Idaho Legal Aid Solutions is a nonprofit statewide law firm devoted to providing equal access to justice for low revenue people by way of top quality advocacy and education. I am sure that out of the enormous quantity of lawyers in the nation there need to be a handful of good ones. Investing in civil legal aid gives access to justice—a fundamental American worth, reflected in the initial line of our Constitution and in the closing words of our Pledge of Allegiance. If you discover a legal service organization which could be able to help you, I suggest you pay a visit to their web site and/or get in touch with the organization straight. To get free of charge or decreased-cost legal solutions you have to meet the organization's eligibility needs.
I operate in a brand spanking new constructing – it has a room which is utilized for storage at one and has a related storage room further along the corridor – we have designated both of these rooms as very first help stations. The Dallas Volunteer Lawyer System (DVAP) supplies low-earnings individuals in Dallas with cost-free legal suggestions and representation in civil matters.
Even pondering on your feet, you know that you will want band-aids, bandages, cold compresses, finger stools, dressings, scissors, cleansing wipes, plastic gloves,initial help boxes. Lone Star Legal Aid supplies legal help to Texans who, as a outcome of the recent heavy rains and flooding, have experienced harm to apartments, houses, vehicles and property. January 26 (5 weeks) George Harrison – My Sweet Lord: First UK Number One for the ex-Beatle.
The organizations which acquire funding supply low-revenue individuals with totally free or lowered cost legal help in a wide range of civil matter like family law concerns, customer protection, probate, and housing, to name a few. They may ask to see your initial aider's incident books and they may possibly ask to see your 1st aid book. In Saskatchewan our provincial government funds a legal aid program that offers legal help to the poor with regard to criminal matters and loved ones law. Legal aid services can be offered only by organisations which have a contract with the Legal Aid Agency (LAA).
I realize that most of my readers can only dream of functioning at a large firm-so what happens after you get there is possibly beyond the scope of what you can feel about these days, when you're unemployed and living in your parent's basement. In an Am Law Daily column earlier this week, Harper belittles the Simkovic-McIntyre thesis, citing the bimodal distribution of lawyer income" as explanation adequate to ignore the study's findings about averages. Their site has a search engine of law firms and solicitors that makes it possible for you to search by firm name, location and the location of law you want assistance with. The SRA's minimum necessary salary for trainees was scrapped from 1 August 2014.
If you are absolutely specific that you want to specialise in a particular field – specially if you have currently worked in a relevant industry – a niche firm is an excellent decision. Restricted liability partnership (LLP), in which the attorney-owners are partners with one particular another, but no partner is liable to any creditor of the law firm nor is any partner liable for any negligence on the portion of any other companion. Preserving a wholesome level of profit in a little or sole-practise law firm can be difficult, and there is no magic bullet for accomplishment.
If you have previous perform knowledge then you might have contacts who could potentially spot company with the firm of solicitors that you are applying to. Remember that new clients are the lifeblood of a firm of solicitors. Skilled administrators from Bingham McCutchen DLA Piper Jones Day Vinson and Elkins Morgan, Lewis & Bockius Patterson Belknap Hogan Lovell Weil Gotshal and Skadden Arps as properly as firms supplying solutions to law firms, have attended the plan.
Collectively, the attorneys of this firm have over 270 years of combined expertise, enabling them to handle a wide selection of legal problems. Graduate leadership skills are passed on to other folks, making a culture of continuous finding out not firmly embedded in law firm administrative culture. The Master of Professional Research in Law Firm Management is a 30-credit plan that can be completed in 18 months.
As a pre-law college student, you'll require to do every thing you possibly can to give yourself the very best possibility of gaining admission to the most prestigious law school attainable. The first step in transparency is to figure out what takes place 9 months following graduation, but we can not even get this simple set of information – that the law schools have – except in a completely adulterated and misleading type. My kindergarten teacher encouraged my mom to have me tested for the college district's gifted system. The author had spent months in a now-deceased justice's library digging by means of correspondence and notes.
Frankly, law evaluation expertise plus BarBri would give a fellow a leg up on most of the mouth breathers out there. The law college crisis, in 25 words or significantly less: Half of all existing law students aren't going to have genuine legal careers at all, and a lot more than half of the remainder aren't going to make enough funds as lawyers to justify the mixture of educational debt and chance fees they incurred whilst becoming lawyers. Students who have completed 1 year of full-time study in a JD plan at a US ABA accredited law College, might apply for transfer admission via this application.
The mission statement of this school is, to educate leaders who contribute to the advancement of justice and the nicely-becoming of society." Yet the huge amount of debt that students have to undertake in order to attend HLS is a direct obstacle to this mission. To all the critics of law evaluation (and, candidly law evaluation is petty absurd), if you feel that the final item is crap, you ought to see the raw material.
Leading law schools are shaping classes with far more folks who have taken time between college and law school. Cambridge, MA — Early Tuesday, April 5, four Harvard Law School students found a voice-activated recording device in Belinda Hall. But law critiques are an integral element of the scam: their function is to make everyone consider that something crucial is going on to justify the tuitions and professorial salaries. That said, and as painful as it was, I learned much more from law evaluation than I did from law college. The size of 1L sections affects the high quality and consistency of teaching in law schools.


I was born and brought up in County Durham, the land of the Prince Bishops and lived in an area surrounded by farms. I decided from a young age that working with food would be a lifelong passion. Whilst at Silsoe College, Cranfield University I became interested in international development and on completion of my MSc in post-harvest technology, I worked for an NGO sponsored project in Uganda for subsistence farmers before moving to a commercial farm which grew vegetables for export to the U.K.
Affectionately known by friends and colleagues as 'Mrs Bean' I quickly settled into the 'expat' farm life and its various challenges.
I enjoyed the experience of living and working abroad but I outgrew my role on the farm and returned to the UK to become more involved in the fresh produce industry which was expanding rapidly into the prepared foods market in the late 1990s.
I had an exciting time travelling to different countries to procure products, working with growers to develop new product lines, choosing new varieties of crops and learning to speak French and Spanish along the way.
I became a technical manager at Bakkavor and moved to Northwest England and was based at a vegetable processing plant until I left in 2014.
I embarked on a MSc course in Human Nutrition and set up a technical and nutrition consultancy, Alo Solutions, providing services to the food industry.
Working for myself has been a great springboard for positive change in my professional and personal life and it continues to amaze me that I have the opportunity to work on projects that bring about successful change within businesses, spend quality time with friends and family and still find time to volunteer with Big Bookend, Tough Mudder and run the UK student conference for the Nutrition Society held in September 2016.
The belief to apply for a Nuffield Scholarship is thanks to the new found confidence that I have gained from running my own business and realising that the phrase 'Just do it' is a real motivator.
Once my Nuffield project is completed; I plan to expand and develop my consultancy business so that I focus on adding value to my clients' businesses by assisting them to implement innovative systems and products. Involvement with professional bodies is part of my current strategy and that will increase as I engage with new colleagues and continue my professional development. Coaching and mentoring will become a more significant part of my career so that I can encourage people to achieve their goals.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Food Chain Scholarship Fund for their generosity in sponsoring my Nuffield Scholarship.
The relationship between farming practices and healthy nutrition has declined as food processing has overtaken home cooking in many Western diets.
Identification of health problems that can be solved by innovative farming approaches would bring stakeholders together for their mutual benefit.
Recently there has been a shift towards adapting growing methods and animal management to provide solutions to human nutrition problems.
Around 3.8 million people in the UK suffer with chronic kidney disease stage 3-5 (CKD). Consequently, these patients are advised by their dietitians to adjust their diet for protein, sodium, potassium and phosphate. For these individuals, in addition to eating a healthy, balanced diet, they must also modify the way food is cooked, for example leaching vegetables to reduce potassium content or avoiding foods such as potato crisps and other processed potato products.
My research will take me to the Netherlands, USA, South Korea, New Zealand and China in the search for innovative farming practices and vegetable processing solutions for human nutrition problems.
I aim to inform growers in the UK of the options that are available when working strategically with human nutritional health needs and how key foods can be of commercial benefit.
I would like to have a commercially viable potato product for people with chronic kidney disease to be able to consume and I will use the knowledge I gain to take my consultancy business in the direction of innovation and development.


Temperatures could post more records again Thursday before cooling on Friday as the high pressure area weakens. The weather pattern continues to change leading into the weekend as the forecast turns blustery with highs in the 70s in San Luis Obispo and in the 80s and low 90s in the North County.
"The winds will really be blowing," Lindsey said.


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Eine Golay-Zelle ist ein pneumatischer Strahlungsdetektor (daher auch als Golay-Detektor bezeichnet), der erstmals um 1947 von Marcel J. E. Golay entwickelt wurde. Sie ist bei Raumtemperatur betriebsfähig und deckt typischerweise einen Wellenlängenbereich von 1 Mikrometer bis zu einigen Millimetern ab. Damit ist sie prädestiniert für den Einsatz als Detektor für Terahertzstrahlung.

Funktionsweise

Die einfallende Strahlung tritt durch ein Fenster (z. B. aus Diamant oder PE-HD) in die Zelle ein und wird dort von einer teildurchlässigen dünnen Folie absorbiert. Die Zelle ist mit einem Gas gefüllt, an das die Folie die absorbierte Energie abgibt, wobei es sich erwärmt. Das Gas dehnt sich dadurch ein wenig aus und der Druck in der Zelle steigt. Auf der Rückseite ist die Zelle mit einer elastischen Membran verschlossen, die sich infolge des Druckanstiegs verformt. Diese Verformung wird bei Golay-Zellen optisch nachgewiesen, z. B. mit dem Licht einer Leuchtdiode, das von der Membran reflektiert wird. Dies wird mit einer speziell abgestimmten Optik erreicht, die den Lichtstrahl zuerst auf die Membran fokussiert und ihn nach der Reflexion auf eine Fotodiode lenkt. Die von der Fotodiode registrierte Intensität hängt funktional von der Dehnung der Membran ab.

Golay-Zellen können (wie auch pyroelektrische Detektoren) Terahertzstrahlung detektieren, haben dabei aber z. B. gegenüber Bolometern den Vorteil, dass sie bei Zimmertemperatur, also ohne Kühlung betrieben werden können. Der messbare Wellenlängenbereich wird lediglich vom Absorptionsverhalten der Folie in der Messzelle bestimmt. Die Empfindlichkeit einer Golay-Zelle lässt sich z. B. dadurch erhöhen, dass man einen Laser als Lichtquelle im optischen Teil verwendet und die Membranbewegung interferometrisch nachweist.

Einzelnachweise

Weblinks

Sensor
Optische Messtechnik

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text:
the standards we apply
Classifications Code
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JIN WAN AGAINST STUFF
Case Number: 2791
Council Meeting: JUNE 2019
Verdict: Not Upheld
Publication: Stuff
Ruling Categories: Discrimination
The Complaint
[1] Jin Wan complains to Stuff that one of its articles originally entitled "Extremism growing in New Zealand", had comments from University of Auckland's Professor Douglas Pratt which inferred without evidence that the 15 March attacker's manifesto pointed to his attack being of some form of Christian terrorism.
[2] Jin Wan says that Professor Pratt's comments were close to "hate inciting speech".That he cannot and should not label an entire religion as a form of terrorism and asks what if the comments incite others to attack innocent churches.The complainant asks that Stuff remove the comments by Professor Pratt.Jin Wan cites Principle 7 – Discrimination and Diversity – as the Media Council principle the article breaches.
The Response
3] Keith Lynch, Deputy Editor, Stuff responds.He notes firstly that the reporting on the Christchurch terror attack had been extremely challenging.There was serious consideration given by senior editors of Stuff on how to report on the attack with particular thought given to the coverage of the gunman, his motivations and his manifesto.From the outset of reporting, Stuff has not glamorised or granted notoriety to someone accused of a terrorist attack.Therefore, the editorial decision was taken to not quote excessive details from the gunman's manifesto, which details his vile ideology.
[4] However, reporting generally on the gunman's motivations is important for the public to understand why this horrific tragedy occurred.
[5] The story was first published on 15 March only hours after the attack and it is true that we now know more about the accused gunman. But on the evening of the attack, Stuff only had access to his manifesto.The story was published at 9:12pm on the evening of the attack and quotes a number of academics analysing the gunman's motivations.
[6] Jin Wan is only concerned with Professor Pratt's comments.Mr Lynch argues that Professor Pratt has the credentials to support his views.Stuff accurately reported Professor Pratt's opinion on the gunman's manifesto.His reported views are based on his years of expertise in the subject matter and the facts available at the time.The manifesto also makes clear that the gunman received a blessing from the 'Reborn Knights Templar'.The Knights Templar were a Christian military order active during medieval times.
[7] Mr Lynch argues that Principle 7 is not breached by the Stuff article as it did not place gratuitous emphasis on any category.The issue of the gunman's motivation is in the public interest and Stuff has accurately reported Pratt's opinion on it.The reporting on 'Christian extremism' is not gratuitous.It is part of the article exploring the gunman's motivation.
[8] In a follow up response Jin Wan argues that the Stuff article led to reporting of 'Christian terrorism' from other media outlets including TVNZ. The Council is of the view that Stuff cannot be responsible for how others report on the manifesto and motivations of the attacker.It should be noted that Stuff chose not to have the phrase, Christian terrorism, in the headline but rather in the broader article.
[9] The Council acknowledges the significantly challenging environment with which the article was published – some 5-6 hours after the terrorist attack.The manifesto was what media had to work with for that particular period of time.Even during that period, Stuff carefully ensured that the academics used are experts in their chosen field. For Professor Pratt they remind the reader that he had been tracking religious extremism since the London Attacks.Those attacks were in 2005.
[10] Professor Pratt argues there is historical consensus that religious extremism and terrorism exists.Many countries around the world have suffered or continue to suffer from forms of religious extremism and terrorism.From his reading of elements of the manifesto, Professor Pratt believes that the gunman acted out a form of Christian terrorism.That is his view based on his area of expertise and his reading of the manifesto. Stuff has only recorded these views, the Council believes accurately.
[11] Given the nature of the attack and the motivations, Christian extremism and terrorism is a legitimate subject of discussion particularly as they are relevant and in the public interest following 15 March.There was no gratuitous emphasis on the topic of Christian terrorism as Professor Pratt's expert views were part of a suite of expert views Stuff had reported.
[12] Complaint is not upheld.
Media Council members considering the complaint were Sir John Hansen, Rosemary Barraclough, Liz Brown, Craig Cooper, Jo Cribb, Tiumalu Peter Fa'afiu, Ben France-Hudson, Hank Schouten, Christina Tay, Tim Watkin and Tracy Watkins.
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There are many different categories of restaurant equipment and supplies out there. Commercial refrigerators can keep ingredients cold and in good condition. If an eatery serves many dishes that include meats and dairy products, reliable and efficient commercial refrigerators are particularly critical. Other equipment categories include dishwashers, concession components, ice storage units, ice machines, stands, shelves, racks, food processors and even stainless steel worktables. People who work for restaurants need to make sure they have food pans, cookware, grease filters, kitchen utensils, cutlery, knives, scales, timers, thermometers, serving dishes, flatware, food baskets, glassware and so much more. Keeping a restaurant going calls for the guidance of professionals who are detail-oriented, thorough and reliable. That's because it can often be so easy to forget to cover certain bases.
People who need to purchase supplies and equipment for dining establishments should take their budgets into consideration. It can be a smart idea to keep costs down by investing in kitchen equipment that's used. Pre-owned kitchen equipment is often in excellent condition. It can often remain in excellent working order for years and years, as well. If an individual is looking to purchase kitchen equipment that's used, she should opt for suppliers that have terrific reputations. She should opt for restaurant equipment suppliers that are known for items that are durable, reliable and effective. She should also steer clear of any and all equipment suppliers that don't receive good reviews from customers.
Shopping for Used Kitchen Equipment online isn't at all a tough or demanding task. User-friendly restaurant equipment supplier websites tend to be easy to navigate. People who want to locate all of the used equipment options that are accessible to them should click on "used" links. It can be simple to find high-quality used choices in ice cream cases, bakery cases, stainless steel equipment and beverage equipment. It can also be a piece of cake to find reliably used choices in refrigerators. Older refrigerators can frequently work just as well as their newer counterparts. If an individual maintains a refrigerator properly, it can stay in excellent shape for quite a long time. Shopping for kitchen equipment that's new or used can be a smooth process for people who are focused and who pay close attention. It's critical to take restaurant equipment shopping seriously, so contact us today to find the best used kitchen equipment!
516,688 total articles and counting.


When it comes to improving system's overall performance, adding RAM is good way to advance forward, but it is not always the best. Instead, I would suggest you consider polishing your existing memory tool, and optimize it to the fullest before you go around shopping for some more. This would involve making a few adjustments in computer processes, along with tampering with certain PC settings to minimize memory utilization and maximize performance.
To help with your challenging, yet exciting journey, here are a few tips and tricks that guarantee outstanding results, and promise to bring you a better computing future.
But first, let's highlight the core component of our discussion, the RAM, and understand how it cooperates with the system to run programs.
What is RAM and How It Works?
RAM, also called Random Access Memory, is a form of computer storage unit that allows contained data to be accessed randomly. This differs from other storage devices, such as hard disks, CDs, floppies, etc., who read and write data only in a predefined order, varying application loading time depending upon their physical location.
Every software uses memory for its operations. When you load a program, for example word processor or a browser, the CPU (Central Processing Unit) extracts the required executable (.EXE) and other crucial files from your hard disk and stores it into RAM. All operations are then executed from this RAM, rather than accessing hard disk which is a much slower process. The greater the space, the larger the capacity to hold programs and run multiple tasks simultaneously.
Sometimes, the computer may run short on physical memory, probing you to terminate running programs before loading any further. Not only is this frustrating, but also alarming for the user who goes on closing down all applications. However, that is neither convenient nor, practical. Instead, here a few recommended ways to increase memory space and optimize RAM to the fullest.
Virtual memory works by using hard disk space as temporary storage for data that would normally be saved in RAM. The computer searches memory unit for areas that have not been utilized recently and moves them onto the hard disk. This frees up memory space for new applications, and gives a feeling of "unlimited" RAM to the user.


text:
From Marketing Daily: PGA Tour Shows Off its 'Good Guys'
By Aaron Baar
As the PGA Tour continued last weekend in Scottsdale, Ariz., tour organizers wanted people to know the athletes are as dynamic and disciplined as those who played a few miles away in the so-called "Big Game."
The spot, from agency GSD&M, begins with actor Luke Wilson (who last year provided the voiceover, but makes a physical appearance this year) rhetorically asking if the guys on the tour have it made. "It's all red carpets and limos? Well, why don't you ask this guy," as the visuals cut to a sweat-covered Rose running to stay in shape. As the video cuts to the other golfers sinking huge putts and big drives, Wilson likens the tour to "swimming with sharks." The spot ends with the tagline, "These guys are good." Read full story here.
Southwest Airlines encourages travelers to 'Go with heart'
Dodge Features Owner Content In Campaign
Fruit Of The Loom Aims 'Fruitisms' At Younger Buyers
Congrats to @pizzahut for a new Guinness World Record. We loved helping to bring back The Big New Yorker…bigger tha… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…
Space Force, the newest branch of the U.S. military in over 73 years, marked its third anniversary with a reimagine… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…
Wondering what experiential activations to expect in 2023? Our ECD Maria D'Amato gives her insights along with her… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…
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We couldn't be more proud of our founder, Roy Spence. We <3 Roy! twitter.com/AustinChamber/…
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Right now, at this very moment, someone at GSD&M is eating queso.


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Lack of State Investment Opening the Door to Federal Influence in Higher Education
John Aubrey Douglass | Senior Research Fellow at the Center for Studies in Higher Education, UC Berkeley
As state governments begin to disinvest from their public higher education systems, it might fall to the federal government to step in and provide the necessary funding, in exchange for programming that suits the national good rather than a specific state's needs.
The following interview is with John Douglass, senior research fellow of public policy and higher education at the Center for Studies in Higher Education at UC Berkeley. Douglass has done a great deal of work related to the California Master Plan for higher education and, in this interview, explains how the roles of both state and federal governments in public higher education might evolve over the next decade.
1. How dependent are public institutions today on the policies of state governments?
If you're going to look in a historical timeline, you would say that they're becoming less and less dependent, at least on a financial side. We're seeing significant declines in investment rates and you can do it various ways — per student, looking at GDP, personal income — all of those numbers are going down. And in a state like California, for example, you would see a 20 to 25 percent (to sometimes 30 percent) decline over the last 15+ years in investment in higher education on a per-student basis. …
2. Given the nationwide inconsistency of state funding to public higher education systems and institutions, are individual institutions being forced to find independent funding?
Absolutely. There's much discussion about fundraising and getting corporate gifts or donations and building up endowments, but in the public side the biggest lever for making any kind of substantial financial contribution to the operating budget of these institutions is tuition and fees.
3. When it comes to funding, do you think public institutions will be more independent from state governments in 10 years' time?
As I said, you're having a long-term decline in public investment in public higher education and I would also just caution you, when you talk about public higher education, you really have to disaggregate. The institutional types are very different; they have different kind of funding models. A community college verses a research-intensive university, like here at Berkeley; they really operate in different ways and service different constituencies. In any case, noting that, you're seeing this process of significant declines in public investment.
And, also, one other caveat is, in places like California, we're facing large-scale population growth and increasing demand for higher education. So, at one side you've got this declining investment. On the other side, you have increased calls by government for accountability to justify the investments that they are making, increased regulations, and you see this general trend throughout the US, throughout the world. Well, that's not completely true; it varies because there are some nations that are investing large scale into their higher [education] systems, but you're seeing this accountability drive. So there's this bit of irony in that while you're having decreased investment by public coffers, you're seeing increased efforts to develop accountability structures, many of which I think are well intentioned and justified, but sometimes they are not.
4. Looking 10 years into the future, will there be a model in place to determine how accountable institutions are or are not to their funding sources? How do you see that drive for accountability playing out in a decade's time?
It's really hard to predict that. What I would say is that these accountability drives, thus far, are mostly oriented towards providing consumer information to students and their families. There are, and will be, increased efforts to use accountability structures to drive funding from public coffers. So, for example, a very common one now being discussed in California and other states, and has been there in various forms, "Well, how many degrees are produced per dollar invested by taxpayers?"
But what I would say is that I think the scenario will become more significant in terms of accountability and these budgetary structures and regimes. They will become more significant if state investment increases. In other words, there is some significant change in the trend we're seen over the last 30 or so years of public disinvestment. That, I think, would then make the accountability structures more relevant, more significant, in the operations of these institutions. The other side of the fence is, though, and I think is very likely, is modest bumps of reinvestment, but still a long-term trend of … a process of disinvestment. And then, we have to ask, how will these accountability structures have meaning in terms of how they influence the institutions.
5. What about when it comes to curriculum? Many state governments are adamant that higher education institutions must be more tied to meeting workforce needs and, in California, all new programs at public institutions must go through a state approval process. In 10 years, what kind of influence will state governments have on program development?
What I will note to you is that there was a process in California to actually coordinate and look and review new programs, but that has gone away. … This is a good case example of the kind of inconsistency that we're facing in policy development. We have this high value in higher education, significant increases in demand, but limited resources, which are having all kinds of different effects on the institutions themselves, but also what kind of programs are available — vocational or otherwise — to fit into the demand.
But in California, for example, we did have a process that was supposed to help coordinate and look at these programs administered by something called the California Post-Secondary Education Commission and this is a coordinating body — almost every state in the US, except for a few small ones, have some kind of coordinating body. Well, the budgetary problems in California were so severe that the governor got rid of that Commission. So, all the processes about reviewing what each of our public sectors do — we have three here in California, the Community Colleges, the California State University and the University of California System — these are very large systems in the largest state in the Union. Well, the largest state in the Union no longer has a coordinating body or a process review.
But, to get back to what I think is the gist of your question: How will government action help influence curriculum development that might be more careerist in this orientation, or help fit more specifically labor needs in California, in other states, these kinds of things?
I think what we're seeing is there is this real problem that the lack of resources and funding. For example, the California Community Colleges, which enroll over 70 percent of all students in the state, has the worst funding of any community college system in the nation. There's this dysfunction and disconnect, and so the lack of funding at that level, even with significant demand for vocational programs and otherwise — they can't provide those programs. There's no money! One estimate is over 250,000 students who would normally be in the community colleges, many of them in vocational programs, can't get in because there's no funding to actually provide those courses. It's not because there's not demand.
And so, in that particular instance, you're seeing many of those students who go away to a lower cost vocation program at a community college, … many of them find some way of entering higher education or a vocational program through the for-profit sector which is extremely expensive and, on average, has extremely higher attrition rates, higher than community colleges.
So, I think there's these major disconnects in the idea of workforce development. If you starve institutions that are primary providers, it's hard for them to meet that kind of demand or be, let's say, innovative and sent away to build new programs. So, what I think is what we're seeing now, and this is the common pattern, is that there are monies being put up for very specific purposes. That is influencing the vocational development programs. It's, more or less, not institutions having the resources and then developing them to meet demand or to create closer relationships with business and industry. It's very specific line-item dollars that are being allocated. … I think what we're seeing are very special initiatives. I think that's okay. It's something that can help in workforce development. But I don't think that's part of a long-term plan as to how to create robust institutions, public universities and colleges that then can better respond to labor needs in local markets or elsewhere. It's a kind of short-term, how-can-we-get-this-going approach as opposed to a holistic, more integrated approach.
6. Do you think that in 10 years' time, the for-profit sector of higher education is going to dominate the workforce development field from state to state as federal government coffers begin to dry up in this area?
That might be a scenario. I think it will be that the for-profits have at least a window here to expand their markets significantly. As to whether they will dominate it, I don't really sense that would be the case. If it is the case, it would be very sad, because it's not an efficient usage of taxpayer money. And just to remind you that the for-profits in the United States, at least, [for] most of them … 90 percent of the money they are making is from federal and sometimes local and state loans and grants to students. So if you look at, for example, the University of Phoenix, some 90 percent of all of their income is from taxpayer money that is basically provided in grants and loans to students that spend it at for-profits. So we can argue about the efficiencies of it, but I think what we'd see is probably not a dominance, but a more significant presence unless, of course, there are more regulations placed on the for-profit sector.
7. Do you think the federal government in 10 years' time will look at the public and state to state higher education systems and say, this is maybe an area where we need to start exerting a little more power?
I think they are already doing that, and it's probably because of the financial difficulties and criticisms of higher education and sometimes how it matches up with workforce development. Again, you've got to disaggregate.
We can talk about workforce development at community colleges and the vocational programs. What about universities or four-year institutions? … But I think this is an area in which the Obama Administration has shown tremendous interest. I think we'll see that continue.
I think you may be right there that this is one area, a comfort-zone, shall we say, in which the federal government feels that they can intervene or directly in what has traditionally and historically been something that's organized and structured at the state level. So, in United States higher education, the organization of it, the charter of institutions, public and private, is legally and has historically been at the state level and the federal government has been restricted in the areas of financial aid and funding … basic research, academic research and otherwise. Here is an area in which there is significant growth in activity by the federal government, is vocational and workforce training. So I think this is an area of growth.
8. Do you have anything you'd like to add about what the role of federal governments in higher education will look like in 10 years' time?
I think one thing that concerns me tremendously — and that is not on the radar of higher education policy folks or the higher education community or the public discussion — is, the United States has embarked on a very risky experiment, in my viewpoint, and that is, of all the developed economies, we have the most students who are part-time. Tremendous numbers!
If you look at the California Community Colleges, some 70 percent of the students are part-time. This relates to when students are entering their professional lives. But it really also can be whether they have other responsibilities in their lives and they are coming back to education, which is a good thing, but it also reflects tremendous financial stress that we're asking so many students not to be able to focus on their studies for a brief period of time or a long period of time on a full-time basis.
And I think you can make a direct correlation or link that to the significantly and tremendously high attrition rates. The United States is a high-access, high-attrition system; a low-degree production system. One of the reasons is that you have so many people who are students who are part-time.
Understanding California's AB 705 and the Value of Data Analytics
Eric Spear | President and Founder, Precision Campus
Industry and Community Partnerships Central to Expanding Apprenticeships
Katie Spiker | Senior Federal Policy Analyst, National Skills Coalition
Putting Today's Students Back at the Center of Federal Policies
Julie Peller | Executive Director, Higher Learning Advocates
Optimizing Ontario: A Closer Look at the Province's Performance-Based Funding Proposal
Alex Usher | President, Higher Education Strategy Associates
Eugene Partnoy 2013/03/11 at 12:08 pm
Douglass does a good job of pointing out the state's contradictory actions on higher education. To provide less funding while demanding more of an oversight role is outrageous, even more so when those new accountability mechanisms are then tied to future funding! It's time for higher education institutions to push back and demand more clarity about the role of the state in the industry and a better relationship moving forward.
Rebecca Cruser 2013/03/11 at 3:40 pm
It may not just be funding that's driving more federal government involvement in higher education. How about other factors, like the reality that many universities now cross state boundaries, either with extension campuses or through their online activities? This might be a good time to discuss which level of government, whether state or federal, is best positioned to take on higher education as a portfolio.


Read the side effects of Pentostatin as described in the medical literature. In case of any doubt consult your doctor or pharmacist.
Heart - Bleeding, low blood pressure, chest pain, abnormal heart rhythm, fast or slow heart rate, heart arrest, heart failure, high blood pressure, vein inflammation, blood clot, sinus arrest.
Central Nervous System - Fatigue, headache, neurologic disorder, weakness, anxiety, confusion, depression, dizziness, sleeplessness, nervousness, tingling, drowsiness, abnormal thinking, incoordination, convulsions, speech disorder, emotional lability, hallucination, hostility, inflammation of a nerve, paralysis, syncope, twitching.
Skin - Rash, itching, sweating, skin disorder, dry skin, hives, pimples, hair loss, photosensitivity.
ENT - Abnormal vision, deafness, dry eyes, ear pain, tear disorder, photophobia, ringing in the ear, watery eyes.
Gastrointestinal - Nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal pain, loss of appetite, mouth infection, dental abnormalities, indigestion, flatulence, gum inflammation, constipation, difficulty in swallowing, tongue inflammation, ileus, unusual taste.
Genitourinary - Abnormal kidney function, absence of a menstrual period, breast lump, decreased libido, gout, impotence, kidney failure, kidney stone.
Blood-Lymphatic - Decrease in white blood cells and platelets, anemia.
Liver - Liver disorder, elevated LFTs.
Musculoskeletal - Muscle pain, joint pain, joint inflammation.
Respiratory - Coughing or increased cough, upper respiratory tract infection, difficulty in breathing, nose inflammation, asthma.
Miscellaneous - Fever, chills, pain, viral infection, chest pain, death, face swelling, swelling in the extremities, flu-like symptoms and hangover effect.


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» Metaphoric Process
The Loss of Empathy in Autism
Last Updated on Fri, 20 Sep 2013 | Metaphoric Process
The previous example indicates how metaphor can be degraded as a consequence of traumatic experiences. The loss of the "as if" reflects an impairment of the imagination, as imagination requires metaphor. Simon Baron-Cohen (1999) has presented studies that demonstrate that the major deficit in autistic individuals consists of what he called "mind blindness"—the inability to identify with the other. This deficit appears to be innate. Baron-Cohen reports the following experiment. Normal children around the age of three or four are presented with the following visual scenario: Sally places her marble in a basket and then leaves the room. Ann enters the room and then transfers Sally's marble to a different location. The children are asked, "Where will Sally look for her marble?" The usual response of normal children is that Sally will look for the marble were she left it, in the basket. Only a small minority of children with autism gave the response that Sally would look where the marble really was. It was clear that most autistic children could not identify with Sally, could not imagine what was going on in Sally's mind. To identify with Sally, one must be able to accept the "as if," the paradox that one can think like Sally and yet not be Sally.
Autistic and normal children were shown a sponge that was painted to look like a rock, made to look "as if" it were a rock. They were then asked, "What does this look like?" and "What is it really?" Normal children between the ages of four and six could say that the object looks like a rock but that it really is a sponge. Most autistic children could not do so. When shown a stone that looked like an egg, normal children would say, "That looks like an egg, but it really is a stone." Autistic children would say, "It really is an egg" (Baron-Cohen 1999). I would interpret this experiment as further evidence of the loss of metaphoric capacity in autistic children. To reiterate, the acceptance in imagination that something "both is and is not" requires the capacity for metaphoric thought, and the absence of this cognitive capacity helps to explain the inability of autistic children to empathize.
Oliver Sacks (1995) presented a remarkable portrait of an autistic adult, the gifted engineer and professor of animal husbandry Temple Grandin. He described her inability to empathize or imagine other minds. Temple could not understand dissembling and pretense and could never quite understand other people's responses to her. When she was younger, she was hardly able to interpret even the simplest expressions of emotion. As a child, she could not enter into imaginative play. Literature that depicted other minds bewildered her. She was confused, she said, by Romeo and Juliet: "I never knew what they were up to." She could not empathize with the characters or follow the intricate play of motive and intention.
Sacks described an episode in which Temple learned how to make blueprints. She watched how a draftsman did it and then she said, "I appropriated him, drawing and all." She swallowed him whole: she became the draftsman. Again, this total identification with the draftsman lacked the "as if" quality of the empathie imagination.
Funny Wiring Autism
Autism is a developmental disorder that manifests itself in early childhood and affects the functioning of the brain, primarily in the areas of social interaction and communication. Children with autism look like other children but do not play or behave like other children. They must struggle daily to cope and connect with the world around them.
Complete Recovery from Anxiety and Panic
Femoral Sulcus Anatomy


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Isabel Safie Receives a Women Worth Watching Leadership Award
Press Releases Sep 07, 2017
The Profiles in Diversity Journal Recognizes BB&K Partner for "Impressive" Success
For Immediate Release: Sept. 7, 2017
Media Contact: Denise Nix • 213-787-2552 • denise.nix@bbklaw.com
RIVERSIDE, Calif. – Congratulations to Best Best & Krieger LLP Partner Isabel Safie for being selected by the Profiles in Diversity Journal for inclusion on its 2017 Women Worth Watching® list. Isabel, a member of the firm's Employee Benefits & Executive Compensation group, was recognized for her success in building a practice practically from scratch, along with contributions she makes to the community. "Safie's rise in this practice area was impressive, not only because there were no attorneys at BB&K specializing in this area, and therefore no one to learn from, but also because she was able to forge connections with key professionals at administrative and regulatory entities who could facilitate the resolution of critical issues," the Journal wrote.
This is the 16th year the Journal has acknowledged professional women who are leaders and demonstrate leadership qualities. Publisher and Founder James R. Rector wrote in the magazine, "We are convinced that women offer unique qualities, and those profiled on the pages of our magazine have proven time and again that women are fundamental to leading successful organizations."
Isabel joined BB&K right from law school and created a niche practice that emphasized pension and retiree health benefits. The daughter of an immigrant mother, Isabel told the Journal: "I understand that the odds were against me, but I earned my place and I owe a debt to those that helped pave the way for me. I'll pay that debt for the rest of my life by helping others like me, and unlike me, because diversity is our strength."
Read the entire article in the Profiles in Diversity Journal by clicking here.
BB&K, which has an ongoing commitment to diversity, applauds Isabel for her accomplishments.
Best Best & Krieger LLP is a national law firm that focuses on environmental, business, education, municipal, employee benefits and telecommunications law for public agency and private clients. With more than 170 attorneys, the law firm has nine offices nationwide, including Indian Wells, Los Angeles, Sacramento, San Diego and Washington, D.C. For more information, visit www.bbklaw.com or follow @BestBestKrieger on Facebook and @BBKlaw on Twitter.
Isabel C. Safie


Very diverse area. Clean, updated & nice. Apartment is located in the willowbrook area. Perfectly accessible to all highways. Apartment complex is considered affordable luxury living. All cookware provided. 55 inch television in living room. Did I mention brand new carpet just installed this month? I just love new carpet!


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Wychwood Circle
SPIRITUALITY - WHAT IT IS AND WHAT IT'S NOT
Philip Sheldrake: Spirituality - A Very Short Introduction (OUP 2012)
Not for the first time, this useful series of pocket-sized readers for short train journeys has provided stimulation and edification. The book begged to be written in the context of that over-used phrase "spiritual but not religious". Philip Sheldrake tackles the subject in 7 succinct chapters, beginning by pointing out the difficulty of defining such a 'chameleon-like word' which takes on the shapes and priorities of its contexts. Nevertheless he finds a number of 'family resemblances' and quotes Evelyn Underhill (1911, 1930) who suggested that human beings are vision-creating beings and not just tool-making animals. He goes on:
In other words, 'spirituality' expresses a sense that human life involves more than biology. As human beings we are naturally driven by goals beyond physical satisfaction or mental supremacy to seek a deeper level of meaning and fulfilment.
In his conclusion he identifies 3 critical features of the concept, and these too are worth quoting:
First, spirituality expresses the reflective human quest for identity and meaning beyond a purely pragmatic approach to life. Second, it suggests that a full human life needs to move beyond self-absorption to a sense of the greater good and service of others. Finally and vitally, S relates to a process of unlocking the creativity and imagination that enables us to touch the edge of mystery.
'I want to cultivate my sensibility'
Coincidentally Rowan Williams and Julia Neuberger were at Edinburgh last week and Williams had quite a lot to say about what 'spirituality' is not:
Sharing a platform at the Edinburgh International Book Festival with Julia Neuberger, president of the Liberal Judaism movement, Williams launched a withering critique of popular ideas about spirituality. "The last thing it is about is the placid hum of a well-conducted meditation," he said.
He said the word "spiritual" in today's society was frequently misused in two ways: either to mean "unworldly and useless, which is probably the sense in which it has been used about me", or "meaning 'I'm serious about my inner life, I want to cultivate my sensibility'".
He added: "Speaking from the Christian tradition, the idea that being spiritual is just about having nice experiences is rather laughable. Most people who have written seriously about the life of the spirit in Christianity and Judaism spend a lot of their time telling you how absolutely bloody awful it is." Neuberger said she found some uses of the word self-indulgent and offensive. Williams argued that true spirituality was not simply about fostering the inner life but was about the individual's interaction with others.
Williams went on:
"I'd like to think, at the very least, that spiritual care meant tending to every possible dimension of sense of the self and each other, that it was about filling out as fully as possible human experience," he said.
Guardian review, Aug 15th
Interreligious spirituality
Dialogue between faiths developed strongly in the 20th century and not just in terms of intellectual debate. Recently there has been increasing contact between Christianity and Buddhism and between Christianity and Hinduism. There will be much to pursue here at Wychwood Circle and Islam will be high on the list.
I will be fascinated to look further into three 'iconic figures in interreligious spirituality' whom Sheldrake describes briefly: the Dalai Lama (b. 1935), Thomas Merton (1915-68) and Raimundo Pannikar (1918-2010), as well as other intriguing accounts of interreligious encounters.
Whether this sort of dialogue leads to syncretism or pan-religious integration of spiritual experience is a question Sheldrake touches on in the same chapter. He quotes Rabbi Sacks who says, no, religious diversity is actually divinely intended. Others point to their belief that
the never-ending process of dialogue without any obvious final resolution has a spiritual value in itself. For them, God is found precisely on the borders or the spaces between different faiths and in the continual and challenging movement back and forth between what is familiar and what is strange or 'other'.
The 'borders or the spaces' between faiths, between faith and non-faith, and indeed within faiths have already been explored at Wychwood Circle meetings and we hope to invite several guests to help us to do so in the new season.
Posted by Wychwood Circle at 04:19 2 comments:
THANK GOD I'M AN ATHEIST
CHRISTIAN THEISTS AND CHRISTIAN ATHEISTS
This review of a Wychwood meeting was written for the local magazine 'The Wychwood' (April/May 2013)
Earlier this year Wychwood Library saw over 20 people assemble for Wychwood Circle's visiting speaker. Canon Brian Mountford, Vicar of St Mary the Virgin's, the University Church in Oxford, spoke about his recent book "Christian Atheist: Belonging without Believing", a title which seemed to tempt along many who don't go for Christian as a label or don't go for Atheist, or feel there must be common ground to explore between the two.
The title, Brian told us, originated with a conversation with Philip Pullman, the Oxford author. The Canon, maybe trying to emphasize his credentials as a man of the world, said he would describe himself as 'secular'; to which Pullman (an atheist) said, well he would call his own outlook on life 'religious'. So roles seemed to be reversed and Brian has had a number of similar conversations with members of his Oxford city congregation. Many choose to belong because of the music, or th Anglican liturgy, or because a partner sings in the choir. They are drawn to religious ethics, language, art and community. Brian welcomes them all and the question of belief, in the sense of signing up to a certain body of doctrine, becomes secondary. The more important question is: "how shall I be?"
Brian's congregation will not be alone in being grateful to be told that you can be a Christian in this sense without anyone else's permission. Many, he said, were looking to be taken out of themselves – by the aesthetics of an ancient ceremony in a beautiful building, by a sense of 'the other'. Karen Armstrong, whose book we read last year, was fond of the Greek word ekstasis – stepping out of yourself – and others with a psychoanalytical bent might emphasise the benefits of leaving our ego behind. But who is to say, as was voiced by our group, that this couldn't be done through a Pink Floyd concert as well as Handel's Messiah, a country walk as much as cathedral architecture?
The same day Radio 4's Something Understood was on the theme 'Should I stay or should I go?' Religion, it said, may originate from the root 'to bind'. Church, on the other hand, should ideally feel like home. So apparently it's ok to go to church – or even to believe in Jesus's God – because you want to rather than because you are ready to believe six impossible things before breakfast.
So, six months on, we might ask yourselves: what exactly is it 'to believe'? Marcus Borg, hearking back to the Old English be loef, prefers to read it as 'to belove'. Karen Armstrong too relates the word back to its Middle English meaning of 'to prize, to value, to hold dear'. The word 'faith' similarly has acquired some new connotations since its translation from the Greek pistis which meant 'trust, engagement, commitment' or the Latin fides which means 'loyalty'. All this is very different from thinking you have to assent to a set of intellectual propositions before you can say you 'believe in God'. It also offers some promising new (or old) meanings for a contemporary definition of being 'a Christian'. What fun you can have once you start connecting up pre-modern with post-modern!
On September 8th Wychwood Circle returns to this broad theme when it will be led by an invited guest, Revd Andy Thayer, associate priest in the Chase Benefice (Chadlington, Ascott, etc), actor, musician, and theologian, who is currently working on a doctorate at Oxford University. His provocative title is: "Thank God I'm an atheist".
Do join us at Wychwood Library in High Street, Milton under Wychwood, from 7pm to about 9pm on Sunday 8th September. The following meeting is scheduled for October 6th and will be led by Ian Cave, an atheist and one of the founders of the group in 2012.
Posted by Wychwood Circle at 02:41 No comments:
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Can Social Media Hurt Your Divorce Case?
18 Jul Can Social Media Hurt Your Divorce Case?
In the world of Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest and all things social media, some of us are reserved, and some of us are glued to our smart phones. Some don't have much reserve at all when it comes to what they share on Facebook. And that's all fine. But it's imperative that you know what you can share and what you can't share on social media if you are in the middle of a divorce. Your social media accounts, if necessary, will be investigated by your spouse's divorce attorney. It's very common. They're looking for evidence to use against you, and even seemingly benign posts can end up hurting your reputation in the context of a divorce. A damaging post can affect the outcome of division of marital property, allocation of parental responsibilities, and child and spousal support payments. There are several ways your spouses divorce attorney may use information you post on social media against you in your case.
For some of us, it feels like somewhat of a pull, especially during a contentious divorce, to vent out your feelings to a friend regarding your divorce. You may make derogatory remarks regarding your soon-to-be ex-spouse. Even electronic communications, such as emails, can be used as evidence against you during court. Bitter comments regarding any matters revolving your divorce or your spouse can make you appear socially unstable or hateful. A divorce attorney may highlight this behavior and use it against you in the matter of child custody.
Many of us love showing the world of social media what we do on vacation and during social outings. During a divorce, this is not a good idea. Is suggests you have disposable income and lucrative assets, even when that's not actually true. These photos may show a contradictory depiction of your financial standing. Your spouse's divorce attorney can use these photos, which may be contradictory in nature, to sway the court's decision on matters such as spousal support, child support, or property allotment.
Some people may look down on those dating while going through a divorce. There are opposing sentiments about it. If you do decide to date during a divorce, it's best not to advertise it. It could call into question your personal morals. If you have children, it's best not to bring this your new partner around them. For one, it could truly confuse a child to see their mother or father dating someone else when they're still not fully understanding of divorce and what it could mean for their future. Secondly, you could end up dating someone you don't fully know everything about. What if they've been in trouble with the law? If your spouse's divorce attorney finds evidence that you are with someone else – especially anyone who has been in trouble with the law – this could hurt the matter of child custody in your divorce case.
You may be driven to use social media during a divorce. It can help you get back out with friends, see what the world has to offer for you – there are plenty of benefits. It's extremely important, however, to keep some of your affairs off social media during a divorce case. Do not delete your social media accounts without consulting with your attorney first.


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Scott's Web Log
Consultant, writer, speaker, spouse, brother, son, friend, partner, advocate for people with autoimmune type 1 diabetes, thinker, dreamer.
USA Today: "Double transplant for type 1 diabetes brings troubles, gifts"
Just a little over a month ago (on December 9, 2009 to be precise), I posted a Timewarp Tuesday posting I called "The Needle And The Damage Done". The reason was largely because I was going through my own file archives and wanted to share the story shared by Scott Bowles, a reporter for USA Today which chronicled his own wait for a kidney/pancreas transplant back in 2000, which ended in successful surgery and insulin independence for the first time after 20 years of life with the autoimmune disease.
My timing turned out to be rather fortuitous, because today (on Monday, January 11, 2010), USA Today happened to feature an update on Mr. Bowles' transplantation experience, his life as a former person with diabetes, and some difficulty he's experienced as a result of the transplantation surgery on this, the ten-year anniversary following his life-transforming surgery. It also comes, ironically enough, on the 88th anniversary of the first reported treatment with insulin.
Ultimately, I will share all of the pictures and text to this story, but for the time-being, here is the text content of this real-life experience post diabetes.
Double transplant for type 1 diabetes brings troubles, gifts
By Scott Bowles, USA Today
Ten years ago Tuesday, USA Today's Scott Bowles had a kidney and pancreas transplant to treat his juvenile diabetes. He kept a journal of the experience, which ran as a series in the newspaper and in his book, "The Needle and the Damage Done". Bowles, 44, a film reporter in Los Angeles, looks back at the decade and life after the surgery.
Albuquerque, April 7, 2009
Denzel Washington is going to have to wait.
The star is on a nearby stage, rehearsing for his film The Book of Eli and waiting to give me a 15-minute interview before shooting begins.
But I'm not going to make it. I'm on the floor of a publicist's darkened office, on my back, trying to slow my breathing and fight off the nausea and heart palpitations that are racking my body.
It has been 10 years since I opted to treat my diabetes with a kidney and pancreas transplant, a decision that, for the first time, I'm beginning to question.
I find myself on a hospital gurney with frightening regularity lately. Where once I was going to the hospital every six to eight months, now I'm there every six to eight weeks. My weight is down to 139, lighter than I was in college. Three days without nausea or a racing heart feels like a good stretch of health.
More frightening, doctors aren't sure how to keep my body from breaking down. They've diagnosed me with two post-transplant illnesses: cyclic vomiting syndrome (CVS) and atrial fibrillation. CVS is a powerful wave of nausea that hits without warning and can last hours, leaving me heaving long after my stomach is empty.
The nausea depletes me of electrolytes and minerals, which sends my body into the more dangerous complication: atrial fibrillation, a condition in which the heart pumps twice as fast as normal but circulates only 60% of the blood, raising the risk of a blood clot and stroke.
Today, I'm in the throes of both complications. I'm rushed to New Mexico University Hospital, where nurses are having trouble finding a vein. I've had so many blood draws over the decade that my veins have scarred and it's difficult to find one that's usable.
They try two sticks in the left arm. No luck. One in the right. Same result.
A nurse suggests mining my neck. I close my eyes: This is the one place I thoroughly feel the needle. The vein works all right; it's dashing us both in arterial spray, too much for her to secure an intravenous tube. Finally, she sinks the needle between the fingers of my right hand and finds a vein.
After a bit, I feel the medications open my lungs and nudge me toward sleep.
But not before I think to myself: I can't keep doing this.
Los Angeles, July 14, 2009
My doctor for the past 10 years, Michael Brousseau, has me in his office. My mother is here, too. She has traveled from Atlanta to meet with physicians and brainstorm.
Brousseau is frustrated. I'm on a dozen anti-nausea medications — some of them designed for cancer patients on chemotherapy — yet nothing works with consistency.
He connects me with two more specialists, who will focus on my stomach and heart. "Something has to work," he says. "Because right now, you're not functional."
The words throw me. I had this surgery Jan. 12, 2000, as a salvo against the disease, which over 20 years claimed both kidneys, one-third of my sight and almost all hope that I'd reach 50 with my vision and limbs intact.
And for five years, it seemed, the transplant was the solution. To this day I've had no rejection episodes and not a drop of insulin.
But the new complications are frighteningly quick and forceful. I was never staggered by an insulin reaction or high blood sugar as I am by these side effects.
We drive home, and I excuse myself to the bathroom. I run a hot bath (the one treatment that seems to settle my nausea) and turn up the radio so Mom can't hear me lose my composure in the tub.
Maybe I don't beat my body's demons. Maybe I already was as healthy as I'm ever going to be.
Mom and I are walking through the mall when I lose my balance. The new medications are interacting poorly, leaving my head swimming and my legs unreliable. I flop in a mall seat while Mom goes for something to drink.
A woman who has been watching from a nearby bench walks toward me. She holds a package of gum and offers me a piece.
I'm not sure how to respond, so I take it and thank her. She shakes her head — she doesn't speak English — but smiles and offers another piece.
The gum does nothing, the gesture everything. By the time Mom is back, I'm already feeling better, energized by the random kindness of the woman, who nods and smiles as Mom and I pad off.
This disease can offer such odd, sweet consolation prizes.
A nurse calls me at home, the first time I've heard from my insurance company unsolicited.
"It appears you've been having some complications of late," she says. "Is there anything we can do?"
I'm cautious. I'm getting two dozen bills, letters from hospitals and benefits explanations every month now, and I must be signaling a red flag with the insurance company. My anti-rejection drugs have jumped from $1,200 a year to $2,800. And that doesn't include hospital stays, ER visits or nausea medications that run $150 a week.
No, thank you, I tell her. We have specialists working on it.
She presses a little more, asking for some details of my recent hospitalizations. She gently asks whether this is a new problem or something "that might have been pre-existing."
I freeze. I know what that phrase means. It means you've become too expensive to keep healthy. No, I say flatly before getting off the phone, it's a new problem.
Fortunately, I didn't have to lie. This is new. I could use help. But I'm not sure she's offering it, and I would have told her my nose wasn't a pre-existing condition if my insurance were at stake.
My good friend Jocelyn Smith is visiting when I feel my hands and feet go numb — the surest signal I'm headed into atrial fibrillation.
Without a word, she jumps into action. She eases me into her car, drives me to the hospital and gives the doctors the rundown on my medications and symptoms. She stays the duration of the six-hour wait for a bed.
Somehow, this trip to the hospital is easier than the others.
Maybe it's seeing Jocelyn oversee the chaos like a M.A.S.H. nurse. I've watched as my friends and family turn into a team of first responders: paramedics, doctors, ambulance drivers. All without asking or asking anything in return.
Not that there's any way to repay what they've given me.
I'm beginning to understand how dogs improve and lengthen the lives of the elderly. Mine are making this place more homey.
PAW PRINT POST: Dogs are family
When I'm ill in the bath, I notice, they quit roaming the house and cram into the bathroom. My golden retriever, Teddy, curls up by the tub. Esmé, a diminutive Boston terrier who acts as his orbiting moon, nestles into his belly.
I don't want to be that crazy dog guy, but I'm convinced their company helps. It's comforting to reach over the tub and bury my hands into that warm, tangled fur pile, something that could have sprung from Where the Wild Things Are.
I've read the studies that say domestic animals have learned over the years to befriend humans to maximize food and shelter from us.
But I prefer to think they can't stand the thought of me being alone or sick.
This could be a strange Christmas. Because the nausea and A-fib can strike so suddenly, I can't risk being on a plane for five hours to visit my family in Atlanta. This will be the first Christmas I don't make it home for some part of the holiday season.
I wake up ready to dread the day, but my body has surprised me. No nausea, no heart-skipping.
I decide to spend the day visiting people dear to me: Anthony Breznican, who cooks for me more than I do; Luz Elena Avitia, who has become a surrogate parent to my dogs when I'm sick; and Michael Ingram, an old friend who offered me one of his kidneys 10 years ago.
The trip isn't without risk. Luz and Michael are in San Diego, and the complete drive will take at least five hours — as long as a flight.
But I'm tired of my body caging me. I stuff a few meds in my jeans and hit the road.
The day flies. Everyone is in good spirits, my heart is behaving and by the time I'm driving back, I've forgotten how long I'd gone without a moment of nausea.
When I get home, I realize that I haven't opened any presents under the tree. I know it's corny, but this Christmas — filled only with people I love — has a Seuss-ian feel to it. I go to bed without touching a gift. I'll do that tomorrow.
Tonight, I'd like to remain that Who in Whoville.
Tuesday marks what I consider my 10th birthday: the day I received my organs.
It also marks the day Valerie and Leroy Flegel took their 21-year-old son, Samuel, off life support.
I have trouble reconciling this. How does that much despair create that much hope?
Samuel was, by all accounts, an extraordinary young man. Born with a learning disability similar to dyslexia, he overcame it to earn his GED and become an engineer for Red River Valley and Western Railroad in Wahpeton, N.D.
He was riding home from a New Year's party in Fargo in 2000 when he hit a parking lot abutment hidden in snow. By the time police found him, he was brain-dead, though the subzero temperatures kept his body alive.
Now I carry him.
For some reason, I rarely get sick around the anniversary date, and this time is no different. I wake up hungry, energized. Healthy. I hop in the car and drive for a doughnut, something I could never have eaten as a diabetic.
On the drive back, I'm a little angry at myself for being so self-pitying, for questioning this fight. There is no beating diabetes, just changing the complications. But at least I have a chance for better health, something Samuel never got.
And perhaps more than any other anniversary, this one reminds me that I do not fight alone. Through all this, friends have become family and family has become closer than it has ever been. Strangers have offered whatever they have. I think of them and it propels me, literally.
I am awake now, opening up the accelerator as I drive home. Music rattles the windows of the car. I don't want the drive to end.
I speed past the exit for my house. The morning is bleeding into afternoon, and it's too warm, too nice to stop moving. I'm going to drive until I run out of gas.
For every day I spend sick or in a hospital, it seems, I receive one that is equally fine. That's where I discovered the unexpected gift of diabetes, one that I would never return: the capacity to recognize and enjoy the moment.
A nausea-free morning. A symptom-free afternoon. A good day.
Like this one.
© Copyright for this article 2010, USA Today, a division of Gannett Co., Inc. and journalist Scott Bowles.
at Monday, January 11, 2010
Diabetes Warning Diabetes said...
Life is so precious just when our life almost at the edge. I understand why he feel troubled for the organ he received. God bless Samuel. He just giving somebody else a hope and new beginning.
Wow. What a story. Just.
Lyrehca said...
I read this when it first came out and wanted to comment on the USA Today site, but didn't. What strikes me is that there is no mention of Scott's wife in the current stories. (He was married or engaged when he first wrote about getting the transplant.) Any idea what happened, and if/how Scott's health played a role in why she isn't mentioned now?
I find your style very informative.
53, writer, speaker, brother, son, friend, spouse, advocate for people with autoimmune (type 1) diabetes, thinker, dreamer. Reading and writing is becoming a lost art, but we can learn a lot from reading the medical and scientific literature before drawing conclusions. The press publishes abbreviated facts to fit into limited space, I don't mince words or omit facts.
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