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Kaiser Permanente Bringing 800 Call Center Jobs To Georgia
Kaiser Permanente, the nation's largest integrated health care system, will open a national member services contact center in Gwinnett County, Georgia later this year. The move will bring more than 800 new jobs to metro Atlanta by 2020—most of them by 2017.
"Over the past several years, we have experienced tremendous growth nationally as more people have joined Kaiser Permanente for our industry-leading, high-quality care and affordable coverage," said Julie Miller-Phipps, president of Kaiser Foundation Health Plan of Georgia. "Across the country, our contact centers now handle more than 15 million calls and one million emails a year, and we want to ensure that all of our members receive top-notch customer service from experienced professionals."
Metro Atlanta's market for call center workers—the seventh largest in the country—was a key reason Kaiser Permanente chose to locate a national contact center in Georgia. The health care organization is investing $51 million to purchase and renovate an 185,000 square-foot office complex situated on 18 acres in Duluth. The facility, which will be designed to meet requirements for LEED certification as a "green" building, is expected to open in the fall. Kaiser Permanente currently operates national contact centers in California, Colorado, Hawaii and Maryland.
"The health care industry is an economic driver in Georgia," said Gov. Nathan Deal. "Kaiser Permanente's devotion to bettering the lives of citizens through innovative health care services makes the company a good fit for Georgia. The state looks forward to continuing this partnership with Kaiser Permanente as it further expands and produces a positive impact on Georgia's economy."
"Kaiser Permanente's decision to invest in Gwinnett speaks to the strength of our community and the economic vitality of this area," said Gwinnett County Board of Commissioners Chairman Charlotte Nash. "With access to a skilled workforce and significant infrastructure, companies like Kaiser Permanente are able to successfully grow and expand their business with confidence."
The new contact center will serve Kaiser Permanente's more than 10 million members in eight states and the District of Columbia, including approximately 300,000 in Georgia. Last year, the company announced plans to open a new IT facility in Atlanta, which is expected to create 900 new jobs, bringing Kaiser Permanente's presence in Georgia to more than 5,000 employees and physicians by 2020.
In addition to recruiting more than 800 new employees to handle calls and emails related to insurance coverage and billing, Kaiser Permanente is relocating its Georgia-based member service representatives, appointment schedulers and advice nurses to the new facility. The contact center will have the capacity to hold up to 1,000 workers. Hiring is expected to start in the summer of 2016.
Kaiser's bid to start a medical school: 'A game changer'
Kaiser Permanente Plans Medical School in SoCal in 2019
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Location Spotlight: Santee Cooper – CAMP HALL
Camp Hall is a first-of-its-kind, master-planned industrial work space located in a business epicenter of the South and at the heart of modern Southern culture — Charleston, S.C.


And I sought for a man among them, that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it: but I found none (Ezekiel 22:30).
The Lord said that He is looking for people to stand in the gap for their nation. In this message, Rev. Randall Grier shares what Christians can do to pray for their nation - to stand in the gap. The Word of God instructs us to pray for our leaders first of all. That means to pray for them before anything else. This message is an encouraging word for Christians everywhere to take their authority and turn their nation around. Through personal experience and scripture, Rev. Grier shares the importance of standing in the gap for our nation. If we don't do it, who will?


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Tag: baby
Are Fire Retardants Putting Us at Risk? (Part 5)
Chlorinated tris, a chemical that has been shown to mutate DNA, is one of the chemicals being used as a flame retardant in baby product foam and furniture.(Photo courtesy of Abby Batchelder CC-2.0)
Flame retardant chemicals help keep foam and plastics from catching on fire. But certain kinds of these chemicals are building up in people. And hundreds of studies are suggesting links to problems with brain development, and thyroid and fertility problems. In the final part of our five part series… Rebecca Williams reports on the alternatives to these chemicals:
http://environmentreport.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/feature_williams_031210.mp3
PBDEs – or polybrominated diphenyl ethers – are flame retardant chemicals. Penta-BDE is a type that was the go-to chemical for furniture for more than 30 years. Penta was phased out in 2005 because of health concerns. So companies needed alternatives. Now they often use a chemical called chlorinated tris. But there's a problem.
"Chlorinated tris was removed from children's sleepwear in the 70s after it was shown to cause mutations and cancer in animals."
Arlene Blum is one of the scientists who discovered the chemical could mutate DNA. She also discovered the chemical was being absorbed into children's bodies when they wore their pjs.
"It's now being used as the flame retardant in furniture and baby product foam across the U.S."
Blum is a chemist at the University of California Berkeley. She recently published a peer-reviewed study in the journal Environmental Science & Technology. She and her team found chlorinated tris in furniture. And they also found it's migrating out of products and getting into house dust. And then there are other newer flame retardants.
"The other main substitute is called Firemaster. It's a mixture of four chemicals, two of which are known to be toxic and two of which we don't know too much about."
None of the three big chemical companies wanted to be recorded. One of the companies, Albemarle, didn't respond at all. Both Chemtura and ICL Industrial Products said in email statements that their flame retardant chemicals are extensively studied and safe.
Furniture companies say they're in a bind. There's a California regulation called Technical Bulletin 117. It requires the foam in upholstered furniture and baby products to meet a certain fire standard. And that usually means companies have to add flame retardants to the foam to meet the standard. Companies often don't want to make separate products just for California, so they just treat everything with flame retardants.
Andy Counts is CEO of the American Home Furnishings Alliance. He says back when they were using penta-BDE… they were told it was safe. And they believed it was. Now, he says furniture makers are switching to new chemicals. They're being told those are safe. And they believe they are.
"Certainly when we started using penta years ago there was no indication of any harmful effects. So it's always a danger to use substitutes unless you have all the science in front of you. We feel confident that we have that. But as a furniture manufacturer we would like to avoid any questions about the safety of our products."
At the same time, a handful of companies have moved away from PBDEs and other suspect flame retardants altogether.
Arlene Blum says it's a good idea to reduce your exposure to those flame retardants. She says they migrate out of products and get into dust.
"You just want to be really good about keeping dust down in your house. Do a lot of vacuuming with a HEPA filter, wet mopping and then always washing your hands before you eat."
She says one rule of thumb is to look for the little white label on furniture and baby products with foam in them that says it meets California TB 117… and then avoid buying that stuff if you can.
She says we will all probably be surrounded by PBDEs in our homes for decades.
The hope is this new generation of flame retardants will be safe. But there's no government standard to guarantee that.
More about the study on chlorinated tris in furniture
Green Science Policy Institute
Tips on reducing your exposure to PBDEs
Birth Weights on the Decline
Researchers studied records of more than 36 million births and found the birth weight of the average full term single baby actually decreased over a 15 year period. (Photo courtesy of the Library of Congress)
American moms are giving birth
to smaller babies. Rebecca Williams
reports on a new study that suggests
this recent trend might be the
reversal of American babies getting
bigger and bigger of the past half-
century:
A few giant babies made the news last year. One was even 15 pounds.
"At guess at some point you can't make bigger babies (laughs) so maybe we've maxed out."
That's Dr. Emily Oken with Harvard Medical School. She says babies are getting smaller. She studied records of more than 36 million births and found the birth weight of the average full term single baby actually decreased over a 15 year period.
But it was just a couple of ounces. Dr. Oken says that's not a big deal for most healthy babies.
"But, is there an underlying reason why perhaps babies might be getting a little bit smaller and does that exposure have a short or longer term health implication for babies?"
She says she ruled out factors such as age, race, tobacco use, and birth complications. Dr. Oken says next, she wants to study mother's diets, exercise, stress, and exposure to environmental toxins as possible causes.
Info on the study from Harvard
A related article from US News & World Report
A related article from the Wall Street Journal
Lead in Toys, Despite Law
This toy was recalled by the Consumer Product Safety Commission because it violated federal lead paint standards. (Photo courtesy of the CPSC)
This year, there have been far fewer
toys recalled because of lead contamination
than in past years. But Rebecca Williams
reports, even with a tough new federal
law limiting lead, toys with illegal
levels of lead are still being found
on store shelves this shopping season:
So far this year, more than one million toys and kids' products have been recalled because they contain high levels of lead. That's actually a big drop from the past two years.
The toy industry, government officials, and even environmental groups all say this holiday season is safer.
"This is all due to parent and consumer demands and outrage over what's happened in the past."
That's Mike Shriberg. He's with the Ecology Center. Parents were outraged because lead exposure can cause the loss of IQ points, brain damage and even death. The American Academy of Pediatrics says there is no safe level of lead exposure.
But Shriberg says there's a little good news here. Most toy companies and retailers have heard parents' demands.
"Companies are trying to prove their safety to customers. And so, many of them have announced voluntary standards above federal laws. They're more motivated to test and show that their products are safer and that's where we're seeing some of the improvement."
Both Walmart and Toys R' Us responded by email to questions from The Environment Report. Both retailers say they are thoroughly testing toys, and in some cases, hold their suppliers to stronger standards than the federal law.
But Mike Shriberg says the news is not all good.
"We're still finding about 3% of toys we tested actually exceed recall levels which means they have lead above level deemed to be safe by federal laws."
The government's Consumer Product Safety Commission is in charge of making sure toys are safe. Three billion toys are sold in the US each year. The federal government does not test every kind of toy.
Nychelle Fleming is with the commission. She says the commission has a team of people testing toys, and inspectors do random toy checks at ports and retail stores. But she says the commission also relies on toy makers, advocacy groups and even parents to report problems with toys – including lead contamination.
"Unfortunately there's no real way I can tell shoppers to know how to look out for or avoid. I think the best way for shoppers to know that is to really be in loop with the commission, to be a part of getting our recall announcements directly so you don't have to question or wonder which product is affected."
The Toy Industry Association says it's not just the government's job to make sure toys are safe. It says the industry has undertaken an unprecedented level of inspections and re-inspections to keep lead out of toys.
But some shoppers are not getting a clear message about lead in toys. Like these people we caught up with at a Target store.
"When you've got little kids that say I want this or I want that when they see it on TV or in the store it's kind of hard to balance that against whether something has lead or not."
"Usually they've been pulled haven't they? I don't know! Maybe they haven't."
"Well I just watch for it because I know you're supposed to, but I don't know the guidelines or the limits or anything like that, I really don't."
So clearly, not everybody knows what to look for when they're shopping.
Mike Shriberg with the Ecology Center says it really shouldn't be this hard.
"Part of our message as parents is, your lives are already complicated. The fact that our federal chemical regulatory system is completely failing means that really you almost have to be a chemist to do your shopping and that's not… that shouldn't be."
Shriberg says, when it comes to lead, you can be a little more confident this holiday season. But he says there's still no guarantee that all toys will be lead-free.
He says you should avoid children's metal jewelry and toys from vending machines. He says simpler toys, like unpainted wood toys, tend to be the safest choices.
This year's toy testing results from The Ecology Center
A new report: Trouble in Toyland
Toy Industry Association
BPA Making Little Girls Aggressive?
The researcher plans to follow the children to see if the aggressive behavior is lasting. (Photo courtesy of the National Cancer Institute)
A study has found links between a chemical used in some plastics and aggressive behavior in girls. Lester Graham reports on the latest research on BPA:
http://environmentreport.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/spot_graham_101609.mp3
BPA, Bisphenol-A, is used in a lot of plastic products including plastic dental fillings, carbon-less paper receipts and most canned food linings.
Researchers tested 249 pregnant women for their exposure to BPA and then followed-up after they gave birth.
Joe Braun is one of the researchers at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. Braun says the mothers were given a lengthy questionnaire on the children's behavior when they turned two.
"And what we found is that the exposure to BPA, or bisphenol-A, in pregnancy was associated with behaviors like aggression or hyperactivity. And this association was strongest in girls and we really didn't even observe an association in boys."
The study was published in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives.
Braun says they'll continue to follow the children to see if the aggressive behavior is lasting.
For The Environment Report, I'm Lester Graham.
A related article from USA Today
Another related article from Yahoo! News
Footloose and Diaper-Free
Diaper-free parents say that their baby shows them signs when a bathroom break is needed. They call the dialogue "elimination communication." (Photo by Jessi Ziegler)
When most Americans have a baby,
the parents decide whether to use
disposable or cloth diapers. But
Julie Grant reports that there's
another trend: no diapers at all:
http://environmentreport.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/feature_grant_101609.mp3
Having kids without diapers might seem kind of far out. So,
who better to tell us about this then Willow Lune, of
Berkeley, California.
She remembers when her son was 3-months old. They
were at her mother-in-law's house. Her husband took the
baby to the bathroom – and accidentally left the door open.
"And his mother came in and saw him holding our son over
the toilet. And she said, 'what are you doing?' And my
husband said, 'well, he's going to the bathroom, just like you
do.' And it took her about a minute, and she said, 'that's so
Lune and her husband said it was normal to see babies
without diapers when they were traveling in Tibet and
Thailand. So, when their son was born, they decided to try
it. He's was going to the toilet on his own by age 1 and a
half.
Now Lune teaches classes in Berkeley and other areas
around San Francisco.
She says diaper-free little ones can wear crotch-less pants –
or might not wear anything from the waist down.
And it's up to the parents to pay close attention – or risk
having to reach for the cleaning supplies.
"There might be a little wiggle, or sometimes just the staring
at you. There's just little subtle clues that they actually give
you from the time they're born. So it's our job to look at that,
listen for that, pick up on that. And then respond to it."
Turns out, there's a name for this little dialogue between
babies and parents. They call it elimination communication,
or E.C. Instead of using diapers – and then training them to
go in the toilet a few years later – Lune says parents can just
pay attention. They can show babies from the start what to
do when the need arises.
Lune says one of the reasons she and her husband do this
is because they are concerned for the environment.
Pampers and Huggies clog up the landfills. The other major
option – washing cloth diapers – takes more attention from
parents. But doing that can use a lot of water and electricity.
Jennifer Williams lives in the San Francisco area. She has
three children – all under age four.
Williams is also concerned for the environment. And she
wants to pay close attention when her 6-month old daughter
goes to the bathroom. She even uses cloth diapers.
"Even just with cloth diapers, you have to be way more in
tune to what's going on with someone's body. Where –
she's in disposable right now – I'll just forget about it for five
hours. You don't have that option with cloth. Unless you
want to give her a horrible a rash. So, the whole EC thing is
really interesting, because you really have to be in touch with
what's going on physiologically."
But Williams works full time. Elimination communication just
is not practical for her family.
"Yeah, I mean, because you really do have to be available to
whenever the baby has to go to the bathroom. With one
baby, when I was home on maternity leave, I probably could
have done it. Once you have more than one running
around, it just doesn't fit. Maybe I'm lazy. So be it."
Supporters of the diaper-free lifestyle say it's actually easier
then potty training kids when they're older. And they say
parents don't have to do it all the time. They can try it when
they do have time to pay close attention.
For The Environment Report, I'm Julie Grant.
A related article from the San Francisco Chronicle
Diaper Free Baby – the website
Another TER story on diapers
Captive Otters Adopt Orphaned Pups
Now that surrogate moms raise the otters, the goal is for the pups to never see or hear a human. To get up close to the pup, Ann had to put on a Darth Vader costume of sorts. (Photo by Angela Hains)
An aquarium exhibit otter bonds with a pup, behind-the-scenes at the Monterey Bay Aquarium (Photo courtesy of the Monterey Bay Aquarium Foundation)
A sea otter mother and pup pair. Animals that can rejoin the breeding population get top priority in the aquarium stranding program. (Photo by Doc White, courtesy of the Monterey Bay Aquarium Foundation)
For animals in most zoos and
aquariums, the door from freedom
to captivity only swings one way.
But at the Monterey Bay Aquarium,
sea otters from its exhibits teach
wild sea otter orphans how to
survive in the ocean. Ann Dornfeld
has the story:
http://environmentreport.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/feature_dornfeld_072009.mp3
For animals in most zoos and aquariums, the door from
freedom to captivity only swings one way. But at the
Monterey Bay Aquarium, sea otters from its exhibits teach
wild sea otter orphans how to survive in the ocean. Ann
Dornfeld has the story:
Rosa has her baby in a headlock. That's actually how
southern sea otters hold their young.
"The pup is essentially unconscious – it's very much
asleep, and Rosa is holding it as a female would in the
wild: she's got it sort of teed off to her side with a paw
around its neck."
Andy Johnson is the director of the Monterey Bay
Aquarium's Sea Otter Research and Conservation
program.
By the end of the19th century, sea otters had been hunted
to extinction in some parts of the Pacific.
Lilian Carswell is with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
She says these days, pollution and disease are sea otters'
biggest threats. And she says a lot of other species
depend on otters' survival.
"Sea otters are important for a number of reasons. One is
that they're a top predator in the nearshore marine
ecosystem and they play an important role in structuring
what that ecosystem looks like."
Hungry sea otters keep sea urchin populations in check.
When urchins overpopulate an area, they can mow down
entire kelp forests that provide food and shelter for
hundreds of species.
So to help conserve the otter population, Andy Johnson
and his team at the Monterey Bay Aquarium pair orphaned
pups from the wild with the female exhibit otters. The goal
is for the surrogate mother to not only care for the pup, but
also to teach it all the skills it will need to be released back
into the wild at about six months old.
A volunteer has just tossed some food into the pool where
Rosa and the orphaned pup are swimming. Rosa grabs
the live crab as the pup watches.
"Rosa's quite skilled with those, so she'll pretty much take
that apart in a few minutes. We'll have to watch the pup
and see if the pup approaches the crab without getting
pinched. I have to admit it's quite amusing to see these
young animals confronting these crabs 'cause these crabs
are pretty formidable on their own."
Rosa ends up breaking off a leg for her adopted pup, who
decides the shell is too much work. Before long, though,
the pup will learn some of the same impressive skills that
adult sea otters have – like how to use tools to open clams
and sea urchins.
Before the surrogate program began, workers and
volunteers used to hand-rear these pups. They'd even
take the pups swimming in Monterey Bay to acclimate
them to their future home.
But that made the released otters expect food from
boaters and other people they encountered in the bay.
Now that surrogate moms raise the otters, the goal is for
the pups to never see or hear a human. We've been
watching the sea otters interact from a TV monitor near
the pool. To get up close to the pup, I have to put on a
Darth Vader costume of sorts – starting with a huge black
nylon poncho.
(sound of the poncho)
Ann:	"This is a welding mask?"
Andy Johnson:	"A very cheap welding mask."
Rosa isn't fooled. As I approach the pool, she shoots over
to see whether I have food.
(sound of the otter sniffing around)
Rosa was a rescued pup. She was hand-reared before the
surrogate program began. After she was released into
Monterey Bay, she had to be recaptured because she was
jumping on kayaks and divers.
"We found that with the sea otters, putting them with an
adult female in a fairly shallow pool for six months far
outweighs whatever we were doing trying to raise these
pups."
Sea otter populations are recovering at a slow pace in
California. But this program is contributing to the
population.
Johnson says the apparent survival rate of the re-released
pups is now about as good as that of newly-weaned pups
in the wild. Some have even successfully raised their own
pups, using skills they picked up from an exhibit otter at
the aquarium.
For The Environment Report, I'm Ann Dornfeld.
Monterey Bay Aquarium's sea otter programs
A success story on one of the pups
Live sea otter camera at the aqarium
Hiring Lambs as Landscapers
Louise Engel admits she and her husband were initially a little nervous about setting the lambs lose in their valuable vineyard. (Photo by Joyce Kryszak)
David Johnson, owner of the Featherstone Winery, first heard about the lambs while visiting wineries in New Zealand. (Photo by Joyce Kryszak)
The owners of the winery say that the young, spring lambs are perfectly designed for pruning the vines (Photo by Joyce Kryszak)
Wine makers are shaking things up in their vineyards. Some of them use natural and organic methods to control pests and weeds instead of using pesticides. Now, one winery has discovered a unique, natural way to prune their grape vines. Joyce Kryszak visited the winery to get a first hand look:
http://environmentreport.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/feature_kryszak_070609.mp3
At the Featherstone Winery in Southern Ontario there are 20 acres of perfectly manicured grape vines. They stretch out in neatly groomed rows across rolling green hills.
But no man or machine maintains this vineyard. There are 40 cute, little, wooly lambs on duty pruning the grape vines into tip-top shape.
David Johnson says he knows the idea of using lambs on his vineyard is a bit odd. Johnson thought so too when he first heard the idea. He found out about it visiting wineries in New Zealand.
"I didn't believe them at the time. I thought they were having fun with a tourist and that this would be a big joke, some Canadian when he went back home, telling a story. So, yeah, I've taken a ribbing on the lamb thing, for sure."
But Johnson ignored the jokes and decided to try it out.
His wife Louise Engel admits they were a little nervous at first setting the lambs lose in their valuable vineyard.
"We watched these lambs like hawks. I mean, all the staff were sitting out there and following them around – 'did they eat any grapes, did they eat any grapes?' But they didn't. They've got very nimble little mouths and little teeths and little lips and they just eat around them."
You see, pruning grape vines is delicate business. Only a targeted area of leaves is removed from the lower part of the vines to help the fruit grow better.
But Engel and Johnson say the lambs are perfectly designed to handle the job. The young, spring lambs aren't tall enough and their necks can't stretch up to reach the grapes. And, since they only weigh about 50 pounds, they don't trample the soil. And, yes, their droppings do make excellent organic fertilizer.
(sound of lambs bleating)
Three years, and three flocks of sheep later, nobody's laughing. Area vintners even have copied them; and for good reason. It would cost about $300 an acre to hire seasonal workers to come in for seven weeks in the summer to hand prune the vines. The lambs cost a fraction of that. And, when the pruning is done in August, off they go to the butcher.
Johnson says it turns out that free-range lambs fed a diet of grape leaves end up being pretty tasty.
"We sold them off last year to some caterers and some pretty nice restaurants, and they got back to us and said, 'wow, these lambs are really special.' They're different; they're almost veal-like in color and flavor and very, very lean. And they're going to do lamb specials all month and pair it with our wines all month."
But he admits there are some drawbacks.
They had a tough time finding enough lambs to do the job. There are about fifty million of them in New Zealand. But, it turns out, they're kind of sparse in Ontario.
Johnson says there are some logistical problems, too. Even some organic pesticides are toxic to lambs. And, there's all that fence building and moving around to limit the lambs' access, so they don't over-prune.
Still, they think it's worth the hassle. Engel says the lambs fit in beautifully with their philosophy of sustainable farming and diversity in the vineyard.
"They're lovely, tranquil, placid things, and there's something almost biblical about having lambs roaming the place and wine here. And, it's just, I don't know, there's just some itch that scratches that's quite fulfilling."
People visiting the vineyard enjoy watching the lambs too.
Customers enjoy lunch on the veranda as they look out on the pastoral scene. And, of course, they have a little wine. And one of the top selling wines is Black Sheep Reisling.
For The Environment Report, I'm Joyce Kryszak.
The Featherstone Winery's page on the sheep
A related story on hiring animals for interesting jobs
The Great Vaccination Debate
There are parts of the country where up to 20% of families are saying 'no' to vaccines. (Photo by Bill Branson, courtesy of the National Cancer Institute)
Babies and young children get a lot more vaccines today than they did ten years ago. To most parents, it's a chance to protect their children from more diseases. But there are pockets of places where lots of people are opting out of vaccines. Julie Grant reports that it has the Centers for Disease Control concerned:
Heather Waltz has a five month old daughter. Most Americans her age have already started a series of vaccinations – to prevent everything from Hepatitis B, to Diphtheria, to Polio.
But Waltz's little girl isn't going to get those shots. Her mom worries they could cause things like autism, juvenile diabetes and even cancer.
"I think the jury's still out, as far as what the research says. But there is enough anecdotal sort of stuff to make me aware and decide that, really, right at this point, vaccinating wasn't what I wanted to do."
Waltz is among a small, but growing number of parents who are becoming skeptical of vaccines.
Lance Rodewald is director of immunization services at the Centers for Disease Control.
He says more than 90% of American children are vaccinated. But there are parts of the country where up to 20% of families are saying 'no' to vaccines.
"And that's getting to a rate of lack of protection of children that really can be a fertile ground for the spreading of diseases like measles. And we actually saw that last year."
In one case last year, Rodewald says a child who wasn't vaccinated caught the measles in Switzerland and brought it back to Arizona.
"The parents didn't realize that the child had measles – brought him to the pediatricians office where there were babies that were too young to be vaccinated that got measles. And then that particular outbreak went through four generations of spread, from child to child to child to child before it was able to be contained."
Measles can cause more than just a nasty rash. In rare cases, it can lead to death. Measles still causes 200,000 deaths around the world. But it's been almost eradicated in the U.S. because of vaccines.
Rodewald says many parents are concerned about vaccines today because of a ten-year old scientific article that linked the vaccine for measles, mumps and rubella to autism. Rodewald says the science in that article proved to be wrong.
"The authors withdrew their names from the article. But this particular study set off a whole series of concerns about vaccines and autism that, to this day, is still talked about."
Rodewald says many studies have been done and found no association, no cause and effect, between vaccines and autism.
It's tough for parents to wade through all the information that's out there these days. And there are so many vaccines to try to understand. Back in the mid-1990s, children were given 6 vaccines. Today, they're supposed to get more than twice that many.
Mother Heather Waltz tries to keep up with it all and says she still plans to avoid vaccines.
Waltz: "For every bit of research and every article I find sort of helping me support my point, there's a million other bits of research and articles saying that I'm a bad parent, or saying that I'm somehow damaging the health of the entire United States by not vaccinating my child. Just this idea that she could be a measles monster and just running around and infecting her classmates with measles or something like that, and that would be a terrible thing."
Grant: "What do you think when you see that?"
Waltz: "It doesn't make logical sense to me. Because to me, if you have 30 kids in a classroom, and my one isn't vaccinated, wouldn't my child be the one at risk? Not the public's."
But even if Waltz's daughter doesn't get vaccinated, she'll probably be safe from these diseases. With so many other kids getting inoculations, most of the U.S. is not fertile ground for them to regain traction.
An article on the debate from the New York Times
The CDC's page on vaccinations
More information on vaccines from Everyday Health
Inside BPA PR Meeting
BPA doesn't line just baby products - it is in many canned foods and drinks (Source: Tomomarusan at Wikimedia Commons)
Food-packaging executives and
lobbyists for the makers of the
chemical bisphenol-A, often
called BPA, met in Washington
DC last week to come up with PR
strategies. Their message is:
BPA is safe. Lester Graham reports
someone took notes at that meeting
and then leaked them to reporters:
http://environmentreport.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/spot_graham2_060109.mp3
Lyndsey Layton got ahold of those notes. She reports for the Washington Post.
"According to these notes, they called it the 'holy grail' spokesperson would be a pregnant, young mother who would be willing to speak around the country about the benefits of BPA."
Ironic in that many studies associate BPA with birth defects.
John Rost is the Chairman of the North American Metal Packaging Alliance.
He says the reporters got bad notes. He says it only came up because environmental activists used pregnant women to testify against BPA.
"We discussed that as an option and dismissed it and actually find it a little ironic that we are being criticized."
Some retailers have taken toys and baby bottles made with BPA off the shelf in response to a consumer backlash.
It's likely most consumers don't yet realize the chemical also lines beverage and food cans.
For The Environment Report. I'm Lester Graham.
The article in the Washington Post
The article in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinal
NAMPA's website
Rocket Fuel Chemical in Baby Formula
The CDC has found perchlorate, a chemical from rocket fuel, in baby formula. (Photo courtesy of TSA.gov)
Researchers at the Centers for Disease Control have found perchlorate in baby formula. It's a chemical used in rocket fuel. It's been linked to thyroid problems and it can interfere with a baby's development. Rebecca Williams has more:
The Centers for Disease Control has found perchlorate in baby formula. It's a chemical used in rocket fuel. It's been linked to thyroid problems and it can interfere with a baby's development. Rebecca Williams has more:
The CDC researchers tested 45 samples of baby formula and perchlorate turned up in all of them. They found it in really small amounts. But they did find formula made from cow's milk had the highest levels and soy-based formula and synthetic formula had much lower levels.
Perchlorate has also been found in breast milk.
Dr. Josh Schier is one of the study's authors.
"CDC still recommends that mothers' breast milk is the best nutrition for a developing infant. Now the Food and Drug Administration, you have to remember, requires infant formulas to contain iodine and iodine can potentially help to offset effects of perchlorate on the thyroid."
The American Thyroid Association says women who are pregnant or nursing should check with their doctor about taking an iodine supplement.
A related article from the New York Times
Information from the California Toxic Substances Control

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


I am on Social Security Disability due to health issues. I get my Social Security check each month, but wanted to know if I am allowed to sell something I manage to sew or make for a bit of extra money to help out with our expenses?
Why not contact social security. They know the answers best. You can go to socialsecurity.gov. They may have some information on their web site.
I have always been told that a person on disability or SSI can earn up to $60.00 a month without that amount being touched, and after that for every $2.00 you earn they will take $1.00 out of your monthly check. However, check with your social security office to verify this. You would have to keep real detailed records, and I wouldn't advise you to try getting by with anything, because sure as the world somebody that knows you will report it.
You should be able to find some kind of part time work that you can do. I know a lot of people on disability that work part time, some up to 30 hours or more a week. I have known beauty operators that are on disability that work 20-30 hours. Another thing, with things that you make, is there a market for these items in your area? What other income do you have, being you make reference to "our income?" If your income qualifies you could get food stamps, rent assistance, etc.
There are web sites you can go on to sell items you make. Please first check with your social security office to verify that it is not going to endanger your social security benefits.
You are allowed to make a certain amount but why don't you ask the people who will know the answer at the SS office?
I just checked with my state of Oregon. I can make 692.00 a month and they also say that if you are selling things on line, it's really no different then selling at a yard sale. He said that if I manufactured a line of stuff and went big, then they would notice.
Everyone is right though, check with the local office. Sometimes the website can be confusing and talking to someone on a phone is a long wait. You may just want to bring a book and talk to a real person. It helped put my mind at ease.
With SSD you can earn up to a certain limit a month before it would be counted aqs gainful income. I think it is like >600 or 700 dollars a month. You can also work and continue to draw SSD for I think 5 years. The info is on the SS.gov site. I would think of what you are doing as comparable to someone having a yardsale, SSD doesnt concern thierself with it. I would continue and not be worried at all.
I'm also on SSD. Your few dollars here and there won't affect anything. I'm working with a B2B marketing firm as an "independent contractor" for tax purposes. I don't make much, but it's a relatively steady income. The SSA knows because I file a 1099-MISC with my tax return, since I make more than $600 for the year. I am not penalized. As a matter of fact, I get a bit extra each December, since I had earned income they hadn't calculated into my income for the year.
Why it takes until December I don't know, but I'm not looking a gift horse in the mouth, lol!
Does Receiving Inheritance Affect SSI?


#MysteryGoneMad – #Coming Soon – Some News of My Own!
I'm very excited to report that I've been invited to be included in a boxed set of six mystery novels. Yep! In the very near future, Swamp Ghosts will be included in Mystery Gone Mad, a cool collection of crazy mysteries: Hard-boiled, soft-boiled, and just plain funny. I hope you'll all stay tuned as things progress.
As soon as the set is available for pre-order, I'll post the link. Pre-orders will be $.99. When the set is released, the price will be $2.99. Still a bargain price for over 1,400 pages of murder and mayhem.
The authors include Anna Celeste Burke, Gerald Darnell, Viv Drewa, Judith Lucci, Marcia Meara (that's moi), and Karen Vaughan. I'm pretty excited about the whole thing, as you might imagine, and I know you guys will help us get the word out.
And please stay tuned for more info, as it becomes available.
Congratulations on your exciting news.
Thanks, Mary. This is a first for me, and if Gerald hadn't asked me, and very patiently explained how it all works, I still wouldn't be doing one. So I'm glad he's an almost neighbor, and willing to sit down over lunch to go over it with me.
So many things are happening in my life at once, I hardly know what to do next. This is a brand new experience for me, and I'm really happy to be part of it. Thanks, M. L. !
Thanks, Olga. Me, too. It's pretty exciting, I must say.
Thanks, Kass. I'm awed, all right. It's pretty cool.
So happy for you Marcia. 🙂 What a feeling that must be to be in such great company with your book.
Thanks, Deb! Sorry I missed this, but you're right. It's a great feeling, and I'll be posting about pre-orders very soon.
I actually check my amazon pages several time a day, so it must have just gone up because it wasn't there last night. Though sometimes they put up a new review and it's a couple of days before the number changes. That's happened to me several times. But it's there now.
I don't follow Google, and I NEVER get updates from FB, no matter how many times I request notification from various blogs 😦 I do see Tweets, usually, but didn't see this one. 😦 PLUS, there's the matter of those kajillion emails making my Inbox a huge mess.
Yay! I'm glad you saw it. Lol hubby tired of your gloating?
I do check FB manually when I visit, but I don't go there often, I'm afraid. Am trying to do better. I don't have a gmail account, so that won't work. 🙂 I do get emails when you post on your blog, but I can't read them in my Inbox. I have to click on your blog link and go there to read them. I do that as often as I can. But I never miss checking on amazon, and for sure it wasn't showing in the TOTAL reviews last night. Again, though, there is often a lag from when a review goes up, to when that number changes. I should probably always double check the most recent review to see if the total is correct.
TOO. MANY. THINGS! BRAIN. IMPLOSION. PENDING!
That's because I (very briefly) had a Virtual Assistant, and she was setting me up in lots of places, most of which I've never had time to even LOOK at. Maybe one of these days. 🙂 Still confused? Suffice it to say, I don't even KNOW where all I might have an "empty" account sitting. Of course, I barely know how to find my way from my desk to the dinner table, either. Have I mentioned I'm OOOOLLLLD?
Wasn't really being hard on myself. Was just thinking how funny it sounded. I'll do just about anything for a laugh, you know.


text:
Q: Ant crossing plane A rectangular 12 cm by 20 cm waffle is divided into 1 by 1 cm squares. An ant crawls along a straight path from one corner to the opposite corner. How many squares of the waffle does the ant cross through?
I tried to to use Pythagorean theorem but I don't think that would work. I think you could use PIE (Principle of Inclusion Exclusion) to solve this problem.

A: You can divide it into $\gcd (12,20)=4$ pieces.  It crosses a $3 \times 5$ rectangle and arrives at the opposite corner.  Draw it and count.  You should be able to generalize to an $m \times n$ rectangle when $m$ and $n$ are coprime because it will not go through any interior lattice points.

A: My first idea was that whenever the ant crosses a line, it will cross another square. So the ant should cross $1 + 11 + 19$ squares (one where it starts and one more for any line it crosses). But this is not true of course. We have to take into account the possibility that the ant crosses 2 lines at once (namely when it hits a point of the grid). In this case it would only cross one more square while passing 2 lines. So I came to the conclusion that the answer must be $1 + 11 + 19 - p$ where $p$ is the number of integer points that the ant crosses excluding the point $(0, 0)$ and $(12, 20)$. One can easily count $p$ now and calculate the result. In the general case one could use that $p = gcd(12, 20) - 1$. This formula is from a related question: How many number of integer coordinates exists between a line segment, including the end points?

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


Three smart jackets, alternatively with standing collar or hood. Boys will love variant A with the functional slant pockets. Variants B and C for girls have decorative pockets in the shape of flowers or hearts.


People are complaining about how "slow" the IndyCars are out there. It's hilarious how short-sighted people are when it comes to the two series.
Belle Isle is a state park in Detroit, so I guess, technically, they can still call it the "streets of Detroit" but it's not like the previous races were when they were held downtown. That's more what you envision when you hear, "Streets of Detroit", that it's among the buildings and streets of the core of the city.
Belle Isle used to be part of the City of Detroit's Parks and Rec Department, but amidst a contentious debate about upkeep costs and lack of funding, it found itself turned over to the state park system for renovation and ongoing maintenance. It can still be called the Detroit Grand Prix, regardless of which agency is in charge, at least IMO.
It can still be called the Detroit Grand Prix, regardless of which agency is in charge, at least IMO.
Isn't it technically closer to Canada though?
That's pretty cool! Both Herta and O'Ward have a lot of talent and passion and are relatively young. If they will keep on doing the awesome hard work, I'm sure they will achieve a lot in motorsport. I'm curious as to their relations towards each other in terms of being teammates. I hope for a healthy and respectful rivalry between them during the season, making everything even more interesting.
I'm curious as to their relations towards each other in terms of being teammates.
"My guy" said that emphasis has always been on O'ward being #1, so Colton will always be facing that on his climb upwards (especially on the same team, head to head).
Interesting. That's good for Colton actually, because he will not be as much under the pressure, and will definitely try hard to outperform O'Ward. As for O'Ward, as long as the "#1 entitlement" feeling won't hit him and he will still be focused on doing the hard work it should work out well for both of them. I can't wait for the start of this season.
I can't wait for the start of this season.
I'm still trying to get cleared for COTA, but time is running out for approval.
Found this in the closet, not quite 2019.
Such a good era in CART. Five chassis constructors, four engine constructors, two tire constructors, and a big field of cars.
I dunno. Looks pretty centered. Maybe that northern point near the Marina District in Detroit is a bit closer. Maybe the USA won it in a series of rock-paper-scissors with Canada. Eh?
I see that Muse is performing on Saturday night during the COTA weekend. That would be awesome. Too bad the timing stinks for me.
Thank you for posting this. Some of us need to be reminded what hard work and determination still mean.
He really is an inspiration....a hero...and an example of what a positive outlook looks like.
The documentary will be UNREAL!
Between him and Zanardi, these guys make F1 drivers look frail and wimpy.
OK, Indycar had its spring training at COTA today. So let's compare the lap times to Formula 1. The fastest lap so far was by Colton Herta (Bryan's son) 1:46.626.
For comparison, the 2018 Formula 1 pole time was 1:32.237 and the fastest race lap was 1:37.392. I'm assuming that Indycar was using the same track configuration. And yeah obviously the track conditions were different. I'm sure that ambient conditions are different in mid February compared to late October in Austin Texas.
OK, Indycar had its spring training at COTA today. So let's compare the lap times to Formula 1.
The comparison is going to be made regardless. It is the two premier open wheel racing series and for the first time in forever they are both having events at the same track.
I agree with you and anyone who actually follows either or both series knows that they are so vastly different it is not a fair comparison but a little curiosity of what that difference translates to on the track isn't going to hurt and as a fan of both series I enjoy seeing what the delta is between them.
Oh I know. As soon as they announced that Circuit of the Americas would be on the IndyCar schedule, people were trying to put the two head-to-head. I think that for the dollars spent that the IndyCar times are pretty damned good compared to almost endless resources spent at the F1 level.
"IndyCar announced Tuesday the planned introduction of a new step to improve cockpit safety for drivers in the NTT IndyCar Series.
All cars participating in an April 24 open test on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway oval will be fitted with Advanced Frontal Protection (AFP), a titanium piece made by Dallara.
NTT IndyCar Series teams received information about the AFP today and all cars will carry it from the Indy 500 onward".
Last edited by Burnette; 02-19-2019 at 09:03 PM.
The drivers have been asking for something in the interim to address cockpit intrusion. This is a stop-gap until the new chassis' are built and tested with the screen integrated into the chassis-design.
I couldn't find a better picture of it, it looks like just fin in the center of the cowl. It's a lot less than the F1 halo, seems almost too minimal to be effective.


text:
Good Girls And Bad Boys–A Match Made In Heaven
Good girls love bad boys, the kinds their mothers dread – Deadbeat Doug, the high-school dropout, Army recruit, he of the long rap sheet, the only one of a hundred tame classmates, harnessed and tethered well before puberty, trained to march in line, be respectful, and do one's duty, to give full rein to the bits and pieces of Great Grandfather Hiram's DNA – that Hiram Mycomb the black sheep not only of the immediate family but of generations of Mycombs, the bad boy who was a petty thief by the time he was ten, a numbers runner by fourteen, a gofer at Mme. LaMotte's by sixteen, and a well-to-do procurer, boulevardier, and man-about-town by twenty. Doug Mycomb couldn't help himself, always in trouble with priests, teachers, and police, all of whom wanted to give the benefit of the doubt to this smart, socially precocious, and canny young man but who could not ignore or forgive serious breeches of the law.
By the time Petty Bingham had met him, his die had been cast. He was always on one side of the law or the other, impatient with its rules and restive behind its unjust bars; but not only did girls never mind, they flocked to him. He had swagger, attitude, and confidence all of which had been squeezed out of his classmates. To the law, to parents and teachers, and to priests and counselors, he was something the genetic potting wheel had cast according to plan, thrown with taste and care, but because of some irregularity in the wheel, the clay, or the hands of the potter, had come out unlike the other figurines on the shelf – not exactly misshapen but unmistakably different and unsalable.
To Petty, however, he was irresistible. No matter what her parents said or how much they warned, she couldn't keep her hands or mind off Deadbeat Doug. While she read pioneer journals, did advanced calculus, and learned French, Doug hung out in Rockville packs, hustled Georgetown day-trippers, and made enough off of low-grade, below-the-radar dope deals to keep him solvent.
Petty met him at a rave, wasted on E, sexy as hell, dancing with anyone who crossed from Aisle A to Aisle B and then heading up and dancing through the after-hours parties on the Anacostia. He was always what she wanted – the fuck-all piss of her father, the Prince Charming of her childhood fairy tales, and the incarnation of everything her proper, conservative mother hated.
Mr. and Mrs. Prentice Bingham both came from solid, upper middle-class stock. He from a proper New England family, captains of minor industry (millers and hatters from Danbury); and she from the best society that the Midwest could muster – a respectable matron by way of Saint Margaret's, Shawnee Mission, Kansas, and Vassar. They were careful to enroll their daughter in the best Washington private schools. Especially in the culturally porous, multi-ethnic, diversity of the Capital, one had to take certain precautions - build firewalls and no-fly zones, monitor phone conversations, install mini-cams, and vet every non-academic interchange on the calendar; but to the surprise of no one, these attempts were vain and bumbling. As much as they tried, no friendship with the son of Senator Billings of Missouri or the daughter of Fed Chairman Randall ever matured; and if it had, it would have resulted in trouble – the same trouble that Deadbeat Doug got into, mitigated only because of connections and political influence.
So Petty hung out with Doug Mycomb no matter how much her parents objected until all the training, high-class education, and downright, old-fashioned Protestant rectitude kicked in. Following Deadbeat Doug to Alabama, betting on the dogs in Mobile, and hanging out with offshore oil riggers and displaced Haitians was not in the cards. As much as Doug appealed to her sense of adventure, sex, and defiance, she knew that he would never be more than what her parents suspected – a deadbeat ne'er-do-well with sexy overtones. By the end of her sophomore year at Brown, Deadbeat Doug was history.
Petty had a number of affairs in her early post-college years, and the spirit of Doug Mycomb was invested in all of them. There was Cameron Wright, a mixed-race Princeton graduate, graphic artist for a Hollywood studio, who, thanks to his stunning good looks and irresistible sexual allure was what Deadbeat Doug had always wanted to be but could never muster. Chris Martin, another unstoppable bad boy who had tamed his wilder instincts, kept the most attractive, and slept and wangled his way into the best Burbank stables. And finally Piotr Alexandrov, a Russian émigré with an aristocratic pedigree, a European playboy history, and a coldly indifferent attitude towards women.
Petty of course was not alone in her attraction to bad boys, whether lowlife Deadbeat Doug or high-toned Count Alexandrov. All girls wanted nothing to do with the bridled, tamed, and sexually neutered males of the feminist, post-modern generation. While academic canons, popular media, and received wisdom all pointed to the sensitive, respectful, orderly male, young women were having nothing of it. They may have marched in solidarity with the MeToo movement against sexual abuse, enrolled in in post-modern courses on feminine 'natural autocracy' and will, and demurred on any invitation to dance; but they never hesitated before the advances of the Apollos, Casanovas, and Lotharios of their generation. Petty and her girlfriends were no different from generations of women before her who had been nurtured, brought up, educated, and trained to single out the best of the best, but who fell for the worst – the rakes, Don Juans, casual seducers, and top dogs of the street.
The New Age, sensitive man was simply not what God had planned when he created Adam; but women ended up with one, a man easily seduced by Eve, a moral weakling, a man without principles or the insatiable sexual will to populate the world. He is the feminist ideal, not Darwin's male – aggressive, insensitive, male to the roots, dominant, and unalloyed. Women are not such easy marks. They get the difference, know that they want nothing to do with the Adams of the world and are far more seduced by the likes of Milton's Satan, a creature of intelligence, will, determination, sexual poise and confidence, and ultimate power.
Me miserable! Which way shall I fly
Infinite wrath and infinite despair?
Which way I fly is hell; myself am hell;
And in the lowest deep a lower deep,
Still threat'ning to devour me, opens wide,
To which the hell I suffer seems a heaven.
D.H. Lawrence understood sexual dynamics better than any author – better than Henry Miller, Albee, or even Shakespeare. Men and women sought sexual mutuality which could only be attained after a struggle of wills. Sensitivity, appreciation, and gender fluidity are irrelevant to the centrality of sexual will. Sexually timid, uncertain, equivocal men and overly dependent, longing, idealistic women are part of this irrelevancy. They will always search for sexual completion and satisfaction but will never achieve it because of their lack of focus, purpose, and desire.
Women may want supportive men at feminist conferences, but not in their beds. They may respect male solidarity in the fight against sexual abuse, patriarchy, and male dominance but want a man who will, like Lawrence's characters, refuse to be feminized, accept their maleness and aggressive pursuit, and never back off or back down in the essential struggle between male and female.
In Gone with the Wind Scarlett, after two years of indifferent marriage to Rhett Butler whom she married for his money, is forcefully raped by him, and she loves it. Sex with Rhett, drunk, angry, abusive, and irresistibly male is the first passionate, consuming, and fully sexual experience she has ever had.
Until human DNA has been recombined to change sexual nature, urgent demands to reject male-female polarity and substitute for it a fluid gender spectrum, will fall on deaf ears. The sexual battles fought by Shakespeare's powerful women – Tamora, Dionyza, Goneril, Regan, Cleopatra, Rosalind, and Beatrice - and the willful power of Ibsen's Hedda Gabler and Strindberg's Laura will continue to be the essential, determining struggles of women.
Powerful, determined women will never look for male sensitivity, accommodation, or complaisance to satisfy them. They will always look to society's bad boys – the ineffably irresistible males who offer confidence, strength, and sexual prowess. Canny men understand this, know how to negotiate the flimsy and artificial constraints imposed on them by a politically-motivated society, and always win the most desirable woman across the floor.
Posted by Ron Parlato at 3:32 PM
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text:
An artist's impression of the ExoMars 2016 mission, a collaboration between the European and Russian space agencies, shows the lander, Schiaparelli, separating from the orbiter.
The mission blasted off from Kazakhstan last week and the spacecraft is expected to arrive in October. It will study dust storms and gases like methane, a hot topic because it can be created in a process requiring heat and liquid water.
While countries in Europe have been slashing budgets, one area has not just escaped the ax but chalked up a stellar jump: space exploration.
The European Space Agency (ESA) has seen its budget expand 75 percent since 2008, unscathed by the region's sovereign debt crisis.
The project, which draws contributions from individual member nations, has become a rare force of unity in a region that's struggling with an unprecedented refugee crisis, a potential British exit from the European Union and an unresolved conflict between Ukraine and Russia.
"There is a political meaning and purpose to this mission: working together beyond national borders, beyond crises on Earth," said Jan Woerner, the head of ESA and a German engineer who formerly headed his country's space agency. "We use a Russian launcher, with American contribution and it's a European mission."
From a space center in Kazakhstan, ESA is sending into deep space an orbiter tasked with gathering critical scientific data. Attached is a spacecraft that will head to the Martian surface to test the ability of Europeans to safely land on the planet. Monday's liftoff is the first of two launches that will see a rover on Mars by 2020, joining NASA's Curiosity, which is already there.
The orbiter has several scientific tasks: one is to sniff out any trace of methane, the gas that could be a signpost of life; another is to map out precisely when the rover can try to land, starting in 2018. While an earlier spacecraft launched during ESA's mission in 2003 called Mars Express is still mapping, photographing and making useful scientific measurements, the lander sent with it was never able to transmit data to ESA.
The budget of ESA, an agency backed by 22 European nations, has risen 75 percent since 2008 to $5.8 billion (though that's less than a third of NASA's $19 billion). The support shows that Europe wants to be a key actor in the arena.
ESA also has made space exploration missions like the ExoMars more palatable by providing returns on investment. For each member, 1 euro invested in ESA generates between 5 and 7 euros in collateral investments in industry and jobs, the agency said.
Business UnitedHealthcare partners with Walmart on free at-home COVID tests
UnitedHealthcare partners with Walmart on free at-home COVID tests
The emerging coalition crosses the urban-rural divide at a time when the state has experienced record extreme weather.
Three of Tonga's smaller islands suffered serious damage from tsunami waves, officials and the Red Cross said Wednesday, as a wider picture begins to emerge of the destruction caused by the eruption of an undersea volcano near the Pacific archipelago nation.
MPCA says several contaminants in St. Paul's Pig's Eye dump, city asks for cleanup funds
Going forward, the agency is studying whether to install additional barriers to collect contaminants.
Volcano erupts in Pacific and triggers tsunami advisory
Tsunami advisories were issued for Hawaii, Alaska and the U.S. Pacific coast. Satellite images showed a huge eruption, with a plume of ash, steam and gas rising like a mushroom.
Epic Lake Superior experiment stars wolves, moose, caribou • Science
Bosco Verticale in Milan uses tree-covered balconies to reduce urban pollution • Science


Name directory - Name / people check for "Copping"
People with the last name "Copping"
For Copping there are 527 on Yasni with different names.
Among the most common last names on Yasni Copping is on position 2292.
There is no meaning available yet for "Copping".


text:
Freight & Container Transportation was a Sydney based monthly trade magazine covering freight transport in Australia. It was published between May 1967 and June 1985.

Overview
Freight & Container Transportation was established in May 1967 by Shennen Publishing, that already published Railway Transportation and Truck & Bus Transportation. It focussed on the road, sea and air freight industries in Australia. It ceased publication in June 1985.

References

1967 establishments in Australia
1985 disestablishments in Australia
Monthly magazines published in Australia
Transport magazines published in Australia
Defunct magazines published in Australia
Magazines established in 1967
Magazines disestablished in 1985
Magazines published in Sydney
Professional and trade magazines

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


When do we hold youth activities?
Most Aaronic Priesthood and Young Women activities happen during a time called Mutual, and Mutual is generally held once a week, on a day or evening other than Sunday or Monday.
Mutual usually lasts about an hour or an hour and a half. It begins with opening exercises, conducted by a member of the Laurel class presidency or one of the bishop's priests quorum assistants. The youth sing a hymn, have an opening prayer, and may share testimonies and musical numbers or other talents.
After opening exercises, each quorum and class holds its own activity (planned in advance by the quorum or class presidency and advisers) or combines for an activity if there aren't very many youth in the ward.
Usually once a month, all of the young men and young women hold a combined activity (planned by the bishopric youth committee). Combined activities are great opportunities for young men and young women to serve and have fun together.
On occasion, youth should have the opportunity to interact with one another at the stake and multistake levels. This is especially important in places with few youth in each ward. These activities are planned by stake or area leaders. For ideas, see "Stake and Multistake Activities" on this website.
Youth conference is a multiday activity for youth ages 14 to 18. Youth conferences often include devotionals, games, dances, service projects, and other learning experiences. They are usually held once a year, either at the stake or ward level. Sometimes they are held at the multistake or area level.
Ward youth conferences are planned by the bishopric youth committee. Stake youth conferences are planned by the stake Aaronic Priesthood–Young Women committee—with help from youth in the stake. For more information, see "Youth conference" on this website.
How do we plan effective activities?
These steps appear on the home page of this site, where you can add notes that will help you remember the needs of the youth.
Ask each member of your quorum or class to prayerfully answer questions like the ones below. You could do this in a planning session, through surveys, or during visits from the quorum or class presidency.
How can you serve? Who needs your help? What would you like to change about your community or the world? What gifts and talents do you feel God has given you to serve others?
Who do you want to become? Where do you see yourself in 5, 10, or 20 years? What do you need to do now to prepare for your future?
In a quorum or class presidency meeting, discuss what you learn from the youth's answers to the questions. Prayerfully consider ways your quorum or class can support the youth in their needs, interests, and goals. Also discuss how you can support less-active and nonmember youth in your area. Focus first on supporting members of your class or quorum, then plan activities to accomplish that purpose.
Based on your discussion, plan activities that focus on the youth in your class or quorum. Many activity ideas will come up as part of your discussion. Other ideas can be found on this website. Use the planning tool to schedule activities and to communicate your plans with youth, leaders, and parents.
As you plan, remember to consider things like safety and any equipment or supplies you might need. Give members of the quorum or class assignments to help carry out the activity. Help them recognize that they are important to the activity's success.
For more information about youth activities, see Handbook 2: Administering the Church (2010), 8.13, 10.8, 13.


Home / Magazine / On Stage/Backstage / Make me look good on T.V.
Make me look good on T.V.
One of the nicest, most unassuming people you could ever hope to meet, Franck Rivaudon, head makeup artist at the TF1 group of TV stations, clearly loves going to work every day.
When Franck Rivaudon started out, he was young, inexperienced and very nearly missed his chance to work in T.V. After studying at the illustrious Ecole Chauveau in Paris, where one of his teachers was none other than future MAKE UP FOR EVER founder Dany Sanz, Franck sent applications all over before finally being asked to bring a model and audition as a junior makeup artist at a French TV station. Though they claimed a four-month hiring freeze, they were still seeing people.
Taking as his model a pretty friend who happened to be pregnant, Franck had no idea why the foundation he so deftly applied melted off her face. What he didn't know then (that he definitely knows now) is that a pregnant woman's skin PH levels are off the charts and change any makeup that comes in contact with it. He was convinced he'd blown his chance. Luckily, the head makeup artist was very gracious and let him do another test, this time doing makeup on someone much older. A good lesson to never assume you know the outcome of anything, Franck was hired and started the next day. Now Chef Maquilleur at Groupe TF1, he still enjoys every moment of what he does.
Why makeup? Stemming from a passion for special effects – as a child, he loved horror films - the only way to get work in special effects at the time was to leave France for the US, so he made a lateral move into makeup artistry. It turned out to be a smart one. He and his team at TF1 do the makeup for everyone from newscasters to guests, sports presenters to entertainers. Their days are ultra long – from 4 a.m. until 1 a.m., even longer during major elections and sports events - so they tag team a lot making sure no one carries it all.
Franck's favorite part of the job? The people. After so many years, he admits to being a bit unconcerned about celebrity per se. "It is magical to meet such interesting people, but there are no stars. We are there to perform a service and we happen to do this for people who are well known," Franck tells me. "Our job is to be ultra-discreet. We hear nothing, see nothing, we just make people look good and then slip out of the room," he continues. "We might have diametrically opposing views but we provide the same service to all, whether it's Bruce Willis, a charming, humble class act, or someone else who might have the same level of fame but perhaps not the same manners or upbringing." When pressed for details, he shakes his head, choosing always to remain discreet and focused on the positive. As he described Bruce Willis: a class act.


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Twins' Miguel Sano cleared after being accused of kidnapping, assault
Sano is expected to join the Twins at Target Field on July 1.
Joe Nelson
Andy Witchger – BringMeTheNews
Miguel Sano has been cleared in the Dominican Republic after he was accused of being involved in the kidnapping and assault of a man.
Twins President of Baseball Operations Derek Falvey confirmed Thursday that Sano was cleared of charges, with Sano previously telling the Twins and a newspaper in his home country that the lawyer he accused him of the crimes was blackmailing him in an attempt to get 10 million pesos, which is about $170,000 in the U.S.
"We took what Miguel said at his word and then wanted to wait and see what else transpired and ultimately today it matched what he had been telling us," Falvey said.
The Twins' initial reaction to reports about Sano was taht they were aware and "trying to gather information."
According to El Nuevo Diario, Sano is quoted by the media outlet as saying the accusations are "false" and that he "did not kidnap or beat up" anyone.
The report adds that Sano said he's planning to sue his accusers "for damages to my image."
Sano is expected to be with the Twins when they report to Target Field on July 1 for the resumption of training camp, with the 60-game regular season set to begin July 23 or 24.
assaultTwinsDominican RepublicMiguel SanokidnappingMinnesota
Twins aware of allegations against Miguel Sano, investigating
The 27-year-old is from the Dominican Republic.
Miguel Sano and his future in Minnesota
Twins Daily breaks down what the future holds for Sano.
Sano has the tools to defend 1st base for the Twins
Twins Daily's Nate Palmer explains why worries about Sano could be overstated.
Twins updates on Romero, Buxton, Sano, Santana and Polanco
Polanco could join the team on July 2.
Twins demote Miguel Sano to the minors
Sano is hitting just .203 on the season.
Twins updates: Buxton striking out a ton, Sano red-hot
Sano has eight hits in his last 17 at-bats.
Miguel Sano likely out until May because of foot problem
Sano suffered a laceration on the back of his foot during a celebration.
Miguel Sano not on the roster for tonight's Twins-Yankees game
He could be added to the roster if the Twins advance to play Cleveland.


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A Time to Fly
by Ron Van Sweringen
She stood staring out, watching the yellow buses below, following their route down Michigan Avenue, then crossing over to 44th Street. How many times had she stood on that corner over the last thirty years, at that bus stop, waiting, waiting, waiting, in the freezing cold of January, or the burning furnace of August? But it was all the same now, in the past.
The roof was deserted, as usual in winter, except for the pigeons. They were always there, walking in circles and talking to each other, the way they did in the park at lunchtime where she fed them every day without fail.
It would be wonderful to know what they were saying. Were they kind to each other? Surely so. They were too small and vulnerable not to be kind. She knew that lesson from life: the bigger a thing was, the less likely it was to be kind, at least to her.
Light snow drifted down, the dry crunchy kind like granules of sugar. It dusted the metal roof, blowing in waves from the cutting wind, like a billowing sea. The shoulders of her red coat were turning white, along with the small black hat pulled down tightly over her greying auburn hair.
She opened her bag and considered a cigarette, taking out a half-empty pack. After a minute of blankly looking at it, she let it go and it fell, tumbling away, driven by the wind. It was a bad habit, and she was glad to be rid of it. Better late than never.
Her feet were cold. The black leather shoes she wore were sturdy, with rather thick two-inch heels. They gave her needed height, but the open toes afforded little protection against the cold. She shivered slightly, feeling the goose bumps work their way down her spine and then explode, making her body quiver.
With a slight hesitation, she stepped up onto the concrete grid at the edge of the building where the roof began. The wind was stronger there, and colder. She braced herself by locking an arm around the old-fashioned iron fire escape that curled up over the edge of the building.
Snow was catching on her eyelashes, and she felt as though she were disappearing into the grey landscape. White rooftops with their dark chimneys belching up ribbons of smoke surrounded her.
She looked down again at the street, eight stories below, now a black and white abstraction from tire tracks and footprints in the accumulating snow. Dozens of scurrying ants with tiny umbrellas, making their way around each other in wavy lines, completed the painting.
A fire engine, now wailing in the distance. The mournful sound of death and dying or the welcoming announcement of help and hope arriving. She had known them both and dreaded the sound. She was now past the point of help and hope arriving.
She loosened her hold on the fire escape, then looking up into the grey and white polka-dot sky, the way a high diver does before going off the board, she took a deep breath.
"Are you sure you want to do that?" came a voice from behind her. "I'll miss you at lunchtime."
The shock of the unexpected sound caused her to teeter as she turned on the concrete grid at the edge of the building, now icy and snow-covered under her feet.
The roof behind her was empty, grey and white and empty. The only door from inside the building, closed as she left it, with no footprints in the fresh snow.
The only thing in view, a pigeon walking slowly in circles. She watched the lone bird, as if transfixed, then she stepped down from the grid onto the roof. Opening her bag, she brought out a crumpled box of Cracker Jacks and a partial handful of the caramel popcorn.
The hungry bird landed in a flutter on her arm and upon seeing the rich offering she held, quickly began feasting.
Tears welled up in the woman's eyes as she fed the bird. "You're right," she whispered to the trusting creature, "it's not time for me to fly yet."
Copyright © 2009 by Ron Van Sweringen


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A good step by Ambassador Mushingi and the Burkina Faso team at State Department
Posted on October 29, 2014 by mkevane
U.S. diplomats were pretty clear today in disapproval. Of course, the effects depend on how the message was delivered in person, and the hints of consequences to follow if the message were ignored (as seems likely, at this point). The weird thing about the whole effort by Compaoré is that not even people in Burkina Faso can really understand why he is doing this. To almost everyone, it seems like the reasonable thing to do would be to say he was not going to run again, let someone in the CDP run (and win), and then move on to the nice life of a senior international peacemaker for French West Africa. After a few years he would be a hero to 80% of Burkinabè (the rest will never forget the crimes de sang). If Compaoré were a megalomaniac, or had a Putin-like vision of himself leading a "mother Burkina," then sure one can understand why he will not let go. But most people's sense of him is that is is fairly disinterested in being a leader. Indeed, his public style the past ten years has been to be outside the fray and pretend he is neutral arbiter. So either he is a true master of image, or there is someone else (Chantal? Diendere? Koanda?) really pushing this.
Later on Tuesday, the U.S. issued a statement saying, "The United States emphasizes that constitutionally mandated term limits provide an important mechanism to hold heads of state accountable, ensure peaceful and democratic transfers of power, and give new generations the opportunity to compete for political office and elect new leaders."
The political crisis spilled out onto the streets on Tuesday in a campaign of civil disobedience called by opposition parties who want to prevent the referendum being held. Hours later, the U.S. State Department said it was "concerned by the spirit and intent behind" the proposed changes that would allow Compaore, who has been in power for 27 years, to run for election in 2015, when he is meant to stand down. Burkina Faso is a key U.S. ally in West Africa in the fight against al Qaeda-linked fighters operating in the Sahel-Sahara band. It also frequently mediates in regional conflicts. France, which has Special Forces troops based in the country, said on Tuesday it expected Compaore to adhere to the laws drawn up by peers at the African Union and not push through the constitutional amendments.
via Thousands protest in Burkina for second day, U.S. joins outcry | Reuters.


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Overloaded power strip may have started mobile home fire in Cottageville
Photo: Harold Buzzell // Colleton County Fire Rescue
COTTAGEVILLE, S.C. (WCBD) – An overloaded power strip may have sparked a fire that burned a home over the weekend in Cottageville.
A neighbor alerted fire crews after seeing smoke coming from the mobile home early Sunday morning.
"The residence had an addition on the rear and the front of the building," officials said. "As crews were entering the front door, fire began blowing out of two front windows."
The fire was found in the front rooms, which officials said extended into the rear addition.
Crews worked to get the fire under control and contained it in two rooms, which they said received heavy fire damage.
While much of the home suffered smoke and heat damage, crews said many of the personal items were saved.
The family made it out of the home safely before firefighters arrived.
Officials said it appears the fire started from an overloaded power strip in the dining room, which they said had a spacer heater connected to it.