California, which imports over 25% of its electricity from out of state, is in no position to lose half (!) of its entire nuclear power capacity. But that's exactly what happened earlier this year, when the San Onofre plant in north San Diego County unexpectedly went offline. The loss only worsens the broad energy deficit that has made California the most dependent state in the country on expensive, out-of-state power.
Its two nuclear plants — San Onofre in the south and Diablo Canyon on the central coast — together have provided more than 15% of the electricity supply that California generates for itself, before imports. But now there is the prospect that San Onofre will never reopen.
Will California now find that it must import as much as 30% of its power?
The problem of California's energy dependency has been decades in the making. And it's not just its electrical power balance that presents an ongoing challenge. California's oil production peaked in 1985. And despite ongoing gains in energy efficiency via admirably wise regulation, the state's population and aggregate energy consumption has completely overrun supply.
Some will say, however, that California doesn't need to concern itself with domestic energy production. As an innovation economy, in the manner of Japan or South Korea, many have said California can simply import greater and greater quantities of energy in exchange for its intellectual capital and the services and products it provides to the world. But the problem with such a notion is that it extrapolates the trend too far.
Only a century ago, California was an emerging giant of oil and gas production, building much of its wealth from natural resource extraction. It was inevitable that this would change over time. However, given the state's high priced electricity, its wrongly devised transportation system (which is heavily exposed to oil prices), and its deep financial distress, the nation's largest economy is having to exchange greater amounts of capital to keep itself running.
Since 1985 (the year that state oil production peaked above one million barrels a day), the state of California has seen its portfolio of energy production steadily decline, from an all- time high above 3,600 trillion BTU (British Thermal Units) to 2,500 trillion BTU (latest available data is through 2010). Because the contribution from both nuclear and renewables during that period has been either small or simply flat, the steady decay of California's oil and natural gas production has sent the state's energy production to 50-year lows.
However, during those five decades from 1960 to 2010, California's population more than doubled, from nearly 16 million to nearly 38 million people.
Additionally, California built out its freeway system and expanded greatly into counties such as Riverside and San Bernardino. Indeed, in San Bernardino County, population quadrupled from 1960 to 2010, from five hundred thousand to over two million, with the attendant homes, public infrastructure, state highways, and freeways.
This great expansion of California's residential and industrial topography was a tremendous value proposition back when energy, especially oil, was cheap. But now we are in a new pricing era for oil. Equally, California must also pay some of the highest electricity rates in the country. In counterpoint to the dreams of energy conservation, while California's population merely doubled, its electricity demand rose nearly fivefold, from 57 million KWh in 1960 to 258 million KWh in 2010.
Essentially, California, like the rest of the country, has built a very expensive system of transport, which is now aging along with its powergrid.
Surely in the forty years that followed 1960, the prospect that California would have to import greater quantities of fossil fuels and electricity was no cause for alarm. However, the capital that is now required each year to maintain its aging highway system and purchase out-of-state oil and electricity, is mounting. While it's true that California's GDP is mighty and ranks as the 8th largest in the world, it's also true that even smaller US states have seen their energy production not fall, but rather advance, in the era of higher-priced energy. Surprisingly, California's total energy production is now lower than Pennsylvania's, which is an intriguing contrast given that the Keystone State figures so prominently in the history of early oil and coal production.
Who will produce all the energy that California will need to buy in the future?
In the wake of the Fukushima disaster, a number of countries and communities are reassessing the risk and the cost of nuclear power. Overall, however, it is the aggregate complexity of nuclear power that is driving the global stagnation and now the decline of this particular source of energy.
California energy officials are beginning to plan for the possibility of a long-range future without the San Onofre nuclear power plant. The plant's unexpected, nearly five-month outage has had officials scrambling to replace its power this summer and has become a wild card in already complicated discussions about the state's energy future. That long-range planning process already involves dealing with the possible repercussions of climate change, a mandate to boost the state's use of renewable sources to 33% of the energy supply by 2020 and another mandate to phase out a process known as once-through cooling, which uses ocean water to cool coastal power plants, that will probably take some other plants out of service. "Some of the weaknesses we have in the infrastructure [of Southern California] are laid bare by San Onofre," said Steve Berberich, chief executive of the California Independent System Operator, the nonprofit that oversees most of the state's energy grid… Before the current shutdown at the plant, officials had planned only for a scenario in which one of the reactors would be off line. No one had anticipated a complete shutdown. The plant's 2,200 megawatts of power provide electricity to about 1.4 million homes, but the facility also provides voltage support to the transmission system that allows power to be imported from elsewhere to the region San Onofre serves, particularly San Diego.
San Onofre's processing ability has been damaged by faulty computer modeling, which caused excessive and accelerated wear in its steam generator tubes. The cost and timeframe for a solution may be so great that the return on such an investment may not be worth it. But again, note the complexity involved here, which runs the spectrum from computer programming that guides the reactors' operation to the critical role that this southern California power source plays in the grid. In powergrids, nuclear power plants play an infrastructural role but are also critically dependent on receiving power from elsewhere in the grid. As Japan discovered, its own power plant structurally survived the tsunami but failed when it lost external power.
In 2010, the year for which the latest data is available, California consumed 258,531 million KWh (kilowatt hours). 26% of that total was imported mostly from other US states (54,406 million KWh) and a small amount came from Mexico. California's two nuclear plants provided 32,200 million KWh, about 12% of the total power that the state consumes from all sources.
Roughly speaking (because supply, demand, and capacity fluctuate from year to year), the loss of San Onofre will increase California's potential dependency on out of state power by at least another 5%. This will indeed push out-of-state power dependency to 30%.
California, like Texas, has been a giant in the history of US oil production. But after reaching a peak rate of production in 1985-86 at around 1.1 million barrels per day, California now produces half that amount, at 540 thousand barrels per day.
Just as in other post-peak producing regions of the world, such as Mexico and the North Sea, there is a constant flow of hope and theorizing that once again California could increase its oil production. While it's true that opening offshore blocks to development could eventually stabilize and possibly raise the state's aggregate production, it is highly unlikely that onshore production can now be moved higher. The reason is that best technology practices are already well-deployed in California's onshore production — where old, original fields continue to produce, but at much lower rates.
More important is that California now has over 35 million registered vehicles, nearly matching its population. That makes California automobile rich but public-transit poor, as the state remains highly leveraged to gasoline.
Indeed, the post-war buildout of California followed the low-density, urban-sprawl model that was replicated throughout the nation after 1950. Accordingly, cities like Los Angeles are having to make a Herculean effort to resurrect a light rail system (built on the grid of its historic trolley network, once the largest in the world).
But 60 years of automobile-driven development will not be undone easily. The state is already spending a disproportionate amount of capital each year just to maintain the existing highway system (an issue we will explore in Part II of this article). And despite that ongoing investment, Californians drive on roads with some of the poorest conditions in the country.
The spread between the quantity of oil produced in California and the quantity of gasoline consumed started to blow out in the mid 1980s, when gasoline consumption rose above oil production as measured in BTUs. Many believed this to be sustainable. But as the rest of the country would discover, a price revolution in oil would eventually hurt the economy very badly — and, consequently, oil consumption. In BTU terms, the difference between production of oil and consumption of gasoline reached its widest in 2006-2007, when annual consumption was running above 1,900 trillion BTUs and oil production at 1,250 trillion BTUs.
Now consumption, like production, is falling. Will consumption follow production downward, relentlessly?
The prospect that petrol consumption has peaked in California, along with the rest of the United States, is exciting if one is viewing such a transition through the lens of efficiency, sustainability, and post-industrialism. However, the dream of a non-industrial economy, like all good ideas, reaches a terminus when we consider that a majority of human services and products are still delivered and produced through physical processes. The State of California does not deliver state transportation, health care, education, police and fire protection, and public works digitally through the Internet. Instead, energy, delivered through tangible infrastructure, is required to run the Golden State.
In Part II: California: The Bellwether for the Rest of America, we take a look at the severely-pressured state budget of California, as well as other measurements of its economy indicating that the direction of its energy balance is entering dire territory. What exactly is the cost of California's energy consumption? And what does it mean, as companies like Facebook build data centers outside the country to access external sources of electricity, that California cities such as Stockton declare bankruptcy?
There is no miracle solution for California. Even if we assume that the country continues to enjoy cheap natural gas prices, the cost of imported electricity from NG-fired power generation will not fall, because the cost of electricity transmission will continue to rise as the grid ages and requires new investment. Eventually the price level of higher energy and lower quality public services will also catch up even to higher wage employees, because a hollowing-out effect is going to pare down the number of service providers — teachers, merchants, construction workers, and even health care professionals and lawyers.
Such woes, however, are not unique in any way to California. They are shared by most US states right now; California is simply further down the timeline at this point. The key question here is what are the steps Californians (and the rest of us) should be taking?


Coconut water used to be that fun drink you had on vacation — down at the beach, the hot sun on your back, a big bowling ball-sized coconut between your hands, a straw in your mouth. Nowadays, it's in stock at virtually every deli, grocery and specialty food market. And it only continues to gain popularity. Here's the skinny on its nutritional value, and our favorite brands to drink right now.
An average 1-cup serving of plain coconut water contains about 45 calories, 11 grams of carbs and 450 milligrams of potassium. It's free of fat, cholesterol and protein. Check labels on your favorite brand of coco concoctions; added flavorings and sweeteners can turn up the calorie count.
Some might describe plain coconut water as pleasant and refreshing, while others might say it's an acquired taste. It has a mild coconut essence but lacks the robust coconut flavor of higher-fat coconut milk (which is made from a combination of coconut water and coconut meat). Flavored varieties of coconut water are also available, but check ingredient lists for added sugars and artificial sweeteners. If you're feeling creative, coconut water can be used for more than just sipping – check out these 10 fun ways to use it.
There are an increasing number of coconut waters filling up store shelves. Here are some of our favorites.
If you're looking for a fresh, unprocessed jug of coconut water, but you're not ready to fly to a jungle in Thailand, climb a tree, wrestle down a coconut and hack it open yourself, you're in luck. The guys at Harmless Harvest, pioneers of the first line of raw coconut water, are doing it for you. This organic, Fair Trade certified and "raw" (never heat-treated) coconut water uses high-pressure processing to keep it safe to drink. A 1-cup serving contains 56 calories, 1 gram of fiber and 514 milligrams of potassium. Harmless Harvest takes tremendous care in the sourcing and manufacturing of their products and also offers two newly launched flavored coconut waters, Cinnamon Clove (sourced from a plantation in Indonesia) and Cacao (sourced from the Dominican Republic).
Zico products are made from coconuts purveyed from local farms and coconut plantations in Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines. This brand offers convenient resealable packaging for use on the go, plus three varieties of chilled juices. Some are sweetened using fruit juice concentrates and monk fruit extract. You can find this brand at many large chain retailers across the country, as well as online.
Vitacoco brand is also widely available and comes in a variety of flavors, including lemonade, orange, and peach & mango. Instead of added sweeteners, most flavors of Vitacoco contain naturally sweet fruit purees, making a 1-cup serving come in around 60 calories. Brand offerings also include a line of sports drinks, lattes and kids' drinks. Parents are cautioned to read labels, as the kids' drinks are sweetened with sugar.
Blue Monkey is a lesser-known brand, which features 80/20 blends of coconut water and fruit juice. Some flavors are sweetened with agave nectar, and each 1-cup serving contains about 80 calories. They even make a unique dried coconut "instant" powder that can be mixed with water.


In the last one year, since the state government has been toying with the idea of scrapping ULCRA, around 1500 acres of land have been acquired, reports Madhurima Nandy.
The Maharashtra government has decided to repeal the controversial Urban Land (Ceiling and Regulation) Act 1976 much before the earlier stipulated December 2007 deadline.
While the last leg of surplus land acquisition and possession is on in full swing, senior government officials said, adding that if all goes as planned the Act should be repealed in the coming Assembly session in December this year.
Urban Development Principal Secretary Ramanand Tiwari has confirmed that the government was now seriously thinking of repealing the ULCRA by January 2007.
"We can't afford to wait till the end of next year. There are projects worth Rs 12,000 crore which have been submitted before the Centre under the JNURM which are stuck because the ULCRA hasn't yet been repealed."
Tiwari admitted that there was a lot of pressure on the government and the Prime Minister's recent request to repeal the Act has added momentum to the decision.
"Both the Houses need to pass the resolution and then there should be no problem. Land acquisition is going on in full swing."
The ULC department of the state government has created a record of sorts by bringing more than 40 hectares of land under its possession in the month of September alone.
Not only is the department under pressure to rush the process of acquisition and possession of surplus land but it also has to meet the High Court deadline of January 15, 2007, by which 1010 acres of surplus land under the ULCRA needs to be acquired.
"We have to bring another 400 hectares of land under the government's possession before January 15, 2007. In September, we have managed to take the maximum amount of land in possession and will continue doing so for the next few months," said SR Jhondale, Additional Collector, Urban Land Ceiling (ULC) Department.
In the last one year, since the state government has been toying with the idea of scrapping the ULCRA, around 1500 acres of land have been acquired.
Figures provided by the ULC department show that out of the 1256 hectares of land that was declared as surplus in Mumbai, around 740 hectares have been exempted by different state governments under the pretext of providing low cost housing schemes.
Of the remaining 516 hectares, only 106 hectares have been taken under possession by the state. The remaining 412 hectares, which are in question now, have already been acquired but are yet to be given possession notices by the government.


RCW 28A.320.020: Liability for debts and judgments.
Liability for debts and judgments.
Every school district shall be liable for any debts legally due, and for judgments against the district, and such district shall pay any such judgment or liability out of the proper school funds to the credit of the district.


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Nahavand (), Niavande (Nihavand), Neavande (Nehavand), Neavende (Neavend), Naavande (Nahavand) e Naavende (Nahavend) é uma cidade na província de Hamadã, no Irã. É a capital do condado de Nahavand. Segundo o censo de 2016, havia  habitantes. Muito importante ao longo da história, foi sítio da afamada Batalha de Nahavand de 642, que ajudou os árabes em sua conquista do Império Sassânida. Nos tempos gregos, chamar-se-ia Laodiceia.

Etimologia

O nome Nahāvand é provavelmente derivado do persa antigo Niθāvanta-, relacionado ao nome persa antigo Nisāya, derivado do prefixo ni-, que significa "para baixo" e um segundo elemento relacionado ao avéstica si ou say, que significa "para deite-se".

Geografia

Nahavand está situado no oeste do Irã, na parte norte da região de Zagros. Encontra-se a cerca de 90 quilômetros ao sul de Hamadã, da qual está separada pelo maciço da subfaixa . Este maciço garante a Nahavand e seu interior um suprimento abundante de água. Historicamente, estava localizada em uma rota que levava do centro do Iraque através de Quermanxá ao norte do Irã e, portanto, era frequentemente atravessada por exércitos. Outra estrada histórica, vindo de Quermanxá, leva a Ispaã no centro do Irã e evita o maciço de Alvande. Nahavand também fica no braço do rio Gamasabe, que vem do sudeste da vizinhança de Borujerde; de Nahavand o Gamasabe flui para o oeste até o Monte Beistum. Dada a localização de Nahavand, foi o local de várias batalhas e foi considerado importante na história iraniana durante as guerras do Irã com seus vizinhos ocidentais.

História

As escavações realizadas em 1931/2 em  por Georges Contenau e Roman Ghirshman levaram à conclusão de que Nahavand e seus arredores foram habitados desde os tempos pré-históricos. Mostrou que o sítio de Tepe Guiã, que fica a cerca 10 quilômetros a sudeste de Nahavand, foi ocupada de pelo menos  a . Durante o Império Aquemênida , Nahavand estava localizado na parte mais ao sul da Média, na fértil planície de Niseu. O antigo geógrafo e historiador Estrabão escreveu que foi "(re)fundada" pelo xá  . Ficava a cerca de 96 quilômetros de Ecbátana (atual Hamadã), na estrada principal da Babilônia através da Média para Báctria. Sob o Império Selêucida, foi transformado em uma pólis grega com magistrados e um governador. No , uma estela de pedra foi encontrada perto de Nahavand. A estela continha uma cópia da inscrição do culto dinástico do basileu  , que havia criado para sua esposa, a rainha . A estela, datada de , revelou o terminus ante quem da fundação da pólis Laodiceia. De acordo com o polímata Abu Hanifa Dinavari, que floresceu no , sob o Império Arsácida, Nahavand foi a sede do príncipe parta Artabano, que mais tarde reinou como  . Durante o Império Sassânida, o distrito foi concedido à Casa de Carano. Havia também um templo de fogo.

Em 642, durante a conquista muçulmana da Pérsia, uma famosa batalha foi travada em Nahavand. Com pesadas perdas de ambos os lados, acabou resultando em uma derrota sassânida e, como tal, abriu as portas do planalto iraniano para os invasores. No início do período islâmico, Nahavand floresceu como parte da província de Jibal. Primeiro funcionou como centro administrativo do distrito de Mal Baçorá ("Mídia dos Baçoranos"). Suas receitas teriam sido usadas para o pagamento das tropas de Baçorá que estavam estacionadas ali. Geógrafos medievais mencionam Nahavand como um centro comercial afluente com duas mesquitas congregacionais. Quando o viajante árabe do , Abu Dulafe, viajou por Nahavand, notou "ótimos restos dos [antigos] persas". Também escreveu que durante o reinado do califa Almamune , uma câmara do tesouro foi encontrada, contendo dois caixões de ouro. No decorrer dos séculos subsequentes, apenas alguns eventos em Nahavand foram registrados. O vizir persa do Império Seljúcida, Nizã Almulque, foi assassinado em 1092 perto de Nahavand. Segundo o historiador e geógrafo Handalá Mustaufi, que floresceu nos séculos XIII e XIV, Nahavand era uma cidade de tamanho médio cercada por campos férteis onde se cultivavam milho, algodão e frutas. Mustaufi acrescentou que seus habitantes eram principalmente curdos do xiismo duodecimano.

Em 1589, durante a Guerra Otomano-Safávida de 1578-1590, o general otomano  construiu uma fortaleza em Nahavand para futuras campanhas contra o Irã safávida. Pelo Tratado de Constantinopla (1590), os safávidas foram forçados a ceder a cidade aos turcos. Em 1602/3, os cidadãos de Nahavand revoltaram-se contra os ocupantes otomanos. Coincidindo com as revoltas celalis na Anatólia, os safávidas recapturaram Nahavand e expulsaram os otomanos da cidade, restaurando assim o controle iraniano. O governador safávida de Hamadã, , posteriormente destruiu o forte otomano. Na esteira do colapso dos safávidas em 1722, os turcos capturaram Nahavand mais uma vez. Em 1730, foram expulsos por Nader-Coli Begue (mais tarde conhecido como Nader Xá; r. 1736–1747). A morte de Nader em 1747 levou à instabilidade. Ao longo dos próximos anos, Nahavand foi explorada por chefes locais bactiaris. Em cerca de 1752, Carim Cã Zande derrotou o chefe bactiari  em Nahavand.

Bibliografia

Cidades do Império Parta
Cidades do Império Sassânida
Localidades do Irão

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


The EDS Atlantic Challenge fleet make sail changes and position changes in a battle of wits as they head from St. Malo, France towards Cuxhaven, Germany.
This morning the EDS Atlantic Challenge fleet were dealing with fickle winds and strong currents as they sailed away from the coast of France. After a night of numerous sail changes and unsettled winds, and a morning just the same, the fleet has been divided into three groups. Leading the pack and changing positions at the front are Sill Plein Fruit (Roland Jourdain), Ecover (Mike Golding) and Kingfisher (Ellen MacArthur). Behind them Gartmore (Josh Hall) with legendary French sailor Christophe Auguin on board, and Fila (Andrea Scarabelli) were in sight of each other less than a mile apart. Alphagraphics (Helena Darvelid) and La Rage de Vivre (Loic Pochet are at the rear but still in the hunt with the constantly changing conditions providing many opportunities for catching up.
"We had a interesting night with a lot of sail changes," Ellen Macarthur reported in a satellite phone interview. "At one point we had a spinnaker up with 20 knots of wind from behind, but now that wind has died and we are doing six knots and changing sails constantly to keep the boat moving." Earlier in the morning Kingfisher passed an exploded fishing boat that was still smouldering. There was a French warship on standby and the smell of burning fish hanging heavily in the air. Sill Plein Fruit did not see the boat, but were obviously sailing in similar conditions. "We had the whole wardrobe on deck," Gael Le Cleac'h co-skipper on Sill Plein Fruit said referring to their entire sail inventory. "We used every one of our sails to keep our speed up and our position at the front."
Three miles back Gartmore and Fila were in a neck and neck race, crossing tacks and racing the boat as if they were on an America's Cup course. "We have been full-on match racing with Fila all morning pushing each other and changing sails as if the race was going to finish in 10 minutes. We have had no sleep and hardly any food," said Javier Sanso, co-skipper aboard Gartmore. By mid afternoon Sill Plein Fruit, Kingfisher and Ecover were in a dead heat with exactly he same distance to go to the finish.
The yachts will race up the English Channel today and are expected to reach the Strait of Dover by early Thursday morning. The first leg of EDS Atlantic Challenge races to Cuxhaven, Germany and Portsmouth, England before setting off across the Atlantic for Baltimore on the east coast of the United States. From there the fleet sails to Boston and then on to the finish in St. Malo with the first yachts expected to arrive between August 19 and August 22.


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Public Release: 9-Mar-2015
Cancer-linked protein helps control fate of intestinal stem cells
HEIDELBERG, 10 March 2015 - An international group of researchers has shown that a regulatory protein involved in controlling how cancer spreads through the body also influences the fate of stem cells in the intestine of mice. The results, which are published in The EMBO Journal, show that the Snai1 protein plays an important role in deciding the fate of intestinal stem cells and the different functions that these cells can adopt.
"Our results show that Snai1 is a key regulator of crypt base columnar cells, a type of stem cell found in the invaginations or crypts that exist at the base of the many villi found in the intestine," remarked Helen E. Abud, Associate Professor at Monash University and one of the lead authors of the study. "The Snai1 protein has important roles in regulating how these stem cells survive in the intestine, the way in which they proliferate, and also their final fate."
It has been known for some time that different Snai proteins are crucial regulators of the way in which epithelial cells in the intestine give rise to migratory and invasive stem cells that help spread cancer in mice and humans. However the regular day-to-day role of these proteins has been less clear.
The proliferation of intestinal stem cells was compromised when the activity of Snai1 protein was reduced in the epithelial layer that forms the lining of the mouse intestine. Fewer crypt base columnar stem cells were generated. Instead the differentiation of the epithelial stem cells shifted towards cells that adopt secretory roles in the intestine (secretory endocrine and Paneth cells). Depletion of Snai1 also impaired the regeneration of the intestinal epithelium following damage induced by radiation.
"Snai1 acts like a master switch that carefully fine tunes the fate of stem cells in the crypts of the intestine," says Gary Hime, Associate Professor at Melbourne University and one of the lead authors of the paper. "When it is working properly, it orchestrates the regular differentiation and development of the stem cells into the cell types needed by the body. When it goes awry, it enhances the survival of invasive cells, promotes their migration to other tissues and enhances the propagation of tumours. We hope that by studying this balancing act in more detail that we will be able to identify possible intervention points that may prevent the changes associated with the development and spread of cancer in the intestine."
Snai1 regulates cell lineage allocation and stem cell maintenance in the mouse intestinal epithelium
Katja Horvay, Thierry Jardé, Franca Casagranda, Victoria M. Perreau, Katharina Haigh, Christian M Nefzger, Reyhan Akhtar, Thomas Gridley, Geert Berx, Jody J. Haigh, Nick Barker, Jose M. Polo, Gary R. Hime and Helen E. Abud
The paper will be available at 12.00 Central European Time at emboj.embopress.org.
For further information on The EMBO Journal please consult emboj.embopress.org
Barry Whyte
Head | Public Relations and Communications
barry.whyte@embo.org
Thomas Schwarz-Romond
Senior Editor, The EMBO Journal
schwarzr@embo.org
About EMBO
EMBO is an organization of more than 1700 leading researchers that promotes excellence in the life sciences. The major goals of the organization are to support talented researchers at all stages of their careers, stimulate the exchange of scientific information, and help build a European research environment where scientists can achieve their best work.
EMBO helps young scientists to advance their research, promote their international reputations and ensure their mobility. Courses, workshops, conferences and scientific journals disseminate the latest research and offer training in techniques to maintain high standards of excellence in research practice. EMBO helps to shape science and research policy by seeking input and feedback from our community and by following closely the trends in science in Europe.
For more information: http://www.embo.org
@EMBOcomm
The EMBO Journal

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


When I started this blog, I didn't really see myself doing a whole lot of shoe reviews. There are (better) sites devoted to that (see, for example, Runblogger) and I tend to stick with the several shoe models that work for me. Several years ago, while suffering from painful plantar fasciitis in both feet, I made the switch to minimalist shoes and completely revamped my running form. I now (well, until several weeks ago…I'll explain) alternate between a pair of Nike Zoom Streak XC 3s and the original Nike Lunar Racers (harder and harder to find…grrrrr). The Streaks are almost zero drop, extremely light, and are almost always on sale somewhere, so they are inexpensive. The update that Nike recently made was improving the tongue of the shoe – it is now padded and doesn't bunch up at the sides –– and changing the name of the shoe and the colors (although it looks like the most recent release has changed the mesh…hmmm). The essentials of the shoe, however, haven't changed (yay!). If I had a direct line to Nike, I would suggest removing the Zoom Air in the heel –– I would be surprised if there are any heel strikers who wear this shoe for more than several minutes –– for some additional weight saving. Of course, if they did that, they would have just about reinvented the best racing flat of all time, the Nike Eagle. Anyway, going minimal and becoming a forefoot and midfoot striker changed my running for the better: I got faster, my knees stopped hurting, that weird click in my left knee went away, my feet stopped hurting, and I didn't have to take a day off of running every other day. I began to evangelize for minimalist running.
Now, I'm going to shock you. This blog entry is an enthusiastic endorsement of the Hoka One One Bondi Bs. Not exactly a minimal shoe. My family initially called them "the clown shoes," as did I. Ultra marathoners and runners recovering from injuries have embraced the exaggeratedly cushioned Hokas. I had seen some very enthusiastic online reviews and was intrigued, although the price was initially off-putting. Why did I think I needed a pair? Well, despite the joys of minimalist running, my running had stalled of late. I was stuck in a rut and had convinced myself that the cure was more volume. Unfortunately, I was finding that when I increased my mileage my legs began to hurt and I would have to take several days off before I could run again. My overall mileage actually started to decrease. What to do?
I bought (into) the Hokas. I have had them for several weeks and I can unequivocally say at this point that the reviews are true and the hype is real. I am not an ultra marathoner, nor do I have seemingly unsolvable chronic injury problems. Yet, I find the Hokas extremely useful. I don't find that they make running all that much easier, but they make recovery I whole lot faster, which allows for more and better running. After I go for an eight to ten mile run in my Hoka One One Bondi Bs, my legs feel noticeably better immediately after a run (much less fatigued), as well as the next day. They don't feel sore and beat down. I was concerned that the super cushioning of the Hokas would alter my running form and start me back on the slippery slope of heel striking. In fact, the Bondi Bs are my first true zero drop shoes and I found that it only took several hundred meters to get used to them. Despite the cushioning, there is actually some road feel and I found that they seemed to firm up over the course of a run. As everyone reports, they are absolutely fantastic for running down hill. They have a wide base and the super cushioning does a great job of absorbing downhill impact. I found them less ideal for going up hill –– the super cushioning feels like it is adding to the work. Some runners have reported upper tears in the mesh by the toe box. I haven't had this problem and I suspect that Hoka may have addressed this problem in this version of the shoe. The upper is made of a durable mesh and has few overlays, as well as plenty of room in the toe box. This is a very comfortable shoe. The sole durability could be an issue. I immediately saw some wear in the midfoot area that is not protected by more durable rubber on the bottom of the shoe. It is fairly clear that I am striking a bit further back while wearing the Hokas. I still feel, however, that my stride hasn't changed too much. I don't have any chronic injuries, so I can't speak to those who have used the Hokas to restart their running after years of not being able to do it. There do seem to be plenty of remarkable stories out there. I can say, however, that if you are looking to increase your mileage without overly stressing your legs, going the "maxi-minimalist" route with the Hoka One One Bondi Bs could be the way to go.
I had many ideas for this blog entry and it was difficult to seize upon one topic. I was initially excited to try to jump on a recent trend of the last several weeks and name my top five running shoes of all time. It appears that around the holidays, or maybe this is entirely coincidence, various bloggers decide to make lists of their favorite running shoes. I started thinking about this and realized that my attitude towards running shoes has changed a lot as I have gotten older. When I was in high school, I remember being excited about perusing the pages of Runner's World for the latest shoe releases and religiously (and it was a religion) reading the annual "shoe issue." Back then, the idea of buying and wearing the same running shoe model twice was unthinkable. Now, however, if I find something I like, I dread the inevitable update. I recently had to scour eBay for a pair of Nike Lunaracers when I realized that Nike was again updating. Why must they mess with a great pair of shoes? Nike tried this with the Lunaracers once before and there was so much outcry that they had to re-release them in their original form. You are now probably aware that the Lunaracers would make my top five list, although I seldom race in it – too heavy and cushy. It's a great shoe to rotate into the mix when I feel like I need some additional cushioning on a long run or when my legs feel beat. Running shoes are definitely on the agenda for some future blog entries. I have some specific ideas about what makes a good shoe. I am also increasingly alarmed about the cost of running shoes and I am willing to call companies out when I see shoes that try to justify outlandish prices based on ridiculous technology.
Topics also on the horizon include the efficacy of compression sleeves. Do they work, or not? Short answer: I don't know. I have, however, become completely dependent on CEP compression calf sleeves. I have convinced myself that they provided critical support when I was recovering from a tibia stress fracture and I continue to run in them, even when experts tell me that they are only useful during recovery after a run, because they "feel" like they are allowing me to go further, faster. This, of course, could just be due to the fact that I am getting in better shape, although I do seem to be less sore after my long runs. Who knows? I'll do some research and report.
Next, I am planning on writing about pre race meals. Earlier this summer, when I finally went under 20 minutes for a 5K for the first time since high school, I managed to eat at Gene's Fish Fry about two hours before the race. I consumed a fried fish sandwich (of course), French fries, and a large strawberry milkshake. I was not optimistic that this qualified as a responsible pre race meal. I ended up taking twenty seconds off my PR. Was it Gene's, or would I have gotten under 19 minutes if I had not eaten like an idiot? I know much has been written on what to eat before a race, but I am interested in people's specific pre race meal routines. I hope that in the near future we can get a useful and entertaining discussion underway regarding what to eat (and what not to eat…).
This brief mention of food brings me back to what I intended to discuss in today's blog entry. Remember, that I earlier promised to report on the mustard gambit as a way of preventing leg cramps. After having agreed to use myself as a guinea pig, I didn't actually plan to race again for over a month. This past Sunday was the first race in the Hudson Mohawk Road Runners Club Winter Series. I had the choice of 3 miles or 15 K. I went with 3 miles and that was probably a drawback in figuring out if mustard helps to prevent leg cramps. I have only once had cramps in a 5K race and these occurred at the very end in extremely hot and humid conditions. Cramps are usually not a problem for me in shorter races. Remember that one of the theories is that leg cramps can be caused by a deficiency in acetylcholine, the neurotransmitter that stimulates muscles to work. Mustard contains acetic acid, which stimulates the body to produce more acetylcholine.
On Sunday, I woke up about three hours before the race and had a can of coconut water to help hydrate and then about an hour later consumed a banana, a slice of toasted cinnamon-raisin bread spread with Nutella (I couldn't find the peanut butter, which led to a full-scale refrigerator cleaning later in the afternoon, including replacement of the fridge light!), several cups of coffee, and (wait for it) a spoon of mustard. I was planning to have a packet of mustard shortly before I ran, but I completely forgot – great scientific method. It was a good race. My main issue was being slightly underdressed. I need to remember that the thermometer on our back porch does not account for the wind on the SUNY-Albany campus where the races are held. I was wearing a short-sleeved shirt during the race and I really could have gone with long sleeves. I noticed about a mile into it that I was cold. Ideally, you shouldn't notice clothing problems during a race. I also did a little bit of racing during the last mile, back and forth with a fellow runner, and managed to kick it into the downhill finish in 19:40 and 11th place overall. I took 15 seconds off last year's time – always a good sign – but finished just out of the bread. The top two in each age group are awarded coupons for a free loaf of bread at a local bakery – awesome, but I finished third.
Anyway, I didn't experience any leg cramps, but I didn't really expect to. My next opportunity to try out the mustard (that just sounds weird) will be on January 13, 2013. I have the option to run a 10K, so I will have the mustard for breakfast and right before I race and then see what happens. The last time I experienced leg cramps was about four miles into a 10K, so this should provide a good test. I have to admit, however, that other variables have also been in flux. I didn't run in the various Thanksgiving turkey trots because I was concentrating on increasing my mileage. Some steady training may also be increasing my leg strength and endurance, making me more resistant to cramps, perhaps. After Sunday's race, I will again be going for more than a month without racing and I have taken Running Times' latest recommendation to run your easy runs easier to heart. I am using the next month to do more mileage less intensely. Again, this could have an effect on my cramp resistance.
Stay tuned for my upcoming report on mustard therapy, pre race meals, compression socks, and running shoes. I also plan to write a blog entry on running goals for the upcoming year. Putting them out in public might provide some additional impetus to realize them.


OK, we realize "event space" is a pretty broad category. Any random bar or public park can be an event space, right? Yeah. Yeah, we know. Once in awhile, though, you might need to find some space that gives off a certain vibe, whether it be professionalism, or an association with creativity and the arts... or something. And so, some CH picks for solid event space rental options about town.
This century-old former warehouse on Suzhou Creek regularly hosts art exhibitions and events. It's best for large-scale events, with three floors available for rent -- roughly 700-square-meters per floor. The building itself is attractive, with wooden floors and pitched roofs, with the added bonus of a bar and optional catering service. Each story is linked by an industrial-chic steel staircase and exposed brick-work landing. An advantage to this one is that it's available at any hours within the 24-hour day, so this is the one to use for late-night shindigs.
Sample costs: 40,000rmb for one floor; 60,000rmb for two floors. Cost is per day.
Closest metro stop: Hanzhong Lu, 15 minute walk.
Located in central Jing'an, 800 Show is a former factory space that was renovated in 2009 by German architectural studio logon. The entire complex consists of a central hall surrounded by offices inhabited by creative-industry businesses. The central hall is a striking, glass-fronted building that's regularly used to host events, exhibitions and fashion shows. The thing is massive -- rent this one if you've got a "go big or go home" approach -- not to mention budget.
Sample costs: 110,000rmb for the entire building [Updated]. Cost is per day.
Closest metro stop: Changping Lu, 5 minute walk.
The Nut Lab is a multicultural arts and events space aimed at providing a lively space for the consumption of culture. Since 2009, the team there has been curating a diverse array of interdisciplinary exhibitions. It's a versatile space with specialized tools and equipment (ie, for sound, lighting, visual projections, interactive displays, etc.) to develop unique events and exhibitions. The entire space is 200-square-meters, and thanks to The Nut's own regular art exhibits, screenings and creative conferences, it has a favorable reputation among hip, artsy-creative types as a cool venue with an alternative vibe. Yes, bar service is available. 'Course.
Sample costs: 11,000rmb for a full day (10 hours), 7,500rmb for a half day (5 hours). Note, events held on Sundays or public holidays incur an extra 1,000rmb charge, and any overtime hours cost 1,000rmb per hour.
Closest metro stop: Madang Lu, 5 minute walk.
Metis, a qualitative research and creative branding consultancy, rents out its space for events, conferences, market research and seats for co-working. There are two floors -- the lower floor is ideal for smaller events like screenings, conferences and private parties, while the upper floor is good for renting out work space. The bottom level includes two conference rooms, one of which has a one-way mirror that's used for conducting focus group research. There's an outdoor patio lined with plants, lots of windows that flood the place with natural lighting and classy antique Chinese wooden furniture throughout. A solid choice if you're putting together a one-off event that's looking for a more intimate feel.
Sample costs: Variable according to amount of space, length of time, number of attendees, equipment needed, etc. -- contact Metis directly for quotes.
Central Studios' chief service is offering up its several photo studios up for rent, with an in-house team of pros to consult on shooting, styling and post-production. Thanks to its strong association with fashion, photography and local pop culture, though, it's also become a popular venue pick for private functions and public community gatherings. Since a large portion of Central Studios is open space that's meant to be versatile according to the subjects being shot, the events area can be completely changed to fit the needs of the event -- be it a public fair, a film screening, gallery exhibitions, workshops or even runway shows. The CS staff can also help with the creative marketing and production design for events held there.
Sample costs: Variable according to amount of space, length of time, number of attendees, equipment needed, etc. -- contact Central Studios directly for quotes.
Update Dec. 3, 2013: price for 800 Show originally listed as 11,000rmb; correct cost is 110,000rmb.
Update Oct. 29, 2014: The Nut is now closed.


PokerStars may have only been fully operational for a few days within the month of March in New Jersey, but the brand still impacted the online gambling revenues of the state in a major way. Online poker revenues were increased due to PokerStars offering their services, with the brand earning close to $600,000 within less than two weeks of being in operation.
With the help of PokerStars, New Jersey actually set a new record for the month of March in regards to online gambling earnings. The regulators of the state announced this week that March earned $2,461,064 which is just over 10% from March of last year, in online poker earnings. The overall gambling earnings of the state hit $15,507,459 which is 17.8% more than the total gaming revenues earned the year previous.
When taking a look at the first three months of gaming in the state, New Jersey has earned just over $44 million with online poker peer-to-peer gaming reaching over $6.6 million. Both are an increase when comparing year-over-year.
PokerStars soft launched in the state on the 16th of March and then launched fully on the 21st. PokerStars works with Resorts Casino to offer online poker gaming, with online gaming totals for Resorts Digital seeing a nice increase in March, coming in at $1,878,097 which is much higher than the $154,071 that was earned in March of last year.
PokerStars was very successful after launching in the state, taking over as the most played site within one week when comparing cash game numbers with other operators including the WSOP and Party Poker. It will be interesting to watch as PokerStars continues to offer online poker gaming and how they impact the overall revenues in regards to New Jersey online poker as well as overall gaming revenues.


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Anne Speckhard is an Adjunct Associate Professor of Psychiatry at Georgetown University School of Medicine in Washington D.C. Her research focuses on developing counter-terrorism initiatives and understanding the motivations of terrorists.  She is the Director of the International Center for the Study of Violent Extremism (ICSVE).

Research
Speckhard's research focuses on understanding the psychology behind terrorism. She has consulted almost 500 terrorists as well as their family and friends. She created the psychological challenge from the Detainee Rehabilitation Program located in Iraq as well as running the Breaking the ISIS Brand Counternarratives Project. It has been devoted to more than 20,000 detainees and 800 juveniles. Additionally, she has focused on the role of women in terrorist organizations.

Bibliography
Talking to Terrorists (2012)
Fetal Abduction (2012)
Warrior Princess (2013)
Timothy Tottle's Terrific Dream (2014)
Undercover Jihadi (2014)
Timothy Tottle's Terrific Crocodiles (2015)
Bride of Isis (2015)

References

Living people
Year of birth missing (living people)
Place of birth missing (living people)
Georgetown University Medical Center faculty
American women non-fiction writers
Experts on terrorism
American women academics
21st-century American women


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"Grief Is Not Tidy": 'Poor Your Soul' Author Mira Ptacin on Abortion, Loss, and Her Long Road to Publication
By Sarah Seltzer
This week marks the anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the historic Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion in America. As our legal rights and access to abortion continue to shrink, two sides stage rallies and fundraisers, and a new court case threatening Roe's legacy looms in 2016, Mira Ptacin is on tour with her new book Poor Your Soul . This family memoir of loss and love centers around her decision to get a later abortion after learning that the baby she was carrying had defects that were incompatible with life.
Ptacin, now a mother of two, had to contend with some publishers' initial squeamishness about the topic of her memoir, but doesn't want to be considered an "abortion writer." The daughter of an immigrant mother from Poland, she says the lenses she views the world through are "the uterus and the American dream."
The author spoke to Flavorwire about her long road to publication, life as a writer on an island in Maine, and how she connected her own pregnancy loss to her mother's grief over the loss of an adopted son, Ptacin's brother, as a teenager. Flavorwire: This book has been a ten-year journey for you. How did it begin?
strong>Mira Ptacin: I was focusing on nonfiction at Sarah Lawrence. The summer between my first and second year, I found out I was going to lose the baby I was carrying. I was so determined to write a book in grad school because Sarah Lawrence is so expensive. When I found out I was pregnant, I still thought I was going to do it.
I had ten days to make a decision on whether I wanted to terminate, do nothing and miscarry, or induce labor — which would also have been terrifying. During these ten days, I didn't want to face the fact that I did want to terminate, and it was the only choice for me. I felt so guilty for getting pregnant by accident. So I had already been accepted to Squaw Valley writers colony and I decided to go, to be by myself, to be writing. While there, I was working on a story about a murder in my hometown and I had a conference with a writer named Jason Roberts. He said, "If you write this book, you're probably going to be labeled a true crime writer, but what else are you going to write about? Is there anything else going on in your life?" And I was like, "Well, yes."
As a person, he was empathetic, but as my instructor he said, "You need to write about that." I didn't want to just be making it about me, but at the same time I felt I could not escape the story. He said, "When you write about this, you have to write about everything that surrounds it. The choices that lead to these choices."
So then you decided to write about it?
As it was happening and after it happened, all I did was write. It was the only way I could process my feelings at the time. Grief is not tidy, it's so isolating, so I wrote it in present tense. I isolated myself in the second year of grad school because when I came back, I was married, I had been pregnant and lost a baby. I felt like I had aged like ten years. I took my writing seriously because it was the only thing that kept me afloat.
But eventually you ended up expanding the focus of the book?
When I finished the book, I was obsessed with getting it published. I wanted to feel validated, because otherwise, what was this all for? Now I can see that was for nothing, it was life. But I was impatient, I had this sense of urgency. I found an agent, she tried to sell it right away, but publishers were saying, "We can't market a book about abortion." I went through two agents and eventually just sent my book out on my own. I had therapist who said, "Take your manuscript and bury it." I said, "Yeah, I totally did," but actually just kept sending it out. Eventually a friend told me to send it to Soho Press, the [eventual] publisher. I'm pretty sure my pitch included the line "representing myself like a boss." In between the time I wrote it and got it published, I got married, had two kids, moved to Maine, and established a life for myself. But I wasn't going to stop until it happened.
You don't want to be pigeonholed as an "abortion writer," but can you see why pro-choice activists — even this week — are using storytelling as a major tool to end stigma?
Right now, the people who are anti-choice… smoosh everything into a label, and there's no spectrum. So storytelling is the only way to undo that. The more books like this one, the better, because in that context abortion becomes part of a life story. It's similar to other kinds of labels. These these women I teach in Maine at a prison are labeled "prisoners," but each one has a crazy individual story that began when she was tiny.
You ended up connecting the thread of the story to your mother's immigration narrative and the death of your adopted brother when he was a teenager.
When you're writing anything, you have to think about it for a long time. I was trying to piece together what parts of my life should be included. Originally it was just the narrative about the abortion —that book was short and really packed a punch. But it would have been shelved in the feminist corner and preaching to the choir. When I considered who influenced my life — obviously, the answer was my mom. I would talk to my grad school advisors a lot, after all this happened. One asked me, "Is this the first kind of sorrow you experienced?" I said, "No, I lost my brother, he was adopted." So, she said, "Your thesis is about two women who lost a child they wanted to save." I eventually saw that when I talked to my mom. She gave me so much advice because, in fact, she's been through this.
Do you ever feel pressure as a female memoirist writing about your family to leave things out or sanitize them?
I didn't take anyone out of the story. That's partly because I come from a family that's so unfiltered, I cannot be guarded. My husband is not that way at all. He prides himself on being low-profile, aloof, and stoic. He was my first editor and if anybody would be ashamed or upset it would be him. There's even one part where I say "his snoring makes me hate him." But we're just proud we made it through that time, and he's so incredible for letting me put all that in there. When I was writing the book, I was so unfiltered I didn't care. I was really angry, I was like, "Here, world, this is how it feels." I didn't change any of my emotions for the narrative.
Wanted pregnancy, abortion, unwanted pregnancy, pregnancy loss — they all seem to be on more of a spectrum than people realize. It's not just one or the other. That's something that really came through in your story.
When I was pregnant with Simone, my daughter, my most recent arrival, there were moments at the end when I was so so sick of being pregnant. I had four or five weeks to go. I was like, "I love you, I want you to be healthy, but I want you out of here!" Even if you do want a baby and it's planned, you have these natural feelings — they have to be natural, because they exist! I did not want to be pregnant initially with my first child, [but I was still grieving when I lost the pregnancy]. That's why I think memoir is important. It shows that you're just human. As my dad once told me, we're all two steps away from being someone who does something labeled "evil" by others.
In Poor Your Soul, you talk about being a writer in New York City, but now you're living a different life as a writer in Maine. How do they compare?
When I was in NYC, I was constantly surrounded by the literary community. I would go to these readings and be like, "Someday, that will be me." But I got so sick of it. In Maine, we live on this tiny island. My closest friends are biologists and real estate agents and Reiki masters who live around me. I'm lucky that I have a good friend who sends me books that are new , but most of the time I go to the library and take out some random book I've never heard of, some old book I've never read. The pressure is really low. In NYC, I was always feeling a sense of urgency. I'm still sort of shedding that.


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Stephen Zimmermann: The importance of administrative remedies in the fight against corruption
Stephen Zimmermann
Responding to persistent corruption in countries around the world takes more than a commitment to a Convention and adoption of sweeping legislation to achieve meaningful progress. A broad view, an innovative approach and a willingness to look across a wide spectrum of solutions are all critical.
When we hear of corruption, we think a criminal offense. And indeed there is no stronger deterrent than fear of losing one's freedom and spending quality time behind bars. But criminal justice is hard. The stakes are high and the commensurate legal protections provided criminal defendants are justifiably strong. And then you have the crime itself. It is — by its very nature — extraordinarily hard to prove and at times even to detect.
As a result, using the sledge hammer of criminal justice as the primary tool to combat corruption leads too often to frustration and very unsatisfying resolutions. The culpable do not get their just desserts. Worse yet, prevention, always based on deterrence and a well-founded fear of punishment, may be undermined. If history shows that you are likely going to get away with it, then carry on.
We don't have to look far for some compelling examples. Recently, the United States Supreme Court overturned the conviction of Governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia, Bob McDonnell, on the grounds that, although the Governor received loans and lavish gifts from a local businessman, the quid pro quo he received did not, in the view of the Court, involve official acts, that is there was no promise to help secure a favorable decision from the government. As a result, the conviction was overturned.
Another example emanates from a World Bank investigation into allegations that SNC-Lavalin was negotiating to pay bribes to officials in Bangladesh for a $50 million contract in connection with the construction of the Padma Bridge. Based in part on information supplied by the World Bank, Canadian authorities got judicial authorization for a wiretap and search warrants. The investigation culminated in charging several senior SNC Lavalin employees with criminal violations.
At a preliminary hearing the prosecution presented evidence of the corrupt acts by those charged. The transcript of that hearing, now publicly available, confirms that substantial evidence of the corrupt scheme had been collected by Canadian authorities. But the criminal case hit procedural challenges.
First, the Supreme Court of Canada upheld the applicability of the World Bank's privileges and immunities and reversed the trial court's order that the Bank open up its internal files for review. Then the trial court concluded that an earlier court decision to permit the wiretaps had been improperly granted on procedural grounds. That resulted in the exclusion of the critical evidence of corruption that had been described at the Preliminary Hearing;including the notes of the meetings with government officials. Facing a substantially weakened case without this evidence, the prosecutors dropped their criminal charges. Although the technical challenges of a criminal prosecution proved to be too high, the bountiful evidence of corruption remains.
While we must ensure criminal defendants rights are protected and they get the process they are due, we must also make sure that when evidence points to corruption there are appropriate consequences, be they criminal or administrative. In the case of SNC-Lavalin, the administrative process of the World Bank did ultimately succeed in adjudicating the misconduct. Long before the wiretap evidence was thrown out, SNC-Lavalin voluntarily agreed to a ten-year debarment for the company for corruption.
These cases demonstrate that reliance on criminal prosecutions is simply not enough. While it may be the sharpest of arrows in the quiver, it is too likely miss the mark or simply fall short. Thus, it is critical that we look to alternative outcomes and innovative mechanisms to keep raising the cost of corruption. A range of administrative penalties can often be imposed with greater efficiency and face fewer obstacles while still creating huge disincentives for corruption.
The World Bank's sanctions system is but one example. The World Bank has created the first global administrative mechanism, designed to investigate and adjudicate violations of the Bank's own anti-corruption policies in order to help mitigate integrity risks, while still helping our member countries fight poverty.
The most severe sanction that can be imposed is debarment but resolutions can also include conditional non-debarment whereby a party can remain eligible to receive Bank-financed contracts — but only if they fully meet certain conditions. In our experience, conditional non-debarment is extremely useful for making Bank sanctions proportionate to both a firm's misconduct, while also addressing risks still facing the Bank. But it is reserved for select cases; that is where a company chooses to voluntarily reform and proactively disclose misconduct that would otherwise go undiscovered.
To tackle corruption effectively, we must expand our toolkit of alternative remedies that can work in parallel or as alternatives to the traditional criminal justice system. Fortunately, there are a growing number of examples of the use of administrative systems, in addition to the World Bank.
For example, this year Mexico's new law on Administrative Accountability will go into effect. It requires public servants to make public declarations of assets; creates a hiring protocol and an integrity policy that imposes administrative sanctions for administrative violations that include bribery, influence peddling, use of false information, obstruction and collusion.
Criminal convictions for corruption are notorious and usually much more well publicized than administrative remedies that remain the poor step-sister, often known only to the parties and the administrative agency that has gone to the trouble of imposing the penalty.
But were these administrative penalties more widely known they can create just as much of a ripple in the pond as a criminal conviction. Procurement officers would certainly be interested in learning of penalties imposed by colleagues around the world for integrity shortcomings on a firm being considered for a public contract.
To this end, the Bank is creating a "Global Information Sharing Mechanism on Administrative Remedies against Corruption (ARC)." We are collecting and organizing a range of data relating to nationally imposed administrative penalties for corruption. Our intention is to make this database a global good, available to any that are interested. A team of data scientists is now developing a methodology and algorithm for collecting and aggregating the data from around the world, and a prototype will be ready for testing later this year.
To take the fight against corruption forward in an era where technology has given us the tools for radical transparency, we must look outside the box and continue to add new arrows to our quiver. Broadening the use and impact of administrative remedies is just one idea among many, but shows great promise in promoting proper incentives and raising the bar of integrity.
Stephen Zimmermann is the Director of Operations at the World Bank Integrity Vice Presidency.
Post Tags: Canada, Governor Bob McDonnell, SNC-Lavalin, World Bank
keith henderson
Great article and ARC is a great idea Steve! I hope the Bank will also support efforts to create ARC's of varying kinds in the developing countries where it does business. These countries need to rely more on administrative mechanisms and sanctions more than anyone given the reality that many of their justice systems are either systemically corrupt, captive by governments, big business or the elites or too weak to render fair and impartial justice. We also have learned that imposing anti-corruption conditionality in some cases is a necessary incentive and strategic guidepost that promotes more transparency, accountability and citizen action.
Russ Geoffrey
Terrific article Steve! I look forward to the ARC. Convincing investigators and prosecutors of the value of administrative remedies has always been a challenge, particularly as these remedies are outside of their control and are not as public. Nonetheless, their impact is often more substantial than any criminal or civil action, and longer lasting. Keith's comment is right on point as to some foreign judicial systems. Statistics regarding enforcement of the OECD Convention on Combating Bribery indicate that while many countries have signed up to the anti-bribery convention, enforcement still lags, for many of the reasons you both point out.
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I fully agree with the fundamentals your article. In the case of my country, I am particularly concerned about Argentina's current bill (in Congress since October 2016), which relies entirely on the criminal justice system to sanction legal entities for corruption-related crimes. Thank you for putting it so clear!
Judd L. Kessler
I agree completely with your thesis – but in many countries the problem is that no such administrative remedies exist or if they do, they are not timely – and therefore, for practical purposes, irrelevant. My article in the recent Columbia Law School-sponsored American Journal of international Arbitration focuses a lot of effort to zero in on that point. I will try to e-mail it to you. if you have comments, please let me know.
Judd Kessler


Georges St-Pierre is one of, if not, the greatest MMA fighters of all time. His accomplishments in the sport are second to none. Yet he still has interest in coming back for one more fight. His opponent is what remains a mystery. So here we will discuss the possible opponents he may face when, or if, he returns.


The chart above illustrates how world population has changed throughout history. View the full tabulated data.
Wonder how big was the world's population when you were born?
Population in the world is currently (2018-2019) growing at a rate of around 1.07% per year (down from 1.09% in 2018, 1.12% in 2017 and 1.14% in 2016). The current average population increase is estimated at 82 million people per year.
Annual growth rate reached its peak in the late 1960s, when it was at around 2%. The rate of increase has nearly halved since then, and will continue to decline in the coming years. It is estimated to reach 1% by 2023, less than 0.5% by 2052, and 0.25% in 2076 (a yearly addition of 27 million people to a population of 10.7 billion). In 2100, it should be only 0.09%, or an addition of only 10 million people to a total population of 11.2 billion.
World population will therefore continue to grow in the 21st century, but at a much slower rate compared to the recent past. World population has doubled (100% increase) in 40 years from 1959 (3 billion) to 1999 (6 billion). It is now estimated that it will take another nearly 40 years to increase by another 50% to become 9 billion by 2037.
1965 3,339,592,688 1.94 % 61,276,032 23 4.96 22 N.A. N.A.
1955 2,772,242,535 1.80 % 47,193,563 23 4.96 19 N.A. N.A.
The current world population is 7.7 billion as of April 2019  according to the most recent United Nations estimates elaborated by Worldometers. The term "World Population" refers to the human population (the total number of humans currently living) of the world.
According to the United Nations, the 6 billion figure was reached on October 12, 1999 (celebrated as the Day of 6 Billion). According to the U.S. Census Bureau instead, the six billion milestone was reached on July 22, 1999, at about 3:49 AM GMT. Yet, according to the U.S. Census, the date and time of when 6 billion was reached will probably change because the already uncertain estimates are constantly being updated.
1 - 1804 (1803 years): 0.2 to 1 bil.
It was written during the 1970s that 75% of the people who had ever been born were alive at that moment. This was grossly false.
Assuming that we start counting from about 50,000 B.C., the time when modern Homo sapiens appeared on the earth (and not from 700,000 B.C. when the ancestors of Homo sapiens appeared, or several million years ago when hominids were present), taking into account that all population data are a rough estimate, and assuming a constant growth rate applied to each period up to modern times, it has been estimated that a total of approximately 106 billion people have been born since the dawn of the human species, making the population currently alive roughly 6% of all people who have ever lived on planet Earth.
The world population counter displayed on Worldometers takes into consideration data from two major sources: the United Nations and the U.S. Census Bureau.
The United Nations Population Division of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs every two years calculates, updates, and publishes estimates of total population in its World Population Prospects series. These population estimates and projections provide the standard and consistent set of population figures that are used throughout the United Nations system.
The World Population Prospect: the 2017 Revision provides the most recent data available (released on June 21, 2017). Estimates and projected world population and country specific populations are given from 1950 through 2100 and are released every two years. The latest revision has slightly increased the near term increases and adjusted some past data. The previous revision, in 2015, had already revised upwards the world population projections. Worldometers, as it is common practice, utilizes the medium fertility estimates.
Data underlying the population estimates are national and sub national census data and data on births, deaths, and migrants available from national sources and publications, as well as from questionnaires. For all countries, census and registration data are evaluated and, if necessary, adjusted for incompleteness by the Population Division as part of its preparations of the official United Nations population estimates and projections.
The International Programs Center at the U.S. Census Bureau, Population Division also develops estimates and projections based on analysis of available data (based on census, survey, and administrative information) on population, fertility, mortality, and migration for each country or area of the world. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, world population reached 7 billion on March 12, 2012.
For most countries adjustment of the data is necessary to correct for errors, omissions, and inconsistencies in the data. Finally, since most recent data for a single country is often at least two years old, the current world population figure is necessarily a projection of past data based on assumed trends. As new data become available, assumptions and data are reevaluated and past conclusions and current figures may be modified.
For information about how these estimates and projections are made by the U.S. Census Bureau, see the Population Estimates and Projections Methodology.
The above world population clock is based on the latest estimates released on June 21, 2017 by the United Nations and will show the same number wherever you are in the world and whatever time you set on your PC. Worldometers is the only website to show live counters that are based on U.N. data and that do not follow the user's PC clock.
Visitors around the world visiting a PC clock based counter, see different numbers depending on where they are located, and in the past have seen other world population clocks - such as the one hosted on a United Nations website and on National Geographic - reaching 7 billion whenever their locally set PC clocks reached 4:21:10 AM on October 31, 2011.
Obviously, the UN data is based on estimates and can't be 100% accurate, so in all honesty nobody can possibly say with any degree of certainty on which day world population reached 7 billion (or any other exact number), let alone at what time. But once an estimate is made (based on the best data and analysis available), the world population clock should be showing the same number at any given time anywhere around the world.


text:
Dick Smith and Richard Allen Burns
TEXAS EDUCATION AGENCY. In 1949 the legislature abolished the former State Board of Education and the office of State Superintendent of Public Instruction, and the Gilmer-Aikin Laws established the Texas Education Agency as the state's administrative agent to supervise the public school system. In 1972 the agency was composed of the State Board of Education (which included the State Board for Vocational Education), the Commissioner of Education (selected by the board), and professional, technical, and clerical staffs. The State Board of Education, authorized by a constitutional amendment in 1928 and organized in 1929, superseded earlier ex officio boards established in 1876 and 1866. Before the passage of the Gilmer-Aikin Laws, the board was composed of nine members, appointed by the governor for six-year terms. Later, under the 1949 statute, it was composed of twenty-one members elected for six-year terms, with one member being elected from each congressional district of the state as they were constituted in 1949. The State Board of Education was the policy-forming body for the public schools; it adopted operating budgets on the basis of legislative appropriations, established regulations for the accreditation of schools, executed contracts for the purchase of textbooks to be used in the public schools, and invested the Permanent School Fund. The Commissioner of Education, appointed by the board for a four-year term, was the secretary of the board and the chief executive officer of the Texas Education Agency. One of the commissioner's many duties was the issuance of teachers certificates. The professional, technical, and clerical staffs of the Texas Education Agency were under the direct supervision of the Commissioner of Education. In general, the agency set standards and supervised the public schools of the state. Funds from the federal government for programs related to public education were handled through the Texas Education Agency. It also administered the Texas School for the Deaf, the Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired, and the state's vocational rehabilitation program. (see SPECIAL SCHOOLS AND SPECIAL EDUCATION DIVISION.) Education reforms in 1984 changed the scope and direction of TEA, which was responsible for carrying out the goals of reform; six years later, acting on a call from local educators for greater flexibility and freedom from restrictions inhibiting local efforts to improve student achievement, such reform shifted from a top-down, compliance-based concept to one stressing flexibility with accountability. Accordingly, TEA reorganized to make it more client-centered and field-based, emphasizing communication between local school districts and TEA through the newly established Field Service Unit and strengthening accountability and coordination with the state's twenty regional education services. In 1987 the legislature established the Legislative Education Board to oversee the implementation of state-mandated education reforms and to set public education policy, which TEA and the State Board of Education implement. TEA's divisions and their respective functions are: the Field Services Department, which provides communication between local school districts and the commissioner of education; the Department of Curriculum and Assessment, which administers the divisions of curriculum development, instructional outcomes assessment, and professional educator assessment; the Department of Professional Development, which focuses on achieving a comprehensive professional development system; the Office of Programs and Instructions, which supervises the division of accelerated instruction, bilingual education, special education, services for the deaf, and migrant education; the Office of Accountability, which supervises activities related to accreditation, student achievement analysis, compliance analysis, school district governance, special investigations, and institutional development; the Office of School Support Services, which directs policy development and supervises activities related to school support, audits, technology applications, and resource planning; and the Office of Operations, which provides services for all TEA employees and departments.
Vertical Files, Dolph Briscoe Center for American History, University of Texas at Austin.
State Officials and Agencies
Texas Post World War II
Handbook of Texas Online, Dick Smith and Richard Allen Burns, "TEXAS EDUCATION AGENCY," accessed January 21, 2020, http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/met02.


text:
Undiscovered Scotland
See & Stay
Area Main Page
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Area Index
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Copyright, T & C
North Lanarkshire Council Offices
The large town of Motherwell lies on the east side of the Clyde Valley and of the M74 motorway a dozen miles south east of Glasgow. It's difficult to believe today, but until the arrival of the railway in the 1830s Motherwell barely existed.
There had certainly been people living in the area from a very early date. The name comes from an ancient religious well, the Mother's Well, dedicated to the Virgin Mary. Today its site is marked by nothing more than a plaque in Ladywell Road.
Even further back in time, the Romans ran their main road to central Scotland along this side of the Clyde Valley, crossing the South Calder Water at a spot on the north west side of today's Motherwell. Here they built a fort and a bath house, though they didn't stay in Scotland for long.
So, by the 1830s, the area comprised assorted farming communities and the estate of Jerviston House, plus a tiny hamlet called Motherwell around the crossroads between the road following the Clyde, and the one running from Edinburgh to Hamilton and beyond. And then the railways arrived and everything changed. The first to arrive did so in 1833, and from 1849 Motherwell became a junction station with a direct link to Glasgow. Another line was added in the 1870s, crossing the Clyde.
The town's excellent communication links led to the development of a number of major iron and steel works on the north east side of the town. A wide range of other heavy engineering companies were established in the same area, building everything from munitions (a good business to be in during the First World War), to bridge components, to trams. By the 1930s most of Scotland's steel production, including that in Motherwell, was in the hands of the Coleville family, and it remained so until the steel industry was nationalised in 1967.
In 1959 the government persuaded the Colevilles to begin work on a vast new steelworks, which was to become Ravenscraig, occupying much of the land to the north east of Motherwell. By 1961, 1.2 million tonnes of iron was emerging from Ravenscraig's blast furnaces each year: more than the total production of Scotland's industry in the 1800s. After nationalisation of the industry, the British Steel Corporation raised production of the blast furnaces further, producing 3 million tonnes each year from the early 1970s. By the mid 1970s employment in BSC's various plants on the east side of Motherwell reached 13,000 people.
The 1980s brought catastrophic decline. The steel strike of 1980 lost BSC important markets, and this was followed by the closure of the Linwood car factory in 1981 and the Bathgate truck factory in 1986, both very important customers. By 1989 Ravenscraig employed just 3,200 people. Worse was to follow. 400 years of Scottish ironmaking came to a close on 24 June 1992, when Ravenscraig closed: the iconic gasholder bearing the Ravenscraig name was demolished in July 1996. Today only the Dalzell Plate Mill remains of Motherwell's once thriving iron and steel industry, rolling steel brought by train from Middlesbrough into plate steel of various shapes and sizes: and even this was mothballed for a time.
The huge area once occupied by the Ravenscraig Steelworks has been steadily cleaned of industrial pollution and seems likely to end up being reused to provide a new regional centre, significantly expanding the Motherwell you see today. And that is a Motherwell that has moved on from its reliance on heavy industry: though as a visit to its beautiful Heritage Centre shows, without forgetting its past.
Dalzell Plate Mill
Motherwell Heritage Centre
Roman Catholic Cathedral
Gospel Literature Outreach
The Brandon Centre
South Dalziel Parish Church
Crest on the Old Dalzell Offices
Copyright Undiscovered Scotland © 2000-2021


text:
Tenino Railroad Day to Feature Renovated 1923 Caboose, Music and More
From left to right, Michael Falcone, Fae Wiedenhoeft and Adam Chambers pose in front of the caboose when in it was still in Bothell.
The first step in the caboose restoration was stripping away the rotted wooden structure.
Don Bowman stands on a ladder while re-enforcing the wall frame. Photo courtesy of Don Bowman.
Fae Wiedenhoeft sits with her music students in front of the caboose in Bothell when she would use it for music lessons. Photo courtesy of Fae Wiedenhoeft.
Don Bowman works on repainting the Great Northern Railway's logo on the side of the caboose.
The interior stands pristine as it is now ready to give museum-goers an idea of what it was like on the railways almost a century ago. Photo courtesy of Don Bowman.
Posted Monday, September 5, 2022 3:23 pm
By Owen Sexton / owen@chronline.com
The first Tenino Railroad Day is coming up on Sept. 17 and will feature a ribbon-cutting ceremony that will signal the reopening of a caboose at the Tenino Depot Museum.
The caboose has been completely rebuilt from the ground up in a two-year renovation process undertaken by Don Bowman, of Olympia, and Jan Wigley, of Centralia.
In a phone interview with The Chronicle, Bowman said he had originally undertaken the task of breathing new life into the caboose after some of the Tenino City Council members asked him for assistance.
"The mayor and I and a couple of guys from the city went through the caboose with an ice pick, like you were buying a wooden boat, and 99% of the major (wooden) structure was rotted," Bowman said.
While he was skilled in carpentry himself, he quickly realized it wasn't just the wooden components that would need work but a lot of metal parts as well.
"Jan was my go-to metal guy. He's an all around handy dude. He's a good welder and a good metal fabricator and that's what I needed," Bowman said.
Many of the original metal parts on the caboose, such as the stairs and ladder handles, had to be completely refabricated by Wigley. Having Wigley's extra shop space was also an asset as many large components had to be completely rebuilt.
Unfortunately, even with the extra shop space, some of the wooden components had to be sourced directly from mills.
"All the lumber for the walls had to be cut at a mill, because we couldn't go to Home Depot and buy the sized lumber pieces they used in 1923," Bowman said.
The caboose was originally produced in 1923 by the Great Northern Railway and was used mostly in the Eastern Washington area on the rails around Spokane.
"It was built in St. Paul, Minnesota in 1923. There were 14 of them built that year there all by the Great Northern Railway. They had their own carpentry force. They had their own metal workers. Railroads back in those days built their own freight cars and locomotives. They did everything," Bowman said.
Not all the parts needed to be fabricated or replaced though, as Bowman was able to purchase parts from various museums such as the Mid-Continent Railway Museum in North Freedom, Wisconsin. And Wisconsin ended up not just being a source of parts, but of blueprints, too.
"We found them with a gentleman up in North Freedom, Wisconsin. He was a member of their rail museum up there and he had a caboose that was built in 1924, the year after ours was built, and he had a set of blueprints," Bowman said.
Despite not being from the same year, Bowman said he knew through research that the design didn't really change between the two years and the blueprints were a big help in his own renovation of the 1923 caboose.
The blueprints enabled him to strip the entire caboose down to the frame and wheel assemblies and completely restore it to the condition it was in when it was officially taken off the rails in 1967.
Bowman said cabooses had many uses but mainly were the conductor's office or a makeshift break room for other train employees.
Of course, before the addition of radios, this meant that if the conductor saw a danger and felt the need to stop the train, they would have to run the length of the train in order to get the engineer to put the brakes on. The addition of the conductor's valve in the caboose enabled the conductor to hit the brakes without having to make that sprint; however, that was one component that gave Bowman trouble during his search for parts, until he stumbled on one close to home.
"We were searching everywhere for this part, even went to Canada to search at some museums up there. My friend in Wisconsin who had the blueprints had a guy that came to him looking for parts for a lantern and he actually had a conductor's valve, and he lived in Morton, Washington," Bowman said.
The man in Morton gave him the valve for free. Bowman said a lot of other locals from the area helped in various ways with rebuilding the caboose, from painting to roofing. It all was provided with great discounts or at no charge at all in some cases.
Before coming to Tenino and being restored, the caboose was owned and on display at the Country Village Shops up in Bothell. That's where the local Seattle band SeaStar began to practice in it and where SeaStar lead singer Fae Wiedenhoeft also used to hold music lessons.
"It was acquired by the village I want to say in the '80s by the family that owned the village. I didn't start renting the caboose until 2010 when I opened my little music school there called Syren's Voice where I taught voice lessons and guitar lessons," Wiedenhoeft said in a phone interview.
Wiedenhoeft would also host parties in the caboose and shoot music videos with SeaStar in it. She's written at least 100 songs in it, including the song "On the Sea," which SeaStar will perform at Tenino Railroad Day to help commemorate the caboose. The song recently won the Seattle Propeller Club's "stories of the sea" contest.
"That space was just a beautiful little area. It was my studio, it was where I created and where we practiced, and I was pretty much there six out of the seven days of the week," Wiedenhoeft said.
Wiedenhoeft said although she felt the old wooden furnishing of the caboose had a lot of spirit, she can't wait to see how it's been restored.
"We're looking forward to meeting everyone and seeing our old friend. I'm glad that someone saved her (the caboose), because we weren't sure what was going to happen to her," Wiedenhoeft said.
Festivities at the Tenino Railroad Day will start at 10 a.m. Aside from the ribbon cutting, there will also be historical exhibits and activities revolving around the railroad, local vendors, food and live entertainment, including SeaStar's performance.
Events will occur at the Tenino City Park as well as the Tenino Depot Museum located on 399 West Park Ave.


text:
Q: Session value saved to database in yii In the form when I echo the session value it is prompted no errors, but when I try to save it on the database in the model the value is not saved.
Here is my view:
(I just posted here what I think is needed.)
 <?php
 $userid = Yii::app()->session['iduser'];
 echo $userid;
 ?>

Here is my controller:
The contentid, title and content are saved in the database only the userid is my problem. In my database I set the userid as int(11) not null
public function actionContent(){

$model=new ContentForm;

    if(isset($_POST['ContentForm'])) {
        $model->attributes=$_POST['ContentForm'];
        if($model->save())
        $this->redirect(array('content','contentid'=>$model->contentid));
        $this->redirect(array('content','title'=>$model->title));
        $this->redirect(array('content','content'=>$model->content));
        $this->redirect(array('content','userid'=>$model->userid));
        }

    $this->render('content',array('model'=>$model));
}

And here is my model:
 <?php

  class ContentForm extends CActiveRecord{

public $content;
public $title;
public $userid;

public function tableName(){
     return 'tbl_content';
}

public function attributeLabels(){
    return array(
        'contentid' => 'contentid',
        'content' => 'content',
        'title' => 'title',
        'userid' => 'userid',
    );
}

public function rules(){
    return array(
       array('content, title, userid', 'safe'),
    );
  }
}

A: Your user id Stored in Session it can accessed anywhere in the MVC
Try this on your controller
public function actionContent(){

$model=new ContentForm;

    if(isset($_POST['ContentForm'])) {
        $model->attributes=$_POST['ContentForm'];//The post values
        $model->userid=Yii::app()->session['iduser'];
        if($model->save())
        $this->redirect(array('content','contentid'=>$model->contentid));
        //$this->redirect(array('content','title'=>$model->title));
        //$this->redirect(array('content','content'=>$model->content));  //Why this to many redirects here the first redirect only works here
        //$this->redirect(array('content','userid'=>$model->userid));
        }

    $this->render('content',array('model'=>$model));
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


Product description: HERE ARE THE TOP WEB SITE DESIGN MISTAKES LAWYERS MAKE. Many lawyer web sites are built to impress other lawyers. They don't pay your bills. Clients do.
Many law office web sites are clearly built to impress other lawyers.
Lawyers are not your clients.
YOUR WEB SITE MUST TALK TO YOUR POTENTIAL CLIENTS.
Tell them what you will do to solve their problem.
Tell them why you are better.
Do you offer free half hour consultations? Say so.
Free parking? Say so. Special hours? Say so.
Wasted home page screen by putting meaningless big pictures of office towers or landscapes scrolling across the top of your web site home page.
Those sites are wasting the most important spot on their web site. Instead, put useful information that clients need to know about your law practice at the top of your page "above the fold."
There is a fad to produce a long scrolling one page web site. Don't do it.
Treat your site as a type of magazine, and put different topics on different pages.
Easier on readers, and far, far better for your search engine ranking.
HERE ARE THE TOP WEB SITE DESIGN MISTAKES LAWYERS MAKE.
Many lawyer web sites are built to impress other lawyers. They don't pay your bills. Clients do.
A web site is closer to a magazine in its function than to the latest crash and burn, special effects movie.
Just because something can be done, does not mean it should be shovelled into a web site.
Programmers do not know or understand design or copy writing, let alone advertising. Use an advertising expert to design your web sites.
Keep your site simple, gimmick free and it will always be viewable and usable by the widest cross section of viewers.
DO NOT USE SOUND on web sites unless you want to alienate most of your viewers. The one exception of course is videos but only where the visitor controls the playback.
Why blast sounds at someone who may be in an open office, on the phone, surfing late at night or in a library?
You have probably heard that some cities are playing classical music in parks to drive away teen age gangs. Inappropriate or unwanted music on your web site has the same effect.
Forcing your choice of music on some innocent viewer is nothing short of idiotic. What sheer stupidity makes someone impose their "taste" in music on a stranger?
If people want music, they will choose their own.
Anything that pops up is a nuisance. If it is important, put it where it belongs, right on your web page.
Links to another page or section may be an exception, Sometimes you want to show the reader more information but keep the current page open. Opening a second page is a good way to do this.
If the page is more then two or three screens long, it is too long. Break it up.
First do not fall for those SEO scams promising first page position on Google. They are lying.
Getting position on the search engines is not simple. In Canada there are some 75,000 lawyers and 10,000 paralegals wanting top ranking. Even your surname is probably shared by several other lawyers as well as the general population.
You must include properly done meta tags, keywords and titles, tags on pictures and so on to tell the search engine what is important about your site.
Just submit your finished site to Google and let nature take its; course. Update and change your sites often. "NEW" counts. Stale sites slide down the rankings into oblivion.
You now need to submit a sitemap to Google. RELAX.
You probably have one called www.yourdomain.com/sitemap.xml.
Try submitting that and see what happens. It should work perfectly. Simply upload it to your web host server where your web site resides. Google will find it.
Double check your spelling and grammar. Mistakes prove you are an amateur and make your site and company look ignorant. Do not rely on your spell checker.
Nothing worse than using "your" instead of "you're". It screams ignorant and illiterate.
Clients do not care about your clubs, your schools or your family Leave that useless information at the bottom of a profile page.
Review your site monthly for outdated information and either update it or dump it. If in doubt, dump it. Bad information, broken links, overlapping text, inter alia, will undermine the credibility of your entire site.
Make it easy for people to find the information on all your pages. Include an on site search engine, table of contents or site map and good navigation bars or aids.
Make certain all your pages are clearly identified as being part of your site. Include a link to your home page, email contact and a basic navigation bar on every page. Post your phone number at the top of every page and make it click able (swipe-able?) on phone pages.
Check your site for broken or moved links regularly. Repair or remove them.
If you need help CanLaw offers a service to automatically check your web site and report all broken links on a regular basis.
Pages can be optimized for download speed.
You only have about three seconds to capture or lose your viewer.
How dare you interfere with your viewer's operation of his/her system?
Removing or restricting the users' controls mis-using Java Script or other features to eliminate tool-bars, back and forward buttons and various other features is both inconsiderate and rude. Never force your gimmicks on your visitors, particularly when your preferences override the user's chosen settings.