text:
package org.elasticsearch.common.util.concurrent;

import org.elasticsearch.ElasticsearchIllegalStateException;

import java.util.concurrent.ConcurrentMap;
import java.util.concurrent.atomic.AtomicInteger;
import java.util.concurrent.locks.Lock;
import java.util.concurrent.locks.ReadWriteLock;
import java.util.concurrent.locks.ReentrantLock;
import java.util.concurrent.locks.ReentrantReadWriteLock;

/**
 * This class manages locks. Locks can be accessed with an identifier and are
 * created the first time they are acquired and removed if no thread hold the
 * lock. The latter is important to assure that the list of locks does not grow
 * infinitely.
 *
 * A Thread can acquire a lock only once.
 *
 * */
public class KeyedLock<T> {

    private final boolean fair;

    /**
     * @param fair Use fair locking, ie threads get the lock in the order they requested it
     */
    public KeyedLock(boolean fair) {
        this.fair = fair;
    }

    public KeyedLock() {
        this(false);
    }

    private final ConcurrentMap<T, KeyLock> map = ConcurrentCollections.newConcurrentMap();

    protected final ThreadLocal<KeyLock> threadLocal = new ThreadLocal<>();

    public void acquire(T key) {
        while (true) {
            if (threadLocal.get() != null) {
                // if we are here, the thread already has the lock
                throw new ElasticsearchIllegalStateException("Lock already acquired in Thread" + Thread.currentThread().getId()
                        + " for key " + key);
            }
            KeyLock perNodeLock = map.get(key);
            if (perNodeLock == null) {
                KeyLock newLock = new KeyLock(fair);
                perNodeLock = map.putIfAbsent(key, newLock);
                if (perNodeLock == null) {
                    newLock.lock();
                    threadLocal.set(newLock);
                    return;
                }
            }
            assert perNodeLock != null;
            int i = perNodeLock.count.get();
            if (i > 0 && perNodeLock.count.compareAndSet(i, i + 1)) {
                perNodeLock.lock();
                threadLocal.set(perNodeLock);
                return;
            }
        }
    }

    public void release(T key) {
        KeyLock lock = threadLocal.get();
        if (lock == null) {
            throw new ElasticsearchIllegalStateException("Lock not acquired");
        }
        release(key, lock);
    }

    void release(T key, KeyLock lock) {
        assert lock.isHeldByCurrentThread();
        assert lock == map.get(key);
        lock.unlock();
        threadLocal.set(null);
        int decrementAndGet = lock.count.decrementAndGet();
        if (decrementAndGet == 0) {
            map.remove(key, lock);
        }
    }

    @SuppressWarnings("serial")
    private final static class KeyLock extends ReentrantLock {
        KeyLock(boolean fair) {
            super(fair);
        }

        private final AtomicInteger count = new AtomicInteger(1);
    }

    public boolean hasLockedKeys() {
        return !map.isEmpty();
    }

    /**
     * A {@link KeyedLock} that allows to acquire a global lock that guarantees
     * exclusive access to the resource the KeyedLock is guarding.
     */
    public final static class GlobalLockable<T> extends KeyedLock<T> {

        private final ReadWriteLock lock;

        public GlobalLockable(boolean fair){
            super(fair);
            lock = new ReentrantReadWriteLock(fair);
        }

        public GlobalLockable() {
            this(false);
        }

        @Override
        public void acquire(T key) {
            boolean success = false;
            lock.readLock().lock();
            try {
                super.acquire(key);
                success = true;
            } finally {
                if (!success) {
                    lock.readLock().unlock();
                }
            }
        }

        @Override
        public void release(T key) {
            KeyLock keyLock = threadLocal.get();
            if (keyLock == null) {
                throw new ElasticsearchIllegalStateException("Lock not acquired");
            }
            try {
                release(key, keyLock);
            } finally {
                lock.readLock().unlock();
            }
        }

        /**
         * Returns a global lock guaranteeing exclusive access to the resource
         * this KeyedLock is guarding.
         */
        public Lock globalLock() {
            return lock.writeLock();
        }
    }

}


text:
EPA Rejects Southern California Plan to Reduce Fine Particulate Pollution
The South Coast Air Quality Management District is in the news again, this time for going too easy on the region's big polluters—just what staff had warned would happen before the board fired its well-respected executive director.
March 22, 2016, 10am PDT | Irvin Dawid
When the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rejected part of South Coast Air Quality Management District's (SCAQMD) pollution-reduction plan deals with emissions-trading, aka "cap-and-trade," which is the basis of the RECLAIM (Regional Clean Air Incentives Market) program to reduce pollution from large stationary sources, it showed the difficulties of "getting the right price" in market-based systems.
"An excess of pollution credits trading at 'artificially depressed' prices has resulted in a cap-and-trade program for smog-forming emissions that does not satisfy emissions control requirements under the federal Clean Air Act, according to a letter from Deborah Jordan, air division director for the U.S. EPA regional office in San Francisco," writes Tony Barboza, air quality and the environment reporter for the Los Angeles Times.
In December, the air quality board adopted an oil industry-backed proposal to lower the cap on nitrogen oxide [NOx] emissions from refineries, power plants and other facilities under the Reclaim program...instead of a staff proposal for a steeper, faster cut. [Emphasis added]
The decision has come under attack from the California Air Resources Board (CARB), state legislators and environmental groups, who say it violates the law and will harm public health.
"The letter from Deborah Jordan, director of the EPA's Region 9 air division, referred to the SCAQMD's 2012 cleanup plan for diesel soot and other kinds of fine particle pollution that is blamed for an array of health problems, including heart disease and early deaths," writes David Danelski for The Press Enterprise. "The region's worst fine-particle pollution is in the Mira Loma area of Jurupa Valley in Riverside County."
See EPA fact sheet [PDF] on how the plan fails to achieve PM2.5 reductions.
PM2.5 can be emitted directly into the atmosphere or formed in the atmosphere as a result of various chemical reactions from emissions of nitrogen oxides, sulfur dioxide, volatile organic compounds, and ammonia. These particles can reach the deepest regions of the lungs
A Los Angeles Daily News editorial further explains what went wrong in the emissions trading program:
Here's how the program works: Polluters like refineries and incinerators can purchase so-called pollution credits from companies that have cut emissions. The idea was that the cost of these credits would be so high, industry would be more willing to adopt pollution-cutting technology than to buy these credits. But, for years, there were too many credits on the market, making the credits cheap rather than expensive.
The end result is that polluters weren't adopting technology to reduce the air-choking toxins
"In a written response, the SCAQMD called the disapproval of the plan 'a technicality' that will be fixed once the adjustments to its RECLAIM trading program — approved by the board on Dec. 4, 2015 — are sent to the EPA," writes Steve Scauzillo for the San Gabriel Valley Tribune.
"That kind of reaction is troubling given the new partisan majority and its willingness to go with weaker, industry-backed pollution rules," comments the Daily News editorial board.
Environmentalists sued on March 9, claiming "the measures are so weak they violate state law and will hurt public health," wrote Barboza earlier.
The suit was filed by the Natural Resources Defense Council and the environmental law nonprofit Earthjustice, which represents Communities for a Better Environment, the Center for Biological Diversity and the Sierra Club.
Earthjustice's "suit says the program violates California's Health and Safety Code, which requires market-based cap and trade programs like NOx RECLAIM to achieve the same pollution reductions as direct pollution controls," states their press release.
"Oil industry groups have fought stronger smog-reduction measures, arguing that the cost of upgrading pollution controls would be too great," adds Barboza.
Earlier this month the new Republican board of directors removed long-time executive director of SCAQMD, Barry Wallerstein, to make the powerful regulatory agency more business-friendly. That move, in turn, prompted state Senate President Pro Tem Kevin de León (D-Los Angeles) to indicate he will "introduce legislation to add three new members to the South Coast Air Quality Management District board — one public health expert and two environmental justice members — to represent communities suffering from pollution," notes a March 10 post.
"SCAQMD board members should rethink their votes to weaken the region's clean air standards and take the necessary steps to comply with state and federal law," Senate President pro Tempore Kevin de León said in a press release in response to the EPA action. "Their actions are not only irresponsible, but illegal."
De León may be head of the Senate, but his heart (and lungs) are with the people in his district. Barboza indicates that de León "sent a letter to Los Angeles County supervisors asking them to seek Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich's resignation from the South Coast air board over his "long-standing opposition to policies that protect clean air."
SCAQMD regulates air quality in the four-county Southern California region composed of Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino counties, which is among the most polluted regions in the United States.
EPA rejects Southern California smog-fighting program as ineffective
Published on Thursday, March 17, 2016 in Los Angeles Times
Cap-and-Trade
Communities for a Better Environment
Particulate Pollution
Michael D. Antonovich
Tony Barboza
Sen. Kevin de León.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


The series, which is to have its premiere in Colombia with RCN and Nickelodeon in the last quarter of the year, is being filmed by Mediapro's unit 100 Balas in the Bogota-based studios of Televideo.
The 60 one-hour episodes will star Karen Martínez (Cartel de los Sapos, Tiempo Final), Brandon Figueredo (Yo soy Franky) and Clara Tiezzi (Malhacao Rebelde).
The series tells the story of N00bees, an eSports team of amateur players which manages to participate in the Professional Video Games League, a competition inspired by Mediapro's Liga de Videojuegos Professional in Spain.
The Mediapro-Viacom project was internationally presented at MIPTV's last edition in Cannes, where it was highlighted by The Wit as one of the most original international contents for children.


investment in Adler Hot Oil Service, LLC ("Adler" or the "Company") to support a recapitalization of the Company led by Industrial Innovation Partners ("IIP").
tremendous growth opportunities that exist within the industry.
Spell Capital Mezzanine provides subordinated debt and non-control equity to businesses in a variety of industries across the United States.
transitions, add-on acquisitions, recapitalizations and growth initiatives.
with management to optimize growth and value creation called the Growth Acceleration Process.


Louisburg College's Golden Anniversary Council (GAC) broke ground Thursday, January 24th on a new entry gate for Frazier Field that will help preserve and celebrate the winning tradition of the institution's famed baseball program.
"Louisburg College recognizes the importance of its Alumni in preserving the past and driving future success," said Dr. Gary Brown, President of Louisburg College.
Brown joined Council President Paul Wilson and members of the committee as they symbolically began construction on the new brick and aluminum gate for the baseball team's Frazier Field. The gate will help honor the past success of the team and its former, legendary Coach Russell Frazier, while also helping visitors safely locate the field's entrance.
GAC members raised the money to cover the cost of the project.
Current head coach Blake Herring was on hand with former coach Frazier as the council celebrated the achievement.
"I'm very thankful and appreciative to the members of the Golden Anniversary Council for making this happen," Frazier said.
Louisburg College's baseball team has been to the World Series 10 times since Frazier started the program toward its tradition of excellence in 1959. Frazier retired in 1999, and the team last attended a World Series in 2002. Louisburg College baseball experienced a slight downturn, but it's currently on a winning trajectory under Herring's administration, with a 31-22 record last season.


Over the years I have received a good number of wonderful letters describing various experiences that have come about on or after Enlightenment Intensives. I have always felt these are far too good not to share, so I have copied some of them out below. Hopefully the pieces will speak for themselves and give the reader as much pleasure as they did me.
"During the first day, I found myself apart from everyone else thinking thoughts about my uniqueness. Then, one after one, people sat in front of me and spoke of exactly my thoughts. I felt like leaving and one would say that she wanted to leave. I thought that this would be my last e.i., and then one would sit before me and say that this would be his last intensive. I felt sorry for myself .. being an addict, and then one would sit before me and describe her serious addictions. My heart started to ache and then one would sit before me and describe her aching heart. I would believe that I was special for some reason and then before me would be one who felt special for that very same reason. This was all too humbling. My Ego did not appreciate this awareness. On the other hand, it was rather relaxing to know that I was not alone – not at all. At one point I felt my breath connected to my intake of love and I heard the person beside me say that his breath was connected to his intake of love. In front of me, beside me, we were all the same and my Ego gradually dissolved until I was so grateful to be a part of rather than separate. I want to stay connected to the whole.
"The seventh day. The first dyad I am still feeling heavy and slow. It is so unusual as I am normally quite fast and like to be fast, especially mentally and get impatient with people who seem to be slow in their thinking. Well now I am really slow in my head. During the physical exercise period I do Qi Gong. Extremely slowly. I have never done it this slowly in my life. I close my eyes and feel my body moving with the heaviness, as if floating in it, respecting its pace. Afterwards comes breakfast. I sit down with my porridge. I am mixing it with my spoon and see that the mass moves in a similar way as the heavy honey I am drowning in. I am fascinated and keep mixing the porridge for a while before I start eating. At one point I look up and suddenly everything seems to have shifted. I am aware of seeing my surroundings with extreme clarity, as if someone has switched on the lights.
As I start to contemplate and communicate in the next dyad, I realize that things have indeed shifted. Now I am the goddess, the centre, the universe, the stars and the moon and the darkness in which they float. I feel the contraction and the release, the pulse of the universe, its breathing is my breathing. I feel that I am giving birth to the universe in every moment and it is such a loving act. I feel my potential for creation and destruction. Destruction is a loving act in the same way as creation is. What I withdraw back from life in contraction I release again as something new and different. I realize this is creativity: taking in, combining, mixing, sifting and then releasing something, a piece of art that is unique and different. I am the source and every manifestation is just a different aspect of me, there is no separation. So fear, resistance, anger, anxiety, despair, greed are the goddess as are joy, flow, compassion, hope, ecstasy, generosity and they really are all one, even when appearing as opposites. I cannot really say where pain ends and pleasure begins, it's all coming from the one source, the Divine. Even the idea of reincarnation makes sense to me but not as a rebirth of the same 'I' although it is constant rebirthing of the one Source. I am that Source, I arise from it and go back to it and arise again in a different form through the creativity of the Source. Even arising and going back to the Source is an illusion in that I am never away from it because I am it. I am the creator and the creation. I am every bird and leaf and flower and bee and I am their breath and song and dance and death.
In the following dyads I am communicating the different aspects of the goddess. I am melting more and pleasure is filling my being. After talking to Murray and his encouragement to present fully I am trying to do so: to speak with a stronger voice, pronounce the words clearly and get across the power of the goddess. Her tender but also ruthless love. As I do this, I discover the power of the word. I know now deep in my being and in my bones what that means, how powerful the word is as a carrier of the Truth. I also rediscover the pleasure of singing. Why don't I sing more often? What happened? I remember as a small child I used to sing all the time. I had this one special song which I used to sing to lure the sun out when it the sky was overcast, having absolutely no doubt that singing had that power. Now I feel that the stars and the night sky are holding me, rocking me, protecting me. I feel like it is my body that is arching above the Earth and at the same time I am the Earth.
Every little thing seems to be filled with pleasure and joy. As I am collecting the weeds and covering tree roots with them, smoothing the surface with my feet, I sense the pleasure of trees at having their roots touched. Their pleasure is my pleasure. As a branch touches my hair, I feel a gentle caress of a lover. Eagles' flight is part of my being as are the moving clouds and the waves of the ocean and the seagull. I am a vast ocean and I am held by that ocean. There is a sense of moving like a whale, turning slowly in the water, enjoying its caresses and its holding, moving gently.
I am just in – not in it – just in.
You are truth, completely and absolutely.
Why can't you see it?
And everything is OK just as it is.
And yet innocently blind to it, we cannot see what we are swimming in!
Life just keeps on presenting itself, and just is.
Because we are truth anyway.
Everything is truth; nothing matters.
With my first experience I knew my mind would never let me know.
Now I am fearless. I am not afraid.
The reality of what is was coming in.
There was the coming apart or breaking down of this experience, the illusion of it.
What I never had was this gentleness patience and compassion about all of it.
but it was my choice not to go to the depths of the experience.
Just loving and knowing I didn't need to know it all.
I needed to know a little bit right now.
It felt that it would be very difficult; more than I was able to do.
Not needing to be understood. It's so welcome.
Don't need them to know me.
"I'm still feeling the glow from the intensive and want to say again how your presence made such a difference. I don't think I've actually told you that YOU are what ignited the direct experience that I had on the seventh day. When I heard your voice reading off the jobs, I suddenly cracked. Your voice was the hammer against the clear bell of Truth and it shattered me into pieces. Each time you spoke another word, the bell sounded again all through me and all I could do was laugh, cry, and gasp.
Afterwards, I had no idea what I had become aware of. All I could say was, "Life is amazing." Then you assigned me the job of raking and clearing the pathway to the Point. What a glorious gift. I felt I had been given pure gold and I walked out into the cool morning with my rake to meet the sacred.
When I looked at the path, at first I wasn't sure what I was to do. It all looked so perfect already. Then I pulled the rake over the ground and saw that the movement was perfect. I wasn't sure what to do with the pile I had raked and then thought I could toss it off to the side of the path and as I did so, I saw how perfectly it all flew through the air, gliding gracefully and landing in a perfect new arrangement.
Then I began to realize the truth that had been revealed. Life is perfect! Every moment, in every way. It was fine to keep on raking because each new arrangement was also perfect and it was fun. The eagle was perched on the tall tree and that too was perfect.
On the 4th morning; my tears turned to anger! There is so much power in anger. I've learned the hard way, that unexpressed anger, for me – becomes depression.
I was talking about my dad (a lot) and feeling overwhelmed by the impact he had, on my life.
I was also feeling really safe and loved by S. (my dyad partner). I had this overwhelming feeling of fear. It was now or never and S. was the right person for me to do this with – right then!! An inside feeling was pushing me to DO it!! I wasn't sure what the DO IT meant, or how it would manifest itself if I let go but I felt like by back was up against the wall, or, that I was backed in a corner and had to get out – OR DIE!
I remember feeling angry and so desperate to bust out – I remember saying that I had no choice – it had to be now and that S's being there was crucial.
I was talking about the influence my father has had on my life. I made some comment about THE IMPACT of the hurtful things he said and did. Suddenly my eyes got really huge because this big light bulb went off in my head – a complete shift in my thinking, and I said, "OR NOT!!" (I saw I could let the experiences of my dad impact on me or not).
That was what did it! It was a huge shift – suddenly I could see myself completely separate from my father… and his influence. I could feel a sense of detachment from him – suddenly (and for always) I saw I had a choice to either accept or detach (or deflect) his impact. That's what I felt when I said, "I GOT IT".
Yes, lots of bad things were said to me, etc – yes, it influenced me, BUT, I can choose to let it impact on me, or not. The power of that realization was overwhelming. I could see my PAST LIFE and all of its experiences, encapsulated in the palm of my hand – held out to the side of me. It was like I could see dads influences …….over there….. but they were not actually a part of me! The freedom of that feeling was incredible … all of a sudden…..I started to shake and shudder . My hands and the lower part of my face was went numb.
I felt this incredible force in my body trying to push out!! There was no holding back. It was like deciding not to push any more when a baby's head is coming….it was like giving birth …. only I was giving birth to a bulldozer! The force inside me was huge and unstoppable, and I yelled in an angry voice GET OUT OFF MY WAY!!! – AND SUDDENLY… I BECAME THE BULLDOZER.
I BECAME this force of ENERGY – I started getting very dizzy and my upper body was swaying around in a big circle. I could feel my arms lifting up from under my armpits as if someone was lifting me up – but, of course it was just me. The energy was trying to lift me up, or at least get out of my body! I could feel myself almost lifting out of the chair.
Suddenly, the force of energy left my body and starting flying around the walls of the room just below the level of the ceiling. It was going so, so, so fast – like it was the wind. Then I realized it was ME up there flying around the room – IT WAS ME and I WAS THE WIND – I WAS THE ENERGY SOURCE!! – AND I WAS FREE!
I was sitting in the chair, and I felt out of my head or something, and I was watching myself just fly around those walls. I had to keep turning my head around and around so I could watch myself. I couldn't really see me, (as one might think), but rather – the energy itself. Thank goodness I was contained within that room, or I would have had all the trees blowing outside.
Actually, that's not right. The energy was free, but contained in a way. It was extremely fast and powerful – but, not actually windy like it felt and looked. It was just me in an energy form. That sounds so funny. It sounds so normal to refer to myself as an energy form – WOW imagine ….I was pure energy and that moment.
I had bust out and was free!! I had been held in there (inside myself) for so, so, so, long, it was like blowing the cork of a bottle of champagne. I felt like an explosion and then became the explosion and set myself free. I became the cork that exploded from the bottle or, I became the bulldozer that was re-born… with the power to blow that cork off!!!
I'm not up against the wall anymore – I'm out! I busted out – and I didn't land on my head – I landed on my feet!
I walked very slowly with no sense of direction of where I was going. All the colours were crystal clear and bright.
The bark on the trunk of a tree felt so different. It felt alive – like skin. It was like touching another person. It just felt alive and so comforting to touch and lean against.
Everything was in slow motion. I couldn't move very fast and was quite unsteady on my feet. I kept stumbling. I had this sense of being really small in this big world (forest) and felt far, far, far away from the dyad hall. I knew I had better start getting back before waiting to hear Teresa's ring of the gong, because, it was going to take me a long time to get there – my steps were so small and slow. So I headed slowly back to the hall with absolutely no sense of anything but me, in each moment of my stepping. I felt like a 1 year old child learning to walk. My feet would come straight up and then straight down again. – no heel, then ball of the foot motion, like usual. Just up and down, up and down, padding along rather gingerly.
Then, I just proceeded into a mellow glow of bliss, and joy, and love. I felt so peaceful the rest of the day, energized but calm. I was very teary. Everything seemed so beautiful and simple. I cried with joy all day.
The remaining dyads of that day were just expressions of joy about everything – utter disbelief at the beauty of things. Watching the ballerinas made me cry, with sheer delight – I could feel myself in, or as one, with those dancers. I could feel their muscles move in MY body by just watching them. I could actually feel their joy of movement, because, it was mine, too.
It was like I had escaped out of a box, or some place like that, and, I was now on the other side of that wall – looking back. I could see others struggling on the other side of the wall (it was clear) where I had come from. I now stood on the freedom side.
The breaking through a wall, or being re-born; gave me the freedom to see who I AM – ALL BY MYSELF – not in relationship to anything or anyone else! – It was just ME.
I am my own person!
I have my own direction, path and purpose!!
No one else can tell me what those are! It is only for me – this one unique, special person! I am innocence, joy, gentleness, love, forgiveness, sorrow, pain, mistakes, triumphs, – all of it.
I'm the exact person that God intended me to be – there is no mistake or question about that!! No little bit to the left – or little bit to the right, about it!! I am me, and God knows it.
The truth about me doesn't waiver. I am distinct and different from everyone else, because "in truth": I can only be me. I know now, that we are all separate beings with our own path and story and, also: we are one and the same in this life. The joy, is in knowing the difference between the two.
In another dyad, I began to sense how big Life is. It can't be contained. It's bigger than any container could ever be. I felt the energy of my own life force pulsing through me and it was enormous — far bigger than the way I had been carrying myself. I had been walking around in life, pretending to be smaller than I am — in some container I had concocted that was less than who I really am and I wanted to stretch out of that tiny container.
At first I whimpered and took deep breaths, stretching my body in any way I could. Then louder sounds came out; shrieks, sobs, laughter. My arms reached overhead as far as they could. After a few shrieks, I thought, "well, that should do it, now let me get on with contemplating." But not so. Something beyond my will was stretching me wider, bigger, further and it wasn't done with me. I felt like an eagle, spreading her wings, rising into the wide-open sky, swept into the air on a wild current of wind. It was exhilarating, beyond anything I could control or even want to control.
That was day four dyad with J. You probably remember it since it filled up the whole room for a few moments, right up to the change-over bell. Afterwards, everything seemed bigger and all of Life, more spacious. I felt deep appreciation for the big expressions in life, for example: opera singers — those big beautiful resonant voices, the bold fullness of human expression.
Day five. Morning dyad after breakfast. My object of enlightenment had grown fuzzy. I had been experiencing so much Life in so many forms with such richness, ever present, compelling and obvious and now, suddenly, I found myself without a clear object to contemplate. Life? What's that? Where to focus? Where to put my attention? I was in a dyad with S and his intensity prevented me from just coasting along and not caring if I had an object to contemplate. So I kept at it. I communicated that I couldn't find Life at the moment and I contemplated some more.
Then during morning walk, I got it: I am not separate from Life. That's what had shifted. I dissolved into whoops and shouts and tears and laughter. Even though I had previously (on another intensive) gotten that I was not separate from others, I had still somehow managed to hold myself as separate (ever so subtlety) from life itself. Life had been something I was studying, observing, inquiring into, and participating in. I knew I was "in" life and "moved by" life and a "part of" life, but until now, hadn't gotten that I am Life. This "non-separateness" from Life was a whole new realization. I burst into the hall, collapsing in laughter as I blurted this out to Patsy.
I realized this is why Life is so enjoyable; why it delights me so — because we are all the same Life. The eagle is the Life that I am, being "eagleness." The wind, the sky, the ocean, the trees — are all the Life that I am, manifesting in various forms.
This is different than "identifying with" these life forms, it is instead, the humble falling away of separateness that allows me to experience pure delight in the full beingness that I am as Life. Birds singing in the forest resounded inside my chest. A raccoon, slinking along a high branch in a tall tree, filled me with the thrill of his accomplished climb. Eagles diving off tree tops, swooping in the sky, carried me on the wind with them. They are all beingness in various forms of the Life that I am, of the Life that we all are.
Day six: Dyad with D. I went through the entire dyad in total presence with very few words. In spite of my passionate love of verbal expression, there was suddenly no need for it. My dyad partner's presence, so clear and sparkling, intensified my own presence and I surrendered to the pure beingness of that moment, that contact, that life.
I just never knew that I could find myself, here, in this sweet aftermath of Love's embrace.
I just never knew that what it took was a surrender of all I thought I wanted for love to bring me here, bring me home to this, the heart's boudoir – where no touch goes unnoticed and each kiss multiplies.
I just never knew that my longing had a face that Love would recognize. Not until it showed – until I let beauty fill my eyes. Then, flush with a fresh desire, I saw a secret garden in each others' face.
There is no picking in this garden – no possession. No postures here but those of utter adoration.
I was so, so shy at first, amidst such beauty. I was sure each scar, each blemish would be seen. I just never knew I had a face I had not made up, put on, protected. Not til tears and beauty washed it clear, washed it til it glistened – washed it til there was no shame in shining.
Love will overlook a multitude of imperfections – if they are not held up as shields. It will thread through countless complications to reach a heart that can be stitched.
I just never knew that Love could find me until it did.
The first day morning I was quite sleepy. During the lecture in the afternoon I was really sleepy, and was thinking that the sitting contemplation will allow me to nap a little. But as it started, and I started to contemplate, something shifted for me. I felt lots of energy in my body and as if I had suddenly woken up. At the same time everything just became very easy and obvious. I knew that I am me, and it was very simple. I thought, could this be it? It was so subtle! But this seemed just too simple to me, then it didn't answer my question about my vocation. But in all my dyads after the sitting contemplation I was in the same space: of peace, joy, contentment, expansion, opening, relief that I don't have to search anymore. The sense of release and relaxing into who I am, rather then grabbing for something out there, trying to be someone else, different, more something and less something. Just being, now, myself, in every moment. Not working towards being more perfect but dropping into who I am. I realized how often in my life as if I was in a state of permanent muscle contraction, trying to be a certain way rather than just simple being me.
I was looking for something big and here I was, 'stuck' with my old me. And it seemed silly and comic that I started with the preconceived idea that I will somehow find out my 'mission' on this Earth when I have a direct experience of me. I had thought I could go deeper and somehow get to a different level of who. And there was also another thing: How could I have a direct experience so soon, right in the first day afternoon? It seemed somehow – embarrassing.
But as I was communicating further, it was all the same, I knew who I am.
So in the afternoon, after the first dyad I changed my question to What is life. And I felt that direct experience on who made it in a way easier to work on life.
I was very centered and could communicate from that place of centredness and full presence. But I was also aware that somehow at the back of my head there was this idea, well maybe the question of life is it, I mean the answer to my life. Funny but true.
From the moment that I started to work with life, I had very strong energy running through me. In my first two dyads I had the feeling like I'm being burnt up, it was like heat waves passing through my body, and I felt I was shaking inside. At times it felt really violent, and I was like in fever. I was also aware of very strong flow of sexual energy, and it stayed there as I was working on life.
I had a problem with the question of What is life. I wasn't sure what to put my attention on. Life is everywhere around! How can I choose? Shall I focus on one representation of life or shall I switch?
I had a couple of very good dyads afterwards. Some things came up. How much guilt I feel around love. How I feel like there is something giving and wanting to share with others in my nature, and how guilty I feel because I feel like I cannot love one person exclusively, how I feel guilty then that I don't love enough or that I love more than I should and too many people. How I feel 'morally defective' because of that reason. How my heart often just rushes towards the people. And the sorrow from living most of my life holding myself back, holding my love back. I suddenly realised that I actually do have a good sense of who I am, it didn't somehow disappear. However, I am scared to live this truth, there is so much fear that my life as I know it would disintegrate. There was also anger coming up, anger about life being 'unfair'. It is a very persistent idea. I can get really outraged each time I feel there is an 'unfairness' happening, although I am not sure against what I actually measure this.
Then I went to the dinner and something shifted. I don't know when exactly or how, it was very subtle. This was the first eating contemplation period when I managed to stay with my question. But then it didn't seem to be a question anymore. I sat down with my meal, looked at it and there was life. I looked at the table and there was life. I looked at others and saw so much love around, and life. I communicated this in the EE after the dinner. There was a profound sense of joy and ease and not having to worry anymore. Gratefulness for everything and every moment. I realized that life is being in this moment, and that if I live who I am in every moment, there is no sense in worrying about how to live. Living is the simple act of being myself in every moment.
And then there are no right or good choices because if I live from who I am, there is nothing I can loose and one path is as good as the other. Because myself is really the only thing that stays with me as I live, it cannot be taken away and living it is life.
The last walk was an amazing experience. I walked outside the house, my feet barely touching the ground. I felt like I could fly. I was walking and looking around. But instead of me putting my attention on life in a tree and trying to 'squeeze out' the sense of life from it, life was just rushing towards me even before I could contemplate. I looked at my legs walking, and there was life. My knees and there was life. Life was everywhere. Everything was very sharp and very intense but it wasn't intensity as I like to think about it, heart gripping passion and drama. It was the intensity of being in here right now, and the tree was, the lake was, the stones. I knew the life just is, and that's it. It felt so simple. And there was a sense of joy and freedom. And a very strong sexual energy flow. I felt like I am having a love affair with life now and every moment, like I'm in sexual union with it.
I communicated this in the last EI. Somehow it seemed so absurd that it is so simple. I had this idea that life should be something grand, and yet it seemed so simple in its pure being. Simplicity was something which was coming up a lot in this intensive. The simplicity of being who I am, and the simplicity of life.
When we drove back with Magdalena through that amazing landscape. seemed like the mountains are breathing and moving and are part of me.
I think this intensive gave me an experience how subtle a direct experience can be. Nothing big and extraordinary. And how easy it is to miss it, and how important is full communication and presentation of oneself. I still feel very centered, and a little high in my energy state. I find that I am not so attached to this state anymore, preserving it like a fragile plant and watching with horror its withering away. Because who I am will not go away, it stays.


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10 Questions and Answers: What the U.S. Should Do About Syria
Morgan Lorraine Roach	/ February 16, 2012
An armed Free Syrian Army rebel stands inside a house in the north Syrian city of Binnish on February 15, 2012.
As the violent government crackdown continues in Syria, the United States is faced with a series of questions about what role it should play in the international response. Here are ten questions and answers about the road forward:
Does the U.S. have an interest in the Syrian uprising?
The Assad regime has supported numerous Palestinian, Lebanese, Iraqi, and Kurdish terrorist groups in attacks on Americans and U.S. allies. Furthermore, it has subverted Lebanon's independence, assassinated its leaders, and blocked Arab peace efforts with Israel, and it remains both a state sponsor of terrorism and Iran's most important ally. The United States has a strong interest in reducing terrorist threats to Americans and U.S. allies, containing Iran, and shoring up regional stability.
Should the U.S. participate in U.N. peacekeeping?
Earlier this week, the Arab League issued a vague proposal for a joint Arab League/United Nations peacekeeping force to be deployed to Syria. However, there is little peace to keep. As long as the Assad regime and the myriad of opposition groups that it has spawned are locked in a power struggle, no outside force is likely to bring peace. Rather, any outside peacekeeping force would become embroiled in the conflict as a combatant and thereby increase the suffering of the Syrian people.
Should the U.S. back a no-fly zone?
The Assad regime has not needed to use its air force, as it has done virtually all of its killing with ground units. A no-fly zone would accomplish little and is not needed.
At this time, military action against Syria is not in the best interest of the United States. A military intervention by an external force would feed into the Assad regime's narrative of foreign meddling and would be counterproductive to ending the crisis.
Should the U.S. continue sanctions?
The best assistance the United States can provide to ease the suffering of Syrians is to help speed the fall of the Assad regime. Unlike the Muammar Qadhafi regime, Bashar al-Assad lacks the luxury of Libya's oil wealth and has fewer financial resources, making him vulnerable to economic sanctions. As such, Washington should continue to work with its European allies, Turkey, and willing Arab states to continue implementing sanctions on the Damascus regime.
Should the U.S. arm rebels?
It would be a mistake to provide arms to groups that seek to replace Assad's secular Baathist dictatorship with a totalitarian Islamist dictatorship. If such groups were to consolidate power, they could pose an even greater threat to the United States and its allies in Israel, Jordan, Iraq, and Lebanon than the weakened Assad regime does. Moreover, providing arms would feed into the Assad regime's propaganda that its domestic opposition is comprised of puppets controlled by foreign powers.
Should the U.S. give humanitarian aid?
The United States can play a constructive role in the conflict by supporting efforts to deliver humanitarian aid. The U.S. should also work closely with regional partners, especially Turkey, both to hasten the transition to a new, legitimate government and to continue diplomatic pressure and international sanctions against the Assad regime.
Should the U.S. support rebels?
Washington should provide humanitarian aid in close cooperation with its allies as well as diplomatic support to the broad opposition coalition through the Friends of Syria international contact group that will meet in Tunisia next week to formulate an agenda for international support for the opposition. In addition, the United States should give economic support to inclusive opposition groups that support freedom, religious tolerance, and a pluralist democracy in post-Assad Syria.
Should the U.S. call for regime change?
Yes. After slaughtering more than 5,000 of his people, Assad lost legitimacy a long time ago. The problem is not just Assad, but the regime he leads. Although the Assad regime can depend on its fearsome international security and intelligence services, the vast majority of the Syrian military is becoming increasingly unreliable. As loyalist forces are spread thin and Arab states seek to counter Iranian support for Assad with their own support for the opposition, Assad's grip on power will grow tenuous.
Should the U.S. be worried about Iran and al-Qaeda?
Iran has provided considerable support to the Assad regime. In addition to shipping arms to Damascus via commercial jets, Iran has also dispatched members of the Quds Force, an elite element of Iran's Revolutionary Guards, to help crush dissent within Syria.
The crisis in Syria has opened a security vacuum that al-Qaeda is ready to exploit. Iraqi officials report that Sunni Iraqi jihadists are streaming across the border to join the fighting in Syria. Al-Qaeda has already made noticeable inroads in Syria after conducting a number of suicide bombings.
Should the U.S. work with friends and allies?
The United States should continue to implement sanctions with its European allies and Syria's northern neighbor, Turkey. Turkey in particular has a valuable role. When the Assad regime revealed that it has no intentions of genuine reform, Ankara's once-friendly relations with Damascus quickly expired. Turkey has given sanctuary to Syrian refugees and opposition groups on its territory. Ankara has also imposed an arms embargo on Syria and floated the idea of creating a buffer zone in Syrian territory to provide a safe haven for internally displaced refugees. Furthermore, Turkey has cultivated ties with the Syrian opposition and will play a pivotal role in Syria's future.
Read More: Next Steps for U.S. in Syria Crisis and Preparing for a Post-Assad Syria


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Stable socioeconomic inequalities in ischaemic heart disease mortality during the economic crisis: a time trend analysis in 2 Spanish settings
Xavier Bartoll1,3,
Mercè Gotsens1,3,
Marc Marí-Dell'Olmo1,2,3,4,
Laia Palència1,2,3,
Montse Calvo5,
Santiago Esnaola5 &
Carme Borrell1,2,3,4
Archives of Public Health volume 77, Article number: 12 (2019) Cite this article
Prior studies have identified a decrease in ischaemic heart disease mortality during the recent economic recession. The Spanish population was severely affected by the Great Recession, however, there is little evidence on its effects on socioeconomic inequalities in ischaemic heart disease mortality. This study examines trends in socioeconomic inequalities in mortality due to ischaemic heart disease (IHD).
We used linked census records with mortality registers available from the Basque Country and Barcelona city for population above 25 years, between 2001 and 04, the accelerated economic growth period of 2005–08, and 2009–12, with the last period coinciding with the Great Recession. Applying Poisson models, we calculated relative and absolute indexes of inequalities by education level for each period, age group, gender, and site.
We found moderate age-adjusted inequalities in IHD with a gradient of increasing rates through less educational level, but no significant evidence of increasing trends in socioeconomic inequalities in IHD mortality, rather an inverted U-shape time trend in some groups below 75 years in relative inequalities. Absolute inequalities decrease in the last period except for women from 50 to 64 years.
This study shows that the economic crisis has not increased socioeconomic inequalities in IHD mortality in two geographical settings in Spain.
An influential study in the late 70's found that economic recessions were related to increased cardiovascular mortality [1]. This result was soon challenged [2] by new evidence based on more sound panel methodology showing just the opposite, that the increased unemployment was associated with a decline in cardiovascular mortality [3]. The beginning of the Great Recession in 2008 has brought renewed interest in analysing the effect of economic cycles on mortality. However, there is little evidence on the effects of the economic cycles on specific and all-cause mortality inequalities by socioeconomic level. It is well reported that lower socioeconomic groups have higher mortality rates across European countries [4, 5]. One study for the period 1980–1990 in USA reported that men with less education experienced higher all cause-mortality with increasing unemployment [6]. While in Nordic countries and Japan characterized with universal health care, the mortality in cardiovascular disease of lower socioeconomic group decreased [7,8,9]. Another study for Northern Ireland found no significant increase in ischaemic heart disease mortality among the working population after the economic crisis in 2008, but an increase for retired workers [10]. For Spain, decreases in all-cause mortality and cardiovascular disease during the Great Recession were found larger for lower socioeconomic groups (proxied by household floor space and car ownership) [11].
After the mild crisis of 2001, the Spanish economy grew at a constant rate for the next years until the fourth quarter of 2008 to enter in negative growth rates. Since then, the economic recession has severely affected the Spanish population, with a rapid rise in unemployment, work precariousness and vulnerable population increasing socioeconomic inequalities [12]. Moreover, as in the European context, the austerity measures imposed in Spain may have negatively affected health and health services [13, 14].
To analyse trends in socioeconomic inequalities of ischaemic heart disease (IHD) mortality we compared two distinct settings in Spain, for which data were available: Barcelona city and The Basque Country. Both areas have similar populations and are in the north of Spain. The Basque Country had the lowest unemployment rate (rose from 11.6% in 2001 to 14.9% in 2012) and poverty rates in Spain (ranged from 5 to 10% even during the crisis period) and ranked first in health spending per capita (reached the peak of 1971€ in 2009). Conversely in Barcelona, the unemployment rate rose from 10.5% to a 18.7% and poverty rate ranged from 15.7 to 18.3% in the same period, own estimation of health spending per capita for Barcelona area are lower (reached the peak of 1398€ in 2009). The figures in Barcelona were closer to the Spanish average than those of The Basque Country [15,16,17].
The objective of this paper is to analyse trends in socioeconomic inequalities of IHD mortality before (periods 2001–04 and 2005–08) and during the Great Recession (2009–12) according to education level.
Design, study population and sources of information
This study uses individual-level data from the Basque Country and Barcelona city, two settings where the information of the mortality register linked with the census is available in Spain.
The Basque Country population was 2,082,587 at the end of 2001 and 2,179,815 at the end of 2011. Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain with 1,505,325 inhabitants in 2001 and 1,620,943 in 2012. We considered at-risk population to be all residents older than 25 years between 2001 and 2012. We choose 25 years as cut-off point because university studies are finished at this age.
Barcelona and the Basque country have two different register information. In Barcelona it is possible to link cases of the people who died, while in Basque Country uses a follow up linkage. For Barcelona, we only included IHD deaths in the mortality register that occurred among residents between 2001 and 2012, and for whom complete educational level information was available. Data on subjects' educational level was obtained by record linkage between the mortality register and Barcelona's municipal census. Information on the at-risk population, including age and sex and was obtained from the municipal census. Due to a lack of linkage, we excluded 401 IHD deaths for men (4.4%) and 332 for women (4.7%).
For the Basque Country, we used a population-based census-linked longitudinal mortality study. Individual census records from the 2001 and 2006 population censuses were linked with the mortality registry. Individuals from the 2001 census were followed up from November 2001 (date of the 2001 Census) to October 2006, and those from the 2006 census were followed up from November 2006 to December 2012. Deaths were weighted by the inverse of the proportion of linked cases. The exact number of person-years of follow-up was calculated by subtracting the date of the corresponding census from the date of death (for deceased persons) or the date of the end of follow up. The percentages of male and female IHD deaths for whom no information on educational level was available due to a lack of linkage were 3.3 and 4.8% for the 2001–2004 period, 2.8 and 3.3% for the 2005–2008 period, and 4.8 and 2.7% for the 2009–2012 period, respectively.
Variables and indicators analysed
We analysed deaths due to IHD included International Classification of Diseases 10th (ICD-10) codes of the underlying cause of death: from angina pectoris (I20) to chronic ischaemic heart disease (I25). Our main independent variable was the highest level of education attained. Educational level was categorised in five groups: (a) no formal education or pre-primary education (0–4 years of schooling), (b) primary education (5–6 years of schooling); (c) lower secondary education (7–9 years of schooling); (d) upper secondary education (10–14 years of studies), and (e) university education (≥15 years of schooling). Although education level from census records is not always an up-to-date register during the life-course, it is attained relatively early in life and it tends to be stable over the adult life span, moreover it has been extensively used in mortality analysis as a proxy for socioeconomic position in most of the aforementioned literature. Other independent variables were sex, age, and year of death. Age of death was grouped in five categories: 25–49 years, 50–64 years, 65–74 years, ≥75 years, and an all-ages group. Year of death was grouped into two periods before the beginning of the economic recession (2001–04 and 2005–08) and one period after the beginning of the recession (2009–12). Although the economic recession actually started during the 4th term of 2008, unemployment levels did not start to rise noticeably until 2009.
All analyses were carried out separately for each region (Barcelona and Basque Country), for men and women, for the four age groups and all-ages group, and for the three-time periods. We fit Poisson regression models to compute the Relative Index of inequality (RII) and its 95% confidence interval (95% CI) for age-adjusted educational level specific mortality. The dependent variable was the logarithm of the mortality rate, and the independent variables were educational level as a quantitative variable (with five values between 0 and 1, based on the midpoint of the educational level group's position in the cumulative educational level distribution of the population). The RII value can therefore be interpreted as the ratio of mortality rates between the two extremes of the educational spectrum (in our case, the lowest educational level versus the highest, taking into account all educational levels). We also fit models with the 3 periods together where the independent variables were age group, period, educational level and the interaction between period and educational level, to determine if the RII changed over time.
Moreover, we estimated the age-adjusted Slope Index of Inequality (SII). To estimate SII, simply adjusting for age may not be enough to obtain a truly comparable measure, so we used a novel approach [18]. First, different SII were obtained for each age-group with an additive Poisson model. Second, we obtained a single SII performing a weighted sum of these SII. The weights correspond to the relative sizes of the age groups in a reference population (in our case both areas Barcelona and Basque Country). The regression models are adjusted by the 5-year variable. Poisson models were corrected for overdispersion where necessary. Due to the increase of immigration to Spain in the last two decades, we have replicated all the analysis stratifying by country of birth, as the results were not significantly different, we have only reported the results for the overall population.
Table 1 shows descriptive of the number and rate of crude IHD deaths, according to level of education, age-group, sex and period at the two sites. In Barcelona we observe a decreasing trend among those at the extreme of the education level, no education and primary as well as among those in university level, while for those in lower secondary level from 50 to 64 years that increased across 2001–2012 and those above 75 years that increased in the last period. For women, rates decrease for most groups except for those in lower secondary from 50 to 64 years that increases in the last period, and university level from 65 to 74 years. For men in Basque Country, IHD deaths rates decrease for most groups, except for those in university from 50 to 64 years and lower secondary above 75 years. For women, it decreases in the last period, except for women from 50 to 64 years that increases except for those in primary education level.
Table 1 Number and crude rate of deaths (per 100.00 population) due to ischaemic heart disease for Barcelona and the Basque Country by age group, 2001–2012
Regarding standardized rate deaths of IHD in all ages group in Table 2, we observe a decrease through the period 2001–2012 in Barcelona among all education level men and women except for those men in upper secondary level that increases in the last period. For instance, men with no education rates ranges from 221.5 per 100.00 inhabitants in 2001–2004 to a 140.0 in 2008–2012, those in university from 197.2 to a 140.7 in the same period. For women with no education, IHD rates range from a 106.9 in 2001–2004 to a 66.0 in 2008–2012, and for those in university level from 76.5 to a 47.7 in the same period. In Basque Country, standardized death rates of IHD decreases among men and women through the period. For instance, men with no education rates range from 196.3 in 2001–2004 to a 130.0 in 2008–2012, those in university from 135.6 to 107.1 in the same period. For women with no education, IHD rates range from 75.4 to 65.0 and among those with university degree from 62.3 to 29.7.
Table 2 Number and age-standardized rate of deaths (per 100.00 population) due to ischaemic heart disease, Barcelona and the Basque Country, 2001–2012
Figure 1 shows a moderate inequality gradient in mortality by education level for the all-ages groups, with the rate increasing with decreasing educational level. The pattern of inequality is quite stable across time. IHD death rates for men in no education level decrease more than those of high educational level in both settings while for women they are more stable.
Ischaemic heart disease age-standardized mortality rates and 95% confidence intervals. Barcelona and the Basque Country. 2001–2012
To better analyse the evolution of these inequalities by education level across periods, Table 3 shows the relative index of inequality (RII) and the slope index of inequality (SII), age group, sex, and study period. Most RIIs were greater than 1, which means that those in lower educational level have higher risk of death from IHD than higher educational level ones. The most consistent finding is that there was no significant change in RII between study periods as confidence intervals overlap and the interaction between period and educational level is not significant (interaction p-values not shown). However, for men and women in Barcelona the RII appears to show an inverted U-shape trend, that is, it is lower in the first and last periods but higher in the middle one (except for women from 50 to 64 years that follows a U-shape trend and for both sexes over 74 years). Nonetheless the time variations of the RII are of minimum magnitude. For instance, the RII for men in all ages group during 2001–2004 is 1.2 (95%CI:1.0–1.4), then increases to 1.3 (95%CI: 1.1–1.6) and finally decreases to 1.1 (95%CI:0.9–1.3) in 2009–2012. For women in Barcelona the figures are, first 1.7 (95CI%:1.3–2.1), then increases to 1.8 (95CI%:1.5–2.3) and finally decreases to 1.5 (95%CI:1.2–1.9). This pattern is common across age groups for men and for women. The RII for men in the Basque Country also follows the inverted U-shape across periods for each age group (except for those over 74 years), while for women tend to increase through time. For instance, in all age group the RII varies from 1.5 (95%CI:1.1–1.9) in 2001–2004 to a 1.9 (95%CI:1.5–2.4) in 2005–2008 and finally to a 2.1 (95%CI:1.5–2.8). This pattern repeats for each age group (except for those from 50 to 64 years that follows a U-shape trend). As said, none of these variations are significant so we must conclude stability in relative inequalities.
Table 3 Relative and absolute inequality measures of ischaemic heart disease mortality for Barcelona and the Basque Country, 2001–2012
If we focus on SII in Table 3, we also observe that confidence intervals overlap across periods. It is worth mentioning that SII decreases in the period of the economic crisis 2009–2012 for most groups. Comparing the two last periods, the SII in all age category for men in Barcelona decreases from 40.6 (95%CI:20.8–60.3) in 2005–2008 to a 9.2 (95%CI:-11.4–29.7) in 2009–2012, from 34.0 (95%CI:23.9–44.0) to 20.4 (95%CI:10.0–30.7) for women in Barcelona, from 38.1 (95%CI:13.8–62.5) to 26.4 (95%CI:3.6–49.2) for men and from 34.6 (95%CI:22.6–46.6) to 29.1 (95%CI:16.7–41.5) for women in Basque Country. The reduction in SII during period 2009–2012 holds for each age group except for women from 50 to 64 years in both settings.
We observed no significant trend in relative (RII) and absolute (SII) inequalities in IHD mortality rates according to educational levels. Regardless the stability in time trend inequalities, data show a non-significant inverted U-shape trend for RIIs and for SII for some groups under 75, except for all ages women in the Basque country and women from 50 to 64 years.
The lowest relative and absolute inequalities observed are among men. Cardiovascular disease epidemiology indicates that unhealthy risk behaviours such as smoking and a high-fat diet, among others, may account for most of the socioeconomic gradient [19, 20], potentially affecting at different degree the socioeconomic groups [20]. In Spain, the transition of smoking from upper to lower socioeconomic groups has been realized earlier for men than for women, this may explain the lower inequalities observed in men due to the oldest only, especially in Barcelona. In our study, the observed not decrease in RII and SII among women from 50 to 64 years in both regions during the economic crisis, which may be related to the unfavourable trends in tobacco consumption for women in the lower socioeconomic group [21]. Analogous dynamics of tobacco epidemics has been reported for the Basque Country [22]. Moreover, higher obesity inequalities among Basque women compared to the Spanish average may partially explain the observed increasing trend in inequalities in IHD [23]. A downward trend in fruits and vegetables intake has been reported in Spain [24] among the lowest socioeconomics groups and also in Greece [25] suggesting possible future increases in inequalities in cardiovascular mortality.
The SII decreased probably due to the improvement in access to clinical treatment and to primary care. In Spain, the extensive use of drug treatment for vascular risk factors during the last decades has been shown to be significantly associated with time decreasing rates of IHD hospitalisation [26]. The cuts on health spending practiced during the economic crisis have affected mostly outpatient prescription drugs and patients in long waiting visits time for health care, which is expected to limit the accessibility to health services more to those in the lower socioeconomic position. Certainly, these austerity policies have not been so devastating as in the Greece [27] as to reverse the reductions in inequalities in IHD trends achieved during the last decade [28]. For instance, in Norway and Finland, both countries characterized with universal health care, disadvantaged socioeconomic groups were not hit harder by pro-cyclical mortality than advantaged groups did [7, 9].
Pollution could affect many individuals, but the effects on vulnerable populations like the children, the elderly, and most disadvantaged individuals are higher [29]. Although the inverted U-shape is not statically significant, the decreasing of the absolute inequality in mortality during the last period of economic crisis may be related to a decrease in vehicle traffic. In Barcelona area, the emission of nitrogen dioxide has been shown to be associated to IHD mortality in deprived areas for men only [30]. Pollution may interact with basal worse health status among the most disadvantaged population leading to higher mortality. A decrease in traffic congestion due to the economic downturn in period 2009–2012 may have avoided some of the IHD mortality mainly among lower socioeconomic groups contributing to a lowering in inequalities in IHD trends.
Our results differ from the increasing inequalities in mortality reported for USA during 1980 and 1990s economic crisis, where individuals with low education experienced a declining health, while those with higher education level presumably had some buffer-stock savings and prospects of avoiding long-term unemployment [6]. A fact related to the meanstested provision of the public medical insurance program for Americans under age 65 years, leaving a large portion of the working poor without medical insurance. Although non-significant, our results of a inverted U-shape inequalities found in some age groups in Spain gives a weak support for this procyclical trend. In contrast, inequalities in Japanese males aged 30–59 during the economic crisis of period 1980–2010 did not increased as mortality rates among unemployed people steadily decreased for IHD perhaps because the basic properties of Japan's social welfare system were maintained even during economic recession and mortality trends among the japanese managerial classes remained higher relative to the other occupations due to overwork and long working hours [9]. Again, in Norway and Finland characterized with universal health care, disadvantaged socioeconomic groups were not hit harder by pro-cyclical mortality than advantaged groups did [7, 8]. However in New Zealand, the socioeconomic inequalities, due to the strong restructuring of the economy, grew more than in the Nordic as a consequence RII in cardiovascular mortalities increased [31].
For Spain, our results confirms previous research reporting no changes in downward trends before and during the economic crisis for cardiovascular disease [11]. It has also been reported a non-significant increase in inequalities in cardiovascular mortality during the economic crisis [32]. Although non-significant, our results of an inverted U-shape inequalities found in some age groups gives a weak support for the procyclical trend. So that, the European Mediterranean countries most hit by the Great Recession, cardiovascular mortality appears to follow different trajectories. In Greece, the downward trend in cardiovascular mortality does not differ significantly between the pre- and post-crisis periods, although the overall decline ended in 2011–2012 [33]. In Italy, cardiovascular mortality was found to be positively associated with the unemployment rate, and showed a significant increase in 2010 [34]. In sum, our result of a stable trend in inequalities in IHD mortality is akin with the recent strand of research that stresses mild effects of economic crisis on health outcomes [35, 36].
A limitation of our study is that we cannot determine causality between the observed trends in IHD mortality inequalities and the economic crisis. Caution is needed in generalising these results to other regions, as the impact of economic recession may be different in each region.
Our data confirm the existence of moderate IHD mortality inequalities, with a gradient of increasing rates through less educational level, but we did not find evidence of increasing trends in IHD socioeconomic inequalities during the economic crisis neither in relative nor in absolute terms.
International Classification of Diseases 10th
IHD:
OECD:
Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development
RII:
Relative index of inequality
SII:
Slope index of inequality
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This article has been partially funded by the project "Efectos de la crisis en la salud de la población y sus determinantes en España" (PI13/00897), funded by the Instituto de Salud Carlos III, and co-funded by European Union (ERDF/ESF, "Investing in your future").
Datasets are not publicly available but are available on reasonable request.
Agència de Salut Pública de Barcelona, Plaça Lesseps 1, 08023, Barcelona, Spain
Xavier Bartoll
, Mercè Gotsens
, Marc Marí-Dell'Olmo
, Laia Palència
& Carme Borrell
CIBER Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBERESP), Madrid, Spain
Marc Marí-Dell'Olmo
Institut d'Investigació Biomèdica (IIB Sant Pau), Barcelona, Spain
Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain
Departamento de Salud, Gobierno del País Vasco, Bilbao, Spain
Montse Calvo
& Santiago Esnaola
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XB, MG, MM, LP, MC, SE and CB designed the study in collaboration with the other authors. The data were prepared by MG, MM, LP, SE and MC. The analysis was conducted by MG. The first draft of the manuscript was written by XB. Redrafting was conducted with the participation of all authors. All authors gave feedback on the final manuscript and approved it for submission.
Correspondence to Xavier Bartoll.
No ethical approval and consent was necessary.
Bartoll, X., Gotsens, M., Marí-Dell'Olmo, M. et al. Stable socioeconomic inequalities in ischaemic heart disease mortality during the economic crisis: a time trend analysis in 2 Spanish settings. Arch Public Health 77, 12 (2019) doi:10.1186/s13690-019-0339-z
Accepted: 20 February 2019
Ischaemic heart disease mortality
Socioeconomic inequalities


text:
Sharon Lennartson, celebrating 15 years of volunteering!
Sharon Lennartson is celebrating 15 years at volunteering at the Mendota Mdewakanton Dakota Tribal Community.
I have tears of happiness in my eyes as I am writing this.
Today Feb 11, is my 15th wonderful, marvelous, anniversary volunteering for the Mendota Mdewakanton Dakota Tribal Community. Mostly ups with some downs but I suppose that is to be expected. All the people I have come to know and love through the years makes everything worth it.
Bob came to me in a dream after he died. I did not know what he wanted me to do. I know Bob is watching over me and I hope he is proud of me. Bob still comes to me in a dream occasionally.
I guess Bob wanted me to get more involved in the community. Linda was doing a great job. But I think Bob wanted a Dakota woman and me because of all his sisters I was the only one who would and could devote my time. I think he wanted me to follow his vision, and that is what I had to do. I could never fill his shoes. I could never ever come close to what he achieved nor would I try. All I can do is follow his vision, which has become my own these past 15 years. I am so proud of what Bob and Linda accomplished in the first 10 years. Thank you to Jim, Beverly, Mike, Greg, Bruce, Vickie, to many to mention. Thank you to all who helped us get back home to Mendota, to re-establish our families & community. We have maintain our office in Mendota since 1994 that is 25 years and proud of it. We have come close to closing our doors a few times. The creator has always been there for us and we found a place to move. That is NOT easy in Mendota since Mendota is only three blocks long. One left turn one right turn LOL.
Our families have been in Mendota for hundreds of years.
We maintain our office through contributions and donations.
If you would like to make a donation go to our website for the address www.mendotadakota.com
As Bob would always say, BE Dakota Every Day!
Love Sharon
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text:
Bugatti Teases Nonexistent Daydream Car With Photo of Fake Part
The original hypercar maker's next project is a video game pretend car, and until next month all you'll get to see of it is this imaginary air intake.
By Bob Sorokanich
Today, the world's automotive journalists opened their email inboxes to find a little gift from Bugatti, a press release detailing the beloved hypercar company's latest project. This is one of the joys of writing about cars for a living: automakers reaching out with photos and specs for the new cars they're working on, often way before "regular" people get to hear about them.
But this email didn't reveal anything about an actual automobile. No sir. Instead, we got the honor of viewing a single "teaser" image, depicting a NACA-style air intake we're told will appear on Bugatti's Vision Gran Turismo concept—a video game car that will be revealed at the International Motor Show in Frankfurt next month and beamed to your PlayStation sometime after that.
In other words, Bugatti sent out a fake "photo" of an imaginary air intake, to build up hype for its make-believe video game car that will only ever exist in the digital worlds of Gran Turismo. And it won't show us the rest of the daydream-mobile for another month.
What in the blue blazes are you doing, Bugatti?
Look, I understand the appeal of Vision Gran Turismo, I guess. For car designers, it's a chance to flex the old imagination muscles, to dream up a completely fantastic concept unencumbered by regulation, practicality, safety, or frequently, the laws of physics. We've covered a whole bunch of the previous Vision GT concepts, from Chevy, Volkswagen, SRT, Infiniti, and numerous other automakers. We've even test driven a few of them, insofar as you can refer to playing a video game featuring an imaginary daydream car as a "test drive."
But make-believe cars are one thing. Teaser photos? Of video game cars? That will never see the actual light of analog day? C'mon now.
Bugatti's got a crystal-clear goal in mind here: by jumping on the Vision Gran Turismo wagon, it gets to "design" a whiz-bang new hypercar at an infinitesimally small fraction of the price of building even a single real-world concept car. And by drawing out this whimsy-machine's eventual debut over the longest timeframe possible, Bugatti guarantees itself plenty of frenzied, lavish coverage. For drawing up a single image of a fake air intake that will never intake actual, honest-to-goodness air. The sad thing is, it works.
Quit playing these games, Bugatti. Get back to work on the Veyron's replacement. It's hard for us to get excited about your real cars when you're busy playing hard-to-get with fake ones.
Gran Turismo 2 Is Old Enough to Drink
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Art of Rally Is a Beautiful, Minimal Racing Game
F1 Driver Robert Kubica Blasts Around the 'Ring
Fast & Furious 6 Crashed Real Ford Escort RS1600s
Need For Speed Games Have the Best Sound Tracks
This Ford Mustang Has a 12-Valve Cummins Swap
Corvette C8 Drives Around Without Body Panels
What Racing Game Has the Best Intro Scene?
New Bond Trailer Has Obscure Nineties Maserati


Erica Ollmann Saphire, professor at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) and leader of an international consortium to evaluate treatments to combat the Ebola virus, has launched a public appeal to help fund new equipment urgently needed for her research to defeat the virus, which kills up to 90 percent of those infected.
More than 500 individuals have already responded to the challenge, which was launched October 9 with the help of TSRI's Office of Philanthropy. As of October 20, more than $60,000 has been raised toward the $100,000 needed to purchase a key piece of equipment, called a Fast Protein Liquid Chromatography machine, which will enable her team to process the hundreds of antibodies currently arriving in the lab from 25 laboratories in seven countries.
The crowdfunding initiative has been featured in the Los Angeles Times, U-T San Diego, Reuters, Chicago Tribune, Smithsonian.com, AOL News and other print and web publications, as well as numerous television and radio outlets.
To join the effort to support research to find a cure for Ebola, go to CrowdRise.com.
Individuals from across the country are responding to a crowdfunding campaign to support research by Professor Erica Ollmann Saphire and her team to find a cure for Ebola, which is up to 90 percent lethal.


Cinema on the Bayou, Lafayette's annual film festival dedicated to promoting Cajun, Creole, and other roots cultures, is now accepting entries for the 5th Cinema on the Bayou Film Festival to be held January 27-31, 2010, at various venues in the Acadiana area.
Founded in 2005 by Pat Mire, Cinema on the Bayou Film Festival is committed to advancing the understanding of Cajun and Creole cultures through film screenings, film panels and cultural exchanges among French Louisiana, the United States and the Francophone countries of the world. The festival is focused on presenting nationally and internationally acclaimed humanities themed documentaries and filmmakers with truly original voices. Cinema on the Bayou also showcases new, cutting edge, fiction and non-fiction films from around the world in a relaxing environment, laced and embellished with Cajun culture's unique identity markers, exquisite cuisine and great music.
For more information on submitting entries, please visit Cinema on the Bayou's site.