Besides, Amazon already has their color, touchscreen tablets, the Kindle Fire, and Amazon also has some new plans for that product line, according to Reuters. According to their source, Amazon is planning a larger version of the tablet — its screen will measure 8.9 inches diagonally — but they won't release it until later in 2012, when it's closer to the big Christmas shopping season. Of course, it's hard to know where the Kindle is really going just from reading predictions in newspapers. Each one seems to have small bits of information — which sometimes contradict each other!
For example, the sales of the Kindle Fire are actually slumping, according to one source. "Amazon wasn't able to sustain its tablet sales momentum during the first quarter…" reports eWeek, noting that after the big burst of Christmas sales, Amazon's share of the tablet market for the next three months "fell from nearly 17 percent…to just above 4 percent." The statistics come from the technology analysts at IDC, whose figures suggest that in the first three months of 2012, where Apple sold 11.8 million iPads, Amazon sold about 700,000 Kindle Fire tablets.
Of course, maybe the larger screen will improve the sales of Amazon's color tablets. Or maybe there'll be a surge in new owners for the E-Ink Kindles, if the front-lighting turns out to be surprisingly popular. A columnist at Forbes magazine even suggests that Amazon might eventually end up selling their ebooks to Nook owners! When you're talking about the future, anything is possible.
There's been some unexpected discoveries in the details about Amazon's four newest Kindles. I've tried to identify the 10 biggest surprises in the list below — starting with five bad surprises, and then five good.
A USB cable is always included with any Kindle that you buy, so presumably you can always charge them just by plugging them into a USB port. But for both the new $79 Kindle and the Kindle Touch, Amazon's not including a power adapter. (They're sold separately, for $9.99).
Originally I'd thought the $79 Kindle shipped with a touchscreen, because there isn't a keyboard built into its plastic frame — just an on-screen keyboard. But apparently there's no way to actually type letters into that onscreen keyboard — at least, not using the "touch-typing" that we're used to with other devices. Instead, Amazon pulls up a picture of a keyboard, then lets you slowly nudge your controller key (up, down, or sideways) to gradually move a highlight across the keyboard — one key at a time — until it's finally highlighting the next letter you want to type. (And then you press the controller one more time, to select that letter.) If you're planning to input text to search Amazon's Kindle Store, Wikipedia, or Google, and you're buying a $79 Kindle — expect it to be a little awkward and time-consuming!
Apparently now even if you e-mail a file to your Kindle, Amazon keeps a copy on their "cloud" servers. On Amazon's interactive list on the "Manage Your Kindle" page (at Amazon.com/myk), users are now seeing documents listed that they've e-mailed directly to their Kindle. They're listed after selecting the "Personal Documents" choice from a pull-down menu labelled "Your Kindle Library" (along with more menu choices for books, newspapers, magazines, blogs, audible audiobooks, and active content). The only choice for personal documents is deleting the document from your Kindle — but it shows how committed Amazon is to the concept of a "cloud," a virtual Amazon-controlled space where your documents are always waiting in limbo, for whenever you want to access them again. If the entire document is also stored, this creates an automatic back-up copy, but some privacy-sensitive users might already feel weird if a multi-billion dollar corporation has suddenly started creating lists of their own personal documents and photos.
You'll only get a one-month free trial of Amazon's Prime shipping service when you buy a Kindle Fire tablet. Maybe Amazon's figuring it's such an essential part of the tablet experience, most customers will still be willing to pay an extra $79 for a one-year subscription. But I'd thought Amazon would offer a much longer trial to try luring Kindle Fire customers into buying more things from Amazon's store.
1. Kindle Fire will have a NetFlix App!
It's easy to take Flash for granted when you're surfing the web from a desktop computer – but it's a big deal to have this capability in a tablet. Apple's iPad travelled a rocky road while trying to get its own version of Flash, but Amazon's tablet will have it fron its very first day.
4. One Special Offer Can Pay for the Cost of a Kindle.
Amazon's also spreading around some other big discounts. The day after Amazon announced their new Kindles, their stock dropped more than $7 a share — a whopping 3.16%. It more than wiped out the 2.5% gain from Wednesday when they'd first announced their new Kindles. Amazon's stock continued dropping on Friday — another 2.79% — but what's bad for investors is often good for consumers. The stock drop is apparently tied to a report from an influential stock analyst who believes Amazon is selling each Kindle Fire tablet at a $50 loss.
Want to pre-order a Kindle Fire tablet? Click here!
Or click here for the new $79 Kindle!
Want to try subscribing to this blog on your Kindle?
Click here for a free two-week trial!
How Many Kindles Are There?
A new financial analysis just reached a startling conclusion: That within five years, there will be 53.87 million Kindles (and other digital readers) in the world. "That's a lot of e-reader devices," says the Tech Journal South, a North Carolina magazine which bills itself as "the technology business publication for the Southeast region…" They argue that it's not just books, but also newspapers and magazines that will soon be re-defining themselves for the coming digital age (plus the aftermath of a bad economy).
Of course, that begs another question that's even more immediate: how many Kindles are there now? Amazon's never released the number, but Business Week got an estimate from a research firm called ThinkEquity. They concluded that just last year Amazon may have sold "more than 8 million" Kindles — saying the Kindle probably accounted for 5% of all of Amazon's 2010 revenue. And in 2009, one technology blog cited "a source close to Amazon" who reported that by December of 2009, Amazon had sold a total of 3 million Kindles.
If those two numbers are correct, then Amazon would have sold more than 11 million Kindles by January of 2011. (Another analyst reached a similar conclusion — estimating that last year Amazon sold 7.1 million Kindles.) But he also predicted that the number of Kindles sold would double by the end of 2011! It was at Barclays — the world's 10th-largest banking and finance company — where analyst Doug Anmuth made the prediction: that Amazon would sell 12.3 million new Kindles this year. If he's right, that would soon bring the total number of Kindles up to 23.3 million by the end of this December!
And then I stumbled across what's probably the most interesting statistic of all. E-book reader sales are tripling every year — according to the chief marketing officer at a company that manufactures the "e-ink" displays (used by digital readers like the Kindle). Speaking at a conference in Silicon Valley, Sriram Peruvemba (of E Ink Holdings) said "This technology has already emerged and it is in the mass market." He's got some real statistics to back it up — Last year his company generated sales of $650 million, and this year they're predicting their revenues will surpass $1 billion. And the market research firm which held the conference even estimated that this year we'd see sales of close to 27 million Kindles and Nooks and other devices with e-ink screens.
I think it's time to accept the fact that we're seeing a revolution. (About 12% of the population already has a digital reader, according to an article in Venture Beat, vs. 8% with a tablet computer and 83% with a cellphone.) They also offered at least one tangible technical reasons for the popularity of the e-ink format. A device with an LCD screen expends 26% of its power on its screen — versus just 5% for the display on an e-book reader.
But my favorite part was their predictions for a future where e-ink screens aren't used just for digital readers. Sriram Peruvemba says they could also be used for digital watches, cellphones, and even perfume bottles. One of the most interesting ideas is an electronic music stand that could display different pages of sheet music. And of course, it's only a matter of time before even our public schools start thinking about the possibility of digital textbooks.


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Domenico Bellizzi, född 1918, död 1989 (i en bilolycka), även känd under sin albanskstilade pseudonym Vorea Ujko, var en arberesjisk (albansk) författare från Kalabrien i Italien.

Han har arbetat som lärare och var även präst. Han har utgett böcker och även bidragit i antologier.

Bibliografi
Zgjimet e gjakut
Kosovë,
Mote moderne
Ankth
Stinët e mia
Këngë arbëreshe
Burimi
Hapma derën, zonja mëmë

Se även
Albansk litteratur

Källor

Arberesjer
Albanskspråkiga författare
Personer i Albanien under 1900-talet
Födda 1918
Avlidna 1989
Män

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


In short span of 5 years, Honda Edix has created a powerful and efficient position within the global industry of automotive industry. Honda Edix is also known as Honda FR-V – a compact multi-purpose vehicle (MPV) engineered, manufactured and marketed by Honda automakers.
The initial models of this specific car is introduced in 2004 that later on went on sale. The production of these cars got discontinued in 2009, however, many dealers and exporters still hold a wide collection of used Honda Edix car for sale.
This 5-door MBV has a layout of front-engine, front-wheel drive that created a strong customer demand due to its brilliant design and exotic performance. There are few editions that differ each other on the characteristics of exterior design, in-cabin accessories, interior sophistication, comfort & convenience and technical adjustments.
On standard basis the normal Honda Edix comes with 1.7 L I4, 1.8 L I4 petrol and 2.0 L I4, 2.2 L I4 diesel engines mated with 5-speed manual, 6-speed manual and 5-speed automatic transmission. The new integration of DOHC i-VTEC engines with variable valve Timing, Lift Electronic Control (VTEC) and variable Timing Control (VTC) has enhanced the fuel efficiency. These engines offer maximum output of 115 W or 156 PS @ torque of 188 N-m.
To maintain good and admirable environmental performance, majority of the Honda cars have High-precision fuel-air ration control and large-sized catalytic converter that reduce atmospheric pollutants. Additionally, good combination of high-efficiency technical improvements, valve control and optimized ignition timing contribute positively toward the excellent fuel economy.
Definitely people and interested buyers look for the car that ensure high standard of safety for both driver and passengers. The Edix cars embrace a reliable positioned posterior to the driver seat and junior child seat from instrumental panel. For active safety attributes, the major components include standard safety airbags for front. Side, bead restraints and knee safety. All the six seats are equipped with 3-point seatbelts ensuring high safety with long slide mechanism.
Plus, ISO FIX-compatible child seat anchors bars and Tether anchors are also installed in Honda Edix cars. Majority of the edition is engineered with original G-CON (G-Force control) technology that encompasses collision or crash safety body construction.
Though, exterior and interior also played a significant part in shaping up high customer demand and overall sales. Based on the sporty and dynamic theme Honda Edix is designed with full spacious and minivan style. Some of the prominent exterior features include short body with wedge shape, powerful crouching side profile, solid but lower front bumper angle, aggressive front pattern, molded roof with angled cut-off, LED headlights and sharpening taillights.


View looking west along the southern wall of the Iron Age Citadel. Note the small salients protruding from the wall — possibly to strengthen it. This wall was in use during strata X–VII (9th through 7th centuries B.C.).


MANILA, Philippines—2010 was a dreadful year for fans of Filipino rock band Hale as it was in this year when the quartet announced that it will finally go down the "disbandment" lane. The band had four albums then, "Hale," "Twilight," "Above, Over, and Beyond," and "Kundiman." Four years passed by the local music scene without any traces of the group getting back together.
Mid-2014, rumors of a Hale reunion circulated online; however, nothing was confirmed until the year ended. But by January 2015, the band itself announced that it will be coming back with an album, and the announcement was made in the first ever gig which members Champ Lui Pio (vocalist), Roll Martinez (lead guitarist), Sheldon Gellada (bassist), and Paolo Santiago (drums) played in four years.
Hale during the Time and Space listening party at a music hall and pub in Makati. Image by: Janine Villagracia/INQUIRER.net.
"We're calling ourselves inhale now. Exhale dati (before), ngayon inhale na (now it's inhale)," cracked Pio, the voice behind Hale's "high school feels" igniting songs, and the main man who hosted the "Time and Space" listening party at a music hall and pub in Makati last March 27.
But on a more serious note, when asked what the rationale is behind the title of Hale's comeback album, Martinez said "Time and Space" is the perfect description for what they needed back then, time and space, and they were glad they had it because it produced positive outcomes for the band.
Compared to their previous albums which had morose tracks, Martinez describes Hale's music now as positive and more realistic—less romanticized.
Asked who was the first to say "let's get back together," Gellada said it was the band's frontman, Pio, who initiated the comeback.
It took them two years to get back on track, but according to Martinez, recordings go better for the band now because it helps a lot that they already know each other's strengths and weaknesses.
But despite knowing that fans will probably want more, the band members decided to include only six songs in "Time and Space" as they wanted each song to have a fair share of the limelight when people listen to their tracks.
Hale also played a gig during the Time and Space listening party. Image by Janine Villagracia/INQUIRER.net.
For Hale, self-expression remains the top priority. Though they took into consideration the changes in people's listening habits when they produced "Time and Space," the band's goal remains to be "to affect other people." According to Pio, they want to continue creating music that people can connect with.
And for Martinez, it is also by remaining true to their music that they are able to remain intact while inside an ever-changing music industry.
Hale's "Time and Space" album, under Warner Music Philippines, is now available in music stores nationwide and online.


On April 7th, a chemical attack was carried out in the Syrian city of Douma. Moscow and Washington went toe-to-toe with each other in the U.N. Security Council regarding a chemical weapons probe. Russia and Syria have claimed that there was no evidence that a gas attack had taken place but were willing to work with the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) for further investigations. One week later, the US, along with France and UK launched missiles at Syria, a surely bellicose move against the Russan-backed Assad regime. Today, Senior Research Fellow Victor Kattan spoke to Bloomberg to give his thoughts on how Russia and Iran might respond to this. He also discussed the legality of these strikes and the international response to this development.


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Summer School: How to count little brown bats, who are making a comeback in Vermont
Vermont Public | By Abagael Giles
Alyssa Bennett, Courtesy
Vermont Fish and Wildlife
A researcher holds a little brown bat, an endangered species whose population appears to be stabilizing in Vermont.
On a warm night in July, state bat biologist Alyssa Bennett stands in front of an old wooden barn near Milton. It's twilight, and fireflies are starting to blink.
We're here tonight to find a maternity colony of little brown bats. If that sounds cute, it is: It's a bunch of female bats hanging out with their babies, or pups.
Find our full Summer School series here.
An adult little brown bat is about the size of a thumb. It's one of the nine bat species that are native to Vermont.
Bennett gestures to some boxes attached to the barn.
"We have six bat houses up," she says. "We have another two on the backside in case the weather's too hot and they want to move into the shade."
More from Vermont Public: A colony of endangered Indiana bats in Vermont could hold lessons for the species' recovery
We stand right underneath one of the boxes and listen.
"This is like the morning for them, so they're waking up and stretching," Bennett says softly. "They'll groom a little bit, and you'll see their wings flutter out, even while they're in the bat house, so you'll hear some 'flap, flap, flap…'"
After a few minutes of rustling wings and the occasional audible squeak, bat after bat begins to drop out of the boxes and into the gloaming, like tiny hang gliders.
Soon they're all around us, hunting bugs. In fact, while female little brown bats are nursing their young, they can eat their body weight in insects every night.
This colony is doing well. But just a few years ago, biologists like Bennett weren't sure there would be little brown bats here in Vermont much longer. In 2011, the bats were placed on Vermont's endangered species list, along with four other bat species. Little brown bat populations had dropped by 90% in just a few years.
A fast-moving fungus is the primary cause of their demise. White-nose Syndrome eats away at the bats' wing tissue, which is only a few cells thick. It creeps in when they're hibernating and their immune systems are partly shut down.
Abagael Giles
Vermont Public
Alyssa Bennett holds up two cases: one of healthy big brown bats, and the other of little brown bats that are believed to have been killed by white-nose syndrome.
As we step away from the barn, Bennett pulls out two sets of fuzzy taxidermied brown bats, one big and one small.
The big one — a big brown bat — has wings that are smooth. But the small one has wings that are torn and full of holes.
"You'll see on a normal healthy bat, which this big brown bat was, I think before a cat got it, its wing tissue looks pretty good," Bennett says. "And if you look at the little brown bats here, which is a species that is really susceptible to white-nose syndrome, you can see all this area on their wings that almost looks like it's shriveled up."
After losing nine out of every 10 little brown bats in Vermont in the years after white-nose syndrome arrived here, Bennett says biologists feared the worst.
That's why they were shocked to discover that little brown bat populations here seem to be stabilizing.
More from Vermont Public: How Vermont citizen scientists made history by finding a rare orchid
Bennett says they've got some ideas about why: "One of the hypotheses is called the 'fat bat hypothesis.' So that means that the bats that made it through white-nose syndrome are fatter going into the winter — just naturally fatter."
Bennett says that may give them an evolutionary edge. Little brown bats hunker down in caves through the winter. And looks like that extra fat lets them bounce back faster in the spring, so they can heal and get to work prepping for the next long Vermont winter.
There's also some thought that different hibernation habits play a role in which bats survive. In either case, Bennett says this is very good news for people too. Researchers have estimated that bats save the United States' agricultural system billions of dollars every year in pest management.
Alyssa Bennett uses an audio recording device to translate high-frequency bat echolocation calls to lower-frequency sounds we can hear.
Back at the barn, Bennett pulls out an iPad with a bright orange microphone hooked up to it. Lights and lines blink across the screen. After a few moments of quiet, it starts chirping out strange sounds. She's using the app to translate the high-pitched calls bats use for echolocation into our hearing range.
When they hunt, bats bounce sound off of objects, similar to the way a boat uses sonar. These sounds are too high for human ears to hear on their own.
"Their echolocation is actually so wonderful that they can tell the texture of an object — if it's a moth, what kind of moth is it?" Bennett says.
Sometimes scientists will count bats by recording them this way, and sorting the calls they hear by frequency and species.
More from Vermont Public: Monarch butterflies are now endangered. New England scientists say we can do more to protect them
But Bennett says the most important tool she has for tracking bats is you and me. Every summer during the last two weeks of July, Vermont Fish and Wildlife's Got Bats? program rallies community scientist volunteers to go out and count bats at colonies around the state. Anyone from little kids to grandparents can participate.
"You get out at sunset, you get comfortable in your chair, and you stare at your attic or chimney or bat houses and barn, wherever these bats are roosting, and you count," Bennett says.
Little brown bats love to gather in really large numbers. A typical colony can have 100 to 500 bats, so Bennett recommends getting a hand tally counter, which costs a couple of dollars.
Bennett says it's best to look towards the lightest part of the sky as you count the bats leaving their houses.
White-nose syndrome eats away at the wings of certain hibernating bats, like the little brown bat shown here. But some little brown bats appear to be surviving infections.
Once you're done, you can enter that number in a data form online. And if you have 10 or more bats in your house, Bennett would love to hear from you.
Got bats? You can report a colony here.
In fact, she says without these community scientists, we might not even know that little brown bats are doing OK.
"Without that information, we wouldn't be able to then see what we are right now, which is that this bat has really stabilized in Vermont," Bennett says. "And in some places, we're actually seeing colonies grow in size over the last decade or so."
You can learn more about how to sign up to be a bat monitor or report a colony online, here.
Elodie Reed
All summer long, Vermont Public reporters are learning how to do something. Have an idea? Send it to us here.
Have questions, comments or tips?Send us a message or get in touch with reporter Abagael Giles @AbagaelGiles.
Local News Local NewsWildlifeBatsSummer School SeriesClimate & Environment
Abagael is Vermont Public's climate change and environment reporter. She joined Vermont Public in 2020. Previously, she was the assistant editor at Vermont Sports and Vermont Ski + Ride magazines. She covered dairy and agriculture for The Addison Independent and got her start covering land use, water and the Los Angeles Aqueduct for The Sheet: News, Views & Culture of the Eastern Sierra in Mammoth Lakes, Ca.
See stories by Abagael Giles
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Researcher finds rare lady beetles — 'Esteemed Sigil' & 'Two-spotted' — missing in Vt. for decades
Two lady beetles that hadn't been seen in Vermont in decades made an appearance at Mills Riverside Park in Jericho last month.
A colony of endangered Indiana bats in Vermont could hold lessons for the species' recovery
Jane Lindholm
The Indiana bat has been on the federal endangered species list since the 1960s. Vermont's Champlain Valley is at the extreme edge of this bat's range — and a new discovery in Hinesburg this month has bat wildlife officials excited.
Monarch butterflies are now endangered. New England scientists say we can do more to protect them
Melody Rivera
The International Union for the Conservation of Nature listed the migrating monarch butterfly as endangered this week. New England scientists say there's a lot that can still be done to protect them so they keep migrating here.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Barely into their third decade on Earth and Chris, Andrew, Ryan, and Jack are becoming grumpy old men who sit around talking about kids today (which is exactly what you'll hear in this episode). The guys chat about the sexting phenomenon, the overemphasis placed on safety, why kids have such sensitive dietary needs, and how they'll raise their hypothetical children.
Loved the funny KidCast, I hope you seriously do not start secretly fearing about having your own kids because of these stupid kids you encounter on a daily basis – hate the parents if you have to because they are the one's who are responsible for how the kids are going to behave. A child when she/he is born is like soft clay – they will take the shape which the people around them give – specially the parents (and also grandparents). I am sure all of you will be great fathers and (mothers, if you chose to be :-)) when the right time comes. Kids make our life more beautiful than anything else in the world, you will realize it only when you experience it. They give you an opportunity to relive your own childhood all over again.
Hey Jack I too bought the Ninja Turtle action figures for my kids as Christmas gift this year (of-course for them it was a surprise gift from Santa for the good behavior last year, though they know we the parents are conduit for Santa). Maybe secretly it was for myself also, I too love to play with their toys along with them.
I am about a decade older than you guys, but I can still understand you, same way you would have to make an effort to understand the next generation – the next generation is much sharper and smarter than us – accept it, soon you may have to compete with them because they are growing fast, ridiculing them will not help, they will outperform you at much younger age. Earlier the generation change meant a age gap of 20-30 years – now it has been reduced to less than 5 years. The kids born in 90's are so different than the kids born in 2000's and the kids born after 2010 are going to be quite different too. The media/ latest technology and its exposure to kids at a very young age is bringing these changes. If used judiciously, this will be good for the development of human species. If not then it may also become the cause of ruination – many science fiction stories of 1950s/60s would hint towards the apprehensions that people back than have towards the scientific innovations happening in those days. Some of those nightmares have come true, but more or less human life has only become better over the years. It will keep on growing. Every generation cribs about the next one and makes fun of the previous one. Its the circle of life.
We have two kids, and they are extremely naughty, but they are naughty with us and family members and friends – we make sure that random people in public places do not have to bear any inconvenience because their naughtiness, and if there is such a situation, we apologize on behalf of the kids and try to teach them that it is not repeated again. Teaching them does include punishments. Reward and punishments are a part of their life, its a part of our life as well. We do well, we get rewarded, we do wrong things and we get some sort of punishment – they too need to learn this lesson – the sooner the better for them. Because if they do not learn it in their early days, they would never be able to learn it at all.
Funny episodes like this one keep me coming back to your site again and again to blabbering about my own experience on the topic that you chose.


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MELISSA CONLEY TYLER. Will Hugh White Change How We Defend Australia? →
RAMESH THAKUR. Trump's strategic incoherence on India policy Part 1
By Ramesh Thakur | On 15 July 2019
The distance from hubris to delusion is short and the Trump administration is bent on covering it in a sprint in its India policy. Diffuse reciprocity is the diplomatic glue that holds international relationships together. A healthy and long-lasting bilateral relationship rests upon a history of shared interests and values that embody common expectations, reciprocity, and equivalence of benefits across different domains rather than equal benefits in every single sector individually.
Conversely, absent a solid body of shared histories and memories to provide ballast, minor irritants can derail a relationship. The bilateral relationship between the US and India, since the latter's independence in 1947, had more downs than ups during the Cold War but has been on a gradual upswing since then. It was put on a steeply upward trajectory with the signing of the bilateral civil nuclear cooperation deal in 2005.
Having been denied an entry visa for the US for many years as the elected head of a state government, on becoming PM in 2014 Narendra Modi set aside personal hurts from the slight and made a strategic decision to invest in the US as India's most important relationship. That has helped to create important constituencies in the US Congress, political parties, bureaucracy, military and private sector, to deepen and elevate India–US ties. The Indian diaspora in the US also plays key bridge-building roles.
Unfortunately, because it lacks the historical ballast of US relations with Europe and Japan, the India–US relationship is being tested harder than any other with President Donald Trump's transactional foreign policy. His compartmentalised approach means that being a good ally or friend is no insurance against full-on pressure to rectify trade imbalances. The end result is strategic incoherence.
Policy contestation refers to an existing or proposed policy being challenged. Countries that have signed civil nuclear deals with India, including Australia, have internal critics who caution about the damage to the global non-proliferation regime, question the putative commercial-diplomatic benefits, or want tougher safeguards and inspection standards to prevent diversion into weapon-related uses. Policy inconsistency refers to unevenness in the operationalisation of any one particular policy. A good example, albeit from outside India–US relations, is the markedly different reactions to the downing of the Malaysian Airlines flight MH17 in 2014 by Russia-backed Ukrainian militias, at least according to Western intelligence; and Iran Air flight 655 by the USS Vincennes in 1988.
Policy coherence requires compatibility among a cluster of cognate policies. If China is indeed the emerging strategic rival in Cold War 2.0, it makes sense for the US to deploy its array of policy tools across the military, trade, financial and technological domains to contain the rising threat. As part of the overarching strategy to challenge China's assertive dominance, the US might want to forge informal interest-cum-values based coalitions with allies and friends. In this case a coherent policy would accept some trade or technology costs as the price of sustaining strategic partnerships. Conversely, incoherence results when policies towards third countries undercut their capacity to constrain China's international ambitions.
Acting together, India and the US can help to bend the arc of international history towards mutually attractive destinations. The 'Indo–Pacific' integrates geography, the 'free and open' principle and democratic values into one strategic construct. In a major speech on 18 October 2017, then-Secretary of State Rex Tillerson became the first senior US official to switch to the Indo-Pacific strategic frame, with the US and India 'as the eastern and western beacons'. A senior White House official explicitly justified the change of terminology by saying that 'Indo–Pacific' 'captures the importance of India's rise'.
The combination of geography, demographics, military power and political weight gives India multiple roles in safeguarding sea lanes, dampening Islamic militancy, combating terrorism, and taking the lead in disaster relief operations around the Indian Ocean. On 18 January 2018 admirals from Australia, India, Japan and the US sat together on stage at the high-profile annual Raisina Dialogue in New Delhi, symbolising the shared strategic assessment among the four democracies that China had become a disruptive force in the Indo–Pacific.
That said, the India–US relationship is asymmetric. This is so because the US remains without peer as a comprehensive, multidimensional actor across the military, diplomatic, economic and financial global landscape. India is still struggling to turn aspirations to prosperity and power into milestones along Modi's roadmap for the journey. Of the two only the US has a truly global train of interests.
However, lying at a particular geographical crossroads means India has its own sets of regional interests. For example India is keen to build Iran's Chabahar Port as a route connecting it to Afghanistan, bypassing Pakistan and linking it to Central Asia and Eurasia. Chabahar would also act as a riposte to the China–Pakistan joint venture to build Gwadar port. By basing its Iran policy solely on Middle East obsessions, the US introduces yet another element of strategic incoherence vis-à-vis China, India and Pakistan. India is too large and in the pursuit of its regional interests, India's pride and self-belief will not permit it to be a mere vassal state of any external power, whether benign or malevolent.
Ramesh Thakur is Professor of Public Policy, Australian National University
Ramesh Thakur is a professor emeritus at the Crawford School of Public Policy, the Australian National University.
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One of GUCCI's most promising accessory releases is the innovative Harness hobo. This fresh and roomy over-the-shoulder bag is everything you need for a spring awakening. With a twist of vintage and colored in a shade that's playful enough to match the majority of the clothes hidden inside your wardrobe.
A seasonal chic with an attitude, crafted in glossy maple brown leather and outfitted with signature Gucci equestrian hardware. The famous and iconic (half) horsebit details are intentionally embellished on the strap, including a detachable ID tag.
The Gucci Harness Hobo is not only durable but spacious; ideal for both work and school, load it with your office documents and university books. With built-in smart phone pockets to structure your things and for your information; the edges are hand-painted.


For the first couple of months I strictly programmed a variety of deadlifts for lower body strength days using; barbell, kettlebell & dumbbell.
As time progressed I started adding in accessories such as; good mornings, hip bridges, single leg deadlifts, box step ups (eventually with weight) and we even added in a barbell hip thrust pyramid cycle.
As Amy gained strength I started adding in box squats. We stuck to box squatting with a barbell (front & back) as well as a KB/DB for goblet squats… starting above parallel and eventually over time (several months) lowering the box to parallel.
After about 10 months of training, Amy was becoming stronger and more confident. She asked if we could back squat … without a box!
We programmed barbell back squats the following week… Amy was able to squat full range of motion, with weight, to below parallel, with no pain!
Amy just celebrated her 1-year anniversary with OC's Personal Training Program. One of the best things we get to experience as trainers is being a part of our client's fitness journey, progress & success!
We are so proud of Amy's hard work; she's been positive, patient, consistent and persistent through this entire process.
Amy is starting a combination of Personal Training and Oregon CrossFit Group Training. She's preparing for her next Spartan Race!


text:
«Остання подорож "Деметра"» () — майбутній художній фільм режисера Андре Евредаля. Екранізація оповідання Браги Шута.

Сюжет
У центрі сюжету фільму команда російського корабля «Деметр», на борту якого Дракула подорожує з Трансільванії до Лондона.

В ролях

 Корі Хокінс — Клеменс
 Ліам Каннінгем — капітан корабля
 Девід Дастмалчан — Войчек
 Ешлінг Франчозі — Анна
 Хав'єр Ботет — Дракула.
 Джон Джон Бріонес
 Стефан Капічіч
 Микола Ніколаєфф
 Вуді Норман
 Мартін Фурулунд
 Кріс Воллі

Виробництво
У 2002 році Брагі Шут написав перший варіант сценарію до фільму « Остання подорож "Деметра"», Роберт Швентке мав стати режисером фільму. Проте фільм опинився у виробничому пеклі протягом майже двох десятиліть. За цей час змінилося кілька режисерів, включаючи Маркуса Ніспеля, Стефана Рузовицького, Девіда Слейда та Ніла Маршалла. У якийсь момент Нумі Рапас та Бен Кінгслі мали виконати головні ролі у фільмі. Вігго Мортенсен також вів переговори про участь.

У жовтні 2019 року було оголошено, що режисером фільму стане Андре Евредаль. У січні 2021 року Корі Хокінс приєднався до акторського складу фільму за сценарієм Зака Олькевича. У червні 2021 року до акторського складу фільму приєдналися Девід Дастмалчян, Ліам Каннінгем, Ешлінг Франчозі, Хав'єр Ботет, Джон Джон Бріонес, Стефан Капічіч, Микола Ніколаєфф, Вуді Норман, Мартін Фурулунд і Кріс Воллі.

Зйомки розпочалися у червні 2021 року в Берліні. Пізніше зйомки пройшли на Мальті. Основні зйомки завершилися до 1 жовтня 2021.

Реліз
Прем'єра фільму намічена на 27 січня 2023.

Примітки

Фільми США 2023
Фільми жахів США
Фільми про Дракулу
Фільми Amblin Entertainment
Фільми Universal Pictures
Фільми англійською мовою


As if we didn't already have enough animals, I semi-accidentally won some ducks in a fundraising auction - as you do. I say semi-accidentally because I really did think someone would outbid me - 30 bucks for three ducks seemed a bit too good to be true (hey, that's only ten bucks a duck, about the price of a roast chicken at the supermarket).
Ooh look, a photobombing hen! To her left is Mr Petrov King-Duck (ie, P King-Duck, har har) and to her right is one of his two sister/wives Tatiana and Anastasia.
In spite of our names for them, Muscovy ducks aren't a Russian breed, they actually hail from the Americas. The name has different origins depending on where you look, and possibly relates to their musky smell, or their fondness for eating mosquitos. Another article here suggests the Muscovy was named after the Muscovite Trading Company which plied its trade on the South American Coast.
A very good thing about Muscovies is that they don't quack, so are perfect for a smaller backyard. They also keep your garden clean, as they love to eat insects, snails, slugs and bugs. Mmmmmmm, tasty bugs, nom nom nom.
Aren't I a lucky ducky to have them?!


text:
LEGO Pirates Of The Caribbean Preview
Captain Jack Sparrow and his band of pirates will bound into 3D action with LEGO® Pirates of the Caribbean: The Video Game for the Nintendo 3DS™ hand-held system in May 2011.
LEGO Pirates of the Caribbean: The Video Game re-creates the action, adventure and memorable moments of the Pirates of the Caribbean mythology in LEGO form, incorporating the humor of LEGO minifigures and fantastic worlds built from LEGO bricks. Players can take on the roles of more than 70 characters and experience the pirate adventures, irreverent humor and amazing creatures of the Pirates of the Caribbean films through action-adventure gameplay and quirky LEGO cut scenes. Throughout the game, players also have the freedom to explore environments from the highly acclaimed movie series.
LEGO Pirates Of The Caribbean Screen Shot
The Nintendo 3DS "Pirate Duel" mode allows players to cross swords with nearby Nintendo 3DS owners using the Street Pass ™ feature. With Street Pass, the Nintendo 3DS automatically detects and communicates with other Nintendo 3DS devices. When an encounter with another Nintendo 3DS is initiated, "Pirate Duel" pits the players against each other in a battle where they will select from a series of attacks and blocks to be utilized by their LEGO pirates. Players can participate in duels to earn Play Coins that will unlock and allow them to use new characters. By winning duels, players also gain experience points, allowing them to move up the ranks and gain new rewards including extra health, new titles and extra characters. Players of the 3DS version will have the ability to turn of the 3D mode and play the game in standard 2D.
LEGOPirates 3DS Console
"The Nintendo 3DS lets players experience a LEGO game like never before, and allows us to add new depth to the Pirates of the Caribbean universe," said Adam Sussman, senior vice president of publishing, Disney Interactive Studios. "The game incorporates new features such as the Pirate Duel system and high resolution 3D effects to deliver fun and clever gameplay that fans of the LEGO series expect."
For more information about LEGO Pirates of the Caribbean: The Video Game, please visit www.disneyinteractivestudios.com.
Tags: game movie nintendo video play action DS Disney adventure series battle preview players band duel health information street lego pirates
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Best Pirates Of The Caribbean Movie? Vote!
Pirates Of The Caribbean: Curse Of The Black Pearl.
Pirates Of The Caribbean 2: Dead Man's Chest.
Pirates of the Caribbean 3: At World's End.


text:
Perceived benefits and negative consequences of alcohol consumption in women living with HIV: a qualitative study
Robert L. Cook ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-7770-37541,
Christa L. Cook2,
Manju Karki3,
Kathleen M. Weber4,
Kathleen A. Thoma5,
Chelsea M. Loy1,
Lakshmi Goparaju6 &
Bridgett Rahim-Williams7
Women living with HIV have increased prevalence of medical and psychological comorbidities that could be adversely affected by alcohol consumption. Little is known about their unique motivations for drinking or perceptions of HIV-related consequences. In preparation for an alcohol intervention study, we sought to better understand reasons for drinking and perceived consequences of alcohol consumption among a sample of women living with HIV.
Four focus groups, with a total of 24 adult women (96 % African-American, 88 % HIV-positive), were conducted in Jacksonville, FL, Washington, DC and Chicago, IL. Focus group discussions were tape-recorded and transcribed verbatim; a conventional content analysis approach was used to identify themes, that were then grouped according to a biopsychosocial model.
Regarding reasons for drinking, women described themes that included biological (addiction, to manage pain), psychological (coping, to escape bad experiences, to feel in control), and social (peer pressure, family). Themes related to consequences from alcohol included biological (damage to body, poor adherence to medications), psychological (risky or regrettable behavior, memory loss), and social (jail, loss of respect, poor choices). When discussing how their drinking impacted their health, women focused on broader issues, rather than HIV-specific issues.
Many women living with HIV are drinking alcohol in order to self-manage pain or emotions, and their perceived consequences from drinking extend beyond HIV-specific medical issues. Most participants described themes related to psychological issues and situations that are common in women living with HIV. Interventions to address drinking should inquire more specifically about drinking to manage pain or emotion, and help women to recognize the potential adverse impact of alcohol on comorbid health issues, including their own HIV infection.
HIV infection remains a prominent issue for women in the United States. In 2014, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that one in five people living with HIV (PLWH) are female [1]. In the U.S., rates of HIV infection in women are substantially higher among African-American and Hispanic women, and women living with HIV often have previous exposure to stressors such as poverty and violence [2]. With the introduction of highly-active antiretroviral therapy (ART) in the 1990s, HIV can be a chronic disease for most persons living with HIV, but there are gender disparities related to HIV care engagement and HIV viral suppression [2–4]. Therefore, we need to understand barriers to successful HIV health outcomes that are currently relevant to women living with HIV.
Hazardous alcohol consumption is adversely associated with several relevant HIV health behaviors and outcomes, including non-adherence to ART, risky sexual behavior, HIV disease progression, liver disease, and earlier death [5–10]. Alcohol consumption is also linked to violence, mental health conditions and symptoms, and traumatic events or stressors, including a positive diagnosis of HIV [11–15]. Most public health officials define "hazardous drinking" for women as a high weekly consumption (more than 7 drinks per week), or consumption of four or more drinks in one sitting (often defined as binge drinking) [16]. Among women living with HIV infection, approximately 10–20 % report current hazardous drinking [5, 7], and many more have a past history of hazardous drinking and are at risk for relapse [17]. However, a focus only on the quantity and frequency of alcohol consumption may not fully capture the range of benefits or harms that women may experience from drinking.
Interventions to reduce hazardous drinking are widely recommended but they do not always address reasons for drinking [18]. Women may drink alcohol for different reasons than men, and they may be more vulnerable to some types of consequences. In general, persons often drink alcohol to cope with symptoms or to participate in social activities [19, 20]. However, little is known about unique reasons for drinking or consequences in women living with HIV. We hypothesized that both the reasons for alcohol consumption and the potential consequences could be considered within the context of the biopsychosocial model of health, which posits that addiction and health behavior can be mapped to biological, psychological, or social aspects of health [21, 22]. In preparation for a clinical trial to reduce drinking in women living with HIV, we sought to ensure that we addressed issues that were salient to this population, including reasons for drinking alcohol and perceived consequences that might improve with alcohol cessation. We were especially interested in whether women would identify specific aspects of HIV health in relation to alcohol consumption.
We obtained qualitative data using focus groups [23], and used a conventional content analysis approach for data analysis. Conventional content analysis is appropriate when investigators seek to obtain information without imposing preconceived themes [24].
We sought to include a range of women affected by alcohol and HIV infection in three locations where we were planning to conduct an alcohol intervention study. We first conducted two focus groups in Chicago in 2007. Focus group participants were recruited from the ongoing Women's Interagency HIV Study (WIHS) [25], a cohort study of women living with HIV as well as women without HIV who had similar demographic and socioeconomic characteristics. At that time, we did not want to disclose our participants' HIV status by their participation in focus groups limited to HIV-positive women, so we decided to include a few HIV-negative women within the focus groups to maintain anonymity. The two focus groups included a total of 14 women; all were African-American and 3 were HIV-negative. Neither the focus group interviewer nor the research coders could determine which participants were HIV-positive or negative. In 2009, we chose to conduct focus groups at two additional sites that would be part of a clinical trial, and the site leaders recommended separate groups for HIV-positive women only. In Washington DC, 4 HIV-positive women from the WIHS cohort who reported current drinking participated in one group, and in Jacksonville, FL, 6 HIV-positive women with current or past drinking were recruited from an academic medical center and from members of a local HIV research Community Advisory Board.
Ethics, consent, and permissions
Prior to data collection, we received approval from Institutional Review Boards at the University of Florida (Jacksonville), Rush University (Chicago), and Georgetown University (Washington DC). Written informed consent was obtained at the Washington DC site, whereas verbal consent was obtained from participants in Jacksonville and Chicago. All participants were informed that the objective of the focus groups was to learn more about alcohol and HIV infection in women.
Study instrument
We created a list of semi-structured, open-ended questions to enhance discussion (Table 1). The questions sought to identify both benefits and harms related to drinking, reasons for drinking and reasons to stop drinking, consequences of drinking (including sexual consequences), and perceived benefits and harms of alcohol as it relates to HIV infection. By asking about both benefits and harms related to drinking, we sought to understand factors that may influence women's "decisional balance" when contemplating a change in behavior such as alcohol consumption. After the initial focus groups were held in Chicago, and based on input from an HIV Community Advisory Board in Jacksonville, we added additional prompts to learn more about past drinking experiences, influences of friends and family, to probe more specifically about the connections between drinking, pain, and medication adherence, and to assess interest in an upcoming clinical trial related to drinking (Table 1).
Table 1 Focus group open-ended question guide
Study procedures
Focus groups were conducted by a primary facilitator, who reviewed the consent document, answered questions, reaffirmed that participation was voluntary, and reminded persons not to make any statements that would identify themselves or another individual. In Chicago and Washington DC, information about participants' demographic characteristics and drinking history was obtained from their most recent WIHS cohort data, whereas in Jacksonville we only had information about race and age. The focus groups were recorded and transcribed by a professional transcriptionist.
Data from four focus groups including 24 women were included for analysis. Two members of the research team conducted an initial coding analysis of the transcriptions, using an inductive, exploratory approach to identify themes related to reasons for drinking and consequences of drinking [24, 26]. Transcripts were color-coded independently, and the team met weekly to discuss emergent codes/categories and resolve discrepancies. A third researcher independently coded transcripts and identified themes using the same process. The three coders discussed their findings together, and also with an ongoing Qualitative Data Analysis Workgroup, an interdisciplinary team of researchers within and outside of the University of Florida. After this input, the themes were grouped within the context of the biopsychosocial model [21, 22] and exemplary quotes were identified for each theme. Although we could identify different persons' responses in the transcripts, the focus groups were intended to be as anonymous as possible. Therefore, we did not prospectively plan to link individual participant information to the transcripts and did not maintain any code that would allow us to link specific statements to specific characteristics of individuals. Similarly, we did not attempt to compare themes according to geographic location due to the limited numbers of women from each location.
Nearly all of the 24 women who participated in the focus groups were African-American (n = 23); most had HIV infection (n = 21), and their ages ranged from 22–59 years. Themes that encapsulated the reasons that women drink and the perceived consequences of drinking are summarized in Table 2. Exemplary quotations chosen to represent theme are presented in italics below. The themes and examples are not presented in any specific order, but are meant to be inclusive of the full range of ideas that were raised by study participants.
Table 2 Themes related to reasons for drinking and consequences of drinking in 24 women with HIV Infection
Reasons for drinking
Biological reasons for drinking included addiction, positive physical sensations, and drinking to relieve pain. For example, several participants indicated that they could not stop drinking once they started. Some noted that they liked the way they felt when drinking. Drinking in response to pain was mentioned by multiple participants, and the pain could have represented true physical pain, emotional pain, or a combination.
The next day, I don't feel good, my stomach acting up, and I'd say Lord, why I drink so much, but then I'd turn around and drink again. And I say Lord I got to stop drinking, but turn around and start drinking again. You know and that's not a good feeling, you know, knowing that you're killing yourself.
I like feeling drunk. I like feeling high. It's like it wasn't no feeling that made me feel any better but to drink. And nothing that nobody could say to me, oh just get over it and you'll be ok. I didn't want to hear that.
You drink to take the pain away.
Many women drank in order to feel control over their surroundings, and several noted the use of alcohol to help them feel more courageous. Women also frequently noted use of alcohol as a type of self-management of their mood, to cope with stress or life issues, and to cover up their low self-esteem.
You know addicts are control freaks even when we're drunk, we are in control even if we control by not participating. Like for me, a long time ago, when I wanted to control, I would just withdraw, because that meant everybody in the room would be like, what's wrong with her. Why she not, you know, so I had that sort of control.
It's Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, that's what I call it because when you're not drinkin' you timid, and then as soon as you start drinkin', you get more vocal, and then you say the same thing over and over, you understand, you understand, you understand, you see what I mean. You say it over and over again, over and over again. And you know and also that alcohol gives you false courage, it gives you false courage. And then you crash.
You can be in denial and can't face what's going on, you just want to erase it. You don't want to think about it. And the bottle just feels like it's your friend, that's what you're coping with. That's your friend. You don't want to face reality; you just want to be somewhere else.
There are quite a few ladies that I have talked to that stay drunk so I don't have to deal with this issue and you see them day after day because they have not come to grip with what's going on about their HIV, or whatever problem it is that they're going through.
I was, there wasn't much to like about myself. I didn't like, do you want me to be specific? I didn't like the circumstances I was in, I didn't like my living conditions, I didn't like how I was carrying myself on as a female, I didn't like, I didn't like nothing about my existence. My total existence was fairly displeasing to me. And sometimes it (alcohol) can bring me out of my shell sometimes; you know, compensating for all those feelings of inferiority that were pretty much inherent.
Many women reported drinking for social reasons, such as being in the company of someone drinking, having fun, or being in places where people were drinking. Family and peer influences were also commonly cited, and some women noted how they started drinking at an early age or adolescence due to family exposures or peer influences.
We go to bars or at each others' house to start. Same places; just different scenarios. Just want to party and have fun.
Before I started hanging out with my friends, yes. Because I was very anti-drinking. They would drink, and I knew that they drank, but I had martial arts and, I had martial arts 6 days a week, so I was always busy. And sometimes on Sunday I had a tournament, so I wasn't partying with them, but I had gotten hurt in martial arts, so for about 2 or 3 months I stopped and started to socialize with my friends a little bit more, and went to a party and that's where I started the drinking.
My mom considered herself to be a functioning alcoholic. And I've never really seen her too many days when she wasn't drunk or high, you know, that's what she did every day. She woke up, she didn't have a water, she drunk beer like that was what she had. So it was normal for me, I guess, my everyday life.
Consequences of drinking
Participants identified several biological consequences of drinking, including some more immediate consequences (e.g. black-outs, hangovers, physical assaults). Several women noted that they did not take good care of themselves when drinking. Many women recalled severe consequences of drinking from their past. When discussing how their drinking impacted their health, the participants focused on broad issues rather than HIV-specific issues, unless they were specifically asked about HIV infection.
Alcohol interferes with their HAART medication and that could be really damaging, it could make them become resistant to medication, it's not good, it's not good to gamble.
I had drunk so much at one time that I had a pancreatic ulcer I didn't care about that ulcer I had. I was tripping, I was so sick. It was like, I walked like a square block, each square that I walked past on the block, it seemed like I was gagging and throwing up. I went to the hospital, and the doctor did like that and I about jumped off the bed. He said, you got ulcers, no more drinking for you. And people don't realize that, it can eat up your liver you know, you just don't know.
You're really not going to take care of yourself, you know. I mean they're incompatible and an alcoholic doesn't take care, of course they can drink and like, you know have a drink once a year. Even a person with HIV can do that, but that person with a problem drinking, problem drug use, if I'm using drugs, everything else is completely out the window. I mean my health, my medication, any responsibility that I have, I don't even eat. I'm doing good to keep myself hydrated at all. Everything goes.
If you have HIV and you drink, don't drink if you love life, continue to take your medicine. Because that's double jeopardy, the medicine and the alcohol on your liver, that's double jeopardy.
Women noted several psychological consequences of drinking, including effects on emotions, decisions, and behaviors. Specific psychological consequences included out of control behavior, criminal activity, bad choices, and risky sexual behavior. Some women noted that they had different consequences from different types of alcoholic beverages, with liquor having a different effect than beer, for example.
Because you know you get drunk and you want to go do Sally husband, and Sally don't play.
I stopped for like a year and I started back gradually drinking beer and everything. Now I like to drink a lot of beer, I would drink liquor if somebody pissed me off, but I try to give people fair warning, if I start drinking you ain't going to like me, that keep people back off me. Let me go ahead and do my thing. Now really, like I said, I just drink beer, that's every day, every night.
I woke up and didn't know where I was and I was in the bed with a guy that I didn't know.
Women identified numerous social consequences of drinking. For example, some women discussed how drinking aversely affected their relationships with their family or their friends, or how they were later embarrassed about things they had done or said. Also, several women identified social consequences related to breaking the law or societal rules.
Your job, you neglect your family, you can have your children taken away from you, and all kinds of things.
Yes, because it was causing more problems at the time. I lost everything. I lost a job, relationship, respect, respect from family, I lost everything, and at the time, yes, certainly, I would have done it. And even when I went to AA, I'm sitting around people where I'm like, wow, my life isn't that bad, but even realizing it, it was, I had hit bottom, and that's where I sat.
When I drink, I break out in handcuffs. That's what happens when I drink…(When you say 'break out in handcuffs' what do you mean?) I mean I'm pretty much going to do something stupid, and I'm going to end up in jail. I just lose complete control of myself. It's going to be either other drugs and then I'm going to be in real trouble.
But socially, I will drink a lot when I'm you know, like I said, I've gotten a couple DWIs, blew a .12 and really I didn't feel like I was drunk, you know… I almost got a third one, one time, and that time I really was drunk because I was sick, and they didn't give me a DWI, thank God that time.
Because alcohol can adversely affect a range of HIV-related health outcomes, many experts suggest better integration of substance abuse interventions into HIV primary care [27]. Suggested interventions include referring persons to substance abuse treatment, prescribing medications, or conducting brief interventions [16]. However, it can be challenging to identify those persons who would most benefit from alcohol intervention and to understand factors that may influence their decisions to change drinking behavior. In this study, women identified reasons and consequences that appear to be especially relevant in the context of the lives of women living with HIV. The data clearly demonstrate the impact of alcohol across biological, behavioral, and social dimensions, consistent with a biopsychosocial model of health.
For example, many women cited alcohol use as a self-management strategy for addressing pain, including both physical and emotional pain. Pain is common among individuals with HIV infection, and persons often drink alcohol to self-manage or mask ongoing physical or psychological pain or distress [28–31]. If women are drinking alcohol to self-manage emotional or physical pain, then interventions to reduce drinking may need to provide alternative strategies to manage the pain. Similarly, many women stated that they drank to address psychological symptoms including low self-esteem, stress and depression. Finally, as noted in other literature [32, 33], social aspects of drinking with family and peers were clearly relevant in terms of current and past drinking behavior. Many women in this study discussed how their family's drinking behavior influenced their own drinking at a young age.
Regarding drinking consequences, we sought to identify whether participants perceived that alcohol had an effect on any HIV-specific health issues. For the most part, women in this study identified more general and immediate health consequences, or health issues from their past, rather than current consequences specific to HIV infection. Although alcohol consumption can affect HIV medication adherence, HIV disease progression, HIV comorbidities, and increases in viral load [5–10], few of the women participating in our focus groups specifically mentioned these consequences until after being specifically prompted for this information. Because many HIV-related health issues affected by alcohol are not immediate, many women living with HIV may not be aware of the long-term consequences. Therefore, providing women living with HIV with more education and guidance about these issues should be a priority.
Women also noted several behavioral and social consequences of drinking. Links between alcohol consumption and sexual behavior were commonly noted, a connection that is especially relevant to HIV transmission in women [34]. Several women described how alcohol resulted in their becoming involved in sexual activities that they did not intend, while others also acknowledged that alcohol also affected their own personal sexual expectancies and desires. Women often drink for different reasons than men, for example in response to depression [12, 35], or in association with intimate partner violence [14] or other traumatic events or stressors [36].
Few other studies have examined reasons for drinking or drinking consequences in persons with HIV, regardless of gender. One recent study compared reasons for drinking to the amount of alcohol consumption in a HIV clinic population in New York [20]. The investigators found that persons who were drinking to cope or to self-manage problems drank a larger amount of alcohol than persons who drank for other reasons. The investigators did not present the results by gender, indicating they were similar, but fewer than 25 % of the sample was female. Another recent study from the same group found that one third of persons with HIV were unaware of medical risks of drinking [37]. Another qualitative study of women in Africa found that women were motivated to use alcohol to manage their emotions, facilitate social engagement, and to achieve a sense of empowerment even while recognizing the potential consequences of these strategies [38].
Some limitations of the study warrant mention. First, the specific questions in the interview guide varied somewhat across sites, although at each site women were specifically asked about reasons that they drank and to identify perceived consequences of drinking. In order to protect anonymity, we did not set up a system that would allow us to link statements to demographic or health information from specific participants, and therefore could not make comparisons according to individual factors. Similarly, we could not compare responses of women with HIV to the few women without HIV in this study, and therefore we cannot conclude whether or not women with HIV infection have distinct benefits or consequences compared to similar women without HIV infection. The limited number of women from each setting precluded the ability to make comparisons across sites. The interviews were done in preparation for a clinical trial, and thus we did not confirm whether thematic saturation was achieved. Finally, some participants may have been uncomfortable discussing their individual HIV-specific reasons and consequences of drinking within a focus group setting.
We identified reasons for drinking and consequences of drinking among women living with HIV. Many of the themes are currently relevant, including the use of alcohol to manage pain, emotional symptoms, or to gain confidence. Clinicians and public health personnel who conduct alcohol interventions should inquire about reasons for drinking, because women may be drinking to self-manage another conditions such as pain or depression [35]. Family and social network influences should be considered, as these can also have a strong influence on alcohol intervention motivation or outcomes. General assessments of drinking consequences, such as the Short Inventory of Problems [39], may help women recognize consequences from drinking that could improve from reduction in alcohol consumption. However, women may not always be aware of the potential medical consequences, and more education on HIV-specific medical consequences may be important.
HIV:
PLWH:
antiretroviral therapy
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We thank JD Sharpe for her assistance in editing and preparing the manuscript for submission. The following funding sources contributed to the manuscript: National Institutes of Health (grants R01AA018934, U24 AA022002, U01 AI34993, U01 AI34994), and the Hektoen Institute. The funding sources had no role in the analysis, interpretation, or decisions to publish the findings.
This study received financial support from National Institutes of Health grants R01AA018934 and U24AA02002, U01AI34993, U01AI34994, from an NIAAA supplement to the Women's Interagency HIV Study (WIHS), and from the Hektoen Institute. Some of the data were obtained by the Women's Interagency HIV Study (WIHS). The WIHS is funded primarily by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), with additional co-funding from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), the National Cancer Institute (NCI), the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), and the National Institute on Mental Health (NIMH).
Departments of Epidemiology and Medicine, University of Florida, 2004 Mowry Road, Gainesville, FL, 32610, USA
Robert L. Cook
& Chelsea M. Loy
Department of Family, Community, and Health System Science, University of Florida College of Nursing, PO Box 100197, Gainesville, FL, 32610-0197, USA
Christa L. Cook
Department of Pathology, Immunology and Laboratory Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, 32610, USA
Manju Karki
Cook County Health and Hospital System and Hektoen Institute of Medicine, 2225 W Harrison St, Chicago, IL, 60612, USA
Kathleen M. Weber
Clinical Research Specialist, UF CARES, University of Florida Center for HIV/AIDS, Research, Education & Service, 653-1 West 8th Street, LRC 3rd Floor L-13, Jacksonville, FL, 32209, USA
Kathleen A. Thoma
Women's Interagency HIV Study (WIHS), Georgetown University Medical Center, 2115 Wisconsin Ave NW, Suite 130, Washington DC, 20007, USA
Lakshmi Goparaju
Department of Public Health, Bethune-Cookman University, College of Health Sciences, 640 Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune Blvd., Daytona Beach, Florida, 32114, USA
Bridgett Rahim-Williams
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Correspondence to Robert L. Cook.
RC conceptualized the study, created the initial questions for the focus groups, and drafted the manuscript. CC and MK coded data and provided input on the manuscript. KW and CL contributed to manuscript writing and interpretation of findings. KT and LG led focus groups, contributed to manuscript writing and interpretation of findings. BRW was primary coder and also helped to prepare the initial manuscript draft. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
Cook, R.L., Cook, C.L., Karki, M. et al. Perceived benefits and negative consequences of alcohol consumption in women living with HIV: a qualitative study. BMC Public Health 16, 263 (2016) doi:10.1186/s12889-016-2928-x
Accepted: 04 March 2016
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-016-2928-x
Risky Sexual Behavior
Hazardous Drinking


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text:
Andropogon glomeratus
Common Name: bushy bluestem
Type: Ornamental grass
Native Range: Central America, West Indies
Bloom Time: September to February
Bloom Description: Silvery pink to white
Suggested Use: Naturalize, Rain Garden
Leaf: Good Fall
Other: Winter Interest
Tolerate: Deer, Black Walnut, Air Pollution
Easily grown in medium to wet soils in full sun. Tolerates very light shade. Prefers moist, fertile, loamy soils that do not dry out and is generally intolerant of dry soils. It should be noted that the moist soil preference for this species distinguishes it from most other species of Andropogon including the Missouri native Andropogon gerardii (big bluestem). Freely self-seeds in optimum growing conditions. Cut clumps to the ground in late winter to early spring before new shoots appear.
em>Andropogon glomeratus, commonly called bushy bluestem, bushy beardgrass or bushy broom grass, is a clump-forming ornamental grass which is grown for its attractive foliage and feathery, club-shaped flower/seed panicles. It is native to the eastern and southern U.S. where it typically occurs in moist soils in swamp peripheries, marshes, pastures, low spots and coastal areas. Typically forms a narrow clump of flattened blue-green leaf blades (1/4 to 1/2" wide) growing 3-4' tall with a spread of 2-3'. Flower stalks topped by dense, fluffy, silvery pink to white panicles rise above the foliage (to 6' tall) in late summer to early fall. Unlike the marginally ornamental, turkey foot-like inflorescences of Andropogon gerardii (big bluestem), the bushy and broom-like inflorescences (hence the common names) of this species are quite attractive. After frost, the foliage and bushy panicles turn coppery-orange with the panicles softening into billowy plumes. Fall foliage color persists well into winter providing good ornamental interest. Seed plumes are attractive in dried flower arrangements.
Genus name comes from the Greek words aner or andros meaning man and pogon meaning beard in reference to the hairs on the spikelets of some species in the genus.
Specific epithet means clustered in reference to its bushy and broom-like inflorescences.
No serious insect or disease problems. Can aggressively self-seed in optimum growing conditions.
Attractive ornamental grass for moist soils. Group or specimen. Mature flower/seed panicles can be spectacular, especially when backlit by late afternoon sun.


I got tired of the $5/gal propane and bought a wood stove. It's a Quadra Fire Millennium 4300 with a flat top for cooking. My friend Danny helped me hook it up yesterday and it took about 6 hours to install. I fired it up at 1600 yesterday and smoke arose from the Ricksteen Chapel. The first thing I did was shut off the furnace! I loaded it up last night at 2100hrs and went to bed. At 0500 this morning, I filled her back up and cooked a farm egg for breakfast. The temp in the house was 65 this morning and in about 45 minutes it was up to 70. The OAT this morning is 14 with a wind chill of 7. I have a Cabelas #12 full of water on the stovetop and it kept the humidity at 38% which is pretty good. I have a new favorite place to sit and read. Life is good! Regards, Rick.


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Sci-Fi Chopping Block: Altered Carbon Cancelled At Netflix
After two seasons, Netflix has officially cancelled their most expensive series, Altered Carbon.
With a first season clocking in with ten episodes and the second being relegated to only eight, the writing was on the wall for the show. Joel Kinnaman starred in the first while Anthony Mackie picked up the lead role for the second year. Due to low viewership and a budget that was skyrocketing, the streaming giant has opted to cancel the series prior to a third season. The show kicked off in February of 2018 and quickly gained a cult following. Unfortunately, the follow up did awful with audiences but had a mixed critical reaction. Netflix also released a spin-off animated film called Resleeved that received a negative response across the board.
The show which was based on a novel by Richard K. Morgan definitely brought something new to the streamer but ultimately failed to garner the audience like they had hoped for. It never reached the heights of Stranger Things or other original series on Netflix. According to Deadline, a spokesperson for Netflix says this has nothing to do with the COVID-19 pandemic but is strictly due to low viewership and lack of return on their investment.
Tags: action, altered carbon, anthony mackie, joel kinnaman, netflix, Netflix News, news, sci fi, sci-fi, science fiction, streaming at 8/26/2020


* Tired of dominating the U.S. political landscape, Frank uses deception and back-channels to usurp the leaders of all nations in taking over the Planet Earth.
* NSA officials spend 13 consecutive hours "binge-watching" the Underwoods' phone and email records.
* New Secretary of Agriculture? Freddy, from Freddy's BBQ.
* Bored by her past affairs, Claire Underwood takes on a new lover: Screech, the mascot of the Washington Nationals.
* Frank is haunted by the ghost of Congressman Peter Russo, who is about to drag Frank's soul to Hell until he's distracted by an open bottle of whiskey and asks if he can finish it.
* Cashew the guinea pig, pet of the creepy hacker Gavin, returns as the Secretary of the newly-created Department of Fluffy Rodents.
* No longer enthralled by the idea of dominating the world, Frank uses deception and back-channels to usurp Palpatine as Emperor of the Galactic Empire.
* After alienating himself through a series of strategic miscalculations at the end of Season 2, Underwood nemesis Remy Danton bottoms out as a lobbyist for Old Spice and a few other deodorant corporations representing Big Anti-Perspirant.
* Two running themes of the show continue to defy logic: Congress keeps accomplishing stuff and Kevin Spacey remains married to a woman.
* After drawing complaints from shark-friendly special interest groups, Frank's ode to his wife of how he "loves [her] more than sharks love blood," is replaced with "I love her like a fat kid loves cake. Copyright 50 Cent." He even says the "copyright 50 Cent" part out loud.
* Yawning at the thought of having the galaxy under his thumb, Frank uses deception and back-channels to usurp God as Lord and Creator of the universe.
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