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Checkpoint Palestinians: What it's really like
Posted Wednesday, April 10, 2019 12:00 am
Nearly everyone who comes through the Checkpoint 300 crossing has one thing in common: They're putting their belt back on after a security check.
Laura Ben-David
Not every Palestinian crossing into Israel is going for work. Some 15 percent cross the border for medical, educational or other purposes.
These commuters finally get to board their buses to their final destinations in Israel, after waiting at Checkpoint 300.
As the commuters passed by, most ignored the blonde stranger who was photographing everyone, but some hammed it up.
A Palestinian man waits at Checkpoint 300.
A Palestinian man smokes a cigarette at the Checkpoint 300 border crossing into Israel.
By Laura Ben-David
Laura Ben-David is a resident of Tekoa, Gush Etzion, in Judea.
I believe in the Jewish people's right to live in our homeland. That profound belief has no bearing on the rights of others to live here as well.
There are Palestinians who live and work in the land of Israel, and while I may seldom agree with the positions of their elected officials, the Palestinians are certainly entitled to live their own lives with the same dignity as anyone else.
I also believe in peace, and I deeply wish for peace for all of the Jews and Arabs who share this tiny stretch of land.
Recently I went out of my comfort zone and took a hard look at the things in my backyard that I always knew were there but never thought about. Every day, over 80,000 Palestinians cross into Israel. Eighty-five percent of them are men who work in Israel. The rest come for medical, educational or other purposes.
Though I knew about the border crossings, I never saw them on my own. I'd heard stories of humiliation and waiting, mostly on the international news. Of course, I know why the crossings exist. I remember the first intifada and lived in Israel through the second one. The news too often featured blown up buses, bombed restaurants and nightclubs that had become scenes of mass casualty.
Because of the diligence of the Israeli army, including careful inspections at crossings and various checkpoints on the roads throughout the West Bank and into Jerusalem, bombs have largely been abandoned and terror has gone low-tech. But it has never gone away. Not long ago, a woman was caught with a knife in a container of Pringles at the Qalandiya checkpoint. Had she not been stopped and caught, she may well have killed someone with that knife.
But still I had questions: Are the crossings really mere security barriers, similar to airports where those with nefarious intentions are caught? Or, as some claim, are they places where Israeli soldiers humiliate the population whose movements they restrict?
I went to take photographs at Checkpoint 300, located in Bethlehem near Rachel's Tomb, mere minutes from Jerusalem. Although I see Palestinian workers every day, I never thought about where they come from or what it takes them to get there. In my neighborhood, which is over the Green Line, it is less of an issue since there is no border to cross to get from a Palestinian village into my own. But for the thousands of Palestinians working within Israel proper, the only way to get to work is through one of the six checkpoints into the country.
These checkpoints can potentially add many miles onto a commute, not to mention the additional time spent waiting to get through the actual checkpoint, and then waiting for organized transportation, which is the only way Palestinians can get from the crossing to their destination within Israel.
What I was first struck by on that early morning was the mass of Palestinian men, well over a thousand, all milling about. I was told that this was ordinary. Some were pacing, some sitting, many were smoking or eating. But all were waiting, most with a look of resignation on their faces.
I admit, I was uncomfortable. I am a blonde, Jewish-Israeli woman, and I was there with a big camera, clearly not a Palestinian looking to cross into Israel. But I also wasn't an 18-year-old Israeli soldier staffing the crossing, asking people to remove their belts and scanning their bags — no different from what any security agent would do in any airport or border crossing around the world, mind you, but perceived by many Palestinians as anything from an unwelcome inconvenience to threatening and aggressive.
Aside from a few Israeli policemen, the only others at the checkpoint are some representatives from the Institute for Zionist Strategies Blue & White Human Rights program. They come to the crossings that are staffed by Israeli soldiers (other checkpoints are run by private security firms) in the mornings to see the facts on the ground and offer assistance to Palestinians with issues they may have dealing with the Israelis.
I started photographing the people tentatively, afraid they would be hostile — or worse. I imagined them seeing me as the enemy. Perhaps they did. But once I became comfortable, I found the reactions to my presence ranging from none to mild interest, and even to smiles and posing. I felt no hostility aside from what I projected from my imagination.
Whatever one may think about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, it's important to understand the people and the everyday experiences involved — not just the politicians and leaders. These photos humanize the Palestinians in a way that Israelis don't often see and force us to glimpse the endless waiting that is their plight.


Yes. The applicant's position on the waiting list is based on the date and time they applied and if the applicant qualifies for a federal preference. Time on the waiting list could be a year or longer. To remain on the waiting list, the applicant must return annual updates. While on the waiting list, applicants are responsible for notifying the Housing Authority of any change in address, contact numbers, and change in family composition.
1. What are the Eligibility Requirements for Public Housing?
Applications may be obtained at 420 N Park Ave, Bonner Springs, KS 66012, by calling 913-441-3816 or by clicking the link below. Complete and return the application to the Housing Authority for placement on the waiting list.
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Typical length of flagella
5-10 μm
Neidhardt F.C. Escherichia coli and Salmonella: Cellular and Molecular Biology. Vol 1. p. 147, ASM Press 1996 chapter 10- Flagella and motility p.2 2nd paragraph
[151] Namba K, Yamashita I, Vonderviszt F. Structure of the core and central channel of bacterial flagella. Nature. 1989 Dec 7 342(6250):648-54.PubMed ID2687696
Primary source abstract: "X-ray fibre diffraction analysis"
P.2 2nd paragraph: "Geometrical, Biochemical, and Mechanical Properties: The filament is of variable length (typically 5 to 10 µm) but has a constant diameter of about 20 nm throughout its length (primary source). It is macroscopically helical (corkscrew-like), with helical parameters that vary slightly between the two species [E. coli and S. typhimurium] and even among strains: typical values are 2 to 2.5 μm for the helical wavelength (pitch) and 0.4 to 0.6 μm for the helical diameter (ref 85). For any given filament, these values are constant throughout its length: in other words, the structure has a strictly conserved geometry and may be regarded as a unidimensional crystal."
Ron Milo, Paul Jorgensen, Mike Springer
Typical number of flagella/cell
Typical wavelength of helical turn of flagellum
bacteria ID: 105612
Length of hook of flagellum
Bacteria Salmonella typhimurium ID: 104824
Pitch and diameter of left-handed flagella
Diameter of flagellum
Eukaryotes ID: 104823

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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Heart Evangelista, Tootsy Angara show support for SOGIE bill by wearing rainbow pins at SONA | Inquirer Entertainment
Heart Evangelista, Tootsy Angara show support for SOGIE bill by wearing rainbow pins at SONA
By: Cody Cepeda
INQUIRER.net / 09:44 AM July 24, 2018
Image: Instagram/@iamhearte; @tootsyangara
For many, the ensembles donned by lawmakers and their partners and guests were the focus of attention in President Rodrigo Duterte's third State of the Nation Address (Sona) on Monday. Sen. Nancy Binay's Filipiniana attire, for example, matched the blue carpet, while Senator Grace Poe wore an understated white, knee-length dress, and Ilocos Norte Governor Imee Marcos' bloody red gown.
For some, it's the small details that count. Accessories certainly weren't absent in the occasion, and for Heart Evangelista and Tootsy Angara, their rainbow pins were perfect in delivering their message.
Evangelista, who is married to Senator Francis "Chiz" Escudero, is known for her classic and chic style, so her ensemble during the Sona was a matter to keep one's eyes peeled for.
Evangelista took to her Instagram on July 23 to share to her fans her finished look for the SONA, showing off the rainbow pin attached on the left side of her modern Filipiniana dress.
"Everyone has the right to live, work, and dream," wrote Evangelista. "The SOGIE bill is a step in the right direction to guarantee the protection of those rights, especially for our friends in the LGBTQIA+ community." SOGIE stands for Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity or Expression.
A post shared by Heart Evangelista (@iamhearte)
Evangelista shared that the SOGIE bill, also known as the Anti-Discrimination Bill, was passed by Congress last year . She, however, said that not all is rosy, as much has yet to do be done.
"Last year the bill made great progress but we still have a long way to go. My husband and I are in full support of this bill and hope to see it move forward and become a law."
It wasn't just Evangelista who showed her support for the SOGIE bill. Tootsy Angara, wife of Sen. Juan Edgardo "Sonny" Angara, also took to her Instagram to share a photo of her wearing a rainbow pin.
"Wearing this pin to show my all out support for the Anti Discrimination Bill as I join the call to fight for equality and end all forms of discrimination," wrote Angara. "Imagine a world where you will not be judged for race, gender, faith, ethnicity…Where love can flow freely…"
A post shared by tootsyangara💖💖💖 (@tootsyangara)
In another picture she shared, she and Senator Angara strike a pose at the House of Representatives.
"Again… showing my all out support for the Anti Discrimination Bill," wrote Tootsy. "Imagine a world where people use their powers not to create conditions of oppression that lead to violence, but conditions of freedom that lead to peace."
Last September, Congressmen passed the SOGIE bill on third and final reading, a moment that was celebrated as a victory for the LGBTQ community. Under the bill, it will be illegal to "out" or reveal the sexual orientation of a person without his or her consent.
Other offenses include engaging in discriminatory speech that insults and vilifies the practices of the LGBTQ community, denying the LGBTQ community access to private medical and health services based on their gender, and forcing them to undertake psychological examination as a means of determining or altering their sexual orientation.
The offenses shall be penalized with a fine of not less than P100,000 but not exceeding P500,000. Imprisonment, meanwhile, ranges from one year and 10 years. /ra
Under Sogie bill, it's illegal to 'out' anyone
LGBTQ community appeals for equality, inclusivity
U2 top-paid musicians in US last year – survey
Follow @CCepedaINQ on Twitter
TAGS: 2018 State of the Nation Address (Sona), Anti Discrimination Bill, Heart Evangelista, LGBTQ community, SOGIE bill, Tootsy Angara


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Press Registration for PS Comic Xpo 2018 will close on Monday, June 11, 2018 at 11:59PM (PST). There will be NO on-site Press Registration at PS Comic Xpo 2018. If you applied for a Press Badge for PS Comic Xpo 2018 this year, you will hear back from PS Comic Xpo 2018 by Monday, June 18, 2018.
Approved Press are provided with complimentary Press Badges, which are valid for entry to all unticketed events held at PS Comic Xpo 2018.
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Power outlets at PS Comic Xpo 2018 are three-pronged.
Media is responsible for its own parking during PS Comic Xpo 2018.
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2. Must have original content updated at least weekly.
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If you are granted a press pass, we ask (if possible) that you do a piece/share information regarding PS Comic Xpo 2018 before the event itself. You will also be added to the mailing list for any related press releases.
NOTE: Your pass is not approved until you receive a confirmation email from PS Comic Xpo 2018.
The deadline to apply for press passes for PS Comic Xpo 2018 is Monday, June 11, 2018 at 11:59PM MST.
An email will also be sent in regards to where and when you can pick up your press pass. Please ensure that the email address you provide to us is a working email address. We ask that you also add press@pscomicxpo.com to your preferred addresses so those emails arrive in your inbox instead of your spam folder.
PS Comic Xpo 2018 reserves the right to approve or deny any application. This decision is final and cannot be appealed. Include any and all information in your application that will allow the PS Comic Xpo 2018 Press Office to make an informed decision, as you will not be able to submit further information later on if your application is not approved.
· Press Registration for PS Comic Xpo 2018 will close on Monday, June 11, 2018 at 11:59PM (PST). There will be NO on-site Press Registration at PS Comic Xpo 2018. If you applied for a Press Badge for PS Comic Xpo 2018 this year, you will hear back from PS Comic Xpo 2018 by Monday, June 18, 2018.
· Approved Press are provided with complimentary Press Badges, which are valid for entry to all unticketed events held at PS Comic Xpo 2018.
· Your Press Badge allows access as long as space is permitting.
· Your Press Badge does not allow early access, special access, or guaranteed seating.
· Your Press Badge does not allow you to cut lines.
· Complimentary Press Badges are extended as a courtesy of PS Comic Xpo 2018. Each is issued individually and is non-transferable. You may not transfer or sell your PS Comic Xpo 2018 Press Badge, and any individuals conducting such behavior will be disqualified from Press Badges at future PS Comic Xpo 2018 events.
· There is a limited supply of press credentials for this event. Once all available credentials are issued there will be NO more press passes available or issued.
· All Press/Media Registrations are subject to approval. You will be notified within the date range based on the date you submitted your registration if you have been approved for a Press Badge. If your registration is NOT approved, you will be notified. If you have been approved, additional information regarding the press room and Badge distribution will be provided in your confirmation email.
· We highly recommend that you apply early as there is a chance that we will reach maximum capacity for Press Badges to PS Comic Xpo 2018 prior to the deadline. Once all Press Badges are allocated, no more will be released.
· Inappropriate or offensive behavior will result in the loss of press passes for this show and all shows moving forward.
· Press credentials can be picked up on site. Press credentials are good for all three days of the event. If you are approved for a Press Badge, a separate email will be sent to you with more information on times and days to pick up your credentials.
· All PS Comic Xpo 2018 media interview requests should be made through Kristi Cole.
· Media will not be allowed in the Celebrity Green Room.
· Media will be admitted into panels as general admission as long as room capacity allows. There will not be a designated press entrance for panels, so please make your plans accordingly.
· Media can take photos or video during panels on a case by case basis. We ask that you be courteous of attendees while taking video or photos and avoid standing in front of other fans that are in attendance. Individual celebrities and agents have the right to deny photos and video during panels. If a celebrity or agent makes this request a PS Comic Xpo 2018 volunteer or staff member will notify you on site. Failure to comply with these requests may result in a loss of press pass.
· For other panels in other rooms, the media is welcome to record audio and video.
· Power outlets at PS Comic Xpo 2018 are three-pronged.


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The Mythmaker Canon: No. 4 in my New Series of Mythmaker Posts
Suitable Illustration for Las Almas qui bailaron
(Dancing Souls)
by Pete Linforth on Pixabay
In an earlier post I mentioned that during the Second Dark Age (mostly in the 25th and 26th centuries), a group of writers and artists (later called the Mythmakers) arose out of the preservers of culture who were known as the Underground Archivists. Fantasy was their genre of choice –for what is fantasy but myth and myth but fantasy? – and the writers remained totally anonymous even into the 30th century. As their works came to light, they were studied by the scholars of the day and became the basis for the humanist ethic of the 27th century and beyond.
I thought it would be enlightening to put a little flesh on these unknown artists before we go on to discuss their philosophy. They were given numbers according to when they were discovered, not by when they wrote. About 100 individuals are known. The breakdown of the Mythmaker Canon is as follows:
197 pieces of literature (dramas, novels and shorter narratives, narrative poems)
681 lyric poems, 97 with musical settings
213 pieces of graphic art
89 major musical compositions
8 operas
Some of them have been cited in my published and unpublished books. Here is a sampling with some examples from my fiction.
Mythmaker 27: Kaitrin refers to him/her in The Termite Queen, v.1, ch. 21, as "one of the gentle ones who wrote for children." In a later part of The Man Who Found Birds among the Stars (hereafter referred to as MWFB), I spoke of the Mythmaker clown Tiffis, a character in a children's play by Mythmaker 27 called "Conjunctions: Ifs, Ands, and Buts." A popular children's ditty called "The If Song" comes from this, Unfortunately, I'm cutting out the character who referred to this song in MWFB because of length considerations. That character was expendable.
Mythmaker 46 composed a triad of beautiful love poems that have been frequently set to music.
Mythmaker 50 was a musical composer who wrote the oratorio entitled Temporal Resurrection. It will be mentioned in Part Two of MWFB at an honors ceremony:
"The Protocol Chief said, 'Gentlemen and ladies, as a conclusion to our ceremony today, the Senior Choir of Karlinius University will sing the fugal chant from the oratorio Temporal Resurrection, by Mythmaker 50.'
"As the sweeping lines and staccato accents of that magnificent composition filled the silent Hall, Robbie sat with his head bowed."
Parenthetically, when Robbin is planning his wedding in a later part of MWFB, here is some advice he receives on what music or readings would be appropriate:
"Mythmaker 50 wrote some beautiful nuptial songs called 'The Epithalamia' that can be sung to a big orchestra or electronic background or just a little guitar accompaniment. And Mythmaker 46 composed a triad of beautiful love poems that have been set lots of ways, but they can just be recited, too."
Furthermore in MWFB a Mythmaker opera is mentioned called Las Almas que bailaron (the souls who danced, or dancing souls -- see picture at top of this post), and it includes a wedding tune called the "Laughing March." No Mythmaker number is mentioned, however, although if I keep this part of the story, I might add it.
Mythmaker 85: He is believed to be a Jew, and he was one of the later ones to be discovered. Here is a passage from Fathers and Demons (extract from a later part of MWFB) where Mythmaker 85 is discussed:
It was Chaim who returned to the topic that Lazy had introduced. "Are either of you gentlemen familiar with the work of the Mythmaker designated No. 85?"
Robbie and Yow looked at each other. "I can't say I am right off," said Lazy. [...]
"The Mythmakers were numbered in the order in which they were discovered, so obviously No. 85 came to light late, but it is thought the author lived at a much earlier time and was perhaps even the very first one of them to write. Those scholars you mentioned have identified him as a Jue by his style and by various references, and it's believed he may have written in the second half of the 24th century, shortly after the founding of New Verser. He wrote only one known work – an Inge fantasy called The Book of New Consecration."
"Blasphemy, Chaim!" said Ben-Ari in obvious distress. "There can be no new Torah!"
"May HaShem forbid I would equate it with Torah, Natan! But I insist you allow me to say my piece, because the work has much merit! Now I'm going to say the Inge form of the Name and you and Ely can stop your ears if it bothers you. The narrator who speaks this tale is Jehovah – there! – that is, God himself – and the gist of it is that the whole of Earth is consecrated land and humanity doesn't need to look back in nostalgia and vengeance, trying to find the entire meaning of life in what occurred in one small place and time."
"You know, I have heard of that one," said Dr. Yow, "although I've never read it. That was the work that spurred the composition of the 17th Precept." [Study history and learn from it, but look to the future and do not let yourself be trapped by nostalgia or revenge.]
"Exactly! Mythmaker No. 85 actually speaks of Jerusalem and the Holy Land of Tzion, and what he says is, we make our own Temples and our own Jerusalems wherever we may go. By that author's lights, this piece of Earth on which we are sitting at this very moment is the Land of Tzion and the Temple in its center is Jerusalem, even as we named it. Who knows? Perhaps that writer was aware of what we had done here in Istria and took his inspiration from it.
"So when we say, 'Have you been to Jerusalem this Shabbat?' it has validity beyond simply a name, because it implies that wherever we go, we stand on consecrated ground. We know that at least for centuries to come, nobody will set foot in the original Jerusalem, and maybe that will never happen. If someone could walk there, they would find nothing, anyway – not one tree or rose bush or living thing – not one stone standing on another, or even any stone that has not been superheated and fused into glass. Human cultures have to adapt or be extinguished. We can love and keep and honor the old ways, but we must look to honor and preserve life above all else."
Mythmaker 89 wrote operas and oratorios in Inge in the early 26th century; he wrote the oratorio call Striving that was first performed at the celebrations surrounding the ratification of the Unification Charter in 2690. The "Planetary Anthem," Earth's official song, was adapted from that work. Here it is referred to in Part One of MWFB, in the scene where the Starchasers are welcomed home after their first triumphant flight beyond the solar system:
"The avenues of New Washinten were dense with enthusiastic spectators who had come from all over the world to welcome home their heroes. The people cheered and waved banners and tossed confetti and flowers as bands along the route played enthusiastic renditions of the Planetary Anthem. The line Look back for warning, look ahead for wonder had never seemed more appropriate."
It is referred to in other places as well.
Mythmaker 96:
Arguably the most important of the lot, this writer composed the drama The Valley of the White Bear, considered the greatest piece of writing in the Canon. I've decided to put my discussion of this piece in the next post, because if I include it here, the post will be too long.
Links to other posts in this series:
No. 1: What Can We Expect from the Future?
No. 2: How Will Humanity Lift Itself out of the Second Dark Age?
No. 3: Humans Are All the Same Species!
Posted by Lorinda J Taylor at 8:58 AM
Labels: Fathers and Demons, Future History, Man Who Found Birds among the Stars, Mythmaker Canon, Mythmakers (New Series)
Colleen Chesebro December 5, 2016 at 10:25 AM
Lorinda, your writings fascinate me. I cannot believe the detail you have put into the Mythmakers. "For what is fantasy but myth and myth but fantasy..." You know I love this stuff. I am two books away from starting the Termite Queen (the two books I won in your giveaway). I can't wait. <3
Lorinda J Taylor December 5, 2016 at 10:45 AM
Oh, good! I thought maybe you read them and didn't like them, so you didn't review or comment! I really pleased you like what I do!
Chris Graham December 5, 2016 at 12:10 PM
It's no wonder I enjoy your books so much Lorinda!
You've put so much thought into the worlds, times, background histories, characters and languages used, even though readers may never know about them unless they come to your blogs and find the information tucked away.
This style is what I grew up with in the works of Dickens, Kipling, Burroughs, et al, where their stories (worlds/characters) became real to me as I'd read them.
The only other modern author I can think of, apart from you, who does this, is/was Terry Pratchett.
Lorinda J Taylor December 5, 2016 at 12:49 PM
That's quite a compliment, Chris! Thank you very much!
Chris Graham December 5, 2016 at 2:03 PM
My pleasure Lorinda 🐵
Ali Isaac December 6, 2016 at 7:09 AM
Gosh the detail to your world building is immense! Move over, Tolkien! 😁
Lorinda J Taylor December 6, 2016 at 7:24 AM
Another great (and probably undeserved) compliment! Thank you, Ali! Actually, while LotR was a big inspiration for me, my worlds are entirely different. I'm not a writer of magical fantasy, although gods and prophecies play their part.
The Valley of the White Bear: No. 5 in my New Seri...
The Mythmaker Canon: No. 4 in my New Series of My...


What was your goal in founding Ivy Admissions Group?
When we went through the MBA admissions process, we found it full of unnecessary anxiety, odd speculation, and bad information on sketchy websites. The goal of Ivy Admissions Group is to take the stress out of the process by sharing good information born out of our own experience and working with admissions.
So it's just the two of you?
Yes. We're not trying to be a big industrial admissions consultancy. We only want to take on a few select clients and offer them exceptionally insightful and highly personal advice. We have very different backgrounds and are confident that between the two of us, each applicant gets a diverse set of perspectives.
What makes Ivy Admissions Group special?
We focus on narrative and know how to build credible, authentic ones.
We're Harvard MBAs. We've walked the walk and can empathize with clients.
We're boutique, not an application factory. All clients work directly and only with us.
We're marketing managers. We are used to brilliantly marketing things to discriminating audiences.
You get two diverse perspectives for the price of one.
We're not just copy editors. We intimately help with application brainstorming and crafting that perfect package.
Why are you so focused on narrative?
I (Nate) know from experience. When I applied, I had all the right elements. An above average GPA from a target school, a perfect GRE, impressive leadership experience in the military, and glowing recommendations. What I had was a brand, but not a narrative, and so I was placed on the waitlist at HBS, Stanford, and Wharton. Through update letters that established my narrative, I was able to get admitted to all three. So take my advice, and get your narrative right the first time around.
How did you start advising admissions applicants?
I (Nate) started by re-reading college applications of younger friends after they had been deferred admission from Dartmouth. I'd go over essays about community service and cringe because I knew that admissions officers would read them as "vacation stories". I would work with them to improve their narratives for the general admissions cycle and got a lot of satisfaction watching them get get into fantastic universities.
Did you hire admissions consultants when you applied?
No. We wanted more than just a series of worksheets and spell-checkers. We wanted someone who had actually been admitted to HBS, who knew what the classes and clubs were like, and who had enough contact with admission deans to know how they think. We built Ivy Admissions Group to be the service that we wish we could have used.
When did you decide to make this a business?
When we found ourselves spending 20+ hours per week advising MBA applicants for free! We realized the advice we were giving them was superior to what our advisees were getting from paid consultants, that we were more responsive than paid consultants, and that we sometimes found ourselves more invested in our advisees' admissions prospects than they were. Switching over to a professional service allows us to go deeper with a smaller number of motivated applicants.
We have day jobs (as marketing managers), so we're not in it to earn a living. We believe in offering the best value of any admissions service, while charging and fair and consistent prices that are just enough to make it worth our own substantial time investment in each applicant. Definitely do your diligence before choosing a service, but let us know if you can find a better deal.
How do you determine which clients to work with?
We only work with clients we think we can offer substantial value. If we don't believe we can move the needle that much in a particular case, we figure that out upfront, refund that client's money, and try to refer them elsewhere. We believe our value is clearest for applicants applying to top schools, where the admissions process is most difficult.


The Make Yourself Foundation has teamed up with The Joint at Hard Rock Hotel & Casino to offer fans the chance to have An Incubus Labor Day Weekend in Vegas.
- You and a friend will catch a flight to Las Vegas, NV.
- Check-in to the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino where you'll enjoy 2 nights complimentary hotel room accommodations.
- Surprises are in store as you have an unforgettable night in Sin City courtesy of MYF.
- Head to night two's performance of Incubus at The Joint at Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, where you'll meet the band and snap some photos before the show.
- End your Labor Day Weekend by taking some well-deserved downtime and relaxation before catching a flight home.
To find out how to win this experience, click here.


Ipa is co-founder of g0v.tw, civic tech community in Taiwan starting from 2012. She is a writer and documentary director. She has directed and involved several awarded films funded by Discovery Channel and Taiwan Public Television Service, including Gold Remi Award of WorldFest Houston. She focus on citizen engagement and public participate recently, with the g0v community, they promote the online collaboration from open source culture to civil society and public sectors. She's also one of the g0v hackathon organizers and supervisor for the g0v Civic Tech Prototype Grant.


Sharply divided U.S. voters head to the polls Tuesday to elect a new Congress and to render a midterm judgment on President Donald Trump. The results of Tuesday's election could shift the balance of power in Washington and alter the next two years of Trump's presidency, as we hear from VOA National correspondent Jim Malone.
U.S. President Donald Trump's national security adviser on Sunday weighed in on Venezuela's raging power struggle between embattled ruler Nicholas Maduro and opposition leader Juan Guaido, who is recognized by much of the international community as interim president.
Despite satellite images and analyst reports of renewed activity at a North Korean long-range rocket site, President Donald Trump says he believes he has a strong relationship with Chairman Kim Jong Un and would be surprised if he resumed nuclear tests.


You may have noticed that we've made some subtle changes to the site and that the site was down for maintenance for a couple of hours late last night while we were making the modifications. Sorry for any inconvenience!
In addition to some minor aesthetic changes to the site, we've improved navigation around category, tags, archive, and search results pages. We've also simplified our social media and subscription options and features.
For those of you who leave comments with questions for Erica, she will now be able to reply specifically to your comments in a nested fashion. Therefore, you will no longer need to scroll through all of the other comments to search for her reply, it will be directly below your question. A simple feature I know, but the comments didn't work this way until now.
I hope you like the changes and be sure to keep coming back for Erica's wonderful recipes! As her husband and the person who actually gets to eat those prepared recipes, they really are amazing!
Not that I expect any, but if you experience any problems with the site and its changes, please let me know. Thanks!
Looking forward to more of her great recipes in your new format, Erica's husband!
Your are lucky Erica…my husband will not know where to start hehehe!
I think the site looks great!


Preliminary research into patterns of alcohol use suggest that stressful and traumatic events over the course of a person's life can play a critical role in generating pathways of risk behaviors, including drinking. This study assesses alcohol trajectories of a cohort of residents living in New York City after the World Trade Center disaster. Participants included 2,752 residents who took part in a series of phone surveys over a 39-month period. Alcohol consumption was assessed in two ways at each interview: number of drinks consumed per day in the past 30 days; and bingeing—defined as having consumed five or more drinks per day in the past 30 days for males and having consumed four or more drinks in the past 30 days for females.
Ongoing exposure to stressors, such as financial problems and divorce, was a predictor of high levels of alcohol use and bingeing.
The acute experience of the World Trade Center attack did not predict long-term alcohol consumption.
These results suggest that interventions post-disaster should focus on alleviating sources of stressors in the community that may follow an event of this magnitude, such as loss of employment, property and relationship breakdowns.


text:
Q: How can a SQL Server CE database be simultaneously connectable and un-? I have a SQL Server CE database in my Windows CE app. I can see it (HHS.sdf) in my project in Server Explorer:

...but the Columns folders for the tables won't expand; clicking them gives me:

The path property for HHS.sdf reads:
Data Source=Mobile Device\Program Files\hhs\HHS.sdf

If the path is not valid, why is Server Explorer showing me the database at all? If I create a new connection in Server Explorer (by selecting "Add Connection..." from the Data Connections context menu), I can navigate to the .SDF file on the device (\Program Files\hhs), test the connection in the "Add Connection" dialog:

...and get a "Test connection succeeded" corroboration.
But at runtime, when trying to populate one of the tables:
var dt = new DataTable();
dt.Columns.Add(new DataColumn("Id", typeof(Int32)));
dt.Columns.Add(new DataColumn("DeptNumber", typeof(Int32)));
dt.Columns.Add(new DataColumn("DeptName", typeof(string)));

foreach (HHSUtils.Department dept in depts)
{
    try
    {
        dt.Rows.Add(dept.Id, dept.DeptNumber, dept.DeptName);
        countAdded++;
    }
    catch (Exception ex)
    {
        MessageBox.Show(string.Format("deptId == {0}, deptNumber == {1},
          deptName == {2} ({3})", dept.Id, dept.DeptNumber, dept.DeptName, ex.Message));
    }
}
// Now move it all into the table
using (var bc = new SqlCeBulkCopy(dataSource))
{
    bc.DestinationTableName = "Departments";
    bc.WriteToServer(dt);
}

...I get, "Source column 'DEPTNUM' does not exist and destination does not allow nulls" on the WriteToServer() line.
Evaluating "dt" in the debugger, I see that the DataSet property has a red "error" icon and says, "could not evaluate expression"; the same goes for the "Site" and "XMLTest" properties; The dataSet (as opposed to DataSet) property is null.
The word "DEPTNUM" appears nowhere in the client source code, nor is it anywhere in the server source code...
The same code for the InventoryItems table executes without an err msg (but the Columns are still exceedingly bashful in Server Explorer).
I am creating the tables this way:
// Got this from http://stackoverflow.com/questions/20254214/how-can-i-programmatically-determine-if-a-table-exists-within-a-sql-server-ce-da/20339969?noredirect=1#20339969
public static bool TableExists(SqlCeConnection connection, string tableName)
{
    using (var command = new SqlCeCommand())
    {
        command.Connection = connection;
        var sql = string.Format(
            "SELECT COUNT(*) FROM information_schema.tables WHERE table_name = '{0}'", tableName);
        command.CommandText = sql;
        var count = Convert.ToInt32(command.ExecuteScalar());
        return (count > 0);
    }
}

public static void ConditionallyCreateTables()
{
    const string sdfPath = @"\Program Files\hhs\HHS.sdf";
    string dataSource = string.Format("Data Source={0}", sdfPath);

    if (!File.Exists(sdfPath))
    {
        using (var engine = new SqlCeEngine(dataSource))
        {
            engine.CreateDatabase();
        }
    }

    using (var connection = new SqlCeConnection(dataSource))
    {
        connection.Open();
        using (var command = new SqlCeCommand())
        {
            command.Connection = connection;

            // It may be that I'll want to replace "if (!TableExists())" with "if (TableExists())" and then either drop the table in that
            // case and recreate it, or delete its contents
            if (!TableExists(connection, "InventoryItems"))
            {
                command.CommandText = "CREATE TABLE InventoryItems (Id nvarchar(50) NOT NULL, PackSize smallint NOT NULL, Description nvarchar(255), DeptDotSubdept numeric, UnitCost numeric, UnitList numeric, UPCCode nvarchar(50), UPCPackSize smallint, CRVId int);";
                command.ExecuteNonQuery();
            }

            if (!TableExists(connection, "Departments"))
            {
                command.CommandText = "CREATE TABLE Departments (Id int NOT NULL, DeptNum int NOT NULL, DepartmentName nvarchar(255))";
                command.ExecuteNonQuery();
            }

            if (!TableExists(connection, "Subdepartments"))
            {
                command.CommandText = "CREATE TABLE Subdepartments (Id int NOT NULL, DeptId int NOT NULL, SubdeptId int NOT NULL, DepartmentName nvarchar(255))";
                command.ExecuteNonQuery();
            }

            if (!TableExists(connection, "Redemptions"))
            {
                command.CommandText = "CREATE TABLE Redemptions (Id int NOT NULL, RedemptionId nvarchar(50), RedemptionItemId nvarchar(50), RedemptionName nvarchar(255), RedemptionAmount numeric, RedemptionDept nvarchar(50), RedemptionSubdept nvarchar(50))";
                command.ExecuteNonQuery();
            }
        }
    }
}

[{ }] [{ }] [{ }] [{ }] [{ }] [{ }] [{ }] [{ }] [{ }] [{ }] [{ }] [{ }]
On a side note, I have come to the conclusion (after 20 years of chipping away at the walls in this salt mine of a profession, and being the hapless victim of countless cave-ins of varying severity[*]) that to be a computer programmer you either need to be insane (so that you are not driven anywhere by the needling tediousness of it all) or absolutely impervious to insanity (for the same reason); if you start off at either end of the spectrum, you'll probably be okay; for those in the middle of that continuum, though (which I hold to be a goodly fraction of the general populace): beware, lest your senses be crushed to a formless pulp or pile-driven to shrieking (if muffled) madness.
[*****] Yea, verily,  on each disinterment I was found clutching the pick in my bleeding hands.
UPDATE
I solved the "DEPTNUM" error by making sure the column names in the temp table corresponded exactly to the column names in the SQL Server CE table (which, according to Server Explorer, don't exist anyway):
var dt = new DataTable();
dt.Columns.Add(new DataColumn("Id", typeof(Int32)));
dt.Columns.Add(new DataColumn("DeptNum", typeof(Int32)));
dt.Columns.Add(new DataColumn("DepartmentName", typeof(string)));

However, as hinted at above, the main conundrum (the post's nominal question) remains unsolved.
UPDATE 2
Letting the computer take a nap and "think about it" hasn't helped anything; the same holds true today. The code to add records to the SQL Server CE table works fine; is it just that Server Explorer, although being able to connect to the handheld device's database file fine (test connection succeeds) can't see the file, or pretends that it can't? BTW/AWTTW: I'm going to bountify this ASAP (sometime tomorrow).
UPDATE 3
This test:
if (!File.Exists(sdfPath))
{
    using (var engine = new SqlCeEngine(dataSource))
    {
        engine.CreateDatabase();
    }
}

...fails (the conditional code is not entered), so the handheld/Windows CE app does see the file as existing at runtime.
UPDATE 4
I am able to read from and write to the tables, so the app can definitely see them; I can also look at the tables and their data on the handheld device by navigating to the .SDF file; a SQL Server CE tool is invoked when 2-clicking the .SDF file. Server Explorer in Visual Studio 2008 needs a wake-up call, though.

A: Well first I'll say that I have never, ever, ever used the "Add Connection" stuff to try to connect directly to a database on the device.  May pas dozen-plus years of developing for Windows CE have taught me that just about anything that requires interaction between the PC and the device outside of the debugger itself is fraught with peril.  ActiveSync == "There be Monsters Here" on the map.
So am I surprised this doesn't work?  Not at all.  I'm actually more surprised it's even an option on the dialog. It's possible that maybe the device version of SQL CE and the PC version differ, and it's that difference that's making it so the desktop can't read the remove file properly.  Or maybe it's just a buggy connection (again, see "ActiveSync").
So how do you move forward?  Easy.  Copy the database from the device to the PC, then open up the PC copy with Studio.  Seriously.  That's exactly how I do it, and it works just fine.
I think I've already recommended this to you before, but it's worth repeating.  Avoid DataTables.  They are gigantic memory hogs, and under CE you can't afford a memory hog.  Basically it duplicates the entire source table into RAM for you. SqlCeDataReader and SqlCeResultSet are your friends.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


Tonight, I created one of my best ideas, I think, I've come up with in a long time. I get tired of just pancakes and when my family had pizza for dinner, I decided to experiment.
The outcome-chocolate cinnamon pancakes and they were awesome. I was asked to share the recipe with you and I was happy to.
Combine all ingredients and mix well. Be sure to get all the lumps out.
With a small ladle, pour pancakes onto hot griddle. Depending on your thickness, cooking time will vary. Flip pancakes once.
Top with syrup and/or butter and enjoy.


Leave comments about my site or music.
Added some more things, updated others... It all seems to be falling into place.
Hee ha!... added some new mixes for your listening pleasure.
Your site is awesome!! You are the best DJ in the world!!!
keep spinin them tooooooooonz dj!!
whatz up.thanks for ur support u rock.
I have been supporting Dj Nico since he started in Rasputins and Squeeze.
He has an amazing sense ox EXACTLY what pleases the crowd and the only thing that stops me supporting him now, is being 12 000 kms away!!
Nice to see you are still playing your little heart off. Old Skool DJ's rule. You, Russell and myself must get together and have a little party on the decks sometime. Get smacked and do our best to try and make DJ sense.
Dude, nice sight man - keep it rocking!!! You are living the dream that most of us man - WELL DONE!!!!!
Nice 2 See Ya With Some Cyber Real Estate Finally Big Ups My Boi!
When We Havin Another Party!!!
Getting there slowly! Keep udating!


text:
Obama's top 5 "war" euphemisms: Words he's used to avoid calling latest war a "war"
Here's how the president is avoiding the W word. It's a campaign!
By Luke Brinker
(AP/Susan Walsh)
In his public statements on the U.S. campaign against Islamic State (ISIS) militants in Iraq and Syria — an effort that has included air strikes in the two countries and the deployment of military advisers in Iraq — the president and his advisers have assiduously avoided uttering the word "war" to describe U.S. actions. It's a sign that while Obama has not shifted the U.S. away from the "perpetual war footing" he decried in a landmark 2013 speech, he hasn't come to terms with his administration's role in expanding U.S. military action overseas.
Insofar as Obama has uttered the word "war" in his statements on ISIS, it's been to delineate what the U.S. will not do. Addressing the nation from the White House on September 10, the president vowed to "degrade and ultimately destroy ISIS," but promised not to "get dragged into another ground war in Iraq."
Listen to Obama's remarks, however, and it's clear that the president favors a few "special" words to describe the totally-not-a-war war the U.S. is waging in Iraq and Syria.
"Effort" Perhaps Obama's favorite euphemism for what the U.S. is up to. In his September 10 address, Obama distinguished the "wars" in Iraq and Afghanistan from the "effort" against ISIS. "This counter-terrorism campaign will be waged through a steady, relentless effort to take out ISIL wherever they exist, using our air power and our support for partner forces on the ground," Obama explained. In his weekly address on Saturday, the president said that "[t]his is an effort that America has the unique ability to lead."
"Process" Asked in August 28 press conference whether he planned to seek congressional authorization for military action against ISIS, Obama sounded like the caricature of the professorial, technocratic president his critics purport him to be. "You know, I have consulted with Congress throughout this process," Obama replied. "I am confident that as commander in chief I have the authorities to engage in the acts that we are conducting currently."
"Fight" As close as Obama's willing to get to saying the W-word. Speaking to reporters on Tuesday before departing for the United Nations, Obama said that U.S. air strikes in Iraq and Syria were "not America's fight alone," echoing his September 20 address in which he said that it was "a fight in which all countries have a stake."
"Campaign" Not unlike a swing through Iowa and New Hampshire! Explaining his expansion of the war into Syria on Tuesday, the president noted, "I made clear that as part of this campaign the United States would take action against targets in both Iraq and Syria so that these terrorists can't find safe haven anywhere."
"A Moment of American Leadership." Concluding his radio address on Saturday, Obama called this "a moment of American leadership … a moment we will meet." Leadership. Exceptionalism. America.
In other words, this war is totally, definitely not a war.
MORE FROM Luke Brinker
Barack Obama Congress Editor's Picks Foreign Policy Iraq Islamic State Politics Syria Terrorism Tim Kaine War


text:
Police: Shooting that left one dead and one with injury, shooter's use of deadly force justified
OCALA, Fla. (FOX 35 WOFL) - The Ocala Police Department say they responded to a shooting on NW 1st Avenue on December 12th.
Police say that as a result of this incident, 18-year-old Jeffrey Scott is deceased and 18-year-old Marcus Cooper remains hospitalized with a critical injury but is expected to survive.
The investigation is now complete and the police have determined the following paragraphs.
The Ocala Police Department says that on December 12th, after a high school basketball game at Vanguard High School, there was a fist fight between Mr. Scott and a juvenile just off campus. Others became involved and some eventually fled on foot.
Police went on to say that two of the juveniles involved in the fight went to the home of their friend who had been badly beaten. They did not locate him and he was not present for the events to follow.
According to the police, as two juveniles were parked on NW 1st Avenue, a vehicle driven by Marcus Cooper, with Jeffrey Scott as a passenger, stopped at their location. Mr. Scott exited the vehicle and confronted one of the juveniles. He drew a firearm and pointed it at the juvenile, threatening him. Cooper came around, moving closer to Scott.
This is when 54-year-old Edrige Rivers passed the confrontation in his vehicle, says police. Rivers could tell the juvenile was being held at gun point and yelled for Mr. Scott to stop his actions. However, this was to no avail. Rivers then armed himself and fired at Scott. Both Scott and Cooper were struck. Scott returned fire at Rivers as his vehicle moved away from the scene.
The Ocala Police Department says that Rivers said that he fired his weapon because he was in fear for the safety of the juvenile being threatened at gunpoint.
Police also confirmed that all parties in this incident were located and interviewed with the exception of Scott. They say that the interviews verify the facts above.
The Ocala Police Department say they believe this investigation has determined the deadly force used by Mr. Edrige Rivers is a justifiable use of deadly force in the protection of another person.
The case is still an open investigation and evidence in this case is not available to the public at this time.
A case review will be done with the State Attorney's Office to determine if further investigation is needed or if this investigation has reached a conclusion.
The Ocala Police Department also believe that a residential fire may be related to the shooting.


text:
The Medicalization of Mood: Worse Than Nothing, or Just Ineffective?
Not quite as good as advertised.
Sixty Years of Intervention
In the 1950s, Roland Kuhn identified an apparent antidepressant effect of the drug imipramine. Given what we know about depression in the 21st century, it's tempting to guess that the drug companies must have been over the moon with greedy excitement.
Not so. Clinical depression was regarded as a relatively small problem, unlikely to result in sufficient sales to recoup the costs of drug development and testing. Nevertheless, the pharmaceutical company Ciba went forward, and imipramine became the first of the tricyclic antidepressants on the market.
Since then, additional varieties of medication have been touted as antidepressant in action, and the antidepressants as a class have become some of the biggest moneymakers in pharmaceutical history. At the same time, numerous psychotherapies have been proposed and tested, and community mental health centres have sprung up across the developed world.
The aim of individual drugmakers may be to create profits, but the ultimate goal of the healthcare sector is the enhancement of human health and well-being and the minimization of illness, disability, and premature death. Tuberculosis, for example, was a major cause of disability, hospitalization, and death a hundred years ago. Today it remains a problem - but the sanataria have closed, hospitalizations are few, and deaths are a rarity. This is the mark of at least partial medical success.
After 60 years of intervention with depression, it's reasonable to ask how we are doing.
To this end, we can look at a series of epidemiological markers that we might hope to improve with our efforts. We can classify each as successes, failures, or worse:
Success: Improvement on a marker.
Failure: Lack of movement on a marker that is clearly the target of intervention.
Worse: Movement in the wrong direction.
Let's take a quick look at several of the most important markers. I won't go into full detail about any of these, but there is quite good data out there to address most of them.
Incidence refers to the rate of new cases of a disorder appearing within a given period of time (often a year). As noted above, in the 1950s depression was regarded as a rare disorder. Relatively few people were hospitalized with it. Estimates ran as low as 100 cases per million population. Today, 10% or more of the population is predicted to develop a major depressive episode in their lifetime. This represents a lifetime incidence of up to 100,000 cases per million. As psychiatrist David Healy has said, "Something must surely be going wrong if our treatments are so good yet the frequency of depression jumps a thousand-fold since the discovery of the antidepressants."
This represents an extreme example of case inflation, and almost certainly we do not have 1000 times as many depressed people as before we developed effective treatment. No one, however, disputes the increased incidence of depression since the 1950s. Verdict: Worse.
Prevalence refers to the number of cases of a disorder present within a population at a given point of time. Community surveys in the 1930s and 1940s reported less than one case per thousand (Silverman, 1968). In the 1950s, relatively few cases were identified in any given population. Today, an estimated 3-5% of men and 8-10% of women experience a major depressive episode in any given year. Again, estimates vary, and it may well be that many cases were missed in the 1950s. Despite this, no one has mounted a persuasive argument that the prevalence has declined or remained stable. Verdict: Worse.
Age at First Onset
Some illnesses are common results of aging. Occasionally, for example, one will hear that the rate of prostate cancer in males is likely to be 100% - if you're male and live long enough, you will get it. One of the goals of care is to put off the development of these common disorders until later in life. If we could put off the appearance of arthritis until age 90, for example, champagne corks would be popping at celebration parties - even if no fewer people eventually developed the problem.
For most of the 20th century, depression was described as a relatively rare disorder that tended to strike in mid-life and beyond. Since the 1980s, the average age of onset has been placed in the 20s - particularly the late 20s. In the 21st century, increasingly first episodes of depression are regarded as being most common in the early 20s. Verdict: Worse.
One obvious problem in the comparison of modern-day statistics from those in the 1950s is that case-finding has changed. People may have suffered in silence formerly, never seeing their physician nor being counted in surveys. Today we have public education campaigns, and screening questions about depression are common in standard medical examinations. This would mean that the average severity today should be lower than in earlier times, when one had to be utterly undone in order to seek treatment. Indeed, many people today are described as depressed despite working and carrying on reasonably productive lives.
The number of people experiencing severe depressive episodes, however, has unquestionably gone up rather than down. Hospitalization for depression today is more common than it was in the middle of the last century, and tens of thousands are forced to leave work due to the magnitude of their symptoms. Verdict: Worse.
Recurrence/Chronicity
In Anatomy of an Epidemic, Robert Whitaker reviews descriptions of the normal course of depression in the past. Between 39% and 60% of the severe cases that sought care at that time never had another attack, and a chronic course characterized by multiple episodes and poor inter-episode recovery was apparently rare. Robins & Guze (1972) reported that 50% of people hospitalized for depression did not have a second episode within ten years. Between episodes, recovery was expected to be virtually complete, with few or no lasting effects.
Today, recurrence is common and expected, and people with chronic mood difficulty are commonly seen. Depression, it is said, is best regarded as a chronic condition characterized by multiple episodes and relapses. Verdict: Worse.
Number in Treatment
At one point smallpox was a major strain on medical resources. Today no living doctor has seen a case in many years. This can be a goal for medicine: to so thoroughly defeat a disorder that it no longer shows up in a population. For many problems, however, eradication is not a reasonable goal. Once we develop effective treatments, we hope that all those who have been suffering at home will come to have their problem dealt with.
It would be nice to see depression eradicated, but this is perhaps unrealistic. If we have effective treatments, however, we can expect that symptoms will be well managed and people will not need intensive, ongoing care. We can provide the odd prescription renewal, for example, and not have to do much more.
This is not the situation in which we find ourselves. We have many more outpatient treatment resources than in the 1950s, but these are strained to the limit. Clinics everywhere have wait lists, and physicians report that the depressed make up a great deal of their clinic practice. Verdict: Certainly no better, and by most standards Worse.
As noted above, depression was formerly regarded as an episodic illness characterized by full inter-episode recovery. Although many people were disabled by other medical problems, once depression lifted most people returned to their regular life roles.
Since the 1980s, however, disability management organizations have noted that depression has leapt up the list of disability causes. Today, depression is regarded as the first or second most common cause of long term disability claims in Canada and elsewhere. Where it is not presently at the top of the list, most organizations expect it to take the lead within a few years based on current trends. Verdict: Worse.
If we treat a problem effectively, people should return to health and reasonably good life satisfaction, and they should live close to a normal lifespan. Recent studies of people with HIV, for example, suggest that with modern treatments the lifespan should approximate the population average.
Studies of lifespan for people with depression in the early 20th century either do not exist or I have not found them. Nevertheless, with the relatively good recovery between episodes reported at that time, it seems likely that average lifespan would not have been enormously impaired. It would not be surprising that with the more severe and disabling courses being described today, life expectancy had been reduced. And indeed, recent findings suggest that clinical depression can reduce life expectancy by 7 to 11 years (for a review, see here). Most of this is not due, as one might think, to suicide, which is not as common in major depressive disorder as commonly thought (see my previous blog post here for more on this issue). Something else is going on. Verdict: Difficult to evaluate with any certainty, but probably Worse.
If the mark of successful medical intervention is that a disorder appears less often, is less prevalent in the population at large, appears later in life than previously, is less severe when it happens, if recurrence is less frequent and recovery is more complete, if the burden on the medical system is lower, if disability is minimized and mortality is reduced, then we consider the intervention a success. Sometimes we achieve gains on a few of these measures but not all of them.
In the case of depression, however, the problem has worsened on virtually all fronts. We are routinely told "The good news about depression is that we have safe, effective treatments. See your doctor!" But if this were true, surely we should see better results in the population.
The problem is clearly not that people go untreated. In British Columbia, a study in the early 2000s indicated that 19% of adult females had been prescribed an antidepressant in a single year. Over-diagnosis and over-treatment are increasingly being raised as significant problems (for an example, see here).
There is no doubt that many people have been helped by medication and other treatments for depression. But if this benefit is reliable and in any sense powerful, it should have an impact that can be seen in the population as a whole. To have no real sign of population-wide improvement and, instead, clear signs of population-wide worsening? This should sound warning bells that for the most part have remained silent.
Four Possibilities
We can sum up the possible problems in four main categories, while acknowledging that there may be more factors as well.
Cultural change. There have been vast changes in the way we live our lives since the 1950s. Our culture has devoted itself to the service of economic goals rather than life satisfaction and, perhaps not surprisingly, many of the changes have been in directions that likely contribute to the incidence of depression. These include reduced exercise, poor diet, less social contact, an increased emphasis on material success, and so on.
Border Creep. Over time, the range of mood and functioning that we consider to be normal has narrowed considerably, and the definitions of mental illnesses have correspondingly broadened. Each succeeding edition of the diagnostic manual (the DSM) has resulted in a larger proportion of the culture being diagnosable as ill. Depression is a much broader category than it was in the 1950s, so of course more people fit within it. This cannot explain the increases in severity, chronicity, or disability, however.
Profit Motive. One way to expand a problem is to make its treatment profitable. In the 1950s there were few products one could sell to the depressed; today there are many. Much of the drive to expand the number and scope of mental illness categories appears to have come from the pharmaceutical industry, which has grown enormously - in part by selling more products to the newly-labelled ill.
Iatrogenic Chronicity. A troubling possibility raised by recent research in the field suggests that the very medications we use to alleviate depression may, in the long run, cause a worsening of the problem in a subset of the individuals who take them. More on this in later posts.
Success, Failure, or Worse?
It would be difficult to declare the medicalization of mood a success, given the lack of improvement on any of the variables discussed. (Perhaps some glowing achievements have been missed, but these are not immediately apparent).
Failure would mean that the situation from the 1950s has remained unchanged. This doesn't seem true, given that things have become so markedly worse on so many fronts.
If, with all of our efforts, the burden of depression has not been even partially lifted, then we may need to face a difficult possibility. Maybe it's the healthcare system itself. Maybe we haven't just failed. Maybe something we are doing is making things worse.
Robins, E., & Guze, S. B. (1972). Classification of affective disorders: The primary-secondary, the endogenous-reactive, and the neurotic-psychotic concepts. In TA Williams, MM Katz, JA Shield (Eds) Recent Advances in Psychobiology of the Depressive Illness, 283-293.
Parker, G (2007). Is depression overdiagnosed? Yes. British Medical Journal, 335, 328. See also, however, Hickie, I (2007). Is depression over diagnosed? No. British Medical Journal, 335, 329.
Silverman, C (1968) The epidemiology of depression. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Press.
University of Oxford. (2014, May 23). Many mental illnesses reduce life expectancy more than heavy smoking. ScienceDaily. Retrieved December 29, 2014 from www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/05/140523082934.htm
Is there an alternative to a medication-based approach? If someone takes medication, is there more they can do in order to maximize the effect? Consider seeking the help of a qualified psychotherapist trained in cognitive behaviour therapy.
In addition, our clinic has developed a cognitive behavioral guide to self-care for depression. Though not a substitute for professional face-to-face care, UnDoing Depression may be a useful adjunct to your efforts. The preview is below. For 50% off the regular fee of $140 USD, use coupon code "changeways70" when you visit our host site, here.
We also have courses for professionals and for the public entitled What Is Depression, What Causes Depression, Diagnosing Depression, Cognitive Behavioral Group Treatment of Depression, How to Buy Happiness, and Breathing Made Easy. For the full list with previews and substantial discounts, visit us at the Courses page of the Changeways Clinic website.
Labels: Depression, Do No Harm, Medication, Policy, PsychSalon Talks
The fact is that treatment of mental illnesses, especially hospitalization, was hardly humane for most of the first half of the 20th century. So I don't think it's fair to compare treatment in the 1950s to treatment today. I'm not saying today's treatment works well, or is effective, but these days you can look for help for major depression and not get locked into a hospital indefinitely and given sedating drugs and horrific "treatments" against your will.
Randy Paterson, PhD 7 January 2015 at 10:36
I agree that treatments today are well-intended and seldom involve hospitalization. But in fact hospitalization rates for major depressive disorder are higher today than they were in the 1950s (though proportionately fewer sufferers get hospitalized). If, with newer treatments implemented broadly, we are not seeing an improvement in epidemiological data, it is important to acknowledge this and ask whether what we are doing is effective. Given increases in incidence, it may also be important to ask whether anything we are doing, however well-meant, may inadvertently be making things worse. As we discovered with thalidomide and with critical incident stress debriefing (CISD), well-intentioned interventions can sometimes have unintended side effects and do more harm than good.
"these days you can look for help for major depression and not get locked into a hospital indefinitely and given sedating drugs and horrific "treatments" against your will." Oh that's a good joke. Today you get pretty much the same minus lobotomy (electroshocks for instance, including involuntary ones) are still being used. Check up this site: madinamerica.com - there are many people blogging and commenting there who have experienced psychiatry in recent years and been harmed greatly.
Randy Paterson, PhD 12 January 2015 at 14:07
I think that if you had severe major depression and had the option of seeking help in the 1950s and today, it would likely be more wise (and certainly more comfortable) to seek help today. The mental health system has a very long way to go, and part of the reason for this post is to further the dialogue about treatment effectiveness, particularly over the long term. You are correct that some medications are sedating, and that ECT is still used - I have had some patients who (prior to seeing me) received the latter and felt traumatized by the experience, and others who felt it was beneficial. I'm not a great fan due to the data on subsequent relapse, and to problems selecting candidates and ensuring they are properly prepared and informed - but I would not ban it given some positive results that I have seen.
My sense is that throughout the mental health field the level of compassion and understanding has gone up considerably, in all health professions. There is a ways to go, but I think we're getting there. We need to be less compassionate and more cold-hearted when we look at our own treatments and practices, however, and face facts when the evidence is pointing to trouble.


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Reviewers of the game praised the visual and auditory art as well as the sense of companionship created by playing with a stranger, calling it a moving and emotional experience, and have since listed it as one of the greatest video games of all time. Journey won several "game of the year" awards and received several other awards and nominations, including a Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media nomination for the 2013 Grammy Awards. A retail "Collector's Edition", including Journey, Thatgamecompany's two previous titles, and additional media, was released in August 2012.
Another surprising feature is the attitude toward machinery. Several centuries earlier, the Erewhonians had attained a remarkable stage of sophistication in the development of machinery, but through the teachings of a prophet they had been persuaded that machines might some day become masters over men, with the result that they destroyed all of the machinery having any degree of complexity and outlawed any further experimentation in the field. They retained only the simplest kinds of implements — spades and scythes — and horses and wagons.
There is a kind of state religion in Utopia which includes high priests and public worship. "They invoke God by no other name than Mythras, a name they all apply to the one divine nature, whatever it may be. No prayers are devised which everyone cannot say without offending his own denomination." (126) "When the priest [...] comes out of the sacristy, everyone immediately prostrates himself on the ground out of reverence; on all sides the silence is so profound that the spectacle itself inspires a certain fear, as if in the presence of some divinity." (128) Priests are held in such high esteem that "even if they commit a crime they are not subject to a public tribunal but are left to God and their own consciences. [...] For it is unlikely that someone who is the cream of the crop and is elevated to a position of such dignity only because of his virtue should degenerate into corruption and vice." (124)
One of the most brilliant utopian novels, using a mixture of devastating satire and compelling narrative to both decry the developments of mechanised labour and to show how society might be better run. Terrified by the prospect of machines ruling the future, Butler was essentially suspicious of any model of perfection, mocking people who "really do know what they say they know".
Wives are subject to their husbands and husbands are subject to their wives although women are restricted to conducting household tasks for the most part. Only few widowed women become priests. While all are trained in military arts, women confess their sins to their husbands once a month. Gambling, hunting, makeup and astrology are all discouraged in Utopia. The role allocated to women in Utopia might, however, have been seen as being more liberal from a contemporary point of view.
Slavery is a feature of Utopian life and it is reported that every household has two slaves. The slaves are either from other countries or are the Utopian criminals. These criminals are weighed down with chains made out of gold. The gold is part of the community wealth of the country, and fettering criminals with it or using it for shameful things like chamber pots gives the citizens a healthy dislike of it. It also makes it difficult to steal as it is in plain view. The wealth, though, is of little importance and is only good for buying commodities from foreign nations or bribing these nations to fight each other. Slaves are periodically released for good behaviour. Jewels are worn by children, who finally give them up as they mature.
The first discussions with Raphael allow him to discuss some of the modern ills affecting Europe such as the tendency of kings to start wars and the subsequent loss of money on fruitless endeavours. He also criticises the use of execution to punish theft, saying thieves might as well murder whom they rob, to remove witnesses, if the punishment is going to be the same. He lays most of the problems of theft on the practice of enclosure—the enclosing of common land—and the subsequent poverty and starvation of people who are denied access to land because of sheep farming.
Francis Bacon's New Atlantis was probably written in 1624, but was not published until 1627, a year after the author's death. Like the work of his contemporaries, Campanella and Andreae, Bacon's book shows the influence of More in certain broad aspects. It purports to relate the discovery by an exploring expedition in the Pacific Ocean of an island where the natives have developed a society offering much to admire. The goal of the common good is sought through learning and justice. The principal attention of the account is focused on an elaborate academy of science. Bacon has incorporated in this society the basic ideas that he developed more elaborately in his longer philosophical and scholarly treatises; namely, that the advancement of human welfare can best be achieved through the systematic exploration of nature. His famous "scientific method" is founded on painstaking observation of natural phenomena and constructing, through inductive reasoning, a body of knowledge based on those observations. He urges experimentation to improve general knowledge and to develop inventions for human comfort and pleasure. The central institute in the capital of New Atlantis, called Solomon's House, is a huge academy which foreshadows the later creation of scientific laboratories and academies, such as the English Royal Society.
The planning of their extensive program of amusements has two main purposes. First, it is intended to stimulate the economy. The games and feelies all require expensive equipment; that means more factories and also more opportunities for people to distribute their pay checks. Second, the government is concerned to keep everybody busy during waking hours to leave them no odd moments for thinking.
Utopians are ambivalent, in fact illogical if not morally arrogant, about killing for food or defense. They eat animals but "they do not allow their citizens to be accustomed to butchering animals" but rather have "bondsmen" do this because they believe that butchering animals for food "gradually eliminates compassion, the finest feeling of human nature." (68) Bondsmen are apparently immune to such a descent into moral corruption, or else they are bondsmen exactly because they are already morally degraded and so either immune to further corruption or they are beyond moral rectification, and therefore the moral consequences of killing for food cannot matter for their moral selves. So bondsmen who butcher animals either have no compassion, it having been gradually eliminated through butchering, or because their moral precondition, their qualification of moral impurity, includes diminished compassion from which their moral descent continues, or else they have compassion and, being bondsmen, they are somehow immune from the moral consequences of killing for food, either because of their moral deficiency or because bondsmen have a moral strength that the citizens of Utopia lack.
(Shanghai) China presents a spectacular array of historic traditions, stunning landscapes, and magnificent architecture including its vast and iconic Great Wall. Cultural opportunities are endless with the chance to meditate in a Tibetan monastery, converse with Buddhist monks, or practice the Chinese art of Tai Chi at sunrise while overlooking the bustling city of Shanghai. In Hong Kong, SAS students may partake in a junk boat project to aid in the recovery of plastic pollution in local, oceanic waters.
The soundtrack was nominated for the Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media at the 2013 Grammy Awards, the first video game soundtrack to be nominated for that category, though it did not win.[54] Additionally, the game won the award for best music and was nominated for the best graphics award from IGN, and was selected as the best PlayStation Network game by GameSpot.[55][56][57] At the Spike Video Game Awards, Journey won awards as the best PlayStation 3 game,[58] the best indie game,[59] and the game with the best music,[60] and was additionally nominated for game of the year,[61] best downloadable game,[62] best graphics,[63] and best song in a game for "I Was Born For This".[64] It received the 2013 Annie Award for video game animation.[65] It won five awards at the 2013 British Academy of Film and Television Arts awards: Artistic Achievement, Audio Achievement, Game Design, Online Multiplayer, and Original Music, and was nominated for Best Game, Game Innovation and Story.[66][67] In March 2013, it won six awards at the annual Game Developers Choice Awards: Best Audio, Best Game Design, Best Visual Arts, Best Downloadable Game, the Innovation Award, and Game of the Year.[68]
On becoming Lord Chancellor after the fall of Cardinal Wolsey he was zealous in the persecution and burning of reformers and Protestant. More opposed the English translation of the Bible by William Tyndale. He could be cruel and was a bitter enemy of anyone who opposed the Church. Like most people of the age he was superstitious believing firmly in ghosts, omens in dreams and the literal interpretation of the Bible. More called for reform in the existing church but believed everyone should obey the Pope in Rome as a father is obeyed in the well ordered home. He would not brook breaking away from Roman Catholicism.
The trailer of " Voyage en Chine " (Trip to China) is undoubtedly attractive : while it displays beautiful views of the Chinese countryside it sets against them the shapeless figure of an aging, limping, more uncomely than ever Yolande Moreau. The effect is that you can't help asking yourself what the Belgian comedian is doing in such an exotic place ? And the title is only half explicit about that, for this trip does not look like a sightseeing one. Well, for more information, there is no other solution than... to go and see the film. Which I did. I then found out what Yolande Moreau was doing in the Middle Kingdom. In the film she is in fact Liliane Rousseau, a fifty-odd-year-old nurse sharing her modest suburban house with a husband she does not seem to particularly care for. One night she learns by phone the death of her twenty-five-year-old son Philippe : the young man has just been killed in a car accident in China, his adopted homeland. Due to administrative complications, the grieving mother brings herself to go to China, in order to try and sort things out of course but also and above all to mourn her only child with dignity. Only she insists on going alone, certainly not in the company of her husband Richard, whom she blames for having misunderstood their son and caused his estrangement from them. And this is precisely what she does, landing first in Shanghai where Philippe lived and then in the province of Sichuan where he had his accident. Speaking a little English (which does not help very much in the countryside) but not a word of Chinese, this journey proves no pleasure cruise. However Liliane, like a brave little soldier, holds on and finally achieves her initiatory voyage - with a little help from local friends naturally. And just while she opens up to China and its people she gets closer to her son, even if it is too late for him. A profound theme combined with the discovery of another civilization, it looks like we are on track for a masterpiece... Unfortunately this is not really the case. The film is pleasant, yes. As expected, you discover many things about China, particularly about rural China, which is rarely shown in fiction cinema, the views are beautiful and Yolande Moreau is great. So, how come you leave the theater vaguely dissatisfied? One explanation may lie in its exceedingly slow pace. Too many scenes last too long and as they are not rich enough in meaning and/or emotions, a distancing effect (unwanted by the director, I suppose) sets in. With the result that instead of translating the meditative mood of his heroine, Zoltan Mayer inoculates a slight dose of boredom in the viewers' brains. A little more dynamic editing and scenes a little richer in content would have helped give "Voyage en Chine " more impact, which it deserved actually. Another weak point is the way the scenes connected with Philippe's death and funeral. Oddly enough, while the general tone of the film is subdued (even a little too much, as I mentioned before), this part of the film is presented in a melodramatic, if not whiny, fashion. An illustration of it is the (inappropriate) way Mayer directs the pretty Chinese actress Qu Jing Jing, who embodies the late son's former fiancée : she expresses grief too conventionally. So, when she finds herself face to Yolande Moreau, it is disturbing to see the former play while the latter lives. But don't get me wrong: even if I dwelt at some length on the film's imperfections these are only reservations. On the whole, as it is, " Voyage en Chine " remains a respectable work, at any rate worth seeing. Simply, it could have been even better. On the other hand, knowing that this is photographer Zoltan Mayer's first feature, such defects are understandable. So, if you feel like a trip to grassroots China, you can try this one. Just do not expect too many thrills and spills.
When development began, Sony expected the game to be completed in a year, rather than the more than three it finally took.[8] Thatgamecompany always expected to need an extension; according to Hunicke, they believed finishing the game within a year was "unrealistic".[9] Development ended up taking even longer than anticipated, as the team had difficulties paring down their ideas for the game and maintaining efficient communication.[9] Over the course of development the team grew from seven to eighteen people.[6][8] At the end of the second year, when Sony's extension had run out, the game did not spark the emotions in the player that the team wanted. Sony agreed to another one-year extension, but development ultimately exceeded even that.[10]
The optimistic views which the author held regarding the inevitable progress of human society were somewhat undermined by the events of World War I, as is demonstrated in his later writings. He came to question whether or not scientific progress would always achieve social improvement. His warning of the possibility of developing mind control through blatant advertising and through drugs is prophetic.
"Voyage centres on a young psychiatrist (played by Ryo van Kooten) who leaves Hong Kong to embark on a long lone voyage from Hong Kong along the coast of South-East Asia to try to overcome the emotional turmoil he has experienced in his relationships with former clients. While travelling, he tries to come to terms with his experiences by making a detailed record of their stories, and decides to visit those places himself.
Equity is exercised in the field of labor. Everyone shares in work of a community nature — harvesting, building houses and roads — but on a short-term schedule. The chief occupation of each individual is in a trade for which he displays an aptitude. There is a strong emphasis throughout the book on the development of industries and more talk about trades and group organizations than any other single element except religion, which receives constantly recurring attention throughout.
Voyage features many of Scud's colleagues from previous films, such as the actors Byron Pang, Haze Leung, Adrian "Ron" Heung, and Linda So, as well as several technical staff, such as the Director of Photography, Charlie Lam, who worked on Scud's 2010 film Amphetamine. During filming, Scud said, "I am really enjoying shooting in Europe because people are so film-friendly.. I can see myself coming back to film again in Europe". The German episode includes appearances by the UK actress Debra Baker (Junkhearts) and the German actress Leni Speidel, who was also the Production Manager for filming in Europe.[1]
There is, of course, nothing new in all of this program, nothing fantastic such as Huxley's "Hatchery and Conditioning Centre." The reader, while he cringes at the horror, keeps repeating to himself, "It can't happen here." Nevertheless, Orwell compels us to recognize not only Nazi devices but also certain telltale symptoms in our own social and political practices that cannot help but undermine our complacency.
Minority Report is a movie about a dystopian society in the year of 2054 in Washington D.C. The story is about a "Pre-Crime" police force unit, which revolves around three psychics, "Pre-Cogs", with special power to see into the future and predict crimes. Police manipulates these visions and arrest criminals before the offenses are even committed. Main protagonist, "Pre-Crime" Chief John Anderton (Tom Cruise) has the tables turned on him when he is accused of murder in the future. He must find a way to prove his innocence, for the thing he has yet to do.
(Kobe) The second and third stops on our itinerary bring us to another Pacific archipelago, and the ports of Yokohama and Kobe, Japan. With its blend of modern industry amidst preserved ancient culture, Japan presents a variety of options for experiential learning. Students often enjoy getting a glimpse into traditional Geisha culture, taking a train to Tokyo, or exploring the many options for top-notch Japanese cuisine in Yokohama's Minato Marai 21 neighborhood or the Harborland district in Kobe.
beliefs of the Roman Catholic Church. More had several children by his first wife. His daughter Margaret was considered to be the smartest woman in England being proficient in Latin, Greek and the classics. All of his children loved him. More indulged in scatological jokes; had countless pets and viewed life as a grand drama with him as an actor upon the stage of affairs.
The text of Utopia is in two books. Book 1 was written after Book 2. It is in Book 2 that the society of the place named `Utopia' is described by a traveler, Raphael Hythloday, who through his travels had lived there for a time and has returned to England to report on what he learned. Book 1 is a lead-in to Book 2 and was probably intended to establish interest in the subject of Book 2. The narrative form of Book 1 is a conversation of Hythloday with Thomas More and Peter Giles, and of Book 2 the form is a monologue by Hythloday.
Utopians do not like to engage in war. If they feel countries friendly to them have been wronged, they will send military aid, but they try to capture, rather than kill, enemies. They are upset if they achieve victory through bloodshed. The main purpose of war is to achieve that which, if they had achieved already, they would not have gone to war over.
Whether hiking Table Mountain for one of the world's best views, riding horseback on safari, or engaging with local entrepreneurs in Cape Town, students always fall in love with South Africa. Full of adventure and captivating sights, Cape Town offers countless opportunities for cultural and natural exploration. Cape Town is also home to world-renowned social rights activist Archbishop Desmond Tutu, who students just may have the opportunity to meet as he is a member of the Institute for Shipboard Education Board of Trustees… and a big fan of Semester at Sea!
Contact us at webmaster@utopoians.info | Sitemap xml | Sitemap txt | Sitemap


I'm not sure if you're serious about that or not, so I'll respond as if you are.
I think they'd rather not get SP email at that address. The 'Send Feedback' gives you an email that begins with "omniweb-5.5-beta" and then some sort of code based on your license (which seems odd since it's placed in the subject automatically). Best to go with 'send Feedback'.
And they do in fact respond to this feedback; they just say that support for nonbeta apps is more of a priority.
I just checked, I gave the correct address.
I never said nor implied they don't respond. I said the OG doesn't guarantee they'll read the entire forum. Whereas, they do say they read all email sent to omniweb5@.
Additionally, my statement was in response to a quote from a poster who was trying to imply meaning to a non-response.
Both emails and forum posts are valuable feedback but as Forrest suggested, if you want to make sure the request is filed in the appropriate manner, email is the way to go.
I try to read all the forum posts, but I use it more as a gauge of how things are going and which of the known bugs/missing features are affecting people the most. I rarely enter a bug or a feature request from the forum (though I do think Troy does).
As far as Growl support goes, it seems unlikely in 5.5 since new features are on the bottom of the priority list but we might consider it for a future release. We are certainly not opposed to using 3rd party frameworks where it makes sense--for example, both OmniGraffle and OmniOutliner support LinkBack.
I find Growl indispensible when combined with the Hardware Growler.
That way it will immediately tell me when my network connection drops, a USB device gets connected or disconnected, my IP address changes, a drive has been mounted and so on.


A blend of 90% Loureiro and 10% Arinto is slow-fermented, lasting until winter. Fermentation is halted by temperature reduction, leaving residual sugar above 100g/l. Aged in old oak to develop a complex array of aromas and flavours. One of Portugal's greatest dessert wines.


Managing legal, reputation, and commercial risk in international business requires not only compliance with the law, but also with business conduct standards that are increasingly being enforced by the private sector. MassPoint works with businesses and other organizations to help them understand existing and emerging business conduct expectations, develop codes of ethics and business conduct, and educate and train their personnel. MassPoint also works with clients to develop strategies to use business conduct standards to protect and enhance enterprise reputation and commercial standing, rather than just defensively.


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