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Possible Vaccine Against Food Allergies | Allergy Test
Could This Whooping Cough Vaccine Help Fight Against Food Allergies?
by jayfranks | Feb 25, 2020 | Blog | 0 comments
What a test for food allergies could reveal
The answer could be in the vaccine
Infants are given a lot of immunizations in their first few months of life, and most parents simply see them as a whirl of tests and nothing more. However, there is research to suggest that it's possible a particular kind of whooping cough vaccine could actually be the best combatant against food allergies. While you wouldn't think that one is related to the other — why would you? — there are cases to support it, and a test for food allergies can also help support the data along the way. Buy, why? And why should we know that?
We all know that a test for food allergies is used to reveal if we have any allergies. Most often, this test is given in childhood or even in adulthood if you start experiencing suspected allergic reactions. Otherwise, there are many people who will go through their lives with no test needed and no allergic reactions. This could be confirmed by taking a test food allergies if you know which vaccine you got.
Could this whooping cough vaccine be the reason you don't have allergies?
This vaccine was given to children in the late 1990s, and it was a whole-cell vaccine that was given once or more than once to children in this timeframe. When compared to children who were given the later version acellular vaccine, there was a 20% less chance of being diagnosed with a food allergy.
The thought is that the older vaccine worked by stimulating a Th1 immune system response rather than stimulating a Th2 immune system response. In order for infants and children to grow properly, the stimulation and regulation of both immune systems are critical. Since infants are known for having natural higher Th2 immune systems at the time of the immunization, the former vaccine helped strengthen the immune system response, whereas the latter vaccine simply strengthened the part of the immune system that was already strong.
Since the immune system is not as evened out as it could have been from the older vaccine, it meant that it wasn't as resistant against food allergies, leading to a higher probability of allergies developing as the child aged.
There is no known cure for allergies, simply because specialists don't completely understand why allergies do or do not appear, and why some children grow out of them and others don't. With data like this, however, it does give hope for the future that closer monitoring of the Th1 to Th2 immune system responses could help keep children strong and protected against future developments of allergies.
The future is an exciting place when it comes to the possibility of a cure, and it appears as though the very beginning of a proper protective and preventative system could exist in this outdated whooping cough vaccine. Specialists now have to dive further into the research and see what this could mean about protection for our most vulnerable and newest additions to the world.
Allergy Test > Blog > Could This Whooping Cough Vaccine Help Fight Against Food Allergies?

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Jose Mourinho "has done a lot" for Manchester United, says Romelu Lukaku, with the Portuguese deserving respect for the job he oversaw.
Having been handed the reins at Old Trafford in the summer of 2016, a proven coach delivered three trophies in his debut campaign.
He was left empty-handed in his second, but returned United to the Premier League's top four as they finished as runners-up behind record-breaking champions Manchester City.
Mourinho was expected to build on that platform, but endured a testing start to the 2018-19 campaign and was relieved of his duties in December.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has impressed as his successor, overseeing eight successive victories, but Lukaku is reluctant to be drawn on the differences between the manager who signed him for £75 million ($99m) and the one currently at the helm.
The Belgium international striker told Eleven Sports: "I'm not going to compare the two managers.


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Paros (grekiska Πάρος) är en grekisk ö i Egeiska havet, i södra delen av ögruppen Kykladerna, mellan Naxos i ost och Antiparos i väst. Paros är bland de största av Kykladerna, ca 195 km2, och har ca 8 000 invånare.

Paros består till största delen av ett berg, vars högsta spets, Hagios Elias, når en höjd av 771 m ö.h. Huvudorten Parikia ligger på västra sidan av ön. I Parikia ligger även öns hamn, som är mycket viktig, både som turisthamn och hamn för fiskeindustrin på ön.

Historia
Som Paros äldsta invånare nämns kreter och arkader, vilka dock snart efterträddes av joniska nybyggare. Det joniska Paros uppblomstrade hastigt, så att det redan i slutet av 700-talet f.Kr. kunde sända ut en koloni till Thasos. Längre fram stod Paros under Naxos välde och slöt sig på perserkrigens tid till perserna. Kort därefter kuvades det av Aten genom Themistokles, och tillhörde sedan dess tributpliktiga bundsförvanter; den stora tributen som de betalade visar hur rikt Paros på den tiden var. Det tillhörde sedan romarriket och bysantinska riket.
Mellan 1204 och 1537 var Paros en egen stat styrd av en monark med titeln herre/dam av Paros, vasall under hertigdömet Arkipelagen. 1537 erövrades Paros av turkarna. Den blev grekisk 1830.

Paros var under forntiden berömt för sin rikedom på ypperlig gulvit statymarmor (parisk marmor eller Parosmarmor), och även som skalden Archilochos födelseort. Försök har även under senare tider gjorts att åter exploatera öns marmor.

Arkeologi
Paros har vunnit arkeologisk ryktbarhet genom den år 1627 upptäckta marmorkrönikan (Marmor parium, även känd under namnet Arundelska marmortavlan, se Arundel marbles), som omfattar tiden från kung Kekrops dagar till år 354 f.Kr. Flera rätt märkvärdiga ruiner och gravar har grävts ut under 1800- och 1900-talen.

Gallery

Källor

Greklands öar
Öar i Egeiska havet
Kykladerna

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


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Home » Students » Prospective Students
Welcome, Future Terps!
We're thrilled you're considering the University of Maryland for college. Maryland Hillel is home to one of the most exciting and vibrant Jewish communities on any college campus.
We look forward to welcoming you to campus! Visit us the Rosenbloom Hillel Center (7612 Mowatt Lane), right across the street from the business school, and one of our staff members or student interns can chat with you about Jewish life on campus and show you around our building! You can stop by whenever works best for you from Monday to Friday at 9:30 AM – 5 PM.
Grab a Bite to Eat
During the week, dine with us in our Kosher dining hall for lunch or dinner. You can join as a walk-in guest and pay with credit card. Meals for prospective students are discounted at $10. For Shabbat, you must sign up and pay ahead of time for dinner and lunch.
About Maryland Hillel
Hillel at the University of Maryland, College Park is among the top Hillels in the country, striving to inspire the 6,500 Jewish students on campus to make enduring commitments to Jewish life. The population which Maryland Hillel caters to is drawn from across the country and the world. It represents diverse socio-economic backgrounds, varied levels of Jewish experience, diverse denominational affiliation and a plethora of political, religious and societal viewpoints. Maryland Hillel strives to meet these students "where they are" in a non-prescriptive way, and it inspires each of them to explore and strengthen their Jewish identity. For many students, the campus' vibrant Hillel is a deciding factor in selecting the University of Maryland. Given the sheer magnitude and diversity of the Jewish population on campus, Maryland Hillel maintains one of the most exciting and varied programs in the country. Maryland Hillel is proud to work as an affiliate partner with the University of Maryland.
For additional questions, email Olivia or call us at 301-422-6200.


The Innovation in Magazine Media 2015-2016 World Report was launched on 23 March 2015 at the FIPP/VDZ/eMediaSF Digital Innovators Summit in Berlin. The 6th edition features more ground-breaking innovations case studies, interviews and reports.
"The 2015-16 World Report is the most in-depth book about creative thinking that we have ever published. We zero in on the top ten categories of innovation that can have the biggest, most immediate impact on the future of magazine media," says John Wilpers. John is co-editor and famed co-presenter along with Juan Señor, of the Innovation World Report at the Digital Innovators Summit.
Topics include: successful advertising strategies - covering mobile, native, programmatic and digital ad fraud; e-newsletters; events, print innovations and magazines making a buzz.
Blippar provides interactive content, polls, videos and charts to the book via the free Blippar app.
The digital edition is made available thanks to PressReader.
Keep up to date by subscribing to the new monthly FIPP Innovation newsletter (free).
Contact Helen Bland at FIPP for further details.
FIPP Innovation in Magazine Media 2015 World Report The 6th FIPP Innovation in Magazine Media World Report zeroes in on the top ten categories of innovation that can have the biggest, most immediate impact on the future of magazine media.


"HR's job starts way before new hires' first day and is far from over after the first week. According to Aberdeen Group 90% of employees decide whether to stay or leave during their first year in a new company. It is now up to the organisation to ensure employee retention and provide the framework for consistent feedback and development mechanisms.
The best onboarding practices are based off two factors: excellent pre-boarding (preparations and activities BEFORE day 1) and personalised ongoing activities concerning successful integration and, later on, career development for every new hire."
"Implementing the bootcamp program is a great idea for onboarding new employees in leadership roles. All the new employees who are hired to lead teams, from middle managers to new C-suite level employees, go through a so called bootcamp.
It means that new employees rotate through every team in the organisation. This is a great way for your new leaders to get to know all the teams quickly, learn how they operate and develop strong personal ties with other employees and departments."
"I really love the examples shown in other answers about the cool swag and tech, and I would like to focus on another very important aspect of onboarding: One of the challenges most companies are facing when hiring new employees is to provide appropriate software training and to manage the time, resources and organisation involved.
A unique and cool idea is to get rid of the often tedious, long and ineffective software training and to replace it with an interactive, step-by-step guiding technology, directly integrated onto the software like a top layer, similar to a GPS system."
Have A Plan. Follow That Plan.
"Have a plan, and use it. Organisations must invest the time, energy and resources necessary to create an onboarding experience that clearly communicates organisational and role based expectations, introduces organisational culture, and makes the vial interpersonal and organisational connections for an employee to succeed. This strategic approach requires human resource professionals to deliver onboarding experiences, and support managers in doing the same."
"As a manager, you should put yourself in the shoes of a new hire and appreciate what it's like for them to start working somewhere new. We often become so engrossed in our own roles that we can barely remember the time when we weren't deeply acquainted with the people, processes, and products that make our businesses work. We might be so focused on roles and responsibilities that we forget to think about what new employees want from us when they join our team. Remember that your new hire is seeing, hearing, and experiencing everything at your company for the first time — your job is to make them feel comfortable and integrate them into the company so they can start producing. You can also use new hires, as a great way to start a feedback loop and learn what onboarding procedures are working well and if any may be confusing or unappealing to your newest hires."


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Q: Is the Unicode prefix N still needed in SQL Compact Edition? At least in previous versions of SQL Server, you had to prefix Unicode string constants with an "N" to make them be treated as Unicode. Thus,
select foo from bar where fizz = N'buzz'

(See "Server-Side Programming with Unicode" for SQL Server 2005 "from the horse's mouth" documentation.)
We have an application that is using SQL Compact Edition and I am wondering if that is still necessary. From the testing I am doing, it appears to be unneeded. That is, the following SQL statements both behave identically in SQL CE, but the second one fails in SQL Server 2005:
select foo from bar where foo=N'າຢວ'
select foo from bar where foo='າຢວ'

(I hope I'm not swearing in some language I don't know about...)
I'm wondering if that is because all strings are treated as Unicode in SQL CE, or if perhaps the default code page is now Unicode-aware.
If anyone has seen any official documentation, either yea or nay, I'd appreciate it.
I know I could go the safe route and just add the "N"'s, but there's a lot of code that will need changed, and if I don't need to, I don't want to! Thanks for your help!

A: SQL CE was originally developed for Windows CE, which is purely Unicode.  As a result, SQL CE already leans heavily toward Unicode and the "N" prefix is unnecessary.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


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Spotlight 40: Nicholas Kotar
Categories: Spotlight
Mark Dawson: I'm Mark Dawson from the Self-Publishing Show and this is Self-Publishing Spotlight where we shine a light on the indie authors who are changing the world of publishing one book at a time.
Tom Ashford: Hello, and welcome to the Self-Publishing Spotlight. We meet indie authors at all stages of their careers and ask them a series of five questions, five questions about their process, their mistakes and their successes. Five answers that will help you level up your own author career.
My name is Tom Ashford and I'm part of the Self-Publishing Formula. Don't forget that you can get your self-publishing resource kit at selfpublishingformula.com/starterkit.
This week's guest is Nicholas Kotar. He's written seven books in the epic fantasy and nonfiction genre and he lives in New York.
Welcome Nicholas.
Nicholas Kotar: Thank you so much for having me.
Tom Ashford: Do you want to start by going into the epic fantasy and stuff like that? Because I know that you had a couple of sort of sub-genres and that sort of thing.
Nicholas Kotar: I'm inspired by the way J. R. R. Tolkien wrote, but I'm not really a big fan of a lot of the epic fantasy that comes out now. So I call it epic fantasy and it probably fits best in there, but there's a lot of sort of mythology and folklore that's going on there in the background.
I guess it would be sort of somewhat cross genre between sort of fairytale retellings, mythology and epic fantasy, but epic fantasy is the most solid thing that I could sort of place it in the bookstore kind of thing.
And the nonfiction books they're not the nonfiction that you usually think about. My idea was to kind of give my readers an extra layer of insight into my process and to the world building of my books.
I have a book on the heroes from Russian history because I basically write mostly from Russian fairytales and another one on Russian folklore and folk culture, that sort of thing, and fairytales.
Tom Ashford: Very cool.
Question one is, why do you write? Was there a particular reason or story that made you want to get into writing in the first place?
Nicholas Kotar: To be honest, I don't remember a time where I wasn't writing. A lot of people put it this way, they say that, "I can't not write." But I used to say that, but I think it's a bit too negative of a way of looking at it.
I prefer to phrase it something like, "The joy of writing is something that I can't live without." And yes, it's a hard thing. Of course it's difficult, but when you're in that state where things are flowing, when the story's coming out almost without your putting too much effort into it, it's one of the most transcendent things that I can experience and I really love it.
Tom Ashford: Was there a particular story? What was your first book about?
Nicholas Kotar: My first book was when I was five and it was a picture book about my life. So that's my first book.
But in terms of actually trying to string together some sort of narrative, my initial efforts were quite laughable. One was a knock off of Star Wars that was called Duels of Space. I think I must've been around 10 years old when I started writing it.
Eventually it morphed into something that had ninjas riding bears. So I think that was the point at which I started to read Lord of the Rings and other fantasy and it kind of all got confused and mixed up in there.
Tom Ashford: Have you always intended to go with indie publishing or did you pursue traditional avenues first?
Nicholas Kotar: Well that's a bit of a story. I initially self-published in 2014 a book that eventually became my book one, but I did it in all the wrong ways. It wasn't properly written. I hadn't really learned the craft yet very well. I certainly hadn't learned about the business of it and I kind of just threw it out there to see what would happen.
And obviously nothing happened. And so after that I started to get a little deeper into the craft of it and I thought, "Now is the chance for me to find an agent." And I did, I got an agent in Trident Media, which is a big agency in New York City.
The agent then proceeded to ignore me for an entire year and during the process of that rather excruciating wait, I started to do some reading on the whole indie publishing thing and specifically Kristine Kathryn Rusch, who herself was traditionally published for most of her career.
She and her husband do a lot of education work for indie writers and publishers. And I realized that the financial realities of traditional publishing were so stark and so outside of what I expected and wanted for myself, that even though indie was kind of a crapshoot, there was more a chance that I would, with consistent work and practice, be able to have some sort of financial stability if not possibly even go full time.
So I ran away screaming from my agent, I told them to go away. And from then on I started to do things more properly, taking Mark Dawson's courses and listening to Joanna Penn and doing those kinds of things and I've never looked back from there.
Tom Ashford: Question number two is, how do you write? Do you plot your stories out or just see where they take you?
Nicholas Kotar: I do a little bit of both. I can't really write a story until I have a pretty strong framework for the characters. I don't really see the entire story ahead of me as I write, so I'm not really a traditional outliner.
I know some writers outline 50 pages before they even start writing the book, I'm not like that. But neither can I really pants in the traditional way. So something in the middle.
What I have to do really, is to figure out the goals and motivations and conflicts of each character, each main and lesser characters, both protagonists and antagonists before I can really start the story.
And it's from those conflicts that arise organically from who the character is and what their problem is that, that the rest of the story kind of starts to fall into place.
To be honest, sometimes in the messy middle, I'll have to stop and do a short outline of the next few chapters just so I can make sure that my characters are actually doing something and not just walking in place. It's a bit of a hybrid model, I guess you'd call it.
Tom Ashford: Is there a particular software that you use?
Nicholas Kotar: When I write I use Scrivener. I don't use it as well as I should. I keep wanting to get one of those courses that teaches you how to use all of its features. Because I think if I think if I actually took some time and studied how it worked, it would actually help.
But even if you use it basically as a word processor with some bells and whistles that can just compile things very easily, that's good enough for me. I'm a fan of Scrivener.
Tom Ashford: Is there a particular time and place that you prefer writing?
Nicholas Kotar: Well, this is a difficult question isn't it? Because the time that I would prefer to write is early in the morning before everybody else gets up. But I have three children and they're small so there is no regularity in anything in my life and I'm self employed so there's no place I can go to really for silence and to help with deep work.
I have to pick and choose my times throughout the day. Ideally what happens is that I do some sort of low lying fruit in terms of work in the morning and after lunch I sit down for a few good hours of writing every day. But that's something I'm working towards, it's certainly not a reflection of current reality.
Tom Ashford: Yeah, fair. Okay, well that leads into question number three.
Are you a full time author? If you are, how did you get there? And if you aren't, what steps are you taking to make it happen?
Nicholas Kotar: No, I'm definitely not a full time author. But that's an interesting question in and of itself because I think most people would assume that what you mean by that is, do I make my living off of selling books?
I used to think of the writing business purely as that, but I've since started to think about my writing in a more general way because I don't just write books. I also speak, I have several blogs and I also have a Patreon page, all of which together kind of work to present a certain storytelling vision to people who would like more than just simply to read books, people who have a certain approach to their reading to like certain kinds of stories. And who by and large don't get to read the kinds of stories that they like because they're kind of old fashioned in their tastes.
What I found is, what I'm working towards in terms of becoming a full time as a creative professional, is I'm no longer thinking about trying to get as many books sold per month as I possibly can in terms of maximizing my income.
What I'm really thinking about is using my books, my blog, my speaking, my social media as a unified platform for storytelling. And once I started to look at it that way, a lot of interesting opportunities started to present themselves and I have some very concrete goals and I think by the end of the year I will be able to call myself a full time freelance creative entrepreneur, which I think is what you're asking.
That's something that's right within my sights. I've gotten pretty close. Two years ago I had a Kickstarter that funded 737% of what I wished for. So that gave me really good financial foundation from which to start building pieces that I think by December, 2020 are going to add up to something that I could call a full time income.
Tom Ashford: Question number four is, what mistakes do you think you've made and what have you got right?
Nicholas Kotar: There's been plenty of mistakes. Of course, the first mistake was sort of slapdash preparing a book that wasn't ready for publication in 2014 and not having it edited, not studying the craft properly before finishing it and not having it edited, not getting a professional cover designer and just sort of throwing it out there to see what would happen.
A lot of people think they write much better than they do, and that was certainly true of me, I had a very high opinion of my own writing. And it turned out that although I had some things right, most of the stuff I had was wrong.
It set me back in terms of where I could be by several years because then I started to waste time looking for traditional representation during which I could have actually been writing and I wasn't. So that was the first thing I did wrong, which I sort of wish I had back, but on the other hand, everything that I went through was a learning experience and I don't really regret it.
And then the other mistake, not so much a mistake is a continuing process. I'm still trying to figure out how best to build and sustain an engaged email list because a lot of the strategies, a lot of the traditional stuff that people tell you to do, which much, much in the fiction space is based on sort of handing out freebies and from a large collection of a freebie seekers, finding people that are close to you in terms of their vision for storytelling, shall we say.
But I found that approach to be difficult to maintain because you do get a lot of people that sign up and who want nothing more than freebies and there's some significant problems with people's attention and with the technology and how Google sorts your emails automatically into places where people don't see them.
I find a lot of the standard advice on email list building to be slightly short of the mark. And I think a lot of people who are giving that advice have managed to get to a point where they're very well known and they can deal with slightly lower readthrough rates and things like this. So their advice is useful, but perhaps not for people who are starting out or on the cusp of becoming full time.
I think that there's a way of doing all of the things that we're supposed to do, all of the marketing stuff that takes some of what the experts tell you, but then you have to really look for your own ways of making them viable.
Because really it all depends on your own personal situation and the kind of readers that you're trying to attract and trying to figure that out. So those were the things that I had trouble with and I'm continuing to have trouble with on a certain level.
Now in terms of successes, well, I think the biggest success was this Kickstarter that I mentioned. I signed up for a pilot program, a course that was offered by what was then called, Oh gosh, not Bookfunnel, but the other one that's since changed, it's now called Prolific Works.
Tom Ashford: Instafreebie to Prolific Works.
Nicholas Kotar: That's the one, yeah. So they had this course that they were doing and I managed to get in on the very first class before the course was made official and the course was how to do a Kickstarter campaign for authors as a kind of pre order mechanism.
So not as an opportunity or a way of soliciting donations from people, but as a way of gathering a very specific tribe that looks for books specifically on Kickstarter, which is a really interesting thing.
And it turns out that there's a lot of people that buy their books only on Kickstarter. It's an entirely different audience, one that a lot of people don't even think about getting at, because it's a lot of work to get a good Kickstarter going.
I raised over $25,000 on something that I was hoping to get 7,000 on. So that was a huge success. And it opened up all kinds of doors for me, not necessarily in terms of finances in the short term, but I used that money to start opening up doors in terms of education and networking.
I started to get to know people who knew what they were doing and I started to get to know them on a first name basis. And that sort of long ranged view, instead of taking all that money and throwing it in advertising for example, to try to get a big spike on Amazon. I took it and I invested it into my education and it starting to bear fruit right now, so that was the biggest success I think.
Tom Ashford: Fifth and final question is, what's your final piece of advice for authors starting out in indie publishing?
Nicholas Kotar: This could be a recency bias thing, but I do have people sending me works in progress all the time to ask me for my opinion and almost to a man or a woman, my advice is learn how to write. And that might sound to be a little bit, I don't condescending or cruel, but I honestly think that…
First of all, I think that a lot of people can write good stories. I don't think there's such a thing as magical talent that you're given that automatically gives you an instinct for storytelling. Some people are instinctive and intuitive storytellers, yes. But that's not because of talent, it's because they've been lifelong readers and because they have studied, whether they like it or not, the way that stories are structured and it's natural to them.
But honestly I think a lot of people can become good storytellers if they study. The problem is most people want to cut out a massive chunk of time and study in the middle and kind of go from, I want to be a writer to bestselling, professional author in the space of months or years.
Most people don't have the necessary technical knowledge to be able to write a good story. So my number one piece of advice is please go and learn the craft from people who have done it for a long time. The people who know exactly how to break down the mystery of writing into bite sized pieces. So then you can do the technical stuff and eventually by doing the technical stuff you can start infusing it with your own voice and that you can make it something unique.
And together with that is the piece of advice that nobody wants to hear and that's, don't expect things to happen quickly. I think it's clear that the people who make it, the people who are successful for the longest are the ones who don't expect an overnight success or rather that expect the overnight success to last 10 years, right? Which is something that a self-publishing talks about a lot. So yeah, that's really my advice to people.
Don't expect immediate success, but don't be discouraged by it because there could be a lot of reasons for it. And just while you're waiting and while you're putting down the foundational structures that are going to serve you well in the future, learn how to write. And this is a constant process.
The people that I learned from are Nebula, award-winning writers who are still learning how to craft their stories better. It's a lifelong process, so love it, love that process of learning and writing. So that's my advice.
Tom Ashford: Awesome. All right, well those are your five questions. Thank you very much for coming on, it's been great.
Nicholas Kotar: Yeah, thanks Tom.
Tom Ashford: That's it for this week, self-publishing spotlight.
Don't forget that you can get your free self-publishing resource kit at selfpublishingformula.com/starterkit.
And if you want to appear as a guest on this show, send us brief details about yourself and your writing at selfpublishingformula.com/spotlight-guest. I'm Tom Ashford and I'll see you again next week.
Spotlight 53: Paul Stephenson
Spotlight 004: Steven Moore
Spotlight 44: Jacqui Broderick
Spotlight 41: Eileen Mueller


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Guns aren't dangerous, the NRA doesn't own the Republican party, and other lies
Last week, in the immediate aftermath of the deadliest mass shooting in modern history, Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.) went on television and defended civilian ownership of the AR-15, a military-style assault rifle that the Las Vegas shooter used to kill 59 people and injure more than 500. Cole—one of many Republican Congressmen who, not coincidentally, has received thousands of dollars from the National Rifle Association—argued that the weapon is not dangerous "when used appropriately."
During U.S. Army basic training, I was taught the appropriate use of the M-16, the military's fully automatic version of the semi-automatic AR-15. I distinctly recall the description that the other trainees and I received of what the bullets our weapons fired were capable of doing to the human body.
"This is a high-velocity round that is often referred to as a 'tumbler,'" said the sergeant instructing us. "The reason we call it that is, when it enters the target, it ricochets off bones and tumbles around inside the body, fragmenting and tearing up soft tissue and internal organs."
By the end of my M-16 training, I was able to plant one of those bullets in a human-shaped target 300 meters away.
It is with all of that in mind that I would like to clarify for Mr. Cole and his NRA-friendly Republican colleagues the following: The dictionary defines the word "dangerous" as "able or likely to cause harm or injury." When "used appropriately," the AR-15 is both able and likely to inflict catastrophic, often fatal injury upon human beings, and is specifically designed to do so even in situations where those human beings are located a significant distance away from the shooter. It is, by definition, nothing but "dangerous."
In further parsing Mr. Cole's remarks, let us turn to his use of the word "appropriately," which the dictionary defines as "in a manner that is suitable or proper under the circumstances."
A standard-equipped AR-15 allows the shooter to fire 30 rounds before pausing to reload—a feature that made it extremely easy for the Sandy Hook murderer to mow down 20 children and six adults in an elementary school.
As if that volume of uninterrupted fire isn't more than enough for any peacetime situation, one can significantly increase that number by equipping the weapon with a high-capacity magazine such as the 100-round drum that fed the AR-15 with which the Aurora, Colorado murderer executed a dozen people and injured 70 more.
That same standard-equipped AR-15 is capable of firing one round per trigger pull. However, as most of America has learned in the wake of the Las Vegas massacre, the addition of a "bump stock" enables a shooter to fire every available round in the weapon's feeding mechanism with just one active trigger pull.
The Las Vegas murderer was armed with multiple AR-15s, a dozen of which were equipped with bump stocks that made it possible for him to empty into a crowd some 32 stories below 100 bullets at a time with essentially a single squeeze of the trigger.
It is unfathomable to me that we live in a country where a civilian was able to legally amass an arsenal that enabled him to execute 59 people and injure more than 500 others from the comfort of his hotel room a third of a mile away. There is nothing "suitable or proper" in that equation. The only circumstances under which it is "suitable or proper" for someone to have a cache of weapons capable of causing that much carnage are:
1.) Military combat.
3.) See numbers 1 & 2 above.
Of course, what Mr. Cole most likely was trying to say is that the AR-15 is not "spontaneously lethal when handled safely"—a distinction that in no way justifies civilian access to the kind of firepower I've just described, but one that does highlight perhaps the most frightening aspect of gun ownership in America.
Before ever setting foot on a firing range and using live ammunition, I spent hours learning how to safely handle and care for my M-16. Gun safety was hammered into my brain by Army drill sergeants, and when finally I did fire live ammo down range, I was closely supervised by those same drill sergeants and additional firing-range instructors. I received similarly rigorous military and law-enforcement training with the Beretta M9 and Colt M1911 handguns, the latter of which I carried as my duty weapon while serving as a Military Police K-9 Handler.
By contrast, American civilians are allowed to stockpile an unlimited number of firearms with which they may never have received a minute of professional training or instruction. In fact, it is possible for residents in 26 states to carry a concealed weapon that they've never actually handled other than to load it and strap it to their body.
No, seriously: There's a $19 Groupon available right now for an "Online Multi-State Concealed-Carry Course," which the vendor describes as a "hassle-free, 45- to 60-minute virtual course" that "lets people meet the requirements" for a concealed-carry weapons permit "without ever leaving their computer." It goes on to say that "each state allows permit applicants to be trained in firearms safety without once firing a handgun."
Yes, that's right: The Average Joe/Average Jane "Good Guy with a Gun" whom NRA frontman Wayne LaPierre says is the only thing that can stop a "Bad Guy with a Gun" quite likely has never even fired theirs before, let alone received extensive training on how to, say, scan the bad guy's backdrop in order to avoid wounding or killing you, me or some other innocent bystander.
There is a gun problem in this country. As a former soldier and military policeman, I am appalled that the kind of weaponry I've described above is available to the general public, and I am terrified that they are able to obtain and wield it without any formal training and very little oversight.
We need common-sense gun laws to correct this insane, out-of-control situation—and the only reason Congress has not yet enacted such laws is that Tom Cole and his Republican colleagues are in the pocket of Wayne LaPierre and the NRA. Their failure to respond "appropriately" and act in the public's best interest is, by definition, "dangerous."
Originally published at HuffPost.
Filed Under: Politics Tagged With: Guns, NRA, Wayne LaPierre
Harvey Norris says
Appreciate your thoughtful statements. Well said!
Laurie Drew says
I really appreciate you chiming in here with data and your personal experience with weapons. I think it is really helpful for people like you to speak up so it comes from a place of knowledge rather than just aversion (which would be me). Thanks Jon!
Jon Zal says
You seem nice.
H.A. Palomino says
First of all thank you for your service in the armed forces. second, excellent article, I actually made it this way bc of how well put a message u posted to sarah sanders was on twitter. kudos.
Christy Deevers says
Jon, thank you for your service and thank you for writing about this. I intend to circulate this relentlessly.
What do you think? Leave a comment.	Cancel reply
Just flushed the toilet at work with my left foot and sprained my right ankle in the process, in case you're wondering how 50 is going so far.


Are you confusing unity with like-mindedness?
Nov 12, 2018 - Are you confusing unity with like-mindedness? As you strive for your goals, are you surrounding yourself with people who can truly support and enhance your efforts or "yes" people? Are you focused on getting to the heart of the answers needed or more focused on avoiding conflict? Are you seeking people who share your core values or merely agree with you? By realizing that unification is strengthened by embracing different perspectives while sharing core values, you will begin to know true progress.
Take an MM&I Moment to assess how you are approaching working with and engaging others in your efforts. Do you welcome and encourage feedback and perspectives? Do you know one another's core values and how they align and differ? Do you seek understanding over agreement? Do you embrace differences while appreciating what is shared? When we accept and then celebrate one another's differences, we are better able to unite on a more meaningful and deeper level.


So… you remember yesterday I mentioned that I was a survivor of Course 4 at the Institute of Genealogy and Historical Research (IGHR), right? And you're still reading this blog today, hmmm? That means you must have at least SOME interest in figuring out the ins and outs of all this law stuff as it affects genealogical research, yes?
On this coming Tuesday, the 17th of January, 2012, starting at 11:30 a.m. Central Standard Time, you can register for this year's IGHR Course 6 — Advanced Library Research: Law Libraries & Government Documents. IGHR this year starts June 10 and runs through June 15 at Samford University, Birmingham, Alabama.
Students get hands-on experience with research in a law library and a TON of information on the many different flavors of government documents that can so enrich a family history. If you don't take this course in 2012, it won't be offered again until 2014. So if you've got the time, and the interest, GO! Tuition alone is $405; there are options to stay on campus or off and a meal plan is available to all.
Registration for all IGHR courses opens Tuesday, but it starts at different times for different classes. Check the time for the class you want.
Course 4 has prerequisites and if you register for the course but don't have one of 'em, you have to submit a paper by March 1, 2012 or your registration will be cancelled.
So… will you be at IGHR this year?
Judy, I'm so envious of everyone who will get to be at IGHR this year — especially those in the GovDocs course. I took it a few years ago and learned a ton. But I could easily go back and take it again and get even more out of it. There is so much to learn that one week just skims the surface and I'm sure I've forgotten a good chunk of it by now. A refresher course is in my future, I think, but not this year.
IGHR is a fantastic experience no matter what course you take. It's not just about the course, but about being around so many people playing at the top of their game. They inspire you to do your best work, to look harder and deeper, to think more carefully, to recognize assumptions as just that, and to analyze and correlate records more thoroughly.
Wish I could be there this year. Lucky you if you're going back!
Sorry you're not going to be going this year, Barbara! I'm hoping to be able to go (not necessarily for this course, since I suspect I could teach most of it, given my day job!) — there's just so much to learn!


In a RGB color space, hex #1f823d is composed of 12.2% red, 51% green and 23.9% blue. Whereas in a CMYK color space, it is composed of 76.2% cyan, 0% magenta, 53.1% yellow and 49% black. It has a hue angle of 138.2 degrees, a saturation of 61.5% and a lightness of 31.6%. #1f823d color hex could be obtained by blending #3eff7a with #000500. Closest websafe color is: #339933.
● #1f823d color description : Dark cyan - lime green.
The hexadecimal color #1f823d has RGB values of R:31, G:130, B:61 and CMYK values of C:0.76, M:0, Y:0.53, K:0.49. Its decimal value is 2064957.
Below, you can see some colors close to #1f823d. Having a set of related colors can be useful if you need an inspirational alternative to your original color choice.
This text has a font color of #1f823d.
This paragraph has a background color of #1f823d.
This element has a border color of #1f823d.
A shade is achieved by adding black to any pure hue, while a tint is created by mixing white to any pure color. In this example, #010302 is the darkest color, while #f2fcf5 is the lightest one.
A tone is produced by adding gray to any pure hue. In this case, #4a574e is the less saturated color, while #00a131 is the most saturated one.
Below, you can see how #1f823d is perceived by people affected by a color vision deficiency. This can be useful if you need to ensure your color combinations are accessible to color-blind users.


The first burst of green grass in the spring just begs for a picnic blanket. And thankfully, the season also brings bright, fresh flavors that inspire all kinds of picnic-worthy recipes. Of course, picnic food requires a slightly different strategy than other types of cooking — portability is key! Here are a few of our favorite spring picnic dishes.
Strawberries are just sweet enough to balance the spice of jalapenos in this refreshing twist on salsa. This can be made a few hours before your picnic and works great with chips as a side, or as a condiment for grilled chicken, fish, burgers, sausages — you name it! Plus, 1-lb pkg of organic strawberries is on sale — get 2 for $7 from 4/4 - 4/10/18*.
A great cheese for spring is Klare Melk Truffle Gouda from Dutch Cheese Makers — especially when you pair it with honey and crackers. You can save $1 on this raw milk Gouda generously laced with aromatic, earthy truffles from 4/4 - 4/10/18*.
This is a great end-of-winter, early-spring treat. To make it portable, combine all of the ingredients — except for the spring greens. Transport those separately, and combine everything when you get to your picnicking spot. That way the greens won't wilt in the dressing before you're ready to eat them. Save on organic Abate Fetel Pears — $1.79/lb from 4/4 - 4/10/18*.
Upside down cakes are a great option for picnics. They're sturdy enough to travel, and they've got their own topping baked in! This upside-down cake uses in-season mangoes and pairs them with coconut oil and milk for a slightly tropical flavor. Get Champagne Mangoes 5 for $5 from 4/4 - 4/10/18*.
After all, you're going to need to drink something, and what goes better with spring sunshine than a fun, fruity Rosé? Summer Water Rosé goes down just as easy in spring, and it has a screw top so there's no need to bring a corkscrew. Or, if you're in the mood for bubbles, try Camino Calixo Cava Brut Rosé. Find both of these and more rosé wines handpicked by our very own Master Sommelier on sale from 4/4 - 5/29/18**. Cheers!
*Valid 4/4 - 4/10/18. While supplies last. Not valid at Whole Foods Market 365™ stores. U.S. only. No rain checks. Excludes organic and cooked chicken and organic mangoes.
**Valid 4/4 - 5/29/18. While supplies last. U.S. only. No rain checks. Sale prices not legally available in all stores. Cannot be combined with a case discount where prohibited by law. Must be 21. Please drink responsibly.
When berry season begins in earnest, I feel like I've won the culinary lottery. Berries – strawberries, blueberries, raspberries and blackberries – are the perfect adornment for a bowl of oatmeal and make excellent afternoon snacks, but do you know how to handle this summertime windfall?
Bonus: Keep your eyes peeled for less common varieties: currants, mulberries, gooseberries or huckleberries, and handle them with the same care you use with other berry season standbys.
Berries should be uniformly and richly colored.
Don't worry about the hazy white "bloom" on blueberries – that's a normal bloom berries form as a protective shield from the sun.
Avoid berries with brown patches or discoloring, which could indicate under-ripe or damaged berries.
Size doesn't really affect the flavor profile of the berries, though tiny berries can be more concentrated in flavor.
Wild berries tend to be much smaller than their cultivated counterparts.
Berries should be plump and firm.
If berries are wrinkled or shrunken, they may be drying out and past their prime.
Berries should be dry and intact – if the berry carton is wet or has splotches of juice on the sides, some of the berries are likely overripe and could be moldy.
A good test is to give the container a gentle shake – the berries should move freely in the package.
Store unwashed berries in the refrigerator.
Berries are delicate, so consume them as soon as possible after purchase; blueberries can last up to a week.
Only wash berries just before you plan to use them.
To freeze berries for smoothies or baked good down the road, allow gently washed berries to dry completely (don't forget to hull the strawberries first). Next, place the berries in a single layer on a parchment-lined rimmed baking sheet and freeze until firm. Store frozen berries in resealable plastic freezer bags.
Berries can be flavorful additions to sweet and savory dishes alike.
Dice strawberries, then toss with lime juice and flecks of hot peppers for a spirited summer salsa.
Skewer blueberries along with other seasonal darlings like cantaloupe, pitted cherries and peaches for fun poolside snack.
Cap all your fingertips with upturned raspberries and have a snack on the go – but you'll want more than that, so fold whole raspberries into your favorites pudding for a bright warm-weather dessert.
Quickly simmer blackberries with a splash of sweet wine, then serve over grilled chicken or fish.
Still hungry? Check out our collections of raspberry and strawberry recipes for more inspiration.
Just in time for Easter we're introducing a sweet new addition to our stores, SmartSweets gummy bears.
The idea for these stevia-sweetened treats started when SmartSweets founder, Tara Bosch, had a heart-to-heart with her grandmother, who confessed she regretted consuming so much excess sugar over the years, especially from one of their favorite treats to enjoy together — candy. Tara was having a similar sugar dilemma. She had been reflecting on her own relationship with food and how unhealthy it had become over the years. This conversation led to action.
"Equipped with my belief that we should feel good about enjoying the foods we love while treating our bodies right, I bought a gummy bear mold and began recipe testing in my kitchen," said Tara.
Motivated by the belief that relationships in all aspects of life come from smaller, smarter choices, Tara spent months perfecting a recipe for gummy bears that are juicy and chewy with a mouthwatering punch. Then, at only 22 years of age, she founded SmartSweets with the goal to tackle one of the largest and most concerning problems hidden in our everyday foods — sugar. So each serving-sized bag of SmartSweets has 3g of sugar and is made with no artificial sweeteners or colors.
Look for both flavors — Fruity and Sour — of SmartSweets at your local Whole Foods Market.
A Dutch baby pancake is a pancake-crêpe-popover hybrid that is a match for lots of sweet and savory toppings and is large enough to share. Plus, it has a party trick — it puffs up in the oven though quickly fall once removed from the oven. Once cooked, choose from a myriad of toppings to really make it your own. Try powdered sugar, syrup, fruit preserves, lemon curd and big wedges of fresh lemon, cinnamon sugar, your favorite nut butter or seasonal fresh fruit like berries and mangoes.
Check out this basic Dutch baby recipe then pull inspiration from these six examples below.
This cocoa-based Dutch baby from @theoliveandmango is topped with rich chocolate sauce and a strawberry sauce. It would also be a crowd-pleasing dessert after dinner or brunch.
The fruit-filled Dutch baby by @thetravelingspoonchef takes a classic dessert pairing — sweet and tart — and creates something that would be celebrated during breakfast too.
You had us at goat cheese. Who says Dutch baby pancakes need to be sweet? This version with spring onions, herbs and goat cheese, would be a perfect star on a weekend brunch table.
This take on a savory Dutch baby pancake is one to save for summer's highly prized tomatoes. Enjoy more flavor in every bite by adding fresh herbs into the batter, then top with tangy lemon ricotta and sliced tomatoes. This is a pancake you can enjoy for any meal.
Tea lovers will rejoice in the sweet, aromatic spice mixture in this custardy Dutch baby pancake. Bonus: It can be mixed up the evening before and just given a quick whisk in the morning before baking.
Ever wish you could have apple pie for breakfast? This Dutch baby packed with sliced apples and topped with cinnamon and powdered sugar will satisfy that pie craving in the morning hours. Blogger Ashley McCormick also has recipes for lemon and berry compote versions.


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/**
 * DocuSign REST API
 * The DocuSign REST API provides you with a powerful, convenient, and simple Web services API for interacting with DocuSign.
 *
 * OpenAPI spec version: v2.1
 * Contact: devcenter@docusign.com
 *
 * NOTE: This class is auto generated. Do not edit the class manually and submit a new issue instead.
 *
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   * @param {module:model/CaptiveRecipientInformation} obj Optional instance to populate.
   * @return {module:model/CaptiveRecipientInformation} The populated CaptiveRecipientInformation instance.
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