One of the most beautiful getaways is the Caribbean, tourists have chose these beautiful islands for centuries as a place to get away and forget life for a few weeks. Each of the islands are lined with beautiful beaches and clear blue waters. The only difficult choice on your vacation will be how long you want to stay at the beach, and whether or not you prefer jet skiing over snorkeling. The Caribbean offers 2000 miles worth of land to explore, numerous resorts to vacation at, and a million possibilities for a memorable get away.
Located near the Golf of Mexico travel to the Caribbean is not that far. You can sear multiple places online to find cheap travel to any of the many resorts or cruises available in the Caribbean. Rich with beautiful nature, traditional culture, vibrant people, and wonderful cuisine, there is an adventure for all those who visit these beautiful islands. The multiple reefs and cays are some of the most intricate and sought after in the world. Each island in the Caribbean has its own personality, and travelers can choose accordingly for the kind of experience they'd like to have. You can vacation once, twice, even three times, and have a completely new adventure each time.
All of the activities available in the Caribbean range from quiet sightseeing in Nevis island, to partying nightlife in St. Lucia and Jamaica. Whether you're a laid back sun seeker or an adrenaline junkie chasing wave seeker, Aruba's beaches are perfect for you. Not only will you get away from daily life in these wonderful islands, but you can also enjoy relaxing spa treatments at the Turks and Caicos. Which can be enjoyed inside the signature spa's or directly on the white sandy shores of your favorite beach. For the adventures and risk takers there are so many options available. From gambling your luck in Puerto Rico, golfing in Barbados, sailing in British Virgin islands, or treating your taste buds to exquisite food in St. Martin. The Caribbean guarantees an get away that will not only be unforgettable but make you come back for more.
Wow, looks like this will be my next holiday getaway destination! I'm going to bring my family along to de-stress and relax. I love to play golf so Barbados will be my hangout place, my wife loves to indulge in spas and my children loves to go crazy tasting all kinds of new food so I guess we'll be heading to St. Martin quite a few times 😀 Great introduction, and thanks for this information! It's a perfect place.
Lol very nice. I've only been there once, and I've been yearning to go back for more. The last time I went, I had to cut short my stay because of work liabilities. In fact I had totally forgotten about this amazing place as I've been extremely couped up and stressed out at work. I'm glad I came across this blog, which reminded me of all the wonderful memories from this place. This time I'm going to make I enjoy all of its attractions before letting anything else distract me!
I agree with you 100%. I might uncertainty, for starters, on the other hand consider this not well worth mentioning.
Fascinating article. I am planning to go over there soon, thank you for the useful info!
Caribbean looks like everyone's dream getaway. Hope i will visit it someday.


SOUTHPORT Waterloo athletes have been busy again on both road and in track and field.
The final race in the Wednesday evening Harrock Hill series attracted 18 Club senior runners. A very bright setting sun was a bit of a problem but it didn't stop Rob Ashworth finishing 9th in 34:46 ahead of John Sprackland, 11th in 34:52. Sam Dean-Howard was Southport Waterloo's first female finisher, 3rd lady in 39:45. Joanne Wilson was the overall 1st lady vet 40 and Sheila Marshall won 1st lady vet 60 in a time of 57:42.Back on the track, the Club's under 17 Lauren Brennan was specially invited to represent the North West in the 4 x 300m relay event at the second UK Schools' Games, staged at the University of Warwick last weekend. The games aim to have anŠOlympic feel to them with sports ranging from athletics to volleyball and with all competitors staying on campus to create an Olympic village atmosphere. After winning a guest 300m race in the morning, Lauren was the 1st leg runner in the relay and got the team off to a great start with a healthy lead.
The team finished a good second in their time trial, giving them third place overall and bronze medals for the girls.Other junior athletes put their Southport Waterloo vests to one side to represent Merseyside in the annual Northern Inter Counties fixture at the Costello Stadium in Hull. On a pleasantly warm afternoon, the atmosphere was competitive but friendly as the match got under way. Under 17 Steph James was representing Merseyside in the 800m.Š In what was probably her last race over the distance this year, she won in a time of 2:17.99.Š Not a particularly fast time but the first lap was a tactically slow 69 secs with Steph a little boxed in in 3rd place. As the girls broke at the bell, Steph moved up to 2nd place and stayed there until coming fast off the final bend, to past the leader and finish in first place Adam Davies was on next, throwing the hammer in the main arena.Š Adam has been working on his technique recently and managed a good throw of 50m 01 to win the competition. Next Rico Dalle Mulle was competing in the 80m hurdles.Š He was up against some good runners so was up for a good contest but it was clear that he landed a little awkwardly over the third hurdle and although he finished strongly he was suffering from a painful injury.
In a close finish - there was less than 4 tenths separating the first three - Rico was given 3rd in a time of 12.08. Next was James Armstrong, in the 100m, which he won easily in 11.29 secs - not far outside his personal best time of 11.22 run at Sheffield earlier this month.


We hope you managed to join us for the 'Two-Way Radio Small Systems Portfolio' webinar on 12th November. This webinar looked at the MOTOTRBO and Dimetra portfolios in comparison to the new DMR tier 3 technology and how Motorola's portfolios are better suited to meeting the needs of the widest range of market requirements.
Motorola has also held a 'MOTOTRBO Update Webinar' which gave a sneak preview of next year's roadmap and looked at Motorola's small systems strategy.
If you would like to be sent a recording of either webinar, which you can watch at your convenience, please email Natasha Miller (natasha.miller@radiotrade.co.uk).


Women were 26 percent of human sources referenced in lead articles monitored in a year-long study of eight online news sites.
The Gender Report's Gender Check monitoring project began in January 2011 and concluded earlier this month. For this project, we monitored the articles weekly from two websites — one associated with a newspaper and one considered online-only — in each of the four different geographic regions as defined by the U.S. Census. These websites included the Seattle Times, Seattle P-I, New York Times, ProPublica, Stltoday.com, St. Louis Beacon, Miami Herald and Patch (Seminole Heights).
The study time frame resulted in a total of 53 weeks, but due to a missing week, resulted in a total of 52 weeks of monitoring for at least two of our geographic regions. Between Jan. 18, 2011 and Jan. 19, 2012, we examined a total of 354 articles, averaging about 29.5 articles per month. In total, this broke down to 104 articles each from the West and Midwest regions, 78 articles from the Northeast and 68 articles from the South. These lower counts in the Northeast and South are the result of missed weeks. Though this may have have some slight affect on the overall findings, the standings of these regions among the others have remained consistent over time.
Of a total of 1,321 human sources in the articles we monitored, 978 were male and 343 were female. These totals do not include those whose gender could not be identified.
The year high came with women as 34.4 percent of sources in the 11th month with our low at 19.5 percent in the fifth month.
Approximately 123 of the 354 articles monitored contained only male sources (no female sources), or 34.7 percent. This compared to 25 articles with only female sources, or 7.1 percent. Thirty-one articles contained no human sources and two only had a single unnamed source whose gender was not identifiable.
Among geographic regions, the sites we monitored from the South had the highest percentage of women as sources at 33.1 percent. The sites from the Northeast had the lowest at 19.4 percent. These regions have maintained the high and low percentages respectively during each quarter of our study.
The online-only outlets we monitored have maintained a trend of using a higher percentage of female sources than those associated with a newspaper. After a year of study, women were 29.1 percent of sources at online-only sites versus 23.2 percent at newspaper-connected sites. In every geographic region, the online-only site had a higher percentage of female sources than its newspaper counterpart.
Newspaper websites had more sources overall, but the highest percentage of sources per article belonged to the online-only site, the St. Louis Beacon at 5.2 sources. The lowest also came from an online-only outlet — the Patch site, with an average of 1.6 sources per article.
During our study, Patch (Seminole Heights) had the highest percentage of female sources at 43.4 percent in the lead articles monitored on its website. It's noteworthy that, as previously mentioned, this site also had the lowest number of sources overall as well.
The lowest percentage of female sources came from lead news articles from the The New York Times at only 13.8 percent, followed by Stltoday.com at 22.7 percent. These two sites have continued to hold the lowest percentages throughout the year, though more research would be needed to see if these percentages accurately reflect the content of these sites. We encourage readers to keep in mind that when broken down by each individual news site, our sample size is still small.
As part of this study, we examined how the author's gender may have impacted the use of female sources. As we have throughout the year, we saw a difference, with women having a slightly higher percentage of female sources than men.
Females were 28.3 percent of sources in articles written by women and 24 percent in those written by men. Articles with a shared byline between a man and women had women as 28.7 percent of sources.
As a note to our readers, this study does have some limitations. This data simply reflects our findings from eight news websites and results should not be assumed to represent all sites in the regions or the industry as a whole. Further research is needed to confirm or elaborate on these findings, which is something we'll be looking to do in year two.
Coming later today: Our findings on authorship of articles in this Gender Check monitoring project. Check back for more.


Russian Amber is harvested near the Baltic Sea. The russian amber strand we sell is 32″ long. The chips are smooth and vary in size from 8mm to 30mm in length. They are very beautiful.
We finally have our gemstone bracelets. Each bracelet contains from three to six gemstone beads. In between are companion crystals and gilt spacer beads. Check them out!
We now sell our pendants individually and at a lower price. So instead of paying $29 for ten you now pay $1.95 for one. Click on "Pendants" at the sidebar.


Best Buy Flyer Boxing Day Sale 13 Dec 2018 contains special deals for boxing day. Desktop PCs are not for everyone with their crowded structures. Some users prefer mini PCs because of their more compact design, and at this point they choose according to their usage preferences. The mini PC is available for almost any use. However, our present topic will be specific to the workstations. Because we have HP's Z2 Mini G4 Workstation . Perhaps the biggest doubt on mini PCs is the cooling system of the device. However, let's say from the beginning that the fans on the Z2 Mini G4 Workstation are very powerful and work very quietly. In this sense, the user does not stick to the performance. Since we've touched on the performance, let's make a quick start and we'll continue from here. The Z2 Mini G4 Workstation features the NVIDIA Quadro P1000 GPU . We also see the Intel Xeon E-2176G as the processor. Inside the device, one of the larger fans with smaller diameters is able to cool both of these and the memories on them.
The processor on the device is quite new. In the third quarter of 2018, the Xeon E-2176G is running at a base frequency of 3.7 GHz and reaches a frequency of 4.7 GHz. Although the processor has 6 physical cores and 12 threads, it supports up to 64 GB of RAM, and 32 GB of DDR4 memory is used. With dual-channel 16 GB, RAM runs at a base frequency of 2666 MHz. On the graphics side, as mentioned earlier, the Z2 Mini G4 Workstation uses the NVIDIA Quadro P1000. This tiny device can show the performance needed by architects, designers and employees. This product owns special certificates for these 3 areas. For architects Autodesk / AutoCAD , VectorWorks and Revit , for designers , InDesign , Illustrator and Photoshop , for operating in the field of education as well as other numbers that we applications SolidWorks ' e specially developed Z2 mini G4 Workstation. The Z2 Mini G4 Workstation offers different configuration options at the point of purchase. Although we have the technical staff that we have mentioned before, those who wish can change the features of the device completely. Options include interchangeable options. The Z2 Mini G4 Workstation has 2 USB 3.1 Type-C Gen 2 ports as well as 4 USB 3.0 ports. It also has 3 DisplayPort connections, PC, Ethernet and headphone jacks. However, there is no HDMI connection. Users can add this port and other ports in the purchase phase. Of course all of them incur additional charges. This includes a set of keyboards and mice.


A large & exceptionally rare double sided timber railway sign.
A wonderful antique sign, in thick timber & its original frame with applied cast iron lettering, reading 'Rockingham' one side & 'Way Out' the other.
Rockingham station, Leicestershire opened in June 1850 & was ran by London and North Western Railways and later London Midland and Scottish Railways. It closed in June 1966 & the town is now better known for its motor racing circuit & castle.
A wonderful piece of Great British railway history, very likely a one-off & a fantastic decorative piece.
Wear commensurate with age, good condition overall. With a few scratches & scars to the paintwork & a couple of exposed screw heads on the letters & possible old repair to one corner (see close up). Paint not recent but not original (these signs were periodically painted whilst in use), could be ex-railway paint but likely later.


text:
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 * Created by tomasj on 26/03/14.
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var amqpClient = require('./amqp');
var config = require('../../config');

var receiverOptions = {
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    implOptions: config.rabbitmq.implOptions,
    qname: config.rabbitmq.uploadQueue
};

amqpClient.init(receiverOptions, function(err) {
    if (err) {
        console.error("There was an error: " + err);
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    else {
        amqpClient.subscribe(receiverOptions.qname, function(msg) {
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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


This Israeli army shoulder map bag is designed to be easy to carry, but still provides sufficient storage space for all your gear as maps and other field gear that might be needed during the operation. The bag is solid enough to protect the items stored inside, even when the individual wearing the bag is undertaking military operations out in the field.
Tactical officer bags need to be durable so they can withstand long periods of use. This bag is also designed to maintain its shape and coloring so it will continue to be presentable and suitable for those holding an officer's rank.
This durable material makes the bag resistant to extreme weather. This fabric used by the Israeli army because of its durability, this fabric was chosen because it avoids snagging and resists wrinkling, protecting documents and gear inside from damage. The bag is made in army green because of Israeli army standards.
The bag contains two internal compartments of 30/35 x 21 x 10 cm that can be used to store documents, maps and other product of A4 size. The Velcro attachments help ensure that the top flap of the bag will stay in place, but can be opened quickly when you need something inside.
The internal compartment of the bag is divided into two compartments to provide additional storage space, both compartments separated inside the bag, to help ensure that documents can remain organized during transit. This bag also includes special elastic places for pens for quick and easy access, this area also covered when the bag is closed, especially to protect from the weather/rain.
While the bag is designed to hold and protect documents, maps or portfolios the wide space inside can easily be used to carry a variety of other items as the need presents. The size of the case is specifically designed to hold A-4 pages.
Military grade straps are designed for comfort and long-term wear that will not dig into the shoulders. The easily adjustable straps help ensure that the bag will remain against the body and out of the way when you are in the midst of activity. The thick cross body strap helps to distribute the weight of the bag for easy carry.


text:
Produit initialement aux États-Unis par Armalite mais aussi aux Pays-Bas, le fusil d'assaut AR-10 est l'une des premières armes de ce type à utiliser de l'aluminium dans sa fabrication. C'est le prédécesseur direct du M16 sur le plan ergonomique et mécanique. Produit seulement de 1956 à 1960, soit en  environ, il fut vendu aux armées de la Birmanie, de l'Italie, du Portugal et du Soudan. En Amérique latine, il fut livré à la Garde nationale du Guatemala ; des commandes cubaines et nicaraguayennes restèrent sans suite.

Données mécaniques

Créé par Eugene M. Stoner puis modifié par Jim Sullivan, ce fusil fonctionne par emprunt des gaz et possède une culasse rotative. Il est muni d'un sélecteur de tir. Sa crosse, sa poignée de transport et son garde-main (surtout dans sa version AR-10B) préfigurent celles du M16.

Pour viser, le soldat dispose d'un œilleton réglable et d'un guidon en forme de lame protégé avec une portée pratique de  environ. Le cas échéant, ce fusil néerlando-américain peut tirer des grenades à fusils (étant alors munie d'une crosse métallique) et peut recevoir une lunette de visée.

Données numériques
 Munition : 7,62 OTAN (.308 winchester)
 Cadence en tir semi-automatique :
 Cadence en tir automatique :
 Capacité du chargeur :
 Longueur :
 Canon :
 Masse à vide :

Pays utilisateurs

Carrière militaire de l'AR-10

Utilisé intensivement lors des guerres coloniales portugaises, il s'y montra précis et fiable. Ces armes venaient des Pays-Bas via une société bruxelloise. Néanmoins, les Forces armées portugaises lui préférèrent le HK G3. Quelques-uns de ces AR-10 lusitaniens connurent ensuite les guerres civiles angolaise (1975-2002) et mozambicaine.

Renaissance parmi les tireurs sportifs américains

L'engouement de cette arme sur le marché civil des surplus aux États-Unis amena la firme Armalite Inc à la refabriquer à partir de 1996, d'autres fabricants l'imitant en profitant de l'expiration du brevet.

Dans la culture populaire

Dans le prologue africain du film de Georges Lautner, Le Professionnel (1981), Joss Beaumont, joué par Jean-Paul Belmondo, utilise un AR-10 équipé d'une lunette de visée Colt. Le succès du film incita les importateurs de jouets militaires à en vendre une version bas de gamme verdâtre.

L'AR-10 figure également dans un épisode des Professionnels et dans une scène de fusillade de L'Enfer des armes, l'un des premiers films de Tsui Hark, sorti à Hong Kong en 1980.

Sources
Cette notice est issue de la lecture des revues spécialisées de langue française suivantes :
 Cibles (Fr)
 AMI (B, disparue en 1988)
 Gazette des Armes (Fr)
 Action Guns (Fr)
 Raids (Fr)
 Assaut (Fr)

Arme de la guerre froide
Arme des Forces armées des États-Unis
Fusil d'assaut
Matériel de la guerre du Viêt Nam

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


Dunkin' Brands Reports Third Quarter 2015 Results | Dunkin Brands, Inc.
Dunkin' Brands Group, Inc. (Nasdaq: DNKN), the parent company of Dunkin' Donuts (DD) and Baskin-Robbins (BR), today reported results for the third quarter ended September 26, 2015.
"Our overall financial performance in the third quarter, including the strong growth in our revenue, operating income and adjusted earnings per share, demonstrates the benefits and resiliency of our asset-light franchise business model, and the solid Dunkin' Donuts U.S. net restaurant growth shows the continued demand for the brand. While we were disappointed with our third quarter Dunkin' Donuts U.S. comparable store sales, we remain on track to deliver our full-year targets, and we are working closely with our franchisees to regain transaction momentum through great products, exceptional guest service, and innovative marketing," said Dunkin' Brands Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Nigel Travis.
"Dunkin' Brands is a business with tremendous long-term growth potential. At our recent investor day, we provided targets for our growth expectations for the next five years which included mid-to-high single digit revenue growth, 10 percent plus adjusted operating income growth and up to 15 percent adjusted earnings per share growth," said Paul Carbone, Chief Financial Officer, Dunkin' Brands Group, Inc.
1 Franchisee-reported sales include sales at franchisee-operated restaurants, including joint ventures. While we do not record sales by franchisees or licensees as revenue and such sales are not included in our consolidated financial statements, we believe that this operating measure is important in obtaining an understanding of our financial performance. We believe franchisee-reported sales information aids in understanding how we derive royalty revenue and in evaluating our performance relative to competitors.
2 Comparable store sales growth for DD U.S. and BR U.S. for the three months ended September 27, 2014 have been revised to include only those restaurants that have been open at least 78 weeks (approximately 18 months) to conform to the current period calculation, whereas previously reported figures included only those restaurants that were open at least 54 weeks (approximately 12 months). Please refer to "Non-GAAP Measures and Statistical Data" for further detail.
3 Consolidated global net POD development reflects the previously-announced closing of 31 self-serve coffee stations within Speedway locations.
4 Adjusted operating income, adjusted operating income margin, and adjusted net income are non-GAAP measures reflecting operating income and net income adjusted for amortization of intangible assets, long-lived asset impairments, and other non-recurring, infrequent, or unusual charges, net of the tax impact of such adjustments in the case of adjusted net income. Diluted adjusted earnings per share is a non-GAAP measure calculated using adjusted net income. Please refer to "Non-GAAP Measures and Statistical Data" and "Dunkin' Brands Group, Inc. Non-GAAP Reconciliations" for further detail.
Global systemwide sales growth in the third quarter was primarily attributable to global store development and Dunkin' Donuts U.S. comparable store sales growth (which includes stores open 78 weeks or more).
Dunkin' Donuts U.S. comparable store sales growth in the third quarter was driven by increased average ticket. Growth was driven by strong beverage sales, led by total coffee including iced coffee and espresso-based beverages, and frozen beverages, which was driven by the launch of blended beverages; and donut category growth driven by the REESE'S Peanut Butter Square and Pumpkin Cheesecake squares. The in-restaurant K-Cup and packaged coffee categories had a negative impact on third quarter comparable store sales. Traffic declined approximately 70 basis points in the quarter.
Baskin-Robbins U.S. comparable store sales growth was driven by increased sales of cups and cones, beverages, desserts, and sundaes and increased sales of cakes, stimulated by strong year-over-year growth of online cake ordering. Comparable store sales growth was driven primarily by traffic.
In the third quarter, Dunkin' Brands franchisees and licensees opened 90 net new restaurants around the globe. This included 68 net new Dunkin' Donuts U.S. locations, 40 net new Dunkin' Donuts International locations, 2 net closures for Baskin-Robbins U.S., and 16 net closures for Baskin-Robbins International. The Dunkin' Donuts U.S. net store growth number reflects the previously-announced closing of 31 self-serve coffee stations within Speedway locations. Additionally, Dunkin' Donuts U.S. franchisees remodeled 116 restaurants and Baskin-Robbins U.S. franchisees remodeled 32 restaurants during the quarter.
Revenues for the third quarter increased 8.9% compared to the prior year period due primarily to increased royalty income as a result of systemwide sales growth, an increase in sales at company-operated restaurants due to a net increase in the number of company-operated restaurants, increased sales of ice cream and other products, and licensing fees earned from the sale of Dunkin' K-Cup® pods.
Operating income and adjusted operating income for the third quarter increased $7.3 million, or 7.9%, and $6.5 million, or 6.6%, respectively, from the prior year period primarily as a result of the increases in royalty income, ice cream margin due primarily to the increase in sales, and licensing fees earned from the sale of Dunkin' K-Cup® pods. The increases in revenues were offset by an increase in general and administrative expenses driven primarily by an increase in personnel costs and bad debt expense.
Net income for the third quarter decreased by $8.5 million, or 15.5%, compared to the prior year period primarily as a result of additional interest expense of $8.1 million, driven by additional borrowings incurred in conjunction with the securitization refinancing transaction completed in January 2015, and an increase in income tax expense of $7.5 million as the prior year period was favorably impacted by the settlement of certain tax audits. These decreases were offset by the $7.3 million increase in operating income.
Adjusted net income for the third quarter decreased by $2.0 million, or 3.8%, compared to the third quarter of 2014 primarily as a result of increases in interest expense, offset by the $6.5 million increase in adjusted operating income.
Diluted earnings per share decreased by 7.7% to $0.48 for the third quarter of 2015 compared to the prior year period as a result of the decrease in net income, offset by a decrease in shares outstanding. Diluted adjusted earnings per share increased by 6.1% to $0.52 for the third quarter of 2015 compared to the prior year period as a result of the decrease in shares outstanding, offset by the decrease in adjusted net income. The decrease in shares outstanding from the prior year period is due primarily to the repurchase of shares, offset by the exercise of stock options.
1 Comparable store sales growth for the three months ended September 27, 2014 have been revised to include only those restaurants that have been open at least 78 weeks (approximately 18 months) to conform to the current period calculation. Please refer to "Non-GAAP Measures and Statistical Data" for further detail.
2 Franchisee-reported sales include sales at franchisee-operated restaurants, including joint ventures. We do not record sales by franchisees or licensees as revenue and such sales are not included in our consolidated financial statements. Please refer to "Non-GAAP Measures and Statistical Data" for further detail.
3 Net openings reflects the previously-announced closing of 31 self-serve coffee stations within Speedway locations.
Dunkin' Donuts U.S. third quarter revenues of $154.4 million represented an increase of 8.0% over the prior year period. The increase was primarily a result of increased royalty income due to an increase in systemwide sales, as well as an increase in sales at company-operated restaurants driven by a net increase in the number of company-operated restaurants. Also contributing to revenue growth were increases in other revenues, driven primarily by income recognized in connection with the termination of a lease, and franchise fees due primarily to favorable development mix.
Dunkin' Donuts U.S. segment profit in the third quarter increased $6.7 million over the prior year period to $112.9 million, which was driven primarily by growth in royalty income, other revenues, and franchise fees. The increases in revenues were offset by an increase in personnel costs and a decrease in other operating income as the prior year period included a gain recognized in connection with the sale of real estate.
1 Franchisee-reported sales include sales at franchisee-operated restaurants, including joint ventures. We do not record sales by franchisees or licensees as revenue and such sales are not included in our consolidated financial statements. Please refer to "Non-GAAP Measures and Statistical Data" for further detail.
Dunkin' Donuts International third quarter systemwide sales decreased 5.0% from the prior year period. Sales declines in South Korea and South America were offset by sales growth in the Middle East and Asia. Sales in South Korea, South America, Asia, and Europe were negatively impacted by unfavorable foreign exchange rates. On a constant currency basis, systemwide sales increased by approximately 7%. Comparable store sales growth was negatively impacted as a result of the MERS outbreak in South Korea.
Dunkin' Donuts International third quarter revenues of $4.6 million represented an increase of 5.8% over the prior year period. The increases in revenues were primarily a result of increased franchise fees due to additional gross development, as well as an increase in royalty income which was negatively impacted by unfavorable foreign exchange rates.
Segment profit for Dunkin' Donuts International decreased $0.3 million to $1.6 million in the third quarter primarily as a result of an increase in general and administrative expenses, offset by revenue growth. A portion of the increase in general and administrative expenses can be attributed to increased personnel costs and other investments in international markets.
Baskin-Robbins U.S. third quarter revenue increased 3.9% from the prior year period to $13.1 million due primarily to an increase in other revenues, driven by an increase in licensing income, and an increase in royalty income, offset by a decrease in sales of ice cream and other products. The fluctuations in licensing income and sales of ice cream and other products can be attributed to a shift in certain franchisees now purchasing ice cream from our third party ice cream manufacturer.
Segment profit for Baskin-Robbins U.S. increased $0.8 million in the third quarter, or 9.2%, over the prior year period primarily as a result of the increases in other revenues and royalty income, offset by an increase in general and administrative expenses due primarily to expenses incurred related to brand-building activities and increased personnel costs.
Baskin-Robbins International systemwide sales decreased 10.2% in the third quarter compared to the prior year period driven by sales declines in Japan, South Korea, and Puerto Rico, offset by sales growth in the Middle East. Sales in Japan and South Korea were negatively impacted by unfavorable foreign exchange rates. On a constant currency basis, systemwide sales increased by approximately 2%. Comparable store sales growth was negatively impacted as a result of the MERS outbreak in South Korea.
Baskin-Robbins International third quarter revenues increased 7.5% over the prior year period to $31.1 million due primarily to an increase in sales of ice cream and other products in the Middle East, offset by a decrease in royalty income, which was negatively impacted by unfavorable foreign exchange rates, and a decrease in franchise fees.
Third quarter segment profit decreased 17.7% from the prior year period to $10.3 million as a result of an increase in bad debt expense and a decrease in net income of equity method investments driven by unfavorable results from our Japan joint venture compared to the prior year period and the impact of unfavorable foreign exchange rates on net income of our South Korea and Japan joint ventures. Also contributing to the decrease in segment profit were the decreases in royalty income and franchise fees, offset by an increase in net margin on ice cream driven primarily by the increase in sales.
The Company today announced that the Board of Directors declared a fourth quarter cash dividend of $0.265 per share, payable on December 2, 2015 to shareholders of record as of the close of business on November 23, 2015.
During the third quarter, the Company repurchased approximately 126,000 shares of common stock in the open market at a weighted average cost per share of $48.79. The Company's shares outstanding as of September 26, 2015 were 95,163,689.
As described below, the Company is reiterating and updating certain targets regarding its 2015 expectations.
The Company continues to expect Dunkin' Donuts U.S. comparable store sales growth of 1 to 3 percent. It now expects Baskin-Robbins U.S. comparable store sales growth of 3 to 5 percent (previously it expected 1 to 3 percent comparable store sales growth).
The Company continues to expect that Dunkin' Donuts U.S. will add between 410 and 440 net new restaurants, for greater than 5 percent net unit growth, and expects Baskin-Robbins U.S. will add between 5 and 10 net new restaurants. The Dunkin' Donuts U.S. net development target excludes the previously-announced closing of self-serve coffee stations within Speedway locations. The Company expects approximately 100 of these self-serve coffee stations to close between 2015 and 2016.
Internationally, the Company continues to target opening 200 to 300 net new restaurants across the two brands. It continues to expect net income of equity method investments to be approximately $13 million.
Globally, the Company continues to expect to open between 615 and 750 net new restaurants, excluding the closing of the self-serve coffee stations within Speedway locations.
The Company continues to expect revenue growth of between 6 and 8 percent; adjusted operating income growth of between 7 and 8 percent; and adjusted earnings per share of $1.87 to $1.91.
As previously announced, Dunkin' Brands will be holding a conference call today at 8:00 am ET hosted by Nigel Travis, Chairman & Chief Executive Officer, and Paul Carbone, Chief Financial Officer. The dial-in number is (866) 393-1607 or (914) 495-8556, conference number 56471885. Dunkin' Brands will broadcast the conference call live over the Internet at http://investor.dunkinbrands.com. A replay of the conference call will be available on the Company's website at http://investor.dunkinbrands.com.
Certain statements contained herein are not based on historical fact and are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the applicable securities laws and regulations. Generally, these statements can be identified by the use of words such as "anticipate," "believe," "could," "estimate," "expect," "feel," "forecast," "intend," "may," "plan," "potential," "project," "should," "would," and similar expressions intended to identify forward-looking statements, although not all forward-looking statements contain these identifying words. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties because they relate to events and depend on circumstances that may or may not occur in the future. These risk and uncertainties include, but are not limited to: the ongoing level of profitability of franchisees and licensees; our franchisees' and licensees' ability to sustain same store sales growth; changes in working relationships with our franchisees and licensees and the actions of our franchisees and licensees; our master franchisees' relationships with sub-franchisees; the strength of our brand in the markets in which we compete; changes in competition within the quick-service restaurant segment of the food industry; changes in consumer behavior resulting from changes in technologies or alternative methods of delivery; economic and political conditions in the countries where we operate; our substantial indebtedness; our ability to protect our intellectual property rights; consumer preferences, spending patterns and demographic trends; the impact of seasonal changes, including weather effects, on our business; the success of our growth strategy and international development; changes in commodity and food prices, particularly coffee, dairy products and sugar, and other operating costs; shortages of coffee; failure of our network and information technology systems; interruptions or shortages in the supply of products to our franchisees and licensees; the impact of food borne-illness or food safety issues or adverse public or media opinions regarding the health effects of consuming our products; our ability to collect royalty payments from our franchisees and licensees; the ability of our franchisees and licensees to open new restaurants and keep existing restaurants in operation; our ability to retain key personnel; any inability to protect consumer credit card data and catastrophic events.
In addition to the GAAP financial measures set forth in this press release, the Company has included certain non-GAAP measurements such as adjusted operating income, adjusted operating income margin, adjusted net income, and diluted adjusted earnings per share, which present operating results on a basis adjusted for certain items. The Company uses these non-GAAP measures as key performance measures for the purpose of evaluating performance internally. We also believe these non-GAAP measures provide our investors with useful information regarding our historical operating results. These non-GAAP measures are not intended to replace the presentation of our financial results in accordance with GAAP. Use of the terms adjusted operating income, adjusted operating income margin, adjusted net income, and diluted adjusted earnings per share may differ from similar measures reported by other companies. These non-GAAP measures are reconciled from the respective measures determined under GAAP in the attached tables "Dunkin' Brands Group, Inc. Non-GAAP Reconciliations."
Additionally, the Company has included metrics such as franchisee-reported sales, systemwide sales growth, and comparable store sales growth, which are commonly used statistical measures in the quick service restaurant industry and are important to understanding the Company's performance.
Franchisee-reported sales include sales at franchisee-operated restaurants, including joint ventures. While we do not record sales by franchisees or licensees as revenue and such sales are not included in our consolidated financial statements, we believe that this operating measure is important in obtaining an understanding of our financial performance. We believe franchisee-reported sales information aids in understanding how we derive royalty revenue and in evaluating our performance relative to competitors.
The Company uses "systemwide sales growth" to refer to the percentage change in sales at both franchisee- and company-operated restaurants from the comparable period of the prior year. Changes in systemwide sales are driven by changes in comparable store sales and changes in the number of restaurants.
The Company uses "DD U.S. comparable store sales growth" and "BR U.S. comparable store sales growth," which are calculated by including only sales from franchisee- and company-operated restaurants that have been open at least 78 weeks and that have reported sales in the current and comparable prior year week. Previously, DD U.S. comparable store sales growth and BR U.S. comparable store sales growth were calculated including only sales from franchisee- and company-operated restaurants that had been open at least 54 weeks and that had reported sales in the current and comparable prior year week. The calculation of this operating measure was revised in the third quarter of 2015 to more accurately reflect sales growth at comparable stores by minimizing the impact of strong new store openings, particularly as we develop in newer markets. All prior year amounts have been revised to conform to the 78-week calculation. There was no financial statement impact from revising the calculation of this operating measure.
With more than 19,000 points of distribution in more than 60 countries worldwide, Dunkin' Brands Group, Inc. (Nasdaq: DNKN) is one of the world's leading franchisors of quick service restaurants (QSR) serving hot and cold coffee and baked goods, as well as hard-serve ice cream. At the end of the third quarter 2015, Dunkin' Brands' nearly 100 percent franchised business model included more than 11,500 Dunkin' Donuts restaurants and more than 7,600 Baskin-Robbins restaurants. Dunkin' Brands Group, Inc. is headquartered in Canton, Mass.
(1) Sales of products sold to Dunkin' Donuts International franchisees that have historically been included in other revenues are now included in sales of ice cream and other products. The related costs have historically been included in general and administrative expenses, net and are now included in cost of ice cream and other products. Sales and costs from these transactions were reclassified for all prior periods presented to conform to the current period presentation.
(a) Represents non-capitalizable costs incurred as a result of the new securitized financing facility, which was completed in January 2015.
(b) Represents a net reduction to legal reserves for the Bertico litigation and related matters, as a result of the Quebec Court of Appeals (Montreal) ruling to reduce the damages assessed against the Company in the Bertico litigation from approximately C$16.4 million to approximately C$10.9 million, plus costs and interest.
(f) Represents income tax benefits resulting from the resolution of historical tax positions settled during the period.
(g) Represents tax expense recognized due to an increase in our overall state tax rate for a shift in the apportionment of income to certain state jurisdictions.


Disco Unchained: MIAMI NIGHTS 1984: Accelerated!
Friend of the Disco Unchained family, Miami Nights 1984, just released the first track off his next album. We have very high expectations for this new album, because the last one MN1984 released was absolutely sick. The first track from his new album, ''Accelerated'', is pure outrun bliss. I felt a touch of nu-disco in it as well ( so it's perfect for late night drives).


CMON have some epic new releases coming your way for A Song Of Ice & Fire: The Miniatures Game. They are going to be heading North of The Wall with both The Night's Watch and a band of Wildlings to boot.
One of the new sets is this band of Sworn Brothers. The set of them come with a mighty double-handed sword each and the cloaks and furs that many are familiar with from these men who brave the freezing cold of the North of Westeros.
Matching them and firing from afar we have the Ranger Hunters who are going to be making their way through the woods, harassing the Wildlings as they march forth to battle.
Matched with them giving you another ranged option we also have the Crannogman Trackers who have a little more of a lean look about them. I do love myself a good archer and these fellows really are looking splendid.
When facing off against some of the larger foes out there in the wilds The Night's Watch can also call upon the Scorpion which has been brought to bear by the Builders.
You might need this against some of the mighty foes that are coming down from the North and indeed may be something to scare the enemy into retreat as it churns its way through the rank and file of your force.
It's not just The Night's Watch that are on the way as the Wildlings also get themselves some cunning warriors like the Spearwives here. I have always loved the female fighters of the Wildlings who are in many ways hardier than the men!
Not only do you have these awesome characters to add into the mix but also the set of Raiders who are going to be climbing The Wall and making their way into the farmland of the South to bring back riches and food to feed their tribe.
Last but not least, and possibly the coolest expansion of the lot, we have the Savage Giants.
Some of you will know that I have a thing for Giants. My favourite monsters of all are Dragons, but coming in a close second we have Giants. I think these are some of the best looking Giants that I've seen in a long time and I can't wait to see what they can do when they get stuck into their foes on the tabletop.
Have you been getting stuck into A Song Of Ice & Fire?
"Last but not least, and possibly the coolest expansion of the lot, we have the Savage Giants..."
Any indication how big the giants are?
Well the figure's are looking Fabulous so hopping the game is as good.
I like how they are pairing the classic enemies against each other to give us these factions.
The Crannogman and Giants look really good. I would like to know also how big those giants are.
ton of painting to do before I get round to these haha – should be getting my pledge any day now.
Lovely mini's,but the Giants are suffering from " foot on rock " syndrome 😉 😛 😀 .
Great looking figures. Played demos of it at Origins and really enjoyed it.
Just played 3 games of Ice & Fire. Was not 100% convinced playing the first senario with 40 point forces. But the 3rd game was the winds of winter senario and it was an absolute blast.
The game felt blanced and the secret and joint objectives that keep changing lead to a really shifting game.
Me and my mate will be looking to expand in places for sure.
CMON seem to be following up on the initial offering quite quickly. Looks good, although the renders are noticeably sharper than the actual minis. Not a huge issue, but obvious enough that its two different quality levels.


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Home > The Latest > After Scooping Up 67,000 Acres Of Land, Blockchains Unveils Its Offices At Northern Nevada Industrial Park
After Scooping Up 67,000 Acres Of Land, Blockchains Unveils Its Offices At Northern Nevada Industrial Park
The front of the office building for Blockchains, a company that purchased about 67,000 acres of land in the Tahoe-Reno Industrial Center in January. (David Calvert/The Nevada Independent).
Although it's light on details, Blockchains, LLC is hiring.
The company has hired just over 71 employees so far, she said, with a goal of hiring 1,000 employees by 2021. On its website, it lists a dozen open positions, including one posting for a chief operating officer and a few openings to fill a large, open-planned developer room.
Unlike other companies such as Tesla, Blockchains, LLC did not get tax breaks to come to Nevada. Instead, Johns said a big reason for its decision to choose Sparks, right outside of Reno, was state Sen. Ben Kieckhefer's bill last session to prohibit local governments from taxing blockchain.
The CEO and owner, Jeffrey Berns, a California attorney whose firm has won class-action settlements against big companies like Ticketmaster, had considered starting the company in Washington. They changed course after the Kieckhefer bill passed last year in the Legislature, Johns said.
Berns runs the company with his brother David Berns, also an attorney. This is not Berns' first foray into the emerging world of blockchain and cryptocurrency. Berns' legal practice runs a blog about the legalities of virtual currency and ran ETHNews, a news outlet covering Ethereum and ether, the cryptocurrency associated with it. That website is now part of Blockchains, LLC and is housed at the facility in Sparks. Johns said that the news site has editorial independence.
There are also some investors in the company, Johns said.
She could not comment on the construction costs for the facility but the company has already put down a lot of cash. Lance Gilman, the broker for TRIC, said in an interview earlier this year that he couldn't give a price for the sale, but that the total value of land sales in January, the month that the Blockchains, LLC deal closed, came out to about $175 million for 74,000 acres.
With the land sale in January, Blockchains LLC now owns nearly two-thirds of the land in the 107,000-acre industrial park. It has more than 100 tenants, including Google and Walmart.
In a room close to the front of the facility, Blockchains, LLC has a client service center. The company would not disclose any of its clients or how many it had as it's beginning to ramp up, but they define the customer-base broadly: anyone or any company who wants to develop programs on the Ethereum blockchain. The company said that it is open to developing any type of Ethereum program for clients and does not appear to be targeting a specific industry.
Blockchains, LLC has ruled out the possibility of "mining" for cryptocoins. Programmers earn, or "mine," cryptocurrency by using computers to solve increasingly difficult math puzzles. It requires a lot of energy and miners have flocked to areas where energy can be cheap, areas high in hydropower resources or near solar farms that produce excess energy in the day.
The big question is what the company intends to do with all of its land.
Blockchains, LLC has suggested that its facilities could serve as something of a research park — a place to incubate new technologies, working with Ethereum and collaborating with partners.
When asked what the company meant when it talked about incubating, Elaina Duffy, a marketing director, responded: "We are looking to change the world. We are looking to do something greater than just developing software. If there are ideas that can be incubated under our roof, with our guidance, with our know-how and with our developers that can use the platform, that's what we mean."
Update: This story was updated at 10:06 a.m. on June 22, 2018 to indicate that Jeffrey Berns is the owner of the company. An original draft said that Berns and his brother were both owners. His brother is the company's president. This story was updated again at 9:13 a.m. on June 24, 2018 to correct an error about what percentage of land the company owns at TRIC. Blockchains, LLC owns nearly two-thirds of the land in the industrial center, not one-third.
https://thenevadaindependent.com/article/after-scooping-up-67000-acres-of-land-blockchains-llc-unveils-its-offices-at-northern-nevada-industrial-park

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


A REFERENDUM on children's rights to be held in the autumn will proceed on a "stand-alone" basis, Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore has told the Dáil.
He insisted preparation for it would not be rushed because it had been signalled for some time.
Confirming the long-sought referendum would go ahead in the autumn, he said "the Government's intention is that this referendum will be held on a stand-alone basis".
He said there was previous experience of referendums being held where a number of issues had been put on the same day.
Mr Gilmore was responding to Fianna Fáil justice spokesman Dara Calleary, who expressed concern the referendum might be rushed and "would be hijacked by people campaigning on issues with nothing to do with the referendum".
He feared "they will use that rush to create the confusion" and that a genuine issue would get lost in the melee of an uneven debate.
The Tánaiste said that because of the importance of "this particular issue" it was intended to be held on its own.
He agreed they should "endeavour to provide unified leadership on this issue".
Mr Calleary said it was important "there is all-party agreement" in dealing with the recommendations of the report on the deaths of 196 children in care or known to the HSE.
He raised the issue in the Dáil yesterday following publication of the report on the deaths of 196 children in care or known to the HSE between 2000 and 2010.
Mr Gilmore pointed out that these deaths occurred in "the period of our great prosperity", when "so much partying was going on, so much clapping on the back was going on about how wonderful we were as a country, how great we were doing, how much more money we had".
During all of this "there were children dying in appalling circumstances, neglected, in some cases by the State, in some cases by families".
He agreed the House needed to work on a non-partisan basis "to progress the measures that are needed to protect children".
Mr Calleary said it was important there was all-party agreement in dealing with the recommendations of the report on the deaths of the 196 children.
The Tánaiste agreed the House should "endeavour to provide unified leadership", not to politicise it or take partisan positions on it.
Mr Calleary said there was a need to discuss the introduction of a 24-hour social work system and agreement sought to move it.
The whole notion of files of children in care or under the watch of the HSE being unavailable or missing "is so wrong".
The Mayo TD also stressed the need to continue to ensure the social work service was exempt from the moratorium on recruitment.
The Tánaiste highlighted the Government's decision to prioritise the "needs and protection of children, the establishment of a dedicated department, and the putting of guidelines on a statutory basis and the ringfencing of budgets".
Fianna Fáil spokesman on children Charlie McConalogue said later that since 2010 another 46 children in the State's care or known to the HSE had died, and that this number reflected the report's figures for the previous 10 years.
Calling for more social workers to be recruited for children and mental health services, the Donegal North East TD warned that the number of children in care with assigned social workers had declined.
Minister of State Jan O'Sullivan told him "there is a great deal of work to be done in respect of these very young and vulnerable children".
They would "maintain a very strong focus on this matter in the coming years in order to ensure that we make better provision for these vulnerable children in the future".


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Home Programs & Initiatives Society of Hellman Fellows
The Hellman Fellows Fund was established at UC Irvine in 2013 through the generosity of Chris and Warren Hellman. In 2019 the Hellman foundation provided endowment funds to UCI, with the income generated providing support for the continuation of the fellowship program. The purpose of the program is to support the research of promising assistant professors who show capacity for great distinction in their research. Funds awarded are intended as one-time support for activities that will enhance the individual's progress towards tenure.
A call for applications for the 2021-22 Hellman Fellows Program will be sent to eligible faculty in February 2021. The application deadline is Monday, March 29, 2021. If you have any questions, please email JiWon Kim at jiwon@uci.edu.
For more information on the Hellman's Fellow Fund, please view: www.hellmanfellows.org.
Support the Hellman Society of Fellows Program
UCI is offering a limited opportunity to match your gift to establish new support for young faculty under the UCI Hellman Society of Fellows.
Expanding Warren and Chris Hellman's vision, UCI has provided a pool of a total of $1.5M to match the payouts for new endowments established within the Hellman Society of Fellows program. These endowments will support junior, tenure track faculty within the School of your choice. Matches will be provided for new endowments funded with a gift of a minimum of $250,000 up to $500,000.
To learn more, contact Roland Ho, Sr. Executive Director of Planned Giving at roland.ho@uci.edu
The maximum award is $50,000. Awards may be used for any research-related expense, such as research assistants, equipment, materials, conferences, or travel. The award may also be used to pay for up to one-ninth of summer salary and benefits (up to19 days). 5% of each fellowship may be used to pay for childcare expenses related to Fellows research during the award period.
Awardees should plan to expend the funds within a year. If a recipient is unable to use the funds in one year, an extension for the continued use of the funds must be requested. Awardees are required to spend all funds before their tenure case is approved.
Full-time, non-tenured, ladder rank faculty, except those in the College of Health Sciences, who have served at least two years at the assistant professor rank are eligible for consideration. Previous Hellman Fellows are not eligible. NOTE: if an applicant spent one or more years as an assistant professor at another research university before coming to UC Irvine, that time may be counted towards the minimum.
All applications will be reviewed by an advisory panel of faculty, some of whom are previous Hellman Fellows:
Impact of receiving a Hellman Faculty Fellowship
Quality of Proposal (clarity of aims/goals and methodology and significance)
Candidate accomplishments
Addresses inclusive excellence
Proposals should be submitted by individual faculty members using the Hellman Fellowship application form. A letter of support from the chair of the faculty member's department is not required.
Required components of the application include:
The maximum length of the project description is three pages. The project description explain both the nature and significance of the project. Applicants are advised to provide project descriptions that can be understood by members of the selection committee who may not be in their field.
One page itemized budget
An abbreviated C.V. (maximum length – 5 pages)
Application Form Click here if you're having issues opening the pdf form.
Jiwon Kim
Ext. 48923
jiwon@uci.edu
Hellman Fellowship Awardees


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"Write an essay on the most mistreated animal in the world"Essay should be about 800...
"Write an essay on the most mistreated animal in the world"Essay should be about 800 words.Thanks?
Asked by okochaemmanuel on 24th April, 2019
More than 9 billion chickens, along with half a billion turkeys, are slaughtered for food in the United States each year. This number represents more than 95 percent of the land animals killed for food in the country. Worldwide, more than 50 billion chickens are raised and slaughtered annually.
Chickens are sociable, intelligent animals. Studies have shown that they are able to solve problems and, unlike young children, grasp the permanence of objects (they understand that objects taken from view continue to exist). Their natural behavior includes living in stable groups of 30 or so that employ a social hierarchy (the origin of the term pecking order). The chickens in a given flock all know and recognize each other. Their communal activities include scratching and pecking for food, running around, taking dust baths, and resting. They crow and chirp in a range of some 30 meaningful vocalizations. Chickens also have a strong urge to nest, and, like most animal mothers, they nurture their young attentively and affectionately. A hen carefully tends her eggs in the nest, turning them up to five times an hour and clucking to them; remarkably, the unborn chicks chirp back to her and to one another. People who have had opportunities to become acquainted with chickens—for example, while growing up on farms or visiting farm-animal sanctuaries—often remark on how affectionate chickens can be and how they seem to have their own personalities.
Through the 1950s, even chickens raised for eventual slaughter were kept in traditional small coops of no more than 60 or so birds, with free access to the outdoors; they could nest, roost, and share space according to their natural behavior. But modern large-scale farming practices ("factory farming") give chickens no opportunity to behave according to their nature. Quite the contrary—the reality of the life and death of factory-farmed chickens, both those raised for meat and those used to lay eggs, is shocking.
As in all factory-farming industries, chicken production is designed for maximum efficiency and maximum profit. With these goals, regard for the welfare of the animals involved is a luxury that reduces profits unless the extra costs can be passed on to the consumer (as on the much-publicized but less frequently seen "free-range" meat and egg farms). The results are overcrowding, disease, high death rates, and observable unhappiness for the animals involved.
"Broiler" chickens
Many people believe that chicken, especially the bosom of the chicken, is healthier to eat than "red meat." Chicken consumption has consequently risen dramatically over the last few decades as more and more people make the switch. The birds raised for meat, called "broilers" by the industry, are the product of genetic manipulation that has drastically increased bosom and thigh tissue (the most popular parts of the animal) and produced a very rapid growth rate that outstrips the development of their legs and organs. Broilers raised in this way are supposed to reach "slaughter weight" at just six or seven weeks of age, but the death toll is very high. The growth of abnormally heavy bodies causes crippling and painful skeletal deformities, and the overburdening of the birds' underdeveloped cardiopulmonary systems often causes congestive heart failure before they are six weeks old. Some broiler chickens who do not succumb to these problems still die of thirst, because they are physically unable to even reach the water nozzles in their sheds. Other common causes of death pre-slaughter are heat prostration, cancer—in an animal less than seven weeks old—and infectious diseases.
Broiler-chicken facilities tend to be extremely overcrowded, with tens of thousands of birds crammed into a single closed broiler house. Each chicken is given less than a square foot of space, so hardly any floor is actually visible. The birds are unable to roam, to scratch, or, indeed, to avoid each other at all. Their instinct to live in a hierarchical community is thwarted, and social tension results. Chickens living in these stressful conditions will peck and fight with each other, which has led chicken producers to the "solution" of debeaking chicks shortly after they hatch in order to minimize damage. This debeaking process, like much else in factory farming, is run assembly-line fashion, without anesthesia; the chicks are placed beak-first into an apparatus that quickly cuts the tips off the beaks with a hot blade.
It is impossible, in such an atmosphere, to maintain health and cleanliness. The chickens' excretions pile up, and the resulting ammonia fumes become so strong that they burn the birds' eyes, and blindness results. Reports from observers say that birds with "ammonia burn" rub their eyes with their wings and emit cries of pain. Other health problems include the proliferation of Salmonella
bacteria, which can remain on the slaughtered birds and so frequently cause threats to human health that special chicken-meat handling practices are invariably recommended by health authorities.
Once the chickens have attained slaughter weight, they are loaded into crowded trucks that offer no protection from extreme temperatures, and many birds die as they are shipped to processing facilities. The most efficient of these facilities kill some 8,400 birds per hour, the result of a high degree of automation. Machines run by humans automatically stun the birds, cut their throats, and scald and pluck them. First, human workers strap the live chickens into leg shackles on a moving rail, from which the birds hang upside-down as they move on to baths of electrified water, which stuns them. This is ostensibly for humane purposes, in order to render them insensible before their throats are cut, but some observers believe it is done merely to immobilize them to a degree sufficient to make further processing easier, not to desensitize them. The stunned birds move on to a mechanical blade that cuts their throats. After the chickens bleed out, they are plunged into a scalding bath that removes feathers. Unfortunately, this high-speed assembly-line process contains potential missteps. The voltage in the electrified bath may be too low, resulting in the rapid recovery of the chickens, who are then well aware of the throat-cutting machine as they approach it. The blade misses many chickens, so they consequently are boiled alive in the scalding bath.
Chickens are exempted from the USDA's Humane Methods of Slaughter Act, which mandates that animals be rendered insensible to pain before being slaughtered. The Humane Society of the United States is one of several organizations lobbying to obtain a requirement that poultry animals not be exempted from legislation that would protect them from painful, sometimes torturous, death.
Egg-laying hens
As bad as conditions are for chickens raised for meat, they are even worse for birds in the egg industry. Erik Marcus, making a comparison to the better-publicized cruelty done to veal calves, says in his book Meat Market: Animals, Ethics, and Money:
There are about 300 million laying hens in the United States; of these, some 95 percent are kept in wire battery cages, which allow each hen an average of 67 square inches of space—less than the size of a standard sheet of paper. For perspective, a hen needs 72 square inches of space to be able to stand up straight and 303 square inches to be able to spread and flap her wings. There is no room even for the hens to perform self-comforting behaviors such as preening and bathing. Hens are usually kept eight or nine to a cage; long tiers of these cages are built one upon another in sheds that hold tens of thousands of birds, none of whom has enough room to raise a wing. Excrement falls from the top cages to the lower ones, causing the same "ammonia burn" problem as in the broiler houses. Like chickens raised for meat, laying hens are debeaked as chicks. The hens are deprived of the ability to create nests for their eggs, which instead drop through the wires of the cage for collection. This inability to engage in instinctive behavior causes great frustration.
A sad side effect of the egg-production industry is the wholesale destruction of male chicks, who are useless to the egg industry. These chicks are not used in the meat industry either, because they have not been genetically manipulated for meat production. Male chicks are ground up in batches while still alive, suffocated in trash cans, or gassed.
The methods used to maximize production include manipulation of lighting to change the hens' environment and hence their biological cycles; unnaturally long periods of simulated daylight encourage laying. Periodic forced molting creates an additional laying cycle: during this time, the hens are kept in darkness and put on a "starvation" diet (reduced-calorie feed) or starved altogether for up to two weeks.
Caged in this way, hens are unable to exercise, and constant egg production leaches calcium from their bones; these two factors cause severe osteoporosis, which leads to broken bones and great pain for the hens. The syndrome is called Cage-Layer Fatigue. Additionally, the wires of the cage injure the feet of the chickens, as the hens must sit in essentially one position their whole lives with their feet pressing into the wires. They rub against the sides of the cage, which causes severe feather loss and skin abrasions. In essence, hens who would normally be able to use their whole bodies and have lives as full as those of any other animal in nature are reduced to immobilized egg-laying machines, existing for that one purpose only.
The hens live like this for about two years or less, until their bodies are exhausted from the stresses of constant laying and their egg production decreases. At that point, they are shipped to slaughter to be turned into animal feed or sometimes human food or are simply discarded. In 2003 a public outcry brought attention to a California ranch that was reported to have discarded thousands of live hens using a wood chipper; no charges were brought because, as it turned out, this is a common industry practice.
between loot, boot, rout, route which one does not have the same vowel sound? Answer this
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Press Release: Greater Clark Education Foundation to Provide Supplies for Teachers
Teacher Supply Bus rolls into Jeffersonville Sept. 6 for first stop of season
Jeffersonville, Ind. (Sept. 1, 2022) – The Greater Clark County Schools Educational Foundation Teacher Supply Bus will make its first stop of the season at 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Sept. 6 at Jeffersonville High School, 2315 Allison Lane.
Principal Pam Hall has eagerly awaited the arrival of the bus, said the foundation's Executive Director Emily Oliver-Jones. "With so many of the teachers spending money out of their own pocket for school supplies for students, the bus is a way to offset some of these expenses," she said. "There are numerous back-to-school supply drives for students, which are wonderful and imperative, but this one is for our educators."
Local businesses, churches, and organizations in the Southern Indiana community have collected over 20,000 school supply items to help meet the need. The Greater Clark County Educational Foundation partners with Amazon and other local businesses to make the initiative possible.
Aramark will provide lunch for those who attend. Media is welcome and appreciated.
About Greater Clark County Schools Educational Foundation
The Greater Clark County Schools Educational Foundation was founded as a nonprofit corporation in 1999 to be a source of charitable funds for Greater Clark County Schools. As a result of generous donors and board leadership, the organization has grown from giving away several hundred dollars annually to providing over $200,000 in grants each year. To learn more, visit http://www.gccsfoundation.com/.
Tags: Extol Greater Clark Greater Clark Ed Foundation Greater Clark Schools Indiana Jeffersonville Southern Indiana Teacher Supply Bus Teachers
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Trailhead › Yankee Boy Basin - Governor Basin Road
Yankee Boy Basin - Governor Basin Road
Vehicle Access › 4x4 with High Clearance Recommended
Camping Near Trailhead? Yes
Drive to the "Switzerland of America," Ouray, by whatever route you please. In Ouray, continue on US550 south and begin the climb out of town toward Red Mountain Pass. At the top of the first switchback, watch for the turnoff for "The Camp Bird" road. (CR26 or Ouray County 361) If you have time, stop and take a look at the gorge created by the Uncompahgre River. Then continue driving SW up the graded dirt road for the first few miles. About 4.5 miles up the road, stay right and continue on FR853.1B. (The other road that goes left takes you over Imogene Pass to Telluride.) Most passenger cars can make it comfortably to here. Continue across a spectacular shelf section of road (where things can become a little rough) and at about 6.7 miles in from the beginning of 361, there's another intersection where the road for Governor Basin turns off (FR853.1C) Turn down onto the Governor Basin road and find a place to park if you've made it in a passenger vehicle of some kind. It's all 4WD from here. The trailhead coordinates provided are for parking in this area.
If you do have high clearance 4WD, you can drive up the Governor Basin road about as far as the Virginius Mine remains, about 2 miles up. Otherwise, be prepared to walk up the same road. Park at 12,080 ft., where another old road bed takes off to the NE, then switchbacks to the south to eventually gain the saddle east of Mendota Peak. Local jeeping groups in Ouray rate this road a Class 4 or 4.5 on a scale of 1 - 5 for jeeping difficulty. There are some very steep, rocky and difficult sections to negotiate. We made it up here years ago in a Jeep Cherokee Sport.
For this access, there are a limited number of camp spots as you drive up the first few miles of Ouray County Road 361. One spot is called "The Angel Creek Campground," followed by the "Thistledown" campground. (See links below) Be careful regarding private property. In past years, we had been able to car camp in the vicinity of where the Governor Basin road turns off from the Yankee Boy Basin road. This may no longer be allowed. Then, there's a good campsite if you're able to drive up the Governor Basin road at one of the switchbacks at about 11,360 ft. at these coordinates: N 37° 58' 37.52" W 107° 45' 42.57"
Link to Angel Creek CG http://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/gmug/recreation/camping-cabins/recarea/?recid=32524
Link to Thistledown CG http://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/gmug/recreation/camping-cabins/recarea/?recid=32818


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Why Tisha B'Av is Not Really About Mourning
The practices associated with this holiday are closer to the experience of being a refugee than to being a mourner.
By Rabbi David Mevorach Seidenberg
Tisha B'Av History
Tisha B'Av 2017
We tend to think of Tisha B'Av, the fast day that commemorates the destruction of both ancient temples, as a time of mourning. But the traditional observances of Tisha B'Av — fasting, being unable to sit anywhere except on the ground, not washing, abstaining from sexual activity, not greeting other people, not wearing fresh clothes for the whole week before — are closer to the experience of being a refugee than to being a mourner.
When the Temple was destroyed, the people were thrown into exile. Jerusalem became a war zone and its people became refugees, forced to risk their lives to escape violence, famine, and devastation. The suffering was tremendous — "like deer, not finding a place to graze, walking without strength before a pursuer," in the words of the Book of Lamentations.
The author(s) of Lamentations (Eicha in Hebrew), the biblical text traditionally read on Tisha B'Av, believed that what happened to the Jewish people was the result of divine judgment. But even though the book sounds like it's about God punishing us, it's not really a theodicy — that is, a justification of God's actions. The question our ancestors faced was not whether the disaster could be reconciled with God's goodness. Rather, the question was whether God still cared about them.
Choosing a God that cared enough to punish them was better than choosing a God that didn't care at all. But the anxiety that maybe God doesn't care is also woven throughout Eicha. In every chapter, the poet beseeches God to pay attention Lamentations 1:9 Lamentations 2:20, and in the very last verse, the poet wonders if God has rejected us forever.
This idea that exile and homelessness were punishment for our sins seems alien to many modern Jews. But the ancients were not as far from us as we think. In Eicha itself, most of the chapters describe the punishment God inflicted as excessive and abusive. Only in chapter 3 is Zion's destruction consistently described as fair and just.
The real perspective of Eicha is summed up in verse 2:13: "What can I compare to you, daughter Jerusalem, that I may comfort you?" What images, what words, will help people bear the memory of tragedy? The poet is willing to say anything that will enable the people to find meaning and hope in the face of exile.
There is another way to understand the destruction of Jerusalem and the dispersion of its people. According to the prophet Jeremiah, the traditional author of Eicha, the reason for the Babylonian exile was that the people did not let the land rest every seven years, as is biblically mandated Chronicles II 36:21. Since 490 years had passed without a sabbatical year, Israel had to go into exile for 70 years — one year for each sabbatical that was missed.
The Torah teaches that God will take the side of the land against the people if forced to, and that the land will "enjoy her Sabbaths" Leviticus 26:34 — even if that means the people are exiled or wiped out. What has intrinsic value is not humanity, but humanity's potential to do justice.
The Torah outlines six curses for not observing the sabbatical year, which describe how the relationship between the people and the land unravels. Two curses involve children being eaten – by wild animals Leviticus 26:22, then by their own parents Leviticus 26:29. That image is repeated in Eicha — Lamentations 2:20, 4:10 — and it is the main connection between Eicha and Leviticus. But the idea that the destruction of Jerusalem came about because of how the Jewish people treated the land is not found in Eicha, where identification of the land with the people is total. Instead, Jerusalem's downfall results only from the moral downfall in relationships between human beings.
In Jeremiah too, the fate of Jerusalem is sealed only after the rich, who briefly set their slaves free, re-enslave them when it looks like the danger has passed Jeremiah 34. The overall message of these texts is that how we treat the stranger (the refugee, the foreigner, the convert) and the poor determines whether we have the right to remain in the land.
Even though most people are uncomfortable with the idea of divine retribution, in an age when our ecological "sins" are coming home to roost, the connection between disaster and divine retribution is not so farfetched. And since Creation is also compared to the sacred Temple in the Midrash, it is natural to connect the story of the Temple's destruction with the destruction of the earth and the sixth mass extinction initiated by human action.
But there is a very big difference: When the Jerusalem Temple was destroyed, there were other lands for the refugees to flee to. If we destroy the Temple that is the Earth, there will be no place untouched by tragedy.
As climate change puts more pressure on our ecosystems and our social systems, more and more people will become refugees like our ancestors, forced to flee areas no longer capable of sustaining human habitation. And for those fortunate enough not to live in such places, we will need all the spiritual resources we can muster to stay open to the humanity of the refugee and the stranger, while also taking care of our own communities.
All of these issues can become intertwined with the experience of Eicha and the story of Jerusalem's destruction. Reading Eicha is an invitation to remember what it means to be a refugee, and to think about how we can move towards justice for all people, for all species, and for the land herself.
All translations are taken from Eikhah/Laments, Rabbi David Seidenberg's original translation of the Book of Lamentations. Laments is designed to connect the reader on the most visceral level to the text and also includes more discussion. Laments can be downloaded here.
Everything you need to know about Tisha B'Av 2014.
Tisha B'Av 101
Tisha B'Av, the ninth day of the month of Av, is the major day of communal mourning in the Jewish calendar.
Kinot: Poems of Lament
These mournful poems are the central part of the liturgy of Tisha B'Av.


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Global spread of Zika linked to types of mosquitos that transmit it
IMAGE: The circles depict the top 100 cities to which Zika virus might be imported from current infected regions of Latin America and which have suitable habitat for Aedes aegypti or... view more
Credit: Lauren Gardner
More cities than previously assumed could soon grapple with the Zika virus if two species of mosquitos are found to be equally effective carriers of the disease, a University of Texas at Austin disease ecologist and his colleagues argue in the current edition of The Lancet Infectious Diseases.
Even if only one mosquito species proves capable of spreading Zika, the scientists say cities such as Miami and Houston are at high risk of seeing more of the disease this summer.
Sahotra Sarkar, a faculty member in the Department of Integrative Biology and Department of Philosophy at The University of Texas at Austin, and his colleagues Lauren Gardner and Nan Chen at the University of New South Wales in Australia, mapped how Zika is likely to spread in 100 cities worldwide under two different scenarios, taking into account air travel to and from affected areas in Latin America and the prevalence of two common mosquito species associated with the disease.
Although both mosquito species have been detected with Zika, the researchers point out that only one type of mosquito is known to be effective at spreading the virus. If the second species also is capable of spreading Zika among people, more places in the United States, Europe and Asia than previously thought will probably experience outbreaks.
"The spread depends critically on if a second mosquito species is a very good transmitter of Zika," Sarkar says. "If it is, then the risk is even worse than what has been forecast so far."
Public health officials with the World Health Organization (WHO) and other agencies have forecast the spread of Zika with too little information about the effectiveness of different types of mosquitos in spreading the disease, Sarkar says. Under the first scenario, in which only one mosquito species spreads Zika, existing models significantly overestimate the danger of the Zika virus in most of the world. In the United States, for example, only Florida, Texas and Louisiana -- home to the Aedes aegypti mosquito -- would probably experience widespread cases of Zika.
"Among urban areas in the U.S., Miami and Houston are at the greatest risk," Sarkar says. "In general there is greater risk to Florida than Texas because more travel to Latin America and the Caribbean occurs there."
Under the second scenario, however, in which another species -- Aedes albopictus, known to harbor the disease but not yet known to be good at transmitting it -- is also capable of spreading Zika, the WHO model underestimates the likelihood of transmission, Sarkar and his colleagues find. Parts of the world previously believed to be at low risk -- such as Canada, Chile and many countries in Europe and Asia -- would probably experience a spread in Zika. Under this scenario within the United States, New York would face an even greater risk than Houston.
Sarkar and Gardner's findings came out the same day as a study from the National Center for Atmospheric Research that looked at how Zika would be likely to spread in U.S. cities this summer. In taking into account the ecology of the two mosquito species worldwide and explicitly showing the difference in risk levels if Aedes albopictus proves capable of spreading the virus, the map from Sarkar and Gardner points to the importance of learning immediately whether both mosquito species can effectively spread the Zika virus to ensure an appropriate public health response in different regions, the scientists say.
Regardless, Sarkar says, cities such as Miami, Orlando, Houston, Tampa and New Orleans should step up efforts to sample and monitor local mosquito populations and be prepared to implement drastic mosquito control measures. And travelers to Latin America should continue to take precautions to protect themselves, notes Gardner at the University of New South Wales.
"The risk of additional Zika spread is further heightened," she says, "by the upcoming 2016 Summer Olympics, which will be hosted in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, the epicenter of the Zika virus outbreak."
Read "Global risk of Zika virus depends critically on vector status of Aedes albopictus": http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1473309916001766
View an interactive Zika risk map showing relative risks by city: https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?mid=zJ3nlsAyCEd0.kZRxkOKHmQAY
Christine Sinatra
christine.sinatra@austin.utexas.edu
@UTAustin
http://www.utexas.edu
Lancet Infectious Diseases
DISEASE IN THE DEVELOPING WORLD
INFECTIOUS/EMERGING DISEASES
Risk Map for Spread of Zika Virus (IMAGE)


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Database > Cultural Agents
Christiane Erharter
ERSTE Foundation, Vienna
Christiane Erharter has been a curator and project manager for ERSTE Foundation's Programme Culture since 2006. ERSTE Foundation has been established in 2003 and is active in Austria and Central and South Eastern Europe. As the main shareholder of Erste Group the foundation develops its own projects within the framework of three programmes: Social Development, Culture and Europe.
Christiane studied art at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna and holds a post-graduate degree in critical studies from the University of Lund, Sweden. She has worked as a curator at the Office for Contemporary Art Norway, Oslo (2002-2005), and at the Galerie im Taxispalais, Innsbruck (2000-2002).
Her projects at ERSTE Foundation include the biennial Igor Zabel Award for Culture and Theory (for outstanding cultural achievements in Central and South Eastern Europe) and the György Kepes Fellowship (joint initiative of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Program in Art, Culture and Technology, tranzit.org and ERSTE Foundation). Recent exhibitions: AT YOUR SERVICE – ART AND LABOUR (at the Technisches Museum Wien) and "Rosa Arbeit auf goldener Straße" (on queer visual art, at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna).
Who Christiane Erharter Born Austria, 1974
What Cultural Agent Works for ERSTE Foundation, Vienna
Activity Gathering Austria Web www.erstestiftung.org


Performer: Jakob Lindberg. Ensemble: The Purcell Quartet.
Parry: Symphony No 5: LPO/Boult.
Performer: Frank Almond. Performer: William Wolfram.
Ensemble: The Cambridge Singers. Conductor: John Rutter.
Performer: John Anderson. Performer: Martin Jones. Ensemble: The Medici Quartet. Performer: Peter Hamburger. Performer: Martin Westlake. Performer: Jeremy Cornes. Director: Stephen Darlington.
Performer: Paul Robertson. Performer: Ivo-Jan van der Werff. Performer: David Matthews. Performer: Anthony Lewis. Performer: Martin Jones. Performer: John Anderson. Performer: Colin Lawson. Performer: Graham Ashton. Performer: Peter Hamburger. Performer: Martin Westlake. Performer: Jeremy Cornes. Performer: Michael Copley. Performer: Maurice Hodges. Performer: Evelyn Nallen. Choir: Christ Church Cathedral Choir, Oxford. Ensemble: The Medici Quartet. Director: Stephen Darlington.
Performer: Nat King Cole. Performer: Buddy Rich.


HOT97 is a Hip Hop radio station based in New York City. It is home to the number one Hip Hop radio show, Ebro In The Morning, and host of the annual Hip Hop festival Summer Jam.
HOT97 caters to most of the top influencers in Hip Hop radio, and is the gateway way for many upcoming artists in the industry. The station has created an image for itself as the most authentic source of music information, which is backed by the support they have received from artists throughout their history.
Travis Scott Takes Over Hot 97 in the AM to Talk New Album, Kid Cudi, and Cruel Winter!


When your project is a magazine or newspaper website you know since the beginning that your project has not only infinite articles and materials but a large number of nested categories, as well. This is exactly the point when the exellent IceNewsBlock comes into your project.
With a large set of useful paramters to filter, display and order your Joomla Articles the IceNewsBlock will be one of your most preferred Joomla modules in your extensions arsenal. The power of this module comes from its concept, which is built as a necessity to make our newspapers Premium Templates. The module is divided into 2 main parts. The leading articles, which displays the most imporant ones and the secondary list of articles, in which only the title is shown. When your visitors move the mouse over they will see the article descrption, image and some other information.
Also, we suggest that you use this module mulitple times on the same page and choose to display different categories in each instance. In this way you will have an easy to read content and your visiitors will thank you for this.
Do you run a Joomla website that has to display a lot of content and the space available is limited? Then we at IceTheme have answered this questions by providng you for FREE the clever IceScroller module.
This Joomla module makes use of a very narrow space to display your articles title in a fade or scrolling way, so your visitors can see what is more impotant to them. When they move the mouse over the article title they will see the article description, article image and some more information.
On the below you can see an iceascroller demo ,which uses the candy theme and K2 data mode.
Following our previous Free Joomla Extensions made ready for you, the IceScroller module has a set of very useful and flexible parameters. The most notable are the Ajax technlogy feature (you can decrease the page load time), multiple theme options (is your website black? No problem), extreme filtering to display exactly the needed articles and the ability to display the tooltip exactly in the way you like with its paramters group ready.
IceCarousel is a very powerful Joomla module with a large set of useful parameters to filter and order your Joomla Articles. It uses Ajax technology to change the slides, which can speed up your site in case you need to display many slides. The module is very easy to be set up and within 2 minutes your Joomla website will have a nice and customized as you wish carousel module.
Also the module support JoomShopping Extension to display your products. This part has its own paramters as well.
On the below you can see an iceacarousel demo ,which uses the candy theme and K2 data mode.
Many useful paramters to display exactly those articles that your project require.
Ajax technology to change slides, which can speed up your site if you need to display lots of items.
Fully support the JoomShopping Extensions. It has its own paramter to filter the products you need to display.


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MIT's Robert Langer turned out to be a pretty mellow guy
by Mark Hollmer |
After years of writing about companies with technology that stemmed from the mind of legendary MIT professor Robert Langer, I finally got to chat with him on the phone.
I scheduled a telephone interview to follow-up on two drug-delivery focused companies he helped found that recently made news: Kala Pharma and MicroCHIPS.
During our conversation, he came close to revealing news of a different sort. Langer strongly hinted that another startup based on his ideas--BIND Biosciences--is about to generate some serious buzz with soon-to-be-released clinical trial news.
"There is another big paper coming out in a couple of weeks that will create a lot of attention from BIND Biosciences," Langer explained, noting that the paper elaborates on results from the company's first Phase I clinical trial of its technology.
He declined to discuss details, but BIND, a Fierce 15 company in 2008, launched a Phase I clinical trial in 2010 of BIND-014, enrolling 30 patients. The anti-cancer drug blends docetaxel with the company's proprietary polymers to create an enhanced, controlled-release payload that carries the drug to a precise target before releasing it. BIND's compound previously generated some attention in preclinical studies by delivering up to 20 times more docetaxel than a similar dose of Taxotere (docetaxel is the active ingredient) on its own.
The news is just the latest in a long career that began when Langer was a researcher at Children's Hospital Boston in 1974. Since then, he and his technological innovations have helped launch 27 companies (How many people create even one company?). To date, Langer told me, he is responsible for 810 patents either issued or pending, focused on ideas that have helped change, or are transforming, drug-delivery, vaccine and medical-device technology.
Companies with Langer-centered technology seem to raise steady amounts of cash, even in today's tough market. In recent months, for example, BIND, and Selecta Biosciences (nanoparticles)--also co-founded by Langer--each secured $47.5 million in financing from the multi-billion-dollar Russian government fund RusNano. Kala, which is developing treatments designed to reach mucosal organs, just snagged $6.2 million in financing.
But Langer is low-key about those and his many other scientific breakthroughs that have or are counted on to become business successes.
"I have been fortunate to work with some very good businesspeople," he said. "I am an inventor, closer to a scientist, but I have definitely not been a businessman."
He also seems immensely excited about the progress his latest inventions are making. In mid-February, for example, MicroCHIPS announced news that its coin-size device, an implantable drug-delivery microchip, worked as intended in 7 of 8 women in an initial human clinical trial, delivering an osteoporosis hormone drug according to its programming and on schedule, without premature leaking. Langer and fellow MIT researcher Michael Cima invented the technology, and Langer seems like he can barely wait for the next research milestone.
"It is game-changing," he said. "Using that kind of technology to make a really smart delivery system that you can externally regulate, almost like (in) Star Trek."
Langer additionally downplayed his involvement with Kala Pharma, almost seeming embarrassed to be asked about it. He deferred instead to Justin Hanes of the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, a co-founder who developed some of the core intellectual property.
"Justin Hanes was my student," he said. "When he was at MIT, he did the initial work on the drug delivery" technology. "And then he went to Hopkins and asked if I would help him ... try to further development.
"He was a great student," Langer added, "and now is a great professor."
Langer, to me at least, was kind--genteel even--and unexpectedly low-key in the face of some pretty stunning work. -- Mark Hollmer (Email | Twitter)
Alterations to cancer drug allow it past the blood-brain barrier
Researchers at Johns Hopkins have changed the structure of a new cancer drug to allow it to more easily pass the blood-brain barrier, giving it access to…
by Michael Gibney Oct 25, 2016 9:16am
T1D promises to invest millions to build on artificial pancreas tech
Medtronic's world-first FDA-approved hybrid closed-loop insulin delivery system might soon face competition, as T1D Exchange has pledged to invest in the…
by Angus Liu Oct 18, 2016 9:11am
Mark Hollmer


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IUIH plans to build 11 MediCities across India in partnership with leading UK NHS Trusts to provide an international standard of healthcare that is Available to all who need our services, Affordable for all regardless of their income levels, Accountable to those who we serve and to ensure Appropriate treatment is given.
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