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Campaigning for better support for mothers who choose to breastfeed
Better Breastfeeding committee
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Government consultation: Advancing our health: prevention in the 2020s
The Department of Health has produced a Green Paper on "Prevention", including a consultation asking the public for their views.
You've got until the end of today 14 October to tell them what you think. You don't have to answer every question. The two questions that we're asking breastfeeding advocates to respond to are:
Eating a healthy diet, which asks "How can we do more to support mothers to breastfeed?" and Taking care of our mental health, which asks "How can we support the things that are good for mental health and prevent the things that are bad for mental health?"
You can read Better Breastfeeding's response below, but if you are responding as an individual then it's best to tell them about your personal experiences, either as a mother or as someone who supports mothers to breastfeed. You might want to talk about:
Were services cut in your area? What was the impact on you or local mothers?
Were you given poor support from someone who did not have the time or skills to help?
Did you have to pay to see a lactation consultant?
Was your baby's tongue tie not diagnosed or did it take a long time to get it treated?
Were you unable to get to a breastfeeding group in the early weeks? What was the impact of this?
If you had good support at home, what difference did this make to you?
Were you given inconsistent advice about breastfeeding from health professionals?
Were you wrongly told to stop breastfeeding by a health professional for any reason?
Were you or your baby admitted to hospital while you were breastfeeding? What was your experience?
Were you prevented from expressing milk at work or did you find it difficult to do so? What was the impact of this?
Were you told to stop breastfeeding in a public place? How did this affect you?
Did you experience postnatal depression? Do you feel that stopping breastfeeding contributed to this? (Please respond in the section Taking care of our mental health)
Better Breastfeeding's responses
Q: Which health and social care policies should be reviewed to improve the health of: people living in poorer communities, or excluded groups? Please restrict your answers to 250 words.
Breastfeeding rates among younger, poorer and less-educated mothers are much lower than those among older, more educated and better-off mothers. While breastfeeding rates are on the whole higher in BAME groups, they are very low among gypsy and traveller communities. These low breastfeeding rates compound the existing health and social inequalities experienced by these groups. A national Infant Feeding Strategy should be developed that includes targeted efforts to encourage and support mothers who are least likely to breastfeed.
Q: How can we do more to support mothers to breastfeed?
A mother's decision to stop breastfeeding is not always a "choice". As the last national Infant Feeding Survey (in 2010) reported, 8 out of 10 mothers who stopped breastfeeding in the early weeks said they had wanted to carry on for longer. Even among those who breastfed past the early weeks, most (6 out of 10) said that they stopped before they wanted to. This translates to hundreds of thousands of women every year who are pushed unwillingly into a decision to stop breastfeeding. We know that mothers who stop breastfeeding before they were ready are at double the risk of developing postnatal depression, and they and their babies are also denied the many health protections that come from breastfeeding (Borra et al. 2015).
There are many factors that influence a mother's decision to start or stop breastfeeding and it is therefore essential for the government to work with breastfeeding organisations and mothers' groups to develop a comprehensive national Infant Feeding Strategy. Such a strategy must be fully funded, and local authorities and the NHS must be held fully accountable for implementing it. The current system of commissioning is not fit for purpose and has exacerbated a postcode lottery of breastfeeding support across the country. Better Breastfeeding conducted research in 2018 that found that at least 44% of local authority areas in England have seen cuts to breastfeeding support services in recent years. We also surveyed 1500 mothers about their experiences of these cuts to services, and many reported that they were devastated by the lack of breastfeeding support following these cuts.
The first days and weeks of breastfeeding are the most challenging time for new mothers. If breastfeeding does not get off to a good start then it becomes very difficult to continue. Conversely, when mothers are well supported in the early days it is possible to avoid problems from developing, and breastfeeding goes on to be a very rewarding experience for many mothers. In the intense early days and weeks, when breastfeeding is getting established, mothers should not be expected to leave their home with a newborn to seek out help. All mothers must have access to high-quality, one-to-one breastfeeding support at home from people who have the time and skills to deliver it. This includes midwives, health visitors and maternity support workers, but also peer supporters, breastfeeding counsellors and certified lactation consultants. These lay practitioners are highly trained and highly skilled at supporting mothers to breastfeed and they must play an essential role in the effective delivery of a national Infant Feeding Strategy.
The Baby Friendly Initiative is an important foundation of such a strategy. It ensures that midwives and health visitors have the basic training to help mothers with breastfeeding and give consistent advice. It should be implemented in all maternity, community and neonatal settings, and a paediatric pathway should also be developed and implemented. The NHS as a whole also needs to become breastfeeding friendly. All health professionals who come into contact with mothers and babies should have the knowledge and skills appropriate to their role. At present that is far from the case, and all too often doctors actually undermine breastfeeding with incorrect advice to stop breastfeeding. In some cases, this advice can put mothers at serious risk (e.g. incorrect management of mastitis can lead to sepsis). When breastfeeding mothers or their babies are admitted to hospital, they rarely get the support they need, and an Infant Feeding Strategy needs to consider the needs of these groups.
What does good breastfeeding support look like? Tower Hamlets is one of the few areas in the country that has consistently invested in breastfeeding and maintained this commitment over many years. It is no surprise therefore that it has the highest breastfeeding rates in the country and the rates of any breastfeeding and exclusive breastfeeding have steadily increased since the service was introduced. The hospital has Baby Friendly Initiative accreditation in both the maternity and neonatal units, and the local health visiting and children's centres are also fully accredited. Each service works well together and there are specialist lactation consultants to refer to when needed. The Baby Feeding service is well staffed, and all mothers are contacted the day after they return home from hospital. They are offered home visits by highly trained breastfeeding counsellors for as long as needed. There is also comprehensive support in the community, with breastfeeding drop-ins open 6 days' a week, year round. Peer supporters help mothers on the postnatal ward and help is also available to mothers and babies in other parts of the hospital when needed.
The national 5-yearly Infant Feeding Survey that is quoted above provided very valuable information about rates of breastfeeding and mothers' experiences, as well as important demographic data that gave insight into inequalities around breastfeeding. Since the survey ended there has been very poor data collection, and no qualitative information about mothers' experiences. We welcome the decision to conduct an infant feeding survey. It is essential, however, that this survey provides data that is comparable with past surveys and a commitment is made into the future to continue to capture this information. We call on the government to consult closely with breastfeeding organisations on the content of the proposed infant feeding survey.
Other essential elements of any national Infant Feeding Strategy include:
Families must be protected from aggressive marketing by formula manufacturers through fully enacting in UK law the International Code of Marketing of Breastmilk Substitutes and subsequent, relevant World Health Assembly resolutions.
The Equality Act protects breastfeeding mothers from harassment and discrimination but this is not well known about or enforced. There must be much better information for businesses about their obligations, and those who break the law should be fined.
Mothers need access to much better quality information online. A single national website is needed, with comprehensive and reliable information on all aspects of breastfeeding and access to the National Breastfeeding Helpline/webchat and details of face-to-face support. (Similar to the NHS Smoke Free website.)
Employers should be required by law to provide breaks to breastfeeding mothers to allow them to breastfeed or express milk at work.
Q: How can we better support families with children aged 0 to 5 years to eat well?
A national Infant Feeding Strategy should include measures to encourage and support mothers to breastfeed exclusively for 6 months and then to continue breastfeeding alongside solid food for as long as possible. Fully implementing the WHO Code on the Marketing of Breastmilk Substitutes would also go a long way towards protecting parents who are currently bombarded with aggressive marketing of unhealthy and unnecessary baby foods.
Q: How else can we help people reach and stay at a healthier weight?
Children who are obese almost always go on to become obese adults. Any prevention strategy should focus on preventing obesity from developing in the first place. As mentioned above, nearly one quarter of children are already overweight or obese by age 4. We were disappointed that previous government plans to reduce childhood obesity did not mention the early years, and we therefore welcome the new focus on breastfeeding and infant feeding in the child obesity plan. Some studies indicate that breastfeeding to one year could reduce rates of childhood obesity by as much as 25-50%. Any breastfeeding reduction strategy must begin with improving support for mothers to breastfeed, including support for breastfeeding for 12 months or more. Given the impact of breastfeeding in reducing childhood obesity, it would also make sense for a proportion of future sugar tax revenues to be used to help fund a national Infant Feeding Strategy.
There is some evidence that breastfeeding helps mothers to return to their pre-pregnancy weight more quickly. The impact of breastfeeding on maternal risk of diseases that are closely associated with obesity is very substantial. Breastfeeding can reduce a mother's lifetime risk of type 2 diabetes by almost 50%, and it reduces the risk of heart disease and stroke by around 20%. Breastfeeding also reduces a mother's risk of breast cancer (by 4% with each month of breastfeeding) and ovarian cancer (by 30-50%).
Q: How can we support the things that are good for mental health and prevent the things that are bad for mental health, in addition to the mental health actions in the green paper?
When a mother wants to breastfeed but does not do so her risk of postnatal depression is double (Borra et al. 2015). We know that hundreds of thousands of women who want to breastfeed stop in the early weeks due to lack of good breastfeeding support. If all mothers had access to high-quality, one-to-one breastfeeding support in the home in the early days from someone with the time and skills to provide it, this could potentially have a huge impact on preventing postnatal depression.
When breastfeeding mothers do develop postnatal depression, the act of breastfeeding can help to alleviate the symptoms for some. Many mothers with postnatal depression report that breastfeeding "was the one thing keeping me going". All too often, however, GPs wrongly assume that antidepressants are not compatible with breastfeeding and advise mothers to bottlefeed instead, exacerbating their illness.
The responsive nature of breastfeeding means that when breastfeeding mothers have postnatal depression their babies are protected from its harmful effects on them. As well as protecting infant mental health, children who are breastfed have a reduced risk of psychiatric problems as adults. An effective Infant Feeding Strategy is likely to have a wide-ranging impact on protecting mental health for mothers and babies in the short and long term.
Q: Have you got examples or ideas for services or advice that could be delivered by community pharmacies to promote health?
There is very poor understanding among pharmacists about the safety of medicines while breastfeeding. Many wrongly assume that breastfeeding mothers cannot use medications that are in fact perfectly safe. The Breastfeeding Network charity has a Drugs in Breastmilk service that is available to pharmacists, GPs and mothers. This vital service should not be reliant on charitable funds. The Department of Health or NHS should fund and expand this service and ensure that all pharmacies are aware of it. Pharmacists themselves should also have much better training on the safety of medicines while breastfeeding.
Q: What could the government do to help people live more healthily: in homes and neighbourhoods, when going somewhere, in workplaces, in communities?
In the workplace, breastfeeding mothers do not currently have all the rights that they should, as outlined in the WHO Global Strategy on Infant and Young Child Feeding. Employers should be required by law to provide breaks to breastfeeding mothers to allow them to breastfeed or express milk at work. The government should be proactive in ensuring that employers are well informed of their responsibilities towards their employees who are breastfeeding.
Despite the Equality Act protecting breastfeeding mothers from discrimination and harassment in public places, this continues. Hardly a month goes by without a story of a mother in the UK being told to stop breastfeeding in a cafe, shop or swimming pool. Yet, to our knowledege, not a single establishment has ever been prosecuted under the Equality Act for preventing a mother from breastfeeding. Mothers of young babies are very unlikely to have the time or resources to bring such cases. There needs to be much better guidance for businesses and public places about the rights of breastfeeding mothers, and authorities should be proactive in going after those who discriminate against mothers rather than simply relying on individuals to do so. Some areas of the country have Breastfeeding Welcome schemes, and these should be expanded and promoted as part of the a national Infant Feeding Strategy.
The WHO Code on the Marketing of Breastmilk Substitutes should be fully enforced so that families are not exposed to adverts for formula milk on bus stops, billboards, in magazines and on television. Instead, national and local advertising campaigns in support of breastfeeding should be developed to help normalise breastfeeding and encourage mothers to feel confident to breastfeed in public.
In schools, children should be taught about breastfeeding as the normal way to feed babies. This should be taught from the early years, in an age-appropriate way, and as part of the PSHE curriculum.
Q: How can we make better use of existing assets – across both the public and private sectors – to promote the prevention agenda?
In recent years over 1000 children's centres have closed. These buildings were often purpose-built and many have simply been mothballed. If they were re-opened they could be used very effectively to promote the prevention agenda. For example, many breastfeeding support groups were run out of children's centres, so when the centres closed the groups also closed. These support groups were sometimes run by voluntary groups who were unable to relocate because of lack of funding for venue hire.
Those who were trained as breastfeeding peer supporters and breastfeeding counsellors by children's centres or through Sure Start funding, and who have years of experience in helping mothers, are themselves an untapped community asset. For example, the NCT had nearly 100 Baby Cafes in 2015. This number had fallen below 50 in 2017 and continues to fall. The highly trained counsellors who ran these Baby Cafes could be mobilised once again if children's centres were re-opened and funding made available to restore these breastfeeding groups once again.
Q: What more can we do to help local authorities and NHS bodies work well together?
The separation of NHS and public health responsibilities has been detrimental to the provision of breastfeeding support across England. It has been a key driver of the cuts we have seen across the country, with at least half of local authorities reducing their provision of breastfeeding support. The shift to Integrated Care Systems could help to improve decision making, but this is by no means guaranteed. The governance and accountability to local communities must be well defined and there must clear incentives to pool budgets. Health and Wellbeing Boards could potentially play an important role, but only if they are given the powers to direct CCGs and Local Authorities on how to spend their money on prevention and public health.
We are pleased that ICSs are now being asked to develop system-wide breastfeeding strategies as part of the NHS Long Term Plan and through the Maternity Transformation Programme. However, these local strategies will require targeted and adequate funding for improving breastfeeding rates. Without this clear funding model, internal tensions between CCGs and LAs will prevent them from taking responsibility for increasing breastfeeding rates and spending the money required to deliver the solutions needed.
Cuts to breastfeeding support reported in 44% of English council areas
Resulting "postcode lottery" to be reported in Channel 4 Dispatches documentary, Breastfeeding Uncovered, which airs 30 July at 8pm
Campaigners in over 140 council areas in England say mothers are not getting the help they need to breastfeed as local services are being reduced or shut down altogether. This represents 44% of the 326 local authority areas in the country that have experienced cuts to breastfeeding support.
The survey of campaigners and mothers was conducted by the campaign group Better Breastfeeding. "We've been hearing from mums who say their local breastfeeding support has been significantly reduced, or in many cases cut altogether. So far we know of 142 local authority areas in England that are affected, but these are just the ones we've heard about. The actual number is likely to be even higher," said Ayala Ochert, founder and co-chair of the campaign, which is pushing for better support for mothers who want to breastfeed.
"All over the UK – and especially in England – councils and health boards are trying to save money by closing peer support and specialist breastfeeding support services, which are essential in helping mothers to continue breastfeeding. It's a totally false economy because these services are not only very cheap, but they also save the NHS money as breastfed babies get sick less often," she added.
On 30 July – ahead of World Breastfeeding Week – Channel 4 will broadcast a Dispatches documentary, Breastfeeding Uncovered, on the state of breastfeeding in the UK and the impact of the cuts to support services. The documentary features an interview with Professor Amy Brown, professor of child public health at Swansea University and co-chair of the Better Breastfeeding campaign, who highlights the impact of a lack of breastfeeding support on mothers' mental health.
"This isn't about telling mums they should breastfeed – most people already know about the benefits. Most mothers in the UK begin breastfeeding, but of those who give up in the early weeks around 80 percent of those say they would have liked to continue," says Professor Brown. "When you consider that there are over 750,000 births each year, that means there are literally millions of women out there who have been affected by the lack of practical and societal support to breastfeed. For many women, the pain of having struggled with breastfeeding can last for decades. We hear of grandmothers breaking down in tears in breastfeeding support groups, recalling the lack of help when they were new mothers themselves."
The Better Breastfeeding survey on the extent of the cuts gives details of the cuts experienced in each area. In some places – like Blackpool – the entire service has been closed down, while in others – such as Kent – high-quality services have been pared down, leaving some mothers without the help they need.
Previous surveys have indicated similar results. Last year, Unicef UK's Baby Friendly Initiative asked infant feeding leads about cuts in their areas. Many of these posts have been cut but of those responding, 40% reported cuts to one-to-one breastfeeding support and 47% reported closures of breastfeeding support groups in their areas. In April 2018, the Institute of Health Visiting conducted a similar survey of its members. Of those who responded, 50% reported recent cuts to breastfeeding support groups; 54% reported cuts to breastfeeding support specialist services; and 51% reported cuts to peer support programmes.
The NCT has also reported that its Baby Cafés – groups where mothers can get skilled help from breastfeeding counsellors and peer supporters – have been closing. The numbers have nearly halved in the last three years, falling from 97 in 2014 to just 46 at the end of 2017.
Survey of mothers' experiences
In addition to its survey on the extent of the cuts, Better Breastfeeding also teamed up with the popular website Can I Breastfeed In It? to conduct a complementary survey of mothers' experiences of cuts to breastfeeding support. The survey, which had over 1500 responses, reveals a postcode lottery of breastfeeding support, with some mothers getting all the help they needed locally while others found themselves struggling alone.
One mum in Hartlepool said the three support groups in her area had been cut to just one and funding for peer supporters had also ended. As a result, she had to travel 50 miles to get the help she needed. Another mother in Brent wrote: "I struggled with breastfeeding in the beginning and couldn't find support anywhere in my area. Can you imagine what it is like as a new mother with a very unhappy baby to find the courage and energy to go out to seek support, only to be told that there's no one there to help because of short staffing?! In the end my daughter and I were admitted to hospital in another borough [Harrow] and finally got some help."
A mother from Hampshire wrote: "Since the closure of all but about 11 children's centres in Hampshire, where most of the breastfeeding clinics were held, there is now no longer regular and wide ranging support… The support is even more difficult to find than it was 3 years ago when I had my first child." She praised the support that she had previously received at the clinics. "It pretty much saved me from descending into postnatal depression. If it wasn't for me regularly attending a local breastfeeding support group (that has now had to close), my daughter would never have been diagnosed with a severe tongue tie and there is no way that I would have been able to carry on breastfeeding for as long as I did. I went almost every week, in floods of tears usually, and always received warm, friendly and dedicated support. I was, and remain, devastated that the services have been slashed so wantonly."
Mothers' mental health
Breastfeeding rates in the UK are among the lowest in the world, with just 1% of mothers exclusively breastfeeding for six months. Around 80% of mothers begin breastfeeding, but by 6 weeks half of them have stopped breastfeeding. Around 8 out of 10 of these mothers say they stopped breastfeeding before they wanted to. Many cite lack of support as their reason for stopping or problems such as sore nipples, which can almost always be solved with skilled breastfeeding support. A report last year from the NCT on women's experiences of maternity care, Support Overdue, found that two thirds of mothers said their midwife was too busy to help them with feeding their baby.
"We're sleepwalking our way from a crisis to a total disaster with the present cuts to breastfeeding support. There had been steady gains in breastfeeding rates in recent decades, but these are about to start falling back down again. And that translates into hundreds of thousands of mothers every year being let down," Professor Brown warned.
When women plan to breastfeed but it doesn't work out, their risk of postnatal depression doubles, according to research from Cambridge University. "Antenatal education is very important, but it's not enough to just tell women about the benefits of breastfeeding. They need practical, one-to-one, skilled help once their baby is born so that they can actually do it. Many people are surprised to discover that it's not always completely straightforward. Mothers also need to hear when things are going well and their baby is feeding normally, especially those who don't have any family and friends who have breastfed," said Ayala Ochert.
Government guidance being ignored
Guidance from NICE (National Institute for Health and Care Excellence) and from Public Health England (PHE) says that local authorities should ensure that all mothers have access "local, easily accessible breastfeeding peer support programmes" and that peer supporters should be part of a multidisciplinary team, including midwives, health visitors and others. It also says all new mothers should be contacted directly by peer supporters within 48 hours of their transfer home from hospital (or within 48 hours of a home birth). The guidance also says that when there are more complex breastfeeding problems – for example, if the baby has a tongue tie that is affecting their ability to suck – mothers should be seen by a specialist, such as a lactation consultant. Only a small handful of places in the country now remain where all these NICE guidelines on breastfeeding support are followed.
Last year, Chief Medical Officer, Professor Dame Sally Davies, wrote to local authorities about the importance of breastfeeding: "Improving breastfeeding rates is not the responsibility of individual women struggling alone in a culture that can be hostile towards breastfeeding – rather this is a public health challenge for which we all share responsibility. We must find a way to meet this challenge; failure to invest in breastfeeding leads to poorer health outcomes for children and women today and for generations to come."
She singled out peer support as a success story, but local authorities appear to be ignoring her advice. A study from Cardiff University in 2017 reported that mothers have access to peer support in just 56% of the UK. (The actual number is now even lower, following cuts since the study was conducted.) Many councils wrongly assume that breastfeeding support can be provided by midwives and health visitors alone, but this goes against PHE and NICE guidance. In practice, most midwives and health visitors will have far less training on how to support breastfeeding mothers – typically just two days' worth of training compared with two years for breastfeeding counsellors and even longer for lactation consultants.
NHS England's new Maternity Transformation Programme, which is currently being implemented across the country, includes the aim of increasing breastfeeding rates. Baroness Cumberlege wrote in her report Better Births: "Women told us that [breastfeeding] care was poor. There needs to be much better support for breastfeeding focused on practical help that supports and empowers women." Yet very few Local Maternity Systems have plans in place to improve breastfeeding rates – instead, breastfeeding support is being cut.
The government has been criticised for failing to include breastfeeding as part of its Childhood Obesity Strategy, despite evidence that breastfeeding could reduce obesity in later life by as much as 13%.
In 2016, over 30 organisations, including medical royal colleges and charities supporting new families, wrote an open letter on the crisis in breastfeeding support. They wrote: "The breastfeeding crisis in the UK is in fact a crisis of lack of support for those mothers who choose to breastfeed."
Better Breastfeeding's campaign co-chair Ayala Ochert concluded: "Just at the time when we should be investing in breastfeeding support as a matter of urgency, local councils and health boards across the UK are disinvesting. It makes no sense, and parents across the country are demanding that skilled breastfeeding support is available to all who need it. This must be made a national priority that gets translated into real support locally."
The campaign's petition against the cuts gained has over 18,500 signatures.
Three things to do during National Breastfeeding Week
This National Breastfeeding Week 2018, most breastfeeding campaigners are not feeling much like celebrating. The swingeing cuts to breastfeeding support we've seen recently have left us angry, but we must not be despondent.
Here are three simple things you can do to help the Better Breastfeeding campaign:
SIGN and SHARE our petition against the cuts
Write to your MP telling them why breastfeeding support is important to you, and asking what the government is doing about it. (There's a template below to help you write it.)
Respond to this survey telling us about your experience of cuts to breastfeeding support
These three things should only take you a few minutes. If you can only do one thing – make it the MP letter. You don't need to wax lyrical. Write as much or as little as you like, but do write. (I've just written mine using the template below and it took 5 mins). If you manage something more detailed then you can copy and paste it into the short survey (2 mins), and signing and sharing the petition is even quicker (1 min).
Suggestions for MP letter
It's best to put the letter in your own words, but here are some suggestions for what to include. (The numbers are just there for clarity – obviously don't include them in your actual letter!)
Dear [Local MP]
I am very concerned about the provision of breastfeeding support in [my constituency] and I want to know what can be done about this.
There have been cuts to breastfeeding support [describe them in your own words]
There is very little practical support for mums who want to breastfeed [describe what's available]
Whereas in [neighbouring area] there is much more support [describe what's available if you know]
This has affected me [describe your personal experience]
I've seen how this is affecting mums in [my constituency – describe how they're affected]
I know that the government say that it's the responsibility of councils to provide breastfeeding support to mothers in their local areas. But I'd like to know what the government is doing to make sure that councils actually deliver this and hold them to account. Please could you ask the minister responsible what they are doing? Please include this paragraph or something similar
This week is supposed to be National Breastfeeding Week but I see very little emphasis on from government on this important public health issue. Mothers in [my constituency] are feeling let down, and our low breastfeeding rates show that babies are missing out too.
[My name
Contact telephone number]
MPs will not respond unless they have these full details to show that you're their constituent
Better Breastfeeding – a new campaign is launched
"The success or failure of breastfeeding should not be seen solely as the responsibility of the woman. Her ability to breastfeed is very much shaped by the support and the environment in which she lives. There is a broader responsibility of governments and society to support women through policies and programmes in the community."
Dr Nigel Rollins (WHO) in The Lancet
Last January, The Lancet produced its most definitive analysis of breastfeeding to date. It confirmed the importance of breastfeeding – in both rich and poor countries – to the health of babies, mothers and to the economy. It also reported that the UK has the lowest breastfeeding rates in the world.
You might imagine that the shock of finding itself at the very bottom of the world table would have prompted some action from our government, but so far there has been stony silence. In the meantime, breastfeeding rates are about to fall even further. Across the whole of the UK, but especially in England, there have been deep cuts to breastfeeding support services in the last two years and these continue apace.
In June, Blackpool Council ended its highly acclaimed and well-liked breastfeeding peer support service. Kent County Council has just announced that it wants to get rid of its breastfeeding service too. They join a long and growing list.
What is breastfeeding support?
Supporting mothers to breastfeed is not the same as telling mothers that breastfeeding is good for them and their babies. Governments do have a legitimate role in promoting healthy behaviours, like exercising, eating fruit and vegetables, avoiding cigarettes and too much alcohol – and encouraging breastfeeding.
But the fact is that most mothers in the UK already want to breastfeed. The last Infant Feeding Survey found that 81% of mothers began breastfeeding – by 8 weeks, half of them had stopped altogether. Of those who did, 80% said that they stopped breastfeeding before they wanted to. With over 700,000 births annually, that means almost a quarter of a million mothers are being let down ever year.
What on earth is going on? What is it in our society that is holding so many women back from reaching their own breastfeeding goals? (By comparison, in Norway, 70% of mothers are still breastfeeding at 6 months.) Broadly speaking, the answer is that we just don't have a supportive environment for breastfeeding mothers in UK.
This lack of support takes many forms – telling mothers to stop breastfeeding in public or simply making them feel unwelcome when they do. It's well-meaning family members who urge mothers to "just give some formula". It's the seductive advertising that lures us into the belief that infant formula is basically equivalent to breastmilk. It's those midwives, doctors and health visitors who say "breast is best" but are unable to offer help when breastfeeding difficulties arise. And it's reducing access to the practical help and emotional support that mothers should be receiving from trained peer supporters, breastfeeding counsellors and lactation consultants.
In many parts of the country, mothers have never had access to good quality peer support and specialist breastfeeding help. But now, even those places with exemplary services are seeing them cut. Breastfeeding peer supporters, breastfeeding counsellors, lactation consultants – these are the very people who are able to help mothers achieve their goals. When breastfeeding is painful, they offer ways to make it comfortable; when mothers don't produce enough milk, they suggest ways to increase their supply. They also offer reassurance and an empathetic ear when mothers are struggling with normal baby behaviour.
The Better Breastfeeding campaign will be lobbying local and national governments, getting them to recognise their responsibility to ensure that all mothers have access to high-quality, timely breastfeeding support in their area. We'll be talking to politicians of all parties, encouraging them to work together to do the right thing for those millions of mothers who are currently being let down.
If we're going to create an environment in which mothers feel supported to breastfeed, we're also going to have to change the way we talk about the subject. Right now, we hear the same stories rehashed in different ways. "Breast versus bottle – which is best?" "Breastfeeding in public – what do you think?" "Pressure to breastfeed – were you made to feel guilty?" We need to move on from these tired old subjects that keep us stuck right here with the lowest breastfeeding rates in the world.
So, as well as pushing for access to good quality breastfeeding support for all mothers, the Better Breastfeeding campaign will be sparking new conversations about breastfeeding. We'll be encouraging the media to broaden their horizons and start talking about breastfeeding in a new and better way.
We hope you agree that the Better Breastfeeding campaign is very much needed at this time. You can support our campaign in a number of ways.
Add your name to our change.org statement and show you share our mission
Sign up at the bottom of the page to receive updates about our campaign
Donate to our campaign – we plan to produce high-quality infographics and briefings to get our message across, and these are not cheap to make
Enter your email address to receive updates about the Better Breastfeeding campaign.
Your donation will help us to do more
Photos on this site by Paul Carter/wdiip.co.uk


The Procurement process in any oil and gas organization is crucial in ensuring precise delivery of supplies, materials and services to the relevant units within organizations in the least possible amount of time and cost incurred. A single mistake may lead to a disruption in the overall supply chain management of the organization.
This course will also focus on the development of new procurement ideas and techniques reinforced by targeted strategic development exercises and practical case studies as well as the instructor's personal examples.
Industry Regulatory and contractor safety compliance issues that impact procurement.
Economics of Oil and Gas that drive procurement value creation.
Creating industry category management (sector) strategies.
Procurement Executives, Officers and Specialists in the Oil and Gas sector, Procurement coordinators and analysts ,Contract Executives and Specialists, Supply Chain Executives, Sourcing Executives and Analysts, Expeditors, Materials and Suppliers Buyers, Procurement, Project and Material Managers, Operational Managers, Supply Risk Management, Planning and Scheduling Staff.
How the industry is modeled in the E&P (upstream), midstream and downstream value chains.
Business drivers and interface issues to be supported by procurement in an environment of increasing joint operations and shifting relationship models around the globe.
Characteristics of supply markets to oil and gas and the emphasis on market intelligence practices and managing supply risks.
Industry global compliance needs and how procurement can add value in meeting them.
Procurement challenges unique to the industry including global sourcing, local content requirements, and the growth of eCommerce.


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The New York Times, Gainesville, Florida
Required Education
http://www.nytco.com
The New York Times Editing Center, 40-person editing and production operation in Gainesville, Florida, seeks a versatile page designer/copy editor to join a team delivering content through the New York Times News Service and producing The New York Times International Weekly, a print- and digital-ready supplement of original journalism, along with related branded publications.
Design pages in various New York Times publications for a global audience, while adhering to Times procedures and standards.
Work with editors in New York to finish camera-ready products.
Proof pages and read behind other staffers' edits.
Update designs as news develops.
1-3 years' experience in a professional setting but will consider strong college/internship experience.
Bachelor's degree in journalism or a related subject.
Proficiency in the Adobe creative suite (InDesign, Photoshop and Illustrator) and skilled in the tenets of design.
Strong news judgment and a deep understanding of world events and how The Times covers them.
Ability to work on multiple projects, on multiple deadlines, with clarity and consistency.
Excellent interpersonal and communication skills, both written and verbal.
Taking the tasks seriously without taking yourself too seriously would separate the top contenders for a position with high expectations and responsibility. In a global news environment, the willingness to work a flexible schedule is paramount to contributing to The Times' mission and commitment to its innovation and growth.
The New York Times is committed to a diverse and inclusive workforce, one that reflects the varied global community we serve. Our journalism and the products we build in the service of that journalism greatly benefit from a range of perspectives, which can only come from diversity of all types, across our ranks, at all levels of the organization. Achieving true diversity and inclusion is the right thing to do. It is also the smart thing for our business. So we strongly encourage women, veterans, people with disabilities, people of color and gender nonconforming candidates to apply.
The New York Times Company is an Equal Opportunity Employer and does not discriminate on the basis of an individual's sex, age, race, color, creed, national origin, alienage, religion, marital status, pregnancy, sexual orientation or affectional preference, gender identity and expression, disability, genetic trait or predisposition, carrier status, citizenship, veteran or military status and other personal characteristics protected by law. All applications will receive consideration for employment without regard to legally protected characteristics. The New York Times Company will consider qualified applicants, including those with criminal histories, in a manner consistent with the requirements of applicable state and local "Fair Chance" laws.
To apply to this job, click here.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


I'm an HR professional who's worked for Amadeus Asia (our Bangkok regional office) for more than 13 years, and if I could pick one key achievement that makes me extremely proud, then it would be our recognition as a Top Employer in Thailand.
Over the past few years, we've put in place many HR improvement initiatives and partnered closely with our business leaders to drive our ambition to shape the future of travel. With so many initiatives rolled out, we then decided to take on another challenge, which was to be recognised in Bangkok with one of the leading HR certification awards,Top Employers . Our counterparts inSpain andFrance have previously been recognised and therefore in order to move in the same direction, we decided to apply in May 2015. With this certification, Amadeus Asia in Thailand would proudly be the first site in Asia Pacific to receive this much coveted award and recognition.
The Top Employer certification is given to organisations that successfully demonstrate an exceptional HR environment and employee value proposition. We were required to provide clear evidence of the great conditions that enable employees to develop themselves professionally and personally. The certification focuses on quantifiable offerings the company has put in place to create and maintain a great employee culture – communications, networking, corporate social responsibility, and diversity among others. So in order to receive the award, we needed to ensure that there are continuous developments in processes, policies, and procedures in all HR areas.
Following the thorough review by Top Employers, we were delighted that the award was granted to Amadeus Asia Limited for 2016. The Award is the ultimate testament of our success, a clear recognition of our world class standards and a quality guarantee of our employer brand. It is also the outcome of outstanding teamwork and joint efforts. Most importantly, it opens the door to future awards in the region and recognizes that Amadeus Asia in Thailand is a great place to work.


Last year when Sydney-resident Evan Predavec, former MD of Lexis Asia-Pacific, went on holiday to New Zealand, he decided to appoint someone to keep an eye on his house: himself. Using hardware built by Ninja Blocks, a Sydney/San Francisco startup Predavec had invested in through Kickstarter, he installed a system of switches and sensors that would allow him to turn lights on and off from his smartphone, and which would send him a snapshot of the relevant part of his home if it detected any movement.
On his return, he expanded the system to include a fan that turns on when it detects heat, and a device that sends an alert to his smartphone when the house's side door is opened – something, he says, his son hates "as he's always try to slip in unnoticed". His latest project is a set of traffic lights that uses real-time data from the Sydney transit system to tell his kids when it's time to leave the house and catch the bus to school.
By his own admission, none of this is essential kit. "It's more just fun," he says. But the fact that he can play around with sensors, switches and data without complicated programming or electronics suggests an important step forward for the internet of things, away from the world's DIY hobbyists and rigid proprietary systems, towards something anyone can use to do things that maybe only they want to do. Intruder systems that connect to smartphones have been on the market for some years, but to date, no one is selling a bus-alert system based on coloured lights.
For some long-term observers of the trend, this flexibility is what will allow the internet of things to really take off. Lieven Trappeniers, head of the Ambient Media research department at Alcatel-Lucent Bell Labs in Antwerp, which has been researching the sector since 2004, sees a shift occurring away from preprogrammed systems, such as those that monitor buildings or let us track our fitness, to a world where any of us will be able to configure devices to do exactly what we want them to do.
Ninja Blocks was launched in 2012, having raised just over $100,000 (£66,000) on Kickstarter, to provide "the internet of things for the rest of us". Its core kit, priced at $199, comprises a central controller (essentially a BeagleBone Linux computer connected to an Arduino), three sensors – one each for motion and temperature, and one to detect whether or not a door or window is open – and a doorbell-like button.
The sensors and button communicate with the controller using RF433 technology, the radio standard used in countless everyday devices such as car keys and wireless doorbells. The controller is connected to the internet via the user's home's router.
"What attracted me to Ninja Blocks," says Predavec, "was the capacity to play with them without having toget out your soldering iron. Until recently, the internet of things was all about creating circuits and mashing them up. With Ninja Blocks you just take things and put them together, and the programming language is drag-and-drop. In minutes you can be doing something – turning on a light – whatever you want." Adding other components, such as a camera, he says, is "pretty straightforward".
The way Ninja Blocks components work is typical of internet-of-things applications, whether on a tiny scale, as here, or in large commercial settings such as smart-meter grids.
When a sensor is triggered, a message is sent to Ninja Blocks' servers in the cloud. There, an algorithm decides what to do with it: in Predavec's case sending an SMS to his smartphone, or if things are getting a little warm in the house, returning a command to the controller to switch on an RF433 remote-control electric socket connected to the fan.
Latency (the time it takes for the data to be received and a command to be returned) is potentially an issue – you don't want an intruder, once detected, to have stepped out of sight by the time the camera takes a photograph – but most home broadband systems are fast enough to cope.
Sending texts, detecting movement and switching on fans may feel prosaic when compared with the online phantasmagoria that is the digital internet, but 20 years ago early websites were just as basic. According to Trappeniers, it will be simple tasks that will make the internet of things as much an everyday reality as the semantic or social internet today. Trappeniers's team spent three years interviewing one of the least tech-savvy groups in the population (and one that many internet-of-things evangelists argue will be most helped by its arrival): older people with dementia.
Ninja Blocks has already started to recognise this. Recently it has started to move away from selling Lego-like kits and is concentrating instead on opening up its hardware and software to the open-source world. On the company's online forum, about 500 developers are busy reverse- engineering existing products such as the Hue, Philips' Wi-Fi-enabled multicol- oured LED light bulb, Belkin's WeMo home- automation kit and the XBMC media hub. Predavec, though, is disappointed.
That space may be filled by another company that also launched in 2012. SmartThings, which raised $1.2 million (£0.8m) on Kickstarter, and which has since then raised another $3m (£2m) in seed-round funding, shares Ninja Blocks' Lego-like approach, but focuses less on servicing the maker community. Its kits, which, like Ninja Blocks', comprise a controller and various switches and sensors, come ready packaged with names such as Home Security, Home Watch and Family Life. Unlike Ninja Blocks, however, SmartThings intends to charge customers for use of its cloud service – between "$0 and $14.99" per month depending on functionality, according the company website. (The first 10,000 customers will get free access for life.) And the kits themselves are more expensive, at $299 (£200) each for a similar amount of equipment.
However individual devices communicate with each other, they can usually rely on being near a fixed internet connection to connect them with the cloud. Nest, for example, the sleekly designed thermostat that learns users' heating preferences and detects whether or not they are home, uses a Wi-Fi connection to communicate with the outside world. Step outside, however, and that becomes more of a challenge. So far, almost all outdoors internet- of-things devices have either had to have their own integrated modem, or rely on a nearby smartphone or on being taken home and plugged into a PC. Examples of the former include connected street-lamps (a pilot project is underway in Amsterdam) and on-street recycling bins, such as those made by US company Big Belly, which use GPRS to tell their owners when they are nearly full.
Relying on a smartphone is not necessarily a drawback. In the developed world, where the internet of things will take off first, smartphone penetration is high and still rising. Fitness-tracking devices, such as Fitbit or Nike's Fuel Band, which come packaged with a smartphone app that does most of the thinking and connectivity for them, are selling well, and users seem happy to take their phones with them on a run. Investors see opportunities in this two-device approach too. The Pebble Watch, in effect a glorified remote control/display for an iPhone or Android device, is the highest-funded Kickstarter project to date, last year raising $10 million after pitching for $100,000.
The automotive world has taken a similar approach, though here it is easy, and virtually cost-invisible, to build a cellular device into a car. This has obvious uses such as providing the driver with information and entertainment. But it is also now being used for true machine-to-machine communication. Last September, some Tesla Motors vehicles downloaded the first over-the-air auto- motive software patch, which upgraded the engine management system of the Model S sedan. The upgrade, which took about two hours to complete, could be downloaded via the car's built-in 3G connection or through the owner's home Wi-Fi network. For the moment, this is a high-end option, but according to the Groupe Speciale Mobile Association (GSMA), which represents mobile operators worldwide, 90 per cent of new cars will, by 2020, have an on-board communications platform and will share data not only with car manufacturers but also with each other.
This potentially huge market has already caught the eye of the big networking companies such as Qualcomm and Cisco. Qualcomm is easily the leader in the connected-car world. Versions of its Gobi chipset – essentially small 3G/4G modems that sit under the bonnet – are already in tens of millions of vehicles across the world. And in January this year, it announced a tie-in with Audi to provide 100Mbps 4G connectivity to the Audi A3. As well as powering navigation and entertainment systems, the chip will create an in-car Wi-Fi hotspot for up to eight devices.
Cisco's approach is slightly different. It has its eye on the complicated network of sensors, switches and cables that run a typical car. Last year, it launched its Smart Connected Vehicles unit, aiming to re-engineer the way on-board systems interconnect. Powered by a 4G modem, the Cisco approach would connect the car to the internet in the same way as Qualcomm's Gobi device, but would also replace the chunky cables that run through modern vehicles with lighter-weight Ethernet cabling and Wi-Fi. The company says this could reduce a car's weight by 30-40kg, lowering fuel consumption.
Thilo Koslowski, an automotive specialist at the consultancy Gartner, sees connected cars becoming an even more disruptive influence than other parts of the internet of things. Writing in US WIRED earlier this year, he argued that 4G-connected vehicles will become intelligent devices themselves, collecting data from on-board sensors and channelling it up into the cloud or sharing it with other vehicles nearby.
A connected network of cars could warn of traffic jams or spot parking spaces. It could monitor an individual's driving and help reduce insurance premiums. And it could use mesh capabilities to create short- range cellular networks and improve the quality of in-car phone chats. (Veniam in Portugal is developing exactly this.) It may change the way we pay for cars.
It is hard for outsiders to penetrate the car industry. In a separate interview with US Wired, Koslowski warned that Cisco will to have to find its place in the existing auto- motive supply chain. But there are signs that the industry is opening up. Last year Ford announced a partnership with Bug Labs (which makes prototyping hardware) to develop an open-source connected-car R&D platform that other developers could be part of. And GM has opened up the API of its OnStar onboard navigation and communications system to a few developers.
Webb is CEO of Cambridge-based Neul, which is aiming to build such a net- work. He's sees an opportunity in what is called "white space" in the radio spectrum: gaps between assigned frequencies, which in many countries can be used without a licence. Working with companies such as CSR, Cable & Wireless and ARM, Weightless is developing a set of standards that will allow small chips to hop between these frequencies and communicate with base stations that are themselves connected to the internet. Early prototype chips, which are being tested by companies in the smart-meter, automotive and personal healthcare sectors (Webb won't say which), have delivered ranges of 5-50km. They run on very low power and cost less than £1.40 each. They will also be able to run for ten years without a battery charge.
As Wired went to press, Weightless was due to publish its first draft set of standards, and it plans to issue a revised set of chips for testing in June/July. Webb estimates that the UK could be universally covered using about 5,500 Weightless base stations. (By comparison, the mobile- phone network comprises about 35,000). And he says the group is being approached "every day" with problems coverage like this might solve.
The Weightless chip is being developed in tandem with ARM, the Cambridge- based semiconductor designer. ARM's technology can be found in almost every smartphone worldwide and the company wants to achieve the same penetration with the internet of things.
Both Muller and Webb compare Weight- less's process now with that which gave birth to Bluetooth almost 20 years ago. Then Ericsson developed the technology and immediately made it open, bringing other manufacturers into the fold.
"We need standards," says Muller, "but not one big standard. It's not just a group of people, which often ends up with something top heavy and unwieldy. It's developing the tech and getting it out there so everyone starts to use it." Muller says early R&D work is promising but the company's chips won't themselves generate any data. That work will be done by sensors, either in the environment or in buildings, or, potentially much more disruptively, attached to us. According to Melanie Swan, a Palo Alto-based technology researcher and founder of DIYgenomics, which crowdsources personal health data, by 2017, 80 million wearable health sensors will be connected to the internet of things, measuring variables such as pulse, temper- ature, blood oxygen and glucose levels, respiration rates, hydration and brain activity, and sending data up to the cloud.
Devices that monitor patients' vital signs at home and relay that information to their doctor are already common. According to Berg, a Swedish consultancy, about 2.5 million patients worldwide currently use them, a figure it expects to rise by 18 per cent each year between now and 2016. But these often use large sensors, such as wristbands, blood-pressure cuffs and electrodes adhered to the skin. Now the sector is developing chips that are smaller and which can transmit data wirelessly or via chemical signals.
One example is a tiny flexible patch developed by mc10, a Cambridge, Massachusetts-based company that has so far raised $34 million in venture funding. Containing sensors, a microprocessor and a short-range wireless device, the patch can be applied to anywhere inside or outside the body, and will transmit real-time data to a nearby receiver. The patch dissolves safely after about two weeks. A similar temporary patch has been developed by San Francisco startup Sano Intelligence, which is currently operating in stealth mode. A series of embedded electrodes samples the glucose and potassium levels of the wearer's blood and transmits the results to almost any nearby device. Now undergoing pilot testing, the device, which is expected to retail for about $1 or $2, is due to launch this summer.
Nor do sensors have to be static. Proteus Digital Health, based in Redwood City, California, is marketing an ingestible sensor that draws energy from stomach fluids and monitors a patient's response to medication. It encodes the results into a chemical "number" that passes through the blood- stream and is read by a battery-powered sensor on the patient's skin.
GE, the US's largest industrial company, is also looking to the healthcare market to build what it calls the "industrial internet", though it is focusing on patient management rather than diagnostics. With a long track record of managing sensors in heavy machinery, the company is developing both hardware and software to link patients, beds and equipment at Mount Sinai Medical Center, New York. Each patient is given a plastic wristband that contains location and other sensors. An algorithm, designed to target patient flow and expected discharges, assigns beds and other resources in the most efficient way. Qualcomm is also developing wireless technology to enable management of patient records in the cloud.
All these extra devices, perhaps surprisingly, are unlikely to put too much extra strain on bandwidth. At ARM, Muller acknowledges that the number of messages moving around the internet will increase significantly once all these embedded chips start communicating. But, he says, most internet-of-things apps will individually produce relatively small amounts of data.
This is a key concern for Jaap-Henk Hoepman, associate professor in the Digital Security group at ICIS at Radboud University Nijmegen in the Netherlands. He lists three things that will need to be considered if the internet of things is not to descend into a dystopia of surveillance: privacy, trust and user control.
"In its mature form, the internet of things should be invisible," he says. "If you do something, the environment does something. You move an object on your desk and something happens. But problems come when something is invisible and users are not in control. If I am alone at home I like to play music, but when my wife comes home I turn it down. This could be done automatically, but it would require my house being continually scanned. If this information leaves the house, you need to know what happens to it once it has been collected." In March this year, researchers at Cambridge University demonstrated that extremely accurate estimates of race, age, IQ, sexuality, substance use and political views could be inferred from auto- mated analysis of Facebook Likes. Hoepman warns that data generated by the internet of things will potentially reveal much more.
For some, though, this ocean of data will itself bring about a radical change in the way we live. Rob van Kranenburg, a researcher and founder of the Internet of Things Council, a Brussels-based think tank, argues that the transparency that the sensor network will engender will disrupt the world to an even greater extent than the digital internet has already.
Technology writer Andrew Keen is also sceptical, but from a philosophical point of view. "We are flawed as a species and we should celebrate that," he says. "We are going to have to create network-free zones. And we don't need an internet fridge. We should take responsibility for replacing our milk when it runs out. In the end, it's about deciding who we are as human beings.


text:
Deze pagina geeft een overzicht van de wielerploeg Euskadi in 1997.

Algemeen
 Sponsors: Euskadi (Baskische overheid)
 Algemeen manager:
 Ploegleiders: Domingo Perurena, José Luis Laka
 Fietsen: Zeus/Orbea

Renners

* Hoewel Unai Etxebarria op een Venezolaanse licentie rijdt, is hij van Baskische afkomst en mag daarom statutair voor Euskaltel rijden.

Wielerploeg in 1997
Euskaltel-Euskadi

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


After natural nail prep is done, apply an NSI Stiletto Nail Form making sure that the form fits tight and snug.
Apply a thin layer of Attraction Totally Clear Powder and extend it past the free edge and onto the form, creating a platform for your colours to sit on. Pinch form until product has set up. Then, carefully remove form and file into shape.
Using an Opaque colour Attraction Powder, cover the natural nail plate and create a smile line. Once cured, using an Endurance File 180/180, refine file the smile line to give it a crisp edge.
Using the Simplicité Powders, colour of your choice, start application at smile line and feather your first colour out. Apply second colour slightly on top of first and repeat process. Using Attraction Totally Clear Powder and your choice of Secrets Sparkle, add dimension to your design.
Encapsulate your entire free edge using Attraction Totally Clear Powder. Continue to pinch your free edge while your product is setting up.
Refine file using NSI Endurance File 180/180 and than buff the entire nail using the Endurance Buffer 180/240. Wipe with a nail wipe saturate with Cleanse to remove all dust.
Using acrylic paint and a one stroke brush, mix and blend your colours creating a flower design. Continue adding different colours to give depth and dimension. Allow paint to completely dry.
Using Glaze 'n Go LED, apply a thin coat to the entire nail and cure in the Dual Cure Lamp, LED for 30 sec or UV for 2 min. Glaze 'n Go LED coat cures tack-free so there is no layer to remove. Apply Nurture Oil and gently massage in.


This poncho is so beautiful in person! The neutral colors are perfect and the taupe even has a bit of a rose gold look to it. I love how cozy this poncho is and I especially love that it will look just as cute next year without a baby bump. I am pretty picky when it comes to sweater materials, and this one is amazing! This would also look great with grey or black pants. Ponchos are such an easy outfit to put together for a cozy Fall look.


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How To Build Or Buy An Oculus Rift-Ready PC
Our build: Less than $1000 with operating system and monitor
By Dave Gershgorn
via Oculus
The Oculus Rift virtual reality headset will start to ship in March, but you won't be able to use it if you don't have a relatively powerful computer. If you've already pre-ordered one for $599, and haven't gotten the memo, or are interested in buying one and want to know how much the computer required would cost, this is your one-stop shop.
First thing's first: what's a "relatively powerful computer?"
In May 2015, Oculus released its minimum specifications that a computer would need to run games and applications displayed through the Rift.
Processor: Intel i5-4590
Graphics Card: Nvidia GTX 970 or AMD 290
The processor and RAM required are pretty standard, actually, and can probably already be found in most modern PCs. The recommended processor, Intel's i5-4590, was released in May 2014, and can hardly be called cutting-edge. As for RAM, 8GB is pretty much the default in any laptop used for more than surfing the internet and Microsoft Word.
However, the graphics card is the most expensive part of the entire endeavor. The two suggested, Nvidia's GTX 970 and AMD's 290, run from $320 to $370, a little rich for the taste of most casual gamers. They both support 4GB of memory, dedicated to processing textures and graphics, and if they weren't powering the Rift, could easily support 4K gaming at a reasonable framerate.
Building your own PC
If you're building your own rig, three parts does not a computer make.
In addition to a CPU, RAM, and graphics card (also called a GPU), you need a case to put everything in, a power supply to distribute power to each part, and a motherboard to connect all the parts.
A great tool to compile your own build is PC Part Picker, a free site that walks you through every piece of the computer you might need. I made a quick build that came in under $1000, with the operating system and monitor included. (I've also personally used that model of monitor, it's a budget choice that still delivers great, accurate 1080p graphics. And it's bright.)
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant
CPU Intel Core i5-4590 3.3GHz Quad-Core Processor $188.99 @ SuperBiiz
Motherboard ASRock H97M PRO4 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard $70.99 @ SuperBiiz
Memory Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory $32.99 @ Amazon
Storage Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive $49.89 @ OutletPC
Video Card Gigabyte GeForce GTX 970 4GB WINDFORCE Video Card $319.99 @ Amazon
Case Thermaltake Core V21 MicroATX Mini Tower Case $39.99 @ Newegg
Power Supply EVGA SuperNOVA GS 550W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply $64.99 @ Newegg
Operating System Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM (64-bit) $87.95 @ OutletPC
Monitor Asus VX238H 23.0" Monitor $129.99 @ Newegg
Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts
Total (before mail-in rebates) $1045.77
Mail-in rebates -$60.00
I used all of Oculus' recommended specs for the CPU, graphics card, and RAM, and then got a 1 TB Western Digital hard drive to take care of storage, with a decent motherboard and more than sufficient power supply.
If I wanted to really speed things up, I could have added a 120 GB solid-state drive for the operating system and other choice files for about $45, and used the 1 TB hard drive for storage. I also didn't include a CPU cooler, because chances are you won't be pushing the CPU past the point of regular stock cooling. (Also, you have to be careful about how large of a cooler you can actually fit in the case.)
I actually overbuilt this a little, too. For instance, the power supply (which is not something to normally skimp on), is nearly twice as powerful as it needs to be. We have no idea about what the Oculus' power draw would be, but the USB ports that will power the head-mounted display can only provide 2.5 watts each, so even if the Rift used two, we're only talking a 5W bump. That's a far cry from the nearly 200W extra I budgeted.
You could also skimp a little more on the motherboard, and chances are you have an installation of Windows to upgrade for free. If you only wanted a VR machine as well, you could probably pay less for a monitor, or buy one used for much cheaper.
The Rift itself costs $599 through pre-order, so added to my projection, the real cost for both would be just under $1600. Of course, you would still need a mouse and keyboard, but who doesn't have a few of those lying around the house?
Buying a PC
Starting this week, Oculus has actually announced a few deals for computers bundled with the Rift itself.
These PC/Rift packages will start at $1500 (plus tax), and are guaranteed to meet the minimum specs. (However, they don't include a monitor like I did, and after tax comes out to more than $1600, depending on where you live.) But, you do get those guarantees, and you don't have to build it yourself (even though that's the fun part). Dell and Asus are the main manufacturers, as well as Alienware (which is owned by Dell). Oculus says that more manufacturers will be added later.
The deals are available at Best Buy, Amazon, and the Microsoft Store. The package will still include all the Oculus goodies, like the headset, sensor, remote, an Xbox One controller, EVE: Valkyrie Founder's Pack, and Lucky's Tale.
The Oculus Rift officially ships in March, although pre-orders are reportedly backed up until July. However, these deals say that they ship in late April, so if you need a PC and don't want to wait until summer for an Oculus, this might be a smart move.


With the City of Winds being one of the best, most populous, socially and ethnically diverse and entertainment-rich locations in the whole of the US, we've got a lot to cover in this article!
Basically, if your visit to Chicago will be as short as just 1 or 2 days, you'll not be able to try all the entertainment options that we're offering you here.
But then again, no one visits the Big Apple (also known as New York) for just a day or two, right? So why cut on your holiday time here?
So, in case you've been missing our point about just how much of fascinating stuff can be found and seen in Chicago, let's get to your very first (and very best, in our humble opinion) option of getting a first general look over the city – in a helicopter.
Anyways, when you get down and will be ready to hit the streets of Chicago by foot, start with visiting the Art Institute.
Did someone previously tell you that the Modern Art Museum in New York is the ultimate museum of the US, do not believe them. The AI of Chicago is times better!
After hitting that, take a lunch break in accordance with another article of ours – which lists the 55 Best Eat & Drink venues of the City.
At the end of the day, if that and visiting the Siers Tower was not enough to convince you that Chicago is just so much better than the rival-city of New York, then we're not sure what will!


Buy Zone of the Enders: The 2nd Runner – MARS and it might happen.
Cygames, which co-developed Zone of the Enders: The 2nd Runner – MARS with Konami, wants to make a new entry in the Zone of the Enders series. The news comes via a newly published interview with Cygames project manager Kenichi Kondo, Cygames game engineer Akira Horibata, and Konami general producer Noriaki Okamura with Dengeki Online.
While I'm looking forward to the release of Zone of the Enders: The 2nd Runner – MARS, but as a fan I'm hoping for something that leads to a completely new entry.
If there is a sequel, will you also tackle virtual reality?
Okamura: "This title pushes the limit of current generation systems, especially from the difficulty in performance that I've witnessed. Particularly regarding the 4K and VR capabilities of this generation. I don't think anything that has prepared these two elements at the same level greater than this will come out.
Zone of the Enders: The 2nd Runner – MARS launched for PlayStation 4 and PC via Steam on September 4 in the Americas and launches September 6 in Europe and Japan. An "Orange Case" demo was released for PlayStation 4 last week. Read more about the game here.


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Disney Plus Now Has All The Marvel Movies
Disney Plus Now has All the Marvel Movies!
That's right! Disney+ officially houses all the Marvel Universe Movies last week when Ant-Man and the Wasp released on the streaming service this Friday. You can now have an uninterrupted Marvel movie marathon! From the beginning to the end, all in one place.
Disney Plus started it's services about 9 months ago in November 2019, and has become a permanent franchise of Marvels, Pixar, Nat Geo, Star Wars and Disney content itself. It had all the major Marvel numbers except for a few, until now.
Due to some previous contracts with Netflix, Disney was unable to stream the complete Marvel collection until now.
Ant-Man and the Wasp was pulled out of Netflix and scheduled to release on Disney Plus on August 14, 2020.
There are currently 23 movies in the Marvel franchise, including the Spider-man Films. But numbers will rise as Black Widow is all set for release anytime soon, despite the delay.
News is, Black Widow might make its debut on Disney Plus through its new Premier Access service. But only time will tell. Whether or not other new releases join the bandwagon and release on Disney Plus Premier Access or not.
As of now the Premier Access is only for the most anticipated Live Action Mulan. Mulan was set for a theatrical release earlier this year, but due to the closure of cinema halls across the world it saw numerous delays. But thankfully it is all set to stream on Disney Plus this September.
Until then, sit back and enjoy the witty humor of Tony Stark through either your Disney Plus or Disney Bundle subscription.


Plastic/ Metal formed letters are letters or characters in formed plastic made from "Cellulose Acetate Butyrate", a renewable resource plastic for incredible durability. Typically the metal letters consist of a durable aluminum. They are created by using precision tooled molds for razor sharp edges and extra dimension. Many of these are available within 5 working days. Plastic formed letters are good to use when "depth" is desired. Most letters are ¾" thick, depending on the height of the letter. Sizes up to 60" are available along with a variety of type styles.
Please call to schedule an appointment for exact quotes.
We will also need to know your working space, sign size desired and building lease regulations.


Did you pay attention in class? Then it should be easy for you to escape this classroom. Search for clues in the desks, on the blackboard and even under the teachers' desk. Carefully pay attention to all details so you won't spend more time then you have to in this classroom.


Create a paperweight, small garden stone or a memory stone with this personalized stone. Perfect for a short phrase, image or logo or 3- to 4-inch custom stones are a popular choice for giving out as special gifts, favors and mementos to symbolize a special milestone. Use it to give yourself a constant reminder, to memorialize a loved one or to mark a new chapter in your life. Because they're totally customizable, these engraved stones make wonderful best friend gifts and wedding gifts.
You can look at some popular words and phrases in the drop boxes or simply write your own in the text box. Note that our small-sized custom stones are best for two to four single words or a single word with an image, but we do have several other sizes ofengraved stonesin case you'd like to include more elements. This engraved stone is completely customizable so let us know if you need help or have questions.
Great for friendship & love, remembering a pet or a motivational phrase to keep on a desk.
The stones are hand-picked from some of the most beautiful riverbeds and are all natural stones so what you receive will vary somewhat in size, shape and color from what we display here.
You choose the font you want and the stone type. Also, there are some border options and stock images if you with to use one of those. See examples below.
Take a look at the stone choices, stock images and border options at the links above. When you place your order, if you are choosing a stock image or border simply enter the number or letter of the image below in the appropriate area.
Simply must provide us with a Camera-Ready, black & white, high quality digital image. It should be in a .EPS or .jpeg file format. After you place your order, email us your image with instructions.
Please Note: If you are selecting a custom phrase, you can include a border or image as well for the same price.
Engraving looks perfect! Received calls prior to the engraving confirming my order and quote. It was even delivered to me before estimated date to ensure I had it for a gift. Excellent service, great produc.
It is perfect. Great product, great timing from order to receiving. A little pricey, but competitive with other companies. Great options for customization . THANK YOU!


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News IODA GRANT PROGRAMME CONTINUES
IODA GRANT PROGRAMME CONTINUES
New optimist fleet for Mozambique
The Mozambique Sailing Federation, established in early 2010, has placed an order for 15 Optimists, the first in the country since independence in 1975.
While there had been earlier plans to try to restore some of these ancient boats, the real impetus came from the decision in March by the African Sailing Confederation that the Optimist would be included in the multisport All-Africa Games next September.
"ancient boats" that will be replaced by the new fleet of GRP Optimists
An introduction by ISAF vice-president Teresa Lara led IODA to write immediately to MSF president José Luis Alcantara Santos with an offer to fund three Optimists if the federation would buy 15. A favourable quotation was obtained from Chinese builder Zou Inter Marine. All felt that it was important both that potential participants in the Games had modern equipment for training and that work should start on building towards a legacy of viable fleets after the event.
Governments worldwide move slowly and delays were caused by the need to get exemption from import and other taxes. Mozambique is by no means unique in facing the situation whereby money given by the Ministry of Sport is then taken back in taxes by the Ministry of Finance! The problem was finally resolved in December and the boats should be delivered in February 2011. At that point IODA will arrange and finance a training course for local instructors.
The Federation is expecting to add to this fleet by retaining at least 25 of the Optimists which will be imported specially for use at the Games themselves. At least 12 countries are expected to participate, seven of which have received IODA grants in recent years.
IODA has several other "6 for 5" projects at the planning stage and further applications are invited from qualifying organisations see:
| IODA Development |


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Become A Member Login for Members
About LCCI
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ENTREPRENEURIAL LIMASSOL
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Cyprus Marine and Maritime Institute (CMMI)
The social face of the Limassol Chamber
Again this year, as in all previous years, the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Limassol extended financial assistance to charitable organizations in the city and district of Limassol. During a short, modest ceremony that took place at the LCCI offices in early January, the President of the Chamber Andreas Tsouloftas referred to the great work carried out by the charitable institutions, with the aim of supporting our fellow human beings in need, highlighting the selfless effort of the people involved and their dedication to this noble goal. The Chamber, Mr. Tsouloftas continued, cannot but support this effort, which it will continue to do, in the years to come.
On their part, the representatives of the institutions, after briefly presenting their fields of activity and the challenges they face, thanked the Chamber for its long-term support. In the meantime, the social face of the Chamber has recently, just before the festive season of Christmas, extended to another area too, with a contribution in kind to the Limassol Municipality Food Bank, with food and other necessities contributed by the members as well as the LCCI staff.
The Limassol Historical Centre is in the spotlight
The main priorities of the European Parliament that will be in the focal point in 2023
The oldest hotel of the island, is located in Limassol
A medieval bridge, an archaeological treasure of the district
Cooperation between Cyprus Institute of Neurology and Genetics & CUT
CUT awarded for the good circular economy practices
CUT awarded for the good practices on gender equality at workplace
170 Franklin Roosevelt, 3045 Lemesos | Cyprus
Tel. : +35725855000 | Fax : +35725661655 | Email : info@limassolchamber.eu
Copyright © 2023 Limassol Chamber of Commerce & Industry - All Rights Reserved | Developed and Hosted by


The IMGUI module provides Unity's immediate mode GUI solution for creating in-game and editor user interfaces.
ExitGUIException An exception that will prevent all subsequent immediate mode GUI functions from evaluating for the remainder of the GUI loop.
GUI The GUI class is the interface for Unity's GUI with manual positioning.
GUIContent The contents of a GUI element.
GUILayout The GUILayout class is the interface for Unity gui with automatic layout.
GUILayoutOption Class internally used to pass layout options into GUILayout functions. You don't use these directly, but construct them with the layouting functions in the GUILayout class.
GUILayoutUtility Utility functions for implementing and extending the GUILayout class.
GUISettings General settings for how the GUI behaves.
GUISkin Defines how GUI looks and behaves.
GUIStyle Styling information for GUI elements.
GUIStyleState Specialized values for the given states used by GUIStyle objects.
GUITargetAttribute Allows to control for which display the OnGUI is called.
GUIUtility Utility class for making new GUI controls.
EventModifiers Types of modifier key that can be active during a keystroke event.
EventType Types of UnityGUI input and processing events.
FocusType Used by GUIUtility.GetControlID to inform the IMGUI system if a given control can get keyboard focus. This allows the IMGUI system to give focus appropriately when a user presses tab for cycling between controls.
ImagePosition How image and text is placed inside GUIStyle.
ScaleMode Scaling mode to draw textures with.
TextClipping Different methods for how the GUI system handles text being too large to fit the rectangle allocated.


In 2011, Levi's had made progress in how it uses water to process and wash its iconic jean styles. Levi's Water<Less collection reduces water up to 96% in the finishing process. This year for World Water Day, I'm excited to be rocking some of my favorite pieces from the collection.
I really leaned into my Texas roots and went full-denim on y'all for this outfit! The Barstow Western Shirt is a western-style pearl snap that really gives some rad vintage vibes with the Western yolk details. It features two chest pockets and pearl snap buttons. The shirt fits on the slim side, so be sure to size up if you want it to be a little roomier. The denim jeans I'm rocking are Levi's 512s. They're a slim taper fit and have a perfect amount of stretch.
Check out more about Levi's water initiative here.


I love working out at Jada blitz. The staff and atmosphere makes working out fun and easy. Adam is the best trainer I've ever had – he makes the time fly by and always listens to what specific areas we want to work on. By far my favorite gym in Buffalo, NY!
When I moved to buffalo I was looking to continue my training when Katie recommended Adam at Jada Blitz. At first I was a little hesitant as I don't deal with change very well and very shy but when I walked into Jada Blitz everyone was so nice and welcoming. They have everything you want and need with persona trainers willing to help if you don't know what your doing!
I look forward to training with group fitness instructor, Adam! He always has us doing something different which I love, it doesn't allow us to get bored. He's always checking our form and correcting us if it isn't. As well as making sure the resistance weight is appropriate. I would recommend Adam and Jada Blitz's group fitness class to anyone looking to make a change!
As someone who is not a huge fan of working out, when looking to get into shape I knew that I would needed someone to motivate me and make working out a little bit more bearable. And that is exactly what I have found with my personal trainer, Adam! Not only do I enjoy going to our group fitness sessions twice a week, but I feel good about myself both during and after the workout. Because I was never very confident in the gym, I was hesitant to begin training as I didn't know how to navigate around the fitness machines and really didn't know what I was doing. But from day one, Adam has been patient with me and has taken the time to show and teach me different workouts routines that work well with my body. Not only is my confidence in working out up, but my confidence in how I look and feel has increased immensely from my time with my personal trainer, Adam at Jada Blitz. I no longer dread going to workout, as it is now something I look forward to throughout my week. Thanks Adam!


American TrailsFor those who build, maintain, use, and dream of trails.
Dedicated to the protection and enhancement of everyone's right to health and happiness through recreation.
CRT sponsors the Annual Achievement Awards as part of the ongoing effort to build awareness and appreciation of the importance of RTP funding to States across America.
The Coalition for Recreational Trails (CRT) is a federation of national and regional trail-related organizations. Its members work together to build awareness and understanding of the Recreational Trails Program, which returns federal gasoline taxes paid by off-highway recreationists to the states for trail development and maintenance. CRT was formed in 1992 following the passage of the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act (ISTEA) to ensure that the National Recreational Trails Fund (now known as the Recreational Trails Program or RTP) established by that legislation received adequate funding.
The Department of Transportations' Federal Highway Administration administers the RTP program that provides funds to the States to develop and maintain recreational trails and trail-related facilities for both nonmotorized and motorized recreational trail uses. RTP funds come from the Federal Highway Trust Fund, and represent a portion— less than one third— of the motor fuel excise tax paid into the Trust Fund from non-highway recreational fuel use. Since 1993, more than 23,000 RTP-funded projects have been funded nationwide and are documented on the RTP database: www.recreationaltrailsinfo.org.
The RTP leverages hundreds of millions of dollars of additional support from other sources for trails, encourages productive cooperation among trail users, and facilitates healthy outdoor recreation and economic activity across America.
During the six years of ISTEA, CRT worked to ensure that program was continued and strengthened as part of the ISTEA reauthorization process. Following the 1998 passage of the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA-21) and the 2005 approval of the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU), both of which significantly increased RTP program funding. CRT's efforts focusing on RTP's continued, effective implementation resulted in the reauthorization of RTP with dedicated annual funding of $85 million for Fiscal Years 2013 and 2014 in the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (MAP-21). CRT efforts are now focused on continuing and enhancing the RTP in the next round of transportation legislation.
CRT also sponsors the Annual Achievement Awards as part of the ongoing effort to build awareness and appreciation of the highly successful Recreational Trails Program. Outstanding projects funded by RTP are honored at the awards ceremony on Capitol Hill in June hosted by the Coalition for Recreational Trails during the annual celebration of Great Outdoors Month.
As a member of the Coalition for Recreational Trails, American Trails urges organizations of every size and interest to become a Supporter of the Recreational Trails Program. CRT has created a Council of Advisors to help support the continuation and expansion of the Recreational Trails Program in upcoming legislation, as well as to encourage State Governors not to "opt-out" of the RTP under the current FAST Act. By joining the Council, the Advisors agree to sign on to letters supporting RTP that will be sent to Members of Congress, the Administration, or to relevant State Governors and/or Legislators. In addition, Advisors are asked to recruit other RTP supporters and to help in a variety of ways.
To date, over 500 organizations have signed on as members of the CRT's RTP Council of Advisors.
Diversity American Trails advances the development of diverse, high quality trails and greenways for the benefit of people and communities.


Tetra Organics is a "soil to oil" company specializing in the production of edibles that are clean, single origin and made from scratch. Harvesting only their finest cannabis flowers for their BHO and RSO extracts, they are also proud to use only authentic fruit flavours and natural colourings. Their company is a collaborative team featuring a culinary institute educated head confectioner, as well as cannabis experts with over 20 years experience. Their philosophy is to provide safe products that are always consistent in strength and uniquely delicious in flavour. These Tetra Bites are fruit flavoured gummies containing 10mg of THC and 10mg of CBD per dose. These gummies are 100% made from scratch, with all natural ingredients, no artificial flavouring or preservatives.
Whether stressed or tense, these gummies are the perfect way to treat yourself! Unwind with one of these 1:1 Tetra Bites, a perfect way to get the perfect amount of relaxation. Whether users require help sleeping, relief from pain, help with their anxiety or even just a fun time, these gummies are perfect. With both CBD and THC, these gummies offer a rounder feeling high.
With the delicious flavour of fruit candy, these are a delicious way to medicate. Packed with mango, pineapple, orange and strawberry gummies, this bag offers a delicious array of fruity gummies to users. The fruit flavour overwhelms the cannabis flavour almost completely. Easy for on-the-go consumption and carefully dosed, these gummies are a safe and controlled way to consume THC and CBD. Please always keep edibles and other cannabis products away and out of reach of animals and children, do not drive or operate heavy machinery after consumption and please do not consume if pregnant.
For users' convenience, each gummy is dosed at 20mg (10mg of CBD & 10mg of THC). Always take edibles with food and allow two hours for the full effect. As always with edibles, we suggest users start low and take it slow. As with any edibles, if users ever feel they've gone too far, they should try to relax. The effects of the THC will subside in a few hours and a further dose of CBD can even help take the edge off.
Buy Tetra Bites 1:1 | 40mg CBD & 40mg THC online at the Stash Club's Online Dispensary.
Cannabis Oil, THC, CBD, Sugar, Glucose, Natural Organic Flavours (Mango, Pineapple, Orange, Strawberry), Annatto Seed, Beet Powder, Natural Colours (Turmeric, Hibiscus Flowers), Citric Acid, Potassium Sorbate.
I'm a big fan of 1:1 THC:CBD items, and these were perfect! Melted my back pain for sure. Gummy taste was good, minimal "weed" taste. I only wish I had more lol.
Good balance between CBD and THC. Very good.
I found thraw to be very relaxing. Really helped with my insomnia! The taste was pretty good with the citrus bites, some had a stronger taste but definitely does the trick!
Takes away any pain you may be having. Made me veryyyyy relaxed.


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Sadik-Khan: We're Putting the Square Back in Madison Square
By Ben Fried
DOT Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan gave a brief, clear-eyed overview of the city's post-pricing transportation agenda today at the Regional Plan Association's 18th Annual Regional Assembly. Speaking at a panel discussion called "Making Cars Pay Their Way," she rattled off a list of projects in the works, including some public space improvements that are certain to quicken the pulse of livable streets types.
"We'll be going forward with pedestrian projects on Broadway," she said, "putting the square back in Madison Square and Union Square West." Near-term plans also include building up the bike network, reclaiming surface pavement for public space, and making streets safer for seniors, she said.
Taking the long view, Sadik-Khan mentioned that DOT will unveil its new strategic plan at the Municipal Art Society on April 28th. The document will set the goal of cutting traffic fatalities in half compared to 2007 levels, she said, in addition to making a commitment to more BRT, among other policies. She later noted that Federal Transit Administrator James Simpson has encouraged DOT to apply for federal funding for BRT projects.
While the commissioner professed disappointment at the defeat of pricing, she remained optimistic that the extensive public debate about mitigating traffic and funding transit would yield a payoff down the road. "We shouldn't be in the business right now of eulogizing congestion
pricing," she said. "The process itself has been extremely useful in many other ways. It's been a galvanizing force. The words congestion pricing could only be whispered in City Hall a year ago."
More thoughts from the commissioner after the jump.
"After all the meetings, I think the terrain has fundamentally changed. The mood is that Albany has to fund the whole MTA capital plan. Even opponents acknowledge that. And we've got people thinking about what the city would be like with less traffic.
"The public and the civic community have a deeper appreciation for the connection between congestion and transit. We now know that license plate rationing is not an effective solution. We know that modifying taxi policies isn't sufficient. And we can safely say that a millionaire's tax will not have a meaningful effect on VMT.
"All the information [from the congestion pricing approval process] doesn't have to sit on a shelf. It can be used to streamline an EIS going forward. We are better positioned to pursue pricing and non-pricing strategies that we need. I hope we continue the partnerships that we've formed. I think the process we've just been through is a watershed for New York. We've shifted the paradigm and started a new conversation. We're disappointed, but we've laid a foundation for future action for months and years to come.
"We need more bus riding. We now have the most bus passengers, and the slowest bus speeds in the country. Why? It has to do with congestion. Even without congestion pricing, we're still committed to reducing congestion on the streets of New York."
Filed Under: Bus Rapid Transit, Congestion Pricing, Janette Sadik-Khan, Livable Streets, Regional Plan Association, Transit, Transportation Policy
Bloomberg Puts Forward a Bold, Transformative New Vision for Broadway
By Aaron Naparstek	| Feb 26, 2009
Before and After: A rendering of a car-free Broadway at 7th Ave., Times Square, looking north. Download a larger image. New York City Transportation Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan unveiled plans to pedestrianize a large swath of Broadway in Midtown Manhattan at a small briefing in City Hall this morning. Intended to improve motor vehicle traffic flow, […]
DOT Capstone Report Looks Back, Offers Advice to Next Administration
By Stephen Miller	| Nov 22, 2013
Yesterday, DOT released "Sustainable Streets: 2013 and Beyond," a 212-page report and accompanying website outlining the department's achievements over the past six years and providing guidance for the next administration. Last night, Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan was joined by a panel of council members and New York Magazine architecture critic Justin Davidson for a discussion of the […]
Famed Danish Urbanist Jan Gehl in Town to Consult on PlaNYC
By Alex Marshall	| Aug 2, 2007
The Urbanist Musketeers: Alex Garvin, Jan Gehl and Fred Kent in Copenhagen, Denmark, Sept. 30, 2006. Jan Gehl, the famed Danish urbanist, is in New York City this week where, sources say, he has been hired as a consultant for Mayor Bloomberg's PlaNYC program. At a presentation to the board of the Regional Plan Association […]
It's Opening Day for the Newest Stretch of Broadway's Green Ribbon
By Noah Kazis	| Sep 22, 2010
One of Manhattan's premier public spaces is now safer, roomier, and livelier. DOT officially opened its improvements to the Union Square area today, including new pedestrian plazas and a continuation of the Broadway bike lane into a contraflow lane on the north side of the square. Several pieces of the re-design were already in heavy […]
Is NYC's "Sustainable Streets" Plan a Communist Plot?
By Aaron Naparstek	| Aug 27, 2008
This week's Observer is running a profile of DOT Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan. It focuses on the speed with which many of DOT's Sustainable Streets projects are moving ahead and seems to suggest either: a) Improving conditions for New York City's pedestrians, cyclists and bus riders is a Communist plot. Or,b) The change that Sadik-Khan is […]
DOT Unveils New "Pop Up Café" in Financial District
By Noah Kazis	| Aug 12, 2010
Nicole LaRusso of the Downtown Alliance, David Byrne, and DOT Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan enjoy coffee and mango lassis at Pearl Street's new pop-up café. Photo: Noah Kazis The narrow streets of Lower Manhattan date back centuries and pose a set of challenges nearly unique in New York City. With the city's first "pop-up café," DOT […]