text:
UK schools are not failing -- Gove misrepresents OECD report
Posted: 09 Apr, 2011
This is a post by Janet Downs, who had trouble logging in.
How fair was reporting about the recent OECD on British education? FullFact.org analysed articles in the Daily Mail and The Spectator and discovered that although both papers had been accurate in the items they had chosen to highlight there were omissions. Both had used the report to paint a negative picture of the state of education in the UK. The Spectator went so far as to say that the OECD report was "rather a staggering indictment of Tony Blair's 'education, education' education' policy" while the Mail concluded that the OECD concerns about grade inflation "have hidden a true picture of failure in our schools."
What neither paper said was that OECD did not confirm that UK schools were failing – they reported that "average PISA test scores… for the UK are close to the OECD average… [but] they trail strong performers such as Finland. Average performance among 10-year-olds, as measured by PIRLS and TIMSS scores is however relatively strong in an OECD perspective.*"
The Mail also accurately reported the issue of disadvantaged children not receiving adequate support.
However, the paper didn't reveal OECD concerns that government reforms to tackle this issue could be inadequate. Both papers also accurately summarised the OECD's support for academies and free schools, believing them to increase parental support. But they both omitted OECD concerns that the positive effects of user choice "could potentially lead to segregation."
These papers weren't alone in skimming the report to find quotes to vindicate a particular opinion. Nadhim Zawahi (Con) MP asked Mr Gove if the report was a "sad indictment of the past 13 years of Labour." He replied, "I read the OECD report with a mounting sense of sadness. It made the case forcefully by the deployment of facts and argument in a remorseless fashion that under the previous Government, for all the welcome additional spending on schools, standards had not risen to anything like the expected level… (There is more, much more – the Speaker had to intervene).
Mr Gove used an answer to an obviously planted question to attack Labour while overlooking OECD concerns about possible negative effects of his policies.
Gove paid no heed to the clear conclusion of the OECD that UK education was not failing. One has to suspect a Secretary of State for Education when he cynically distorts data in this way.
*page 97 OECD Economic Surveys: United Kingdom (I expanded the quote given by FullFact.Org, so I felt I needed to give the source)
POSTSCRIPT: 20 June 2017. The above article differs slightly from the original posted. The changes are cosmetic (eg italicising the names of the papers, putting key sentences in bold) or to remove a duplicated sentence in the original (the last one). The substance remains unchanged.
Permalink Allan Beavis (not verified)
I can't seem to be able to download this OECD? Could someone be good enough to provide the correct link?
Permalink Janet Downs
A summary of the OECD Economic Survey 2011 is available here:
There are links at the bottom of the page explaining how people can get the complete copy. This is only available to subscribers, to purchase or to journalists. That's why I quoted a page number at the bottom of my post because the full report isn't freely available (which, of course, makes it easier for politicians and others to cherry pick quotations).
I've got a copy of the full report so if I quote from it again I will provide page numbers instead of a link.
Another example of media misreporting: The Mail's front page on 9 April was filled by a giant headline: "School leavers unfit for work" followed by "Firms forced to spend billions on remedial training for victims of educational failure". The article quoted David Frost, the director general of the British Chambers of Commerce, who said, "Despite the billions that have been spent over the last decade, business relentlessly bemoans the lack of skills available." This is not the same thing as saying that businesses are the ones spending billions.
Nevertheless, the claim that firms had to spend the equivalent of the education budget on "remedial training" was repeated in an editorial on 9 April.
The Mail describes the Organisation for Economic Co-operation as "respected". However, the paper doesn't respect it enough to heed its warning about the use of the discounted OECD PISA 2000 figures. The Mail said again, "the UK slipped from eighth to 28th in maths, from seventh to 25th in reading and from fourth to 16th in science. It is now behind relatively poor nations such as Estonia, Poland and Slovakia."
Oh, and Slovakia (aka Slovak Republic) was ten places BELOW the UK in the overall league tables (although Slovakian pupils did have a five point lead in Maths).
Just another example of how statistics are misused and people misquoted which, together with cherry-picking quotes from research papers to vindicate a particular point of view, paint an excessively negative picture of UK education.
This was Mr Gove in answer to the parliamentary question featured in my original post:
"It was also striking that that report endorsed the case for the coalition's commitment to spending more on the disadvantaged, the coalition's commitment to creating free schools, and the coalition's commitment to overhauling the league table system. For a respected international institution to give such a resounding thumbs-down to the previous Government and thumbs-up to the coalition Government is- [Speaker intervenes with pithy comment about the need to make punchier answers]"
Mr Gove said the OECD endorsed the Government's plans. However, this isn't entirely the case.
OECD said that the extra spending for disadvantaged children only goes "some way towards addressing underspending on deprived students… it is not clear whether the proposed level of deprivation funding is sufficient" (OECD Economic Surveys: United Kingdom 2011 p106).
While endorsing free school creation the OECD presented mixed evidence about school choice and educational standards. It warned that the policy would need careful monitoring (op cit p85).
The OECD did not endorse Mr Gove's plans to make league tables more robust. It expressed concern about "the extensive focus on grades" which is "conducive to grade inflation". OECD advises that "the reliance on GCSE scores should be lessened" and there should be "more emphasis on lesson observation and the learning environment." The OECD recognises that measuring and testing is costly so they recommend a "sampling approach [which] would hinder ranking of schools and would therefore remove teachers' and schools' incentives to 'teach to tests'." (op cit pp100-102). Not quite what Mr Gove has in mind.
Thanks for all these posts Janet. Since the report is not widely available it is good to read a more balanced interpretation of what the OECD Survey actually said.
As we get closer to the opening dates of the first free schools, the case for them looks flimsier and flimsier. The government's every justification for them – ideological, financial, social – can be, and has been, easily demolished by very simple questioning and analysis. The government and it's free school cronies have so far failed to conclusively show that free schools will perform better than existing LA maintained schools, that they will not discriminate or be divisive and that the funds being channelled away from existing schools to create them is not a calamitous misappropriation of meagre funds.
Reassurances on this and other educational matters are in short supply from the DfE but there have been far too many debacles for comfort – the U-turn over EMA, the school sports system first scrapped then reprieved and of course a court conclusion that Gove had acted in a manner "so unfair as to amount to an abuse of power" in cutting the BSF scheme and exposing his department to more legal claims.
Faced with mounting criticism and demands for more transparency, the free school supporters resort to ridicule and naked aggression in an attempt to close down the arguments which expose the dangerous flaws and inherent vanity of this policy. The government, with no tangible evidence to prove that free schools are the saviour of state education, conceal the paucity of their vision by withholding and distorting information. It should surprise no one that they are now so desperate for validation that they attempt to find corroboration where little exists in the OECD report.
I've just re-read the Mail's article re school leavers http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1374636/School-leavers-unfit-wor... and would like to offer a correction. I had said that the remarks made by David Frost, the director general of the British Chambers of Commerce, did not imply that British firms paid billions on training young recruits as the Mail had suggested.
However, a later paragraph quoted Mr Frost as saying, "A system where half of all kids fail to get five decent GCSEs simply means that five years later we spend billions offering them remedial training to make them work-ready."
So it would seem that the Mail did quote Mr Frost correctly. But how accurate is the actual claim? Do firms really pay the equivalent of the education budget on training 20 year-olds in work-related skills? And what is the empirical base for the assertion? I think any newspaper printing this allegation should at least have checked the source of the evidence.
Mr Frost bemoans the fact that 50% of school leavers don't get GCSE Cs or above. The Mail bemoans this as well. However, the Mail also moans about grade inflation. You can't have it both ways. Either the standard of GCSE C drops to a level which all pupils can pass, or GCSE C is restored to its equivalence with GCE 'O' level and then recognise that there will be a large number of pupils who don't achieve GCSE C. And that shouldn't be used as a stick with which to beat the education system.


We may have lost a battle, but we must continue to resist!
By now you have probably heard the news: The Republicans passed the Trump Tax Scam by a 51 to 49 vote in the Senate today. It is still not over. There is always more that we can do to resist the Trump agenda.
The Indivisible Movement is asking us to call our Members of Congress and ask them to take the DREAMer Pledge. This pledge asks our MOCs to pass the DREAM Act as part of the December spending bill.
Take action by reading this message from Indivisible.
Even though there are no Indivisible Ferndale group or committee meetings scheduled for this month, please take a moment to review our calendar for local government meetings here.
Bonnie Deister and Dan Kelley will be taking their oaths of office this coming week. Please consider attending the College of the Redwoods Board of Trustees meeting to congratulate them.


"Bounce" is a 2007 download only single by New Rave band Hadouken! It was released to promote their upcoming USB mixtape, Not Here To Please You. This version of "Bounce" is different from the one that appears on Not Here to Please You and the Love, Sweat and Beer EP.
The song was their standard set opener throughout their 2007 tour, until it was replaced in early 2008 with Get Smashed Gate Crash.
^ "Hadouken! - Bounce". 7digital. Archived from the original on 2012-07-18. Retrieved 20 Sep 2009.
This page was last edited on 9 December 2018, at 00:47 (UTC).


text:
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    <!-- Project Dependencies -->
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      <groupId>${project.groupId}</groupId>
      <artifactId>apiman-test-common</artifactId>
    </dependency>
    <!-- Provided Dependencies -->
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      <groupId>org.jboss.spec.javax.servlet</groupId>
      <artifactId>jboss-servlet-api_3.0_spec</artifactId>
      <scope>provided</scope>
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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


There are an estimated 1–2 cases per million per year of adrenocortical carcinoma in the USA. It represents a rare and aggressive malignancy; it is the second most aggressive endocrine malignant disease after anaplastic thyroid carcinoma. Non-secretory adrenal masses are diagnosed late due to a mass effect or metastatic disease or found incidentally (adrenal incidentalomas).
The first case report describes a 39-year-old Greek woman who presented to our department with complaints of repeated symptoms of flatulence and epigastric discomfort over a few months. The second case report is about a 67-year-old Greek woman who presented to our department after being evaluated for fatigue, mass effect, and epigastric discomfort. Both of them were diagnosed as having a nonfunctioning adrenocortical carcinoma and underwent open adrenalectomy.
Approximately 60% of patients with adrenocortical carcinoma present with symptoms and signs of hormonal secretion. Our cases' adrenocortical carcinomas were not functional. Hormone secretion is not a discriminating feature between benign and malignant adrenocortical masses. The silent clinical nature of nonfunctioning adrenocortical carcinoma results in late diagnosis, while the majority of patients present with locally advanced and/or metastatic disease.
Adrenocortical carcinoma is a rare endocrine tumor with a poor prognosis that can be diagnostically challenging and demands high clinical suspicion. The work-up for adrenal masses must include determination of whether the mass is functioning or nonfunctioning and whether it is benign or malignant.
There are an estimated 1–2 cases per million per year of adrenocortical carcinoma (ACC) in the USA . ACC represents a rare and aggressive malignancy ; it is the second most aggressive endocrine malignant disease after anaplastic thyroid carcinoma. ACC is more common in the female population; it has a bimodal age distribution of 5 to 20 years and 40 to 50 years . Out of all the adrenal masses, 60% are hyper-functioning (hormone-secreting) and the rest, 40%, are nonfunctioning (non-hormone secreting) .
Functional ACC can clinically manifest early with virilization, feminization, or Cushing's syndrome, while non-secretory adrenal masses are diagnosed late and incidentally (adrenal incidentalomas) due to a mass effect or metastatic disease . Nonfunctioning ACC is correlated with a poor prognosis due to the late diagnosis, local invasion, or recurrence and distant metastases [1, 3, 4].
On the other hand, adrenal cysts are usually benign lesions with a discovery at autopsy range of 0.064–0.18%, in which adrenal pseudocysts account for an extremely small amount .
We present the cases of two women who were referred to our Department of surgery and were diagnosed as having a large nonfunctioning ACC. Both women underwent open adrenalectomy.
A 39-year-old Greek woman, a nurse in our military hospital, presented to our department with repeated symptoms of flatulence and epigastric discomfort over a few months. Her past medical, social, environmental, and family history was unremarkable for any illness or causative factor. She was not on any medication, she did not smoke tobacco or consume alcohol, and she was afebrile at the time of admission. Her neurological examination was normal; her blood pressure was 126/84 mmHg, her pulses were regular at 75–80 beats/minute, and her temperature was 36.8 °C. Laboratory testing revealed the following results that are shown in Table 1: a rise in erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) and C-reactive protein (CRP) inflammation markers as well as a rise in her lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) tissue necrosis index (Table 1).
A computed tomography (CT) scan showed a large mass measuring approximately 24 cm in its greatest dimension (23.7 cm × 16.5 cm × 11.5 cm) that originated from her right adrenal gland and occupied her right abdomen, while compressing her right hepatic lobe and her inferior vena cava, and it was in contact with the right perirenal fascia of Gerota (Figs. 1 and 2).
A functional adrenal work-up was performed and included: measurement of serum aldosterone, potassium, renin, and adrenocorticotrophic hormone levels; a dexamethasone suppression test; and measurement of 24-hour urinary metanephrine levels. All results were within the reference ranges. A fine-needle core biopsy revealed ACC.
A metastatic work-up included CT scans of her head and chest and a bone scan and they were negative for metastases. During laparotomy the giant tumor was removed completely with its own capsule, without the need for excision of adherent organs as there were no infiltrations.
Postoperative pathology results confirmed the diagnosis of ACC and no further adjuvant treatment was applied to our patient (Fig. 3). Her postoperative course has been uneventful for 1.5 years.
A 67-year-old Greek woman, a retired high-school teacher, presented to our department after an evaluation for fatigue, mass effect, epigastric discomfort in liver cirrhosis, and hypothyroidism. Her past medical history was also remarkable for arterial hypertension. She was on double anti-hypertensive medication and she was also receiving levothyroxine 100 μG once daily. She was a heavy tobacco smoker (>1pack/day) for 35 years and a social alcohol consumer. She was afebrile at the time of admission. Her neurological examination was normal; her blood pressure was 145/97 mmHg, her pulses were 95 beats/minute, and her temperature was 36.4 °C. Her mother died from breast cancer.
Laboratory testing revealed results that are shown in Table 2. A CT scan revealed a large invasive mass in the anatomical area of her left adrenal gland, well circumscribed, measuring 7 × 7 × 9 cm; it extended to the upper pole of her left kidney and the inner hilum of her spleen without infiltration of the above organs, which showed marked heterogeneous enhancement after intravenous infusion of a contrast agent, which posed a differential diagnosis problem with possible pheochromocytoma (Fig. 4).
Further laboratory testing of post-prandial plasma cortisol and plasma testosterone levels gave normal results, mimicking a nonfunctional left ACC. Elective open adrenalectomy was scheduled without any complications and the postoperative pathology record was consistent with a pseudocyst, without evidence of malignancy (Figs. 4 and 5). She has had an uneventful course 1 year postoperatively.
The overall 5-year survival rate of ACC ranges from 16 to 44% . However, a more recent study recorded a 5-year overall survival rate that reached 60% and concerned patients with a 34% range of synchronous metastatic disease. Positive prognostic factors that could improve overall survival are early-stage disease in the absence of lymph node and distant metastases, an age of < 40 years, and negative resection margins (Ro), as in our case [1, 4].
On the other hand, adrenal pseudocysts are cystic lesions surrounded by a fibrous tissue wall with an absence of a recognizable epithelial or endothelial lining layer that characterizes true cysts. Adrenal pseudocysts are associated with malignant ACC in 7% of cases .
Approximately 60% of patients with ACC present with symptoms and signs of hormonal secretion. Our cases' ACC were not functional. Hormone secretion is not a discriminating feature between benign and malignant adrenocortical masses. The silent clinical nature of nonfunctioning ACC results in poor outcomes, while the majority of patients present with locally advanced and/or metastatic disease. The work-up for adrenal masses must include determination of whether the mass is functioning or nonfunctioning and whether it is benign or malignant [1, 5].
Radiographic studies in the form of CT or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) can help define the size of the mass and rule out metastases. Emerging evidence suggests that fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (FDG-PET) with CT is superior to CT alone . However, FDG-PET/CT is still considered a complementary study and is not recommended for ACC work-up .
Large tumors of > 4 cm raise high clinical suspicion of malignancy, as in our cases, and favor radical adrenalectomy [7, 8]. To the best of our knowledge, the first of our two case reports describes one of the largest nonfunctioning ACCs reported in the literature in the past 10 years.
Despite the poor prognosis in this patient group, chemotherapy has a limited role in the treatment of ACC, and surgical resection has been shown to have the best outcomes [9, 10]. However, recent studies have shown a role for adjuvant chemotherapy in prolonging recurrence-free survival and overall survival . There is no established duration of adjuvant chemotherapy.
Allolio et al. considered that complete surgical resection (Ro excision) offers the best chance for long-term survival in patients with stage I–III ACC, although these patients should be candidates for chemo-irradiation in order to increase disease-free survival . In cases of recurrence, surgery should be considered a first-line option. However, mitotane has a valuable role in stage IV cases or in the presence of recurrent disseminated disease [12, 13].
Studies demonstrated mitotane's associated toxicity and its ability in: (1) inhibition of adrenocortical steroid biosynthesis by inhibiting cholesterol side chain cleavage and 11 β-hydroxylation, and (2) induction of hepatic clearance affecting extra-adrenal disposition of cortisol . Concerning the routine use of mitotane, there is a lot of controversy as partial response occurs for 5–30% of patients with ACC treated with this anticancer agent. High-risk patients are currently being treated for 5 years with mitotane.
Alternatively, in patients with proven lung metastasis, the published evidence suggests that en bloc excision of involved organs and pulmonary metastasectomy could improve overall survival.
Postoperative surveillance for recurrence should be performed every 3 months for the first 2 years and then every 6 months for 5 years.
Adrenal pseudocysts most commonly arise from hemorrhage within the adrenal gland, secondary to extreme stress, birth, trauma, surgery, or malignancy. The differential diagnosis of adrenal pseudocysts is from endothelial epithelial and parasitic cysts and rarely from mesothelial cysts, lymphangiomas, dermoid cysts, or cystic adrenal carcinomas.
Most pseudocysts on CT reveal well-demarcated, round or oval masses with fluid density with content of septa, blood, and soft tissue components. The wall of a pseudocyst seems to have occasional calcification on CT. MRI is pathognomonic for visualizing the complicated intracystic components .
Regarding surgical treatment, the open approach is preferable if the patient is symptomatic, the mass is > 6 cm, or there is a possibility of malignancy. Laparoscopic surgery is indicated for small tumors or pseudocysts provided there is no peri-adrenal infiltration and subsequent capsular disruption [15, 16].
ACC is a rare and aggressive malignancy. Non-secretory adrenal masses are diagnosed late by a mass effect, metastatic disease, or found incidentally. The work-up for adrenal masses must include determination of whether the mass is functioning or nonfunctioning and whether it is benign or malignant.
We present the cases of two women who presented to our department after being evaluated for fatigue, mass effect, and epigastric discomfort. Both of them were diagnosed as having a nonfunctioning ACC and underwent open adrenalectomy. To the best of our knowledge, the first case's nonfunctioning ACC is considered to be one of the biggest that has ever been described in the literature.
The original version of this article was revised: there was an error in the Family Name and Given Name of the authors since these were interchanged.
A correction to this article is available online at https://doi.org/10.1186/s13256-018-1932-4.
The data and materials/figures used in the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.
GC wrote and corrected the manuscript for its scientific basis. IP wrote the manuscript and collected the data. D-RB and DG collected the data for the study. AK revised the manuscript for grammar and syntax mistakes. KI was one of the consultant surgeons who operated on these cases. IT provided the radiographic/CT images. DP did the histopathological analysis. PS is the director of the Department of Surgery and the consultant surgeon who provided the cases. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
Our case report obtained ethics approval from the ethics committee of our hospital and the patients gave their informed consent to participate.


text:
Home > College of Sciences > School of Life Sciences > Faculty Publications > 341
Life Sciences Faculty Publications
Complete Genome Sequences of Paenibacillus Larvae Phages BN12, Dragolir, Kiel007, Leyra, Likha, Pagassa, PBL1c, and Tadhana
Jamison K. Walker, Brigham Young University
Bryan D. Merrill, Brigham Young University
Jordan A. Berg, Brigham Young University
Aziza Dhalai, University of Nevada, Las Vegas
Douglas W. Dingman, Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station
Chris P. Fajardo, Brigham Young UniversityFollow
Kiel Graves, Brigham Young University
Hunter L. Hill, Brigham Young University
Jared A. Hilton, Brigham Young University
Cameron Imahara, University of Nevada, Las Vegas
Bradley K. Knabe, Brigham Young University
James Mangohig, University of Nevada, Las Vegas
Josh Monk, University of Nevada, Las Vegas
Heejin Mun, University of Nevada, Las Vegas
Ashley M. Payne, Brigham Young University
Alicia Salisbury, University of Nevada, Las VegasFollow
Casey Stamereilers, University of Nevada, Las Vegas
Kathie Velez, University of Nevada, Las Vegas
Andy T. Ward, Brigham Young University
Donald P. Breakwell, Brigham Young University
Julianne H. Grose, Brigham Young University
Sandra Hope, Brigham Young University
Philippos K. Tsourkas, University of Nevada, Las VegasFollow
Genome Announcements
We present here the complete genomes of eight phages that infect Paenibacillus larvae, the causative agent of American foulbrood in honeybees. Phage PBL1c was originally isolated in 1984 from a P. larvae lysogen, while the remaining phages were isolated in 2014 from bee debris, honeycomb, and lysogens from three states in the USA.
Walker, J. K., Merrill, B. D., Berg, J. A., Dhalai, A., Dingman, D. W., Fajardo, C. P., Graves, K., Hill, H. L., Hilton, J. A., Imahara, C., Knabe, B. K., Mangohig, J., Monk, J., Mun, H., Payne, A. M., Salisbury, A., Stamereilers, C., Velez, K., Ward, A. T., Breakwell, D. P., Grose, J. H., Hope, S., Tsourkas, P. K. (2018). Complete Genome Sequences of Paenibacillus Larvae Phages BN12, Dragolir, Kiel007, Leyra, Likha, Pagassa, PBL1c, and Tadhana. Genome Announcements, 6(24), 1-2.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1128/genomeA.01602-17
Genomics Commons
UNLV School of Life Sciences

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Eumelea vulgivaga är en fjärilsart som beskrevs av Takahisa Sawamoto 1938. Eumelea vulgivaga ingår i släktet Eumelea och familjen mätare. Inga underarter finns listade i Catalogue of Life.

Källor

Mätare
vulgivaga

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
Man gored by bison during California camping trip
Rare bison attack on Catalina Island
Updated: 2:45 PM PST Feb 18, 2018
KCRA file photo SOURCE: KCRA file photo
Authorities say a man camping on Southern California's Catalina Island has been gored by a bison.Los Angeles County sheriff's officials say the man was sitting on a log Saturday evening and the bison was grazing nearby.Sgt. Ray Ward says when the bison came closer the man tried to move away and that's when the animal charged.Ward says the bison gored the man's left arm. He didn't know the extent of the injuries.The Orange County Register reports the man was treated at the scene and then airlifted to a hospital on the mainland.Bison are common and roam freely on the back side of Catalina Island, where there are campgrounds. Ward says it's very rare for them to attack humans.--- Story by the Associated Press
AVALON, Calif. (AP) —
Authorities say a man camping on Southern California's Catalina Island has been gored by a bison.
Los Angeles County sheriff's officials say the man was sitting on a log Saturday evening and the bison was grazing nearby.
Sgt. Ray Ward says when the bison came closer the man tried to move away and that's when the animal charged.
Ward says the bison gored the man's left arm. He didn't know the extent of the injuries.
The Orange County Register reports the man was treated at the scene and then airlifted to a hospital on the mainland.
Bison are common and roam freely on the back side of Catalina Island, where there are campgrounds. Ward says it's very rare for them to attack humans.
Story by the Associated Press


text:
BP cover-up begins to unravel
By Miles Grant on May 21, 2010
UPDATE: BP finally admits its 5,000 barrels per day estimate lowballs the spill.
If BP America's president can't say for sure the BP oil spill isn't gushing 70,000 barrels per day, how can we trust BP's official estimate that it's actually spilling 5,000 barrels per day?
After testifying before the House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee on Wednesday, National Wildlife Federation President and CEO Larry Schweiger says he's more convinced than ever that the disaster is being compounded by a cover-up:
It is now clear that BP had hoped to cover up the damage of their oil spill by withholding video evidence of the size of the gushers and preventing independent analysis. In Washington, it's been said that "it's not the crime, it's the cover-up" — but in this case, it's both the crime and the cover-up that are an outrage.
The Gulf of Mexico is a crime scene and BP cannot be left in charge of assessing the damage or controlling the data from their spill. The public deserves sound science, not sound bites from BP's CEO.
I want to thank EPA Administrator Jackson for her ongoing efforts to make information available to the public, including the first release today of BP's sub-surface dispersant testing data. The information is available at EPA.gov/BPSpill.
I caught up with Larry just after Wednesday's hearing gaveled to a close:
Related Posts	All Posts
What happens to the Resistance after the world's loudest science denier leaves the White House?
Time's-a-ticking
The president needs to hit the ground running on climate
conservation 2030
More than 50 countries commit to protecting 30% of Earth's land and oceans
the hottest coldest year
2020 was the hottest year on record. We'll remember it as one of the century's coldest.


This year, Hampton Park Christian School is participating in the St. Francis Festival of Trees in downtown Greenville. The Festival of Trees is an annual event that many families have made a holiday tradition. Our tree is one of dozens of trees that are on display at the Hyatt Regency.
Student Council officers (pictured L-R) Anna W., Megan B., Noah R., Andrew C., and Cort S., were part of the decorating committee. The tree is a combination of blue and gold snowflakes and polka dots. A small, plush panther is nestled between the branches, but his paw prints can be seen on the packages beneath the tree.
HPCS families are encouraged to visit the St. Francis Festival of Trees. The Festival runs from December 1-28. Admission is free!
Posted in School, Uncategorized and tagged christmas, festival of trees, student council.


text:
import Chance = require('chance');

import StringHelpers = require('../../helpers/string_helpers');
import Attribute = require('../../api/attribute');

let _chance = new Chance();

function _randomToken(): string {
	return _chance.apple_token();
}

export let moduleName = 'user_authentication';

export let tokenAttribute = new Attribute(StringHelpers.prefixKey(moduleName, 'token'), {
	type: 'string',
	default: _randomToken,
	index: true,
	unique: true
});

export let passwordAttribute = new Attribute(StringHelpers.prefixKey(moduleName, 'password'), {
	type: 'string'
});

export let emailAttribute = new Attribute(StringHelpers.prefixKey(moduleName, 'email'), {
	type: 'string',
	index: true,
	unique: true
});

export let usernameAttribute = new Attribute(StringHelpers.prefixKey(moduleName, 'username'), {
	type: 'string',
	index: true,
	unique: true
});


text:
package org.atmosphere.vibe.platform.action;

import static org.hamcrest.Matchers.contains;
import static org.hamcrest.Matchers.empty;
import static org.hamcrest.Matchers.is;
import static org.junit.Assert.assertThat;

import java.util.ArrayList;
import java.util.Collections;
import java.util.List;
import java.util.concurrent.atomic.AtomicInteger;

import org.atmosphere.vibe.platform.action.Actions.Options;
import org.junit.Test;

public abstract class ActionsTest {

    @Test
    public void options() {
        Actions.Options options = new Actions.Options().unique(true);
        Actions<Void> actions = createActions(options);
        final AtomicInteger count = new AtomicInteger();
        VoidAction action = new VoidAction() {
            @Override
            public void on() {
                assertThat(count.getAndIncrement(), is(0));
            }
        };
        options.unique(false);
        actions.add(action).add(action).fire();
    }

    @Test
    public void add() {
        // default, unique, memory
        Actions<String> actions = null;
        MemoryAction<String> action = null;

        actions = createActions();
        action = new MemoryAction<>();
        actions.add(action).add(action).fire("A");
        assertThat(action.memory(), contains("A", "A"));
        actions.add(action);
        assertThat(action.memory(), contains("A", "A"));

        actions = createActions(new Actions.Options().unique(true));
        action = new MemoryAction<>();
        actions.add(action).add(action).fire("A");
        assertThat(action.memory(), contains("A"));
        actions.add(action);
        assertThat(action.memory(), contains("A"));

        actions = createActions(new Actions.Options().memory(true));
        action = new MemoryAction<>();
        actions.add(action).fire("A");
        assertThat(action.memory(), contains("A"));
        actions.add(action);
        assertThat(action.memory(), contains("A", "A"));
    }

    @Test
    public void fire() {
        // default, once
        Actions<String> actions = null;
        MemoryAction<String> action = null;

        actions = createActions();
        action = new MemoryAction<>();
        actions.add(action);
        assertThat(actions.fired(), is(false));
        assertThat(action.memory(), is(empty()));
        actions.fire("H");
        assertThat(actions.fired(), is(true));
        assertThat(action.memory(), contains("H"));
        actions.fire("A");
        assertThat(actions.fired(), is(true));
        assertThat(action.memory(), contains("H", "A"));

        actions = createActions(new Actions.Options().once(true));
        action = new MemoryAction<>();
        actions.add(action);
        assertThat(actions.fired(), is(false));
        assertThat(action.memory(), is(empty()));
        actions.fire("H");
        assertThat(actions.fired(), is(true));
        assertThat(action.memory(), contains("H"));
        actions.fire("A");
        assertThat(actions.fired(), is(true));
        assertThat(action.memory(), contains("H"));
    }

    @Test
    public void disable() {
        Actions<Void> actions = createActions();
        Action<Void> action = new EmptyAction<>();

        actions.add(action);
        assertThat(actions.disabled(), is(false));
        actions.disable();
        assertThat(actions.disabled(), is(true));

        actions = createActions();
        actions.disable().add(action);
        assertThat(actions.has(action), is(false));

        actions = createActions();
        actions.disable().disable();

        actions = createActions();
        actions.disable().fire();

        final Actions<String> actions2 = createActions();
        MemoryAction<String> action2 = new MemoryAction<>();
        actions2.add(action2).add(new Action<String>() {
            @Override
            public void on(String _) {
                actions2.disable();
            }
        })
                .add(action2).fire("A");
        assertThat(action2.memory(), contains("A"));
    }

    @Test
    public void emptyMethod() {
        Actions<Void> actions = createActions();

        assertThat(actions.has(), is(false));
        actions.add(new EmptyAction<Void>());
        assertThat(actions.has(), is(true));
        actions.empty();
        assertThat(actions.has(), is(false));
    }

    @Test
    public void remove() {
        Actions<Void> actions = createActions();
        Action<Void> actionA = new EmptyAction<>();
        Action<Void> actionB = new EmptyAction<>();

        actions.add(actionA).add(actionB);
        assertThat(actions.has(actionA), is(true));
        assertThat(actions.has(actionB), is(true));
        actions.remove(actionA);
        assertThat(actions.has(actionA), is(false));
        assertThat(actions.has(actionB), is(true));
    }

    @Test
    public void has() {
        Actions<Void> actions = createActions();
        Action<Void> actionA = new EmptyAction<>();
        Action<Void> actionB = new EmptyAction<>();

        assertThat(actions.has(), is(false));
        assertThat(actions.has(actionA), is(false));
        assertThat(actions.has(actionB), is(false));
        actions.add(actionA);
        assertThat(actions.has(), is(true));
        assertThat(actions.has(actionA), is(true));
        assertThat(actions.has(actionB), is(false));
    }

    protected abstract <T> Actions<T> createActions();

    protected abstract <T> Actions<T> createActions(Options options);

    static class EmptyAction<A> implements Action<A> {
        @Override
        public void on(A object) {
        }
    }

    static class MemoryAction<T> implements Action<T> {
        private List<T> list = new ArrayList<>();

        @Override
        public void on(T object) {
            list.add(object);
        }

        public List<T> memory() {
            return Collections.unmodifiableList(new ArrayList<T>(list));
        }
    }

}


How can the study of data and the building of analytical models, powered by insightful algorithms, change our understanding of the past in a way that gives us a clearer view into the future risk landscape?
In this age of information overload, it is important to make sure you are using the right data, and applying the correct assumptions, to answer the appropriate questions.
Before embarking on an ergonomics program to control claims, make sure to analyze your loss data.
The role of the data scientist in most organisations involves constant innovation and experimentation, refining models and looking for new needles in new combinations of data haystacks.
To discover the benefits, uses, and technology a captive represents, start with a conversation about what your business is trying to accomplish.
Introducing a WillisTV series hosted by John Merkovsky, Head of Risk & Analytics for Willis Group, in which Willis experts offer their elevator pitch.
Phil Ellis, Global Head of Strategic Risk Consulting for Willis, on some of the analytics that set Willis apart.
Marc Hindman of WNA Property & Casualty Consulting Solutions pitches his team's suite of claims consulting and ergonomics solutions.
Ken Giambagno, Global Head of Forensic Accounting & Complex Claims for Willis, offers his elevator pitch, and more.
Marc Paasch, Global Head of Alternative Risk Transfer Solutions, makes his pitch for alternatives to traditional insurance.


text:
Sarah Paulson Wants to Return for AHS Season 10: 'I Need to Be a Part of It'
Paulson is hoping Evan Peters will return alongside her
Sadie Gennis Oct. 27, 2019, 5:00 p.m. PT
American Horror Story fans were devastated to learn that Sarah Paulson wouldn't be starring in 1984 -- and it looks like Sarah Paulson was too.
"It's hard to not be a part of it," Paulson, who appeared in every previous season of AHS, told TV Guide at the show's 100th episode celebration on Saturday. But if Paulson gets her way, her absence from the FX anthology won't go on much longer. "I would love to [return for Season 10]," she said. "I need to be a part of it again."
Here's what you may have missed this week! TV Guide's weekend editor breaks down the week's best, worst, and weirdest TV moments.
Over the course of Paulson's tenure on AHS, she's played medium Billie Dean Howard (Murder House, Hotel, Apocalypse), journalist Lana Winters (Asylum, Roanoke), witch Cordelia Foxx (Coven, Apocalypse), conjoined twins Bette and Dot (Freak Show), junkie ghost Hypodermic Sally (Hotel), actress Audrey Tindall (Roanoke), suburban mom Ally Mayfair-Richards (Cult), and the power-tripping Wilhemina Venable (Apocalypse).
Of all these characters, perhaps none is more beloved than Cordelia, which is why it was so exciting when Ryan Murphy previously revealed plans on bringing the Coven witches back in a future season. While it remains unknown whether that return might be Season 10 or further down the line, Paulson says she'd jump at the chance to reprise the role of the Supreme again.
"Any time I could play Cordelia, I would love to," Paulson shared. "I really loved playing her. And I had a great wig last year [in Apocalypse]. That was fun too."
Ryan Murphy Says American Horror Story: 1984 Episode 8 Will Feature a 'Big' Clue About Season 10 Theme
When it comes to what type of new character she'd like to play in a future AHS installment, Paulson only had one thing on her wish list: "I would like to do something with Evan [Peters]," Paulson said.
In addition to being the first season without Paulson, 1984 is also the first season of AHS not to feature Peters. But Paulson is hoping he would also be open to returning to the anthology. "I miss Evan and I miss acting with Evan. So I'd love to have that experience again," Paulson said. "If he'll come back, I'm back."
American Horror Story: 1984 airs Wednesdays at 10/9c on FX.
Additional reporting by Kelsey Pfeiffer


text:
Open-File Report 2014–1186
>> Pubs Warehouse > OF 2014–1186
Prepared in cooperation with the Bureau of Reclamation
Demographics and Run Timing of Adult Lost River (Deltistes luxatus) and Shortnose (Chasmistes brevirostris) Suckers in Upper Klamath Lake, Oregon, 2012
By David A. Hewitt, Eric C. Janney, Brian S. Hayes, and Alta C. Harris
Data from a long-term capture-recapture program were used to assess the status and dynamics of populations of two long-lived, federally endangered catostomids in Upper Klamath Lake, Oregon. Lost River suckers (Deltistes luxatus) and shortnose suckers (Chasmistes brevirostris) have been captured and tagged with passive integrated transponder (PIT) tags during their spawning migrations in each year since 1995. In addition, beginning in 2005, individuals that had been previously PIT-tagged were re-encountered on remote underwater antennas deployed throughout sucker spawning areas. Captures and remote encounters during spring 2012 were used to describe the spawning migrations in that year and also were incorporated into capture-recapture analyses of population dynamics.
Cormack-Jolly-Seber (CJS) open population capture-recapture models were used to estimate annual survival probabilities, and a reverse-time analog of the CJS model was used to estimate recruitment of new individuals into the spawning populations. In addition, data on the size composition of captured fish were examined to provide corroborating evidence of recruitment. Model estimates of survival and recruitment were used to derive estimates of changes in population size over time and to determine the status of the populations in 2011. Separate analyses were conducted for each species and also for each subpopulation of Lost River suckers (LRS). Shortnose suckers (SNS) and one subpopulation of LRS migrate into tributary rivers to spawn, whereas the other LRS subpopulation spawns at groundwater upwelling areas along the eastern shoreline of the lake.
In 2012, we captured, tagged, and released 749 LRS at four lakeshore spawning areas and recaptured an additional 969 individuals that had been tagged in previous years. Across all four areas, the remote antennas detected 6,578 individual LRS during the spawning season. Spawning activity peaked in April and most individuals were encountered at Cinder Flats and Sucker Springs. In the Williamson River, we captured, tagged, and released 3,376 LRS and 299 SNS, and recaptured 551 LRS and 125 SNS that had been tagged in previous years. Remote PIT tag antennas in the traps at the weir on the Williamson River and remote antenna systems that spanned the river at four different locations on the Williamson and Sprague Rivers detected a total of 19,321 LRS and 6,124 SNS. Most LRS passed upstream between late April and mid-May when water temperatures were increasing and greater than 10 °C. In contrast, most upstream passage for SNS occurred in early and mid-May when water temperatures were increasing and near or greater than 12 °C. Finally, an additional 1,188 LRS and 1,665 SNS were captured in trammel net sampling at pre-spawn staging areas in the northeastern part of the lake. Of these, 291 of the LRS and 653 of the SNS had been PIT-tagged in previous years. For LRS captured at the staging areas that had encounter histories that were informative about their spawning location, over 90 percent of the fish were members of the subpopulation that spawns in the rivers.
Capture-recapture analyses for the LRS subpopulation that spawns at the shoreline areas included encounter histories for more than 12,150 individuals, and analyses for the subpopulation that spawns in the rivers included more than 29,500 encounter histories. With a few exceptions, the survival of males and females in both subpopulations was high (greater than 0.9) between 1999 and 2010. Notably lower survival occurred for both sexes from the rivers in 2000, for both sexes from the shoreline areas in 2002, and for males from the rivers in 2006. Between 2001 and 2011, the abundance of males in the lakeshore spawning subpopulation decreased by 53–65 percent and the abundance of females decreased by 36–48 percent. Capture-recapture models suggested that the abundance of both sexes in the river spawning subpopulation of LRS had increased substantially since 2006; increases were due to large estimated recruitment events in 2006 and 2008. We know that the estimates in 2006 are substantially biased in favor of recruitment because of a sampling issue. We are skeptical of the magnitude of recruitment indicated by the 2008 estimates as well because (1) few small individuals that would indicate the presence of new recruits were captured in that year, and (2) recapture probabilities in recruitment models based on just physical recaptures were lower than desired for robust inferences from capture-recapture models. If we assume that little or no recruitment occurred in 2006 or 2008, the abundance of both sexes in the river spawning subpopulation likely has decreased at rates similar to the rates for the lakeshore spawning subpopulation between 2002 and 2011.
Capture-recapture analyses for SNS included encounter histories for more than 17,700 individuals. Most annual survival estimates between 2001 and 2010 were high (greater than 0.8), but SNS experienced more years of low survival than either LRS subpopulation. Annual survival of both sexes was particularly low in 2001, 2004, and 2010. In addition, male survival was somewhat low in 2002. Capture-recapture models and size composition data indicate that recruitment of new individuals into the SNS spawning population was trivial between 2001 and 2005. Models indicate substantial recruitment of new individuals into the SNS spawning population in 2006, 2008, and 2009. As a result, capture-recapture modeling suggests that the abundance of adult spawning SNS was relatively stable between 2006 and 2010. We are skeptical of the estimated recruitment in 2006, 2008, and 2009 because few small individuals that would indicate the presence of new recruits were captured in any of those years, and recapture probabilities in recruitment models were low. The best-case scenario for SNS, based on capture-recapture recruitment modeling, indicates that the abundance of males in the spawning population decreased by 71 percent and the abundance of females decreased by 69 percent between 2001 and 2011. The worst-case scenario, which assumes no recruitment and seems more likely, suggests an 86 percent decrease for males and an 81 percent decrease for females.
Despite relatively high survival in most years, we conclude that both species have experienced substantial declines in the abundance of spawning fish because losses from mortality have not been balanced by recruitment of new individuals. Although capture-recapture data indicate substantial recruitment of new individuals into the adult spawning populations for SNS and river spawning LRS in some years, size data do not corroborate these estimates. In fact, fork length data indicate that all populations are largely comprised of fish that were present in the late 1990s and early 2000s. As a result, the status of the endangered sucker populations in Upper Klamath Lake remains worrisome, and the situation is especially dire for shortnose suckers. Future investigations should explore the connections between sucker recruitment and survival and various environmental factors, such as water quality and disease. Our monitoring program provides a robust platform for estimating vital population parameters, evaluating the status of the populations, and assessing the effectiveness of conservation and recovery efforts.
First posted September 5, 2014
Director, Western Fisheries Research Center
http://wfrc.usgs.gov/
Part or all of this report is presented in Portable Document Format (PDF). For best results viewing and printing PDF documents, it is recommended that you download the documents to your computer and open them with Adobe Reader. PDF documents opened from your browser may not display or print as intended. Download the latest version of Adobe Reader, free of charge. More information about viewing, downloading, and printing report files can be found here.
Hewitt, D.A., Janney, E.C., Hayes, B.S., and Harris, A.C., 2014, Demographics and run timing of adult Lost River (Deltistes luxatus) and shortnose (Chasmistes brevirostris) suckers in Upper Klamath Lake, Oregon, 2012: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 2014-1186, 44 p., https://dx.doi.org/10.3133/ofr20141186.
Page Last Modified: Wednesday, December 07, 2016, 07:38:48 PM


text:
Plagiodontes rocae es una especie de molusco gastrópodo terrestre pulmonado integrante del género Plagiodontes de la familia de los odontostómidos. Habita en el sur de Sudamérica.

Taxonomía
 Descripción original

Plagiodontes rocae fue descrita originalmente en el año 1881 por el zoólogo, químico y geólogo germano - argentino Adolfo Doering.

Distribución y hábitat

Este molusco es endémico del sudoeste de la provincia de Buenos Aires, centro-este de la Argentina, específicamente del conjunto montañoso conocido como sistema de las sierras de Ventania. Allí comparte hábitat con otra especie del mismo género: P. patagonicus.

Referencias

Animales descritos en 1881
Moluscos de Argentina
rocae


NYX is definitely a favorite brand of mine. Even better that it is getting a little easier to find stocked in stores! I have my eyes on one of the eyebrow pencils (Do you own one? Do you love it?). Among their growing selection, I really love the lip products (like these three lipsticks). Here are my thoughts on the Soft Matte Lip Cream in Istanbul!
There is a doe-foot applicator, which I know some people love and some people hate. I like them and this one is made well. It does not feel cheap! It does have a sweet smell that I cannot really pinpoint, but it does not smell as strong once applied. I would say I get about 4-5 hours of wear out of it.
These Soft Matte Lip Creams retail for $6 on the US NYX website. Totally worth that price and if I knew I wouldn't look like I'm hoarding for an apocalyptic lipstick shortage, I'd try to pick up one in every color! I think my next one will be Milan. If you own any of the shades, I'd love to hear which are your favorites or if they didn't work for you.


text:
Supreme Court Upholds Conviction Of Man Arrested With 74 Pounds Of Pot
Published on November 23, 2020 November 23, 2020 in News/Wyoming Supreme Court
By Jim Angell, Cowboy State Daily
A man whose vehicle was found to contain more than 70 pounds of marijuana was unsuccessful in his effort to overturn his conviction on charges of possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver and conspiracy to deliver a controlled substance.
Wyoming's Supreme Court on Monday rejected the appeal of Dallas Clem Mitchell, disagreeing with his claims that there was insufficient evidence to support his conviction and that a recording of a conversation with his jailed co-defendant should not have been introduced as evidence.
According to the opinion, written by Justice Kate Fox, Mitchell was stopped by a Wyoming Highway Patrol trooper on Interstate 90 near Sheridan in August 2018 because his car was weaving on the highway.
During the stop, the trooper smelled marijuana and asked Mitchell to step out of the vehicle for a sobriety test, leaving passenger Bret Feser inside.
After Mitchell successfully completed the sobriety test, the trooper said he needed to check the vehicle for marijuana. The opinion said Feser then jumped into the driver's seat and drove the vehicle away.
The resulting chase, which reached speeds of up to 100 mph, ended in Campbell County when troopers used a spike strip to flatten the vehicle's tires. Feser ran from the scene on foot and was arrested several hours later.
A search of the vehicle revealed 74 pounds of marijuana and Mitchell was charged with possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver and conspiracy to deliver a controlled substance.
During the trial, prosecutors presented a recording of a call between Mitchell, who was free on bond, and Feser, who remained in jail. During the conversation, Mitchell apologized to Feser for taking a route through Wyoming and said he would help pay Feser's bond. The two also joked about the stop and criticized prosecutors for pursuing charges "for what they felt was a small amount of relatively harmless drug compared to 'dope,'" the ruling said.
Mitchell also mentioned his criminal history in the recording.
Mitchell questioned the relevancy of the recording and said his statements about his prior legal problems should not have been heard by the jury.
But justices ruled the recordings supported allegations that Mitchell intended to deliver the marijuana and that there was an understanding "between him and Mr. Feser to carry out the crime together," the opinion said.
Justices also said there was sufficient evidence for the jury in Mitchell's case to convict him on the charges.
"Mr. Mitchell was in a compact car with two dogs, another adult, and four large suitcases filled with over 74 pounds of marijuana packaged in a form consistent with delivery," the opinion said. "The marijuana produced a strong odor. Among Mr. Mitchell's possessions was a marijuana grinder, a stack of money bands … The evidence was sufficient to convict Mr. Mitchell of possession with intent to deliver."
Tags: Wyoming Supreme Court
No New Trial For Admitted Pedophile, Wyoming Supreme Court Rules
A 57-year-old Gillette man serving life in prison for sexually abusing a 7-year-old boy claimed his
Wyoming Department of Corrections Photo
Although Dept Of Corrections Wanted Child Sex Abuser On Probation, Wyo Supreme Court Says No
Although state corrections officials recommended a 22-year-old Riverton man who reportedly coerced a 5-year-old girl into
An abortion rally at the Wyoming Capitol in Cheyenne after last summer's U.S. Supreme Court ruling overturning Roe. v. Wade. (Cowboy State Daily File Photo)
Wyoming Supreme Court Declines To Hear Abortion Lawsuit
Abortion remains legal in Wyoming as challenge to state's trigger ban law sent back to Teton
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A 57-year-old Gillette man serving life in prison for sexually
Although state corrections officials recommended a 22-year-old Riverton man who


text:
Why MLM Is Invisible, Part 1: False Language
Aug 22, 2014 | Economics / Financial, False Profits, Individual / Social Impact
Normally, a social or economic phenomenon, in which as many as 15 million American households participate year after year and which involves intrusive and sometimes disruptive personal and social interactions in addition to potentially thousands of dollars of lost investments, would be extensively studied. It would be regularly reflected in the news, as a subject or at least as a backdrop in books, plays, novels, and movies. Something this pervasive and which dramatically affects family life, careers, the workplace and even churches of millions of people would be a topic of inquiry, interpretation, debate and, yes, comedy. A phenomenon of this scale falls into categories with other common and important activities and experiences like divorces, unemployment, foreclosures, home buying, commuting, obtaining heath care insurance, buying lottery tickets, taking kids to soccer practice, online stock trading and shopping in malls. All of these experiences are the stuff of media features, news, consumer research, drama and comedy.
Yet, strangely, multi-level marketing — an American invention and as Americanaas any of the experiences noted above, all of which emerged about the same time as MLM did in the 70's, 80s and 90's or later — is almost entirely absent in the arts. It remains unstudied by our universities, and gets only the barest of mention in the media. From a media, news and arts perspective it seemingly does not exist. Only in comedy, and even then on rare occasion, do the realities of MLM appear in the media.
In fact, as this analysis will show, it is not only that the daily experience of MLM is absent from the media and arts but the truth of MLM itself is missing. MLM exists in our society — and this is perfectly reflected by the paradoxical lack of public attention — as a myth, or as the author, Charles Mackay, would call it "an extraordinary popular delusion." The truth of MLM shockingly conflicts with the prevailing myth of MLM. Indeed, the reality is the myth's opposite, as writer David Brear has sought to reveal in his "deconstructed" analysis of the true nature of MLM. He characterizes MLM as "the American Dream Made Nightmare." MLM's absence in public forums or art and the media, therefore, indicates something far greater and different from neglect or absence. It indicates denial, disinformation, cover-up and suppression.
The recent publication of the first true novel – Downline by E. Robert Smith – in which MLM plays a central role in the lives of the book's characters, prompts me to review the strange state of MLM in the media and arts, which is a way of examining the degree to which the raw truths of MLM are denied and covered up and to ask the question, why?
My Personal Quest
After personally experiencing, for the first time in my life, the ethics-shattering, thought-stopping, financially destructive power of a relatively small and local pyramid scheme, called the "Airplane Game," in which I became involved in the 1980s, I started a quest to learn all that I could about
pyramid schemes. What are they and where do they come from and how do they operate? Soon after beginning my research, multi-level marketing (MLM) swept into where I was living then, and I saw many of the very same people who had been involved in the Airplane Game pyramid scheme (which the police had shut down) flocking into the MLMs along with many thousands more people. Now, the followers held high the banners of not only "a new way to get rich," but also "It's legal because we sell products."
I was compelled to expand my research into multi-level marketing. I quickly concluded from reviewing pay plans, structures, marketing claims and income promises and from attending meetings and interviewing leaders and followers that MLM was the Airplane Game with products. It was merely the newest form of the classic pyramid scheme.
The small local scheme I had been in, of the type now called "gifting schemes," (there have been more since then) pulled in about $20 million in just a few months from more than 10-15,000 people in just one part of one state, with more than 90% of participants losing all they invested. The MLMs'
recruiting sweeps where I was living were dwarfing the gifting clubs both in scale and dollar volume. As my research later revealed, the loss rates in MLM were far worse than the Airplane Game's money transfer, exceeding 99% to the Airplane Game's 90%. The MLM pyramids were more viral and harmful. They were capable of operating globally and continuing for decades. They represented a development in pyramid schemes that the world had never seen.
But while still trying to understand the expanding pyramid phenomenon, its strange power over people, and, unlike the Airplane Game, its seeming immunity from law enforcement, I was even more amazed to realize that virtually nothing was written about it. Just two books, each focused on Amway, addressed the topic seriously. News and magazine articles were sparse and limited in focus. Here were enterprises that could spring up almost spontaneously and induce thousands of people to part with millions of dollars, when a quick analysis would reveal that the last 99% were destined to get nothing from their investments and efforts. Surely this would be a subject of intense academic study, journalistic inquiry, legal attacks, economic analysis and sociological research.
But, no, to the contrary, I learned that pyramid schemes, in the format of "multi-level marketing" were virtual black boxes. I learned they were expanding financially into the scale of billions in ill-gotten revenue and were being escorted into other countries with help from our own Commerce and State Departments. Even more incredibly, just as the "gifting scheme" I was involved in was disguised as a "benevolent social club," a new means of "sharing," even a new form of spirituality, the MLMs were being presented as benign "direct selling," the purest form of individual entrepreneurship, the building block of our economy. This realization led to my writing the book, False Profits. It was the first book to comprehensively look at the relationship of multi-level marketing and pyramid schemes and to treat them as mass frauds, systemic fraud.
More than 15 years later, as MLMs quadrupled in size, still no other full-length book, other than reference texts or personal accounts focused on individual MLMs, has been written to address the topic comprehensively. No documentary has been produced. No Frontline investigation has aired. There has only been a very funny take-down of the entire MLM system by comedian/magicians, Penn & Teller, in which I play a major part as the straight man, offering explanation of MLM magic. (See 2010, Season, 8, Episode 5, "Easy Money")
My own experience and my research had revealed that the rewards promised in both the no-product "gifting" clubs and the product-based MLMs were exactly the same, "unlimited" and "infinite." The pathway to the "unlimited" rewards in both the gifting scheme and the MLMs was also exactly the same, recruit others to join who recruited others, with each person needing multiple levels of new recruits before rewards were possible and every person needing also to pay or to purchase products to participate. Charting the cash flow according to each of the no-product and product-based scheme's rules shows that 90-99% must always be in un rewarded positions at the bottom of the chain. This is true based on math and geometry, and from direct experience and available data verifying loss rates. That is, 90-99+% of all who ever enroll will not get rewarded. So, the larger the MLM scheme gets, and the longer it continues, the greater the number of losers and harm caused. The proportion of losers to winners, which is even more extreme in the MLMs, never changes.
So, from my own experience and intellectual quest I was compelled to ask why was it that a plainly fraudulent proposition operating on a national and global scale, masquerading as "direct selling," claiming to be "the greatest income opportunity in the world" while inflicting 99% loss rates was not vigorously examined? Discovering that my book, which was published in 1997 stood virtually alone in a direct inquiry into the entire MLM "industry," I had to wonder why multi-level marketing was not reflected in the arts or reported in the media? Why were the billions in financial losses suffered by the participants not reported. How could this be?
This blog is the first of a series on the answers I arrived at, teaching me, in the end, as much about my country, our political and legal systems, the media and arts, as I have discovered about MLM or pyramids themselves.
Myth and a Language of Disguise
MLM does not operate in hiding. It is in plain sight, indeed it can hardly be avoided, but it is alway in disguise. The disguise is a mythological costume that conjures values, activity and experience that are false, but popularly believed. The current MLM myth might be compared to the historical myth of chivalry in the Middle Ages that is vividly recalled in each image of a knight in shining armor on horseback. That image calls up thoughts of virtue and bravery, religious piety and protection of women, and drives out actual realities of knights as enforcers of serfdom, pillaging captured lands, as protagonists of constant warfare, and the documented reality of women as chattel during that era of "chivalry." It is unknown if people in the time of the Middle Ages widely believed the chivalry myths or whether it developed from a historical perspective, but in MLM's case the myth is current, immediate, and widely accepted.
An essential part of this successful MLM disguise is MLM's private, self-created language which was created as an integral part of the scheme itself. For analysis of the role of MLM's self-created language, credit is due to English writer, David Brear. This False Profits Blog does not offer a "deconstructed" terminology that accurately describes MLM, as David Brear has done in his work of many years. Rather, in this Blog I seek only to show how language serves as a key — and perhaps the most important — element of MLM disguise and accounts partly for why MLM escapes critical attention.
All confidence schemes use proprietary terms to coverup or to divert attention from what is actually occurring. In the Airplane Game scam, initial investors were called "Passengers" and those who recruited enough to reach the top were termed, "Pilots". The terminology was fanciful. In keeping with the facade of fun and fancy, the multi-million dollar fraud was generally called a "game" by the investing participants, though 800% return – or total loss – was no laughing matter. Some participants lost money they had borrowed. A few got as much as $100,000 in a just a few month's time.
The language of the Airplane Game fraud was diverting, a form of "redirection", but never meant to be taken literally. Yet, it did aid in hiding the nasty reality of commercializing relationships and engaging in an illegal fraud. It also contributed to general self-denial of the mathematically pre-determined loss rates. Few people in the "game" ever referenced a calculator that would reveal that geometric expansion could not continue and 90% of all who ever joined were destined to lose.
MLM's disguising language is far more powerful and insidious than the Airplane Game's, including the undefinable, self-made-up term, "multi-level marketing" itself. MLM's myth-language is indeed meant to be taken literally. It does not just divert. It shields the schemes from public revelation by powerfully shaping individual and public thought. Valid observation and judgment require thoughts based on facts. Thoughts require language. MLM's language keeps the speaker and thinker trapped inside a fictionalized narrative, preventing a recognition of plain facts, and precluding critical judgment. The facts of MLM can be plainly observed, yet when people attempt to speak about them in the terminology assigned to the schemes by the schemes' own promoters, the words that come out mean something else. For example:
MLM is always defined as "direct selling" though almost no MLM participants actually have customers and virtually no one ever earns a profit from personal, direct selling. As soon as a person refers to MLM as "selling", anything more that they may say about MLM's flaws or deceptions is undercut by the "fact" of the value and inherent legitimacy of "direct selling", which is viewed as a foundation of private enterprise.
MLM is also always defined as an "income opportunity" though rates of success among participants are far lower than those at gambling tables, disqualifying the term "opportunity" as it is generally understood. Median income among participants, even those defined as "leaders" or "active" or "business developers" is zero or a significant negative figure. As soon people use the term "opportunity" when trying to critique MLM, they are placed in the position of criticizing an essentially good and vitally important factor in a free market. All "income opportunities" are generally thought to deserve protection and a chance to thrive. Those who "offer" income opportunity, as the MLMs are thought to do, contribute to the common good.
MLM is referred to as "business" though the most basic requirement to qualify for that definition — the fair exchange of value — does not occur. In MLM, people invest money but get next to nothing in return and certainly not what they had been promised. When MLMs are called businesses, regardless of what else may be said, they are accorded an exalted status and the full protection of the law. Business, whether good business or poor business, is the fundamental institution by which goods and services are developed and distributed. MLM, thought of as a business, is therefore automatically legitimized. Those who critically examine the legitimacy of MLM become, to some extent, critics of "business" and therefore must justify themselves even before what they have to say can be heard.
MLM is always called "legal" but this refers to lack of law enforcement, not settled law. Bernard Madoff was also referred to as "legal" for almost 20 years before the truth of his illegality was finally revealed. He was never legal, just not investigated.
Pyramid schemes are illegal. They are "deceptive and unfair trade practices" which are illegal. Fraud is illegal. Yet, though multi-level marketing engages in each of those categories of illegal activities, it is always referred to as a "legitimate" form of "business." Thus, trying to discuss the "legality" of any MLM, when MLM, as a "business" is viewed as generally "legal", places the analyst in an untenable position. He/she cannot call the scheme illegal for doing what all MLMs do – deceiving about income, transferring money, operating an endless chain. In the popular mythology, none of those activities is illegal when conducted within the legal system of "multi-level marketing" that includes the ostensible sale of a product. How can one particular MLM be "illegal" when the MLM model is "legitimate." Indeed, today, to call any individual MLM illegal for operating a pyramid scheme is viewed by courts as "libel per se," subjecting the analyst, journalist or consumer critic to financially devastating lawsuits.
Socially, the reality of MLM recruiting is, on the whole, disruptive and destructive. At best it is awkward, annoying and manipulative. It could not be otherwise since it is based upon commercializing and exploiting relationships of love and trust, the so-called "warm list" for recruiting. With a 99% failure rate, it is inevitable and understandable that recruiting friends, families and neighbors into such losing propositions leads, almost universally, to rancor, alienation and the loss of trust. Divorces are a common outcome. Yet, MLM's private language denies to the speaker even the ability to recognize the obvious and verifiable reality of social disruption. MLM's myth-language requires that MLM be described as "network" marketing, "relationship" selling or "personal" referrals. Such terms indicate cooperation, mutual support and a smooth blending of commercial and non-commercial values — the opposite of what actually occurs. MLM is, in fact, the only business on earth based entirely upon the commercialization of personal relations, a fundamental contradiction that obviously could not work, yet, the language of MLM prevents the disastrous outcomes from even being expressed.
Millions of people, therefore, speak and act out the economic and social fiction of MLM as a legal direct-selling business or "industry" that provides millions of people with income from profitably selling goods to cooperative and satisfied friends and neighbors. Once inside the system, falsely and bafflingly termed as legal and conventional direct selling, entrepreneurship, home-based business, where one can readily earn unlimited income in your spare time by interacting helpfully with friends and relatives, the disguise is strengthened with still more euphemisms and pseudo-business and invented terms. Rewards gained from recruiting activity are called "commissions." Payments to join and maintain a position on the recruiting chain are called point volumes, auto-orders, and sales packs. Recruiting is called "enrollment." Recruiting requirements are called "building structure." Recruits are "legs." The new recruit, like the characters in Orwell's 1984 novel, become incapable of a critical thought or judgment about their own experience. They have no words with which to form a valid thought about what they see and hear.
And so, the participants of MLM are held captive in a mythology, acting out parts assigned to them, speaking only as the script prescribes for the characters of the myth. The play-acting by millions of people in the MLM economic myth has much in common with avid followers of science fiction myths, such as Star Trek and Incredible Hulk and SuperMan heroes.
Like the science fiction followers, MLMers attend large MLM conventions where they meet fellow enthusiasts, dress up in "success" costumes, speak the secret language of the made-up characters (at Amway meetings, people were told to greet one another with the smiling salutation, "Ain't it great!") and emulate their heroes that are said to have super-human powers in leadership, inspiration, benevolence and insights into "secrets of success."
MLM conventions even engage in their own form of science fiction, touting ordinary food supplements, vitamins , potions and lotions that are said to create immediate "energy", increase sex drive, banish the forces of aging, cure AIDS, Alzheimers and arthritis. The mythological world of MLM is more fascinating and fantastical that Merlin's enchanted times, more wonderful than any future world explored in Star Trek, and more heroic that the adventures of SuperMan.
MLM conventioneers are inspired by the virtues, powers and adventures of their MLM heroes. Many long to live in the mythological MLM world, a magical place that is still friendly to the common man, not just government and big business, and where extraordinary success is always available to anyone at any time, regardless of income, background, qualifications, education or past failures. The only requirement is to perfectly follow the MLM system taught by the leaders, requiring ongoing purchases and fees for training and motivation and system costs and relentless recruiting of new followers who will also buy and pay and recruit.
On the phenomenon of super-hero and science fiction emulation, more than one commentator has speculated that it may be driven by a widespread and deep-seated boredom or even despair among the followers with the realities of their own lives. MLM could be similarly viewed as an attempt to escape harsh, unacceptable economic realities, involving the loss of hope in the American Dream, fading prosperity, loss of social mobility and the lack of opportunity for meaningful employment, even among college graduates.
The difference between MLM and the super-hero cults is that one is relatively harmless while the other is a dangerous financial fraud that can destroy lives, livelihoods and families. One is fun and entertaining. The other seeks to replace gainful employment or formal education, change social values, requires distruptive proselytizing among friends and relatives and can cause personal bankruptcy.
That difference, in which one is recognized as merely entertaining, while the other is enormously destructive, at least potentially, may be a factor for why the super-hero phenomenon is examined, parodied and celebrated in the arts and media while MLM festers in the darkness, unstudied, denied, ignored. The sheer ugliness of MLM reality may by a causal factor, but this would be an inadequate explanation and it would only apply to those currently involved, not the millions of former participants, the media, news outlets, and the arts.
Future False Profits Blogs will explore other factors including government complicity, suppression of critics and analysts, the message of self-blame instilled among MLM victims, and the nature of all pyramid schemes in which participation involves also perpetration and therefore requires rationalization and denial.


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Jenny Ball reflects on open water swimming
June 27, 2017 Masters Blogs
Jenny is one of our oldest members to regularly swim in open water. As she finishes her latest pool competition at the British Masters Championships, she reflects on her swimming and what she's looking forward to during this year's open water season.
Lucky to be surrounded by beautiful, safe beaches
I am 79 and have lived in Newport on the Isle of Wight for 58 years (all our married life). We have four sons and nine grandchildren. I lived in Birmingham for six years but hail from Ipswich originally.
We are so lucky here on the Isle of Wight to be surrounded by beautiful, safe beaches from which to swim. The annual Sandown to Shanklin 3km sea swim in August is very popular but there are not many other larger events.
Last year I became the first female winner of the 'Oldest Finisher' Trophy in the 16 years of its history. Sadly I cannot defend that cap this year as I will be in Budapest!
Swimming has taken me, and my number one supporter, my husband, all over the world where I have made so many friends. I have swum across the Solent, from Ryde Sands to Southsea six times; the first being when I was 60. I have also enjoyed several 'SwimTrek' holidays in wonderful locations with friends.
Though my family think I am slightly crazy, I just want to keep swimming as long as I can and I'm ever grateful for the health benefits it brings. As a swimming teacher, I also have the privilege of being able to help so many other people, old and young, to learn to swim for health, satisfaction and enjoyment.
Took up competitive swimming in my 50s
I have always loved swimming, both in pools and the sea. I also worked as a voluntary lifeguard for many years. However, it is only in later life that I have taken up competitive swimming, including open water, having started club swimming and Masters' competitions when I was 50.
I have never been coached as such and regret not having had the opportunity to do this as a youngster. I am certain that basic grounding in sport stays for life. Those with whom I compete and who had this early training, just have the edge!
To be part of a Masters club and to train with other competitive swimmers would be a dream. This dream may come true as we have a new emerging club on the island with coached sessions for Masters just coming into being…WOW! I have had to self-motivate and glean tips and schedules from friends and the internet.
This year I shall be competing in the Great London Swim and the Serpentine, one mile, as well as taking part in the World Masters Championships in Budapest in August.
The event includes a 3km swim in a lake. I also hope to enter some sea swims if the dates do not clash.
For the Serpentine swim I have a sponsored entry and will be raising money for Age Related Macular Degeneration, which I have in both eyes.
Swimming keeps me healthy and my weight under control
I have to admit that I am frequently told that I am an 'inspiration,' especially when other swimmers learn my age! This is very flattering and humbling but I know I am very, very fortunate to have good genes. Swimming keeps me healthy and my weight under control.
I would tell people who are thinking about open water to 'go for it'. It's so different from the pool and with an even greater sense of achievement. The camaraderie is like no other.
It takes a little time at first to get used to the different tastes of the water and putting your face in. However, there are lots more opportunities to travel and experience a variety of venues.
And for those people contemplating their first competition I would quote the late Vivienne Cherriman, my inspiration and who lived on the Isle of Wight.
"Don't worry about results and who wins, they are mostly ex-champions. Start at the bottom and you will soon work your way up with training. Here's a form for the Masters Nationals! My advice is to relax, learn and enjoy. You will be among friends."
This advice was given to me in 1988 but I have to confess I didn't enter until the next year!
Masters Blogs
Silver City Blues Masters Meet 2023
Sat 28 Jan - Sat 28 Jan
22nd Isle of Wight Marlins (Masters) open meet
Sat 11 Feb - Sat 11 Feb
Carlisle Aquatics Masters Swim Meet 2023
Sat 11 Feb - Sun 12 Feb
West Suffolk Masters Meet
Sun 26 Feb - Sun 26 Feb
Royal Navy Masters Open
27th Bracknell Masters Open Meet - please note this event is now full
Sat 4 Mar - Sat 4 Mar
Swim Wales Masters Long Course Championships 2023
Sat 4 Mar - Sun 5 Mar
Cornwall County Masters Open Gala
Sun 12 Mar - Sun 12 Mar
Medals, records and memories – a Masters year in review for 2022
Free coaching sessions at Swim Serpentine
Is swimming abroad different to at home?
Swimming with the kids