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Aquaculture science and research
Canadian Aquaculture R&D Review
Canadian Aquaculture R&D Review 2013
(PDF, 1.8 MB)
Finfish – Freshwater
Finfish – Salmon
Finfish – Marine
Environmental Interactions
CIMTAN
Shellfish: Mussels
Shellfish: Oysters
Shellfish: Other
Development and assessment of a sea lice removal system for farmed salmon
During the sea water production cycle, farmed Atlantic Salmon ( Salmo salar ) sometimes get infected with sea lice — most often Lepeophtheirus salmonis , a naturally occurring parasite in the north Pacific region. A costly chemical therapeutant is the most common treatment used. Fish pumps and airlift systems for grading and moving farmed fish are used routinely in aquaculture. However, modification of these types of systems specifically for the removal of sea lice is novel. The primary objective of this pilot project is to: 1) incorporate modifications to existing 'grading' systems to produce an effective mechanical sea lice removal and collection system; and 2) to assess the new system in the field under normal production conditions.
In summary, the study showed that mechanical removal of sea lice by water jets built into an industry-standard grading device may be a valuable tool in managing sea lice. The initial prototypes were able to remove all stages of sea lice with little to no scale damage to the fish and did not result in any change in mortality but were not effective in reducing the sea lice levels significantly below the threshold levels required to eliminate the need for chemical treatment. A subsequent prototype marginally achieved the threshold level of reduction, suggesting that further modifications may result in more effective removal.
nov. 2011 – feb. 2012
Funded by: DFO – Aquaculture Innovation and Market Access Program (AIMAP) co-funded by: Diversified Aquaculture Inc.; Smith Marine Services; Grieg Seafood BC Ltd.; Centre for Aquatic Health Sciences (BC CAHS)
project lead: Odd Grydeland (Diversified Aquaculture Inc.)
Project team: Henrik Kreiberg (DFO); Daryl Smith (Smith Marine Services); Sonja Saksida (BC CAHS); Barry Milligan (Grieg Seafood BC Ltd.)
Contact: Odd2@shaw.ca
Barnes Bay sea lice removal. Photo: Odd Grydeland (Diversified Aquaculture Inc.)
Can sea lice carry and transmit bacterial and viral pathogens to salmon?
The role of ectoparasitic sea lice in disease propagation (as a possible vector) or progression (impacts on the host's immunology) has not been described. Our research has been conducted in two phases: 1) experimental testing of the vector potential of sea lice — acquisition and transfer of bacteria ( Aeromonas salmonicida ) or infectious haematopoietic necrosis virus (IHNV) between salmon; and 2) examination of the changes (genetic and cellular) in immune response of salmon skin as a result of sea lice feeding. Our results demonstrated sea lice can acquire the bacterium, Aeromonas salmonicida or virus (IHNV) from a water bath or from feeding on infected salmon. They can then transfer that bacterium or virus to uninfected fish. However, successful transfer only occurred when three conditions were present: very high concentration of pathogen (higher than found in nature), very low water dilution and young salmon (< 200 g) as hosts. Furthermore, the virus and bacteria remain associated with sea lice for limited duration, 24 and 120 h, respectively. Thus, the probability of sea lice transferring these pathogens among salmon under natural settings is extremely low. Our immunological research demonstrated significant differences in the response of key immune associated genes in the skin of three salmon species (Atlantic, Pink, and Chum) when infected by sea lice. Sea lice secretions affect various components of a fish's immune system. At a genetic level, gene expression (i.e., genes turned "on") is enhanced among resistant fish (e.g . , Pink Salmon); whereas, more susceptible species (e.g., Atlantic Salmon) show depressed immune gene activity (i.e., genes are turned "off" or blocked). Similarly, at the cellular level, the function of key immune cells (macrophages) was impaired among susceptible salmon (Atlantic and Chum), but not among resistant species (Pink). As a final note, we are quite pleased that this project involved considerable student training; 1 post-doctoral fellow, 3 graduate, and 9 undergraduate students.
may 2009 – aug. 2012
Funded by: NSERC Strategic Grant co-funded by: DFO; Marine Harvest Canada; Centre for Shellfish Research (VIU)
project lead: Duane Barker (VIU)
Project team: Eva Jakob, Laura Braden, Colin Novak, Danielle Lewis (VIU); Simon Jones, Kyle Garver, Stewart Johnson (DFO); Diane Morrison, Brad Boyce (Marine Harvest, Canada); Ben Koop (UVic); Scott McKinley (UBC)
Contact: duane.barker@viu.ca
Inoculating a plate with sample material. Photo: Duane Barker (VIU)
Monitoring and modelling of sea lice interaction with wild and farm salmon in the Broughton Archipelago
The interaction of sea lice with farmed salmon and wild salmon has been the focus of international concern for at least a decade. Health and growth performance issues associated with sea lice infestations continue to be a significant concern for the salmon farming industry globally, driving the implementation of preventative measures in areas where there is the threat of infestation. Since 2003 British Columbia salmon farming industry had been monitoring and reporting sea lice information to government authorities as part of a broader program known as the Provincial Sea Lice Management Strategy, and more recently, in accordance with licensing conditions. In addition to regular monitoring, treatment trigger levels were established in 2003 which are comparable to other international jurisdictions. Concurrently with this management strategy, ten years of intensive research evaluating the effects of farmed-derived sea lice on wild salmon have resulted in a substantial improvement of our knowledge of sea lice biology (genetics, life history, distribution, abundances, and tolerances) and of the susceptibility and resistance of salmonids to sea lice. This project will develop a predictive model of the distribution of sea lice originating from fish farms and estimate the number of encounters of out-migrating salmon with sea lice. It will also establish statistically robust models that capture associations between the sea lice burden on wild fish and conditions on BC fish farms. Finally, the project will monitor the presence of sea lice during the 2012 out-migration of juvenile salmon.
july 2012 – may 2014
Funded by: DFO – Aquaculture Collaborative Research and Development Program (ACRDP) co-funded by: Marine Harvest Canada, Mainstream Canada Ltd.; Grieg Seafood BC Ltd.
project lead: Peter Chandler (DFO)
Project team: Mike Foreman (DFO); Crawford Revie (UPEI); Martin Krkošek (U of T)
collaborators: Diane Morrison (Marine Harvest Canada); Barry Milligan (Mainstream Canada Ltd.); Peter McKenzie (Grieg Seafood BC Ltd.)
Contact: Peter.Chandler@dfo-mpo.gc.ca
Utilization of the Cunner, a wrasse, as a means for sea lice removal in commercial salmon farms
The control of sea lice infestations among populations of farmed salmon in Atlantic Canada has become increasingly difficult over the past years. Farming companies globally find themselves in a position where they have limited abilities to combat sea lice and are now using emergency bath-type pesticide treatments to control infections.
One method of sea lice control deserving of a thorough investigation is the use of wrasse or cleaner fish. With this type of approach, wrasse are placed directly in the sea cages with the farmed salmon and these fish are predicted to consume the sea lice off the salmon. If proven to be practical, the use of wrasse would be a novel sea lice control approach as it would be an environmentally friendly and natural biological tool.
The objectives of this project are: to study the behaviour of Cunners, a wrasse, and their interactions with salmon and vice versa, and to determine if Cunners will consume feed pellets for salmon (feed preference tests) through tank trials; and to test the effectiveness of Cunners as cleaner fish in commercial sea cages.
sep. 2011 – oct. 2012
Funded by: DFO – Aquaculture Innovation and Market Access Program (AIMAP) co-funded by: New Brunswick Department of Agriculture, Aquaculture and Fisheries (NB DAAF)
project lead: Keng Pee Ang (Kelly Cove Salmon Ltd.)
Project team: Frank Powell, Peter Groom, Leighanne Hawkins, Randy Griffin, Nell Halse (Kelly Cove Salmon Ltd.); Shawn Robinson (DFO)
collaborators: Per Gunnar Kvenseth (Villa Organic AS – Norway)
Contact: keng.pee.ang@cookeaqua.com
Transferring Cunners into a cage. Photo: Keng Pee Ang (Kelly Cove Salmon Ltd.)
Refinement of the principles of larval sea lice capture using a combination of biological filters and physical light traps in a commercial setting
Sea lice, Lepeophtheirus salmonis, are an endemic ectoparasite that can cause direct physical damage to fish and incur huge treatment costs for the aquaculture industry. Chemo-therapeutants and animal husbandry practices have traditionally been used to keep the parasites under control. However, the control of sea lice infestations among populations of farmed salmon in Atlantic Canada has become increasingly difficult over the past two years with the summer of 2010 being the worst on record in certain areas of New Brunswick. The industry has an immediate need for an integrated pest control/management strategy that relies on multiple approaches for sea lice control. This project will expand on previous ACRDP research on the ability of mussels to act as a bio-filter to remove sea lice from an environment, and will assess the ability of various types of sea lice traps to collect sea lice for removal from a cage culture environment. Previous lab findings will be tested in field situations prior to advancing to the commercialization stage.
may 2011 – mar. 2012
Funded by: DFO – Aquaculture Collaborative Research and Development Program (ACRDP) co-funded by: Kelly Cove Salmon Ltd.
project lead: Shawn Robinson (DFO)
Project team: Andrea Bartsch (DFO)
collaborators: Keng Pee Ang, Frank Powell (Kelly Cove Salmon Ltd.)
Contact: Shawn.Robinson@dfo-mpo.gc.ca
Zooplankton captured using the light trap (sea lice pre-adults are circled. Photo: Shawn Robinson (DFO)
Detecting SNP association with resistance to sea lice in Atlantic Salmon
Developing breeds of Atlantic Salmon ( Salmo salar ) that are more resistant to sea lice ( Lepeophtheirus salmonis ) could benefit the Canadian aquaculture industry. Sea lice resistance is typically measured on the relatives of potential broodstock making it difficult to select for in a traditional breeding program. In the future, marker-assisted selection could increase the rate of genetic improvement in sea lice resistance. Our work involves genotyping candidate broodstock and their relatives using DNA markers called single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). Our initial objective is to detect associations between 6000 SNPs and resistance to sea lice in the Saint John aquacultural strain of Atlantic Salmon.
We are measuring resistance by challenging recent smolts with sea lice and then recording the number of sea lice found on each fish. Parents of those fish are genotyped for the 6000 SNPs. We will analyze the data to detect associations of resistance in offspring to SNP genotypes of their parents.
Preliminary results for sea lice challenges in 2011 show some SNP associations with resistance in fish. This is promising for our study and suggests that in the future, resistance could be successfully included in North American Atlantic Salmon breeding programs using marker-assisted selection.
Funded by: NSERC Strategic Project Grant
project lead: Elizabeth Boulding (U. Guelph)
Project team: Christina Rochus, Larry R. Schaeffer, Jane Tosh (U. Guelph); Keng P. Ang (Cooke Aquaculture Inc.); Brian Glebe, Steven Leadbeater (DFO)
Contact: boulding@uoguelph.ca
www.uoguelph.ca/ib/people/faculty/boulding.shtml
Lab sampling. Photo: S. Leadbeater (DFO)
Sea lice vaccines for salmonid aquaculture
Sea lice infestations present a significant challenge to aquaculturists, veterinary clinicians, and vaccine developers. Recent R&D at Pfizer Animal Health (Pfizer Canada Inc.) has identified a set of vaccine candidates. The goal of this project was to complete the remaining development, pre-commercial manufacturing, and regulatory work required to license a vaccine for the control of sea lice infestations of farmed salmon in Canada.
Over the past year, the candidate vaccine antigens were tested. However, the trial results did not show significant reduction in the vaccinated groups.
Pfizer Inc. understands how important a sea lice vaccine is to Canada and to the international aquaculture community. As a result, they are fully committed to this project and continue to work toward proving efficacy and obtaining all related Canadian regulatory approvals.
apr. 2011 – mar. 2012
Funded by: DFO – Aquaculture Innovation and Market Access Program (AIMAP) co-funded by: Fisheries & Oceans Canada (Science Sector); British Columbia Ministry of Agriculture
project lead: Jan Burian (Pfizer Canada)
Project team: Elizabeth Crump, David Asper, Kyle Clarke (Pfizer Canada Inc.)
collaborators: Fundacion de Chile; St. Andrews Biological Station (DFO)
Contact: Jan.Burian@pfizer.com
www.pfizer.ca/en/home
Field testing "green-technology" sea lice traps and documenting on-site dynamics of sea lice early life history
The sea louse, Lepeophtheirus salmonis , continues to be a global problem for salmon farming operations. Chemo-therapeutants and animal husbandry practices have been used to keep the parasites under control, however, studies have indicated that sea lice are starting to become resistant to therapeutants with continued exposure. There is also concern over the impacts of therapeutants upon the ecosystem in which they are being used. Additionally, operational practices at farm sites could be contributing to the magnification of sea lice infections on the salmon if control measures are not being used throughout all sea lice life stages (e.g., eggs) thereby allowing the parasite to continue to breed more successfully. A more integrated approach to pest management, including the use of alternative (non-chemical) treatments, would be helpful in supplementing chemical treatments and preventative husbandry practices. Light-based traps are considered an additional
(non-chemical) treatment method. In this particular study, traps were demonstrated in laboratory trials to significantly increase the removal rate of sea lice larvae from the water column, as larvae (both nauplii and copepodites) responded strongly to light. This project will field test the concept that physical light-based traps, in conjunction with an understanding of the on-site sea lice larval dynamics, can play a role in helping to control sea lice populations. It will also analyze and refine the effectiveness of the traps to specifically target sea lice and minimize the capture of non-target species.
aug. 2012 – may 2014
Potential of using Cunners to control sea lice infestation of Atlantic Salmon in Newfoundland
In most salmon farming countries, prolonged use of chemical therapeutants (e.g., SLICE®) to control sea lice ( Lepeophtheirus salmonis ) infestation has led to the emergence of resistance in some local sea lice populations. The use of cleaner fish (e.g., wrasse species) to remove sea lice from Atlantic Salmon in cages has been developed and utilized in Europe with some success and has been considered in Canada (NB) (i.e . , through the use of the wrasse-like Cunner). However, many questions still remain unanswered regarding the success of this alternative method of sea lice control in this country and in particular in Newfoundland (Cunner stock differences in effectiveness; species fitness; geographical differences in seasonal effectiveness in active cleaning, among others). It is the goal of this project to use local Newfoundland populations of Cunners as potential cleaner fish and evaluate feeding behaviour on sea lice by comparing stocks and fish sizes. This project will bring relevant information on the potential application of Cunners to control sea lice in salmon cages in Newfoundland.
Funded by: DFO – Aquaculture Collaborative Research and Development Program (ACRDP) co-funded by: Cold Ocean Salmon Inc. – Cooke Aquaculture Inc.
project lead: Dounia Hamoutene, Harry Murray (DFO)
Project team: Danny Boyce (MUN); Danny Ings, Lynn Lush, Kim Hobbs, Juan Perez-Casanova (DFO)
collaborators: Keng Pee Ang (Cold Ocean Salmon Inc. – Cooke Aquaculture Inc.)
Contact: Dounia.Hamoutene@dfo-mpo.gc.ca,
Harry.Murray@dfo-mpo.gc.ca
Cumulative impacts, kinetics and tissue distribution of anti- sea lice pesticides in non-target organisms
This research uses oxidative stress biomarkers to assess the sublethal and cumulative impacts of sea lice treatments (AlphaMax® [deltamethrin] and Salmosan® [azamethiphos]) on non-target organisms. Kinetic studies will be conducted to assess the bioaccumulation rate and persistence of AlphaMax® in shrimp and lobster tissue. Damage caused by oxidative stress (lipid and protein oxidation) will be assessed after exposing shrimp and lobster to Salmosan® in the laboratory for long periods of time. The connection between this biochemical damage, histological lesions and resistance to stress will be assessed in adult lobster. Bioaccumulation speed and tissue distribution in shrimp and lobster will be assessed using macroautoradiography and high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with flow scintillation counting (HPLC-FSC) at environmentally-realistic doses by using in-house synthesized 14C deltamethrin. Macroautoradiography is a nuclear technique used to quantitatively determine the distribution of a chemical product labelled with a radioactive atom such as 14C in thin cryosections (0.05 mm) of an entire animal. Preliminary work will also be conducted before assessing the bioavailability of deltamethrin adsorbed in suspended particulate that settles at the bottom.0
Funded by: DFO – Program for Aquaculture Regulatory Research (PARR)
project lead: Catherine Couillard (DFO)
Project team: Claude Rouleau, Benoît Légaré (DFO)
collaborators: L. Burridge, Andrew Cooper, Susan Waddy (DFO)
Contact: Catherine.Couillard@dfo-mpo.gc.ca
Opossum shrimp ( Mysis sp.). Photo: Jean-François St-Pierre (DFO)
Evaluation of the efficiency of non-chemical methods to reduce the impact of sea lice associated with salmon aquaculture sites using the principles of bio-filtration and trapping
This project seeks to provide the proof of concept information from laboratory research that is required to advance to the next stage, which is to evaluate the feasibility of non-chemical methods for the control of sea lice as part of an overall integrated farm health management plan. Specifically, there are two objectives: 1) to evaluate the effectiveness of the Blue Mussel ( Mytilus edulis ) in removing sea lice nauplii from the water column (evaluation of the removal efficiency will be performed via gut content analysis of the mussels using recently developed PCR-based techniques); and 2) to test the behavioural responses of sea lice to a number of established cues on light, colour, motion, and chemical attractants in various combinations. Once a suitable combination is found, a prototype will be made and tested in comparison to an existing trap from the West Coast.
aug. 2010 – mar. 2011
Funded by: DFO – Aquaculture Collaborative Research and Development Program (ACRDP) co-funded by: Kelly Cove Salmon Ltd.; Admiral Fish Farms Ltd.
Project team: Ian Bricknell (U. Maine); Andrew Cooper (DFO)
collaborators: Keng Pee Ang (Kelly Cove Salmon Ltd.); Howard Streight (Admiral Fish Farms Ltd.)
Blue Mussel. Photo: DFO
The Broughton Archipelago Management Plan (BAMP) in British Columbia
The Broughton Archipelago Management Plan (BAMP), a unique multi-lateral initiative, involving the various stakeholders with an interest in the management of sea lice in British Columbia, was developed to provide a means with which to clarify key scientific findings and ensure their appropriate application to aquaculture production in the region.
BAMP objectives include: coordinating the on-going monitoring of sea lice on juvenile wild salmon through extensive sampling during the spring migration period; facilitating the integration of historical sea lice data collected over the past decade in the Broughton Archipelago by the farming industry, government and independent researchers; comparing spatial patterns and temporal trends of sea lice infestation; and developing models to better predict sea lice transmission and assess the efficacy of different farm and sea lice management strategies.
For each of the spring migration periods from 2010 to 2012, an extensive field programme has been carried out under the auspices of BAMP to determine, among other things, the relative merits of various sampling strategies in assessing levels of sea lice infestation on wild Pacific salmonids and the most efficient way to achieve such assessments. In addition, a virtual research environment has been created to allow for the sharing of various types of data collected over the past decade and the integration of current research data/results to ensure that the models created are calibrated and validated using the most extensive sets of available data.
jan. 2010 – dec. 2014
Funded by: Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO); Coastal Alliance for Aquaculture Reform (CAAR); Marine Harvest Canada; Mainstream Canada; Grieg Seafood
Project team: Peter Chandler, Mike Foreman, Simon Jones (DFO); Martin Krkošek (U of T); Peter McKenzie (Mainstream Canada); Barry Milligan (Grieg Seafood); Diane Morrison (Marine Harvest Canada); Crawford Revie (UPEI)
Contact: crevie@upei.ca
www.bamp.ca
Beach seining in the Broughton Archipelago. Photo: Stan Proboszcz (Watershed Watch Salmon Society)
Moresby salmon cage site. Photo: Marine Harvest Canada Ltd.
Tools to Resolve Environmental Impacts And Treatment resistance in sea lice — 2 (TREAT2)
Throughout the history of salmon culture, the sea louse ( Lepeophtheirus salmonis ) has been the greatest external threat to the industry's viability. Costing anywhere from 10 – 20% of the landed commercial value of the fish and perhaps more so in the near future (summer/fall 2010), this parasite now threatens the existence of salmon culture in the Atlantic. Over the past few years sea lice populations in Chile, northern Europe, and now New Brunswick, Canada, have begun to exhibit resistance to the in-feed treatment SLICE™-Schering-Plough. Since it was introduced in 2000, SLICE™ was so highly effective that it quickly became the only available treatment used against sea lice in Canada. However, treatment failures were first observed in 2008 and now SLICE™ resistance has completely removed the effective use of the drug in NB. With few treatments for licensing on the horizon, the identification of alternative methods of sea lice control would be extremely beneficial to the health and welfare of cultured salmon, as well as the sustainability of salmonid aquaculture. The TREAT2 project plans to stabilize the external effects of sea lice on salmon culture by getting to the heart of parasitic resistance to treatment and host immune mechanisms, by: 1) identifying key genes and genomic regions important for development of chemical resistance using a SNP chip and genetic map; 2) Carrying out current and new product testing and identifying expression patterns of genes involved in biological processes and pathways in host/parasite interactions; and 3) identifying host susceptibility/resistance and therapeutic responsiveness traits and methods for enhancement.
dec. 2012 – dec. 2015
Funded by: ACOA – AIF; Novartis Animal Health co-funded by: AVC – UPEI; Innovation PEI
project lead: Mark Fast (UPEI); Ben Koop (UVic)
Project team: Roy Danzmann (U. Guelph); Crawford Revie, Larry Hammell (UPEI); Brian Glebe (DFO); Ian Thompson (MUN)
collaborators: Frank Nilsen (Sea Lice Research Centre, Research Council of Norway); Simon Jones, Stewart Johnson (DFO); Simon Wadsworth (EWOS Innovation, Norway)
Contact: mfast@upei.ca
Researcher Mark Fast holding an Atlantic Salmon used in one of his research projects. Photo: Mark Fast (UPEI)


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Investor Relations -Press Release
Woman's Hospital Selects Spok Go® to Improve Clinical Communications
Large healthcare system chooses Spok Go as their communication foundation to enhance patient outcomes and ensure reliability and security
ALEXANDRIA, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 11, 2021-- Spok, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Spok Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: SPOK) and a leader in healthcare communications, today announced that Woman's Hospital has selected the cloud-native platform Spok Go® to address their communication challenges and improve their ability to deliver best-in-class patient care.
"Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, Spok has continued to pave the way in a very challenging environment," said Vincent D. Kelly, president and chief executive officer of Spok Holdings, Inc. "We are excited about creating partnerships with healthcare systems like Woman's Hospital. The Spok Go implementation will help this customer by allowing messages and information between care teams to be more reliable and secure, make clinical workflows more efficient, and allow for more seamless collaboration between staff."
Woman's Hospital, one of the largest women's specialty hospitals in the nation based out of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, selected the Spok Go Base Platform with the Clinical Care and Clinical Diagnostics packages. Upon the launch of Spok Go, Woman's Hospital will turn its focus to improving the communication in the environmental services group and implementing real-time notification of critical lab results.
"We are dedicated to providing excellent service and exceptional care, so having the right communication tools at hand is of utmost importance for us," said Paul Cleckner, interim CEO at Woman's. "We chose Spok Go in light of our ongoing commitment to improve patient flow, patient safety, and patient and staff satisfaction within our hospital."
Learn more about all the innovative solutions that Spok has to offer at www.spok.com.
About Woman's Hospital
Woman's Hospital is a specialty hospital for women and infants located in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Since opening in 1968, it has welcomed more than 350,000 babies, making it one of the largest delivery services in the country and the largest in Louisiana. Additionally, Woman's operates a level III-S neonatal intensive care unit; this designation allows them to care for infants who are extremely premature, are critically ill, or require surgical intervention. The hospital is also recognized for its expertise in mammography as well as breast and gynecologic cancer care. As a private, nonprofit organization, all funds are reinvested into the hospital to continue Woman's mission to improve the health of women and infants through the latest technology, a highly qualified staff and critical community programs and services. For more information, visit www.womans.org.
About Spok
Spok, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Spok Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: SPOK), headquartered in Alexandria, Virginia, is proud to be a global leader in healthcare communications. We deliver clinical information to care teams when and where it matters most to improve patient outcomes. Top hospitals rely on the Spok Go® and Spok Care Connect® platforms to enhance workflows for clinicians and support administrative compliance. Our customers send over 100 million messages each month through their Spok® solutions. When seconds count and patients' lives are at stake, Spok enables smarter, faster clinical communication. For more information, visit spok.com or follow @spoktweets on Twitter.
Spok is a trademark of Spok Holdings, Inc. Spok Go and Spok Care Connect are trademarks of Spok, Inc.
Jessica Baker
Jessica.Baker@spok.com
Source: Spok, Inc.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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Gingrich, Savaging Welfare, Is on a Fool's Errand : Politics: Only by ignoring truth can he blame gory murders on the 'welfare state.'
By ROBERT SCHEER
Robert Scheer is a Times contributing editor
There is no human misery that Newt Gingrich will not exploit for partisan purpose. The man simply has no shame. When Susan Smith drowned her two children, the Speaker blamed the tragedy on the Democrats. No matter that Smith's problems began with a stepfather who molested her and who was also a local organizer for the Christian Coalition and the Republican party.
Not surprisingly, last week Gingrich was just as quick to capitalize on the brutal killing of a pregnant mother in Illinois. "Let's talk about the moral decay of the world that the left is defending," the Speaker thundered to Republican governors, "Let's talk about what the welfare state has created." Once again, the facts got in the way. The victim, although on welfare, was raised in a religious middle-class white suburban family. Her father expressed outrage over Gingrich's depiction of their daughter as the product of an immoral welfare culture: "It isn't fair for any politician to use any tragedy for their own personal political gain."
But Gingrich isn't just any politician. He is a master propagandist who knows that scapegoating the poor is essential if you're going to ignore the declining status of working people while giving tax breaks to the rich. That's why Gingrich has made the "welfare state" the instant cause of all that ails us. But if the welfare state creates moral decay, then Western Europe, which has real welfare states providing cradle-to-grave security, should be a cesspool of mayhem and violence compared to us. The opposite is true.
We do not have a welfare state in this country, no matter how much Gingrich prattles on about its existence. What we have is a crazy patchwork of programs ostensibly designed to aid the poor but which have been manipulated by politicians eager to score political advantage.
For example, the most egregious consequence of the welfare system, the absence of male figures from the home, was designed into the Aid to Families with Dependent Children program to meet conservative requirements that only the "truly needy" be served. The model came from Gov. Ronald Reagan, who sent inspectors with flashlights in surprise night-time raids to make sure that AFDC recipients were single at all times.
Gingrich is being a demagogue when he holds "the left" responsible for a welfare system that has been downsized and distorted from the War on Poverty goals enunciated by LBJ. By the left, does Gingrich intend the U.S. Catholic Bishops Conference? The bishops recently called for a Presidential veto of the Republican welfare bill, which they termed "a huge step backwards." Their parishes work with the poor every day, and they know this stark problem from the inside. Would Gingrich dare suggest that the bishops are indifferent to the sanctity of marriage? Or is the left that Gingrich has in mind represented by Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan (D-N.Y.), the strongest congressional critic of the GOP agenda's effect on poor children, who termed the welfare bill "the most regressive event in social policy of the 20th Century."
Moynihan has been the nation's most persistent critic of the failings of the welfare system. As a Harvard professor, he warned some 30 years ago about the disintegration of the black family. As an official in the Nixon Administration, he initiated a series of reforms culminating in the Family Support Act, which Moynihan authored as a senator in 1988. This bipartisan approach, stressing personal responsibility and job placement, was signed into law by President Reagan.
Anyone serious about welfare reform would improve the 1988 legislation instead of overturning it, which is the Republican scam. The Moynihan program has already had striking results in states like Michigan, California and Wisconsin, which matched the federal jobs funding with state money. In Michigan, 30% of welfare recipients now work but they are permitted to keep a portion of their welfare income to supplement miserable wages. Hopefully their skills and wages will improve in time, but income supplements, Medicaid, child care and educational opportunities are a must for now.
Serious welfare reform requires spending more money in the short run to save it in the end. And it requires a clear federal commitment to ensure that states don't just drive out their poor. For these reasons, the Gingrich-inspired "welfare reform" is nothing of the sort.
Behold the figures of Daniel Patrick Moynihan and Newt Gingrich, and you will learn all you need to know about the welfare debate. The Senator is seriously working to solve a problem that threatens to tear this nation apart while the Speaker is content to score political points by playing the fool.


Bonn, 9 May 2018 - "Unifying our Voices for Bird Conservation" is the theme of World Migratory Bird Day 2018. Among the significant, but often underestimated threats to migratory birds across the African-Eurasian Flyways - the major bird migration corridors which links Europe, Africa and Western Asia - is lead poisoning. The UN Convention on Migratory Species (CMS) and the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds (AEWA), two international environment treaties behind World Migratory Bird Day are also driving international efforts to tackle this global threat.
Lead poisoning is caused when lead is released into the environment. Lead is a highly toxic heavy metal that is used for both fishing weights and hunting. When fired from a shot gun, hundreds of lead pellets fall into the wider environment putting wildlife at risk.
Between 400,000 and 1.5 million waterbirds alone die in Europe annually from ingesting this lead. The number of additional birds suffering health problems because of poisoning by lead ammunition is at least as large as the number killed by lead shot every year.
Waterbirds and other birds see lead shot or lost fishing weights and pick them up either as food or mistaking them for grit. They die directly from poisoning or the ingested lead affects their immunity, behaviour and reproductive capacity. Raptors and scavengers pick up the lead shot or fragments of bullets in the prey or carrion they eat. Lead left in the environment contaminates soils, and people are exposed when they consume lead-shot game.
While habitat loss, pollution, unsustainable harvest and agricultural practices, illegal killing and trapping as well as collision and electrocution by power lines are among the greatest dangers to migratory birds, lead poisoning is one of the threats, for which there is a practical solution.
Lead-free ammunition is now available and has been demonstrated by research and in practice to be effective. Many hunters already use non-toxic ammunition. Some countries such as Denmark and the Netherlands have completely phased out all lead shot more than 20 years ago.
Changing to non-toxic alternatives could benefit nature conservation and human health. A ban on lead ammunition resulting in reduced lead emissions, secondary poisoning of vultures and other raptors and risks to human health, would bring substantive economic benefits to society in terms of healthy people and a healthy environment.
AEWA was the first international treaty to focus on addressing the problem of lead ammunition.
CMS addressed lead poisoning to prevent the risks to migratory birds and called for lead ammunition to be phased out across all habitats. While many countries in North America and Europe have made progress to ban lead in wetlands, CMS wants to take the issue to a global level and extend it to all habitats. To support this effort, CMS has formally established the Lead Task Group, a multi-stakeholder expert group bringing together the industry, the hunters and conservationists to help Member States facilitate concerted efforts to minimize poisoning of migratory birds from lead ammunition and fishing weights.
World Migratory Bird Day is celebrated each year to highlight the need for the conservation of migratory birds and their habitats. More than 300 events in more than 60 countries to mark World Migratory Bird Day 2018 (registered on the website) will include bird festivals, education programmes, media events, bird watching trips, presentations, film screenings and a benefit concert to raise funds for international nature conservation.
EFTA works with diverse partners to provide English and Spanish educational materials and information about birds and bird conservation throughout the Americas. Their programmes inspire children and adults to go outdoors, learn about birds, and participate in their conservation. www.worldmigratorybirdday.org/partners.
The Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (also known as CMS or Bonn Convention after the city in which it was signed) aims to conserve terrestrial, aquatic and avian migratory species throughout their range. It is an intergovernmental treaty, concluded under the aegis of the United Nations Environment Programme, concerned with the conservation of wildlife and habitats on a global scale. Since the Convention's entry into force in 1979, its membership has grown steadily to include 126 Parties from Africa, Central and South America, Asia, Europe and Oceania.
CMS and its related Agreements on migratory birds bring together governments and other stakeholders to coordinate and further develop conservation policies, to ensure that all flyways in the world benefit from coordination mechanisms that promote cooperation at ground level among the countries involved. A special instrument for birds of prey (Raptors MOU) to addresses threats to these species.


text:
Q: Find Subgraphs inside a Connected Component from a NetworkX Graph I have built a NetworkX Graph containing 50000 Nodes and about 100 Million edges. I have a list of all connected components of this group using nx.connected_components(G) method. This method results in me having clusters of nodes such that each node has a path to reach every other node in that cluster. Now what I want is, in each of these connected components, I want to find subgraphs/sub-clusters such that each of these subgraphs are connected to each other by exactly one edge. Is there a method in NetworkX that I can use directly or any other way in which I can get this done? Sorry I am very new to graph theory so need a little direction.

A: What you want is called minimum spanning three. Using networkx you can do it like this:
import networkx as nx
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
G = nx.Graph()
G.add_edges_from([(1,2), (1,3), (2,3), (4,5), (4,6), (5,6)])
nx.draw(nx.minimum_spanning_tree(G), with_labels=True)
plt.show()

However, I'm a little bit in doubt if networkx is able to perform on so many edges according to this benchmark. I have tested connected components algorithm on igraph, it worked for me as well (and, of course, much faster), so you might also like to look for igraph based solutions.
Result

A: If I understand you correctly, then for each subgraph, you want to find all graph cuts of size 1, i.e. you want to find all edges, that if taken away partition the graph into two subgraphs. These edges are called bridges and there are efficient algorithms to find them. The implementation in networkx is accessible via networkx.algorithms.bridges.bridges.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


Miss V Clare is a General Vets Practice in the town of Pontypool in the county of Gwent.
Below are the details that Vets Directory currently holds for Miss V Clare.
If you are the owner or manager of Miss V Clare you can now login at Vets Directory and edit your listing.


text:
Stansted News
Saffron Walden Town FC
Saffron Walden Life
Saffron Walden Town FC hoping for an improved season in Ridgeons League
PUBLISHED: 09:42 05 August 2010
Alistair Nelson
Greg Strong
SAFFRON Walden Town Football Club boss John Butchart, believes his side are in great shape ahead of their first competitive game of the season on Saturday.
The Bloods pulled off a convincing 1-0 win over Spartan South Midland League side Bedford FC in a pre-season friendly on Saturday.
A sprightly Spike Bell scored the only goal of the match after being set up by defender Jamie Solkhon after eight minutes as the visitors looked to play their style of fast, attacking football.
Butchart is hoping that his team can use their pre-season form to give them a good start in the Ridgeons League First Division when they take on Diss Town at Brewers Green Lane at the weekend.
"It will be a tough challenge for us, but I think we're in better shape now than we were last season," he said. "The lads have been working really hard in training and they're looking strong.
"Last season I felt we underachieved, so we'll definitely be looking to put that right. We have enough talent in the squad to beat anyone on our day."
Saffron Walden finished their last campaign in the eighth spot, below their first-game rivals Diss Town who finished in fifth. Butchart believes his side suffered because of the disruption to the schedule caused by the weather.
This season Catons Lane will welcome back a few familiar faces including Matt Danbury, Steve Leys, Martin Clarke and Joe Murphy to strengthen the squad. Departing the club is the players' player of the season Greg Strong, a versatile left back and midfielder who has joined Haverhill.
Butchart is confident that the loss of Strong will not be a significant blow to the club due to the return of Murphy who he rates as a better player.
The Bloods have held on to most of their players who performed well last season, including golden boot winner Brad Green who will hope to repeat the feat in 2010/11.
Butchart said: "We've got a big aerial presence in the squad with a number of our players over six foot so that should give us an advantage winning the ball in the air.
"Goalkeeper Ronnie Yates has had a season at the club and he's looking good, he's got more experience. I think he will do better for us this season. And Spike and Mitchell Das are both on form – hopefully they can keep up to this level through the season."
The Bloods were due to play their first home games against Godmanchester Rovers on Wednesday, but this will now be played away. The pitch at Catons Lane has been reseeded and should be ready by next week.
Councillor calls for more conscious travelling to help improve air quality
Police appeal following 'nasty' Christmas vandalism
New hope for closed Railway Arms pub - now for sale
Local school declared teaching hub for struggling schools
Container "well alight" at local recycling centre
Latest from the Saffron Walden Reporter
Jazz saxophone legend - Art Themen will play at Joanna's Place in Saffron Walden on Saturday, January 25.
Stephen K Amos to play Cambridge Junction
Music evoking heroes and villains, suspense and exciting scenes by Saffron Walden Symphony Orchestra at Saffron Hall
Could working overseas help you to fast-track your savings?
Dunmow Broadcast Royston Crow


The prompt initiation of antibiotics to treat infections has been proven to reduce morbidity and save lives. However, up to 50% of all antibiotics prescribed in acute care hospitals are either unnecessary or inappropriate. Antibiotics have potential serious side effects, including adverse drug reactions and Clostridium difficile infection. In addition, antimicrobial resistance can emerge from the inappropriate use of antibiotics leading to increased morbidity, mortality, and costs of health care. Prevention of the emergence of resistance and the dissemination of resistant microorganisms has the potential to reduce these adverse effects and their associated costs.
The appropriate use of antimicrobials is an essential part of patient safety and an effective antimicrobial stewardship program can limit the emergence and transmission of antimicrobial-resistant bacteria. In addition, antimicrobial stewardship can reduce health care costs without adversely impacting quality of care. This lecture will discuss different facets of an antimicrobial stewardship team as well as the role of the microbiology laboratory in the team. Practical examples of the impact of microbiology on antimicrobial stewardship, using blood cultures as an example, will be provided.


text:
Q: Spring MVC - The @SessionAttributes and status.setComplete() I'm facing a problem I don't really know how to solve.
I am developing a Bug Tracker (learning purposes only). I have a page to create a new issue and one page to edit an issue. Both, for now, have their own controllers.
EditIssueController.java
@Controller
@RequestMapping(value = "/issues/{issueId}")
@SessionAttributes("issuePackage")
public class EditIssueController {

    @Autowired
    private IssueService issueService;

    [...]

    @ModelAttribute("issuePackage")
    public IssueTagEnvironment populateIssue (@PathVariable("issueId") Integer issueId) {

        IssueTagEnvironment issueTagEnv = new IssueTagEnvironment();
        issueTagEnv.setIssue(issueService.getIssueById(issueId));

        return issueTagEnv;
    }

    @InitBinder
    public void initBinder (WebDataBinder binder) {

        [...]
    }

    @RequestMapping(value = "/edit", method = RequestMethod.GET)
    public ModelAndView editIssue (@PathVariable("issueId") Integer issueId,
                                   @ModelAttribute("issuePackage") IssueTagEnvironment issuePackage) {

        ModelAndView mav = new ModelAndView("/issues/EditIssue");

        [...]

        IssueTagEnvironment issueTagEnv = new IssueTagEnvironment();
        issueTagEnv.setIssue(issueService.getIssueById(issueId));

        [...]
        mav.addObject("issuePackage", issueTagEnv);

        return mav;
    }

    @RequestMapping(value = "/edit", method = RequestMethod.POST)
    public String updateIssue (@ModelAttribute("issuePackage") IssueTagEnvironment issuePackage,
                               BindingResult result) {

        if (result.hasErrors() == true) {
            return "redirect:/issues/{issueId}/edit";
        }

        issueService.updateIssue(issuePackage.getIssue());

        return "redirect:/issues/{issueId}";
    }
}

CreateIssueController.java
@Controller
@SessionAttributes("issuePackage")
public class CreateIssueController {

    @Autowired
    private IssueService issueService;

    [...]

    @ModelAttribute("issuePackage")
    public IssueTagEnvironment populateNewIssue () {

        return new IssueTagEnvironment();
    }

    @InitBinder
    public void initBinder (WebDataBinder binder) {

        [...]
    }

    @RequestMapping(value = "/issues/CreateIssue", method = RequestMethod.GET)
    public ModelAndView createIssueGet (@ModelAttribute("issuePackage") IssueTagEnvironment issuePackage) {

        ModelAndView mav = new ModelAndView("/issues/CreateIssue");

        [...]

        issuePackage.getIssue().setReporter(SecurityUtils.getCurrentUser());

        return mav;
    }

    @RequestMapping(value = "/issues/CreateIssue", method = RequestMethod.POST)
    public String createIssuePost (@ModelAttribute("issuePackage") IssueTagEnvironment issuePackage,
                                   BindingResult result,
                                   SessionStatus status) {

        if (result.hasErrors() == true) {
            return "redirect:/issues/CreateIssue";
        }

        [...]

        issueService.createIssue(issuePackage.getIssue());

        status.setComplete();
        return "redirect:/issues/" + issuePackage.getIssue().getId();
    }

}

So far everything seems correct (and in indeed works). But here are the dragons:

*

*I am within an "edit" page changing data from an existing issue.

*Instead of submitting the changes I decide to press the "Go Back" button from the navigator.

*Right after that action (Go Back), I decide to create a new issue and... Here it is! The form to create a new issue isn't empty but filled with the information of the previous "edited-but-not-submitted" issue.
I understand what the problem is: The controller is not completing the session/status by executing status.setComplete().
My question here is, how to solve this problem?
Thanks in advance to the community!

A: For your current example, it is easy to fix , just change createIssueGet method to :
public ModelAndView createIssueGet () {

    ModelAndView mav = new ModelAndView("/issues/CreateIssue");
    IssueTagEnvironment issuePackage = new IssueTagEnvironment();

    ModelAndView mav = new ModelAndView("/issues/CreateIssue");
    mav.addAttribute("issuePackage", issuePackage);

    [...]

    [...]
}

That way you are sure that you always use a fresh IssueTagEnvironment object in that controller. And Spring will put it in session as you put it in model.
But the problem still remains : if you do not properly call status.setComplete(), you leave in session an object that should not be there, and like you said dragons may be there
I stopped using @SessionAttributes for that reason, and only use a hidden field (for the id) and a Converter from the id  to a full object using the service layer, hoping it should be in cache and does not hit the database. Not really nice, but not really worse than that.


You will need to talk about the benefits and risks of using this medicine while you are pregnant. Taking chlorpromazine injection in the third trimester of pregnancy may lead to muscle movements that cannot be controlled and withdrawal in the newborn. Talk with the doctor. How allegra 12 hr vs 24 hr this medicine (Chlorpromazine Injection) best taken. Use this medicine as ordered by allegra poljak shreveport doctor. Read all information given to you. Follow all instructions closely. It is given as a shot into a muscle or vein. Have blood work alegra as you have been told by the doctor.
He enlisted in the United States Air Force at allegra 12 hr vs 24 hr 18 and served with honor and distinction in the aviation and aircraft maintenance career fields. A decorated veteran of the Vietnam War, Chief McCarthy received countless awards including two Distinguished Flying Crosses, two Meritorious Service Medals, and multiple Air Medals. He was promoted to the highest allegra and zantac for hives rank and retired from active duty in 1987 after more than 26 years of distinguished service to our country. McCarthy followed his Air Force career with a second career as a jumbo jet field representative for McDonnell-Douglas Aircraft Corporation and the Boeing Company in Long Beach California, the Netherlands, and Germany. He retired from his civilian 122 in 2003, settling in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
A totes have large focus on diverse vogue textile together with innovative designs, which supplies in obtaining all of them more attractive and also stressful inside design marketplace. Fashion totes can be used for quite a few purposes to store personal output Any time you inevitably work out to help dish out a lot of dollars for your bag, you?пll intend to make positive it the actual thing you are buying instead of a low cost knock-off. With all the popularity of luggage louis vuitton replica handbagsit's actually it's no surprise that a lot of lovers tend to be desperate to create knock-off variants associated with Gucci, Lv and various high-fashion carriers.
MEDOLAGO (BG) LOA Piemonte ITALTRIPPA S. SUNO (NO) L Emilia Romagna C. Cooperativa Lavoratori Agricoli Imolesi SASSO MORELLI (BO) L Piemonte SALUMIFICIO CARLO MERONI S. ROMENTINO (NO) LLOA Emilia Romagna BERVINI PRIMO S. SALVATERRA (RE) L Emilia Romagna AMBROSALUMI S. LANGHIRANO (PR) S Emilia Romagna G.


text:
Main » 2015 » January » 8 » Calvin Klein Jeans and Calvin Klein Underwear Bring Together Global Superstar Justin Bieber and Supermodel Lara Stone for Spring 2015 Global
Calvin Klein Jeans and Calvin Klein Underwear Bring Together Global Superstar Justin Bieber and Supermodel Lara Stone for Spring 2015 Global
NEW YORK - Wednesday, January 7th 2015 [ME NewsWire]
(BUSINESS WIRE) -- Calvin Klein, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of PVH Corp. [NYSE:PVH], today announced that global superstar and 30-time platinum-selling phenom Justin Bieber will be featured alongside Dutch supermodel Lara Stone in the Spring 2015 Calvin Klein Jeans and Calvin Klein Underwear global multi-media advertising campaign.
Shot by fashion photographers Mert Alas and Marcus Piggott in New York City, the brand's latest campaign features Bieber with Stone in key jeans and underwear styles of the season, furthering the iconic brands' longstanding legacy of bringing fashion and music together. Campaign imagery and videos are now available at calvinklein.com/justin.
"Justin joins a long list of musicians, models, celebrities and fashion icons that have been featured in our global advertising campaigns," said Melisa Goldie, Chief Marketing Officer of Calvin Klein, Inc. "Justin's global recognition, expressed affinity for the brand, and powerful persona bring a compelling energy to our jeans and underwear brands."
"Calvin Klein is such an iconic brand and I am excited and honored to become a part of the Calvin Klein brand legacy with this campaign. I have been a longtime fan of the brand and have worn their jeans and underwear for a while, so this is kind of a dream come true," said Bieber. "This is the beginning of an exciting new year for me, personally and professionally, and being a part of this campaign has been a fantastic opportunity and experience."
Calvin Klein's ongoing connection to music began with one of the brand's earliest and most iconic campaigns which memorably featured Mark "Marky-Mark" Wahlberg alongside model Kate Moss. Over the years, the house has continued its association with music and pop culture, dressing and supporting a range of musicians around the world. This past year alone, those artists included talent such as Taylor Swift, Drake, Sam Smith, Kanye West, Harry Styles, Ciara, Usher, Future, Rita Ora, Trey Songz, Ne-Yo, Iggy Azalea, Fergie, Joe Jonas, Nick Jonas, Common, Solange Knowles, Big Sean, and Tinie Tempah.
The campaign, which was announced globally via social media yesterday, will roll out worldwide in 20 countries spanning digital, outdoor and print advertising, as well as exciting experiential components, timed to coincide with March 2015 magazine issues. This season will represent Calvin Klein's most digitally-focused campaign to date with an increased social presence to amplify and create conversation around the campaign, engaging both Calvin Klein's and Bieber's fans and followers. The campaign will also feature the #mycalvins call to action that the brand initiated last February, which invites fans of the brand to participate in the social media campaign by posting a selfie of themselves wearing Calvin Klein.
Musician, dancer, actor and singer-songwriter, Bieber – who was recently ranked by Twitter as the #1 most tweeted about musical artist of 2014 – has released four number-one albums to-date and has starred in two films, Never Say Never (2011) and Believe (2013). In 2011, he was nominated for the Best New Artist Grammy. In 2013, Bieber received a Diamond award from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) to recognize his single "Baby" as the best-selling digital song of all-time with over 9.3 million copies sold. That same year, he was also awarded a Teen Choice Award for "Choice Male Artist" and "Choice Single: Male Artist" for his song "Beauty and a Beat." His latest album, Journals, was released last year, one song per week, with nearly all of the songs appearing on the Top 40 charts. For more information, visit justinbiebermusic.com.
Stone, considered one of today's top supermodels, has a long-standing relationship with the house; she was first introduced on the Calvin Klein Collection runway at the Spring 2007 show and has been the face of multiple global advertising campaigns for the house's lifestyle brands since Fall 2010.
"Given my on-going relationship with the house, this shoot reunited me with my Calvin Klein family – and it was really fun working with Justin," said Stone. "We had a great time on set and we had a lot of fun shooting the campaign. I think the shoot really captured the energy of the Calvin Klein brand."
The Spring 2015 global media campaign was produced under the creative direction of Calvin Klein, Inc.'s in-house ad agency and creative studio, working with creative agency Wednesday London.
Calvin Klein, Inc. is one of the leading fashion design and marketing studios in the world. It designs and markets women's and men's designer collection apparel and a range of other products that are manufactured and marketed through an extensive network of licensing agreements and other arrangements worldwide. Product lines under the various Calvin Klein brands include women's dresses and suits, men's dress furnishings and tailored clothing, men's and women's sportswear and bridge and collection apparel, golf apparel, jeanswear, underwear, fragrances, eyewear, women's performance apparel, hosiery, socks, footwear, swimwear, jewelry, watches, outerwear, handbags, small leather goods, and home furnishings (including furniture). For more information, please visit calvinklein.com.
PVH Corp., one of the world's largest apparel companies, owns and markets the iconic Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfiger brands worldwide. It is the world's largest shirt and neckwear company and markets a variety of goods under its own brands, Van Heusen, Calvin Klein, Tommy Hilfiger, IZOD, ARROW, Warner's and Olga, and its licensed brands, including Speedo, Geoffrey Beene, Kenneth Cole New York, Kenneth Cole Reaction, MICHAEL Michael Kors, Sean John, Chaps, Donald J. Trump Signature Collection, Joseph Abboud, DKNY, Ike Behar and John Varvatos. For more information, please visit pvh.com.
EDITORIAL CREDIT: Calvin Klein Jeans, Calvin Klein Underwear IMAGE CREDIT: © Mert Alas and Marcus Piggott VIDEO CREDIT: © Johan Renck
VIEW IMAGES + VIDEOS AT: calvinklein.com/justin
DOWNLOAD IMAGES AT: http://we.tl/ULjfSIGaOm
CALVIN KLEIN JEANS :30 VIDEO – TO VIEW: http://youtu.be/K0t-aBAYym8
CALVIN KLEIN JEANS :30 VIDEO – TO EMBED: www.youtube.com/embed/K0t-aBAYym8" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen>
CALVIN KLEIN UNDERWEAR :15 VIDEO – TO VIEW: http://youtu.be/SrugNpFB3Ps
CALVIN KLEIN UNDERWEAR :15 VIDEO – TO EMBED: www.youtube.com/embed/SrugNpFB3Ps" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen>
SOCIAL MEDIA: facebook.com/calvinklein; calvinklein.tumblr.com; google.com/+calvinklein;
youtube.com/calvinklein; twitter.com/calvinklein; instagram.com/calvinklein
show yours. #mycalvins
brand handle: @calvinklein
Calvin Klein, Inc.
Jennifer Crawford,
EVP, Global Communications
jennifercrawford@ck.com
Erin Haggerty,
erinhaggerty@ck.com
Antoine Phillips,
Director, Public Relations, Menswear
antoinephillips@ck.com


Best known for his starring role as Det. Sonny Crockett on the hugely successful TV series Miami Vice (1984), Don Johnson is one of the stars who really defined the 1980s.
Best known for his starring role as Det. Sonny Crockett on the hugely successful TV series Miami Vice (1984), Don Johnson is one of the stars who really defined the 1980s. As James Sonny Crockett he went toe-to-toe with drug dealers, pimps, prostitutes, assassins, illegal arms-dealers and crooked cops on a weekly basis from 1984 to 1989, appearing in a grand total of 110 episodes. The show, which was executive-produced by four time Oscar-nominated director, producer and writer Michael Mann, paired Johnson with the equally cool Philip Michael Thomas as Det. Ricardo Tubbs and the calm and stoic presence of Edward James Olmos as Lt. Martin Castillo. It revolutionized television with its modern fashion, pop music, unique style and use of real locations. Johnson typically wore $1000 Armani, Versace and Hugo Boss suits over pastel cotton T-shirts, drove a Ferrari 365 GTS/4 Daytona (later a Ferrari Testarossa) and lived on an Endeavour 42-foot sailboat named St. Vitus Dance with his pet alligator Elvis. He also had full use of an offshore powerboat. Still, Miami Vice had not only style but substance, and his portrayal of the Vietnam veteran turned vice detective turned Sonny Crockett into the worlds favorite cop. For his work on Miami Vice Johnson won a Golden Globe for Best Performance by an Actor in a TV Series in 1986, and was nominated in the same category a year later.


SmartFinancial Agents is an Ohio based insurance lead provider founded by industry veteran Lev Barinskiy. Lev is a former agency owner who went on to co-found InsuranceAgents.com (Acquired by BankRate in 2012).
With years of experience and some time to analyze the market, Lev started building a platform to reach all insurance prospects with a distinct focus on the growing mobile consumer base.
When SmartFinancial Agents was first profiled here at InsuranceLeadReviews, the company focused solely on their flagship Calls (QuoteCalls) product for the Auto market. The launch was a success and it wasn't long before buyers were asking for more.
Today the company has grown to offer an impressive selection of lines for real-time insurance leads via traditional delivery methods in addition to live calls.
How are SmartFinancial Calls Different?
From a lead buyer perspective SmartFinancial offers most of the features offered by their shared lead counterparts including highly customizable filters, delivery schedule, volume controls, CRM/LMS/Rater integration and a comprehensive online dashboard.
The biggest difference is that lead buyers get a truly exclusive lead product offering a 100% Guaranteed contact rate.
How Does The Call Process Work?
SmartFinancial has implemented a lead acquisition funnel that ensures high intent with a focus on search traffic. Below are the steps a typical prospect would make to become a Call lead.
Consumer searches online for an insurance quote.
Navigates to a SmartFinancial insurance comparison website such as SmartFinancial.com or UnitedStatesInsurance.com.
A "Click to Call" request is made on the website via mobile phone or a call is dialed manually.
Call is received by a SmartFinancial rep to verify the prospect is interested in an insurance quote.
Prospect is matched with a lead buyer based on location and filters in real-time by the SmartFinancial system.
Call is connected with a matching agent to complete the request for quote.
What Call Buyers Should Expect?
SmartFinancial call leads are different from most solutions listed on ILR as they are an exclusive lead product versus a shared lead sold to more than one buyer. This is a detail that is important to keep in mind when comparing other lead vendor reviews.
As an exclusive lead with a 100% contact rate the cost structure is a notable difference from a shared lead service. Call buyers can expect lead prices in the $25 (Auto) to $45 range based on product line and options.
With the addition of traditional shared lead delivery methods, SmartFinancial lead buyers can now diversify product lines and delivery. A change that has transitioned the company from a niche service to a viable full stack lead vendor.
Adding to that, SmartFinancial is currently offering ILR readers a 10% Cash Back Promotion. To get this deal visit the special offer page here or ask for it by phone at 213-340-2802.
Dedicated Account Manager For Every Account.
I need pricing for all categories above.
Thanks for checking out InsuranceLeadReviews, Steve. I don't represent SmartFinancial so I can't offer any specific pricing for you territory. Best bet is to give them a call at 213-340-2802 and they can get you pricing and an idea of the volume available in your area.


text:
'Why Has He Fallen Short?'
August 19, 2010 Issue
The Promise: President Obama, Year One
by Jonathan Alter
Simon and Schuster, 458 pp., $28.00
Pete Souza/Corbis
Barack Obama meeting with US Ambassador Karl Eikenberry and General Stanley McChrystal, Bagram Air Field, Afghanistan, March 28, 2010
Of course Barack Obama was too hot not to cool down. He was the one so many were waiting for—not only the first African-American president but also the nation's long-awaited liberator after eight years of Bush-Cheney, the golden-tongued evangelist who could at long last revive and sell the old liberal faith, the first American president in memory to speak to voters as if they might be thinking adults, the first national politician in years to electrify the young. He was even, of all implausible oddities, a contemporary politician- author who actually wrote his own books.
The Obama of Hope and Change was too tough an act for Obama, a mere chief executive, to follow. Only Hollywood might have the power to create a superhero who could fulfill the messianic dreams kindled by his presence and rhetoric, maintain the riveting drama of his unlikely ascent, and sustain the national mood of deliverance that greeted his victory. As soon as Inauguration Day turned to night, the real Obama was destined to depreciate like the shiny new luxury car that starts to lose its book value the moment it's driven off the lot.
But still: How did we get to the nadir so fast? The BP oil spill, for weeks a constant fixture on the country's television and computer screens, became a presidential quagmire even before Afghanistan could fulfill its manifest destiny to play that role. The 24/7 gushing crude was ready-made to serve as the Beltway's bipartisan metaphorical indicator for a presidency that was verging on disaster to some of Obama's natural supporters, let alone his many enemies. "I don't see how the president's position and popularity can survive the oil spill," wrote Peggy Noonan in The Wall Street Journal on Memorial Day weekend without apparent fear of contradiction.
Pressed by critics to push back against BP with visible anger and kick-ass authority, Obama chose to devote the first Oval Office address of his presidency to the crisis in the gulf—on June 15, nearly sixty days after the Deep- water Horizon rig had exploded. His tardy prescriptions were panned even by the liberal Matthews-Olbermann-Maddow bloc at MSNBC. To many progressives, Obama's too-cool handling of the disaster was a confirmation of a fatal character flaw—a professorial passivity that induced him to prematurely surrender the sacred "public option" in the health care debate and to keep too many of his predecessor's constitutional abridgements in place at home and at Gitmo. When, a day after his prime-time address, he jawboned BP into setting up a $20 billion escrow fund for the spill's victims, the Obama-hating tag team of Rupert Murdoch's Fox News and its Tea Party auxiliaries attacked him for not being passive enough. To them, the President's aggressive show of action was merely…
—— August 19, 2010 ——
The Crisis & the Euro
How Great Was Churchill?
Meritocrats
'A Rapturous Spooky Dream'
On Handguns and the Law
Stephen Breyer


Born in a traditional Iyengar family with a strong background of Sanskrit and Philosophy, Acharye Hema has deep spiritual roots. Having a very strong yet sensitive mind, she started the study of Indian Philosophy and Bhagavadgeeta at the age of 5. She got deeply inspired by the life of the Great Master Swamy Vivekananda, and started the practice of Yogasana at the age of 12 with Acharya Venkatesha. For the next few years, Hema's spiritual education progressed in the multiple dimensions of Asana, Meditation, Sanskrit and Philosophy. Apart from this, due to the interest in the composition and functioning of the human body, she undertook a serious study of anatomy.
By the time she was 15, Acharye Hema had excelled in the practice of Asanas. She was never too interested in the competitions- but, participated in them as a learning experience. She won many championships but the critical knowledge of Asanas she gained through that experience was her real takeaway.
Hema always had a strong inclination towards healing and had every talent and opportunity to join a medical school. However, she chose to drop her formal college education when she was 16 and dedicate herself to Yoga full time. She married Acharya Venkatesh in 1997-when she was 17. Much later in 2007, she resumed her college education just for fun and directly obtained a Masters degree in English Literature with a Gold Medal.
As a teacher, she has worked with children extensively and has an exceptional talent for artistic Yoga. She has coached many students into champions and was also the youngest referee at the state and National Championships. All this was before she reached the age of 21.
But her real interest is the Therapeutic angle of the Asanas. This is where she excels. She is an Expert- Therapist known for her sensitive adjustments and razor sharp intellect. Hema has over 19 years of teaching experience to her credit.
Hema was always a wise soul. She is known among her students for deep spirituality, quick wit and her soul-stirring voice. Her teaching skills are not restricted just to asanas. She has been running Insightful workshops on the Yoga Sutras, chanting and Sanskrit since 1997 . They are considered as highly inspiring, scientific and innovative.
Apart from being an excellent Teacher, Hema is also the Creative Head and student co-ordinator of Atmavikasa.
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Moderator Ralph Rydholm, chairman-ceo-chief creative officer at Tatham Euro RSCG, opened the program with the opinion that advertising isn't as much fun as it used to be.
That lack of ideas may help explain why Coca-Cola would turn to CAA for some fresh ideas, Rydholm said. But he added that Chicago in particular seems to have run low on exciting advertising.
If Rydholm was looking for upbeat answers, he didn't get them from Phil Gant, BBDO Chicago executive vp-chief creative officer. Advertising mirrors life, Gant said, and many people's lives are boring. 'People are tired and worried. Things that used to get a chuckle don't make it through anymore.
Advertising people themselves may be too boring, too 'inbred,' he said, spending too much time with each other and not enough time growing as individuals.
'You say better work's being done in Europe? Well, those guys take the whole summer off! They meet new people. They do fresh and interesting things,' Gant said.
Nina DiSesa, executive vp-executive creative director at J. Walter Thompson/Chicago, did strive for some optimism, suggesting there's more boring advertising being done, because there is so much more advertising volume in total.


There are a total of 6 assisted living facilities in Texarkana, Arkansas area. This list includes Texarkana senior housing, assisted senior living communities and residential care homes for the elderly. Texarkana assisted senior living facilities also provide dementia and Alzheimer's care (also known as memory care in Texarkana, AR).
Arkansas Nursing And Rehabilitation Center is an assisted living community in Texarkana, Arkansas. It can house a maximum of 173 elderly adults at a time. It is located at 2107 Dudley Street, 71854 zip code in Miller county. Arkansas Nursing And Rehabilitation Center helps older adults who require assistance with activities of daily living.
The Gardens provides senior living in Miller county, Arkansas. It contains a total of 10 assisted living apartments for seniors. The Gardens provides affordable, pet-friendly assisted elderly housing and is located at 1625 East 42nd Street, Texarkana, Arkansas 71854.
Housing Opportunities Addition is an upscale senior living facility in Texarkana, Arkansas. It supports a total of 10 assisted living units. Housing Opportunities Addition is available to all Miller county elderly residents in need of assisted living. Housing Opportunities Addition is situated at 4600 County Avenue in Texarkana, Arkansas.
Windsor Cottage is a residential care facility in Texarkana, Arkansas, located at 4110 Jefferson Avenue in 71854 zip code. It provides memory care and assisted living throughout Miller county in Arkansas. Windsor Cottage has a total of 42 assisted living apartment units.
Linrock Health And Rehab Center is an elderly assisted housing facility in Texarkana, Arkansas. Linrock Health And Rehab Center is located at 1100 East 36th St, 71854 zip code and provides assisted living to all Miller county elderly residents. It provides 111 senior living units in total.
Bailey Creek Health And Rehab is a senior care and living facility in Texarkana, Arkansas, located at 1621 East 42nd St. Any elderly or older adults looking for assisted living in Miller county or near 71854 zip code should consider Bailey Creek Health And Rehab as one of the best options.
Assisted Living Facilities in Texarkana, AR. List of all of the best assisted living, senior living and elderly housing options in Texarkana for 2019.


This modern one bedroom flat to rent is situated in a popular residential block, located on Marshall Street in Soho. The apartment is on the third floor (with lift) and is just moments away from the delights of Carnaby Street and Regent Street where the global fashion labels are located as well as the many popular restaurants, coffee shops and bars. The property would be ideal for a single occupant looking to live within central London or for an occupant looking for a pied-a-tere, with easy access to the many transportation links. This contemporary apartment benefits from wooden floors throughout and an open plan, fully fitted kitchen/reception room which overlooks Marshall Street. There is also a modern bathroom and the bedroom provides fitted wardrobes. Marshall Street is surrounded by many transportation links and is ideally located just a short walk away from either Piccadilly Circus underground station (Bakerloo and Piccadilly lines) and Oxford Circus underground station (Central, Bakerloo and Victoria lines), respectively 550 metres and 450 metres away. There are also numerous bus routes along Regent Street and Oxford Street therefore making it ideal for an occupant who is looking for a quick commute to the City or to other destinations across London. The property is available to rent from the beginning of June on an unfurnished basis. For more information about our fees please visit our web-site's 'Tenant Fees' page located under the Rent tab.


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CMA Songwriters Series And Introducing Nashville To Return To UK'S C2C Festival
CMA Songwriters will feature Dalton Dover, Nate Smith, and Lainey Wilson, while Introducing Nashville presents Tyler Braden, Caylee Hammack, and Alana Springsteen.
Dalton Dover - Photo: Jason Myers
The Country Music Association has announced its return to the UK for the Country to Country festival next March, which will open with the traditional CMA Songwriters Series evening, and feature the CMA Presents Introducing Nashville line-up.
The CMA Songwriters Series show will set the scene for the C2C weekend on Thursday, March 9, with performances by Dalton Dover, Nate Smith, Lainey Wilson, and special guests.
Dalton Dover - Damn Good Life (Audio)
Introducing Nashville, returning after its hugely popular 2022 debut, will include performances by Tyler Braden, Caylee Hammack, and Alana Springsteen. It will be part of the festival's opening set on the main stage at The O2 in London (March 10), The Ovo Hydro in Glasgow (11), and 3Arena in Dublin (12).
The War And Treaty, Maddie & Tae Among Performers At 'Rock The Ryman' Concert
Luke Bryan, Shania Twain, Zac Brown Band, And More Set For Faster Horses Festival
Willie Nelson To Mark 90th Birthday With Star-Packed Hollywood Bowl Concerts
"Being able to provide artists the sought-after opportunity to be included on the C2C mainstage through our Introducing Nashville lineup is such an honor," says Milly Olykan, CMA VP, international relations & development. "Each year, we are especially amazed at the excitement from UOK fans for our CMA Songwriters Series, which we are proud to say features several artists making their UK performance debuts. Thank you C2C for your continued partnership and support and thank you music lovers for helping us grow Country Music."
Launched in 2019, Introducing Nashville has provided a platform for new and developing artists to country fans around the world, including in Amsterdam, Auckland, Berlin, Hamburg, Oslo, Stockholm, Tokyo, and multiple cities in the UL and Australia. Line-ups have included Priscilla Block, Danielle Bradbery, Brandy Clark, Devin Dawson, Travis Denning, Lindsay Ell, Walker Hayes, Lauren Jenkins, Tiera Kennedy, Logan Mize, Tenille Townes, Morgan Wade, and Rachel Wammack.
The CMA Songwriters Series, running since 2005, has presented more than 100 shows in cities including Austin, Belfast, Chicago, Dublin, London, Los Angeles, New York, Paris, Toronto and Washington, D.C. at the renowned Library of Congress and John F. Kennedy Center. Featured artists and songwriters have included Jimmie Allen, Bill Anderson, Clint Black, Kristian Bush, Cam, Shy Carter, Ross Copperman, Travis Denning, Luke Dick, Russell Dickerson, Bob DiPiero, Charles Esten, Randy Houser, Levi Hummon, Marcus Hummon, Brett James, Mac McAnally, Shane McAnally, Martina McBride, Lori McKenna, Ashley Monroe, Maren Morris, Angaleena Presley, Liz Rose, Caitlyn Smith, Laura Veltz, Drake White, Charlie Worsham, and Chris Young.
Tickets for the C2C Main Stage featuring the Introducing Nashville lineup are available to purchase at www.c2c-countrytocountry.com.
Related Topics:C2C 2023C2C FestivalCMACMA Presents Introducing NashvilleCMA Songwriters SeriesCountryFeatured News


What to give when sarcasm is your love language . . .
This post is sponsored by ShoeBox. I've always loved picking out cards for my friends, and I equally love getting cards in the mail. Sure, now we have internet memes and facebook stickers that we can send to one another, but there is something so special about a card. I've always known that ShoeBox was like the irreverent little brother in the Hallmark family, but lately their cards have taken it up a notch in the inappropriate department, a fact that I LOVE. I got to attend their 29th birthday and relaunch party last month and it was a blast. They had some of my favorite comedians on hand (Rob Riggle and Neal Brennan) and I'm here to tell you: the filter was off. I was cry-laughing by the end of the evening. Their cards are fun and scrappy. I've always joked that sarcasm is my love language, so I love these cards. A few of my favorites: Living across the country from my family means that I have to ship the presents and cards for most holidays and birthdays. I am often very late in this endeavor. So I love these belated cards. My kids love them, too. (Not all cards are kid-appropriate!) Jafta thought this was the best. Because of course he did. Somehow I feel like I know the kind of cards I will be getting from my own kids. And I'm okay with that.


The Chattanooga Times Free-Press, which is actually a nicely laid out, decently written newspaper, is catching some flak for helping the guardsman grill Rumsfeld in Kuwait regarding dumpster-diving for equipment.
USAToday is helping stamp out the firestorm by downplaying the importance of the issue with articles like this.
The real tragedy is that the only way to ask these questions of America's leaders is by getting soldiers to stand-in for reporters. The reporter, Edward Lee Pitts, should get a medal.


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Government News: U.S. to Consider Giving More Aid to Israel and Navy to Build a Surveillance Base
ExecutiveGov unveiled a number of timely and important news items this week geared toward the government and government contracting executive.
Two vital stories the website published included an announcement about a new maritime surveillance facility and talk of increased U.S. aid to Israel.
Currently, Israel receives $3.15 billion a year in aid from the U.S.
According to an ExecutiveGov article, Israel wants its aid increased due to quality of military edge concerns, military modernization and new threats from regional instability.
"QME, which pertains to Israel's ability to defend itself by itself against any combination of Mideast adversaries, was always implied but never explicitly linked to long-term FMF agreements or security assistance planning," said Dov Zakheim, former Pentagon comptroller and undersecretary of defense.
Israel's qualitative military edge concerns were recently codified into US law, according to the article.
That means a new agreement, which would have to factor in the laws, could potentially add to the $30 billion, 10 year agreement that went into place in 2007.
In other news, the Navy has awarded a $15.9 million contract to build a facility where command and control systems will be setup for UAV intelligence activities.
The base will serve as a hub for air-based anti-submarine warfare and maritime partrol missions for the Navy's Atlantic and Caribbean divisions.
It will also serve as an operations center where Northrop Grumman-made unmanned aerial vehicles and other maritime patrol planes will be based.
Executive Mosaic is a leader in connecting Capital-area executives through exclusive events and media, with a particular focus on the federal government contracting (GovCon) industry. In addition to weaving a fabric of private like-minded communities, the company's growing cross-media platform serves as a leading source of news on the people, policies, trends and events shaping the GovCon sector.


First Automobile – Remember When?
Remember how proud you were of it? It might not have been the newest car on the block, but it was going to be the best.
You took it home and washed it, polished it and took the vacuum cleaner outside to make sure it was totally spotless, every week!
As a teenager, living at home, with brothers and sisters, the car is your space. Your friends judge you by your car and how smart it looks. Your car gives you the chance of privacy that you never get at home. The opportunity to take your girlfriend somewhere quiet, maybe, or just the chance to go off on your own and enjoy the sea view, maybe do a bit of fishing.
That was just the outside. Remember tweaking the engine, changing the brake fluid, and fitting a spoiler? Did you fit a nitrous oxide nitro kit to improve the performance of your automobile? Did you tell the insurance company that you had modified the engine? Of course you did.
Was your first car in the days before catalysts? When you could smell the nitric oxide emissions coming out of the exhaust when the engine was hot? Do you remember the chlorine like smell as you backed your car into the garage? That was nitric oxide.
Remember when gasoline smelled different. Nowadays, with all the benzene compounds added to it, gas smells totally different. Some peole say that modern, benzene rich, gas in a car with no exhaust catalyst gives out more harmful emissions than the good old type, complete with nitric oxide and hyrdrocarbons.
Remember the leaks in the trunk? Oh, you had forgotten that. Remember how the heater leaked coolant all over the carpet? No? Did you forget that, too? Remember the strange noise that came from the front wheels at 75mph, but that went away once you were up to 85mph?
Strange isn't it, how memory works? Reminiscing is one thing, but would you really ever go back?
What defines the term sports car and why are we so fascinated with them. Is it simply the flowing curves of the body design, the massive power output of the high revving engines or could it even be the distinctive throaty musical note of the exhaust pipes. Everyone will have a different opinion on what they think makes sports cars special and for the reasons why we love them so much. Even people who say they are impractical or unnecessary cannot help but to turn and look when one drives past displaying its beautiful contours hinting at the power hidden under the perfectly painted panels.
Since the development of motorised vehicles a small select group of individuals have always had the undying fascination of designing and building them bigger, more powerful and faster than they either needed to be or really should be with any regard to safety. This was no different with the motor car industry, from its relative simple and sluggish beginnings the car quickly developed into a very useful mode of transport and working tool. For some this new way to transport us around turned into an obsession of power and speed and welcomed the age of the racing cars and sports cars.
To begin with motor vehicles were built for more functional than aesthetically pleasing reasons and their ability to carry both people and heavy loads is what drove the designers and manufacturers forward. Humans though have an eye for beauty and a thirst for power and speed, combining these attributes the birth of the sports cars was inevitable.
As new developments occurred in the early motor industry a small number of designers, builders and drivers pushed the motor car to its limits on race tracks to test its abilities against other manufacturers vehicles. These races fuelled the next generation of cars and drivers. As engines became more powerful the ability to race these machines began to push the designs and needs to new levels this quite often was at the expense of someone's life. Big powerful engines were placed into fragile frames and pushed to the limit often with dire consequences to drivers and spectators. But humans have a need to go faster and faster and this drove these brave and quite often reckless early pioneers to design better and more powerful machines and this began the start of the new age of the modern motor car. Safety was usually an after thought if it came up at all, the main focus was pushing the machines and drivers to their limits and beyond if possible. The engines power output quickly out grew the motor cars ability to handle these increases and the designers had to rethink the chassis and suspensions limitations. As with in the aircraft industry the designs of planes and engines regularly changed along with the abilities and reliability of the aircraft, the motor cars began to evolve along the same lines with new ideas and breakthroughs in technologies incorporating aerodynamics to help reduce drag and stronger building materials for chassis and bodywork.
Developing test vehicles purely for racing was the beginning of what we now class as the sports car. After the Second World War a new breed of sports car began to emerge. The once very high-priced and hard to obtain race bred cars that only the most wealthy and enthusiastic owners could secure began to evolve into a more accessible vehicle with the additional comforts and road functionalities, and what was even more important, a more affordable price tag making them more accessible to the average owner and driver. The sports cars had taken their first steps from the exclusive domain to main stream availability. Over the next few years as advancements were made on and off the racing circuit designs began their slow transformation into the popular modern shapes of today's models. Many famous names have added their own distinctions to the sports car moulds and most can be easily identified by pure shape alone even today.
The number of vehicles sold for under $15,000 is still strong and soon to expand greatly in the face of cheap Chinese imports set to flood the North American market within one year's time.
Are you looking for a new car? If you are, there are several models available to you for under $15,000. Twelve are mentioned here; thirteen if you include the Nissan Versa to be released later this summer. Increased competition has made this a great time to buy a new car so compare, shop, and save!
Chevrolet Cobalt ?With an MSRP of under $13,000, this Chevrolet model is one of the lowest priced cars manufactured in the U.S. A competitive price when you realize that few new car models are priced so low. If the Cobalt price still isn't low enough for you, then Chevrolet also markets the Aveo, a vehicle GM imports from its South Korean subsidiary Daewoo. The Aveo retails for just $9890!
Ford Focus ?Retailing at $13,990 the Focus is the lowest priced vehicle sold by "blue oval?in the U.S. Not cheap enough for you? Special incentives on the ZX3 version of the Focus can lower the price by as much as $3000!
Honda Civic Coupe ?It is getting increasingly difficult to find a Civic under $15,000. Why is that? Well, Honda has been gradually pushing the Civic up market in a bid to compete against the Nissan Sentra and Toyota Corolla. Don't worry, Honda is about to release a car even smaller [and cheaper] than the Civic: the $12,000 Fit will be in Honda showrooms later this year!
Hyundai Accent and the Hyundai Elantra ?Leave it to Hyundai to have two vehicles in its line up that sell for under $15,000. Starting at just $12,455 the Accent GLS is bargain basement, but not stripped. The car comes with four wheel disc brakes, 8 way adjustable driver's seat, and ABS. The Elantra is slightly up market and retails for about $1300 more than the Accent.
Kia Rio and Kia Spectra ?With an MSRP listed at $11, 110 the Kia Rio is the lowest priced four door car sold in the U.S. Recent upgrades for the model include several safety features: six airbags, impact-absorbing steering column, front and rear crumple zones and side-impact door beams. Select the Spectra for a car that is better appointed and larger than the Rio.
Toyota Corolla ?Always competitive, the Corolla is priced at $14,105 and is considered by industry leaders to have the highest quality amongst all small cars on the market. A lower cost model, the Echo, has been discontinued but a new model, the Yaris, will appear later this year and retail for about $12,000.
Scion xA and Scion xB ?Two of the three models sold by Toyota's Generation "Y?division, Scion, are priced under $15,000. The xA starts around $13,500 and the xB sells for about $1000 more than that.
So, are the days of finding transportation under $15,000 soon to be behind us? On the contrary, with the 2007 importation of cars from China the under $10,000 category will soon have new life as cars from Chery and Geely hit U.S. showrooms pushing new prices down to as low as $6600! As a result, Ford, Dodge, and others are looking at ways to build and import cars overseas or in Mexico that will sell for much than current base models.
Used cars are not as risky a purchase as they used to be. Thanks to certification programs, the industry is changing for the better, and more Americans are turning to used cars for better value.
Certification offers a way to weed out unscrupulous used car dealers who might sell damaged cars. The nearly 600,000 vehicles damaged by floodwaters from last year's storms are prime candidates to end up as part of such scams.
As more car buyers turn to certified vehicles, the number sold this year is expected to increase significantly from the 1.6 million purchased in 2005. Besides costing less than their new-car counterparts, certified vehicles also come with many of the same benefits, eliminating much of the guesswork associated with buying used.
Certified by whom? Make sure you know who sets the standards for the certification program and who makes certain they're being enforced. Look for a manufacturer-backed program-the best people to certify a car are the ones who built it and specialize in that make. Most manufacturers will offer a limited warranty in addition to honoring the car's original warranty.
Do your homework. Research the makes and models that make sense for your driving needs. Check safety and reliability reports published online and prices from your whole area.
How was the car certified? At a minimum, a car should have a detailed mechanical inspection and a vehicle history report. Carfax Vehicle History Reports are a mandatory part of the certification process for 80 percent of today's manufacturer-certified programs.
What does it get you? The certified used car you're buying probably comes with an extended warranty. Make sure you know exactly what this covers and for how long. You can always add additional coverage.
Ask for more. If you want roadside assistance, options added to the car, free oil changes or anything else, don't be afraid to ask.
In order for all of us to understand what is going on in the world about the high price of gasoline. Let us look at one man's quest to make the engine a better and cheaper running machine, a quick history lesson if you will.
The Mazda CX 7 is a crossover sport utility vehicle that is midsize. This vehicle will fill the niche that the Mazda Tribute has left behind. Interested parties may also have a choice between a front wheel drive and the Mazda Active Torque Split all wheel drive system. The Mazda CX 7 is considered to be quite similar to the Honda Pilot, the Nissan Murano, Subaru B9 Tribeca, and the Toyota Highlander.
Beneath the glamour and the beauty of the Mazda CX 7, one's interest would also be held by the machine that keeps this vehicle running. The source of power of this vehicle is a 2.3 liter straight four MZR engine. This very same engine is also used in the Mazda Mazdaspeed 6. This power source could actually produce some 244 hp at 5000 rpm and also 258 pound feet of torque at a low 2500 rpm. Aside from that, this vehicle also boasts of additional features to make the driving and riding the Mazda CX 7 more pleasant and very enjoyable. The list of features include fully independent suspension systems, four wheel ventilated disc brakes with anti lock brakes made standard, and a stability control and traction control system. Interested parties may also have a choice between a front wheel drive and the Mazda Active Torque Split all wheel drive system. The latter actually has a computer controlled coupling that is able to provide up to a maximum of fifty percent of the whole of the engine's torque to its rear wheels.
This article tells the reader about the Ariel Atom, a new consumer friendly F1 style race car for the average person.
The new 2007 Jaguar XKR concept also has been finally unveiled. The two-door convertible and four-seater coupe XKR represents the latest technology in lightweight vehicle structure of future Jaguar vehicles.
Lustrous and elegant, the new 2007 Jaguar XKR concept also has been finally unveiled. The two-door convertible and four-seater coupe XKR represents the latest technology in lightweight vehicle structure of future Jaguar vehicles. It also shows off fine design and efficient performance. The Jaguar XKR truly offers its occupants nothing but a smooth and sporty driving experience.
The Jaguar XKR convertible is considered as the most potent model in the Jaguar family. Like other XK Jaguar models, the new XKR also provides modern technology features like the aluminum monocoque body structure. The unique front bumper design showcases the sporty side of Jaguar models. The Jaguar XKR is equipped with the supercharged V-8 4.2-liter engine and the high-class calibration six-speed automatic transmission that helps the driver to have a nice drift on the road. The up-rated 420 HP that produces an amount of 413 pounds of torque shows the improved performance of the new XKR. The improvement in power and torque of the XKR is obtained because of the latest additions on the engine components. For the very first time, Jaguar engineers equipped the new XKR with the Variable Inlet Camshaft Timing System. This added system helps the engine to adjust in various situations depending on the speed and the volume of load.
Interior features of the new Jaguar XKR include the high-class sport-designed seats and a spacious cabin that will surely offer a comfortable ride for its occupants. An easy to use instrument panel and a clear dashboard area also provide efficiency in driving. The new 2007 Jaguar XKR is remarkably a true and elegant sports car.


To prepare filling: Preheat oven to 350°F. Coat an 11-by-7-inch baking dish with cooking spray.
Combine strawberries, rhubarb, granulated sugar, cornstarch, lemon juice and salt in a large bowl; transfer to the prepared baking dish.
To prepare topping: Combine brown sugar, oats, flour and butter in a medium bowl; stir until thoroughly combined. Crumble the topping evenly over the strawberry-rhubarb mixture.
Bake the cobbler until the topping is golden, 35 to 40 minutes. Cool on a wire rack for 5 minutes; serve warm or at room temperature.


Print Page - Lupin part of attractions and theme at Universal Studios Japan next year.
Title: Lupin part of attractions and theme at Universal Studios Japan next year.
Details here (https://mobile.twitter.com/USJ_Official/status/1054983344851730432). 'Cool Japan' experience.
Title: Re: Lupin part of attractions and theme at Universal Studios Japan next year.


Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Spray a jumbo (6 compartment) muffin tin with non-stick cooking spray and set aside.
Place tuna, Parmesan cheese and breadcrumbs in a medium bowl, stirring to combine. Lightly press mixture into bottoms of muffin tin.
Place eggs in a medium bowl and beat lightly.
Spread spinach over several layers of paper towels. Roll towels up and squeeze to remove excess water. Transfer spinach to egg mixture. Add bell pepper, salt and pepper, stirring to combine. Spoon mixture into muffin tin and bake until cooked through, 14-16 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool for a few minutes before serving.