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Carline Murphy Bio
My primary focus of the past decades had been to service the need of children, geriatric patients in the long term care settings and community advocacy
After the death of my oldest son, Rene Romain, Jr., artist/poetry writer, who was shot and killed of a gunshot wound by a police officer in Boston, Massachusetts in 2001 at the age of 19, my objective is to apply the acquired skills, experience and training in an area that serves others in every level of our society.
Early on as a dental health coordinator I planned, organized and directed programs, established short and long term goal care plan in assessing needs, I contributed two chapters in an award-winning techniques for delivering dental services to access problem groups, including residents of skilled nursing/adult homes, homebound and underserved populations of developing and underdeveloped countries. "Mobile Dentistry," by J. Edward Murphy, DMD, PennWell Books, 1996. As a volunteer I traveled to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba to translate, to assist with dental/social work related duties for the Christian Dental Society during the Haitian refugee crisis. I assisted parents of preschoolers with education, healthcare needs, and social services referral for Albany & Columbia County, and Head Start in Hudson, NY.
As a health coordinator, I also understand the importance of arts in healing our world. My son was an artist, and through the work of HCDP I've deepened my commitment to the arts.
I initiated and coordinated with the support of the Columbia County Council on the Arts the "Spirit and Passion: Afro-Caribbean Art," a music, dance, and visual art event that catalyzed the identity formation of the Haitian community, and both its visibility within and integration with the larger Hudson community and Columbia County community for the bicentennial celebration of Haiti's 200 year independence.
I am the Founder, President and Coordinator of the Haitian Community Development Project, an organization that offers Advocacy, ESL/citizenship training, music, and also support Arts & Cultural activities.
From June 2005 to October 2008, I was the Arts In Education Director at the Columbia County at the Arts. I performed in the 2004 – 2005 Stageworks Hudson performance of "A Hudson Holiday". I participated in the 2006-07 Teaching Artist Training Institute, led by Mark DeGarmo & Dancers/Dynamic Forms, Inc. in New York, NY; the 2007-2008 Common Ground Arts in Education Conference in Rochester, NY; and 2007-2008 Playwright workshop at the Hudson Opera House in Hudson, New York.
I completed my High School in Miami, FL in 1981. I was trained as a Medical Office Manager in Brookline ,MA in 1983. Later, in 1995, I received my Bachelor of Science in Human Services and completed 12 graduate credits in Social Policy at SUNY/Empire State College in Saratoga Springs, NY, I am a former Chairperson of the New York National Guard Corps of Cadets Parents Association, former member of the Board of Directors and Chairperson of the Policy council of Albany County Head Start, ormer Vice-President and former President of the Town of Kinderhook Republican Club. I reside in the Town of Kinderhook.
Haitian Community Development Project
PO Box 35 Niverville, NY 12130 * (518)784-4395 * info@hcdpinc.org
This site is copyrighted. If you need info on the site contact HCDP.
Site Created and Managed by Michael Chameides
If you have questions or comments about the website email Chameides(at)gmail.com


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Budget Amendments - SB30 (Member Request)
By Member » Item 474 #1s
Chief Patron: Wagner
Coverage for Autism Spectrum Disorder
Central Appropriations FY2019 $96,350 FY2020 $96,350 GF
Page 411, line 7, strike "$34,064,453" and insert "$34,160,803".
Page 411, line 7, strike "$140,835,833" and insert "$140,932,183".
Page 419, after line 28, insert:
"U. Included within this Item are general fund amounts of $96,350 each year to cover the general fund share of costs to the state health plan for providing coverage for the diagnosis and treatment of autism spectrum disorder to individuals of any age.".
(This amendment provides funding for the impact to the state health plan for potential claims costs arising from the removal of the age cap for insurance benefits related to autism services, contingent upon the passage of SB 593 of the 2018 General Assembly, which requires health insurers, effective January 1, 2019, to provide coverage for the diagnosis and treatment of autism spectrum disorder to individuals of any age.)
Adjustments to Employee Benefits (75702) FY2019 $33,564,453 FY2020 $90,907,720
7. Adjustments to the cost of employee benefits to include but not be limited to health insurance premiums and retirement and related contribution rates.
2. Notwithstanding any contrary provision of law, the health benefit plans for state employees resulting from the additional funding in this Item shall allow for a portion of employee medical premiums to be charged to employees. The funding provided in this paragraph is sufficient to offset all increases from fiscal year 2018 in the employee share of premiums for the 2018-2020 biennium.
4. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, it shall be the sole responsibility and authority of the Department of Human Resource Management to establish and enforce employer contribution rates for any health insurance plan established pursuant to §2.2-2818, Code of Virginia.
2. Retirement contribution rates, excluding the five percent employee portion, shall be as set out below and include both the regular contribution rate and for the public school teacher plan the rate calculated by the Virginia Retirement System actuary for the 10-year payback of the retirement contribution payments deferred for the 2010-12 biennium:
4. The Director of Department of Planning and Budget shall withhold and transfer to this Item, amounts estimated at $6,539,646 the first year and $6,823,946 the second year, from the general fund appropriations of state agencies and institutions of higher education, representing the net savings resulting from the changes in employer contributions for state employee retirement as provided for in this paragraph.
J. The Virginia Retirement System Board of Trustees shall account for the employer retirement contribution payments for the public school teacher plan deferred for the 2010-2012 biennium based on limiting employer retirement contributions to the Virginia Retirement System to the actuarial normal cost. In setting the employer retirement contribution rates for the public school teacher plan for subsequent biennia, the board shall calculate a separate, supplemental employer contribution rate that will amortize such deferred payments over a period of ten years using the board's assumed long-term rate of return. The Governor shall include funds to support payment of the approved state portion of such board-approved, supplemental employer contribution rates for the public school teacher plan in the budget submitted to the General Assembly.
4. The Director of Department of Planning and Budget shall withhold and transfer to this Item amounts estimated at $676,148 the first year and $705,521 the second year, from the general fund appropriations of state agencies and institutions of higher education, representing the net savings resulting from changes in employer contributions for state employee benefits as provided for in this paragraph.
M.1. Notwithstanding the provisions of § 2.2-3205(A), Code of Virginia, the terminating agency shall not be required to pay the Virginia Retirement System the costs of enhanced retirement benefits provided for in § 2.2-3204(A), Code of Virginia for employees who are involuntarily separated from employment with the Commonwealth if the Director of the Department of Planning and Budget certifies that such action results from 1. budget reductions enacted in the Appropriation Act, 2. budget reductions executed in response to the withholding of appropriations by the Governor pursuant to §4-1.02 of the Act, 3. reorganization or reform actions taken by state agencies to increase efficiency of operations or improve service delivery provided such actions have been previously approved by the Governor, or 4. downsizing actions taken by state agencies as the result of the loss of federal or other grants, private donations, or other nongeneral fund revenue, and if the Director of the Department of Human Resource Management certifies that the action comports with personnel policy. Under these conditions, the entire cost of such benefits for involuntarily separated employees shall be factored into the employer contribution rates paid to the Virginia Retirement System.
2. Notwithstanding the provisions of § 2.2-3205(A), Code of Virginia, the terminating agency shall not be required to pay the Virginia Retirement System the costs of enhanced retirement benefits provided for in § 2.2-3204(A), Code of Virginia, for employees who are involuntarily separated from employment with the Commonwealth if the Speaker of the House of Delegates and the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Rules have certified on or after July 1, 2016, that such action results from 1. budget reductions enacted in the Appropriation Act pertaining to the Legislative Department; 2. reorganization or reform actions taken by agencies in the legislative branch of state government to increase efficiency of operations or improve service delivery provided such actions have been approved by the Speaker of the House of Delegates and the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Rules; or 3. downsizing actions taken by agencies in the legislative branch of state government as the result of the loss of federal or other grants, private donations, or other nongeneral fund revenue and if the applicable agency certifies that the actions comport with the provisions of and related policies associated with the Workforce Transition Act. Under these conditions, the entire cost of such benefits for involuntarily separated employees shall be factored into the employer contribution rates paid to the Virginia Retirement System.
4.a. In lieu of the transitional severance benefit provided in subparagraph 3 of this paragraph, any otherwise eligible employee who, on the date of involuntary separation, is also (i) a vested member of a defined benefit plan within the Virginia Retirement System, including the hybrid retirement program described in § 51.1-169, and including a member eligible for the benefits described in subsection B of § 51.1-138, and (ii) at least fifty years of age, may elect to have the employer purchase on his behalf years to be credited to either his age or creditable service or a combination of age and creditable service, except that any years of credit purchased on behalf of a member of the Virginia Retirement System, including a member eligible for the benefits described in subsection B of § 51.1-138, who is eligible for unreduced retirement shall be added to his creditable service and not his age. The cost of each year of age or creditable service purchased by the employer shall be equal to fifteen percent of the employee's present annual compensation. The number of years of age or creditable service to be purchased by the employer shall be equal to the quotient obtained by dividing (i) the cash value of the benefits to which the employee would be entitled under subparagraphs 3.a. and 3.d. of this paragraph by (ii) the cost of each year of age or creditable service. Partial years shall be rounded up to the next highest year. Deferred retirement under the provisions of subsection C of §§ 51.1-153 and disability retirement under the provisions of § 51.1-156 et seq., shall not be available under this paragraph.
f. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the provisions of this paragraph N shall apply to an otherwise eligible employee who is a person who becomes a member on or after July 1, 2010, a person who does not have 60 months of creditable service as of January 1, 2013, or a person who is enrolled in the hybrid retirement program described in § 51.1-169, mutatis mutandis.
P. 1. Notwithstanding the provisions of § 17.1-327, Code of Virginia, any justice, judge, member of the State Corporation Commission, or member of the Virginia Workers' Compensation Commission who is retired under the Judicial Retirement System and who is temporarily recalled to service shall be reimbursed for actual expenses incurred during such service and shall be paid a per diem of $250 for each day the person actually sits, exclusive of travel time.
2. Out of the general fund appropriation for this Item, $500,000 in the first year and $500,000 in the second year is provided to support the costs resulting from the changes in the per diem amounts provided for in paragraph P.1. The Director, Department of Planning and Budget, shall disburse funding from this Item to all affected judicial and independent agencies upon request.
Q. The Director, Department of Planning and Budget, shall transfer from this Item, general fund amounts estimated at $1,107,576 the first year and $1,107,576 the second year to state agencies and institutions of higher education to support the general fund portion of costs of Line of Duty Act premiums based on the latest enrollment update from the Virginia Retirement System.
R. The Director, Department of Planning and Budget, shall transfer from this Item, general fund amounts estimated at $1,821,951 the first year and $2,436,844 the second year to state agencies and institutions of higher education to support the general fund portion of costs of workers' compensation premiums provided by the Department of Human Resource Management.
S.1. The base salary of the following employees shall be increased by two percent on November 10, 2019:
g. Legislative Assistants as provided for in Item 1 of this act;
b. Salary increases authorized in this paragraph for employees in the Judicial and Legislative Departments, employees of Independent agencies, and employees of the Executive Department not subject to the Virginia Personnel Act shall be consistent with the provisions of this paragraph, as determined by the appointing or governing authority. The appointing or governing authority shall certify to the Department of Human Resource Management that employees receiving the awards are performing at levels at least comparable to the eligible employees as set out in subparagraph 2.a. of this paragraph.
3. The Department of Human Resource Management shall increase the minimum and maximum salary for each band within the Commonwealth's Classified Compensation Plan by two percent on November 10, 2019. No salary increase shall be granted to any employee as a result of this action. The department shall develop policies and procedures to be used in instances when employees fall below the entry level for a job classification due to poor performance. Movement through the revised pay band shall be based on employee performance.
g. The Chief Executive Officer of the Virginia College Savings Plan;
h. The Executive Director of the Virginia Port Authority; and
i. The Chief Executive Officer of the Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Control Authority.
6. The base rates of pay, and related employee benefits, for wage employees may be increased up to two percent no earlier than November 10, 2019. The cost of such increases for wage employees shall be borne by existing funds appropriated to each agency.
T.1. The appropriations in this item include funds to increase the base salary of the following employees by two percent on December 1, 2019, provided that the governing authority of such employees use such funds to support salary increases for the following listed employees:
2. Out of the appropriation for Supplements to Employee Compensation is included $9,731,224 the second year from the general fund to support the costs associated with the salary increase provided in this paragraph.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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Lady Rangers improve to 4-0 with win over ABC
TYLER, TX -- The Kilgore College Lady Rangers maintained their unblemished record with a 72-61 victory over The Arkansas Baptist College Lady Buffaloes Nov. 11 at the Holiday Inn Classic at Tyler Junior College.
KC trailed at halftime 31-28, but built a comfortable lead in the second half.
Jade Thurmon led all KC scorers with 31 points and Alicia Mardis earned a double-double with 16 points and 13 rebounds.
Richelle Velez was also in double figures for the Lady Rangers with 10 points.
ABC was led in scoring by Tashawanna Riggs and Essence Johnson who scored 17 and 12 points, respectively.
KC improves to 4-0 on the season and will face Crowder College at noon on Sunday, Nov.11, at Masters Gymnasium in Kilgore.


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photo via Lionsgate
new posters for the hunger games reveal the 'faces of the revolution'
'the revolution is about all of us'
Brand-new posters for The Hunger Games: Mockingjay — Part 2 are getting us even more pumped for the movie's November 20 release. The portrait series, "Faces of the Revolution," shows Jennifer Lawrence up-close and ready for war as she prepares to reprise her role as Katniss Everdeen in the franchise's final installment.
The official posters have been released today on the movie's Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram accounts. Lawrence looks determined and eager to take on the battle of destroying the Capitol and President Snow in the artwork, but the film won't be solely dedicated to her rebellion. As we saw in the trailer, there will also be an epic wedding with all our favorite characters in attendance.
Although we're deeply saddened that this will mark the end of the Hunger Games era, we can't wait for the characters we love to return to the big screen. Check out all of the eight posters in the gallery above, and get your game face prepared for the last film.
photo via Entertainment Weekly
photo via MTV News
The Madonna Biopic Is Being Scrapped
Kaia Gerber Won't Stop Until She's Cast As Patti Smith In A Biopic
The 2023 Oscar Nominations Full List Is Here
Scream 6 Trailer Brings The Nightmare To New York


"Big brands fund terror" splashed the front page of the Times of London on Feb. 9, 2017. Brands were unwittingly having their ads shown against terrorist-made YouTube videos, and the major media outlets jumped in on the investigation. A few weeks later, P&G chose to stop spending on YouTube. That summer at a conference, P&G marketing chief Marc Pritchard said, "We simply will not accept or take the chance that our ads are associated with violence, bigotry or hate," and announced that P&G would pull ads until the problem was solved.
In April 2018, P&G returned to YouTube — where just the day before its return, CNN reported that 300 advertisers were still funding accounts that had videos of extremism, child abuse and more.
This article is behind the Digiday+ paywall.
The post Safety first: A company's care for brand safety depends on risk tolerance appeared first on Digiday.


On 19 April 2017, the Australian Government directed the ACCC to conduct a wide-ranging inquiry into the supply of and demand for wholesale gas in Australia. The ACCC is required to submit interim reports no less frequently than every six months and provide information to the market as appropriate, with a final report to be submitted by 30 April 2020.
The first interim report, issued on 25 September 2017, found a substantial shortfall for the east coast was likely in 2018.
Following the first interim report, on 3 October 2017, the Australian government reached a heads of agreement with the Queensland LNG producers requiring them to supply more gas in to the Australian domestic market. The agreement states that the ACCC will be monitoring the LNG exporters' compliance with the heads of agreement, as well as the sales, offers to sell and bids declined of the other suppliers.
On 13 December 2017, the ACCC released the second interim report, focusing on the operation of the East Coast Gas Market, where there are continuing immediate and longer-term concerns. The ACCC reports that although there have been important short-term improvements in conditions, the market is still not operating as a well-functioning and competitive market.
On 27 April 2018, the ACCC released the third interim report, which continued the focus on the operation of the East Coast Gas Market. The ACCC reports that while recent improvements in conditions have been maintained, the East Coast Gas Market is still not functioning effectively. The ACCC also reports on developments in gas price transparency, including its decision to regularly publish LNG netback prices.
On 2 August 2018, the ACCC released the fourth interim report, which continued the focus on the operation of the East Coast Gas Market. The ACCC reports that while there have been recent improvements in the gas supply outlook and operation of the East Coast Gas Market, many gas users find market conditions extremely challenging as gas prices remain significantly higher than historical levels. The ACCC reports on the transparency measures it is developing, including an LNG netback price series and a framework for the reporting of reserves and resources information.
key factors influencing domestic gas prices.


Correction: Our post below indicates that S.23 still contains the damages provisions. The damages provisions were removed from the Senate bill that passed on March 8.
The House Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing on new House-based patent reform legislation (H.R. ____; number as yet) that is expected to be very similar to "America Invents Act" S.23, which the Senate passed on March 8, 2011. A March 24, 2011 version of the House bill can be seen at http://docs.piausa.org/112th-Congress/HouseBill/HousePatentReformDraft-SLS_132_xml.pdf. This draft of the House bill does not appear to include the damages provisions that are contained in S.23.
House Judiciary Committee Chairman Lamar Smith is expected to introduce the patent bill this morning (Wednesday). A number of witnesses are expected to testify at the hearing including Witnesses at the hearing will include PTO Director David Kappos, Jon Vaughn, Vice President of the Association of American Universities, and several individuals from private industry.
We are sure there will be much more to report in the coming days and weeks and will keep you posted on new developments as they happen.
S.23es, the bill that passed the Senate on March 8 was also stripped of the damage provisions. The current HR bill is similar in regards in limiting damage language to that associated with false marking. You might want to update the post.


Slow check-in. 1 working elevator for a 12 floor hotel. Construction in the nextdoor room. Very expensive food/water at hotel food stall. AC unit dripped all night. Only allowed 1 room key which was needed to power the room and operate the elevator so unable to do both simultaneously.
No choice better than nothing!
The location not really bad but the inside is ugly specially the towels looks like a very old towel. Need more towels for two people and there's no small towel. Just ugly inside but better than nothing. All I did I'm just patience no free shuttle bus and no free breakfast compare to Oyster Plaza Hotel with free breakfast and free shuttle bus with nice location. Very clean and nice bathroom with very good towels, toothbrush and toothpaste. It's up to you guys if like to check in GO HOTELS but shop around and check the reviews first.
Wonderful short stay. We chose this hotel for an overnight stay due to its proximity to the airport. It is very close to the all terminals. Would stay again. Only complaint would be is that the room seemed to have been previously smoked upon as it smelled a bit smoke-y, especially the bath towels.
Service was accommodating. Acceptable for short stay.
Got In at 10 pm. Close to airport. It was a very good hotel for price and convenient. Very pleased with room.


On Thursday 31st of October- Halloween and Samhuinn, anti-war protests were also taking place in Edinburgh.
Amongst other civil disobedience actions which were happening during the day, like banner drops at the Cowgate earlier this morning, a demonstration took place later on. Organised and structured by the "Stop the War Coalition" a short and small demonstration took place during working hours in the late afternoon. Starting at Bristo Square near the main University buildings, protesters gathered and took their time for performing street theatre, distributing leaflets, have talks, show around their banners and try to juggle away or to ride a unicycle. At the High Street/ Mound junction some people actually refused to move themselves during a sit-down when asked by police and got dragged away.
Speeches were hold in front of the Church assembly which is used as the temporary parliament.
Afterwards there were antiwar film shows organised in the Forest Café, screening the "Hidden Wars of Desert Storm" and a documentary film from Indymedia Israel.


There are some good reasons to make wine in 5-gallon (19 liter) or larger batches. Once you know what you're doing, it takes about the same amount of effort to make five gallons of wine as it does to make one. The amount of headspace in a 5-gallon carboy isn't much more than in a 1-gallon jug. So five gallons of wine. stored in 1-gallon jugs, is in contact with a lot more air than if it were in a 5-gallon carboy. That makes oxidation a bigger problem. So why am making the three small batches in the photo (and many more that aren't shown)?
Each one has it's own story. My "backyard burgundy," a rose made from Leon Millot, Pinot Noir, Siegerrebe, and Price grapes that I grew in my bonsai vineyard, is on the left. On the right is my honey apple, made from Liberty, Ashmead Kernel, and Roxbury Russets that I grew in my bonsai orchard. Finally, my Leon-Pinot, a red wine made from Pinot Noir and Leon Millot grapes from my bonsai vineyard, is front and center.
I'm still not sure what to call my most recent wine, but Backyard Burgundy just might stick. It's the product of two less-than-ideal harvests from my bonsai orchard. From pests, large and small, to wacky weather I wasn't sure what I'd get from these grapes. The 2007 harvest sulked in my freezer until it was joined by the 2008 vintage. Growers all over the Puget Sound complained of low sugar and high acid, so I decided to toss all the grapes into a single batch of rose. So I crushed, pressed, and fermented the juice just like a white wine. All the red grapes gave the wine it's color, and that's why it's a rose instead of a white wine. I love my bonsai vineyard, but volume isn't it's strong suit, so the harvest from a difficult year – even two difficult years – will be small. The 8.5 lb gave me about 3 quarts of juice, and I'm hoping for three 750 ml bottles of finished wine.
You've really got to want to make wine to make it in these quantities, and I do. That's why I crushed, fermented, and pressed a red wine from my first harvest ever – 4 lb (about 1.8 kg) of Leon Millot and Pinot Noir grapes. It's been aging in a 500 ml Grolsch bottle since 2006 and I'm getting ready to open it.
The honey apple came from my biggest harvest of apples. It was big enough that I decided not to supplement the apples with store bought juice, like I usually do, and that will make it my smallest batch of apple wine. How's that for irony?
This entry was posted in winemaking and tagged nad on November 10, 2008 by Erroll.
Its tax day in the US, and this year taxes made me busier and grumpier than normal. With all that behind me, I'm starting to feel like my old self. So when Welch's concentrated grape juice went on sale the other day, I bought twelve cans to make a "Tax Day Wine." Yep, definitely feeling better! If you've never made wine from frozen concentrate, it probably seems like a nutty idea. There is method in this madness, however, and good technique can transform Welch's grape juice into a drinkable wine that costs less than $1/bottle. Think of it as the home wine maker's version of "Two Buck Chuck," the simple, popular table wine that Trader Joe's sells for $2/bottle in most of the country (and a higher but still affordable $3/bottle here in Washington).
There are all sorts of frozen concentrates available, and I've made wine from a lot of them. The white grape juice, made from Niagra grapes, is the most consistent, and that's what I'll be using. Others have been hit or miss, with some of the hits being really good and some of the misses being really disappointing. I suggest you start with white grape (other brands, like Old Orchard, are fine). After you make that, you'll have a better idea of what to expect from concentrates. If you want to make more, then by all means try the blends like Dole's Pine-Orange-Banana – just watch your acid, don't expect the wine to taste like the juice, and have fun.
I hope to make this in the next week or so, and then I'll do a proper writeup. Until then, Happy Tax Day!
Boy did I ever get sidetracked! It was nine months in coming, but I finally posted a complete recipe for wine from frozen concentrate. If you've made Welch's wine, let me know how it turned out. If not, maybe now's the time to give it a try. While you're at it, you might have a look at my Produce Department Chablis, a wine made from grocery store grapes.
This entry was posted in winemaking on April 15, 2008 by Erroll.
Oak Staves, Chips, and Powder – Free Samples!
This entry was posted in winemaking and tagged nad on April 14, 2008 by Erroll.
Rhubarb Wine With No Added Water?
I make rhubarb wine every year. I get about 6 fl oz/lb (400 ml/kg) of juice when I thaw frozen rhubarb, and since I use about 3 lb/gal (360 g/L) of rhubarb I need to add a lot of water. But 6 fl oz/lb scales up to over 4.5 gallons from 100 lb of "fruit." That's not far from the yield I expect from grapes, and it made me wonder about making rhubarb wine without added water. When the Lynfred Winery announced a commercial rhubarb wine, I wondered even more. Can commercial wineries add water? I don't think they can, so I asked them how they made their wine. They were kind enough to explain their method: thaw frozen rhubarb, add sugar to about 20 Brix, then pitch the yeast. No added water and no neutralizing the oxalic acid. They did mention that the wine needed residual sugar to balance the acid.
I think I'm going to need a lot of rhubarb this year … and maybe a bottle of Lynfred's Rhubarb.
For more information about rhubarb, like how acidic is it? how much sugar? and other things winemakers need to know when they make rhubarb wine, see here ~ Know Your Ingredients: Rhubarb.
Homemade raspberry wine is also made with a small amount of fruit and a lot of water. Why? Rhubarb and raspberries are both highly acidic, so commercial wineries approach raspberry wine the same way Lynfred makes rhubarb wine: All fruit with little or no added water, sugar to bring the must up to wine strength, and sweetening to balance the acidity.
This entry was posted in Commercial Wine, Rhubarb Wine, winemaking on February 13, 2008 by Erroll.
A couple of weeks ago, I passed along some great advice about pairing wine and chocolate for Valentine's Day. That got me thinking about making a wine for the Day of Romance. What should the wine be like? At first, I thought it should pair with chocolate, like those earlier recommendations. Then I thought, I'll make it with chocolate! I've heard of chocolate being used in making wine and mead (even beer), and I've always been curious about it.
This is the first in a series of articles on making wine with chocolate. I have a lot of questions, like should I try to make a plain chocolate wine the way I made Oregano Wine? Should I use a more traditional base that goes with chocolate, like raspberry or cherry, and incorporate chocolate into the wine? What form of chocolate should I use (solid, cocoa, syrup, extract)? As I find answers, and more questions, I'll update this series with new articles. Ultimately, and hopefully in time for next Valentine's Day, I'll fashion a recipe and make chocolate wine!
To make sure you don't miss these and other postings, subscribe to this blog. It's easy, it's free, and you'll be alerted every time there's a new post.
This entry was posted in Chocolate Wine, valentine's day, winemaking on February 12, 2008 by Erroll.
I talked about five of my meads yesterday, and how I might decide if they were ready to bottle. I looked at clarity and specific gravity (SG) because I didn't want the mead throwing off sediment or fermenting in the bottle. I tasted, probably the most important test of any wine or mead, and I checked the acidity.
Mead's peculiar chemistry makes it difficult to measure the titratable acidity (TA). I explain this in more detail here, but the short version is that the common tests, like titration, overstate the TA. That made me think that such tests had no value, but I've since changed my mind. Measured TA's don't give you a precise value, but they do give you some information. That's why I reported TA values for all five meads yesterday.
What do those values tell us? I began to get an idea about that when I was thinking about my cherry mead. As I said back then, you can use the TA values as upper limits. If you want to make a mead with the acid profile of a white wine, for example, you look up the range of acid values common in white wine then aim for the high end of the range. A good book on winemaking basics will give you that information. I like Daniel Pambianchi's Techniques in Home Winemaking , he covers the basics really well and has special sections on ice wine, port, and sparkling wine. He says that the TA in white wines will normally range from 5 – 7.5 g/L. Adjusting a mead to 7.5 g/L puts the actual TA somewhere below that. Tasting the adjusted mead, after about a month or so to allow any acid additions to integrate with the mead, will reveal if the acidity is too low. If it is, then a series of add (no more than 0.5 g/L) – wait – taste cycles will nudge it right into the sweet spot.
This is a good approach, but I'd like to get better information on the lower limit of a mead's TA. Since the measurement error stems from the gluconolactone that exists in equilibrium with gluconic acid and that equilibrium depends on temperature and pH, maybe careful measurement of TA, pH, and temperature would yield some information on how much gluconolactone got caught up in the measurement. We might be able to use that to get a lower limit on, or even pin down, the actual TA. I don't know how to do that yet, but I'll see if I can find out. Another way to tackle this problem is to find out how much gluconolactone typically exists in honey. Putting limits on gluconolactone concentration will allow us to put limits on the actual TA. Those are my ideas anyway, if anyone can shed some light on them, or has another idea, please leave a comment and let us all know.
This entry was posted in enology, Mead, measurement & testing, winemaking and tagged nad on February 8, 2008 by Erroll.
Five Meads: Are we there yet?
I looked in on five meads yesterday to see if they were ready to bottle. I was looking for clarity, I tasted them to see if they were pleasant to drink, and I measured the specific gravity (SG), pH, and titratable acidity (TA).
I tasted sweetness on the 2004 plain mead, despite the low SG. It had that distinctive, pleasant aroma that I've come to associate with mead, and the lady of the house thought it was, "a little young, but it's going to be good." I'm not sure I'm as patient as she is, so I'm going to bottle it.
The 2005 apple mead tasted and smelled of apple, but only a hint. I thought it was a little tart. It was the only one of the lot that I thought wasn't clear enough to bottle.
The 2006 experiment is a test of the idea that boiling a mead's honey-water mixture before pitching the yeast impairs the aroma by driving off volatile compounds. I split a batch, boiled one and made the other without heating. That was two years ago, and I think these meads are ready to bottle. I normally age mead for three years though, so I may let them age in the bottle then have a tasting party next February.
Update 10/28/2008 – The results are in!
It was a long running experiment with a little surprise at the end. Follow this link to see the results of my mead boiling test.
Hmm, that acid measuring contraption I wrote about the other day just looks better and better.
This entry was posted in enology, Mead, measurement & testing, Storage and Aging, Tasting, winemaking and tagged nad on February 7, 2008 by Erroll.
Titratable Acidity: A Better Way?
I learned of a different way to test for titratable acidity, the other day. At the last meeting of the Puget Sound Amatuer Wine and Beer Makers club, Don Proctor demonstrated this method using an odd looking device. He used ordinary baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) to neutralize the acid in a test sample. The important thing about this chemical reaction is that it gives off carbon dioxide (CO2) in direct proportion to the amount of acid neutralized. Now his device didn't look so odd. The stoppers, tubing, glass cylinders, and green liquid were used to measure the amount of CO2, and if you know how much wine was in your sample and how much CO2 was produced, you can find the acidity of your sample.
This method, and conventional titration, both aim to measure the amount of acid by neutralizing it with a base. In a titration, you add a carefully measured amount of base until all the acid is neutralized. It's important that you add just enough base to neutralize all the acid – no more and no less – because you determine the amount of acid in the sample from the amount of base that you add. Because you have to measure the base so precisely, it's best to add it in liquid form. That means you need to have a solution of base at a precise concentration. Now, this is easy to find, but it's expensive and it has a short shelf life.
You need to neutralize all the acid in Mr Proctor's method too, but you don't need to know how much base it took to do that. That means you don't need to determine the end point (no pH meter) and you can use cheap, shelf stable baking soda instead of expensive perishable sodium hydroxide. That's a big plus, as I found out the last time I ran out of chemicals. I'm going to have to get one of these contraptions!
If you're having trouble visualizing it, take a look at this photo.
This entry was posted in enology, Equipment, measurement & testing, winemaking, winemaking clubs on February 5, 2008 by Erroll.
By 1/30/08, the specific gravity (SG) of my rhubarb wine had dropped to 1.000, and that means fermentation is finished or nearly finished. So, ten days after I pitched the yeast, I racked into a 1-gallon jug, two wine bottles, and an 8-oz (about 240 ml) coke bottle. When you're working with small volumes like this, it pays to have a variety of small containers handy. I got caught short three months ago, and learned my lesson. So, in addition to the wine bottles and the coke bottle, I had some 16 oz (not quite 500 ml) and 20 oz (almost 600 ml) bottles ready.
It's an opaque golden color and a little fizzy right now. In time it will clear and become still. The SG will drop a little and some yeast will settle out. At that point, I'll test the acidity, make any needed adjustments, and rack again.
This entry was posted in winemaking on February 4, 2008 by Erroll.
Crushing and pressing is a great way to get juice from most berries, but this isn't a one size fits all approach. Sugar extraction is a good way to "juice" hard fruits and vegetables. To do this, cut up the fruit/vegetables into 0.5 inch (1.25 centimeter) pieces and cover with sugar.
In the photo, I've covered about 3.9 lb (1.8 kg) of rhubarb with 1 lb (450 g) of sugar. The sugar draws moisture out of the rhubarb, and in a few days I strained off this juice. After that, I put the rhubarb back in the bucket and covered with water, as a rinse, and strained again. I've used this procedure in making rhubarb wine and apple wine.
This entry was posted in winemaking and tagged nad on January 28, 2008 by Erroll.


text:
hof international film festival 1967-2018
THE FESTIVALS 01 – 30 / 1967 TO 1996
01 – 05 / 1967 to 1971
Early beginnings
Becoming established
Landmark changes
Attendance and other records
Minor crises …
… and greater successes
German film: yet again searching for its raison d'être
Yet more changes
German films stronger than ever before
The current format
True to life …
… and to politics
The show goes on
A fresh breeze
One shouldn't shirk the discussion of current political problems, said Badewitz, as the 2014 edition of the festival began for the 48th time. And the films really did address such issues as trouble spots, exodus, and asylum. The films of the Israeli director Eran Riklas, political even while telling interpersonal stories, were the subject of that year's retrospective. Dominik Graf presented the tough crime story SMOKE ON THE WATER, Bastian Günther returned with a strange roadmovie, a mix of feature, documentary and essay film: CALIFORNIA CITY. But the best came from America and England: Iñárritu's comedy BIRDMAN and Mike Leigh's MR TURNER about the painting 'master of light'. As Chris Kraus received the city's Film Award, he emphasised:
'I owe my career to Heinz Badewitz.'
What the city of Hof, which named him an Honorary Citizen in 2009, owes to the festival's founder and director, would be depicted a year and a half later in a moving memorial service when he suddenly and unexpectedly passed away.
But hale and hearty – with his usual aplomb – he lead his 49th festival in 2015. Among the German entries such features as Thomas Stuber's boxer drama HERBERT (A HEAVY HEART) and 8 SEKUNDEN (EIN AUGENBLICK UNENDLICHKEIT) by Ömer Faruk Sorak stand out. A realistic view of recent German history was offered by the documentary MEINE REISE IN DIE DDR – 25 JAHRE SPÄTER ('My trip to the GDR – 25 years on') by Wolfgang Ettlich, who repeated a tour he began and ended in Hof in 1990 shortly after the fall of the Wall. The results of the first tour had been screened at the festival in 1991 with AUSGERECHNET BANANEN – EIN DEUTSCH-DEUTSCHES WIRTSCHAFTSWUNDER ('Bananas of all things – A German-German economic miracle').
Later, he participated at the festival four more times, and Ettlich is also the man who made the film DER HEINZ VOM FILM, on the occasion of the festival's 40th anniversary. In the year of the 50th anniversary, Bavarian Television broadcasted the film once again, but this time not on the occasion of the anniversary, but rather half a year earlier – because Heinz Badewitz, while visiting the film festival in Graz, had passed away.
Freunde der Internationalen
Hofer Filmtage e.V.
D 95028 Hof
» archiv@home-of-films.de
» Legal information
MORE ABOUT HOME OF FILMS
Hof International Film Festival
Thanking the Hof IFF's sponsors:
Stadt Hof · Bezirk Oberfranken · Freistaat Bayern · FFF Bayern · Beauftragte der Bundesregierung für Kultur und Medien


text:
Q: Filling a slice of interface type given as argument (e.g., implement a ScanAll for database/sql) How could we implement a function which would return all rows resulting from a SQL query and convert them to dest which is an interface array (may not work as Scan) ?
I assume the destination array would have to be given as an argument to the function. But then, I still do not know how I am supposed to complete the implementation:
func GetAll(query string, dest interface{}) error {

  rows, err := s.db.Query(query)
  if err != nil {
    return err
  }
  defer rows.Close()

  for rows.Next() {
    var destRow ??? /* do not have a type. using reflect.TypeOf(dest).Elem()? */
    err := rows.Scan(&destRow)
    if err != nil {
      return err
    }
    dest = append(dest, destRow) /* would even compile? */
  }
  return nil
}

It does not look like much different from what json.Unmarshal have to do actually...

A: Here's a solution using the reflect package. Call the function with a pointer to a slice.
func GetAll(query string, dest interface{}) error {

    // Return error if dest is not a pointer to a slice.
    slice := reflect.ValueOf(dest)
    if slice.Kind() != reflect.Ptr {
        return errors.New("dest must be pointer")
    }
    slice = slice.Elem()
    if slice.Kind() != reflect.Slice {
        return errors.New("dest must be pointer to struct")
    }

    rows, err := db.Query(query)
    if err != nil {
        return err
    }
    defer rows.Close()

    for rows.Next() {
        // Create a new slice element. The variable elementp holds a
        // pointer to the new element.
        elementp := reflect.New(slice.Type().Elem())

        err := rows.Scan(elementp.Interface())
        if err != nil {
            return err
        }

        // Append the element to the slice.
        slice.Set(reflect.Append(slice, elementp.Elem()))
    }
    return nil
}

The above code works with standard database/sql package when the query result has a single column and dest is a pointer to a slice of a type appropriate for that column.  Here's an example:
var names []string
if err := GetAll(db, "select name from people", &names); err != nil {
    // handle error
}

This code should also work with a database package that supports scanning multiple columns to a struct.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
Edige Szynkiewicz – tatarski emigracyjny działacz i publicysta narodowy
 Illa Szynkiewicz – białoruski hokeista
 Jakub Szynkiewicz – polski duchowny muzułmański pochodzenia tatarskiego
 Sławoj Szynkiewicz – polski etnolog

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


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Trio11 Be provides musicians, engineers and producers with two versatile studio monitors in one. The unit's 3-way speaker configuration can be switched - either by the touch of a button or remotely via optional footswitch - seamlessly to a 2-way configuration for comparative listening and to yield an even more translatable and insightful mix.
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Own a piece of rock memorabilia by pre-ordering one of the limited edition Download festival Zippo windproof lighters along with your Download ticket purchase. Simply add the Zippo Lighter to your basket when you order your ticket and you'll receive your lighter at the special discounted price of £22!
Make sure you're ready for those lighter in the air moments and pick up your pre-ordered Zippo windproof lighter from the Zippo Encore area – the home of the lighter that has sparked countless encores.
If you've already bought your ticket, it's not too late! There will be a small number of limited edition festival lighter at the Zippo Encore area. While you're there, try your hand at designing your very own Zippo lighter, Spin to Win amazing Zippo merch and take a snap in the photo booth to capture memories of you and your friends as you rock out!
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I'm an employed primary care physician who also moonlights and receives independent contractor (1099) income. I have already applied for an received an EIN, and have submitted the application paperwork to Fidelity to open a solo 401k. My goal is to contribute the "employer" maximum allowed to this solo 401k but have a few questions about this.
1. I currently receive my moonlighting income via direct deposit, but it is paid to me personally (with my SSN attached a personal checking account) not my business (wit the EIN attached to the account). In order for things to be neat and tidy from a money trail standpoint, does my 1099 income need to be paid to my business (not me) in order for the transfer to the solo 401k to go smoothly?
2. I already max out the employee contribution for my employed job (w-2 income), so the contributions I'll make to the solo 401k will be as an employer. In 2018, my 1099-misc income totaled $37,920, so I know I won't bump into the absolute dollar contribution limits, but I'm confused if I'm allowed to contribute 20 or 25% of my 1099 income as an employer. Seem to see both numbers in various forums, but I think as a sole-proprietorship, the answer is 20%, just wanted to confirm.
As a sole proprietor, there is no difference taxwise between you personally and the business. Your payments can continue to go by direct deposit to a personal account.
It is a good idea for expenses to be paid from a dedicated bank account and a dedicated credit card account. While I prefer to, there is no requirement for either to be business accounts.
The reason you have seen both 20% and 25% is because employer contributions are limited to 25% of compensation. However, because self-employed employer contributions reduce compsenation. It is calculated as 20% of net self-employment earnings (business profit – 1/2 SE tax).
I disagree with WCI on this. There is no need to have business accounts. He argues it makes it simpler for taxes but I'd argue it makes life more complicated (your money is spread out with more accounts to check). Either way business accounts are unnecessary.
Also seems more tricky if your 1099 income is not your primary income, so some of your expenses may be shared (i.e. percentage), right?


text:
Home | World
How Cryptic Tattoo Linked Dead Body To Woman Beheaded A Year Ago
The cryptic tattoo was one of the only clues police had to work with when they found a corpse floating in a river.
World | (c) 2019 The Washington Post | Antonia Noori Farzan, The Washington Post | Updated: April 18, 2019 07:11 IST
"Sheepdog," the banner below the tattoo said in block letters.
The canine had been inked in black and white, with wild eyes and jagged teeth that gave it the look of a snarling wolf.
"Sheepdog," a banner below said in block letters.
The cryptic tattoo was one of the only clues police had to work with. On April 7, 2018, a fisherman near Yuba City, California, had spotted a corpse floating in the Feather River, just north of a heavily trafficked bridge near downtown. The body had been in the water so long that it was no longer recognizable, officials would later say, and they initially mistook the slim, dark-haired man for a woman because he had been dressed in female clothing and was carrying no identification. There were no signs of foul play, and authorities would later determine that the man had died from drowning. But close to a month later, they still hadn't been able to identify their John Doe.
Police visited tattoo shops, thinking that someone might remember the fierce-looking sheepdog or the elaborate calligraphy that spelled out "Faith." After coming up empty-handed, they distributed photographs of both tattoos to the press, hoping someone would recognize them.
Eventually, someone did. On Tuesday, officials announced that DNA testing had confirmed that the waterlogged body belonged to Jacob Gonzales. The 33-year-old had been the subject of a multistate manhunt since March 2018, when his girlfriend, Katherine Cunningham, 26, was found decapitated near a weapon-filled bunker on a densely wooded island north of Seattle, more than a 13-hour drive from where Gonzales's body would eventually wash up.
With the tattoo, police established that the corpse was that of Jacob Gonzales, a suspect in his girlfriend's murder.
According to court records, the couple had been living on an undeveloped 10-acre plot of land on Camano Island, where many wealthy Seattleites maintain second homes nestled amid the towering pine trees overlooking Skagit Bay. On March 3, 2018, a neighbor interested in purchasing the land had wandered with friends down a ravine, where they spotted a red wagon, holding what looked like a sleeping bag wrapped in a tarp.
As soon as they saw what was inside, they contacted the police.
Deputies from the Island County Sheriff's Office quickly concluded that the young woman in the sleeping bag had been dead for days and that her head had been cut off with a saw or machete. A dozen empty sandbags formed a 70-foot trail, leading from the wagon to what at first looked like a large hole in the ground. It turned out to be a six-foot-deep underground bunker - "the type used by survivalists," police wrote in their affidavit - that had been dug into a hillside. Bolstered with wood, it had a ladder that reached all the way down to the bottom of the pit. There, police found a cache of loaded guns and over 1,000 rounds of ammunition. Inside the trailer that also sat on the property, they found a loaded 9mm pistol hidden in a man's hiking boot.
Cunningham, a former cross-country runner who grew up in central California's Merced County, had joined the Air Force Reserve at the age of 20 in 2012, according to the Everett Daily Herald. That was where she met Gonzales, who had also grown up in Merced County and had joined the reserves a year before she did. The two dated on and off for years, Emma Cunningham, Katherine's sister, told the paper. In 2015, a year after Gonzales had left the reserves, Katherine left, too, and they abruptly moved to Camano Island. The move puzzled Emma, who had no idea what could have drawn them to Washington state. Though she never saw signs of abuse, she didn't get the right feeling from Gonzales, either.
"I never got good vibes from him," she told the Daily Herald. "I didn't like being around him."
Four days after the gruesome discovery, authorities announced that Gonzales was a person of interest in the murder, and asked people to look out for his green Mitsubishi Montero. He was likely armed, they warned: A friend had told police that Gonzales had been trying to live "off the grid" and was a "bunker nut" who thought the government was going to take his guns, according to records obtained by the Stanwood Camano News. Neighbors on the island reported they hadn't seen him for a week, and that Cunningham hadn't been around for several weeks beforehand. Neither had used their shared laptop or either of their cellphones since Feb. 15, 2018, investigators found, meaning that they had gone off the grid more than two weeks before a neighbor spotted the wagon.
Gonzales had run into legal problems in California, records showed. After being convicted on car theft charges in 2005, he had been banned from owning guns, according to the Stanwood Camano News. In 2014, just days after leaving the reserves, he served a 13-day sentence for firearm charges that stemmed from a 2012 incident where a SWAT team that came to his home after hearing reports of gunshots thought that he was shooting at them. Still, the cops thought that he was likely headed back there. Leads began trickling in, but none panned out.
Nine days into the investigation, a call came in that seemed to confirm the officers' hunch. A California Highway Patrol officer had spotted Cunningham's silver 1998 Honda on Feb. 16, 2018, more than two weeks before deputies found her body. It had been abandoned on Interstate 5, at the summit of a mountain pass near Yreka, Calif. According to court records, the patrol officer who towed it away noticed a samurai sword had been wrapped in a blanket and stuffed in the trunk.
Police later concluded that Gonzales had stolen Cunningham's car and fled to California, using his military training and survivalist skills to disappear. He was still at large four months later, when prosecutors announced that he would be facing murder charges. The lab results had come back, showing that the dried blood on the blade of the samurai sword belonged to the deceased 26-year-old. On the sword's hilt, forensic technicians had found DNA that was matched to Gonzales.
The evidence might have pointed to a suspect, but the man himself was nowhere to be found. People in various parts of California claimed to have seen him, but none of the sightings led anywhere. Officials speculated that Gonzales could have shaved his head and changed his facial hair, allowing him to go undetected. The search that had started in early spring dragged on through the summer and into the fall, with no arrests.
Then, in November, detectives got a tip about the John Doe who had been fished out of the river. Island County Sheriff's Office Detective Ed Wallace told the Daily Herald that it came from someone who moved to Washington state from Sutter County in California, where the body had washed up. That person saw pictures of Gonzales's tattoos on social media and noted that the sheepdog was a symbol that members of the military use because it represents protecting people. The letters "AF," a common abbreviation for the Air Force, had been inked inside the dog's ear. While police haven't said exactly where the tipster spotted Gonzales's distinctive tattoo, Cunningham's family members had posted a photo of it on Justice 4 Katherine, a Facebook page they maintain.
Though detectives were fairly certain that they had found the missing suspect, they waited to make any announcements until a DNA test had come back from the lab. On Tuesday, Island County Sheriff's Office confirmed that it was a match.
Still, many questions remain, among them the suspect's possible motives and how he ended up drowning in a river hundreds of miles away from where the Honda had been found on the side of the road.
"My hope was to interrogate him and provide answers to Katherine's family," Wallace told the Redding Record Searchlight. "He cheated the family of answers."
Tourists, Residents Evacuated As Wildfire Spreads At Hawaii's Maui Island
Ahead Of Imran Khan's Visit, US Says Aid To Pak Will Remain Suspended
Kerala Man Gets 3 Life Terms For Rape, Murder Of 7-Year-Old Niece In 2017
Woman, Son Arrested For Killing 3-Year-Old, Burning Body In Bhopal
Man Slashed Throat Of Teen Popular On Instagram, Took Selfie With Body
cryptic tattoomurderdead body


text:
using MatterHackers.Agg.UI;

namespace MatterHackers.MatterControl.SlicerConfiguration
{
	public abstract class ValueOrUnitsField : TextField
	{
		protected string unitsToken = "units-token";

		public ValueOrUnitsField(ThemeConfig theme)
			: base (theme)
		{
		}

		public override void Initialize(int tabIndex)
		{
			base.Initialize(tabIndex);

			textEditWidget.ActualTextEditWidget.InternalTextEditWidget.AllSelected += (s, e) =>
			{
				// select everything up to the token (if present)
				int tokenIndex = textEditWidget.ActualTextEditWidget.Text.IndexOf(unitsToken);
				if (tokenIndex != -1)
				{
					textEditWidget.ActualTextEditWidget.InternalTextEditWidget.SetSelection(0, tokenIndex - 1);
				}
			};
		}

		protected override string ConvertValue(string newValue)
		{
			string text = newValue.Trim();

			int tokenIndex = text.IndexOf(unitsToken);
			bool hasUnitsToken = tokenIndex != -1;
			if (hasUnitsToken)
			{
				text = text.Substring(0, tokenIndex);
			}

			double.TryParse(text, out double currentValue);
			return currentValue + (hasUnitsToken ? unitsToken : "");
		}
	}
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
Home / Ministry of Education sets date for resuming studies after Eid
Ministry of Education sets date for resuming studies after Eid
July 19, 2021 - 11:49
The Ministry of Education has revealed the date for the resumption of studies after the Eid al-Adha holiday, as well as the date for the end of the second-semester transfer exams.
On Sunday, the National Examinations Center informed the education observers that studies would resume on July 31, while exams for the transfer years will remain, as scheduled on August 7.
In its letter to the Education Supervisors, the Center explained that the decision was made for the safety of students upon the recommendations of the Scientific Advisory Committee at the Ministry of Education, which recommended suspending studies for a week after the Eid al-Adha holiday.
Education Ministry introduces new health protocol allowing schools to remain open
Libya enters fourth wave of Covid-19 pandemic after spread of Omicron
Primary Education Department calls for activating school discipline laws and prohibits use of excessive force
Libyan Disease Control Center recommends returning to precautionary measures


text:
Mark Rigby's Six Nations Rugby Blog
Mark Rigby is Chief Executive of Lambert Smith Hampton (LSH) and a former Captain of Wasps RUFC.
Weekend Five Preview
Wales v France
England v Ireland
Italy v Scotland
Will come, Wilko…
It's the last weekend of the championship. Time to get excited. One would hope, time to be positive. I'll put off venting about Ashton's idiocy for a minute. How about those Welsh?
Much has been made of the transformation from World Cup nobodies to potential Grand Slam heroes. I've written about it myself. Hats off to Warren Gatland and his men, it's been nothing short of a sensational turn around. They are there on merit. They have been the best team in the tournament by a country mile and, for their sake, I hope that they end Saturday with the silverware that their performances have deserved.
Fly-halves are certainly the topic of conversation. Gatland's vote for Hook is a statement of intent and I'm with him on that one – it gives them options. Better to take on the French with confident, running playmakers and lay down the challenge. Wales' momentum and determination will, in my opinion, see them all right on the day. I also prefer the Phillips/Hook axis at half-back to Phillips/Jones because the connection looks sharper and the understanding – crucial in the decision-making epicentre of the team – more 'in sync'.
What type of opposition will France bring? Hard to say. Lievremont is a man whose decisions continue to baffle and his players are the classic liquorice all-sorts team. You really do just never know. My job is to make predictions though and I see Wales bagging this one by at least eight points. With backs bristling with confidence, a strong pack – and none stronger than Ryan Jones – and a crowd that will do everything they can to pull the home side over the line, it looks like the script is already written.
Scotland's triumph over England at Murrayfield was certainly a mystery – that wasn't in my script! Take nothing away from the Scots, they did what they needed to do. Where England failed was in lacking discipline, lacking creativity, and lacking execution. These are fundamentals in the game. For me, this points to profound problems in the coaching and set up of the side. It does not point to one man who had a bad game being hung out to dry. Ashton has proved that, while he can cut it as a support coach, he doesn't have the 'nous' or the man-management skills for the big job. He got it wrong dropping Cipriani last week, and he's doubled his gaff by getting it wrong again this week. Although England were shambolic against the Scots, you can see where it comes when the coach shows such a degree of ineptitude.
So, back on track against the Irish? Final curtain games are notoriously difficult to call. I can see England bouncing back with a blinder, but equally a fade out farce at HQ is a distinct possibility. Forgive me, but I'll go for the safe choice – England to shade it by three points.
Over in Rome, I reckon the Azzurri will take it by three as well. The Scots have bagged the result that matters most for them and I think the Italians are due a win. They've played some seriously good rugby over the four games so far and I can't believe that they are still without a point. In the wooden spoon battle, I see the Italian pack bossing it up front and knocking enough holes in the Scottish defence to sneak over at least once.
What's clear is that there's a huge gulf – in quality and interest – between the top and the bottom of the championship. It's a triumph for the fixture schedulers, let's hope it's also a triumph for the Welsh.
Thanks to everyone that has read and contributed to my blog. Rugby is great at getting the banter going. I hope I've helped spur a few thoughts and wish everyone all the best for this weekend's finale.
Weekend Four Preview
Ireland v Wales
Italy v France
Scotland v England
Funny things can happen in a leap year
When the Welsh crashed out of the World Cup not six months ago, the headlines were pretty cruel. Look now and 'Warren's Wales' are on the march. I've even read views that this Saturday is the match that counts and, if the Welsh can win in Dublin, victory over the French and another Grand Slam is a formality. Heady times indeed for the Valley Boys – and much deserved. Wales have been the team of the tournament so far, but can it last?
On St David's Day, my secretary brought some daffodils into the office. A touch of spring in the heart of the West End. They bloomed bright, they stood tall, and they certainly caught the eye. As I write, they are withering, drooping and, sadly, dying. Their moment all too brief. I'm no poet but it made me think. Are Wales a team that is built to last or will their brilliance fade away? It's the big question, and it's a tough call.
Looking at the squads – and mindful of the Croke Park advantage that Ireland will enjoy – I have a sneaking feeling that the Welsh will face their toughest test yet. Ireland have been building momentum and growing into the tournament and, aside from a few queries about full back, look pretty solid. Wales have made a key change in at 10 with Stephen Jones taking over from James Hook. That's the kind of adjustment that, when the pressure comes on, can make all the difference.
I'm not expecting an expansive game so I think goal kicking will be crucial. Discipline will be essential with both sides well able to take three points away every time someone gets pinged by the ref within the attacking half. On this, I see that Paul O'Connell is back for the Irish. A big match player, yes, but not far off being a liability if the ref is twitchy with the whistle. Prediction? I'd say Wales by six points.
Murrayfield has never been a welcoming place for the English – well, not if you omit Gavin Hastings penalty miss in the 1991 World Cup quarter final. This Saturday, you can bet your bottom dollar that Frank Hadden and his men will be wanting to make it doubly dour. England have to come and play, take the game to the Scots and not get sucked into playing the game the Scots want to play. It's the same story that it's been for a while. Scotland don't have the weapons to hurt you unless you get stuck in the fight they want to pick. In this regard think back to 2000. The weather was awful, as it will be on Saturday, England were going for the Grand Slam, were firm favourites, but came unstuck losing 19-13.
Although it worries me that there's a big match performance somewhere in the Scots, I think England will come away with the Calcutta Cup. With Cipriani in at full back – and, as a Wasps man, I'm happy to see him there although he will face some early testing high balls – I like the look of our back line. England are, as things stand, only going in with two changes to the starting 15 and that continuity is a big bonus. Score? England by 15 points.
Anyone interested in the battle across the Channel? Yes, we have to be. If France win – and England do too with Wales losing – what a great final weekend that will bring. I'm baffled by Lievremont's insistence on going with youth at all costs and I think the snarling Italian pack might just 'educate' some of the young French fliers. By all means, build for the next World Cup, but with such disregard to the here and now? Not my style. I'll plump for France though, and by 10.
It's time to stand up and be counted. Time to edge closer to the title or heal the scars. Last October, everyone pegged the Welsh as 'zeros'. Will they continue the turnaround this Saturday and be 'heroes' once more? Stephen Jones' boot might just have the answer.
Weekend Three Review
France 13 – England 24
Wales 47 – Italy 8
Ireland 34 – Scotland 13
Best picture? – Wigglesworth going over in the corner
In the week when they have they have been handing out The Oscars, I've a few thoughts on who I think should be taking the plaudits. Best picture? Easy, Wigglesworth in the corner, five points England, game over – love it! Best actor? Close run thing between the mighty England props with Vickery just shading it over Sheridan – he was immense. Best soundtrack – 'Swing low' of course, and I could go on. It's safe to say that, for once, I was happy to be proved wrong in my prediction for Paris, along with many others who called a French win. Still, not a bad record with the tips so far.
Someone has asked me to stick my neck out a bit further and list my thoughts on the actual scores so, from next week, watch this space. For now though, let's revel in a top drawer, big match performance from England which showed control, power, aggression and outstanding performances right across the pitch. That France didn't play the rugby we've seen in their previous two games was all down to England and their unexpectedly good game. Let's see now if Lievremont will stick with the expansive style or whether the battering the English forwards gave him might help him to see that games are won up front and it's just the backs who determine by how much. I see that he's already made eight changes to his 22 man squad, including five new caps.
This tournament is now wide open with the Welsh looking down from the top of the table. I bet that they are enjoying that! Clearly, Scotland and Italy are dead and buried but to have four sides mixing it up and all in with a shout is teeing us up for a great finale.
I thought the Welsh did particularly well against Italy. Sure, the Azzuri didn't play to their potential but Wales were ruthless in racking up the points. Come the end of March, that could prove significant. It's been said that this Welsh side is playing better and more confident rugby than the Grand Slam side of 2005 and, if you listen carefully, you can hear the whispers that this could be Wales' big year again. The back line looks sharp and, although the pack is not the most mobile, Peel and/or Phillips are whipping the ball out from the breakdowns and keeping the backs on the attack. They did this superbly against the Italians and, as we all know, quick and quality ball is what kills you.
I've had a few comments about being harsh on the Scots. This week then, let's celebrate. Scotland have now scored a try. Well done lads, something to build on. I still think that wooden spoon has your name on it. You can put it in the drawer with the one you picked up last year.
Ireland look like they are coming back to life as well – and that's good timing for Eddie O'Sullivan. It was great to see some of the Irish back moves clicking at Croke Park last Saturday. The engine's not running at max power by any stretch but there's certainly something of a purr back and the Paris phut-phut is well behind them.
So now all eyes are turning to the penultimate weekend's games. That's the time when the last sift happens to separate the potential winners from those just playing for pride. It's a time for big performances once more. We'll have to wait until 15 March for these gongs to be handed out but, you can be sure of one thing, there are four teams that will be busting a gut to make sure that they're in contention.
Weekend Three Preview
France v England
Wales v Italy
Ireland v Scotland
Paris re-match
'Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more'. Yeah, yeah. This is not Agincourt and Brian Ashton is no King Harry. You do wonder how, when everything about this fixture seems so downbeat and familiar after all the excitement of the World Cup semi-final so recently, Brian will motivate this England team to get up for the fight again.
For sure, Six Nations rugby is about pride and passion. Anyone who has ever pulled on a England jersey will tell you that but I don't think I'm alone in thinking that this Paris re-match is a little bit stale. Where there was genuine excitement, anticipation and the afterglow of a victory over Australia to buoy us up for our last encounter with Les Bleus, this time we head to the Stade de France off the back of two stuttering performances and with an unsettled side.
Cutting to the chase, I think that we'll lose. Yes, there will be beef and biff back up front with Vickery and Sheridan returning, yes we can expect more from the new half-back combination with Wigglesworth coming in, but do we have what's needed to keep Clerc, Rougerie and Heymans locked up for 80 minutes? I don't think so.
The free-running French back three have been attracting lots of praise in this year's tournament, and rightly so. Clerc's hat-trick versus Ireland was impressive. I was at The Rec last week, however, and I'm keen to put paid to those voices that say we can't produce similar creative, incisive and point-scoring running rugby in England. The Bath and Wasps sides were at the top of their form, ran superb lines, and recycled ball with the pace and control needed to deliver an expansive attacking game. That we don't do this – or haven't yet – at international level is a coaching decision not a talent issue.
What's exciting about the French this season, and which the back three are demonstrating perfectly, is the greater freedom of expression. The players look liberated from the Laporte era and, under Lievremont, look prepared to take things on. It's a refreshing return to the traditional notion of Gallic panache and flair underpinned by solid technique and no small measure of skill. What's more, it's a confident move by Lievremont to put youngsters Parra and Trinh-Duc in at half backs – one of the youngest ever Six Nations half-back pairings.
In Cardiff, where Wales head into the game with two wins under their belt and confidence rising, I'm expecting a real battle of a match. Italy's pack, one of the best in the tournament in my view, will certainly knock the Welsh about, restricting supply of quality ball to Hook and the back division. I'm still tipping the Welsh to win but if you're predicting Wales to win by a spread of 20 points or more, you'd better come back to reality.
For the Scots, reality is the last place they want to be. Frank Hadden will need all of an illusionist's arts to give his men something to feel positive about. Reality equals no tries, no wins, no chance. Pre-match fantasy has to be about convincing the players that they're good enough to do the job and to get them heading out thinking they can do it. Anyone seen Derron Brown?
For the Irish, the last 20 minutes in Paris is all they need to focus on to be ready for a result. Play like this again and its try time Ireland and goodnight Scotland. I'm expecting Ireland to win by at least two scores.
I'd love to be a fly on the wall in any one of those six changing rooms to see just what type of rhetoric the coaches go for. In a game where mindset and motivation are fundamentals for success, there's no room for error in the pre-match talking, just as in the play out on the pitch. Ashton is going to need a serious Shakespeare moment, and then some, if he's going to pull it off!
Weekend Two matches reviewed
Confidence is a preference
'Confidence' and 'self belief' – three words that I am hearing a lot. Whether I'm talking to colleagues in the industry or having a chat about the rugby, they keep coming up. As the tightening property market conditions start to shake out the good from the not so good, so too the trials and tribulations of Six Nations rugby are finding a few people out.
I'm a great believer in backing yourself, knowing what you are capable of, assessing the risks and opportunities, and having a go. It's what we are all about at LSH and I think England's performances show perfectly what happens when you have it and what happens when you don't.
For 80 minutes, England have played pretty good rugby in this Championship. The pity is that it's not been in the same game. As against Wales, England lost their structure, cohesiveness and game plan in the second half in Rome. I saw panic too as players had a Twickenham déjà vu and tried to push the play too aggressively to get themselves out of a tight spot. Not clever. Play your rugby guys, keep the ball, work the opposition and create your scoring opportunities through sustained pressure.
On the positive side, a win is a win. I thought Steve Borthwick was excellent and showed that he could step up when it mattered, both in terms of leadership and at key moments, like his line-out spoil in the last minute. The back row were effective for much of the game and, of course, Jonny passed 1,000 points. Plenty to be positive about.
On the flip side though, if Italy had more firepower and creativity in the backs, we would have been sunk. Their forwards took the game to us in the second half and, although we did ok up front, you can bet that if it was the French backs in the blue jerseys, they would have cut through and punished us because of the extra ball they were getting. Certainly more for Brian Ashton to work on.
On the subject of coaches, Wales must be thrilled with the impact that Warren Gatland is having. Two from the opening two, the first time that the Welsh have managed this since 2005 – and with Gatland's inspired tactical switch of the half-backs at 60 minutes crucial to the win – Wales look like a team starting to believe. Back to my theme and that's half the battle, half the game won. It's going to be tasty versus Italy. As for Scotland, they are clutching at straws looking for positives from their first two games. With no tries and two defeats, I can only see them propping up the table come March.
Ireland's self-belief was coursing in Paris as they put plays together and the pressure on in a fantastic last 20 minutes. The Irish forwards raised the standard with powerful, old-fashioned fire in the second half and I think both players and fans alike thought a win was on. Sadly, the home side's lead was too much to claw back and the Irish paid the price for letting the French back row dominate in the early stages. This created turnover ball and the French electric backs did the rest – and to think that Vincent Clerc was not in the original selection!
With a weekend off, there will be plenty of coaches looking for a way to keep confidence going or to turn round the mindsets of those that have lost it. Sound familiar anyone?
Weekend One
From Courmayeur to Cardiff, last weekend was one for the Welsh
'Welsh Wizards', 'Wonderful Wales', great headlines, but from where I was sitting it was more like 'charge downs and chance taking'. Don't get me wrong, Wales deserved their victory as England hit the buffers in the second half but, will Wales be top of the table come March? I don't think so.
England v Wales is always special. This year, I was one of 700 surveyors in Courmayeur on the LSH Ski Challenge and having spent the night before very publicly talking down the Welsh, I sadly spent the 80 minutes sitting next to Valley Boy and LSH Chairman Bruce Brown. I say 'sadly' but I was actually enjoying it for 50 minutes, like most of the Twickenham crowd.
England were playing some attractive rugby, mixing up the play and going through the phases with a rhythm not seen for a long time. Tindall was crashing over the gain line. The back row were mobile and skilful in connecting the plays. It was good stuff. If we play like that for the rest of the tournament, I, for one, will be happy. Where Wales deserve major credit is in their 'never say die' attitude and in raising their game towards the finish as England let their's slip away. Well done to the Welsh but let's not start sticking the knife into Brian Ashton, Jonny Wilkinson et al just yet. Well, not until they have had a fair crack at the Italians this weekend at least.
Travelling to Rome just one week on – and short of both forward firepower and backs' pace through an unbelievable injury toll – this is far from an easy fixture. I think England will win but it will not be pretty and it will not be by much!
Returning to the Welsh, they will be buoyed up (sorry, no pun intended) at the prospect of taking on the Scots in their own back yard. Scotland, however, have a knack of pulling out a big performance in Cardiff and they can't do any worse than their showing against the French at Murrayfield. I'm predicting Scots' huff and puff to be enough for 60 minutes but Wales to pull clear in the last quarter – with singing in their ears!
The last place Ireland and Eddie O'Sullivan want to be so soon after their dismal World Cup is Paris and I can't see anything changing in terms of their fortunes across the Channel. Ireland have only won once in Paris in 36 years (in 2000). You could get great odds on that changing but you would be brave to take them.
It's good to be back and I hope you all enjoy the championship. If my musings can help in any way, that would be wonderful. Let me know what you think – marigby@lsh.co.uk
6 Readers' comments
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Another Porn Site Says Banks Forced It to Stop Paying Sex Workers
AVN Stars announced on Wednesday that it would end monetized content on the site, citing banking discrimination.
by Samantha Cole
December 2, 2021, 4:55pm
AVN Media Network CEO Tony Rios at the 2020 GayVN awards. Getty Images.
AVN Stars, a platform where sex workers can sell porn clips, announced on Wednesday that it will no longer allow creators to monetize their content on the site beginning January 1.
In a press release, Adult Video News wrote that discrimination from banks forced the decision.
"Unfortunately, AVN and GayVN Stars has not been immune to the banking discrimination that so many of our industry friends have also encountered recently," AVN Media Network CEO Tony Rios said in the press release. "We have had numerous corporate accounts shuttered in the past year alone."
Throughout December, models can keep selling content as usual. On January 1, however, all content on the site will be free.
"We lost probably 16 bank accounts this year. It's just exhausting," Rios told me in a phone call. "The adult industry has always had banking problems. I can think back to losing my first bank account in like, 1996. It's just par for the course. But I think that at this point, the stakes are so much higher, when you're talking 10's of 1000's of creators that really rely on this," he said.
"It's infuriating that we cannot get paid for doing completely legal work," Nikki Kit, a dominatrix who uses AVN Stars, told me. "We are seeing the effects of work that has gone on in the shadows for YEARS. The anti-porn crusade is gaining traction in the public eye now. It's concerning because our rights are being stripped away before our eyes."
The Crusade Against Pornhub Is Going to Get Someone Killed
Samantha Cole
Following OnlyFans' announcement in August that it would ban all explicit content (which it backtracked days later) due to pressure from banks, AVN Stars was frequently mentioned as an alternative platform where models could safely move to and keep making their livelihoods. The platform, launched in 2020, has billed itself as being a place sex workers can trust, because it's built by people in the industry.
"AVN Stars is a social media site—created by the industry, for the industry," the description on its website states. "At AVN Stars, there's no need to worry about being shadow banned or having your account deleted, because here you are free to post and find the hardcore content you want to see."
OnlyFans 'Suspicious Activity Reports' Mostly Show that Banks Hate Sex Work
But no website is exempt from the financial industry's long history of discrimination against sex work. Not even the biggest companies are exempt from it. Mastercard and Visa stopped service to Pornhub almost a full year ago, and those credit card companies still haven't returned. AVN is a longstanding adult industry news site that also hosts an annual conference event and awards show, with the AVN Stars platforms being one of its newest additions.
In October, Mastercard enacted new "specialty merchant" regulations that forced creators to abide by even stricter documentation and moderation requirements than these sites already demand. Platform moderators were forced to make sure existing content was in compliance with these new regulations, and creators saw their content go down or put on hold in the process. Despite meeting with internet freedom and sex work activist groups who told Mastercard that these changes would continue to put workers in precarious situations—not make them or anyone else safer—Mastercard went ahead with the regulations.
"You have these people that sit in these offices that are really disconnected from the banking relationships, that are just looking at patterns of transactions," Rios said. "They see, 'oh you sent $50,000 from here to Europe or whatever, what is this about?' And then they start Googling around and then they figure out it's the adult industry. Depending on that one person's judgment call, [platforms have to] start to tighten things down, and ultimately [banks] shut the account down. And then we just get a letter that says, 'We're sorry, we've made the decision to close your account.'"
"How many people that watch porn are willing to not only admit that they watch or pay for their porn, but that they believe porn people deserve to be paid for their work?"
Some creators who use AVN Stars are angry, not only at the loss of income this decision represents, but at the way AVN Stars handled the announcement. Several people in the replies of the announcement on Twitter expressed frustration that this was how they were learning about the news. Kit told me that the platform sent a direct message to creators on the platform, but only some creators received that message before the announcement was public. Kit said that learning about it this way infuriated her; "I wish they would have communicated the change in a more empathetic manner," she said.
AVN Stars ending monetization is a symptom of a larger problem in the industry, Kit said. "People outside of the industry don't feel comfortable saying 'hey, what you're doing to these people is wrong,'" she said. "We're hidden away from society because the public is so uncomfortable talking about sex as a whole. Let alone discuss the porn they are viewing, or the health and happiness of the performers they enjoy seeing... I hope that people can get more comfortable discussing sex and sexuality openly, and quickly. Because if people can't even discuss sex or sexuality, how can we discuss the rights of the workers within the sex industry? How many people that watch porn are willing to not only admit that they watch or pay for their porn, but that they believe porn people deserve to be paid for their work?"
Kit said she hopes that another site being taken away from sex workers creates a "ripple effect" that reaches outside of the adult industry, and that non-sex workers start speaking up. "Because while there are MANY within the industry, the public doesn't seem willing to LISTEN to models within the industry," she said.
Updated 12:33 p.m. EST with comment from AVN CEO Tony Rios.
Tagged:SEX WORKERSlaborporn


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CANDYMAN RELEASE PUSHED FROM JUNE TO SEPTEMBER
In light of the coronavirus pandemic, we didn't expect Nia DaCosta's Candyman to release on June 12th as originally slated. Now, Universal has confirmed that the film's release has been pushed to September 25th, 2020.
Set in the present day, a decade after the infamous housing projects of Chicago's Cabrini Green were torn down, visual artist Anthony McCoy (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II) and his girlfriend, gallery director Brianna Cartwright (Teyonah Parris), move into a luxury loft in the neighbourhood, which has been gentrified beyond recognition. After a chance encounter with a Cabrini Green old-timer (Colman Domingo), Anthony begins to explore the macabre history of Candyman, the deadly urban legend that once terrorized the residents of the projects.
But while Anthony hopes his research will help to reignite his stalling career, it may unwittingly open a door to a complex past that unravels his own sanity, unleashes a terrifying new wave of violence, and puts that artist on a crash course with destiny…
Described as a "spiritual sequel" to the 1992 classic of the same name, Candyman was produced and
co-written by Jordan Peele (Get Out). Win Rosenfield also worked on the screenplay.


At Indus World School, we follow the approach of Central Assessment and National Benchmarking.
The process of student assessment is centralised. The core objective of the teachers is to teach well and be a mentor and not to assess alone. Students need to go in for self-directed study and the teacher supports the students. The assessment is done by a central team and therefore the assessments become completely unbiased and independent. From early stage the students get the benefit of getting used to central assessment, quite on the lines of Board examinations, whether they are conducted by CBSE or by international GCSE or any other Board. Also, it ensures that the assessments are more scientific in nature and more comprehensive in scope. Questions are asked with the right mix of coverage and levels of difficulty. We use assessments as the tools for student improvement and not as the tools to label the students as strong or weak. As Modern theory says, "I need to compete with myself and not others".
National Benchmarking is possible with Indus World School's Central Assessment, as the same assessments are used across schools in different locations. National Benchmarking helps us in finding the real rank and performance of students in different subjects or different concepts across the country.
In other words, even if a student scores the best in his/her class, she may still find plenty of scope of improvement, as there may be a few students in some other location performing better than him/her.


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Though not rare, wood thrushes (Hylocichla mustelina) are special visitors in Manhattan. I have had three sightings: May 11, 2013, Nov. 14, 2014, and April 23, 2017. In 2013, there were two wood thrushes singing, a glorious sound to hear in the Ramble in Central Park. In 2014, the wood thrush was hanging out in small planted areas surrounding a corporate building at 49th Street and Sixth Avenue. The 2017 visitor was foraging in the leaves between the Humming Tombstone and Tupelo in the Ramble.
I didn't take video of the thrush in 2013, but did in 2014 and 2017. The Filming the Feathers video is set to music by Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, Flute Sonata in A minor, H. 562, performed by Lydia J. Roth.
The wood thrush I spotted in April 2017 was foraging for insects, digging and flipping up leaves. There was not a lot of light, but I did take photos.
The 2014 thrush was joined in the middle of Manhattan by a brown thrasher and hermit thrush. What a holiday gift for New York!
These photos were taken in the Ramble on May 11, 2013.


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Department of Medicine Research
Rheumatology, Immunology and Allergy Research
Division Research Areas
Immunologic Mechanisms of Diseases
Back to Division Research Areas
Immunologic Mechanisms of Disease Research
It has become increasingly clear that breakthroughs in the study of rheumatic and allergic diseases are linked closely to breakthroughs in basic immunology, cell biology, genetics, and other fundamental sciences. The newest treatments for rheumatoid arthritis involving TNF cytokine and receptor blockade represent excellent examples of the obvious relationships between basic research and new therapeutics. Thus, the program is firmly founded by laboratories that establish a base in fundamental research in areas that have relevance to rheumatic diseases. By and large, these laboratories focus on one aspect or another of basic immunology, although a particular laboratory may utilize primarily cellular, biochemical, cell biological, molecular biological, or genetic approaches. Further, it is now widely appreciated that advances in understanding one example of inflammation or autoimmunity hold important lessons for different diseases that share common mechanisms of pathology. Thus, the lessons learned from conditions such as multiple sclerosis, diabetes, or inflammatory bowel disease or from the recruitment and function of leukocytes in infectious conditions all bear important lessons and form the framework for understanding rheumatic and inflammatory diseases in general.
Divisional researchers are working on basic mechanisms of antigen presentation, inflammatory cytokine production, and the immune response to mycobacterium tuberculosis. These studies will determine the direction of disease-focused research.
Researchers and Staff
Rheumatic and Musculoskeletal Diseases
Asthma and Allergic Diseases
Cell Biology-based Mechanisms of Disease
Section of Clinical Sciences