is the perfect excuse to put the TV remote away, get out of your apartment and find your groove.
www.swing46.com
Monday to Thursday...............5 PM to 11:30 PM
Friday and Saturday............... 5 PM to 1 AM
Sunday....................................5 PM to 11:30 PM
Joe Allen - Restaurant Row
Since opening its' doors in may of 1965, Joe Allen, one of the most popular spots on Restaurant Row, for pre or post theatre snacks and drinks, has celebrated the underdog on Broadway.
When Joe Allen first opened his namesake restaurant, he took a huge leap of faith. Some would say a gamble that was worthy of a Las Vegas or Atlantic City high roller.
Back in the sixties, Hell's Kitchen was not the safest or most scenic of places. But Joe had a sense that things were about to change for the better.
The restaurant, however, was immediately embraced by the young chorus kids and supporting players from the nearby Theater District. They could get an inexpensive meal at Joe Allen's, compared to the higher prices that most Mid-Town restaurants charge.
Joe was building a strong sense of community and word caught on fast.
The first year that Joe Allen existed, the cast of "Kelly" gave Joe a poster of their show, after it closed with just one performance. Since then, it's become something of a Broadway tradition for the cast and crew of shows that haven't been very well received on opening night to gather at Joe Allen, eat, drink and hope for the best!
And, every cast, from just about every show that has ever played on Broadway, continues the tradition of contributing a poster that is framed and hangs proudly on the restaurant's walls.
Back in the day, a hamburger cost only 75 cents at Joe Allen and the average ticket to a Broadway musical came in at an unbelievable $7.50.
While you won't see that kind of prices ever again, what hasn't changed is Joe Allen's commitment to providing a quality dining experience at a reasonable price. Far from becoming a tourist trap, Joe Allen still retains the feel of a neighborhood restaurant where each customer is celebrated.
The ambiance is casual and informal. This is a place where you can unwind after a hectic day and enjoy the simple things that life has to offer like good company and delicious food.
Heading over to the Theater District for a 2 PM Saturday show? Make a day of it and treat yourself and your loved ones to brunch at Joe Allen.
You will find all of your brunch faves including steak and eggs, pancakes, eggs Benedict, yogurt parfaits and French toast. But this isn't any run of the mill French toast. Not by any means! This fluffy and tantalizing toast is stuffed with both Mascarpone and cream cheese and topped with cinnamon, candied walnuts and maple syrup. Can you say yum?
The kitchen's signature omelette consists of mushrooms, and cheddar cheese. It's served with home fries and a small arugula salad plus an English muffin.
Their Italian Frittata has something of a Greek flavor, as its ingredients include feta cheese, cauliflower and spinach.
A filling and savory non-traditional brunch item is the brisket sandwich. A mound of juicy brisket is topped with sauteed onions, Swiss cheese and horseradish mustard. The sandwich is served with fresh coleslaw and garlic potato chips.
If you would like to stop by for dinner, they've got some tasty dishes waiting for you like the grilled free-range chicken with mashed potatoes, NY strip steak in a red wine reduction and house-made Mafaldine sausage in a savory ragout with Parmesan cheese.
Mussels are on just about everyone's list of top ten dishes. If they are not on yours, try them Joe Allen style. Their sauteed Maine mussels are made with fennel, cream, shallots, Pernod and a hint of blue cheese.
In addition to a fine selection of wine and beer, the bar at Joe Allen features a delectable line-up of cocktails, ranging in price from $11 to $14.
Mimosas, Margaritas, a superb cosmopolitan, Aperol Spritz, French Martini and a spicy bloody Mary are all available for your drinking pleasure. So, find something to raise a glass to!
www.joeallenrestaurant.com
Monday..............................12 PM to 11 PM
Tuesday..............................12 PM to 11:45 PM
Wednesday.........................11:30 AM to 11:45 PM
Thursday and Friday............12 PM to 11:45 PM
Saturday..............................11:30 AM to 11:45 PM
Sunday................................11:30 AM to 11 PM
Sushi Seki - Restaurant Row
"Never stop learning " is the philosophy of internationally acclaimed sushi chef Seki Shi, the owner and creative force behind Sushi Seki, a stylish restaurant that is carving out quite a reputation as one of Restaurant Row's rising stars.
Chef Seki's culinary journey began at a very young age in his mother's kitchen where he would work by her side perfecting the art of crispy rice and various other Japanese comfort dishes. The fire had been lit and Seki knew what he wanted to do with the rest of his life.
Upon graduating from high school, young Seki found work at the famed Tsukiji Market, where he developed his knowledge of fish. One of the largest markets of its' kind in the world, the venue also had a sushi restaurant on the premises.
Starting off as a dishwasher, Seki worked hard and quickly climbed the ladder at Tsukiji, advancing to head kitchen chef, all the while learning the techniques and culinary details that would form the foundation of his singular style at the sushi counter.
After a few years, Seki finally realized his dream and became a full-fledged sushi chef, going on to work in some of Tokyo's premier sushi spots.
Another of Seki's goals was to eventually move to New York and test his mettle on the ultra-competitive Manhattan sushi scene. Seki did so in 1991.
Within a decade of arriving, the chef opened his first NYC restaurant, Sushi Seki on the Upper East Side. This was followed, in 2014 by a location in Chelsea and then the opening of Sushi Seki on Restaurant Row.
To this day, the chef handpicks all of the seafood that goes into his sushi and traditional Japanese dishes.
Whether Seki is in the kitchen cooking up some tempura or at the seven-seat sushi counter deftly slicing, dicing and hand-crafting a California or Toro and Scallion Roll, the chef is totally in his element. There's no place he would rather be.
World-class sushi and sashimi deserve veggies and other ingredients that are a cut above. You get all of that goodness and more in chef's Asparagus or spinach roll as well as rolls made with mixed pickles, Kanpyo squash and avocado.
There are over 25 seafood-based sushi selections on offer. You'll never get bored eating here. Not with options such as King salmon with sake, snow crab, sea urchin and giant clam available.
But, as fantastic as it is, this restaurant is about way more than just sushi.
Out of this world, appetizers range from Nasu Shigiyaki,(baked eggplant with miso paste), and Shumai,( steamed shrimp dumplings), to Tatsuta Age, (fried chicken thigh nuggets).
Signature salads include Snow peas and onions with a superb garlic soy dressing and Hijiki salad, which is made with cooked seaweed and veggies. And you won't be eating any ordinary seaweed. All dishes that use seaweed as an ingredient are made with Seki Blue, which is specially harvested, aromatic Nori seaweed.
In addition to a wide array of Udon and Soba noodle dishes, you can order Chicken or Salmon Teriyaki, fried shrimp and vegetable tempura or Yuzu Miso cod as an entree.
However, making a reservation for the restaurant's very special Omakase tasting menu is quite possibly the best way to experience chef Seki's talents.
Omakase means "from the heart" and when you sit at the counter and watch the master at work, you will have no doubt as to how passionate Seki Shi, and the sushi chefs he has trained, are about their work.
There is even a very affordable mini-Omakase chef's tasting menu available, priced at just $55 per person.
Unlike some restaurants, where you can be made to feel a bit rushed because the management wants to turn over the tables as quickly as possible, at Sushi Seki customers are made to feel as though they are honored guests in the owner's home.
Sushi and Japanese comfort food may be the stars of the show at Sushi Seki, but warm hospitality also shines brightly in the spotlight.
www.sushiseki.com
Sunday..............................Closed
Monday.............................5 PM to 11 PM
Tuesday to Saturday.........5 PM to 12 AM
Barbetta - Restaurant Row
When it comes to splendid surroundings, old-world service and a delicious, innovative menu that never fails to enthral, few restaurants can compare to Barbetta.
Generations of discerning and hungry New Yorkers seem to agree. They have been flocking to Barbetta since it opened in 1906, decades before Restaurant Row came into being.
In a neighborhood that was not exactly known for its' diversity of cuisine, Barbetta was the first Italian restaurant and fine dining establishment to grace Hell's Kitchen.
A major reason for the resounding success of Barbetta has been the fact that it is a family owned and run a business. Founded by Sebastiano Maioglio, the restaurant has been in the more than capable hands of his daughter Laura for quite some time.
Laura regularly works with her chefs to update the menu, adding many delectable surprises and twists to a much-beloved menu that focuses on the elegant cuisine of the Piemonte' region in North-Western Italy.
Holding a degree in Art History, Laura has also painstakingly restored and redecorated each of the four townhouses that comprise the restaurant. Dating back to 1874 and 1884, these buildings house several large dining rooms as well as smaller drawing room-like spaces that are reserved for private parties.
No matter where you choose to dine, within these wonderful environs, you will be transported back to a palazzo in Turin during the heyday of the Royal House of Savoy. In fact, the chandelier that hangs in the main dining area actually comes from the Savoys' former Royal Palace in the Piedmontese capital!
Never one to keep still or rest on her laurels, Laura also redesigned the garden that is situated in the back of the adjoining brownstones. Italianate in nature, the garden has a large fountain as its' centrepiece as well as a variety of magnolia, wisteria, jasmine and oleander trees, a few of which have been around since before the restaurant opened.
Enclosed by walls, the garden exudes an enchanting charm, particularly when it is aglow at night.
When you dine at Barbetta, be prepared to put aside any preconceived notions that you may have of what constitutes Italian cuisine. The tasty but rather heavy, red sauce and cheese-laden rustic dishes that you have enjoyed countless times will not be on the menu here.
Instead, what you will delight in is a refined cuisine that focuses on lighter ingredients and sauces.
As anyone who has travelled to Piemonte' knows, Risotto is the signature dish of the region. At Barbetta, you can enjoy Risotto in so many tempting ways.
The Risotto Alle Erbe is made with extra virgin olive oil instead of butter. You can also order a dish of this flavorful rice made with either wild Porcini mushrooms or roasted red beets.
Another version blends both Camembert and Gorgonzola cheese with your Risotto. And, if you are celebrating a birthday or other special occasion, you might want to try the Rose' Champagne Risotto. The flavor is simply unbelievable.
If you really cannot decide which Risotto you wish to sample first, Laura and her chef have got your back. Barbetta recently introduced their Risotti Trio. Just choose three of their rice selections, sit back and allow the aroma and distinctive flavors to envelop you.
They do have a few, select pasta dishes here, the standout of which is the Tagliarini pasta with oven-roasted tomatoes and herbs. The menu also offers whole wheat pasta with meat sauce along with one or two other "secret" seasonings and linguine with pesto sauce.
Should you be out on a date, order the Bagna Cauda, a Piemontese country dish that's meant for sharing.
Farm-fresh vegetables are simmered inside a small pot in a sauce of anchovies and olive oil. Everyone at the table takes from the pot. When the veggies and anchovies are finished, it's time to tear off chunks of bread and sop up what's left of the sauce.
As far as the meat and fish courses go, aside from the roasted rabbit, in a white wine and lemon sauce, these dishes have less to do with the region of Piemonte' than with the global influences that Laura has gained from her travels.
The Maine Diver Scallops are capped with a crust of Yukon Gold potatoes and served with a lighter than air tomato sauce and baby Bok Choy.
A delectable piece of grilled Pacific swordfish is served over a bed of lentils and dressed with a Balsamic vinaigrette.
Roasted half chicken is probably on the menu of just about every restaurant in the city. More times than not, the chicken is prepared, more or less the same way, with a squeeze of lemon and basted in its' own jus. Not here, though.
Barbetta serves their chicken in an outrageous Pomegranate sauce. The fruit lends so much to the richness of flavor throughout this dish.
Please, leave as much room as you can for dessert. At Barbetta, you have entered dessert heaven. No kidding, their sweet endings menu contains no less than 18 different options! And, to add to the yummy factor, the pastry chef uses very little sugar in his creations.
Chocolate addicts can revel in their Espresso chocolate cake, an orange and bittersweet chocolate mousse or their signature chocolate sausage.
Fruit lovers also have a multitude of delectable reasons to rejoice! The menu features items like plum cake, a delightful lemon and pistachio tart as well as pears alla Piemontese that is baked in red wine.
Pana Cotta and an Amaretto infused Zabaglione cake are also well worthy of your attention.
When you ascend the steps that lead to Barbetta's grand reception foyer, you will instantly be closing the door to the noise and stress of the city. After all, it's not every day that one can dine like Royalty.
www.barbettarestaurant.com
Monday to Sunday.........................12 PM to 12 AM
Best Italian Dining - Theater District, NYC
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Although an increasing number of cognitive scientists are convinced that cognition is embodied, there still is relatively little agreement on what exactly that means. Notions of what it actually means for a cognizer to be embodied range from simplistic ones such as 'being physical' or 'interacting with an environment' to more demanding ones that consider aparticular morphology or a living body prerequisites for embodied cognition. Based on experimental evidence from a range of disciplines, we argue that one of the keys to understanding the embodiment of cognition is the sharing of neural mechanisms between sensorimotor processes and higher-level cognitive processes. The latter are argued to be embodied in the sense that they make use of (partial) simulations or emulations of sensorimotor processes through the re-activation of neural circuitry also active in bodily perception and action.
Mouton de Gruyter , 2007.
Linköping University, Department of Computer and Information Science. Linköping University, The Institute of Technology. University of Skövde.
This thesis is concerned with explanations of embodied cognition as internal simulation. The hypothesis is that several cognitive processes can be explained in terms of predictive chains of simulated perceptions and actions.
In other words, perceptions and actions are reactivated internally by the nervous system to be used in cognitive phenomena such as mental imagery.
This thesis contributes by advancing the theoretical foundations of simulations and the empirical grounds on which they are based, including a review of the empiricial evidence for the existence of simulated perceptions and actions in cognition, a clarification of the representational function of simulations in cognition, as well as identifying implicit, bodily and environmental anticipation as key mechanisms underlying such simulations. The thesis also develops the ³inception of simulation² hypothesis, which suggests that dreaming has a function in the development of simulations by forming associations between experienced, non-experienced but realistic, and even unrealistic perceptions during early childhood. The thesis further investigates some aspects of simulations and the ³inception of simulation² hypothesis by using simulated robot models based on echo state networks. These experiments suggest that it is possible for a simple robot to develop internal simulations by associating simulated perceptions and actions, and that dream-like experiences can be beneficial for the development of such simulations.
Department of Computer and Information Sciences, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norge.
Insitutionen för kommunikation och information, Högskolan i Skövde.


Belvedere is inspired by the love for the landscapes of Lake Como. The entire outdoor collection of Promemoria takes its cue from the incredible richness of the lake landscapes and pays homage to it with delicate shapes and precious materials.
Belvedere is a chaise longue-dormeuse with structure in stained ash, available in different colours, details in okumé, feet and smooth light bronze details.
The structure is completed by a fabric or leather outdoor mattress.


text:
Van Den Berg Pleased To Make Full Debut
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Sepp van den Berg said he was happy to make his full debut for Preston North End in the goalless draw against Queens Park Rangers.
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Preston North End vs Queens Park Rangers Match Report
The on-loan Liverpool defender felt the Lilywhites played well in the first half and was pleased to keep a clean sheet on the night, but said there is work to be done to turn the point they earned this evening, into three in future outings.
The No.2 told iFollow PNE: "We played well, especially the first half. We created a lot of chances. I'm happy with the clean sheet but unfortunately, we didn't score and didn't get the win, but I think we played well and hopefully we can win the next game.
"I think especially the first half, we were really good. We tried to play forward, we played forward, we did well, created a lot of chances.
"Second half – I don't know what it was, we did what we did in the first half and you could see it didn't really work. We should be happy with the first half and work from that to the next game."
Traditionally a centre back, the Dutchman admitted the right back role in which he was deployed against the Rs was a little unfamiliar – at least of late – but felt he did well on the right flank of the defence.
"I'm happy to make my full debut today and right back, it's something different than I'm used to, but I'm happy with my performance and hopefully I can play a lot more games.
"I've played there a little bit when I was in Holland, but mainly I'm a centre back, but I can play there as well so I'm available.
"I think that's why the gaffer played me there; they played with five at the back, so our full backs got spare players.
Alex Disappointed For Players' Lack Of Reward
"I tried to use the ball as well as possible and I just felt that first half me and Greg did well, but second half, I think I'd be do it better. I'm happy with the first half."
The youngster added that the side from the capital came into things more after the break, and that while the Lilywhites could have won it, the point on the board is better than nothing.
"Second half, they were more [on the] front foot than us I think, they played more in our half and then you have to stay back a little more. I'm a centre back so I can defend so I think that's help as well and that was needed today.
"That's the most important; if you keep a clean sheet, you don't lose. The three points are what you want but at the end, one point is better than zero. I think that is what we did great today, we defended well and created chances as well but we need to finish those and then we can get three points."
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Preston North End vs Queens Park Rangers on 24 Feb 21
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text:
Rantz: Teacher admits she brings politics into the classroom, miffed people are upset
Dec 14, 2021, 6:30 PM | Updated: Dec 15, 2021, 12:19 pm
Credit Eastlake High School via Facebook
BY JASON RANTZ
The Jason Rantz Show, 3pm-7pm on KTTH
A Seattle-area high school teacher admits that she and her colleagues deliberately bring politics into the classroom. Yet, she appears miffed at the criticisms.
Shila Hodgins teaches humanities at Eastlake High School, a Sammamish public school that has come under increased scrutiny for indoctrinating students.
Hodgins admits she and her colleagues "always bring in our politics." But she doesn't seem to understand why it's wrong.
Rantz: Teacher uses science class to label white middle schoolers privileged oppressors
Teachers get political — on purpose
Hodgins was featured in a well-done, student-led podcast called Indy on Air, hosted by two Eastlake students who likely have careers in radio once they graduate. The topic was political indoctrination in the classroom. I was part of the piece arguing the dangers of left-wing indoctrination.
"There's no neutral spaces, right? We always bring in our politics, because our history and the systems that we've created mean that our identities, our histories are tied to politics," Hodgins explained. "It's just … that's what happens. And so when we walk in the room, we carry these biases. And these biases or, you know, sometimes someone walks in the room, their entire identity is on display, right? So we know that sometimes we walk in a room with these deep down or more obvious biases. Maybe it's racial, maybe it's religious. They're always with us."
But schools are supposed to be neutral spaces. And Hodgins and her colleagues are supposed to leave their political beliefs at the door — along with the biases that come with their identities.
But to Hodgins, that doesn't seem possible.
Race-obsessed
A previous societal ideal was to focus on one's character, not one's race. But using a critical race theory lens, left-wing educators focus everything on identity. You're either oppressed or an oppressor.
"I do my best to teach through the lens of justice in a way that centers a diverse range of experiences and backgrounds," Hodgins said. "I want my students to see themselves in the classroom. To see that they are valued, heard, and supported. And I want them to know that I stand with them and the continued fight for equal rights in a more equitable world."
That Hodgins believes something is promoting "equal rights" and an "equitable world" is irrelevant. It doesn't mean she's on the right side of the issue because she says she is.
Hodgins frames her views in ways that she thinks are difficult to argue with. Who, after all, would be upset with fighting for "equal rights" and a "more equitable world?" It's a rhetorical trick. But she leans onto the same lazy, disingenuous argument that so many other educators use to justify their political leanings in the classroom.
And if you offer reasonable criticism of her or her colleagues, she plays the victim.
"I'm tired. I am tired and frustrated. Sometimes I'm nervous. And sometimes I'm angry," she admitted.
'Too liberal'
CRT proponents seem to relish in gaslighting the public. Hodgins lays it on pretty thick while discussing criticisms of her class.
"It's been said that it's too liberal. Right? What is controversial about talking about systems of oppression? What is controversial about talking about race and equal rights?" she asked.
If a frequent criticism of a class is that it's too liberal, then the teacher is bringing personal politics to the classroom.
When a teacher truly brings all sides to a discussion — which Hodgins claims to do — then you're unlikely to be hit with criticisms of being one-sided. Neither students nor parents should know the political leanings of teachers.
The disingenuous argument
One oft-used argument is that the CRT proponents are "just teaching history." But what they're providing is analysis, yet presenting it as fact.
Hodgins laments the pushback, including threats teachers receive "for teaching about race, teaching about gender, sexual orientation, any category that would be fit under 'marginalized persons,' … it's disheartening."
Any illegal behavior in response to partisan teachers is wrong. It's also wrong to lie about what's happening in the classroom.
No one argues that racism shouldn't be discussed. There's no movement to ban lessons on the fight for equal rights. But that's not what's being taught. Claiming this country was founded on white supremacy and that institutional racism still permeates every faction of American society as a result? That's opinion — one steeped in ideological bias.
Pretending all white students are some monolithic group that benefits from unearned privilege while every Black student is suffering unseen racism? That's not fact; it's a dangerous analysis that creates a mindset that will keep students from success.
And what is any high school class outside of health or biology "teaching about gender" exactly? The lesson plans she's likely referencing have nothing to do with gender beyond pretending there are endless genders and that they're all fluid. That is a political position, not one based on science.
Keep your worldview to yourself
Hodgins comes off as someone more interested in instilling her worldview in students than actually teaching them to think for themselves. I find that dangerous and unfair to students. They should make up their own minds on political issues, not feel like they must parrot the view of the teacher out of fear they will receive poor grades for taking the wrong position.
For someone so woke on the issues, Hodgins is rather naïve. She said in the interview that she doesn't "mind if a student doesn't like me, or doesn't like what I believe in or anything." Leftists usually focus on the power dynamic in relationships, yet when it comes to teacher-student, their concern over undue influence goes out the window.
A student may reasonably question if a teacher who presents herself as an equal rights freedom fighter may judge them harshly for disagreeing with what she believes.
Eastlake High School students have reached out to me since I started covering their school's leftward drift. Some are scared of being openly conservative. That means they're not in a healthy environment. And Hodgins contributes to that toxic campus. But she seems too far gone to do anything about it because she doesn't think she's doing anything wrong.
Listen to the Jason Rantz Show weekday afternoons from 3–6 pm on KTTH 770 AM (HD Radio 97.3 FM HD-Channel 3). Subscribe to the podcast here. Follow @JasonRantz on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. Check back frequently for more news and analysis.
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If you'd like to get involved with the wonderful Broughton High School Association, or just find out more about what they do, head along to their meeting at 7pm on Thursday 4th April in the school staff room.
Without BHSA there would be NO Septemberfest, YMI and Chess cafés etc and much, much less money to support the school and pupils subsidising trips and projects, valuable equipment and much more! See their page on our website for more details.
Several of the core committee members will be leaving the school at the end of this school year – we need to build a new team!
Getting involved is a fantastic way to meet other parents while supporting your child's school. You can sign up for as much or as little as you feel able to do, or just pop in for a chat.