Growth? We need it but not the kind you think.
Living off the land. It is a pretty sweet life.
The next AKG podcast audio contribution.
Rabbits, not just a garden menace, they are food.
Thanks to Joe Romm for the heads up on this remake of the John Denver classic.
Video - Sandar Postel: Are Americans Facing Reality About Water?
"Post Carbon Institute Fellow Sandra Postel discusses what the American population needs to know, sooner rather than later, about looming water scarcities. She urges proactive organization by citizens and government. "
I need your help with something. This won't take long... but it's a big deal.
Today, Friday, TED Prize winner Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution comes to America. His show premieres on ABC tonight. The show is *awesome*. If people watch it, it's going to change their lives.
If you're in America, please watch or record the show. I promise you won't regret it. Here are the program times. Here's the trailer.
Whether or not you're in the US, please encourage your American friends to watch. Forward this email to at least five people. They will thank you for it.
As a reminder, America, along with much of the rest of the world, is suffering an obesity epidemic. Millions of people are literally in danger of eating themselves to death. Jamie Oliver's food revolution tackles this head on... by helping families rediscover the thrill of delicious, healthy, freshly-cooked food. He is a magnetic spokesman for one of today's most important issues.
Please help make a TED Prize wish come true.
P.S. While you're at it, please add your name to Jamie's petition. We'd love to get to a million signatures within the next six weeks.
"The End of Suburbia is a must see documentary about peak oil, arguing that it spells a hard crash for the suburban dream. David Holmgren here offers a counterview, a vision of a radically retrofitted, food producing suburbia. David Holmgren is the co-originator of Permaculture. http://www.holmgren.com.au"
This time of year I walk through the local parks and check on my favorite nettle patches. We had a long cold winter this year and the little sprouts are only about 2 inches high, not high enough to escape being wee'ed on by dogs. Though they are tastiest when they are young, particularly picked and eaten raw, due to the dogs I'll have to wait for em to grow a few feet. I pick the top cluster, roll it in my fingers to disarm the sting, and pop it in my mouth, chew it well and always have some water, apple cider, or beer at hand in case a wayward stinging hair sticks in my throat. If you want to avoid the possibility of the sting, wear some gloves and pick the top 6 inches or so and bring em home and cook em like any greens, steam, boil, or saute. MMmm...mmm good!
And they are very good for you.
Read more from Ms. Gifford over at Farm to Table "Stinging Nettles are good for you"
Thanks to Retrofitting with Justice over at OpenAlex for the heads up.
I love this idea for growth that is of true benefit, rather than the destructive kind fostered by dinosaur thinking.
"Later, when there is continual growth - of ideas, of community, of fun, of friendship, of compassion and of understanding - we will wonder how we ever bought into the myth of perpetual material growth on a planet of finite material resources."
I found it in a post by Corrina Gordon-Barnes over at Ooffoo called "When all flights are grounded"
When all flights are grounded, we will not understand. We will feel that the world as we know it is tumbling down. We will protest about the restriction of freedom and demand our right to travel where we choose. ... we will not know how to contain our anger. You must be ready for this.
When the great giant chain stores clear out, we will holler for their return. ... You must expect our fear.
When the cash machines spit out our cards, we will look at each other in panic. We have forgotten, you see, that shelter and food and warmth are our birthright. We have imagined that we must buy such things.
When pineapples and coffee disappear from the shelves and when animal protein becomes rare, know that there will be outrage. When the private car is no more, we will hurl abuse and accuse you of dragging us back to the dark ages.
Oh yes, we will fight and hold on, we will kick and scream. When the whole fabrication comes crashing down around us, we will ask: Why did you not see this coming? ... We have so few models, you see, for anything other than our current reality and our safety lies with the known. So at first, we won't like it, not one bit. Of all this you can be guaranteed.
Later, as we are forced to adapt and as we notice ourselves becoming stronger, more interesting, more skilled human beings, we will sorrow at how much we wasted - not just of our precious natural world that can never be refurbished, but how much we wasted of ourselves. How we contorted ourselves out of all proportion to fit a system which made no sense when actually it was our authentic selves and our passion that were needed.
Later, when we study health not medicine, when our holidays are full of peace, quiet and exploration, when the grind is replaced by time with our loved ones, when we enjoy fresh air and no traffic jams, when eye contact with strangers feels comforting and when our elders our honoured, we will marvel at how we used to believe ourselves to be islands.
Later, when we equitably share our skills, our products and our time, when our material needs are met and when that deep feeling of safety and sufficiency is our core, we will shake our heads and smile as we remember how we once thought plastic could buy our happiness.
Later, when the hedgerows are buzzing with life, when we are reminded of what carrots are meant to taste like and when our farmers are revered, we will catch ourselves needing so much less than we ever believed was necessary."
Thanks to Dave Hampton for the heads up on this.
"There are 2 million farmers and 300 million consumers in the US. Standing in between are a handful of companies who control how food gets from one side to the other.
In 2010, the USDA and Dept of Justice are holding a series of hearings on this issue -- the matter of corporate concentration in food and agriculture. The first hearing was March 12, in Ankeny, Iowa. The night before, about 250 independent family farmers and community activists gathered for a town hall meeting to share their own experiences with big ag.
"During the last two decades, mountaintop removal mining in Appalachia has destroyed or severely damaged more than a million acres of forest and buried nearly 2,000 miles of streams. Leveling Appalachia: The Legacy of Mountaintop Removal Mining, a video report produced by Yale Environment 360 in collaboration with MediaStorm, focuses on the environmental and social impacts of this practice and examines the long-term effects on the region's forests and waterways.
At a time when the Obama administration is reviewing mining permit applications throughout West Virginia and three other states, this video offers a first-hand look at mountaintop removal and what is at stake for Appalachia's environment and its people."
You can download the latest episode at The Alternative Kitchen Garden website, listen to it in the audio player here or just read the transcript of our bit below, but it would be a shame to miss the AKG content.
"In the last episode we mentioned the shade structure we are planning for the south side of the house in Hickory North Carolina. Due to the intensity of the sun at that latitude we will eventually extend it to the SE and SW sides of the house as well. This structure forms a boundary between the house and the gardens.
Today's permaculture tip is from "The Woodland Way - A Permaculture Approach to Sustainable Woodland Management" by Ben Law published by Permanent Publications in 2005.
This edge idea helps us to introduce the Permaculture concept of Zones.
In the book "Permaculture: A Practical Guide for a Sustainable Future", Bill Mollison discusses 6 distinct zones. These are largely based around how much time is needed in each. For instance, a chicken coop might be visited more than 400 times in a year to gather eggs and manure, deliver water, cull, and perform maintenance whereas an oak tree may be visited only once or twice to collect acorns. Therefore it makes more sense to place the chicken coop close to the house and leave the oak tree in the woods.
Zone 5 is for the wild; unmanaged, lightly foraged and generally left alone, used for study, a place to learn the rules of the locale. This will be quite small on our 1/3 acre.
Zone 4 will be even smaller, it borders on the wildest areas and typically contains pasture and larger ponds, which we will not have room for, and minimally managed trees and shrubs for foraging and fuel.
Zone 3 is more for commercial use; livestock (only chickens for us) and crops for sale, natural or minimally pruned trees, storage and animal barns, water storage, vegetative windbreaks and habitat.
Zone 2 is less intensively managed with small ponds and hedges, home orchards and kitchen crop beds.
Zone 0 is the dwelling and it's attached structures, including potted and trellised plants and associated animals.
As our most urgent need is to get zone 0 prepared for occupancy, we must first consider how our structure interacts with the surrounding environment. The shade structure forms the interface with the surrounding environment.
In our design we've referred to The following principles from a Toby Hemenway slideshow at the Natural Building Convergence in May of 2002, it is available at the "I love cob" podcast archive at ilovecob.com/. The author of "Gaia's Garden; A guide to home scale permaculture" Mr. Hemenway discussed the concept of "The Unified Landscape".
#1 How can inhabiting the site be a net gain for the environment?
#2 How can we tie buildings into the site aesthetically and functionally?
#3 How can a building heal its own damage to the site, as well as past damage?
These principles take into account the effects of construction including materials production; be it mining, logging or petrochemical manufacturing, transporting those materials, as well as detrimental effects of construction; such as soil compaction, erosion, and habitat degradation.
Subsequent to construction there are the effects of inhabiting a site; energy and resource use, waste issues, and the long term effects of the structure such as impermeable surfaces and daylighting changes.
Hopefully while minimizing these negative effects we can compensate by capitalizing on opportunities created by the site; such as onsite resource collection, use and recycling, as well as creation of microclimates and increasing edges, thus achieving greater biodiversity. And lastly, by taking over the site we hope to increase human stewardship compared to its current use.
Our shade structure, with integrated conservatory and solar panels, and the added terrace it is built upon will be instrumental in accomplishing many of these goals as it will drastically improve the passive solar performance of the existing house and will generate electricity for various activities around the site. The conservatory will not only heat the house in the winter but will provide a platform for seedling propagation and growing of tropical plants like bananas. The timber frame shade structure will provide vertical growing space, as well as the beginnings of an integrated rainwater management system. We'll discuss rainwater harvesting in the next episode.
It still astounds me that this continues. I can't help but continue to remind us of this shameful behaviour. It is incumbent upon on us all to reduce our demand for electricity, without demand for the electricity we don't need the coal, at drastically reduced demand, renewables are far more feasible. The low hanging fruit is solar hot water, this can be DIY'ed very easily, see these two posts about a very simple system built from recycled materials.
Here is an article from Robert Kennedy Jr. about MTR over at the The Hill. Thanks to Climate Progress for the heads up.
There is clear scientific evidence that the current epidemic of diabetes and obesity is related to consumption of high fructose corn syrup, a genetically modified frankenfood, that suppresses leptin levels which control satiety. This is millions of people. This is evidence that demands further independent research but for me it is a smoking gun.
Coffee Party USA gives voice to Americans who want to see cooperation in government. We recognize that the federal government is not the enemy of the people, but the expression of our collective will, and that we must participate in the democratic process in order to address the challenges that we face as Americans. As voters and grassroots volunteers, we will support leaders who work toward positive solutions, and hold accountable those who obstruct them."
Are you considering installing solar PV or a wind generator at your home. Take a look at this, I am not in any way associated with selling this unit but I do find it interesting as previously one would need much more kit to achieve the same end.
"Overview of the Power Predcictor anemometer. The Power Predictor measures wind speed, wind direction and solar energy at your site. The online software analysis your data for you producing an easy to understand Power Report which tells you payback times, energy bill savings, and CO2 savings acheivable for the main wind turbines and solar panels on the market."
I recently received a request from an ex student of mine, now in college, needing a suggestion for a paper on sustainable agriculture. We ruled out genetic modification as others were covering that disaster, also water conservation was ruled out. What's left?
I quickly came up with many topics relating to the problems associated with Industrial Agriculture and only afterwards did I realize that I had neglected any suggestions relating to Sustainable Agriculture. I added those at the end. Looks like I need to focus on the positive a little more. Here is the text of the response to her request.
If you want to deal with the nitrogen cycle and overfertilization you can look at it's contribution to climate change as nitrous oxide is 300X more potent as a greenhouse gas. Or you could look at the dead zones in the Gulf of Mexico and other river mouth oceanic areas around the world largely attributed to excess nitrogen runoff, again from overfertilization. There is also the issue that the nitrogen in chemical fertilizers break down and dissipate into the water table, atmosphere, rivers, far faster than organic fertilizers such as manure and compost.
A related issue is factory farming of livestock and it's link to the development of superbugs and the decreased effectiveness of antibiotics, not to mention the issues of cruelty.
Of course there is the well trodden issue of food miles with it's related issues of chemical use to keep food from ripening, thus drastically reducing nutritive content and exposing the populace to the excess pesticides used. Clearly Food miles also has implications to climate change and peak oil as it so heavily reliant on fossil fuels.
Another heavily debated issue is the energy balance in corn ethanol and the the effect this industry is having on food prices as it furthers the damaging effects of the commodification of food (an issue in and of itself).
There are social justice issues having to do with the treatment of migrant labor, the destruction of the family farm, and of course the effects of climate change which impacts the poor disproportionately. A little known fact is that Industrial agriculture is one of the largest contributors to climate change on the planet when you factor in the deforestation involved with palm oil plantations and cattle ranches. Even without that it is one of the highest emitters in North America.
Pesticides in the water table, specifically atrazine.
Damage done to biodiversity via habitat loss and chemical usage.
The epidemic of obesity and diabetes since the widescale promotion of High Fructose corn syrup and it's leptin suppressing qualities.
The reduction in depth and quality of soils worldwide.
Farmer suicides worldwide, worst in India.
I can recommend you check out Rodale and the Organic Consumers Association for research and links to take you the other direction in investigation of positive alternatives, of which there are many.
Check out Appropedia and Agroinnovations sites.
"At the Taste3 conference, chef Dan Barber tells the story of a small farm in Spain that has found a humane way to produce foie gras. Raising his geese in a natural environment, farmer Eduardo Sousa embodies the kind of food production Barber believes in."
Age of Stupid: Clips: Contract and Converge Animation W. Spanish Subtitles from Age of Stupid on Vimeo.
If you are interested or involved in constructive change in your lifestyle and/or your community then you might want to check out this publication from the Young Foundation, you can download it for free.
Thanks to OpenAlex for the heads up.
We've been considering rabbits as livestock for some time, check out this post over at the Good.is blog. Thanks to Re-Nest for the heads up.
Also, keep a look out for Dolly Freed's Possum Living. She inspired me over twenty years ago to pursue simplicity in all forms, she and her dad kept and ate rabbits and she goes into detail about how they did it. It's good to see this practical suggestion here. I will likely give this a try when we get settled in America, though I'm not sure I'll be able to kill them, rabbits are also excellent lawnmowers and they fertilize as they go.
"Speaking at a conference on the future of America's economic competitiveness, green jobs leader Van Jones called for a "robust policy discussion" on equity, inclusion, and fairness in the emerging green economy. In one of his first appearances since returning to the Center for American Progress, senior fellow Van Jones told attendees of the CAP-Apollo Alliance conference, "Picking a Winner: How to Make the U.S. a Leader in the Clean Energy Economy," that we now know that the clean energy economy is coming. There are "three key questions that need to be addressed" about the emerging clean energy economy, Jones said, that need to be addressed, but only two already have a "robust policy discussion."
This was posted in over on facebook on Dave Hampton's profile in reference to the post from George Monbiot regarding feed in tariffs on monbiot.com.
I've seen others get bogged down in a single leg of the bottom line triad when they should know better, Economy (which seems to be the quicksand they all get stuck in) is no more important than Environment and Equity. Indeed, pursuing it at the expense of the other two is a false economy. 41p per kWH might seem alot but when you add up the fact that solar panels pay back the energy to make them within 2 to 5 years, are then completely carbon neutral, don't require huge inputs of water (unlike any thermal energy production including CSP), don't require continuing extraction of resources to provide energy (usually at the expense of local people), and if taken in the context of other electronic investments (when was the last time you heard of a TV with a payback period?) are a particularly good investment. I generally agree with Mr. Monbiot but I have to differ with him here.
A lot of scam merchants are going around the UK selling television entertainment systems for thousands of pounds, this cost will never be paid back in the lifetime of the owner, nevermind the life of the electronic consumerist propaganda machine. When was the last time you got a savings on any bill from using your television more? When was the last time you heard of a television that was guaranteed to provide the service you bought it for, for the next 25 years? Quality solar PV panels will do both and in most cases will continue to produce power beyond the warranty period.
However, I would partially agree with your statement, Michael, about solar systems that are grid tied. These systems reinforce business as usual in many cases as they are designed as add ons to poorly designed inefficient houses and lifestyles. Research has shown that conservation only improves 10% or less after installing such systems. That is not to say that it can't be better and that grid tied systems can't play a role in reducing demand if properly designed and accompanied by rigorous conservation behaviour.
IMHO, If you are serious about the "green thing", your best bet is to go off grid with as many circuits in your house as possible, build the PV battery system yourself, and carefully design it to enforce deep conservation of electricity to the point of being able to rely on the off grid circuits as close to 100% as possible. This strategy precludes consumerism of entertainment oriented electronics, electrically heated devices (which may require a complete green renovation of your house which you should do anyway), stand up fridge freezers, hair dryers, electric cooking, and generally wasteful behaviour. Having done this myself in the past and being in the midst of planning a project to do it on a much larger scale, I can assert that I am not naive, and that the savings (which includes the savings from not buying all the electrical devices you can't power as well as the savings from going DIY) will indeed pay for the system both in terms of finances and regarding the other 2 E's mentioned above. Admittedly, it will require the right site and enough panels to do the job and won't work for everybody but even if you take 1 circuit off grid it will be worth it as it reinforces a powerful ethic of conservation. It also gets you started with a small system that can be scaled up as finances allow. If you do this you will soon see that putting your money into self reliance is always a good investment.
There are scam merchants everywhere and folks need to look seriously at the suitability of their site and budget before embarking on such a plan.
Here another post queried the quality of solar PV particularly in comparison with nuclear power.
A good tool is as good as how well you use it. For me, an economy based on consumerism and endless growth is the problem. Any tool that helps us move away from that paradigm is worth using, tools that reinforce business as usual are not. A solar panel, or a wind generator for that matter, is a tool that gives a reliable amount of power and when coupled with a reliable storage system (based around 96% recyclable or better batteries) will do so for may years with near zero maintenance, power that is consumed within feet of where it is produced with minimal extraction of further resources (periodic battery replacement requires some due to the 4%). I don't know of another technology that is nearly so elegant. Intermittent, yes, requiring of mindful attention to our behaviour, yes. All it requires is that we use it properly, this means change. IMHO, It is the change that people are resisting.
My problems with nuclear are many; it requires massive inputs of carbon rich materials at the front end and the back end. It requires continuous use of minerals extracted from the earth in a very damaging way that requires massive quantities of energy rich water supply, and huge quantities of water are also required in the operation of the plant. Waste is clearly a continuing problem, as is security. Having said that if we are going to continue to strive for endless growth and consumerism it will require a massive base load supply, I favor nuclear over coal which has all the same problems but on a scale that is much worse (excepting perhaps security), I favor CSP (concentrated solar power) over both as it is based on the sun directly but has similar issues with water. I favor large scale deployment of wind farms over all of them.
I suspect that some combination of the two paradigms will be required; for me it is drastic reduction in demand through the deployment of off grid microgeneration to help people restrict their consumerism while at the same time replacing coal and nuclear with wind farms as we scale back grid supply, if this requires rolling black outs until we get our demand under control, so be it.
My personal philosophy is that if it doesn't further sustainability it is not worth doing.
Methane, from the land and sea, but all from you and me.
Recent research at the university of Illinois indicates that fertilizers derived from fossil fuel lead to the breakdown of organic matter and soil carbon thus blocking the soil's ability to sequester CO2, hold moisture, and support a healthy level of soil biodiversity. This leads to compaction, increased erosion, and increased need for irrigation. This of course leads to the erosion of the long term viability of the soil.
But this is nothing new, in 1947 in a seminal text for modern agriculture the British agronomist Sir Albert Howard warned that the application of synthetic fertilizers would do "untold harm" to the soil. As the Dutch used to say "Fertilizer is good for the father and bad for the sons."
Contrast this with the methods of organic agriculture which are built around preserving and enhancing the soil both for today and tomorrow. You can explore the latest research on organic methods over a Rodale Institute.
"In the many responses I get to these videos, it appears that a number of people want to deny, or are not even aware, that there is a scientific foundation to the overwhelming consensus on climate change.
basic facts that we know beyond a doubt, about global warming.


text:
The Walking Dead: The Final Season - 'Done Running' impressions
It's the beginning of the end of Clementine's story. Shacknews is here with our full impressions for the first episode of The Walking Dead: The Final Season.
Ozzie Mejia
The following impressions begin our ongoing review of The Walking Dead: The Final Season. Once the full season is complete, Shacknews will then have a final cumulative score for the game as a whole.
It's been a long journey and it's hard to come to terms with this being the beginning of the end. But that time has arrived with The Walking Dead: The Final Season, which is set to end the story that Telltale has told since the original Shacknews 2012 Game of the Year. 'Done Running' does a good job of setting up Clementine's story coming full circle, while also introducing some interesting new situations.
The first thing I want to note is that 'Done Running' throws me off out of the gate. Fresh off my playthrough of The Walking Dead: A New Frontier, I expected follow-up from the ending of the third game, with Clementine out continuing her search for little AJ. But instead, the story has fast-forwarded. Clementine has already picked up AJ and is on her merry way, with only one reference to his time at the ranch. It's a bit of a jarring transition, going from "Clementine's out to find AJ" to "Oh, there they just are."
In fact, The Final Season's first episode barely makes any mention of A New Frontier at all. While playthroughs and individual stories are bound to vary, Richmond was still standing and putting itself back together at the end of the third game. Meanwhile, Clementine makes a passing mention of her time there and simply plows forward on her own. While it would make sense (at least for most playthroughs) that her character would want to carry on solo, The Final Season treats the previous game like a total afterthought and, in fact, almost moves on like it never happened. That aspect of this narrative rubbed me the wrong way.
As for 'Done Running' itself, the story makes sure to recap Clementine's tale to this point, emphasizing the lessons she learned from Lee in the first game. That sets up the idea that she has now grown up into Lee's old caretaker role, acting as a mother figure to AJ, the baby she's raised since The Walking Dead: Season 2. Now fully able to communicate, AJ plays the role of Clementine, carefully absorbing any life lessons and advice in regards to surviving this dangerous world.
One of the biggest themes that The Final Season has set up, however, is that Clementine is almost certain to be a lesser caretaker than Lee was. Even though Lee was thrust into his role in the first season, he was still a fully-formed adult with adult experiences. While it can be argued that Clementine has endured experiences that no other child has, it doesn't mean she's 100 percent ready to raise a child herself. And ultimately, there are places in the story where it's evident that she hasn't quite mastered the mother role, including the episode's ending, which I won't spoil here.
The other major theme that makes The Final Season much more interesting involves the episode's setting. To this point, Clementine was a child wise beyond her years, hardened by years of surviving on her own. She was always surrounded by adults who underestimated her, but was always able to thrive, despite her young age. Having found Ericson's Boarding School for Troubled Youth, Clementine is now in an unfamiliar position. She's surrounded by about a dozen kids, like her, who are also tough-as-nails survivors. There was an instance in my playthrough where Clementine tried pointing out the hardships she's endured, when new character Vi pointed out that they've all made it through equally tough scenarios. No person is an island, something Clementine is learning in meeting this camp of abandoned kids, who have set up their own makeshift society.
Mechanically, The Walking Dead: The Final Season is, at its root, a Telltale game. That means solid adventure game mechanics, intriguing conversations, and tough decision-making. There are several places where the story can branch off, but there also appears to be a heavier emphasis on relationships, with the end of the episode making sure to recap Clementine's standing with individual characters based on player choices.
There are a few minor differences that I had some mixed reactions to. Whenever players are given control of Clementine, they'll now see objectives pop up at the top of the screen. While having direction is nice, it did take me out of the story a little bit. I wasn't a big fan of the "game-ified" element of a big "Here's your objective" message. Something I was a bigger fan of was the idea of collectibles. Once Clementine and AJ move into the school, they'll have an empty wall that they could decorate. There are up to six collectibles scattered over the course of the story and finding them allows Clementine to fill that wall. The first one is handed to players. AJ's drawing sets the tone for this mechanic, making it feel like a fridge to hang up certain pieces of pride.
The other thing to note is the pacing. While most Telltale episodes go at a brisk pace, because The Final Season is divided into four episodes (instead of the usual five), 'Done Running' feels like it has a longer runtime. Because of that, I felt like certain elements of the story started to drag. Fortunately, Telltale still has a penchant for compelling storytelling, because any sense of meandering I had was set to the side during the climax.
'Done Running' does a good job in setting up the beginning of the end of Clementine's story. It puts a lot of focus on her as a person, but also puts a heavier emphasis on her relationship with AJ and in her role as the new Lee. There are several ways this story can go and it doesn't look like Telltale is going to keep everyone waiting, as the second episode is set to release on September 25.
These impressions are based on an Xbox One code provided by the publisher. The Walking Dead: The Final Season is available now on PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch for $19.99 for all four episodes. The game is rated M.
Ozzie has been playing video games since picking up his first NES controller at age 5. He has been into games ever since, only briefly stepping away during his college years. But he was pulled back in after spending years in QA circles for both THQ and Activision, mostly spending time helping to push forward the Guitar Hero series at its peak. Ozzie has become a big fan of platformers, puzzle games, shooters, and RPGs, just to name a few genres, but he's also a huge sucker for anything with a good, compelling narrative behind it. Because what are video games if you can't enjoy a good story with a fresh Cherry Coke?
The Walking Dead: The Game
The Walking Dead Series
Review-in-Progress
Shackstream: Skankcore64 Episode 29
Evening Reading - January 15, 2021
Shack Chat: What is your gaming prediction for 2021?
Weekend PC Download Deals for Jan. 15: The Humble Winter Sale
Ozzie Mejia posted a new article, The Walking Dead: The Final Season - 'Done Running' impressions
redshak
I love how episode 2 is coming in a month. The voice acting is soooo good.
Masem
I finished my first ep runthrough of this, and felt it was really slow at least in setup. The plot goes from 0 to 60 in like 5 seconds in only the last 10 minutes of it. I understand this was all establishing the characters, you're thrown about a dozen new ones and they aren't in any danger of immediate death as there was with the 1st and 2nd season. They want you to get to know those characters well and feel like they are friends but then they go and off Marlon, those Telltale bastards Hopefully Ep2 can speed things along.
I do appreciate that the combat was much more "open" (as much as it could be with an adventure game), and loved the improvements on the graphics - they used some type of filter to put things that were about halfway downstage (in terms of the proverbial z axis) in a more cell-shaded approach to give the impression of line art and coloring, rather than rendered surfaces.
I wasn't crying any years because fuck anyone who hits women. I wanted that dude dead Fucking asap one way or another
MonicaSQuick
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RomSteady
Shacknews Staff heads-up: spoiler tags don't work when comments are embedded under an article. The spoilers in this thread appear without the spoiler blocks.
OzzieMejia
This issue has been spotted and it has been fixed.
CrustaR
Hey, shirif...what about this game? I didn't do the last season of TWD because Telltale kind of sucks these days.
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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Public health workers are encouraged to apply. Tuition subsidies are available.
The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health is accepting applications for the Public Health Informatics Training Program until April 15, 2011. The program, offered in collaboration with the schools of Medicine and Nursing, and the Public health Data Standard Consortium (PHDSC), targets public health professionals. Program graduates will earn a post-baccalaureate Certificate in Public Health Informatics, approved by the state of Maryland.
The Program offers training in methods and concepts of health informatics and health information technology that are applicable to public health. It is designed for current (and future) public health professionals who wish to develop expertise or specialization in this area. Courses for this program are available completely online. Individuals residing in the Mid-Atlantic region may also take selected courses on campus.
To complete the training, students will undertake a "practicum," working on a public health informatics project at an organization that will be identified in collaboration with Johns Hopkins faculty.
This training program is also available to the current degree candidates at the Bloomberg School of Public Health who meet the requirements below.
Credits earned in the certificate program may be applied towards other Johns Hopkins degree programs—such as the MPH or informatics MS—if a student is enrolled or accepted into such programs.
On a competitive basis, $10,000 tuition subsidies are available to qualified individuals via a grant from the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC), US Department of Health and Human Services.
With the $10,000 subsidy, the total amount of tuition and fees that the student or employer will be required to pay to complete the certificate requirements is approximately $8,800.
Only U.S. citizens or permanent residents not currently employed by the federal government are eligible for the ONC tuition subsidy. Those awarded the subsidy must complete all certificate requirements within 12 months.
Priority for a tuition subsidy will be given to professionals currently employed in the public health field within the U.S. or those intending to enter the domestic public health field. The tuition subsidy is not intended for those already working on a full—time basis in the public health informatics field. All tuition subsidy awards are subject to ONC approval.
The above criteria do not apply to individuals who use other (non-ONC) sources to pay their full tuition (approximately $18,800).
Eligibility requirements for the certificate (with or without the subsidy) include a graduate degree in public health (or current enrollment in such a program) or a bachelor's degree and a minimum of 3 years of direct public health experience.
We are especially interested in applicants currently working in the public health field who wish to re-tool to specialize in public health informatics.
The next cycle of training for the 2011—12 academic year will begin in late August of 2011. The preferred application deadline has been extended to April 15, 2011. Applications may be accepted until May 15, 2011, on a space available basis.


text:
// TypeScript Version: 2.0

/// <reference types="@stdlib/types"/>

import * as random from '@stdlib/types/random';

/**
* Interface defining `factory` options.
*/
interface Options {
	/**
	* Pseudorandom number generator seed.
	*/
	seed?: random.PRNGSeedMINSTD;

	/**
	* Pseudorandom number generator state.
	*/
	state?: random.PRNGStateMINSTD;

	/**
	* Specifies whether to copy a provided pseudorandom number generator state.
	*/
	copy?: boolean;
}

/**
* Interface for PRNG properties and methods.
*/
interface PRNG {
	/**
	* Generator name.
	*/
	readonly NAME: string;

	/**
	* Minimum possible value.
	*/
	readonly MIN: number;

	/**
	* Maximum possible value.
	*/
	readonly MAX: number;

	/**
	* PRNG seed.
	*/
	readonly seed: random.PRNGSeedMINSTD;

	/**
	* PRNG seed length.
	*/
	readonly seedLength: number;

	/**
	* PRNG state.
	*/
	state: random.PRNGStateMINSTD;

	/**
	* PRNG state length.
	*/
	readonly stateLength: number;

	/**
	* PRNG state size (in bytes).
	*/
	readonly byteLength: number;

	/**
	* Serializes the pseudorandom number generator as a JSON object.
	*
	* @returns JSON representation
	*/
	toJSON(): string;
}

/**
* Interface for generating pseudorandom integers on the interval `[1, 2147483646]`.
*/
interface NullaryFunction extends PRNG {
	/**
	* Returns a pseudorandom integer on the interval `[1, 2147483646]`.
	*
	* @returns pseudorandom number
	*/
	(): number;
}

/**
* Interface for generating pseudorandom integers on the interval `[1, 2147483646]`.
*/
interface Random extends PRNG {
	/**
	* Returns a pseudorandom integer on the interval `[1, 2147483646]`.
	*
	* ## Notes
	*
	* -   This pseudorandom number generator (PRNG) is a linear congruential pseudorandom number generator (LCG) whose output is shuffled using the Bays- Durham algorithm. The shuffle step considerably strengthens the "randomness quality" of a simple LCG's output.
	* -   The generator has a period of approximately `2.1e9`.
	* -   An LCG is fast and uses little memory. On the other hand, because the generator is a simple LCG, the generator has recognized shortcomings. By today's PRNG standards, the generator's period is relatively short. In general, this generator is unsuitable for Monte Carlo simulations and cryptographic applications.
	*
	* @returns pseudorandom number
	*
	* @example
	* var v = minstd();
	* // returns <number>
	*/
	(): number;

	/**
	* Returns a pseudorandom number on the interval `[0,1)`.
	*
	* @returns pseudorandom number
	*
	* @example
	* var r = minstd.normalized();
	* // returns <number>
	*/
	normalized(): number;

	/**
	* Returns a linear congruential pseudorandom number generator (LCG) whose output is shuffled.
	*
	* @param options - function options
	* @param options.seed - pseudorandom number generator seed
	* @param options.state - pseudorandom number generator state
	* @param options.copy - boolean indicating whether to copy a provided pseudorandom number generator state (default: true)
	* @throws must provide valid options
	* @returns pseudorandom number generator
	*
	* @example
	* var rand = minstd.factory();
	* var v = rand();
	* // returns <number>
	*
	* @example
	* var rand = minstd.factory({
	*     'seed': 12345
	* });
	* var v = rand();
	* // returns <number>
	*/
	factory( options?: Options ): NullaryFunction;
}

/**
* Returns a pseudorandom integer on the interval `[1, 2147483646]`.
*
* ## Notes
*
* -   This pseudorandom number generator (PRNG) is a linear congruential pseudorandom number generator (LCG) whose output is shuffled using the Bays- Durham algorithm. The shuffle step considerably strengthens the "randomness quality" of a simple LCG's output.
* -   The generator has a period of approximately `2.1e9`.
* -   An LCG is fast and uses little memory. On the other hand, because the generator is a simple LCG, the generator has recognized shortcomings. By today's PRNG standards, the generator's period is relatively short. In general, this generator is unsuitable for Monte Carlo simulations and cryptographic applications.
*
* @returns pseudorandom number
*
* @example
* var v = minstd();
* // returns <number>
*
* @example
* var v = minstd.normalized();
* // returns <number>
*
* @example
* var rand = minstd.factory({
*     'seed': 12345
* });
* var v = rand();
* // returns <number>
*/
declare var minstd: Random;

// EXPORTS //

export = minstd;

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
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text:
Q: scikit learn svm always gives constant line fit I am unable to understand why I am getting same constant line fit even after varying parameters significantly
My code -
data_set = np.reshape([d[len(d)-2] for d in data_vector], (len(data_vector), 1));

plt.scatter(data_set, Y[:,0], c='k', label='data');
#train the regression model

C_Array = [1, 1e2, 1e3, 1e-2, 1e-3, 1e4, 1e-4];
colors = ['b', 'g', 'r', 'c', 'm', 'y', 'k'];
ind = 0;
for c in C_Array:
    svr_rbf = SVR(kernel="rbf", C=c, gamma=0.001);
    plt.hold('on');
    y1_predictor = svr_rbf.fit(data_set, Y[:, 0]);
    y2_predictor = svr_rbf.fit(data_set, Y[:, 1]);

    sys.stdout.write(".");
    my_prediction = y1_predictor.predict(data_set)
    plt.plot(data_set, my_prediction, c=colors[ind], label='RBF model')
    ind = ind + 1;
plt.show();

Output -

A: Scale your data before fitting SVR (currently you have values 200-1000 on X axis and -400 - 400 on Y axis), otherwise you might need really huge values of gamma/C in order to get any reasonable results. And this is exactly what is happening, for such huge values 1e4 is way to small to make SVR learn anything. Furthermore, for such scale it is easily to under-/overflow floats. You are working with RBF kernel which is of form exp(-g|x-y|^2), thus if |x-y| is ~400 (which is a case in your data), then you get exp(-0.001 * 160000) which numerically is zero.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


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I was at the dying Border's in downtown Silver Spring the other day, browsing through mostly-bare shelves of fiction, travel guides and cookbooks and trying to spot bargains along with just about everyone else in the world, or so it seemed.
Earlier this year Border's filed for bankruptcy followed inevitably by the closing of several stores. As the outlets near where I work and near where I live have gone belly-up one after the other, each heaving out a giant gasp of a sale before dying, I've felt lucky, sad and old-fashioned by turns. I do read books online and on my smartphone, and I won't deny the convenience. And I'm one of the most environmentally friendly people I know. But I also enjoy bookstores and browsing through them for hours. I love the heft and volume of a paper-and-ink hardcover in my hands. I love the promise in that new-book smell. And I love feeling the crisp, never-turned-before pages crackle under my fingers as I flip them to see if this one is worth reading, after all.
But as nostalgic as I feel about bookstores and books, a wicked part of me can't help but see divine justice in the death of these big-box brick-and-mortar chains: after all, it wasn't that long ago that they were pushing underground all those mom-and-pop bookstores-around-the-corner. Maybe what goes around does come around.
At that last grab-and-shop session at Borders, I bought a few cookbooks that I had been wanting to buy for some time now. Two of these I really love: Niloufer Ichaporia King's My Bombay Kitchen, a compendium of recipes traditional to India's culinarily gifted Parsi community; and Sanjeev Kapoor's How to Cook Indian.
Neither of the books is entirely vegan or even vegetarian, but both have lots of vegan and vegetarian recipes and what's not vegan can easily be veganized.
Today's recipe for Sweet and Sour Potatoes, cooked in a Gujarati style, is adapted heavily from Sanjeev Kapoor's book. I found a bag of these really cute, really tiny white potatoes while grocery-shopping this past weekend, and I'd been saving them for a really special recipe. This one looked perfect. The traditional recipe uses regular-sized potatoes and you can certainly substitute with any waxy white potato if you don't have the baby ones.
I haven't shared a spud recipe here on Holy Cow! for a while, but as many of you already know, I do not shy away from this mighty vegetable. Potatoes (when they are not deep-fried, smothered with sour cream, or mashed up with butter) are intrinsically healthy and loaded with nutrients. Don't eat them every day if you're watching the waistline because they are a starchy vegetable. But ever so often– especially when they are cooked healthfully– potatoes can be happy members of a well-balanced diet. Always try and leave their jackets on, because most of the nutrients in potatoes sit right under their skin. Besides, those skins are delicious, so why throw them away?
This recipe, which Kapoor describes as a quick-to-make favorite in Gujarati kitchens, is utterly simple, extremely healthy and almost fat-free. I cut down Kapoor's suggestion for oil (5 tbsp!) to just a light spray to coat the bottom of my pan. The sauce, with tamarind, jaggery, and chili, delivers a wallop of sour, sweet, and spicy flavors that is sure to please just about anyone's tastebuds. Who needs the oil?
Enjoy the recipe all, and the weekend ahead!
1- inch diameter ball of tamarind , soaked in 1 cup of water for about 15-30 minutes. Crush the tamarind pulp with your fingers before straining. Discard the solids and set the pulp aside.
Powder the red chillies, coriander and cumin seeds and set aside.
Spray oil in a pan and add the asafetida and the mustard seeds. When the seeds sputter, add the powdered spices and stir well, for about 30 seconds.
Add the tamarind pulp, jaggery, and 2 cups of water.
When the sauce comes to a boil, add the potatoes. Return the mixture to a boil, slap on a lid, and let the sauce simmer for another 10 minutes or until the potatoes are cooked through.
I like to take a potato masher and mash some of the potatoes at the end, leaving the rest whole. This gives the sauce some body.
Garnish with fresh coriander leaves, if desired.
Serve hot with rice and dal or some rotis.
This seems absolutely amazing! Wow!
Oh, and I love your blog! A new instant favorite!
I love Guju food. the combination of sweet- sour and the hit of heat..mmm! delicious!
A different recipe and curry looks very delicious …..
nice book grab!.. been a while sinxe i made any sweet and sour potato! thanks for putting up this fun recipe!
very tempting and delicious…loved it..
I don't cook spuds much but I can think of a number of ways to use this yummy, tangy, sweet sauce.
So tempting and mouthwatering baby potatoes..
Curry, thanks! I love World Vegetarian but hadn't seen this dish in there– I'd love to try her version.
Manasi, Gujju food is one of my favorites too. I can't think of a dish I don't like.
Shirley, welcome, and thanks for the feedback on the pancakes. I am glad you are finding the blog useful– do feel free to ask if you have recipe requests or questions!


text:
France reacts to verdict of Chiygoz, 'elections' in occupied Crimea
French Foreign Ministry called on the Russian Federation to release all the people who were detained in violation of international law
The situation with human rights in the annexed by Russia Crimea continues to worsen, especially with regard to the Crimean Tatars. This was stated at the briefing by the speaker of French Foreign Ministry, the French Embassy in Ukraine reports.
"The verdict ruled out on September 11 regarding Akhtem Chiygoz, deputy head of Mejlis, - traditional representative body of the Crimean Tatars, - is a sad illustration of this. France and its European partners consider the ban by the Russian authorities of Mejlis activity from April 2016 a violation of the rights of the Crimean Tatars, so we call to free all persons detained in violation of international law, "the statement said.
Also, French Foreign Ministry said that the country does not recognize the "elections" that took place in the Crimea on September 10, and remains committed to the restoration of Ukraine's territorial integrity and sovereignty.
Related: Canada urges Russia to release Chiygoz
As it was reported earlier the Supreme Court of the annexed Crimea controlled by the Kremlin sentenced on Monday the deputy head of Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people, Akhtem Chiygoz to 8 years of imprisonment.
Ukraine will do everything to release Chiygoz, according to Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko. Crimean 'court' to announce a verdict in the case of Crimean Tatar official on August 10.
Chiygoz has been held in the pre-trial detention facility for over 18 months now. He is charged with 'organization and participation in the mass disturbances near the Crimean Parliament' on February 26, 2014.
Related: Chiygoz's defense team appeals against court decision in his case
Russia Crimea Chiygoz France Ahtem Chiygoz Chyigoz
Russia managed to establish control over occupied Crimea before illegal annexation, - ECtHR 14 January 2021, 13:36
Russia sentences three Crimean Tatars to 13-18 years in prison, Ukraine's MFA reacts 12 January 2021, 13:23


text:
'My God, it's an earthquake, it's not stopping'
Feb. 27, 2010, 1:21 PM UTC / Source: NBC, msnbc.com and news services
Survivors of the massive earthquake in Chile told of their ordeal on Saturday.
Eben Harrell, a London-based Time magazine journalist who was visiting Santiago, told NBC's TODAY that he was in his hotel when the building started shaking and he realized, "Oh my God, it's an earthquake... it's not stopping."
The hotel was evacuated and he saw a number of cracks in the building.
People were allowed to return and were "huddled in the lobby" when an aftershock struck, sending them back into the street.
Harrell added there was "a lot of broken glass" on the street. Outside, he had met a man who said he had had a narrow escape.
"He was in a cab on his way back to his hotel when a church collapsed and the debris shattered the (hood) of his cab and cut him on the face," Harrell told TODAY.
He described the experience as "very frightening."
Swaying on 23rd floor
Sylvia Dostal of Keizer, Ore., was staying on the 23rd floor of the Marriott Hotel on President Kennedy Avenue in Santiago.
"I had been in earthquakes before, including the San Francisco Loma Prieta quake, but this was different. The building was swaying AND moving up and down!" she wrote to msnbc.com.
"We made our way to the emergency stairs, since elevators where out of the question. For a few seconds, everything went black, as power failed us. Thank God the emergency generators were on, and we continued our journey down 23 floors."
She said people gathered outside the building, disoriented, as aftershocks hit.
"No one wanted to go back to their rooms. Somehow, we felt that if we were together, it was not so bad."
Juan Ureta, a freelancer who works for NBC in Santiago, said the city was "chaotic at the moment, although it is still functioning."
"Some of the roads coming into the city have been cut off. Some of the by-passes have come down," he said. "Old buildings have come down, and main avenues have been closed because of the downed buildings."
Loreto Azocar of Santiago said she had gotten back to her fifth-floor apartment early in the morning just before the quake struck. She and a neighbor made their way downstairs to find a chaotic scene.
"Everybody was shocked, with nothing but their pajamas," she wrote to msnbc.com. "My legs and my body were shaking, phone lines collapsing, colors in the sky because power towers were exploding, people trying to contact their relatives ... it was a shocking background."
She said she was able contact her boyfriend and family to find that they had survived.
A factory security guard in Santiago told of disaster on a highway after a bridge fell.
"I saw how the cars fell off and I didn't know what to do. I was alone here," Mario Riveros told La Segunda newspaper. "I felt like crying."
N.L. Hutchin, from Chevy Chase, Md., told msnbc.com there had been "severe shaking and several older buildings were destroyed" in the Brasil neighborhood of Santiago.
"Dust covers the city, but most people were calm. We spent several hours in the Plaza Brasil, went back into the apartment building on the 9th floor but ran out again with the 6.9 aftershock hit."
'It's like being on a boat'
Hutchin said the Happy Hotel Hostel sustained major damage.
"One whole side of the building fell away and we evacuated out the back entrance," Hutchin said. "The people have been wonderful here ... helping each other in any way.
"It is a bit difficult thinking about trying to sleep again. Another aftershock .... it is like being on a boat now, and it changes the view one has about permanency, and solidity."
Marco Vidal, a program director for Grand Circle Travel traveling with a group of 34 Americans, was on the 19th floor of the Crown Plaza Santiago hotel when the quake struck.
"All the things start to fall. The lamps, everything, was going on the floor. And it was moving like from south to north, oscillated. I felt terrified," he said.
Jen Ross, a journalist based in Santiago, told TODAY that she felt "three minutes of shaking."
"All the buildings here are made with concrete and are built ... to withstand earthquakes," she said.
"There is some structural damage, but our building is fine. Other buildings in Santiago have had more damage, some have completely collapsed.
"That's not usual, particularly in a city that's built for strong earthquakes."
Cynthia Iocono, from Linwood, Pa., said she first thought the quake was a train.
"But then I thought, 'oh, there's no train here'. And then the lamps flew off the dresser and my TV flew off onto the floor and crashed," she said.
"It was scary, but there really wasn't any panic. Everybody kind of stayed orderly and looked after one another."
One man in Santiago, writing on the BBC's Web site, said there buildings there were "literally dancing in the air."
"I'm worried about the people who lives near Concepción, because their communications are broken down, so no one knows about the damage of a earthquake of that magnitude," he said.
As fears of a destructive tsunami spread across the Pacific, people in Hawaii started taking precautions.
"Sirens woke us up at 6 as the authorities began to clear the low-lying areas," Lynn Marko wrote to msnbc.com from Makaha Valley Plantation on Oahu, where she was staying. "Grocery stores were open very early so we got supplies.
Marko said the plantation is about a mile from the flood zone on the Waianae Coast.
"It seems as if most people have prepared early as they will close the roads at 10 a.m., Marko said. "Now all we can do is wait."


The Peneda Geres national park offers spectacular landscapes to explore with picture-perfect waterfalls and lakes, tranquil oak woods, high granite mountains and quaint, stone villages. This is one of Europe's land great wildernesses and it provides a haven for a wide variety of flora and fauna including wild horses and the rare Iberian wolf.
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text:
Ryu Won (born Joo Won on November 8, 1997) is a South Korean actress. She is best known for her role in the MBC's series Missing 9.

Early life
Ryu Won was born Joo Won in Haeundae, Busan. Ryu changed her name to Ryu Won, based on her mother's surname. She changed her name because there is another actor with the same name, Joo Won. Ryu lived in Busan till she was in third grade of elementary school, then immigrated with her family to the United States.

The actress stated that she was originally interested in fashion design or art instead of acting. After entering a beauty contest in Los Angeles when she was 17 years old, she got an offer from JYP Entertainment to be a trainee there. The actress then moved to South Korea and started studying acting after graduating from high school at the age of 18.

Career

2015–present: Debut
Ryu Won made her debut in the short film Alice: Crack of Season in 2015. In December 2015, Ryu was cast to play in the KBS2's drama Uncontrollably Fond as a wealthy daughter of Yoo Oh-Sung's character, and is a big fan of Kim Woo-Bin's character. She made her small screen debut in July 2016.

In January, 2017 Ryu played as a Hallyu actress in the MBC's disaster drama Missing 9. Ryu then starred as the female lead in EXO's Baekhyun music video of his single "Take You Home" which was released on April 14, 2017.

In November 2019 Ryu played the role of Mickey on the SBS's drama Vagabond as Edward Park's assistant.

Filmography

Films

Television series

Web series

Music videos

Endorsements

Awards and nominations

References

External links
 Ryu Won at JYP Entertainment

 Ryu Won on Daum

Living people
South Korean emigrants to the United States
JYP Entertainment artists
South Korean film actresses
South Korean television actresses
1997 births

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
Actively collecting GOOD news from around the world
TopicsGood News Topics
Random Good News
LocationsGood News by Location
NewscastsVideo Newscasts
Dog pulls owner off railroad tracks
By: Jon
In: Random Good News
Tagged: dog, rescue
Boston (WCVB/CNN) – A Massachusetts pit bull saved her owner from an oncoming freight train, risking life and limb, to pull her off the tracks.
The woman survived, but the dog is severely injured.
David Lanteigne has adored this pit bull since recuing Lilly from a shelter to be a companion for his mom who suffers from alcoholism.
"We saved her life and she saved my mom's life," he said.
It was midnight last Wednesday when his mom fell unconscious on train tracks in Shirley.
"Lilly was either pushing or pulling my mother off the tracks," said Lanteigne. "There wasn't enough time and that just prior to the train making impact Lilly had intentionally gotten between the train and my mother and had taken the hit."
The entire hit. Eight-year-old Lilly suffered severe trauma. David's mother was uninjured.
[Reporter]: "Will this dog be able to walk again?"
"Yes she should be able to walk quite well. They accommodate quite well to having a front limb amputation," said the veterinarian.
Lanteigne, a Boston police officer, will be with her every step of the way.
"I'm supposed to be the strong one. I'm supposed to be here for her, but she's been so great, so tough through all this. It almost seems like she's the one comforting me and being there for me and making me feel better," he said.
WCVB/WMUR/CNN
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oQbQ0seTLt0
Tuthill, Kelley. "Dog pulls owner off railroad tracks" KSDK. 8 May 2012. Web.
View original article at KSDK.com:
http://www.ksdk.com/news/article/319363/28/Dog-pulls-owner-off-railroad-tracks
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Good World News © 2020


Cool gadgets to help you spy the smart way: undercover. You see them. They don't see you. This handy sleuthing kit brings you a manual packed with awesome spying tips. Plus a fake moustache (loads of fun!) and a motion detector which tips you off when an enemy is approaching. Spy on your suspects. Try out cool disguises. Make sure your cover's never blown.


text:
The neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) predicts adrenocortical carcinoma and is correlated with the prognosis
Taku Mochizuki1,
Takashi Kawahara ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-7049-33791,2,
Daiji Takamoto1,
Kazuhide Makiyama2,
Yusuke Hattori1,
Jun-ichi Teranishi1,
Yasuhide Miyoshi1,
Yasushi Yumura1,
Masahiro Yao2 &
Hiroji Uemura1
The neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) is reported as a biomarker for some solid malignant diseases. Thus far, however, no reports of the relationship between the NLR and adrenal tumors have been published. We analyzed the utility of the preoperative NLR as a biomarker for predicting the prognosis or diagnosis of malignant disease.
A total of 59 patients with adrenal tumors (13 cases of malignant disease and 46 with benign disease) were analyzed in this study from February 2004 to June 2015 at our institute. The NLR was obtained just before adrenalectomy. The diagnosis of adrenal tumor was confirmed by a pathological examination of surgical specimens.
The NLR in malignant adrenal tumor specimens was significantly higher than in non-malignant specimens (p = 0.028). Adrenocortical carcinoma (ACC) showed the highest NLR among all adrenal tumors. In ACC, the higher NLR group (NLR ≥ 5) showed a significantly poorer overall survival than the lower NLR group (NLR < 5) (p = 0.032).
In adrenal tumors, a higher NLR indicates a higher incidence of malignancy. The NLR might be a new biomarker for predicting the prognosis of adrenal tumor patients.
Adrenocortical carcinoma (ACC) is a very rare disease with an incidence of 0.5 to 2.0 patients/100,000,000 patients/year and has one of the poorest prognoses among all solid malignancies [1, 2]. A large number of patients are diagnosed at an advanced stage. About 70% of ACCs are reported to be diagnosed as extra-adrenal lesions [3]. However, despite this poor prognosis, some patients have achieved a long disease-free survival [4]. There were no confirmed risk to predict a poorer prognosis. Several candidate prognostic factors of ACC have been reported, including the tumor size, rate of Ki-67 positivity, completeness of resection of the surgical margin, and the clinical stage [5].
A number of studies have revealed that the neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) is an independent prognostic factor in various solid malignancies, including prostatic carcinoma and renal cell carcinoma [6, 7]. The NLR has also been suggested to be not only a predictor of the systemic inflammatory response in critical care patients but also a prognostic factor for certain solid malignancies [8,9,10]. The NLR can be easily calculated from routine complete blood counts (CBCs) in peripheral blood.
The aims of this study were to compare the NLR in ACC patients with those in patients with other non-malignant adrenal tumors and to evaluate the NLR as a prognostic marker in ACC patients.
A total of 59 consecutive cases, including 33 adrenocortical adenoma, 13 pheochromocytoma, 9 adrenocortical cancer, and 4 malignant lymphoma, at our institute from February 2004 to June 2015 were analyzed in this study.
Clinical and laboratory assessments
The NLR was calculated using the neutrophil and lymphocyte counts obtained via CBCs just before adrenalectomy as part of the routine preoperative workup of patients. We set the cut-off point of 5.0 as the threshold defining an elevated NLR, in accordance with a previous report [11]. None of the patients demonstrated systemic inflammation or blood disease at the time of the blood examinations.
The patients' characteristics were analyzed using the Mann-Whitney U and chi-squared tests. The cut-off NLR was determined based on the results of a receiver operative curve (ROC) analysis and a multivariate analysis was performed to investigate the factors associated with malignancy in adrenal tumors. Spearman's correlation coefficients were calculated to investigate the correlation between the NLR and tumor size. The Kaplan-Meier product limit estimator was used to estimate the overall survival. A log-rank test was performed for comparison. The statistical analyses were performed using the Graph Pad Prism software program (Graph Pad Software, La Jolla, CA, USA). P values of <0.05 were considered to indicate statistical significance.
We examined a total of 59 cases of adrenal tumor, including 33 cases of adrenal carcinoid (mean size, 22 mm; median (mean ± standard deviation) NLR, 2.84 (3.41 ± 1.89)), 13 cases of pheochromocytoma (mean size, 40 mm; NLR, 2.03 (2.47 ± 1.54)), nine cases of ACC (mean size, 100 mm; NLR, 6.02 (5.04 ± 3.09)), and four cases of malignant lymphoma (mean size, 91 mm; NLR, 3.30 (3.82 ± 2.18)) [Table 1]. Regarding the ACC cases, 8 (88.9%) were female and one (11.1%) was male. One of the four patients showed endocrine activity and capsule invasion. The median age was 64 years old, and the median follow-up period was 17 months. The ACC patients' backgrounds, including the tumor volume and clinical stage, are shown in Table 2.
Table 1 Each adrenal tumor's characteristics
Table 2 Adrenocortical carcinoma patients' characteristics
NLR values and patient outcomes
Malignant adrenal tumors showed a significantly higher NLR (mean ± standard deviation, standard error of the mean: 4.76 ± 2.93, 0.81) than non-malignant adrenal tumors (3.01 ± 1.78, 0.27; p = 0.016). The NLR in ACC showed the highest NLR [Figs. 1 and 2]. The cut-off NLR for predicting malignant disease was 3.15 (area under ROC: 0.668) [Fig.3]. A multivariate analysis showed that the NLR was an independent predictor (GR 8.990, p: 0.037) (Table 3). The tumor size was weakly correlated with the NLR (r2: 0.08, p: 0.034). In ACC subjects, the higher NLR group (≥ 5) showed a significantly poorer overall survival than the lower NLR group (< 5) with a median survival of 174 vs. 917 days (p = 0.032) [Fig. 4].
Comparison NLR of malignant adrenal tumor to NLR of non-malignant adrenal tumor
Comparison NLR of adrenocortical carcinoma, pheochromocytoma, adrenal malignant lymphoma and adrenal adenoma
Receiver operator characteristics curve to detect cut off point of NLR to detect malignant disease or not (area under ROC: 0.668)
Table 3 The results of the multivariate analysis
Overall survival of adrenocortical carcinoma according to the NLR
Recently, NLR had been shown to be an independent prognostic risk factor for certain solid malignancies [6,7,8,9,10]. Only one study comparing the NLR and the prognosis of ACC has been reported—by Bagante et al. [11]. They found that an NLR > 5.0 was associated with a poorer disease-specific survival and progression-free survival in ACC. No other reports have investigated the effectiveness of NLR in detecting the malignancy of an adrenal tumor. In the present study, we found that a higher NLR in adrenal tumors was associated with a higher incidence of malignancy. These findings might contribute to the prediction of malignant disease for differentiating incidentaloma.
Among incidental adrenal tumors, ACC is difficult to diagnose using preoperative imaging findings. A tumor size >4 cm is a well-known imaging finding for differentiating malignant tumors, with a sensitivity of 81% [5]. A previous report showed that 16% of adrenal tumors with diameters of <5 cm were ACCs [12].
Due to the marked increase in the rate of imaging analyses being performed at medical check-ups, small ACC would be increased. So, differentiated diagnosis except tumor size would be needed.
Irregular margins are usually seen in ACC, but some benign adrenal tumors also showed irregular margins [13]. Computed tomography (CT) shows a finding of a low Hounsfield unit value (< 10) with 98% specificity. Chemical-shift imaging with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has also been reported to be useful for detecting adrenal adenomas [14]. However, the specific imaging findings indicative of ACC remain unclear. The NLR can be easily calculated during a daily clinical examination. The combination of imaging findings on CT and/or MRI and the NLR may support the preoperative diagnosis of adrenal tumor.
Previous reports have shown that an NLR > 5.0 indicates a poor prognosis in pancreas cancer and liver metastatic rectal cancer [15, 16]. Our previous study showed that an NLR > 2.4 was associated with a high risk of prostate cancer in patients with a PSA of 4–10 ng/mL [17]. However, due to the small number of patients, that study could not detect an adequate NLR cut-off point. In the present study, we found that an NLR cut-off point of 5.0 was adequate for predicting the prognosis of ACC. The cut-off NLR of 5.0 was the same as a previous report and was the median value in this study. The cut-off NLR of 5.0 was relatively high in comparison to other studies, which indicated the aggressive nature of ACC in comparison to other types of cancer. Further studies are needed to validate the clinical utility of this parameter.
In this study, the multivariate analysis revealed that the tumor size and NLR were found to be independent predictors of malignant disease. The combination of the NLR and imaging findings might support the preoperative diagnosis and detection of malignant adrenal tumors, including ACC and malignant lymphoma, as well as benign adrenal tumors, helping in the planning of an adequate surgical approach.
This study showed that an NLR of 5.0 was a candidate cut-off point for predicting the prognosis in ACC. In localized ACC, the surgical margin was confirmed to be the most important prognostic factor. The 5-year overall survival in completely surgically resected patients ranges from 40 to 50%, while the median overall survival in unresectable case is <1 year [6]. In cases preoperatively predicted to have a poor outcome, a preoperative surgical plan with extended resection might be suggested in order to obtain a negative surgical margin.
This study was limited by its small sample size and retrospective nature, both due to the rarity of ACC. Further study is needed to confirm the usefulness of NLR in ACC to confirm the sensitivity and specificity.
Malignant adrenal tumors showed a higher NLR than non-malignant ones. In addition, the ACC patients with a higher NLR showed a significantly poorer survival than those with lower values.
Wajchenberg BL, Albergaria Pereira MA, Medonca BB, Latronico AC, Campos Carneiro P, Alves VA, et al. Adrenocortical carcinoma: clinical and laboratory observations. Cancer. 2000;88(4):711–36.
Kebebew E, Reiff E, Duh QY, Clark OH, McMillan A. Extent of disease at presentation and outcome for adrenocortical carcinoma: have we made progress? World J Surg. 2006;30(5):872–8.
Phan AT. Adrenal cortical carcinoma--review of current knowledge and treatment practices. Hematol Oncol Clin North Am. 2007;21(3):489–507. viii-ix
Tran TB, Postlewait LM, Maithel SK, Prescott JD, Wang TS, Glenn J, et al. Actual 10-year survivors following resection of adrenocortical carcinoma. J Surg Oncol. 2016;114(8):971–6.
Lebastchi AH, Kunstman JW, Carling T. Adrenocortical carcinoma: current therapeutic state-of-the-art. J Oncol. 2012;2012:234726.
Ohno Y, Nakashima J, Ohori M, Hatano T, Tachibana M. Pretreatment neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio as an independent predictor of recurrence in patients with nonmetastatic renal cell carcinoma. J Urol. 2010;184(3):873–8.
Kawahara T, Yokomizo Y, Ito Y, Ito H, Ishiguro H, Teranishi J, et al. Pretreatment neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio predicts the prognosis in patients with metastatic prostate cancer. BMC Cancer. 2016;16:111.
Walsh SR, Cook EJ, Goulder F, Justin TA, Keeling NJ. Neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio as a prognostic factor in colorectal cancer. J Surg Oncol. 2005;91(3):181–4.
Azab B, Bhatt VR, Phookan J, Murukutla S, Kohn N, Terjanian T, et al. Usefulness of the neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio in predicting short- and long-term mortality in breast cancer patients. Ann Surg Oncol. 2012;19(1):217–24.
Yamanaka T, Matsumoto S, Teramukai S, Ishiwata R, Nagai Y, Fukushima M. The baseline ratio of neutrophils to lymphocytes is associated with patient prognosis in advanced gastric cancer. Oncology. 2007;73(3–4):215–20.
Bagante F, Tran TB, Postlewait LM, Maithel SK, Wang TS, Evans DB, et al. Neutrophil-lymphocyte and platelet-lymphocyte ratio as predictors of disease specific survival after resection of adrenocortical carcinoma. J Surg Oncol. 2015;112(2):164–72.
Fishman EK, Deutch BM, Hartman DS, Goldman SM, Zerhouni EA, Siegelman SS. Primary adrenocortical carcinoma: CT evaluation with clinical correlation. AJR Am J Roentgenol. 1987;148(3):531–5.
Benitah N, Yeh BM, Qayyum A, Williams G, Breiman RS, Coakley FV. Minor morphologic abnormalities of adrenal glands at CT: prognostic importance in patients with lung cancer. Radiology. 2005;235(2):517–22.
Blake MA, Cronin CG, Boland GW. Adrenal imaging. AJR Am J Roentgenol. 2010;194(6):1450–60.
Kou T, Kanai M, Yamamoto M, Xue P, Mori Y, Kudo Y, et al. Prognostic model for survival based on readily available pretreatment factors in patients with advanced pancreatic cancer receiving palliative chemotherapy. Int J Clin Oncol. 2016;21(1):118–25.
McDonald AC, Vira MA, Vidal AC, Gan W, Freedland SJ, Taioli E. Association between systemic inflammatory markers and serum prostate-specific antigen in men without prostatic disease - the 2001-2008 National Health and nutrition examination survey. Prostate. 2014;74(5):561–7.
Kawahara T, Fukui S, Sakamaki K, Ito Y, Ito H, Kobayashi N, et al. Neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio predicts prostatic carcinoma in men undergoing needle biopsy. Oncotarget. 2015;6(31):32169–76.
PubMed PubMed Central Google Scholar
Grants from KAKENHI grants (16 K20152) from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology of Japan.
Due to ethical restrictions, the raw data that was used in this study is available upon request from the corresponding author.
Departments of Urology and Renal Transplantation, Yokohama City University Medical Center, 4-57 Urafune-cho, Minami-ku, Yokohama, Kanagawa, 2320024, Japan
Taku Mochizuki, Takashi Kawahara, Daiji Takamoto, Yusuke Hattori, Jun-ichi Teranishi, Yasuhide Miyoshi, Yasushi Yumura & Hiroji Uemura
Department of Urology, Yokohama City University, Graduate School of Medicine, Yokohama, Japan
Takashi Kawahara, Kazuhide Makiyama & Masahiro Yao
Taku Mochizuki
Takashi Kawahara
Daiji Takamoto
Kazuhide Makiyama
Yusuke Hattori
Jun-ichi Teranishi
Yasuhide Miyoshi
Yasushi Yumura
Masahiro Yao
Hiroji Uemura
Conceived and designed the experiments: TM, TK. Analyzed data: TM, TK. Performed the experiments: TM, TK, DT, KM, YH, JT, YY, YM, MY, HU. Wrote the paper: TM, TK. All authors have read and approved of the final manuscript.
Correspondence to Takashi Kawahara.
This study was approved by the ethics committee of Yokohama City University Medical Center. The institutional review board of Yokohama City University Medical Center approved this study and written informed consent had obtained at the time of first hospital visit.
Written informed consent was obtained from the patients. A copy of the written consent forms are available for review from the Editor-in-Chief of this journal.
Mochizuki, T., Kawahara, T., Takamoto, D. et al. The neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) predicts adrenocortical carcinoma and is correlated with the prognosis. BMC Urol 17, 49 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12894-017-0240-4
Neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio
Adrenal tumor
Adrenocortical carcinoma


The fate of every business hangs upon the quality of the employees hired. The fate of the world rests upon the quality of Jesus' disciples engaged in obeying the Great Commission. Therefore, selection is an extremely important concept in the formation of teams and in accomplishing God's will! I'd like to share with you seven principles that my Dad, Ron York, utilizes as a result of over fifty years of ministry experience. I believe you will find them to be very encouraging and helpful.
My two sons and I enjoy watching Star Trek Voyager. We regularly follow the space adventures and mini-plots that revolve around the homesick Voyager crew desperately trying to reach the Alpha Quadrant. As I sat down to view a new episode I felt a direct nudging by the Holy Spirit to go and pray.
From my room on the third floor we could see Mt. Fuji, a picturesque snow-capped volcano. Fuji, the glory of Japan, is the tallest and most celebrated mountain on a densely populated island. It is the celebrity of postcards. A treasured possession is a walking stick stamped with the mark of stations climbers achieve as they hike to the top. It's just a huge hill of slippery rock and snow but one would think it a god.


ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan has expressed concerns over alarming rise in Pakistan's foreign debts, saying that the country's debt burden has increased from Rs6000 billion to Rs30,000 billion during the last ten years.
PM Imran Khan was chairing cabinet meeting here at the PM Office on Thursday. "Pakistan has to obtain more loans to pay back installments of the previous loans," Khan said.
The Prime Minister directed the Finance Ministry to submit a detailed report where the money came through loans was spent during the past 10 years.
Imran Khan said, "the government and the people of Pakistan have the right to know where these huge amounts were spent and were these beneficial for the country."


Leaving and learning: should we raise the school leaving age?
Sarah Womack is a former political and social affairs correspondent of the Daily Telegraph. Here she asks – should pupils stay in school until the age of 19?


by Barden, Christine H./ Kowalchyk, Gayle/ Lancaster, E. L.
Flash Cards reinforce concepts as they are presented in the Music Lesson Book 3. Each card contains a musical symbol or rhythm pattern for the student to identify. Included on the cards are musical terms, keys on the keyboard, notes and rests, rhythm patterns, notes on the staff, steps and skips, intervals on the keyboard, and melodic and harmonic intervals on the staff. The back of the cards contain questions to ask the student about the information on the front of the card. Answers are provided, making the cards easy to use for parents with limited musical backgrounds.


text:
Discomfort allows for productive discourse
Attempting to eliminate discomfort from discussions in an educational environment inhibits many students' ability to have meaningful dialogue, denying them a valuable chance to think critically.
GRAPHIC BY RACHEL VIN
Sammy Davies, Contributing Writer
Brookline High School has entered an interesting phase in its pursuit of social justice that seemingly aims to eliminate intersocial turmoil. What the reaction to these recent videos (in which students and graduates were shown using the N-word), or the particularly vile one, at least, demonstrated was that many of our fellow students still do not feel safe. While it is technically true that language does not cause physical harm to anyone, and thus can not constitute violence, the type of language in that video was clearly meant to incite violence: from the nature of the racial epithet used and its historical context, to the actual context in which the word was used. We were, and still are, rightfully outraged with the video.
In a speech regarding these videos and the outrage that followed, Headmaster Meyer described what is precisely wrong with modern education. He said to the crowd, "I want to create an environment where everybody feels comfortable and safe and that is, at the end of the day, the most important part of my job."
Safety is non negotiable; I think we can all agree on that. The knowledge, or assumption, rather, that we will not face direct bodily harm or emotional abuse for merely existing is what keeps our society together, as without this, we would devolve into fear-driven animals whose actions are motivated by the instinct to survive and defend against others. If we cannot feel safe in school, we cannot commune, we cannot learn, and we cannot better ourselves.
Safety and comfort are often confused, as there is lots of overlap between the two: Safety is the assumption that your body will not be harmed physically by those around you, that you will not be intentionally degraded on an emotional level, and that those around you will not incite violence against you. Comfort, on the other hand, is the assumption that your thoughts and opinions will not come under attack, that your mental exertion will not be needed for any given encounter. It is knowing that your opinions are safe. We should not strive for comfort, not in learning environments at least. We do not grow as people without some discomfort to motivate us to improve ourselves, or if for nobody else, I find this to be the case. It does get quite difficult, though, when the use of the N-word becomes a part of the discussion.
This word has the power to make a people feel uncomfortable for very different reasons. However, when reading texts that contain the N-word in a classroom environment, if a student wants to retain some notion of intellectual continuity in reading the exact written words on the page, they may do so, and it will hopefully spark a broader discussion about the word itself and race in general. A White person saying the word has certain very negative connotations, but that is not argument in and of itself against its contextual usage. Making people feel uncomfortable in learning situations is a totally legitimate philosophy.
I want to feel uncomfortable in a learning environment. I know full well that I am not going to learn much if I do not expose myself to difficult concepts and viewpoints that sometimes may be in stark opposition to my reality. This fact is precisely why I attend the assemblies on Day of Courage, Day of Dialogue, Students Against Human Trafficking and other school wide events devoted to the betterment of our society. These assemblies are designed to make us feel uncomfortable and to expose us to either the error in our society's ways or the bleak realities that other individuals face on a daily basis. As a self- proclaimed compassionate and intellectual community, we should strive to challenge others opinions and to have our opinions challenged, not to be content with the lowest common denominator of thought or understanding.
Sammy Davies
Renata Shen
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Luhr-Jensen fishing accessories were designed to help make the angler more efficient and productive. 80 years of know-how and a serious passion for fishing is behind the design and construction of each one. Whether you're looking to add some flash to a lure, eliminate line twist, or solve a dozen other common angler problems, Luhr-Jensen has an accessory to fit the need.


text:
import tty
import sys
import termios
import select

class KeyDispatcher:
    def __init__(self):
        self.table = {}

    def add(self, key, object, methodName):
        reference = (object, methodName)

        self.table[key] = reference

    def dispatch(self, key):
        if key in self.table:
            reference = self.table[key]
            instance = reference[0]
            method = getattr(instance, reference[1])

            return method()
        else:
            return True

    def can_process_key(self):
        return select.select([sys.stdin], [], [], 0.0)[0]

    def process_key(self):
        key = sys.stdin.read(1)[0]

        return self.dispatch(key)

    def __enter__(self):
        self.orig_settings = termios.tcgetattr(sys.stdin)
        tty.setraw(sys.stdin)

        return self

    def __exit__(self, type, value, traceback):
        termios.tcsetattr(sys.stdin, termios.TCSADRAIN, self.orig_settings)
        self.table = None
        self.orig_settings = None


The George Mason University, Master of Arts in Interdisciplinary Studies Program in the College of Humanities and Social Sciences is looking for a part time Program Assistant. George Mason University has a strong institutional commitment to the achievement of excellence and diversity among its faculty and staff, and strongly encourages candidates to apply who will enrich Mason's academic and culturally inclusive environment.
The Part-Time Program Assistant will be responsible for the creation and implementation of marketing, recruiting and alumni development & relations initiatives for the Master of Arts in Interdisciplinary Studies Program.
Demonstrated experience working in a university environment with CRM, communications, or marketing position; Commitment: Position runs from July 1, 2018 to December 21, 2018, with the possibility to renew in Spring 2019 based on staffing needs and performance. Start date is negotiable. The Program Assistant will work an average of 10 hours per week.


text:
Grande-Vallée is a municipality in the Gaspésie-Îles-de-la-Madeleine region of the province of Quebec in Canada.

Its name (French for "Great Valley") describes its location in a large fertile valley through which the Grand Vallée River flows.

History

In 1691, Governor General Frontenac granted the area to François Hazeur, a prosperous merchant from Quebec City. The seignory, called La Grande-Vallée-des-Monts, stretched from Rivière-Magdeleine Seignory in the west to the Saint-Hélier portage in the east. It was inherited by Hazeur's son-in-law, Michel Sarrazin, a surgeon, biologist, and doctor of the King.

In September 1758, the Wolfe's troop chatched a French at Grande-Vallée. It's te deportation of Gaspésie.

Grande-Vallée was founded in 1842. Alexis Caron, of Saint-Thomas-de-Montmagny, his wife Angélique Frigault and his kids, ...

No colonization took place until the 1830s, when fishermen of Saint-Thomas-de-Montmagny occupied the place during the summer. In 1842, Alexis Caron and his family, also from Saint-Thomas-de-Montmagny, became the first permanent settlers. In 1846, the mission of Saint-François-Xavier-de-Grande-Vallée was founded. In 1872, the post office opened.

In 1927, the village was incorporated as a parish municipality, with Arthur S. Fournier as first mayor, although its status as parish municipality was not officially recognized until 1995. In 2005, Grande-Vallée changed its status from parish municipality to just municipality.

Geography

Communities
The following locations reside within the municipality's boundaries:
Grande-Vallée-des-Monts () – a hamlet located along Rivière de la Grande Vallée
L'Anse-à-Mercier () – a hamlet located on the Saint Lawrence River

Lakes & Rivers

The following waterways pass through or are situated within the municipality's boundaries:
Rivière de la Grande Vallée () – a river that empties into Anse de la Rivière de la Grande Vallée
Lac de la Confrérie () – a small lake located  southeast of Grande-Vallée village
Lac du Rocher () – a lake that lies just south of Route 132

Demographics

Population

Language

See also
 List of municipalities in Quebec

References

External links

Incorporated places in Gaspésie–Îles-de-la-Madeleine
Municipalities in Quebec