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What It'll Take to Forge Peace in Cyberspace
Tim Maurer, Jason Healey
Summary: The international community has finally started a serious conversation about norms in cyberspace. But reaching a global consensus needs the world's attention.
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Only a few years ago, there were almost no public commitments globally accepted by governments on norms for cybersecurity or cyberconflict. Even the US had publicly announced very few. Yet, within a relatively short period of time, the international community agreed to several, including personal commitments by the US and Chinese presidents and a consensus report adopted by 20 states under the auspices of the United Nations.
In fact, there was so much recent progress that 2015 could be called the Year of Global Cyber Norms. That is why the outcome of the US election also raises particularly important questions for the future of this process and the hardening of the aspirational norms that now form part of political yet not legally binding agreements.
Tim Maurer
Dr. Tim Maurer was director of the Cyber Policy Initiative and a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
@maurertim
This article starts with a discussion of cyber norms, a short history of norms with focus on the leaps taken in 2015, and some of the causes of that progress.
Cyber Norms: Contestation, Translation, and Emergence
At first, there was international disagreement whether existing international law and norms already apply to cyberspace or if new laws specific to cyberspace were needed. A few countries, China, in particular, contested the idea that existing laws apply and was a proponent and promoter of the latter approach. Over time, the norms agenda evolved, as it was adopted and expanded by other countries and became a concerted effort of the international community. The evolution of the international discussion can be broken down into four components: contestation, translation, emergence, and internalization.
Norm contestation: The narrative about norms for cyberspace (or alternately, ICTs for Information and Communication Technologies) is rooted in politics. The process started with a Russian proposal in the late 1990s for a legally binding cybersecurity treaty. However, the Russian government's proposal was widely seen in the West as disingenuous, an attempt to limit US cyber superiority and concern over "color revolutions and mobilization on the Internet by dissident and human rights groups."
These concerns are complemented by US skepticism regarding the negotiability, enforceability, and verifiability of a treaty relating to cybersecurity and favoring existing treaties, such as the Geneva Convention. The US accordingly pushed its own process, leading to five unanimous UN General Assembly resolutions on "Creating a Culture of Cybersecurity" since challenges to cybersecurity were "better answered by a good defense than by constraining offense (technology), providing a juxtaposition to the Russian argument that security could only be accomplished through arms control."
Conversely, the US and Britain announced a set of aspirational norms or "rules of the road" (in the words of then British Foreign Minister William Hague), as did Dr. Hamadoun Touré, the Secretary General of the International Telecommunications Union.
The norms discussion accelerated with a shift toward more international engagement with the Obama administration. The US pushed greater engagement in discussions about cybersecurity, actively promoting the idea of international cybersecurity agreements after it largely ignored the resolution in the UN General Assembly's First Committee for the first decade. The centerpiece of these US efforts was the International Strategy for Cyberspace, to push "the norms of responsible, just, and peaceful" conduct.
In 2013, the UN Group of Governmental Experts (the UNGGE), with representatives from 15 countries including China, Russia, and the US, published a consensus report affirming that "international law and in particular the United Nations Charter, is applicable." This was an important achievement because, at first, a few countries contested the idea that existing international law applies and argued that new laws specific to cyberspace were needed. This report and the year 2013 can therefore be seen as the end of the norm contestation period further cemented with the 2015 UNGGE report.
This report also found that "[v]oluntary, nonbinding norms of responsible state behavior can reduce risks to international peace, security and stability. Accordingly, norms do not seek to limit or prohibit action that is otherwise consistent with international law." Cyber "norms" in this sense could be seen as "potentially a precursor to eventual customary international law (through practice) that might eventually (after years) be codified." Norms in this context are essentially aspirational norms and therefore differ from how the term is used in the academic literature as existing and usually adhered to rather than aspirational standards of appropriate behavior.
Norm translation: In parallel to these political negotiations, legal experts had been investigating how existing norms expressed through international customary law and codified treaties could be translated to cyberspace. The US, Britain, Australia and other states had already announced that they believed the laws of armed conflict applied to military cyber operations. However, there was little work describing precisely how they applied and could be interpreted.
Accordingly, the most important effort of norm translation has been the "Tallinn Manual on the International Law Applicable to Cyber Warfare" developed by a group of international (but all Western) lawyers. It examines in significant detail how existing international law governing activity above the threshold of use of force and armed attack could apply to cyberspace with a Tallinn Manual 2.0 recently released to look at an even wider set of questions.
Norm emergence: Just as the year 2013 saw the end of the phase of global discussions on norm contestation, so was 2015 the year of norm emergence. The process started with a speech in May 2015 in Seoul, wherein Secretary of State John Kerry laid out the aspirational norms important to the United States:
[T]he basic rules of international law apply in cyberspace. Acts of aggression are not permissible. And countries that are hurt by an attack have a right to respond in ways that are appropriate, proportional, and that minimize harm to innocent parties.
We also support a set of additional principles that, if observed, can contribute substantially to conflict prevention and stability in time of peace...
First, no country should conduct or knowingly support online activity that intentionally damages or impedes the use of another country's critical infrastructure.
Second, no country should seek either to prevent emergency teams from responding to a cybersecurity incident, or allow its own teams to cause harm.
Third, no country should conduct or support cyber-enabled theft of intellectual property, trade secrets, or other confidential business information for commercial gain.
Fourth, every country should mitigate malicious cyber activity emanating from its soil, and they should do so in a transparent, accountable and cooperative way.
And fifth, every country should do what it can to help states that are victimized by a cyberattack.
These proposals were treated with a bit of caution by many experts. Why, after all, would other nations abide by such norms, an issue Harvard Law School professor Jack Goldsmith, for example, discussed in the context of the US-China agreement. Moreover, what, given the difficulties of attack attribution, could the United States do to prove if nations transgressed them, or punish those transgressors? And it was clear that proposed norms pushing against commercial espionage would face strong headwinds.
Yet it turns out, these norm proposals were in fact the beginning of a new era with the growing number of bilateral and multilateral agreements. To what extent and how states will now implement these agreements, the process of norm internalization, is now moving to take center stage.
Cyber Norms: 2015, the Year of Internationalization
Just a few months after then-Secretary Kerry laid out the US perspective on norms, in July 2015, another UN Group of Governmental Experts, this time comprised of representatives from 20 countries, agreed to a new consensus report including the following agreements in addition to several others focusing on supply chain integrity and responsible vulnerability disclosure:
States should not knowingly allow their territory to be used for internationally wrongful acts using ICTs;
States, in ensuring the secure use of ICTs, should respect … the promotion, protection and enjoyment of human rights on the Internet…;
A State should not conduct or knowingly support ICT activity contrary to its obligations under international law that intentionally damages critical infrastructure…;
States should respond to appropriate requests for assistance by another State whose critical infrastructure is subject to malicious ICT acts.
States should seek to prevent the proliferation of malicious ICT tools and techniques and the use of harmful hidden functions;
States should not conduct or knowingly support activity to harm the information systems of the authorized emergency response teams … of another State. A State should not use authorized emergency response teams to engage in malicious international activity.
This was a far richer set of agreed upon voluntary norms than most outside experts had expected the UN GGE to be able to agree on given the high tensions between the US, China, and Russia.
The Edward Snowden revelations of US cyberespionage seemed likely to torpedo any significant agreement, yet there was more concordance to come (after an implicit threat of sanctions). During his September 2015 visit to the US, President Xi Jinping of China and President Obama welcomed the UN GGE report and agreed to "establish a high-level joint dialogue mechanism on fighting cybercrime and related issues" as well as that:
The US and China agree that timely responses should be provided to requests for information and assistance concerning malicious cyberactivities.
The United States and China agree that neither country's government will conduct or knowingly support cyber-enabled theft of intellectual property, including trade secrets or other confidential business information, with the intent of providing competitive advantages to companies or commercial sectors.
A month later, when President Xi visited London, he struck a similar agreement on theft of trade secrets with then-British Prime Minister Cameron. According to press, "China and Germany agreed to work on stopping economic cyber spying between the two nations," however, unlike the US and British agreements, this has yet to appear in a formal, concluding statement by the leaders. At the Ankara Summit, in November 2015, the leaders of the G20 nations – including from major cyber powers such as Russia, China, and the US but also from Brazil, India, and Indonesia – approved this latest UN GGE report and called out several specific norms, including most surprisingly the prohibition on commercial espionage.
Mr. Kerry's speech in Seoul had just been given in May 2015 and by November of that same year, just six months later, the proposed language for norms went from proposal to agreement at the top levels of global governance. These norms are still largely only backed by the agreement of political leaders. None yet have been codified by treaty and it still too early to consider any to be customary international law (other than, of course, the agreement by the UN GGE that previous international laws do in fact apply to cyberspace).
In addition to states proposing international cybersecurity norms, nonstate actors have also been actively participating in this discussion. In late 2014, Microsoft launched a report proposing six specific norms overlapping with certain norms proposed by states. Complementing its substantive proposals, Microsoft also issued a procedural recommendation proposing a G20 + ICT20, the G20 member states meeting with twenty leading ICT providers, to develop an "agreed-upon norms document" that would "allow the 20 most developed economies to hold themselves and others accountable to the agreed-upon behaviors in cyberspace." Given the outsized role technology companies play in cyberspace, such non-state approaches to norm development require even more attention than in discussion on the land, sea, air or space.
Why Was 2015 the Year of Cyber Norms?
While these aspirational norms include certain caveats, for example, what is considered "unlawful" will depend on each country's domestic laws, it appears the remarks by Kerry lit a spark which took the norms discussion from an area of contention toward much greater international appeal. There are at least six likely, overlapping reasons why 2015 was a year when so much diplomatic progress was made on articulating cyber norms.
Escalation of dangerous cyber activities. Norms, in part, gained appeal because key states saw stability as being in their national security interest. Certainly within the US, but assumedly in other nations as well, government officials and experts were seeking means to counter the rising frequency and violence of cyberattacks.
Leadership's personal attention. Within the US, this concern was driven by the personal attention of President Obama who raised the issue with Mr. Xi in the Sunnylands summit, mentioning the "deep concerns we have as a government around theft of intellectual property." In China, Xi named himself chair of an Internet security working group.
Diplomacy and summit politics. Diplomats sometimes need a win for national (or even personal reasons) and may be willing to make tradeoffs they'd otherwise refuse. Likewise, leaders want to have successful summits. China came ready to the US and Britain to make deals and ensure the summits would be a success.
Universality. When the governments selected norms at least some of them were meant to be relatively easy for most states to agree with, as it would be in their long-term interest. Universal appeal and utility were key to aligning with many states' national security.
Hard diplomacy. Diplomats, especially but not only from the US State Department, put in long hours negotiating and dealing with their counterparts to make progress over the course of 2015. Key international conferences, such as the Global Conference on Cyberspace in The Hague in April 2015, kept this momentum thanks to hard work by the Dutch government.
Low cost to commit to norms. It is also possible nations were willing to commit to these agreements because there give modest gain at relatively low cost. After all, if attribution continues to afford plausible deniability, then it could be hard for other states to prove that a nation is violating the norms.
Will Cyber Norms Matter?
This last possible reason – a perceived low cost for committing to these agreements – points to the key factor in whether these new international norms will be effective. If states can just sign up to these agreements with no internal commitment, are they all just hot, diplomatic air with no relation to what activities states are actually conducting in the network? According to the lead US diplomat negotiating these agreements, there is some truth here but it is not the whole story:
most states are not in a position to accept new binding concepts in cyberspace. This allows them to initially sign on with no real penalty - that is, until the international community makes it common practice. Then deviations in behavior may be punished by the international community whether the norms are codified or not.
Perhaps the most critical case here is that the Obama-Xi agreement to limit stealing intellectual property for commercial gain was subsequently also incorporated in the G20 communiqué. Since that agreement in September 2015, there has been intense debate within the US cyber community on whether China is living to the letter (or even the spirit) of the norm.
After some initial mixed evidence, a report by cybersecurity firm FireEye showed a staggering decline. According to the company, they saw a steady rate of compromises by Chinese-linked groups, about 65 compromises per month until the middle of 2014, following the US indictment of Chinese military hackers. After that action by the US to enforce its preferred norm, the Chinese operations began to significantly drop.
In July 2015, just after the Obama administration finalized sanction authority to use against China and in the run-up for President Xi's visit, the number of observed Chinese operations did not just decrease, but rapidly plummeted. Instead of 65 per month a few years before, by late 2015 there were less than five. Analysis by FireEye and others seems to indicate that China has not stopped, but rather appears to have shifted from using proxy and nonstate spies in favor of state-run professional intelligence teams, in line (but not fully complicit) with the agreed-to norms.
But even if it leads to a reduction, and not an elimination, of such cyber espionage, the agreement supporting the norm should still be considered a success. After all, diplomacy isn't binary. It's a spectrum and if the norm leads to "less but not zero" – it is still a win for the US and other nations that have suffered Chinese commercially-motivated cyber espionage.
Moreover, if norms are in fact "collective expectations for the proper behavior of actors" then actors that fail to live up to those expectations will suffer at least reputational costs, especially if heads of state personally and publicly committed to them.
Political agreements, voluntary norms, and threats of punishments, unfortunately, are perhaps more useful to tackle a pattern of activity than any specific act. Attributing what nation, if any, is responsible for a cyberattack is getting far more accurate and timely, but may depend on classified evidence a victim nation (or its allies) may be unwilling to share, especially quickly enough to influence the news cycle and public opinion. The public policy dilemma is simplified somewhat when the offending activity goes on for years, allowing the victim nation to cherry pick the most glaring cases. This is useful to reduce the intensity of espionage but less so for conflict de-escalation when one side is hiding behind proxies to conduct just-deniable-enough cyber or hybrid attacks.
Looking back, even though the progress on cyber norms over 2015 was sudden, that success had in fact been built on the years of hard work by diplomats, cyber experts, and many others. It is now time for more hard work, to help nations live up to these agreements to ensure a more peaceful cyberspace in the future.
This article was originally published in the Christian Science Monitor.
Carnegie does not take institutional positions on public policy issues; the views represented herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of Carnegie, its staff, or its trustees.
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text:
Boston avoids big early hole with sweep of Rays
Noah Trister | The Associated Press 04/22/19, 01:04
Boston Red Sox closer Ryan Brasier, left, celebrates with first baseman Steve Pearce (25) after the Red Sox beat the Tampa Bay Rays 4-3 during an 11-inning baseball game Sunday, April 21, 2019, in St. (AP Photo/Steve Nesius)
Hold off — for now — on the panic in Boston.
The Red Sox are indeed off to a poor start in defense of their World Series title. They have a 9-13 record and baseball's third-worst run differential. But after sweeping a three-game series with first-place Tampa Bay, Boston has avoided the worst-case scenario early on.
The reigning champs trail the Rays by five games in the AL East, but the deficit could be bigger. Boston ranks near the bottom of the American League in runs scored and ERA. Aside from J.D. Martinez, none of the team's big-name hitters have been great. Chris Sale and Rick Porcello are winless, and both have ERAs over 8.00.
Milwaukee Brewers' Christian Yelich, right, reacts with Lorenzo Cain after hitting a three-run home run against the St. (AP Photo/Jeffrey Phelps)
There's still more than a week left in April, though. And there's plenty of precedent that suggests a good team can recover from a start like this. Here are a few teams since the start of the wild-card era that had even worse records than the Red Sox after 22 games — and still ended up in the postseason:
— The 2015 Rangers started 7-15 and were 8 ½ games out of first place before winning the AL West with an 88-74 record. They were eliminated in the Division Series by Toronto — remember Jose Bautista's home run and bat flip?
— The 2010 Braves were 8-14 after losing nine straight games in April. About a month later, they made up for that with a nine-game winning streak. They ended up as a 91-win wild card in manager Bobby Cox's final season.
— The 2006 Padres were 8-14, but they were only 4 ½ games out of first at the time. The NL West remained pretty forgiving that year. In fact, when San Diego and Los Angeles finished 88-74, they tied for the second-best record in the whole National League and both made the playoffs.
— The 2002 Angels won the World Series after starting 8-14. They were actually back at .500 in early May and easily took the wild card with 99 wins.
— The Athletics of the early 2000s had a habit of starting slowly and storming back. The 2002 team featured in "Moneyball" was a good example, but the 2001 team also followed the pattern, starting 8-14 before turning things around and finishing 102-60. Oakland went 58-17 after the All-Star break, and while that wasn't enough to catch the 116-win Mariners in the division, the A's made the playoffs with room to spare.
It's OK to give the Red Sox some benefit of the doubt right now, especially with the rival Yankees dealing with injury issues of their own.
HITTING WELL
If the Red Sox do continue to flounder, Minnesota is a team that could potentially benefit. The Twins (12-7) rank second in the major leagues in OPS and lead the AL Central by a game over Cleveland. Even if the Indians surge past at some point, Minnesota could remain a factor in the wild-card race.
Young shortstop Jorge Polanco is hitting .362, and Eddie Rosario has nine home runs.
The A's turned an unusual double play Sunday thanks to Ramón Laureano's athleticism — and his wild throw. Laureano leaped high at the wall to rob Toronto's Teoscar Hernández of a homer. Then Laureano tried to double Justin Smoak off first, but his throw was nowhere near the bag. Smoak tried to go to second, but he was thrown out by catcher Nick Hundley, who had been backing up the play in foul ground.
LINE OF THE WEEK
Christian Yelich is off to a fine start in his race for a second straight NL MVP award. The Milwaukee slugger leads the majors with 13 home runs, and he hit three of them Monday in a 10-7 win over St. Louis.
Information from Baseball-Reference.com was used for this story.
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text:
Q: How to get all stop words from Spacy and don't get any errors? TypeError: argument of type 'module' is not iterable How to get all stop words from spacy.lang.en and don't get any errors?
from spacy.lang.en import stop_words as stop_words

def tokenize(sentence):
    sentence = nlp(sentence)
    # lemmatizing
    sentence = [ word.lemma_.lower().strip() if word.lemma_ != "-PRON-" else word.lower_ for word in sentence ]
    # removing stop words
    sentence = [ word for word in sentence if word not in stop_words and word not in punctuations ]
    return sentence

tokenize("Hallo ik ben leyla en ") and then i get

Then I got the following error and This is the error that I got
TypeError: argument of type 'module' is not iterable

A: Make sure stop_words and punctuations be a list or set and for getting a set of all stop_words from from spacy.lang.en import stop_words you can use stop_words.STOP_WORDS or as an alternative solution you can use nlp.Defaults.stop_words.
import spacy
from string import punctuation
from spacy.lang.en import stop_words

nlp = spacy.load('en_core_web_sm')

stop_words = stop_words.STOP_WORDS
# print(stop_words)
# as an alternative solution
# stop_words = nlp.Defaults.stop_words

punctuations = list(punctuation)
print(punctuations)
# ['!', '"', '#', '$', '%', '&', "'", '(', ')', '*', '+', '', '', '-', '.', '/', ':', ';', '<', '=', '>', '?', '@', '[', '\\', ']', '^', '_', '`', '{', '|', '}', '~']

def tokenize(sentence):
    sentence = nlp(sentence)
    # lemmatizing
    sentence = [ word.lemma_.lower().strip() if word.lemma_ != "-PRON-" else word.lower_ for word in sentence ]
    # removing stop words
    sentence = [ word for word in sentence if word not in stop_words and word not in punctuations ]
    return sentence

>>> tokenize("Hallo ik ben leyla en ")
['hallo', 'ik', 'ben', 'leyla', 'en']

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text:
Breaking into the Egg Business
By Kelly Klober
Perhaps the best place to begin a discussion about the egg business would be with the egg itself. There is just a nine-ounce difference between a dozen medium and a dozen jumbo eggs. A dozen large eggs, the standard in the retail marketplace, weighs twenty-four ounces. A dozen medium eggs, commonly used in the food service sector, weighs twenty-one ounces—just three ounces less. These slight differences can become big factors when calculating what it costs to produce a dozen eggs.
A six-pound hen that lays two or three eggs per week will eat as much as one that lays five or six.
Egg grades—AA, A, and B—have nothing to do with egg size or shell color. Rather they are used to rate shell cleanliness and uniformity and the condition of the egg's interior. Under examination and candling, an AA egg will have a clean, unbroken shell with even shape and shell surface. The air cell will be 1/18th-inch or less in depth, and regular in shape. The white will appear clean and firm, and the yolk will be centered and free of defects.
An A-quality egg will also have a clean and unbroken shell. The air cell will be 1/4-inch or less in depth and fairly uniform. The white should be clear, although not quite as firm as that of the AA egg. The yolk should be fairly centered, have a more defined outline, and should also be free of defects such as meat or blood spots.
The AA and A grades are referred to as "table eggs." The fancy, more naturally produced table egg is at the core of the modern rise in poultry keeping. For many it has been encapsulated in the large and extra-large brown-shelled egg. These brown eggs are not always the most economical to produce, though, and neither size nor shell color are mandated in the production of heritage, cage-free, organic, or any other value-adding production measure.
Egg Business: Improving Performance
"Brown-shelled egg" is a descriptive term that is becoming as commonplace and unexciting as "two-door sedan" or "generic peanut butter."
Eggs from specific regional breeds appear to be an emerging market. An Amish client called with a question about poor egg production, and the solution we arrived at was to develop better performing Ameraucana chickens. The challenge was to find the necessary genetics and then to breed them up to levels of performance that will make his market niche truly profitable. We agreed that he would develop a green-and-blue egg true breed.
The root to success with a laying flock, regardless of the breed, is to make the long-term commitment to careful breeding and performance upgrading.
The root to success with a laying flock, regardless of the breed, is to make the long-term commitment to careful breeding and performance upgrading. There have been a lot of fad breeds in poultry keeping of late, and many are not high performers in the laying house. Others have not been held to any performance standard for many decades or were not bred to maintain, let alone improve, performance.
Fortunately, there are a great many pure breeds with practical roots from which to select, and within these there are often a great many color and pattern varietals. The Plymouth Rock, for example, has name recognition on par with Chevrolet or Black Angus beef. The White and Barred varietals are the most generally recognized breeds, but are perhaps a bit too commonplace for some modern niche marketers.
There are, however, Buff, Silver Penciled, Partridge, Columbian, and Blue varieties of the Plymouth Rock. All but the Blue have been recognized by the American Poultry Association for over a hundred years. The Buff and the Partridge varieties have the look and also the history to be highly marketable. The American Poultry Association Standard of Perfection lists sixteen Leghorn varietals, and the Society for the Preservation of Poultry Antiquities has documented several more, including Duckwing varieties and the Exchequer Leghorn.
If we are to follow the historical example, the next step after selection and breed preservation should be the propagation of those breed-specific flocks for improving economic performance. Richly-colored eggs will be only a market of the moment if they cannot go on to be profitable.
A short burst of popularity is not enough on which to launch an egg business. Novelty will get you a look-see, but only by consistently delivering the goods is a business built. The Exchequer Leghorn—the 'Scottish Leghorn'—had such a recent flowering of interest. It is one of the largest of the Leghorn varietals, with a distinctive white and black hatched pattern. It has an appealing image, but there were only small populations, and early on in the flurry of interest many farmers encountered problems with its color pattern, leg color, mature size, and genetic purity.
It was not the uber-Leghorn for range production and certainly suffered from too much early demand. A lot of chickens got shipped that shouldn't have been hatched. It is still a worthy bird, though, for those willing to take the time to learn its history and then get serious about making it an economically important breed again.
Many of these same points could be made about the much more common Light Brown Leghorn. Even within my lifetime, interest has fluctuated way up and down for this breed. When I was younger many hatcheries boasted about their strains of Danish Brown Leghorns and filled many catalog pages with their accomplishments.
It will take roughly fifty or sixty years before the Light Brown Leghorn and most other heritage breeds are restored to anywhere near their former levels of productivity. Consumers who buy these "special" eggs will reward producers for their good efforts and will again make the farm-fresh local egg a valuable resource.
Egg Shell Color & Productivity
Large brown eggs are generally produced by larger, less productive chicken breeds. They require more feed per dozen and housing space, and annual per-hen output is often much lower than with some of the white egg laying breeds. The large white egg is the traditional egg for many U.S. consumers, and the economic temper of the times could eventually point to a growing number of heritage-bred, white egg flocks profiting from the production of heirloom and natural large and even medium white eggs.
There is a demand for colored eggs, but the birds that produce them have never been bred for increased productivity.
The bargain hunters and the price-driven consumers are going to shop the retail outlets where factory-farmed eggs are still treated as loss leaders. In these market outlets, eggs are sold at a loss to get people into the store; this is not the market venue for independent egg producers with their heritage breeds.
We are still in a somewhat flagging economy, and while the case can be made to price a dozen extra-large, brown, organic eggs at $4, fewer and fewer people have room in their budgets for this upscale item. Consumers know that there are differences in eggs—the nightly news tells them that often enough—but not all the goodness and freshness is wrapped up in big and bigger brown-shelled eggs.
The small flock producer knows just how much individualized spin he or she can put on an egg and still market it profitably in optimal numbers. The transition from hen numbers in the tens to hen numbers in the hundreds is one very big step upward and outward, because the producer will have to reach well beyond the farm gate to get those numbers sold. Farmers must acquire genetics with dependable productivity, find steady buyers, and devise a plan of operation from breeding to marketing.
I recently fielded a call from an Amish farmer that had found a niche in the $2 to $2.50 per dozen range for green-hued eggs. He had invested in five hundred "Easter Egger" pullets and was encountering problems with per-bird productivity. The Easter Eggers too often skate along on the novelty of producing some green and a few blue eggs. There is a demand for such colored eggs, but the birds that produce them have never been taken in hand and bred for increasing productivity. A six-pound hen that lays two or three eggs per week will eat as much as one that lays five or six.
That said, I should add that you can't starve a profit out of a bird. The benefit of putting layers on pasture is not that it drastically decreases feed costs, but rather that it allows birds exercise, exposure to sunlight, and access to additions to their diet in the form of insects, seeds, and greens.
Birds on range should be left on full feed. Ranging activities and weather stress may reduce or even increase food consumption. Either way, the birds need regular access to a well-formulated ration offered as a full feed. Chickens are not grazers. They are omnivores with a strong reliance upon seeds and even some animal protein; too much greenery can bind their crops.
A neighbor feeds the same base ration I do—a plant-based feed formula—and promotes his eggs as being produced on a vegetable diet. His birds also freely range and freely and eagerly consume any number of animal protein forms (worms, insects, and the odd baby mouse or small lizard). In other words, his birds are as bloody of beak and talon as any of the hunting raptors that soar above.
It is up to the individual producer to set the spin and find the niche that will enable him or her to profit from an egg venture. Organic is going to remain one of the priciest production methods, and cage-free eggs are becoming ever more commonplace.
Due to the local and artisanal movements in foods and farming, what adds substantial value now and for the foreseeable future is the presence of the producer's hand on the egg carton. To express that most simply, the producer has to take a "my hens/my eggs" stance from farm to fork.
The best way for a consumer to know that an egg is farm-fresh is to buy it from the farmer. And the farmer has to establish a strong relationship with his or her customers. This can begin with a farm name, production data, and contact information on the label atop each carton of eggs.
It does no good to make an egg special if you fail to inform the buyer why and how you made them special. Until the shell is cracked, the only thing that gives an egg business value is what the farmer says.
This article appeared in the February 2013 issue of Acres U.S.A.
Kelly Klober specializes in raising livestock using natural methods. He is the author of Talking Chicken, Beyond the Chicken, and Dirt Hog: A Hands-On Guide to Raising Pigs Outdoors… Naturally, all of which are available from Acres U.S.A.


Could you misplace a few billion dollars if you tried? With the stunning accounting and leadership failures at Enron, WorldCom and others, maybe we should look at how to deal with debt successfully. Here are three tips that might help.
First, pay attention to receivables. My friend Randy in accounting told me, "Every bad debt starts out as a slow pay," so do the best you can to focus your efforts on collections. Automatically add interest due to each month's statement, just to make it clear you are keeping score.You can turn receivables into assets immediately by selling them for cash, but be prepared to pay a few percent for the luxury of instant payment.
Second, consider outsourcing everything else that's not core business. You can have your payroll done outside by a responsible third-party firm. You can have your employment handled by a professional employment organization. They assume all of the liability and risk of the personnel function.
Third, borrow money when you don't need it, because that's when banks want to lend it to you and you can shop around. Banks have some flexibility in how they treat you, especially if they sniff multiple accounts. What if you added your personal lines, credit cards, investments and insurance? Good clients are always a valuable commodity, and when you manage your debt wisely, everybody wants you.


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Home Healthy Living	The Scientific Connection Between Sleep, Kindness and Empathy
The Scientific Connection Between Sleep, Kindness and Empathy
written by sleepadmin July 31, 2019
Two experts on the link between sleep and compassion — and sleep-deprivation and loneliness.
Original Article | Thrive Global | July 30, 2019 | Author Elaine Lipworth
I consider myself to be a kind, sociable person, but some days I feel short and grumpy. "Why has no one emptied the dishwasher?" I hear myself shouting. "Not right now," I'll snap in response to a request for help. I try to get perspective, using all the mindfulness tools at my disposal: from meditation to affirmations. But on those difficult days, inevitably when I haven't slept well, empathy is in short supply.
It's a relief to discover that I'm not turning into a Jekyll and Hyde! And if you can relate to feeling snippy when you haven't slept well, neither are you. Scientific studies have found a direct correlation between sleep, compassion and empathy. Health and performance psychologist, Inna Khazan Ph.D., a faculty member at Harvard Medical School, says when we don't get enough shuteye, "We are more likely to have trouble regulating our emotions, so we feel anxious and irritable." Compassion, Khazan says, is strongly associated with the parasympathetic (or relaxation) part of our nervous system. "Without enough deep rest, it's more difficult to act kindly towards others and ourselves," she says.
Studies show that poor sleep actually lowers our empathy, says Eti Ben Simon, Ph.D., a neuroscientist at UC Berkeley's Center for Human Sleep Science. "Concern for people requires an understanding of what they want or feel, and we now have preliminary evidence that regions of the brain dealing with that understanding are impaired by sleep loss — which means the basis for empathy is lost," she tells Thrive. Researchers have also discovered that sleep-deprived individuals are less likely to vote or donate to charity because of what Ben Simon describes as "a decreased interest in the well-being of others."
A recent Berkeley study Ben Simon co-authored found that people who haven't slept well also feel more loneliness and withdraw from interacting with others in much the same way as people with social anxiety do.
The researchers were surprised at another finding, too: others are less likely to want to interact with people who've slept poorly the night before, which can "aggravate the state of social withdrawal you feel," Ben Simon says.
A small Swedish study found that sleep-deprived individuals could be perceived as less physically attractive and healthy. Ben Simon notes that without adequate sleep, our voices actually change, becoming flatter and more monotonous. "Emotional behavior is also profoundly affected. Individuals become more easily stressed and there is evidence of an increased tendency to blame others," she explains.
On the flipside, after a good night's sleep, because we are better able to regulate our emotions, we're more compassionate, says Harvard's Khazan. "On nights when I haven't got enough sleep, I've been irritable with my kids. When I get sufficient sleep, which thankfully now is a lot more of the time, I can calmly say, 'Okay, one at a time, what do you need?' It's much easier to step back and think about a helpful way to respond," she says.
At work, if you've had a good night's sleep, that translates into stronger connections and improved performance. "Well-rested people are better team players," says Khazan, whose patients include sleep-deprived executives. "As their sleep improves, they say they're nicer to their team members. When you make behavioral changes that allow you to sleep better, you will notice a positive effect the very next day," she adds.
"There is no doubt that if everyone had good quality sleep, the world would be kinder and more compassionate," says Thrive Global's Sleep Editor-at-Large Shelly Ibach, the president and CEO of Sleep Number. "You can see the difference deep rest makes at our company, where the team is highly-engaged, mission-driven and genuinely care for one another. We make sleep a priority. Personally, when I've slept well, (which is most of the time), I have more empathy and I'm happier."
Ben Simon has learned about the crucial value of good rest from experience. "I had to stay up all night once a week for three months with our study's participants," she laughs, "And I could feel my social and emotional functions deteriorating." Now she practices what she preaches. "I make sure I get close to nine hours sleep a night."
Sleep is often viewed as something that takes us away from social activity, but, ironically, "sleep is a glue that biologically and psychologically binds us together as a species," Ben Simon points out. "It reconnects us with our friends, colleagues, partners and even with strangers."
If you struggle to get your seven to eight hours a night, these tips may help:
1. Stop the mindless scroll
Think about why you've been losing sleep and ask yourself whether it was worth the consequences, says Khazan. "Ask yourself, 'Was I just mindlessly scrolling through stuff on my phone?.'" Often people push back sleep to do things like scrolling or watching 20 more minutes of a show, thinking they're winding down, but achieving the opposite effect.
2. Try this simple breathing exercise
Khazan, who is the author of the new book, Biofeedback and Mindfulness in Everyday Life, suggests trying a breathing exercise called heart rate variability (HRV) biofeedback. "It trains your heart rate to go up as much as possible and then to come down as much as possible. These changes in your heart rate are associated with greater health and resilience," she says, explaining that the technique "supports good sleep and regulates emotions, including the ability to be more compassionate and empathetic." Shift your breath down to your belly. Inhale for four seconds and exhale slowly and fully to the count of six seconds. Aim to do it for 10 minutes.
Like breathing, meditation can help you relax at bedtime, says Khazan, who recommends Chris Germer and Ron Siegel's guided meditations if you don't already have a practice. And apps like Calm and Headspace offer specific meditations to help you drift off.
4. Keep your phone out of the bedroom
Both experts emphasize the importance of keeping technology out of the bedroom. "Your phone is the enemy of sleep because it's a constant reminder of the waking world," says Ben Simon. "Get into bed when you are sleepy to remind your body that the bed is only intended for sleep (and sex)," says Khazan, who advises against lingering in bed in the morning.
5. Check in with your own tiredness
The Scientific Connection Between Sleep, Kindness and Empathy"Get to know your own sleepiness," says Ben Simon. "If you've watched your favorite TV show at night and are wondering whether to continue to the next episode, take a 10 minute break before you hit play and rest your eyes. If you start to feel sleepy, then you are ready for bed." Save the show for tomorrow.
The Scientific Connection Between Sleep, Kindness and Empathy was last modified: July 31st, 2019 by sleepadmin
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Mayo Clinic researchers are studying data on opioid prescriptions after surgery. The goal is the best possible outcome for patients with minimal exposure to opioids.
In the last 15 years, the number of Americans receiving an opioid prescription and the number of deaths involving overdoses have roughly quadrupled, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. More than 90 people per day died in 2015 from an overdose of a prescription opioid or heroin – an illegal opioid made from morphine.
As the opioid epidemic continues, health care providers are hoping to do their part. For decades, the emphasis nationwide for treating surgical patients was to prescribe enough opioid pain medication to ensure they didn't have any pain. But health care providers are realizing it's a balancing act between managing pain and ensuring patients aren't overprescribed.
To that end, Mayo Clinic researchers are studying the clinic's opioid prescribing practices after surgery, outlining areas for improvement based on evidence, and implementing change. The team includes scientists in the Mayo Clinic Robert D. and Patricia E. Kern Center for the Science of Health Care Delivery, along with surgeons, pain medicine specialists, nurses and pharmacists. Their goal is to identify the right amount for each patient.
The research team published a study July 13 in the Annals of Surgery which highlighted prescribing practices from January 2013 to December 2015 for 25 common surgeries at Mayo Clinic campuses in Arizona, Florida and Rochester. In particular, the researchers examined patients who weren't taking opioids in the 90 days before surgery. Within that group of 5,756 patients, they found 4 of 5 patients received more than recommended by Minnesota state guidelines now in development.
The median opioid prescription for that subgroup was equal to 50 pills of five-milligram oxycodone. That's almost twice the amount the draft guidelines from the state of Minnesota recommend for a maximum, which is roughly a seven-day supply or about 27 pills of five-milligram oxycodone.
And, within that group, the prescriptions varied within specific surgical procedures and among the three campuses after adjusting for other factors. The Rochester campus median equaled 40 pills of oxycodone; whereas, the Arizona and Florida campuses' median equaled 50 and 60 pills, respectively.
Based on these data, the Mayo Clinic Department of Orthopedic Surgery already has transformed its prescribing practices for patients who weren't taking opioids in the 90 days before surgery. The department is developing four recommended levels based on surgical procedure and patient need.
"Furthermore, we have encouraged all our providers to maximize non-opioid pain strategies, such as ice, compression and over-the-counter medications," Dr. Mabry says.
Other departments – such as Neurosurgery, General Surgery and Obstetrics and Gynecology – are following suit with their own guidelines. And the Mayo Enterprise Opioid Stewardship Program Oversight Group is using this research to make institution-wide improvements.
While the researchers say this is just the first step, it's advancing the practice in the right direction for the benefit of Mayo patients and the community.
"By publishing our experience we hope other institutions across the country begin a process similar to Mayo's," says co-author Robert Cima, M.D., a colorectal surgeon and medical director of surgical outcomes research.
It also provides a foundation for evidence-based guidelines for prescribing opioids post-surgery, something that was previously lacking.
"When I first looked at the medical literature I was surprised that, even for common surgeries, there wasn't data to help guide surgeons on post-operative opioid prescribing practices," says lead author Cornelius Thiels, D.O., a general surgery resident in the Mayo Clinic School of Graduate Medical Education, and alumnus of the Surgical Outcomes Research Fellowship.
The team also is hoping the study will help shape government policy and health care guidelines. The state of Minnesota is considering the study as it finalizes its guidelines, which in their current form aren't appropriate for all cases, the researchers say.
Now, the team is surveying patients after surgery to see which types of patients are receiving excess opioids, and to determine how well they're managing their pain.
"That's important because pain is a very subjective experience and health care providers have to make sure they take the patients perspective into account when they alter how they treat their pain after surgery," Dr. Thiels says.
The Mayo Clinic Robert D. and Patricia E. Kern Center for the Science of Health Care Delivery funded the research. The center analyzes data with the goal of making broad-based quality and efficiency improvements in patient care at Mayo and beyond.
My worst fear now is pain management.
I fought the use of opioids for pain control before and would again… but I am concerned there is no alternative?!?!?
I had two major orthopedic surgeries three years ago. I was prescribed opioids for post-op pain. I needed them. I took them for about ten days for the first surgery and a little longer for the second–perhaps 2.5 weeks. I was prescribed a 30 day supply in each case, which I thought was perfectly adequate. I still have some left over. In spite of being in pain since the surgeries, I haven't felt the slightest desire to take an opioid, but I would be terrified of any further surgery without effective post op pain relief for more than 7 days. It's just a crying shame that the medical community is depriving people of pain relief when they actually need it, because of others' abuse. Prescription should be on an individual basis. I'm way past middle age and have no addictive tendencies, nor any history of drug abuse. This should be evaluated, rather than a blanket protocol applied that would mean horrible pain for me and millions like me. Not every surgical patient is at risk of going out on the streets to look for opioids because they've been prescribed them one time for post-op pain.


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shopping for records
Shopping For Records: Poison Idea's Kings Of Punk Reissue
Poison Idea's 1986 release, Kings Of Punk, is getting the reissue treatment via Southern Lord, who had a hand in reissuing the Darby Crash Rides Again: The Early Years and The Fatal Erection Years 1983-1986 compilations. It's neither "deluxe" nor "expanded:" This version of the album is deemed the "Bloated Edition," which sounds appropriate.
Details of the release were provided by Earsplit PR.
POISON IDEA: Southern Lord To Reissue Bloated Edition Of Band's Classic Kings Of Punk Album
Following last year's resurrection of Darby Crash Rides Again and The Fatal Erection Years, Southern Lord is preparing to deliver the latest release in a series of reissues from POISON IDEA's potent catalog, with an expanded edition of the band's 1986 LP, Kings of Punk.
An unmistakable rager of an album by the Portland hardcore berzerkers, on their second full-length POISON IDEA had begun tightening their blazing nailbomb eruptions of noise of their earliest material reflected, and where they really began developing what would become their signature sound. Kicking off with the riff Discharge wish they had written, Kings of Punk is a big, bold slab of premium American hardcore, with undertones of the hard rockin' bombast which would define their later works. From the crazed splutter of "God Not God," tripping over itself in a wonderful mess of distress, to the sneering blast of "Made To Be Broken," this is POISON IDEA at their unparalleled, grittiest, snottiest best.
Kings of Punk perfectly encapsulates one of the most important bands of the era who took the template of the early '80s and perverted it to fit their own twisted desires. The three live sets, taken from the years '84-'86, offer an even more revealing snapshot of POISON IDEA in their destructive prime, drawling insults at the audience, the world and themselves and filling two full CDs, brought kicking and thrashing back to life by Jack Control (World Burns to Death). As well as the unhinged audio content, this reissue is packed with liner notes, archive flyers and photos of the band from the era.
Fans of hardcore punk - this is a must. Southern Lord will re-unleash the 2xCD "Bloated Edition" of this beast in North America on November 26th.
http://www.myspace.com/blankblackoutvacant
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Poison-Idea/60605554861?ref=pb
http://www.southernlord.com
http://blog.southernlord.com
http://twitter.com/twatterlord
Labels: hardcore punk reissue shopping for records southern lord


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Who's behind the Lincoln data center proposal?
Matt Olberding
Matt Olberding is a Lincoln native and University of Nebraska-Lincoln graduate who has been covering business for the Journal Star since 2005.
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Is it Google?
That's the question some people are asking about the data center project that's being proposed just off of Interstate 80 at the 56th Street exit in Lincoln.
According to plans submitted to the city, a company called Agate LLC wants to build a data center that could cover as much as 2 million square feet and have close to 1,000 employees within 20 years.
State and local officials who have been involved in working on the project have all signed non-disclosure agreements and can say little about it. But many of them have admitted they don't actually know who is ultimately behind the project.
It's clear that Agate is a shell or front company. It was registered with the state in April and lists as its address the location of an incorporation company in Delaware.
So why has Google's name come up? A few reasons.
One, the search engine giant did announce earlier this year that as part of $13 billion in data center investments it plans a data center in Nebraska.
Most speculation has centered on the Omaha area, but Google did not specify where in Nebraska it plans to build. A map it included with the announcement showed a dot on what looked like Omaha, but it also included a halo around it that was big enough to include Lincoln.
Another reason there's been speculation it could be Google is the price.
Agate LLC earlier this year filed two applications for state tax incentives. One of the applications lists $560 million investment, the other lists $40 million, for a total of $600 million.
Why is that number significant? It just so happens that's a common investment level for Google when it comes to its data centers.
On Monday, the Kansas City Star reported that Google is looking at building a data center in the northern part of the city. Price tag: $600 million. The story also said Google's initial employment level would be about 30 people.
Guess what? In one of its tax incentive applications, Agate also listed 30 employees.
According to other media reports, Google either has invested or plans to invest $600 million in data centers in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Dallas, Las Vegas and Ohio.
Need more speculation fodder? Consider this: Google, like many tech companies, wants to power its data centers with renewable energy. However, unlike many other companies, such as Facebook, that are getting that power via wind farms, Google has been targeting solar farms.
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In January, the Tennessee Valley Authority announced it would build huge solar farms in Alabama and Tennessee to power Google data centers being built in those two states.
The day before the Lincoln data center project had its first hearing before the Lincoln-Lancaster County Planning Commission, a New York-based company called Ranger Power announced plans for a 230-megawatt solar farm east of Lincoln that would produce more than five times more power than all currently operating solar farms in the state combined.
Coincidence? Probably. But it does help to fuel the flames of speculation.
There also are some very strong signs that the company wanting to build a data center in Lincoln is something other than Google.
For one thing, in its announcement earlier this year, Google said its $13 billion in data center investments, including the one in Nebraska, would come this year. The application materials for the Lincoln project suggest construction would not start until next year at the earliest.
There already is a data center site in Sarpy County that is much farther along and seems like it might be a more likely candidate for Google.
That 275-acre site, which has been dubbed "Project Wizard," is northwest of Highway 50 and Schram Road. The company behind it is called Fireball Group LLC.
Fireball, like Agate, used the same Delaware incorporation company, CSC. But, according to Data Center Dynamics, a website dedicated to data center news, there were some interesting coincidences in the Fireball incorporation documents.
They were signed by an attorney named Denny Kwon, who, according to the website, has worked on at least one previous Google data center project.
Kwon also is involved with a company called PHS Industries LLC that bought small parcels of land in the Jacksonville, Florida, area for a different Google project, its fiber internet service.
According to Data Center Dynamics, the company's Florida incorporation documents were signed by Pia Victor, the senior corporate paralegal at Google, who previously worked at Kwon's firm.
So there you have it. There are some strong signs both for and against Google being the company behind the Lincoln data center project.
Since companies treat these projects like state secrets, it's unlikely we're going to know for sure who the actual company behind it is until it wants us to know.
One thing is for certain, though: Whether it's Google or another company, this data center project is, as one local official put it, "a BFD."
For those of you who don't know what that acronym means, I'll give you the polite version: It's a big freaking deal.
What's going up in Lincoln
A Spectrum retail store will be the first tenant for a retail building under construction at the former Skate Zone site at 300 N. 48th St. Construction on a hotel at the site is likely to start in the next two to three months.
JUSTIN WAN, Journal Star
Tommy's Express Car Wash
Workers put together the red, steel frame for Tommy's Express Car Wash north of 70th and O Streets in November. The site was formerly home to Texas T-Bone and Lone Star Steakhouse, among other restaurants.
GWYNETH ROBERTS, Journal Star
Lied Place Residences
A 300-foot mobile crane sits ready to erect a 280-foot tower crane at the site of the future Lied Place Residences in November.
Mourning Hope Grief Center
The new Mourning Hope Grief Center takes shape in December on South Folsom Street next to the Willard Community Center.
Wesleyan theatre
An architectural rendering shows the first phase of a renovation project at Nebraska Wesleyan University, which will replace seats in McDonald Theatre.
New football complex
Nebraska's proposed new football facility ties in with the East Stadium Plaza and other buildings on the NU campus. "This is going to be an unbelievable move for athletics here at Nebraska and something that's going to change this place in a big way," said NU Associate Athletic Director for Football Matt Davison.
NU Athletic Department, Courtesy photo
Sun Valley Lanes
This rendering shows the new bar planned at Sun Valley Lanes.
Sun Valley Lanes Facebook page
Campion project
Campion Development has proposed some changes to its student-oriented housing project at Ninth and M streets.
Courtesy image, Grace Hebert Curtis Architects
Telegraph Flats
Telegraph Lofts East rises in the foreground, followed by Telegraph Flats, while looking west toward downtown Lincoln in September.
Southpointe Parking Garage
A parking garage is going up at the end of September on the site of the former Scheels building at SouthPointe Pavilions.
EMILY HANEY, Journal Star
Lancaster Event Center
Water hookups and electrical boxes line the new campground under construction at the Lancaster Event Center.
Journal Star file photo
Gold's Galleria
The Gold's Building at 11th and O streets has been sold to a real estate investment company that plans a $15 million-$20 million redevelopment that will include a 110-room hotel.
Bryan Physician Network
Bryan Physician Network broke ground at 84th and Pioneers on a new building that will be home to Southeast Lincoln Family Medicine and a second Bryan Urgent Care location.
SCC renovations
Southeast Community College's Education Square downtown was renovated, with enhanced security.
Nebraska Innovation Campus hotel
An architectural rendering shows a six-story hotel proposed for 21st Street and Transformation Drive on Nebraska Innovation Campus.
Construction on the Olsson building in the Haymarket in July.
Kindler Hotel
There's a healthy use of granite and marble throughout the rooms and public spaces, including bathrooms at The Kindler Hotel.
Eastmont
This rendering shows what the Eastmont campus at 6315 O St. will look like after its planned $50 million expansion.
Lincoln Children's Zoo
The new Wild Kingdom Theater is part of the expanded Lincoln Children's Zoo that opened in May.
Ninth & O development
New renderings show a preliminary design for a hotel on the southeast corner of Ninth and O streets.
LK Architecture, Courtesy photo
Prison Open House
The new, 160-bed women's unit at the Community Corrections Center-Lincoln was built to be a therapeutic space. It features earth tones, natural lighting and wood throughout the building.
The Stack Lofts
The Stack at 1222 P St. includes 27 market-rate apartments -- three two-bedroom units, 20 one-bedroom units and four studios, some with balcony access.
Wilderness Nature Camp
The Lincoln Parks Foundation is raising money to build a new Wilderness Nature Camp building at Pioneers Park Nature Center.
Great Plains Beef
This rendering shows Great Plains Beef's planned new administration building at 84th Street and Havelock Avenue.
Reach the writer at 402-473-2647 or molberding@journalstar.com.
On Twitter @LincolnBizBuzz.
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Large data center project hailed by planning commissioner as 'development that cities often dream of'
A large data center project proposed in north Lincoln took a small step forward Wednesday.
Large data center development proposed along I-80 in Lincoln
Lincoln has long missed out on the regional data center boom that has brought major tech companies such as Facebook, Google, Apple and Microso…
Facebook unveils first building at Papillion data center
PAPILLION — As of Thursday, it's possible that post you liked or that photo you uploaded to your Facebook page was routed through Nebraska.
Google announces plans for Nebraska data center
Google on Wednesday announced plans to build a data center in the Omaha area.
Lincoln City Council makes parking exemption for furniture store permanent with new ordinance
The Lincoln City Council on Monday made permanent a zoning exemption for parking granted earlier this month to a planned furniture store in no…
Nebraska man helped develop NASA technology that allowed pictures from the moon
AURORA -- The 50th anniversary of man's first landing on the moon stirred unique and special memories this month for the children of a lunar p…
Council clears the way for massive data center in north Lincoln
The Lincoln City Council on Monday annexed more than 570 acres north of Interstate 80 into the city and approved the zoning changes to ready t…
Council OKs solar project that would be state's largest
The Lincoln City Council on Monday paved the way for a solar farm east of Lincoln that would be the largest in the state.
Google to build $600 million data center in Papillion
Google on Friday announced plans to build a data center at 14706 Schram Road in Papillion.
Company behind proposed Lincoln data center buys land for nearly $19 million
The company behind a huge data center proposed for north Lincoln has taken a big step forward with its plans.


No time to take a CPR Class?
Have you heard about "Hands Only CPR (compression only CPR) or Automatic External Defibrilators (AEDs)?
Click to view a compression only CPR video from the University of Washington website.
Click to view CPR aps and more information form the University of Washington Learn CPR website including how to use an AED.
Click to view information from the American Heart Association about Hands Only CPR.
Thank You For Taking a Class That Can Help Save a Life!
How does Thurston County Medic One/EMS System compare?
CPR classes are approximately two hours in duration.
All Medic One sponsored classes are FREE to the general public and are approximately two hours in duration.
You must phone ahead and pre-enroll to attend a CPR class (360-704-2790).
Classes teach one-person Adult compression only and AED training.
All classes are trained to meet the American Heart Association national standards.
Medic One does not provide First Aid training nor Health Care Provider classes.
To register for a Medic One CPR class, please call the number listed above.
If you are planning to purchase a PAD, also called Automated External Defibrillator (AED), please call Medic One, 360-704-2788.


Those who retell it, say that Becky's mother, Darla, left the house for a church event and gave her young husband, Wilbur, explicit instructions on how to care for their daughter.
But in case folks didn't understand his basic message, Jesus offered the Golden Rule, a standard in most world religions. The Message translation of the Bible, offers extra transparency of Mathew 7:12.
This means I ask myself tough questions as if the answers impacted me, like what would I want done if it was my daughter? How would I feel if my kids' school was shot up? Or what if my refugee family had been turned away? Or how will my disabled brother get the healthcare he needs in his declining years?


I'm a little late to the party with this quick recipe, because these were rocking the veg*n world about 12 months ago. However, with commercial varieties appearing in some shops, I thought it might be worth putting this recipe up.
For a snack for two people, you will need about half a packet of curly kale, 1 tsp of oil and some salt or other seasonings.
Pre-heat the oven to 180-190C.
Wash and dry the kale, and get rid of any big bits of stalk.
Toss the kale in the oil until each leaf has a coating.
Arrange the kale into one layer on a roasting pan.
Put in the oven for about 10 minutes.
After that time it should beginning to brown around the edges.
Remove from the oven but leave the oven on.
Sprinkle the kale with salt or seasonings and serve immediately.
The reason you leave the oven on, is after eating one batch, you're going to want another straight away!
I've given temperature and timings, but this is very dependent on how your oven functions. Don't worry if the first batch isn't perfect. It'll still taste good.
And a quick note for those doing Slimming World – use FryLight and this would be syn free!
I've called this recipe midweek vegetable pilau because it is a recipe you could easily put together after a hard day's work. There's a bit of chopping at the beginning but after that it takes care of itself.
I am making no apologies for using frozen vegetables in this dish. I think they're ideal for single people or people on a tight budget. There's no loss of nutrients in the freezing process and no noticeable lack of texture in a dish like this. And no waste. And it uses curry powder. So sue me. There are times when I want to grind my own curry spices, but a Thursday night after a day at work generally isn't one of them. Of course, if you feel differently, please add your own spice mix.
This has a lot of taste that belies the effort involved. And it's very comforting on a cold night.
Heat a little oil in a saucepan and add the onion and garlic.
Sweat them for a while until the onion goes translucent.
Stir in the curry powder and let it cook for a minute.
Then add the rice, mixed vegetables, nuts, tomatoes and the veg stock.
Bring to the simmer and put the lid on.
Keep an eye on it and add more liquid if it's starting to catch on the bottom of the pan.


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Alumni Hall at the University of Pittsburgh is a  Pittsburgh History and Landmarks Foundation Historic Landmark that was formerly known as the Masonic Temple in Pittsburgh. Constructed in 1914-1915, it was designed by renowned architect Benno Janssen of Janssen & Abbot Architects.  Other buildings in Pittsburgh's Oakland Cultural District designed by Janssen include the Pittsburgh Athletic Association,  Mellon Institute, and Pitt's Eberly Hall (which was known as Alumni Hall prior to 1998).

The building's design is that of a classical temple with a well-defined base, midsection and ornamental terra cotta pediment, topped with a clay tile roof.  The structure is steel, clad primarily in limestone with terra cotta details.  The rear elevation is brick.

Dimensions
Alumni Hall spans  along Fifth Avenue on Pitt's campus and runs  deep. It is nine stories high with two-story spaces throughout, has  of functional space as well as an additional  accommodating entrances, corridors, stairwells, and elevators.  There are three main entrances on Fifth, Lytton, and Tennyson Avenues.

Restoration and Renovation

The University of Pittsburgh acquired the former Masonic Temple on December 23, 1993, for $8.5 million ($ in  dollars).  A two-year,  $16 million ($ in  dollars) renovation of the structure and its adaptation for use by the University departments began in November 1998 and was completed in February 2000.  During the initial design process, a study was performed to evaluate the architectural and historic significance of each major area of the building.  As a result, four main lobbies, the ballroom and three main entrances, and portions of several two-story spaces on the third and fifth floors were kept and restored.   Special attention was given to restore the Masonic Temple's original historic condition.   As such, approximately 95% of the existing historical light fixtures were rewired, retrofitted with energy–efficient lamps, refinished, and rehung in their original locations.  Nearly all of the original wood doors, window casings and baseboards were refinished and reinstalled.  Five new automatic elevators were installed and original bronze and stainless steel cabs were retrofitted to two of the new elevator platforms.  Approximately 100 original bronze door hardware sets were modified to ADA compliance, refinished and reinstalled. One thousand square feet of marble flooring originally from Pennsylvania Hall (the previous home of Pitt's medical school since torn down) was utilized in vestibules, corridors, elevator lobbies and cabs.  Marble from the Masonic Temple's original marble restroom stalls was also recycled for use in these areas.  The building was decorated and furnished in a color scheme of primarily blues, mauves and burgundy to complement the mahogany woodwork.

Renovations included replacement of the building's electrical, mechanical and plumbing systems and the addition of air conditioning. A wheelchair-accessible entrance was added at Tennyson Avenue and the entire building was brought up to ADA guidelines.  Modern emergency fire and electrical systems were added as well as conduits for wiring installations for data and power for 380 of the building's classroom seats.

Uses of Alumni Hall

Originally an event center and meeting facility for area Masons, Alumni Hall now houses Pitt's Alumni Relations offices and Alumni Center, the Office of Admissions and Financial Aid, the headquarters of the Pitt Pathfinders, a 270-seat Natural Science Lecture Hall, the Office of Governmental Relations, the Institute of Politics, the University Center for Teaching and Learning, and the University of Pittsburgh Katz School of Business's Mellon Financial Corporation Hall that houses the Center for Executive Education.  The lobby of Alumni Hall is also the home to Pitt's Legacy Gallery. On the first floor, Alumni Hall also features the Connolly Ballroom that seats 400 for dinner or 500 theater-style.  The ballroom balcony contains a portrait gallery of former Pitt chancellors. The seventh floor auditorium lobby/reception area houses the collection of oil paintings, "365 Views of the Cathedral of Learning," completed in 1997-1999 by renowned Spanish artist Felix de la Concha.  Each painting features the Cathedral of Learning from a different vantage point for each of 365 days.  For many years the auditorium on the seventh floor served as the primary venue for the Kuntu Repertory Theatre. The building also contains various study areas.

Ghost legend
A legend dating to the building's use as a Masonic temple tells of a ghost resembling a distinguished-looking gentleman dressed in a black tuxedo, perhaps an old, lost Mason, that sometimes appears to wander the corridors and stairwells of the building.

Gallery

References

A Magnificent Transformation: The University of Pittsburgh's renovation of the historic Masonic Temple, University of Pittsburgh Department of Marketing and Communications, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA

External links

Alumni Hall on Pitt's virtual Campus Tour
Pitt Legacy Gallery
 Pitt Alumni Association
 Pitt Office of Admissions and Financial Aid
Katz Center for Executive Education

University of Pittsburgh academic buildings
Greek Revival architecture in Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation Historic Landmarks
Masonic buildings completed in 1915
University of Pittsburgh
Historic district contributing properties in Pennsylvania
National Register of Historic Places in Pittsburgh
Clubhouses in Pittsburgh

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


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More info on Fairy Godmother (Shrek)
Fairy Godmother (Shrek): Map
The Fairy Godmother is a fictional character and the main antagonist of DreamWorks Animation Studio's Film Shrek 2. She is voiced by British actress Jennifer Saunders.
The Fairy Godmother is a scheming, conniving opportunist who seeks to get the best for herself and her son, rather than others. She often resorts to blackmail and trickery through magic to get her way.
The Fairy Godmother in the Shrek films
The King and Queen of Far Far Away comes to her for help with their daughter, princess Fiona; she is enchanted with a fearsome curse that makes her want numerous orgies during the night but normal during the day; the Fairy Godmother advises that she be put in a tower guarded by a fearsome Dragon until Prince Charming would come and rescue her. (It is likely that the Fairy Godmother may have disguised herself as a witch to put the curse on Fiona in the first place so that her son, Prince Charming, could grab the chance as necessary).
The deception behind this becomes clear later in the film; it turns out that the Fairy Godmother had helped King Harold become human, and that Harold was originally the Frog Prince and had her change his appearance to marry Queen Lillian. Therefore, the Fairy Godmother decrees that her son would be the one to rescue Princess Fiona from the tower. Harold, under threat of having his form changed again, reluctantly goes along with the plot.
However, after the events of the first Shrek movie, Shrek rescues Fiona from the tower before Charming could reach it. When Charming finds the Castle and climbs to the highest room in the tallest tower he finds the Big Bad Wolfman/guy/dude lying in Fiona's bed, reading and eating pork chips. After questioning the wolf, he discovers that Fiona is married.
The Fairy Godmother becomes aware when she finds Fiona in her room at the palace of Far, Far Away and attempts to entice her with various luxuries, but fails. She then goes to Harold who points out that Charming didn't get to Fiona on time. Somewhat insulted by that statement, she threatens him into to keeping their deal; she wants Shrek dead and Fiona with her son Charming.
The Fairy Godmother prepares a Love Potion for Fiona but is barged in on by Shrek with his friends Donkey and Puss in Boots; after cruelly lecturing Shrek about Fiona's love it seems that Shrek is going to leave. Instead, they vandalise her work factory and steal one of her potions. When she sees that the stolen potion is the Happily Ever After Potion (which turns the drinker of the potion and their love into beautiful people), she knows it could work to her advantage.
She captures Shrek in Fiona's Palace Room before Fiona could see him when Shrek goes to meet her. The Fairy Godmother then passes Charming off as the new, handsome Shrek to Fiona while she again dupes Shrek into believing that Fiona is better off with Charming.
However, while at the downtown pub The Poison Apple, King Harold meets the Fairy Godmother and tells her to forget the whole thing. She threatens him again and orders him to use the Love Potion she had prepared in order for Fiona to fall for Charming forever. Fiona would then kiss Charming, her new true love, making the Happily Ever After Potion preserve her beauty forever. The conversation is overheard by Shrek and his friends, who were captured soon after by the F.F.A.P.D and imprisoned. Satisfied, the Fairy Godmother prepares for the ball where Charming would perform the deadly kiss.
Back at Shrek's swamp house, The Three Blind Mice, Gingy, Pinocchio, and the Big Bad Wolf are watching TV, and see Shrek, Donkey, and Puss being captured and thrown into jail on "KNIGHTS", a parody of "COPS". They then travel to Far, Far Away and rescue Shrek, Donkey, and Puss from jail. Though at first it seems their situation is hopeless to rescue Fiona, Shrek gets an idea and the group goes to see The Muffin Man.
Despite Charming's best efforts, The Fairy Godmother has to intervene again by dedicating the song "Holding Out For A Hero" to them so that Charming could kiss her during the dance. While Fiona dodges every attempt and the Fairy Godmother goes on with her song, Shrek, Donkey and their friends, armed with a Giant Ginger-Bread Man known as Mongo (baked by the Muffin Man), get into the castle and stop Charming.
Furious, the Fairy Godmother goes to attack Shrek with her wand but is first attacked by one of the Three Little Pigs, who grab hold of her foot; Pinocchio is thrown at her, but she blasts him and turns him into a 'real boy'; she kicks off the Pig into a castle window and is blown further into the air by The Big Bad Wolf. She pursues a pig, then Donkey, the Three Blind Mice and Gingy before Puss in Boots catches her wand. She turns furiously to Charming, who kisses Fiona. However, seeing as Harold had never given her the potion Fiona head butts him and knocks him out. Yet he soon throws the wand back to the Fairy Godmother who rises up and launches a massive lightning spell at Shrek. However, this is mirrored by King Harold's breastplate as he jumps in front of the spell before it could hit Shrek.
The rebounded blast hits the Fairy Godmother in the midriff and further into the air and she eventually explodes into thousands of bubbles, her glasses, and what seem to be numerous tears, falling to the floor along with her wand; the star's light fading into darkness (like Glinda the Good Witch of The Wizard of Oz).
After Fairy Godmother is stopped, the clock strikes midnight, and Shrek tells Fiona of the potion's effects, and that, if she wants it, he will kiss her so they can stay human and beautiful. Fiona is touched by Shrek sacrifices for her, and holds off kissing, so the potion reverses (Donkey's does also wears off and he, along with Shrek and Fiona, is lifted into the air and changed back into a Donkey).
Although she does not appear physically in the film, Charming keeps an autographed photo of her and plans to avenge her farewell by killing Shrek. Also, near the climax, it is shown that Prince Charming has doll modelled on her. It contains a secret red button to alert his knights of any danger.
Shrek 2: The Game
The Fairy Godmother also appears as the villain in the Shrek 2 game; though her appearance is somewhat different. She has a pink dress instead of blue like the film and she looks far older than in the film as well.
She is faced twice within the game; she fights Red Riding Hood when the player breaks into her cottage and has to fight her on conveyor belts and again at the end of the game. She makes Trolls and Elves do her bidding and players eventually have to fight her in two periods. She fires lightning laser blasts and is protected by a magical bubble. Eventually the players overcome her and she blows up.
Shrek Smash and Crash
Fairy Godmother never actually appears in Shrek Smash and Crash but pictures and statues of her can be seen around the track. Also, at the beginning of Tournament mode, Donkey finds the Fairy Godmother's wand in which he uses it to turn various objects in karts. Fairy Godmother appears on the billboard in the Downtown of Far Far Away track. Racers can crash through the billboard to find a secret shortcut. Fairy Godmother's potion factory is also a playable race track and is known as Inside the Potion Factory. In this track, numerous pictures and statues can be seen of Fairy Godmother.
In Theatre
The Fairy Godmother appears as one of the Banished Fairy Tale Creatures in Shrek the Musical. In the song "Story of My Life" she states "They broke my magic wand!". The character was originated by Danette Holden, who can be heard on the cast recording. Colleen Hawks currently plays the role.


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Parade Hosts
Equestrians
Marching Band and Pageantry
Balloons and Floats
Parade Details
Television and Air Dates
Where and When Metro
Routes and Closures
Join The Parade
Tickets & Will Call
2018 Parade Hosts
2018 Marching Band and Pageantry
2018 Balloons
2018 Equestrian
2018 Parade Details
2018 Thank You
WHEN WHERE AND METRO
Last year the number one television travel expert in the country, Laura McKenzie, and household name Erik Estrada hosted our 87th Annual Event. In addition, Dean Cain, Garrett Clayton, Elizabeth Stanton and Montel Williams Co-Hosted the parade's festivities.
Laura McKenzie & Erik Estrada
Laura McKenzie is the number one television travel expert in the country. She has received dozens of awards including two Emmy nominations and a Gracie Award for her syndicated television series, "Laura McKenzie's Traveler." She's written and produced 42 home videos on travel and appears on the CBS Morning Show, Discovery Channel, Travel Channel, "Marie," "Extra" and "Oprah" as a travel expert. She co-hosted "Dangerous and Endangered" for ESPN plus "World's Funniest Moments" and 10 seasons of "American Adventurer" with Erik Estrada. They reunite for the 9th year hosting the "Hollywood Christmas Parade."
Erik Estrada
After starring as Officer Frank Poncherello in the television series CHiPs, Erik Estrada became a household name. A whole new generation and culture have become familiar with him from his role on the Televisa series "Dos Mujeres, Un Camino". He and travel personality Laura McKenzie have been co-hosts on the long running series "American Adventurer", as well as the comedy specials "Santa's Funniest Moments" and "Cupid's Funniest Moments". Erik is a great supporter of police officers and their organizations, so much so that he has actually joined the ranks of law enforcement by becoming a sworn deputy sheriff in Virginia.
Athletic and well-spoken, Dean Cain currently stars as Coach Pete Davenport in VH1's "Hit the Floor." A college football star at Princeton University, he turned to acting and writing when an injury ended his football career. He starred as Clark Kent/Superman on television in "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman" which ran for four seasons. He also wrote for the show. Cain started his own production company which produced the television series "Ripley's Believe It Or Not." He has appeared in many feature films such as "Firetrap" and "Out of Time," along with dozens upon dozens of TV movies and TV shows, most notably "Las Vegas," "Lost" and "Smallville."
Montel Williams earned his media celebrity status as an inspirational Emmy Award winning television personality whom Americans invited into their homes for more than 17 years. He is a decorated former naval officer, inspirational speaker, bestselling author, entrepreneur and advocate for patients worldwide. Shortly after being diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis, Williams established the Montel Williams MS Foundation to further the scientific study of MS and educate the public. He also works with researchers and the U.S. Army with the hopes of helping soldiers who have experienced blast-related traumatic brain injuries.
Elizabeth Stanton has been a world traveler her entire life. From an early age she has experienced the culture of Europe, the wonders of the Far East and the natural beauty of remote destinations. In her own syndicated television show "Elizabeth Stanton's Great Big World," Elizabeth travels the globe with her celebrity friends exploring other cultures, learning about history and finding opportunities to help out those in need. From helping the deaf to hear in Vietnam to bringing food to children in Africa to learning about film making in London, Elizabeth covers the world!
Garrett began acting in Michigan at the age of thirteen and then moved to LA soon after high school. It wasn't long before he booked his big break, "Teen Beach Movie" on Disney Channel. Since then, he has been seen in "The Fosters" and "Teen Beach 2." He recently wrapped a lead in the film "King Cobra" alongside Christian Slater and James Franco, and will be seen in the upcoming thriller "Don't Hang Up."
Garrett is very excited to be a part of the Hollywood Christmas Parade for the fourth year!
Event Starts at 5:00 PM
Tickets are Sold Out
© 2020 thehollywoodchristmasparade . All Rights Reserved.
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