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Currently browsing posts about: Omega-3-fats
Food options for Thanksgiving? Omega 3-enriched farmed grasshoppers!
I was interested to see this announcement from the University of Eastern Finland about new research suggesting a way to improve the nutritional quality of fats from….edible grasshoppers!
Until I read this account, I did not know that
Long-horned grasshoppers are widely consumed as snacks in parts of Africa.
More than 2,000 insect species are known to be eaten by humans.
Raising edible insects requires less space and water and has lower greenhouse emissions than meat production.
In some places, overexploitation of insect resources is a problem.
Feeding omega-3 fatty acids to grasshoppers to finish off their growth (as is done with farmed salmon) improves their essential fatty acid levels.
This research was done for a doctoral dissertation and published in the Journal of Economic Entomology. It must have been a lot of fun to do.
Yum?
Tags: Insects, Omega-3-fats
Industry-funded study of the week: Unilever
A low-fat spread with added plant sterols and fish omega-3 fatty acids lowers serum triglyceride and LDL-cholesterol concentrations in individuals with modest hypercholesterolaemia and hypertriglyceridaemia. Blom AM, et al. European Journal of Nutrition. 2019;58(4):1615–1624.
Purpose: "to investigate the triglyceride (TG) and LDL-cholesterol (LDL-C) lowering effects of a spread [i.e., margarine] with added plant sterols (PS) and fish oil as compared to a placebo spread."
Conclusions: "Four-week consumption of the intervention spread led to significant and clinically relevant decreases in serum TG, LDL-C and other blood lipid concentrations."
Funder: The study was funded by Unilever BCS Research and Development Vlaardingen, the Netherlands.
Conflicts of interest: of the authors, four are employed by Unilever.
Comment: Unilever makes margarines with plant sterols and fish oils. You might buy them if they control blood lipid risk factors for heart disease. This is in-house company research aimed at proving the benefits of a Unilever product, which is what so many other companies do.
But Unilever was one of the few Big Food companies that sponsored basic research (and maybe it still does?). As I describe in my book, Unsavory Truth, Unilever was the sponsor of the basic research that demonstrated the harmful effects of trans-fat on disease risk.
Tags: Fats-and-oils, Omega-3-fats, Sponsored-research, Trans-fat
FDA approves qualified health claim for omega-3s
I love the FDA's qualified health claims for food products because they are so patently ridiculous.
These are health claims so poorly supported by science that the FDA insists on a disclaimer.
What's their point? Companies can use them for marketing and put the disclaimer in tiny print.
The latest is the FDA's response to a petition from the Global Organization for EPA and DHA Omega-3s, which asked the FDA to approve these health claims:
EPA and DHA help lower blood pressure in the general population.
EPA and DHA reduce BP, a risk factor for CHD (coronary heart disease).
EPA and DHA reduce the risk of CHD.
Research shows that EPA and DHA may be beneficial for moderating BP, a risk factor for CHD.
Convincing scientific evidence indicates that EPA and DHA help lower blood pressure in the general population, with comparable reductions to those achieved with other diet and lifestyle interventions.
The FDA did its own review of the literature and quite sensibly concluded that evidence supporting such claims is too weak to take seriously.
Instead, the FDA said that
In light of the above considerations, FDA intends to consider the exercise of its enforcement discretion for the following qualified health claims [with my emphasis in red]:
Consuming EPA and DHA combined may help lower blood pressure in the general population and reduce the risk of hypertension. However, FDA has concluded that the evidence is inconsistent and inconclusive. One serving of [name of the food or dietary supplement] provides [ ] gram(s) of EPA and DHA.
Consuming EPA and DHA combined may reduce blood pressure and reduce the risk of hypertension, a risk factor for CHD (coronary heart disease). However, FDA has concluded that the evidence is inconsistent and inconclusive. One serving of [name of the food or dietary supplement] provides [ ] gram(s) of EPA and DHA.
Consuming EPA and DHA combined may reduce the risk of CHD (coronary heart disease) by lowering blood pressure. However, FDA has concluded that the evidence is inconsistent and inconclusive. One serving of [name of the food or dietary supplement] provides [ ] gram(s) of EPA and DHA.
Consuming EPA and DHA combined may reduce the risk of CHD (coronary heart disease) by reducing the risk of hypertension. However, FDA has concluded that the evidence is inconsistent and inconclusive. One serving of [name of the food or dietary supplement] provides [ ] gram(s) of EPA and DHA.
Research shows that consuming EPA and DHA combined may be beneficial for moderating blood pressure, a risk factor for CHD (coronary heart disease). However, FDA has concluded that the evidence is inconsistent and inconclusive. One serving of [name of the food or dietary supplement] provides [ ] gram(s) of EPA and DHA.
In order to use these claims, the products would have to contain at least 0.8 g EPA and DHA (combined total).
Absurd as all this may seem, the approval of qualified claims is considered a win for the omega 3 industry.
Why does the FDA allow such claims? Because Congress said it had to permit claims even if evidence was insufficient to back them up [but see below].
Correction: A Twitter correspondent, Ilene Heller (@foodcop819), reminds me that the courts, not Congress, forced the FDA to allow qualified health claims on First Amendment grounds. In 1990, Congress forced the FDA to allow health claims in general as part of the nutrition labeling act. In 1994, Congress passed the dietary supplement act that essentially deregulated these products and allowed "structure/function" claims for them. Food companies wanted to use them too. Whenever the FDA objected that science didn't support the claims, supplement companies took the FDA to court. In 2003, the FDA gave up: "We have lost 8 of 10 First Amendment decisions, and doing business the way we were doing it was unsustainable" (New York Times, July 6, 2003). The so-called qualified health claims are the absurd result.
Tags: Health-claims, Omega-3-fats
Food Navigator's collection of articles on "healthy fats"
Fat remains in the news. Which ones are health, and which not? FoodNavigator-USA collects its articles on the topic. My thoughts: Beyond that, food fats are mixtures of monounsaturated, polyunsaturated, and saturated fatty acids, of the omega-3, -6, and -9 varieties. And then there are the hydrogenated trans-fats. These variations make fats complicated.
One attribute of fats is not complicated: fat has 9 calories/gram compared to 4 for protein and carbohydrate. A tablespoon of oil, butter, lard, or tallow has about 100 calories. If you are concerned about energy balance, watch out for fat calories (and the other ones count too).
FoodNavigator's Special Edition: Healthy fats
Fat – we are told – is back. But what kind of fat, and can you have too much of a good thing? Is the science changing on saturated fats? Is whole milk a better choice, or should we stick to low fat dairy? Is coconut oil as healthy as some marketers make out, and is the pressure off to reduce fat now all eyes are on added sugar? Get the lowdown on fat in this special edition…
Chewing the fat: Need help navigating the healthy fats minefield?: Fats are often classed into good, bad and ugly categories. But do we know for sure which are which, and are consumers, food marketers, and health professionals all on the same page on this? Is the science really changing on saturated fats? And is the keto diet backed by sound science?.. Read
Which fats do consumers think are healthiest (and are they on the same page as nutrition scientists)? Olive oil is routinely ranked by consumers as the healthiest fat, says Cargill. But other oils also high in healthy mono- and poly-unsaturated fats – soybean, corn, and canola oil – all rank lower than coconut oil (which is high in saturated fat), while perceptions of lard and tallow are also improving, highlighting a disconnect between what consumers think about fats, and what nutritional scientists are telling them… Read
What's trending in the oils and fats aisle? From ghee to pumpkin seed oil: Ghee – a 'clarified butter' produced by boiling butter and pouring off the butterfat, leaving milk sugar (lactose) and protein (casein and whey) behind – is very high in saturated fat, but it's gaining traction among shoppers looking for something new in the butters and spreads aisle, says specialty oils brand Carrington Farms… Read
Is saturated fat really 'back?' In short, no, argue experts at ICVN 2018:"So the ketogenic diet, sure, it will cause you to lose weight in the short term. So would cholera, or a cocaine binge, but that doesn't mean it's a good idea," observed Dr David Katz at the 7th International Congress on Vegetarian Nutrition (ICVN) this week. "There is more than one way to eat badly and the American public is committed to exploring them all.".. Watch now
Replacing partially hydrogenated oils: In conversation with Qualisoy: With the June 18 deadline to drop partially hydrogenated oils (PHOs) fast approaching, most food manufacturers have found alternatives, from palm oil, to liquid oils blended with palm fractions. But R&D work on interesterified high oleic oils that perform even better in some challenging applications than first and second wave solutions is ongoing, says soy industry expert Qualisoy… Read
Has coconut oil lost its luster? New data from SPINS shows sharp sales declines in 2017: US retail sales of culinary coconut oil – a category demonstrating explosive growth in recent years – have continued to decline, according to new data from SPINS, with the strongest reversal of fortunes in the conventional (MULO) channel, where sales soared by 38.8% in 2015, but fell 5.2% in 2016, and sank 25.9% in 2017… Read
Limit trans-fats and saturated fats to reduce CVD risk – WHO: The World Health Organization (WHO) has launched a public consultation on draft guidelines for intake of saturated fats and trans-fats… Read
Enzymatically interesterified oils in focus as PHO replacement deadline looms: There has been a recent growth in interest in enzymatic interesterification (EIE) as more formulators deploy the technology to replace partially hydrogenated oils (PHOs) in some challenging applications as the June 18 deadline* to phase them out approaches, says one leading enzyme supplier… Read
Omega-3s from plants: 'This technology is going to have a massive impact on the industry': As demand for omega-3s continues to rise, alternative sources are being explored, with many think that genetically engineered oil seed crops could have a massive impact on easing pressure on fish stocks… Read
NAOOA strengthens olive oil quality standards to boost consumer confidence and sales: "It's critical to encourage more people to use olive oil, not to intimidate them by thinking they can't afford it or they're not going to get the real deal. That's why we continue working to strengthen our standards and educate consumers," says Joseph Profaci, executive director, North American Olive Oil Association (NAOOA)… Read
FDA Commissioner: Removing PHOs from the food supply is a 'significant public health achievement':The FDA has made it clear it wants to remove all PHOs (partially hydrogenated oils) from the US food supply and has shot down the Grocery Manufacturers Association's (GMA) petition seeking to allow specific and limited uses of PHOs… Read
WHO pushes to remove artificial trans fat from diet and reduce overall trans fat intake: The World Health Organization's draft recommendation that adults and children reduce trans-fatty acid intake to less than 1% of total energy and industrially produced trans-fatty acids be removed from the global supply chain leaves both public health and consumer rights advocates wanting more… Read
'The lifestyle of including fat in your diet is here to stay', says CoreFX CEO: The low-fat diet that was popular in past decades is an experiment that failed leading to a new relationship consumers have developed with food, particularly with "healthy fats", says CoreFX Ingredients CEO, Denis Neville… Read
FBOMB macadamia nut butter: 'We're very entrenched with the whole keto crowd right now': While common when sitting at home on the couch, eating nut butters straight from the jar before hopping on a plane (if TSA didn't confiscate) or during a rigorous workout can be a clumsy, messy experience, but FBOMB's redesigned, single-serve pouches of macadamia nut butter solves for this pain point… Read
'Don't hold back': Studies support eggs for heart health and prediabetics: An egg a day may reduce risk of stroke by 26%, and eating up to 12 per week does not negatively impact cholesterol for people with pre-diabetes or type 2 diabetes, according to a couple of new studies… Read
Tags: Fats-and-oils, Omega-3-fats, Trans-fat
It's time for some Q and A's
I've just turned in the copy-edited manuscript of Why Calories Count: From Science to Politics (pub date March 2012) and now have time to catch up on some questions:
Q. I was recently given to read a book titled "The China Study" which is based on research conducted in 1970's in China by Dr. Colin Campbell. His main conclusion is that eating dairy and meat causes cancer. His resolution is that a plant-based diet (i.e. vegan) is the (only?) healthy diet for humans. This book has made strong enough of a point to convince several of my friends to "convert" to a vegan diet in order to save their health. Could you share some comments on the validity of the research and conclusions this book presents with regards to detrimental effects of dairy and meat on human health?
A. Campbell makes a forceful argument based on his interpretation of the research and on case studies of people whose diseases resolved when they became vegans. And yes I've seen Dr. Campbell's new movie, Forks over Knives. The first half is a terrific introduction to how the current food environment promotes unhealthy eating. The second half promotes Dr. Campbell's ideas about the hazards of meat and dairy foods.
Whether you agree with these ideas or not, the film is well done and worth a look.
Some scientists, however, interpret the research as demonstrating that people are healthier when they eat dairy foods. For example, the enormous consensus report on diet and cancer risk from the American Institute for Cancer Research and the World Cancer Research Fund concluded in 2007 that eating lots of red meat and processed meat is convincingly associated with an increased risk of colorectal cancer (but no others).
On the other hand, they found dairy foods to be associated with a decrease in the risk of colorectal cancer. They found limited and less convincing evidence that dairy foods might decrease the risk of bladder cancer but increase the risk of prostate cancer.
How to make sense of this? These are two food groups in the diets of people who consume many kinds of foods and who do many things that might increase or decrease cancer risk. Given this complexity, one food or food group seems unlikely to have that much influence on cancer when considered in the context of everything else people eat and do.
Nutrition research, as I am fond of saying, is difficult to do and requires interpretation. Intelligent people can interpret the studies differently depending on their point of view.
The new Dietary Guidelines say to cut down on saturated fats. Those are most plentiful in meat and dairy foods (plant foods have them, but in smaller amounts). Pretty much everyone agrees that plant-based diets promote health/ But whether they have to be 100% plant-based is highly debatable.
The new USDA MyPlate food guide suggests piling plant foods—fruit, vegetables, and grains—on 75% of your plate so the argument is really about what goes on the remaining 25%, what USDA calls the "Protein" section. You can put beans in that quarter if you don't want to eat red meat, poultry, or fish.
Q. I'd love to hear your take on the recent walnut flap [accusations that the FDA now considers walnuts to be drugs]. I suspect walnuts got caught with such offenders as Pom, Froot Loops, and Juicy-Juice, but I'd love to find out what the FDA actually said about this. For some odd reason I don't believe the article is presenting the whole truth.
A. This is a health claims issue. The FDA is not saying walnuts are drugs. It is saying that Diamond Walnut is claiming walnuts as drugs on package labels. How so?
The labels say the omega-3 fatty acids in walnuts may help lower cholesterol; protect against heart disease, stroke and some cancers (e.g. breast cancer); inhibit tumor growth; ease arthritis and other inflammatory diseases; and even fight depression and other mental illnesses. These are disease claims for which the FDA requires scientific substantiation.
The company's petition did not provide that substantiation so the FDA issued a warning letter. In general, you should be skeptical any time you see a nutritional factor advertised for its ability to prevent or treat such a broad range of problems.
Q. A question about sugar and how it is counted: My books say: 4 g = 1 teaspoon = 15 calories. My Illy Caffe says 10 g of sugar, but 50 calories. Ingredients: coffee, sugar, potassium bicarbonate, potassium citrate. If the drink is 50 calories, shouldn't it say 12 g or more for the sugar listing?
A. Sugar should be the only ingredient that has calories in this coffee but I've seen calorie lists that say 5 calories per gram for sugars. Food companies have some leeway in the way they compute calories. Illy may be using a method that gives 5 rather than 4. But the difference between 40 and 50 is hardly measurable and I wouldn't worry about amounts this small, annoying as imprecise figures may seem.
Tags: Coffee, Dairy, Dietary-Guidelines, Meat, Omega-3-fats, Research, Sugars
Omega-3s in infant formula: time for a close look
The FDA just announced that it is planning to research health claims on infant formulas such as "supports brain and eye development.'' The FDA wants to:
assess women's understanding of and response to various statements on infant formula labels. The study results will be used to help the Agency to understand the role that certain types of statements on infant formula labels have in influencing formula choice….The study will focus on purchase choice, perceived similarity of the formula to breast milk, and perceived likelihood that the formula has certain health benefits.
Translation: the FDA thinks that claims for omega-3 fatty acids—DHA, in this case—on infant formulas mislead mothers into thinking the formulas are better than breast milk.
Despite lack of evidence for benefits, infant formula makers have been so successful in marketing the addition of these omega-3 fatty acids that you can hardly buy a formula without them.
I was in Ecuador a few months ago and saw this sign:
The idea? Omega-3's will make your kid smart.
My book, What to Eat, has a chapter on infant formula and baby food. Here are some relevant excerpts:
Infant formulas cause controversy and are endlessly contentious for three important reasons. Formulas are (1) largely unnecessary (most mothers can breast feed their infants), (2) not as perfect as breast milk for feeding babies, and (3) more expensive than breast feeding.
Breast milk is nutritionally superior to formula, but from a marketing standpoint it has one serious disadvantage: it is free. Beyond one-time purchases of breast pumps, storage bottles, or special clothing, nobody makes money from it.
For mothers who cannot, should not, or do not want to breast feed, formula is a socially and nutritionally acceptable substitute. But formula companies do not only promote formulas to mothers who must use formula. In subtle and not-so-subtle ways, they promote the use of formulas to all pregnant women and new mothers.
I go on to explain that because formula is the sole food for infants, its composition is highly regulated. Therefore, all infant formulas have the same composition, and all virtually indistinguishable.
Competition for market share explains why formula companies want to put distinctive nutrients in their formulas–especially nutrients considered "conditional." A conditional nutrient is one that might have some benefits under some circumstances. Even if the health benefits are minimal or questionable, they can be used in advertising.
That is the principal reason why so many formulas now have fatty acids added—omega 6 arachidonic acid (ARA) and omega-3 docosahexaenoic acid —the same one that is in fish oil. These two fatty acids are normally present in breast milk, and there is some evidence, weak and questionable as it may be, that they support infant brain development and vision.
Formula makers got the FDA to agree that ARA and DHA are normal components of food (which they are) and, therefore, are Generally Recognized As Safe (GRAS). This means that companies could add ARA and DHA to infant formulas without having to prove that either of them really did anything useful or beneficial.
I then explain that the FDA apparently agreed to the GRAS petition with some reluctance, as indicated by its answer to the question, "What is the evidence that addition of DHA and ARA to infant formulas is beneficial?"
The scientific evidence is mixed. Some studies in infants suggest that including these fatty acids in infant formulas may have positive effects on visual function and neural development over the short term. Other studies in infants do not confirm these benefits. There are no currently available published reports from clinical studies that address whether any long-term beneficial effects exist.
My interpretation of the proposed research study is that the FDA thinks the addition of ARA and DHA may discourage mothers from breastfeeding and may unnecessarily cause them to buy more expensive formula.
If you agree, tell the FDA you think the study is a great idea, and the sooner it gets going, the better.
You can file comments at http://www.regulations.gov. Refer to Docket No. FDA–2011–N–0098]
Tags: FDA, Infant-formula, Omega-3-fats
FTC goes after kids' vitamin claims (yogurt, too!)
In its continuing effort to crack down on companies making deceptive claims that omega-3 promotes healthy brain and eye development in children, the FTC has just announced deceptive advertising charges against NBTY, a marketer of children's vitamins.
In February, the FTC issued warning letters to 11 companies that make products like this one ("pediatrician recommended," yet).
The FTC said the companies had better get busy and make sure they are not violating the law by "making baseless claims about how the supplements benefit children's brain and vision function and development."
The FTC cautioned the companies to make sure they had:
"scientific evidence to support claims that their products boost, improve, enhance, or support brain and vision function and development in children…[and]claims relating to intelligence, cognitive function, learning ability, focus, mood, memory, attention, concentration, visual acuity, and eye health."
Now, the FTC has reached a settlement with the companies for $2.1 million in refunds, not only because of the unsupported health claims but also because the products did not contain the advertised amount of omega-3's (see legal complaint):
the multivitamins featured characters such as the Disney Princesses, Winnie the Pooh, Finding Nemo, and Spider-Man. Product packaging and print ads promoting the vitamins had bold graphics highlighting that the products contained DHA, but in reality, the products allegedly had only a trace amount of DHA.
While the vitamins' packaging touted the purported health benefits of 100 milligrams of DHA, a daily serving of the Disney and Marvel multivitamins for children ages four years and older contained only one thousandth of that amount (0.1 mg or 100 mcg), according to the FTC's complaint.
The settlement:
Bars NBTY, NatureSmart, and Rexall Sundown from misrepresenting the amount of any ingredient contained in any product.
Bars them from misrepresenting that any ingredient, including DHA, promotes brain or eye health or provides any other health benefit, unless the claim is true and backed by competent and reliable scientific evidence.
Specifies that any violations could subject the NBTY, NatureSmart, and Rexall Sundown to civil penalties.
I wonder if the FTC is taking a look at the DHA "brain development" claims for Nestlé's Juice Juice? Just a thought.
This just in: The FTC announces a settlement with Dannon Yogurt to stop making unsubstantiated, exaggerated health claims for activia. Dannon may no longer claim that:
Any yogurt, dairy drink, or probiotic food or drink reduces the likelihood of getting a cold or the flu (unless FDA says it's OK)
Activia yogurt will relieve temporary irregularity or help with slow intestinal transit time, unless the ad conveys that three servings of Activia yogurt must be eaten each day.
Any other yogurt, dairy drink, or probiotic food or drink will relieve temporary irregularity or help with slow intestinal transit time unless the company has two well-designed human clinical studies that substantiate the claim.
The health benefits, performance, or efficacy of any yogurt, dairy drink, or probiotic food or drink, unless the claims are backed by competent and reliable scientific evidence.
The FTC wants science to back up health claims. What a concept!
Tags: FTC (Federal Trade Commission), Omega-3-fats, Supplements, Yogurt
Functional ingredients in infant formula: Are these about health or marketing?
If you don't have a small baby, or your baby is breastfed(and see note at end) you no doubt are missing the furor over "functional" ingredients that companies have been adding to infant formulas.
DHA (an omega-3 fatty acid) came first. As I discuss in my book, What to Eat, infant formula companies could not wait to add it. They knew they could market it on the basis of preliminary evidence associating DHA with visual and cognitive benefits in young infants. Although evidence for long term benefits is scanty, the companies also knew that they could charge higher prices formulas containing DHA.
The FDA approved the use of DHA in infant formulas on the grounds that it is safe, but did not require the companies to establish that DHA makes any difference to infant health after the first year. Because of its marketing advantage, virtually all infant formulas now contain DHA. Surprise! They also cost more.
Companies now want to add other ingredients, such as prebiotics, probiotics, lutein, lycopene, and betacarotene, which also can be marketed as healthier and at higher prices.
In response, the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP), has issued a report on the lack of evidence for the benefits of functional ingredients and the substantial harm they will cause to the economic viability of the WIC program, the USDA's assistance program for low-income mothers and children.
WIC buys about half the infant formula sold in the United States each year. WIC is not an entitlement program, meaning that the number of participants is limited by available funding (a GAO report explains how this works).
The CBPP report says:
As pressure mounts to limit federal discretionary spending, it is critical to ensure that WIC not spend funds on foods with functional ingredients that do not deliver clinically significant benefits. WIC spent approximately $850 million on infant formula last year, and a recent USDA study found that more than ten percent of that spending ($91 million annually) is attributable to higher-priced formulas with functional ingredients. Under current law, the additional cost to WIC of providing foods with these ingredients is likely to grow substantially as such foods proliferate.
As the report explains, formula companies do not have to demonstrate that the added–and more expensive–ingredients do any good:
There is no mechanism within the national WIC program that requires USDA to review the research evidence on the claimed benefits of these functional ingredients or to base decisions about whether to offer foods containing such ingredients on their benefits and the specific needs of WIC participants. Currently, instead, infant formula manufacturers themselves decide whether WIC offers infant formulas with new functional ingredients, while state WIC programs decide whether WIC should offer other foods with such ingredients.
As I keep saying, functional foods (and ingredients) are about marketing, not health. If companies are going to add functional ingredients–and charge higher prices–they need to have some convincing scientific evidence to back up their claims.
Postscript: Laurie True of the California WIC program writes:
Congressman George Miller, Chair of the House Education and Labor Committee, is writing the bill that reauthorizes the WIC Program this week. He should include a provision requiring independent scientific review of the efficacy of these "functional ingredients" before USDA allows them in WIC foods and infant formula.
Note: Lori Dorfman sends a Berkeley Media Studies Group issue paper on how to advocate for hospitals and workplaces to make it easier for moms to breastfeed.
Tags: Functional-foods, Infant-formula, Omega-3-fats, WIC


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Even Carrie Underwood's Parents Got Rid of Her Softball Trophies
The superstar singer chats about her days as a teen athlete and how teamwork is still so important in her job today
By Alex Apatoff
You already knew Carrie Underwood was a force to be reckoned with onstage, but what you may not have known is that she was a sports star before she was a superstar, playing softball, basketball and cheerleading as a teenager in the years before that fateful American Idol audition. So when Dick's Sporting Goods, which carries her activewear line Calia, offered to donate $500,000 together with Underwood to girls' sports programs across the country as part of their Sports Matter Foundation, she knew her first donation would be a tribute to where she came from: the playing fields of Checotah, Oklahoma, to fund girls' sports initiatives there.
She documented her trip back to her hometown to talk to teenage athletes about how important it is to stay active in sports programs, and chatted with us from tour rehearsals about the trip, how teamwork still plays a big part in her life and how she squeezes in workouts now.
Why did you want to get behind girls' sports programs as a cause?
When they came to us and said, Would you like Calia to be involved, it was a no-brainer. Growing up, sports was such a big part of my life. I wouldn't call myself great or any kind of an awesome athlete or anything, but there was such camaraderie, all the lessons we learned — it was great to be able to learn how to win together, learn how to lose together, learn how to support each other and play up each other's strengths and help each other. There are a lot of life lessons in sports, and that's something that's getting lost nowadays as a lot of schools, the arts and sports are the first things that start going when they doing budget cuts. It just seemed like a really great thing to be involved in, giving some confidence to young ladies at a really important time in their lives.
What was "your" sport in particular?
Definitely softball, I loved softball so much and played for nine years. We played slow pitch in the summer. I played fast-pitch for a little bit in high school but ended up having to quit the team because I kept missing practices due to my singing. I think I made the right choice! But I'm so glad I got those years playing.
What's a favorite memory from your softball days?
The tournaments were a lot of fun! We always had a lot of stories from that. Being out, playing two or three games a day. It was fun, like being away at camp, because you guys were all playing together and having fun, being outside.
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You got to go home to Checotah to film the video – do you get to go back often? What's the first thing you do when you get there?
My parents still live there in the house I grew up in, so I don't get to go back as much as I would like to see them, because my schedule is so crazy. But I do get to go back a few times a year, and I really don't do much of anything! I just want to go hang out with them, spend time with my parents. Being outside is important to us, even if we're just sitting on the porch swing, getting to enjoy the outdoors.
Did you parent leave all your softball trophies in your childhood room?
No! That changed a long time ago. It's an extra bedroom now. I was sad — I was like, I'm the last child! You should just leave it! Didn't work.
Many women who loved playing team sports growing up find it's hard to keep that dynamic going when they're older. How do you keep it up in your day to day life?
In what I do, it is a team effort. Everything we do is a team effort. Being out on the road, everybody's got their own roles and you have to work together or the show's going to fall apart. Some nights are great, and while fortunately we never "lose," some nights are a little harder than others. It's definitely, you learn those lessons young, and being a part of a team — even though we're not hitting balls or dribbling anything or running (well, I'm running on a stage!) — there's a lot of the same principles that still apply.
Do you ever squeeze in any pickup softball games on the road?
I tried a few years ago to be a part of a summer league softball league and that was fun! I didn't get to play in many of the games just because I was traveling. It was a lot of fun, I would like to do that again, if things ever slow down. Which, I hope they don't! But that was a lot of fun. Now I'm running around after a toddler [son Isaiah, 18 months] so that's my sport.
There were so many amazing young female athletes during the Olympics this summer, and there was a lot of discussion about the media focusing on the girls' appearance or downplaying their accomplishments. What would you say to young athletes who are watching that?
It's little disappointing because they're out there representing our country and giving it their all, and they should be very, very proud of themselves and how far they've come. I would want young ladies to know it's less important — you always want to feel good about yourself — what's important is playing your hardest.
And similarly, if you were talking to a young girl who was feeling frustrated or overwhelmed and wanted to quit sports, what would you say?
Everyone reaches a point in their life where they have to choose, like I did, but if things are just kind of hard, that's another thing that might be in our society now is the urge to quit. I wish I had managed to find more time to stay and play softball a little longer. Someday you really won't have time to do fun things like that — you're going to have a job, you're going to have a family, and things get a little harder. So go out and enjoy that time. You gotta enjoy it while you can!
You've got a bunch of jobs that keep you busy – but what's been the coolest thing about having an activewear line?
I love seeing fan reactions, people supporting each other on social media. People come to my meet and greets, and they say, Oh my gosh, it was motivating. I've lost this much or I've done this, I can lift this, I can run this or whatever. That's what it's all about, women empowering women and clothes to help you feel good along the way. And it's been really fun to see the line evolve. We've only been at this a year and a half, but to see what people are gravitating towards, [and ask] how can we make this better, how can we make our customer, our woman, feel better about herself? It's been a really fun journey. And I get to wear it! I get all the clothes first. I have a couple pairs of jeans if I have to put jeans on, but I have an incredible wardrobe [of comfortable clothes] myself!
Did you play sports growing up? How do you use those lessons today?
By Alex Apatoff @nicefunalex
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Home Culture Top 10 Reasons The Death Penalty Should Be Abolished
Top 10 Reasons The Death Penalty Should Be Abolished
Tracy Dye
Top 10 Reasons the Death Penalty Should be Abolished. ListLand.com
Supporters of the death penalty often posit arguments that cite retribution for violent crimes as being instrumental in justice. However, several studies and research have show that taking the life of another human being through capital punishment only perpetuates a cycle of violence. Furthermore, other research has shown that flaws in our justice system has led to innocent being prosecuted, guilty being set free, and a plethora of other biases being present during capital punishment cases.
Outlined below are the top 10 reasons that the death penalty should be abolished.
10Moral Hypocrisy
The Death Penalty is Immoral and Hypocritical
The late and great Indian leader, Mahatma Gandhi, once said, "An eye for an eye will make the whole world blind." There is no arguing that crimes associated with the death penalty–such as premeditated murder–are reprehensible. However, if we are to agree that taking the life of another human being can be categorized as the upmost heinous of acts, how can we justify treating such a crime with a punishment that mirrors the very thing we so adamantly condemn? It is because of this that support of the death penalty can be deemed as moral hypocrisy.
Moreover, current prison conditions have continually reflected racial and socioeconomic biases which make prisoners of lesser privilege more likely to be sentenced with the death penalty than those of wealthy upbringings and substantial careers. Bryan A. Stevenson, founder and Executive Director of the Equal Justice Initiative, and professor at the New York University School of Law, visited The Daily Show with John Stewart in October 2014 to discuss the discord between morality and America's criminal justice system. Stevenson noted that the current criminal justice system operates in a way that is kinder to people who are wealthy and guilty than those who are poor and innocent.
For this reason, it is especially crucial that the death penalty be outlawed in order to acquire true justice. In a country where the death penalty is shown to be inflicted more often on those that are underprivileged and innocent as opposed to those that are rich and guilty, we can not choose to support the death penalty in good conscience.
9Cruel and Unusual Punishment
The Death Penalty Should be abolished because it constitutes cruel and unusual punishment
Americans were aghast after learning the details of interrogation methods used used by the CIA on terrorism suspects following the attacks on Sept. 11, 2001. These techniques included:
Rectal Infusion: An archaic and risky medical procedure developed before IV infusions. It involves the insertion of an enema in order to deliver fluids rectally
Gun and Drill: This technique involves placing a pistol near a suspect's head and operating a drill as a way of threatening execution
Waterboarding: An interrogation technique which simulates the experience of drowning by detaining a suspect and pouring large quantities of water over their face
Chaining: Many detainees were chained while being imprisoned in a detention facility called "Cobalt". NPR notes that one suspect died from hypothermia during this imprisonment
Nudity: Suspects were subjected to humiliation by being forced to strip themselves of all clothing while also being held by chains or shackles
If we can be horrified by these acts which were used on suspected terrorists (most of which did not lead to death), how can we condone punishment of death for suspected criminals in America?
Moreover, the death penalty is proven to be unconstitutional. The Eighth Amendment of the United States Constitution states that the use of "cruel and unusual punishment" should be prohibited. If we can consider the aforementioned methods of torture "cruel and unusual", the punishment of death must also be considered unconscionable.
8Crime Rates
The Death Penalty Should be abolished because there is no evidence it will reduce crime rates
There is no evidence that posits the use of the death penalty as being causal to a reduction in crime. According to the NC Coalition for Alternatives to the Death Penalty, the murder rate for the state of North Carolina actually declined following a halt in utilizing execution as a form of punishment. The coalition also points out that, "…most people on death row committed their crimes in the heat of passion, while under the influence of drugs or alcohol, or while suffering from mental illness. They represent a group that is highly unlikely to make rational decisions based on a fear of future consequences for their actions."
Furthermore, a 2014 Pew Research Center analysis found that the population as a whole has been less favorable toward executions than ever, and state institutions have also declined overall in their use of the death penalty. This decline has been congruent with an overall drop in violent crime rates throughout the U.S.
Countless other research studies have shown that use of the death penalty does not deter criminals from committing violent acts, and that states which do not enforce the death penalty tend to have a lower occurrence of crime.
7Exoneration
The Death Penalty Prevents Exoneration
In singer Alanis Morissette's 1995 hit "Ironic", she sings the verse "…it's a death row pardon two minutes too late." Morissette clearly didn't know the definition of irony, as she spent close to four minutes describing things that were unfortunate or just plain old terrible. Still, the lyric reminds us of the irreversible consequences that can occur from continued enforcement of the death penalty.
What if an inmate sentenced to death is later found to be innocent of their convictions? What if the uncovering of this innocence comes after a lethal injection has already been administered?
This is much more than a hypothetical. A study titled "Rate of false convictions of criminal defendants who are sentenced to death" published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America found that over four percent of prisoners sentenced to death in the United States are innocent. The team of researchers analyzed 7,482 death sentences from 1973 to 2004. Out of all these cases, it was found that 1.6 percent were later exonerated, and 4.1 percent should have been exonerated.
If a conviction is ever overturned, it can take decades at the very least. However, there are several documented cases of prisoners being released years after imprisonment. Life sentences serve as a better alternative to the death penalty in order to protect the potentially innocent.
6Cost
Failing to Abolish the Death Penalty is a waste of money.
The cost of the death penalty as opposed to a life sentence without parole is exponential. Due to the extra measures taken in judicial proceedings, lawyer fees, extended trials, and expert witnesses, costs end up being higher. A Cost Study by the Sacramento Bee noted that California would save $90 million per year if it were to completely eliminate the death penalty.
An October 2013 report noted some alarming statistics which outline the ways in which costs for death penalty cases are shared by all U.S. taxpayers:
Boulder County, Colorado's D.A. Stan Garnett noted that, "Prosecuting a death penalty case through a verdict in a trial court can cost the prosecution well over $1 million dollars…my budget is $4.6 million and with that budget we prosecute 1,900 felonies, per year"
The costs of these trials are shared by U.S. taxpayers regardless of whether or not their state has enforced the death penalty within that year. According to the report, due to the fact that "…most capital cases emanate from a tiny minority of jurisdictions, this cost is shifted to the majority of Americans who live in areas that almost never use the death penalty…"
One statistic shows that the average cost of a death sentence during a case is $3 million
A cost estimate from 1973 to 2011 shows that the cost to U.S. taxpayers for 8,300 death sentences has been $25 billion
Even though the majority of U.S. states do not enforce the death penalty, all U.S. taxpayers are footing the bill for a minority of jurisdictions. In contrast, a sentence of life in prison costs significantly less.
5Racial Discrimination
The Death Penalty has a disparate impact on minorities
Capital punishment cases are rife with racial disparities and injustice. A staggering proportion of guilty verdicts leading to the death penalty have been influenced by the race of the offender. African Americans are particularly susceptible to this discrimination. According to the NAACP, 50 percent of those scheduled for execution between the years of 2001 to 2006 were African American, in spite of African Americans only comprising 13 percent of the nation's population. In Jan. 2012, The Guardian's David A. Love also called into question racial bias and the death penalty. He noted that the majority of states which perform executions are those which were once part of The Confederacy. Although times have improved, racism is still an issue in the south more so than its northern counterparts. This is cause for speculation which cannot be ignored.
Furthermore, other evidence has shown that along with African Americans and other minority criminals making up the majority of those executed or put on death row, the death penalty is sought more often for murder victims who could be classified as Caucasian than African American and Hispanic victims. Multiple studies have proven this and been cited by the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty.
This evidence reflects flaws within our justice system which must be remedied, and even more reason to outlaw the death penalty.
4Socio-economic Discrimination
The Death Penalty Causes Socio-Economic Discrimination
Alongside racial discrimination found within capital punishment is that of socio-economic discrimination. Remember the O.J. Simpson trial? What about that of Robert Blake? Both of these celebrities were arrested under murder charges and taken to trial; both were found "not guilty". What do these two people have in common? They are both exceptionally wealthy.
People with substantial income can afford the best criminal defense team when going to trial, whereas those of low socio-economic status cannot. Verdicts are largely dependent on the quality of one's defense team, and the price of a good lawyer can equate to that of an entire mortgage. This fact once again spotlights the flaws within America's justice system that lead to innocent being prosecuted and guilty being set free. Bob Egelko of The Associated Press expounded upon this point in 1994 by noting that death row "is not a place for the rich" and that a slew of practitioners and veteran scholars could not think of any "affluent people" who were subjected to death row or execution.
How detrimental can a lack of financial resources truly be to a person facing prosecution? An article fordeathpenalty.org cited that many lawyers who were assigned by the state to poor defendants were often inadequately trained, later suspended and/or disbarred, and that there were even cases where "…appointed attorneys…slept through parts of the trial, or arrived at the court under the influence of alcohol."
3Revenge and Forgiveness
The Death Penalty is State Sanctioned Revenge
Many arguments for the death penalty are based on retribution for the victim of a murder as well as the victim's family and friends. The desire for revenge is understandable, but it is also based on emotions–particularly those which are heated and are catalyzed not long after a severe incident has occurred. The criminal justice system is not a place where decisions are meant to be based on passion. The decisions made in trials are meant to be based on factual evidence and justice. Furthermore–with sympathy toward those who have experienced the loss of a loved one due to crime–revenge and an "eye for an eye" mentality has not been shown to lead to healing. The death of a convicted criminal will not negate the loss of a loved one. Forgiveness has been shown to be instrumental in healing and health, as well as in moving forward. Have you ever been heated by emotions that you wished ill will on someone? What happened when the anger subsided? The ill will most likely dissipated and then the healing truly began.
Death Penalty Curriculum posed an argument against the death penalty which noted the forgiveness exhibited by Bud Welch, the father of Julie Welch, who was killed in the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing. "[Killing] is simply vengeance; and it was vengeance that killed Julie," he said. "Vengeance is a strong and natural emotion. But it has no place in our justice system."
There are other families and friends of victims who believe the death penalty is unjust. In those cases, how can the death penalty offer solace? It simply can't.
2Medical Ethics
The Death Penalty Violates Medical Ethics and the Hippocratic Oath.
Physicians are required at the site of an execution in order for a lethal injection to be administered. Based on a physician's lawful and ethical responsibility to work toward the preservation of human life, executions' requirement of medical personnel to be present at the site of an execution and also to administer lethal injections is at odds with the beliefs and stipulations outlined by the American Medical Association. The AMA posits that the following would be considered unethical participation by a physician in a legally authorized execution:
Any action on the part of a physician which would "cause the death of the condemned"
Any "…action which would assist, supervise, or contribute to the ability of another individual to directly cause the death of the condemned"
"an action which could automatically cause an execution to be carried out on a condemned prisoner"
Medical ethics suffers a gross infraction when a licensed physician chooses to forego oaths taken as a medical professional in order to participate in the execution of another human being. However, this does not deter medical professionals from taking part in executions. According to New York Times contributor and clinical professor of law at U.C.Berkeley School of Law, Ty Alper, a litany of doctors have participated in executions for the past three decades with little to no reproach. Alper states that the most severe disciplinary action taken against physicians participating in execution was "…the revocation of AMA membership, which is not much of an enforcement mechanism given that only about 20 percent of doctors are members of the association."
1Rehabilitation
The Death Penalty Eliminates Possibility of Rehabilitation.
Enforcement of the death penalty denies the opportunity for rehabilitation. As mentioned previously, many individuals who are charged with crimes that can entail capital punishment are mentally and/or emotionally unstable. Murders occur often in a moment of passion, in conjunction with a psychological disability, or due to substance abuse. These characteristics call for a movement toward rehabilitation rather than execution. Rehabilitation efforts not only help convicted criminals, they help society in understanding the motivations behind criminal actions and can prevent similar crimes from occurring in the future.
Conversely, enforcement of the death penalty will not encourage criminals to become rehabilitated. If an individual knows that their life has a set expiration date, what is the use in seeking rehabilitation? Moreover, there are no facets within the death penalty that aid in reform. Rather, capital punishment perpetuates a cycle of violence and death.
New York Times contributor, clinical professor of psychiatry, and adjunct professor of law at New York University, James Gilligan, stated that, "The only rational purpose for a prison is to restrain those who are violent, while we help them to change their behavior and return to the community." He expounded upon this point by evidencing research he and a colleague conducted with violent male offenders at San Francisco jails. They found that educational rehabilitation programs significantly reduced violent behavior to the point that violent tendencies became completely null.
death penalty ethics
death penalty immoral
death penalty is state sanctioned revenge
death penalty is wrong
death penalty too costly
ethical considerations of the death penalty
the death penalty should be abolished
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Importance of Attendance in Work Ethics
Ruth Mayhew
Food and Beverage ... $19,710/year /> 2012-2016 +8.3%
Food Preparation ... $21,440/year 2012-2016 -0.3%
Get Ahead •
Being present on the job isn't being just physically present -- good attendance on the job means you're present and accountable. Poor attendance can ruin your employability, make your boss question your motivation and wreck your relationships with co-workers. Taking a day off anytime you don't feel like working might seem justified, particularly if your employee benefits include vacation and sick time. But spotty attendance is a reflection of your work ethic, and how seriously you take your job and the people with whom you work.
An Honest Day's Work
When you accept a job, you're essentially saying that you'll give the company an honest day's work in exchange for the pay your boss promised. Whether you're hired as a part-time, hourly worker or a full-time, salaried employee, a commitment to showing up every day is the foundation of a successful career and work history.
Teamwork and Collaboration
Whether you perform your work independently with your office door shut or you're standing next to a co-worker on an assembly line, your attendance affects the people with whom you work. If you're present for work, completing your tasks enables others to fulfill their tasks and responsibilities. For example, if you're a bookkeeper charged with tallying monthly receipts, the results of your work could determine whether the sales department needs to increase its client base. If you're consistently absent or off work, departments that depend on your numbers may have to delay their projects.
Accurate Payroll
Nobody wants to be short-changed when payday comes around, and if your attendance is poor, it will likely result in a smaller paycheck -- especially if you're an hourly worker. If you're a salaried employee and you're continually absent, you'll ultimately exhaust your paid time off and, in some circumstances, your employer could deduct the time from your pay. Attendance matters where wages and salaries are concerned, and routine absenteeism can complicate even the most technologically advanced payroll systems.
Your Professional Reputation
Even if your absences don't directly impact other employees' jobs, your professional reputation could suffer if your work record shows excessive absences. Employees with excellent attendance records generally are viewed by their colleagues as dependable, reliable workers. And in some cases, a trait or soft skill, such as dependability, may even outweigh technical competence, suggests Bloomberg Businessweek columnist Dan Schawbel in his September 2013 article, "The Soft Skills Managers Want." When your peers and supervisors know they can count on you to be at work every day, you're a valuable employee. Valuable employees often are recognized with kudos from management, wage increases and opportunities for advancement.
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TOP STORIES / Environment / Global Ideas
Guatemala's trash problems 'getting worse'
Jürgen Katt exports disused garbage trucks from Germany to Guatemala to help clean up the country's highly polluted Lake Atitlán and treat waste. He talked to Global Ideas about the challenges the project faces.
Jürgen Katt (right) stands next to the first dumptruck he brought to Guatemala 20 years ago
Like many countries in the developing world, Guatemala has a real garbage problem. For decades, trash has been simply dumped in several places in the ground and untreated sewage has been diverted into neighboring waterways. Over time, the pollution has taken a heavy toll on the fragile ecosystem in many parts of the country, especially Lake Atitlán in the south. Since October 2009, the lake has been blanketed with a carpet of toxic cyanobacteria, putting the brakes on fishing and scaring away tourists.
German-born Jürgen Katt has lived in Guatemala since 1986. Following the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, he moved to the region of Panajachel from Berlin with his wife and two children. The place lies on the shores of Lake Atitlan. Katt had visited the area as a tourist four years earlier and immediately fell in love with it.
To protect his adopted homeland from pollution and environmental degradation, Katt set up the Atitlán e.V organization in 1991. Katt, 64, and his team raise money to promote several projects which include setting up eco-friendly wastewater treatment plants in the region. Today, Jürgen Katt is Germany's Honorary Consul to Guatemala.
DW:Around 20 years ago you exported the first German garbage truck to Guatemala. Why? It's not a typical souvenir!
Jürgen Katt: Since the 1980s, tourism has exploded in Guatemala. And with the tourists came trash. But there is no functioning infrastructure, no designated dump trucks that can transport rubbish to secure landfills. It's just dumped into the river bed, and it ends up polluting Lake Atitlán and the drinking water. When I moved to the lake back then, I saw how people were destroying their livelihoods. I didn't want to see that happen. I had fallen in love with the country and saw it as my responsibility to do something. With the help of an old friend from school, I bought a suitable vehicle, spruced it up and transported it across the Atlantic, and by 1989 the garbage truck was finally up and running.
DW: Is it still in use?
Katt: It was a refurbished Mercedes garbage truck, but even good quality vehicles can't last forever. The truck was on the road everyday until it gave out in 1997. But it served as an organ donor for the next generation of trucks.
For the last 20 years, disused German dumptrucks have found a new life in Guatemala as they help to clean up pollution
DW: One dump truck for an entire region seems to be too little. Did it still help improve the waste disposal situation?
Katt: Now we have more trucks on the road. But the problem keeps getting worse each year. The number of people living around the lake has tripled in the last 20 years, and at the same time the amount of waste has increased tenfold. Most of the landfills are no longer right next to the lake, but trash is burned there – every day! And most of the region's drinking water sources are right next to the trash heaps.
DW: Why hasn't anything been done?
Katt: The insight and know-how and financial resources are all lacking. If no long-term solution is reached soon, it will be an ugly wakeup call. The crux of the matter is that people's attitude towards trash has to change. They have to develop environmental awareness.
DW: So you mean outside forces must find a way to actively include the local population instead of dictating from abroad?
Katt: Absolutely, that is essential. As guests in this country, we can't tell the native population what they should and should not do. With very few exceptions, we always offer our help without any conditions.
Proper waste disposal ensures better water quality
DW: How do you get residents to get involved?
Katt: We help them learn how to help themselves. We mainly work with kids in schools. They have a good grasp of the concept because they subconsciously realize that this is about their own futures. We actually have recently seen kids admonishing their parents when they thoughtlessly throw trash on the streets.
DW: The NGO Long Way Home has found an innovative way to reuse trash near Comalapa: they're using it to build homes and schools. Is that a real solution or just pure activism?
Katt: We have to welcome any kind of recycling. Over the years, there have been several attempts at Lake Atitlán too. Plastic bottles are filled with trash and sealed airtight, and then used to pull and plaster the walls of a house. Hiding rubbish like that is better than tossing it in the lake where it contaminates drinking water or burning it in open nature where it pollutes the air and land. It's not just a general solution.
DW: It seems like it's exclusively private associations that have joined the fight against pollution and that provide financial resources. Do you want the government to play more of a role?
Katt: I have been hoping for that since the end of the 1990s. The wife of the last president Alvaro Colom did a lot for the environment. She said that the lake lacked oxygen and installed devices that floated on the water to help refortify the supply. Unfortunately that project failed miserably because wind and waves disrupted the devices and they sank. Right now, there are a few government organizations that are trying to help. There are also some international private foundations that, like us, are trying to help save Lake Atitlán.
DW: What has been your biggest success to date?
Katt: Any mayor who wanted to have access to one of our garbage trucks had to promise to create a designated landfill far away from the lake. In five separate places around the lake, all community and illegal landfills near the shores have disappeared. We have also suffered setbacks, though.
Illegal trash disposal and contaminated sewage are choking the lake
DW: Like what?
Katt: When Hurricane Stan blasted through Guatemala in 2005, it destroyed the water treatment plant and sewage flowed into the lake for years. With donations and help from the local population, we were able to build an eco-friendly wastewater treatment plant that at least absorbed about 60 percent of the pollutants. But then there was another shock. We could only stand by helplessly and watch as another natural disaster destroyed our facility. We hurried to build a replacement, but that one was destroyed just a few months later because of heavy rainfall. That was by far the toughest experience for me as project head at the Atitlán Foundation since 1991.
DW: Will Guatemala have a regulated waste and sewage disposal system in the near future?
Katt: The government can't singlehandedly conquer the mountains of trash in the next two decades. An immediate solution will only be possible if you transfer the responsibility to a foreign private specialized company. Naturally, I think of a German recycling company because they already have the necessary experience and know-how for waste collection and disposal, and they can put the right technology into place. Right now, I think a German solution to garbage disposal would be the best way to restore Lake Atitlán and bring it back to life.
Interview: Alina Schadwinkel /ss
Editor: Sonia Phalnikar
Related Subjects Environment, Waste, Recycling, Guatemala, How do we change? , Global Ideas, COP 26: Everything you need to know
Keywords ideas for a cooler world, global ideas, jürgen katt, waste, guatemala, recycling, trash, environment, climate
Permalink https://p.dw.com/p/163JB
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text:
In My Shoes
CAVE (EDITION) 1995 Gavin Turk (1967 – )	P6957 © Gavin Turk / Live Stock Market
MAP OF NOWHERE 2008 Grayson Perry (1960 – )	P8194 © Courtesy The Artist and Victoria Miro, London Grayson Perry
SELF PORTRAIT AS EMILY DAVISON 1993 Mark Wallinger (1959 – )	P7258 © copyright The Artist
An Arts Council Collection Touring Exhibition for 2018:
Self portraiture maintains an enduring presence throughout art history; in recent years artists have revolutionised and extended the genre by incorporating action, performance, narrative and explorations of identity.
In My Shoes explores the ways in which artists based in the UK have represented themselves in their work since the 1990s. Encompassing a range of media including film, photography and sculpture, In My Shoes draws primarily from the Arts Council Collection, with key loans from other UK collections, to investigate these dynamic approaches.
This exhibition offers a timely opportunity to consider the legacy of a key aspect of 1990s British art. The show begins with key early works by so-called 'Young British Artists' including Tracey Emin, Sarah Lucas and Gavin Turk, who received international attention for putting themselves in the frame with bold and confrontational works. The exhibition continues with the work of a younger generation of artists including Rachel McLean and Bedwyr Williams who have each established an active role within their work. In My Shoes concludes with some of the most recent works to enter the Arts Council Collection, some on public display for the first time since acquisition.
The rise of the 'selfie' in contemporary society and the construction of digital identities through social media offers a timely wider context for the exhibition.
Visit the exhibition website here.
Collection Artist(s)
Grayson Perry
Gavin Turk
In a specialised sense this term refers to the portrayal of everyday life, and refers to painting; more broadly it means the subject types covered by an artist.
The 17th Century French Academy decreed that there were five main genres an artist should study. These were History, Portrait, Genre, Landscape and Still Life. History was considered the most important as it portrayed Man in his most noblest endeavours and in his relationship with God; Still Life the lowest as it dealt with the moribund and innate.
Past venues
06 Jul 19 - 22 Sep 19
UK, Welbeck, The Harley Gallery
19 Jan 19 - 12 May 19
Wales, Aberystwyth, Aberystwyth Arts Centre
06 Oct 18 - 06 Jan 19
UK, Stratford-upon-Avon, PACCAR Room, Royal Shakespeare Company
UK, Leicester, Attenborough Arts Centre
30 Mar 18 - 17 Jun 18
UK, Wakefield, Longside Gallery


Culinary Arts Careers prepares students for occupations and higher education programs of study related to the entire spectrum of careers in the food industry, including food production and services; food science, dietetics, and nutrition; and hospitality and tourism.
Prepares students for occupations and higher education programs of study related to the entire spectrum of careers in the food industry, including (but not limited to) food production and services; food science, dietetics, and nutrition; and hospitality and tourism. Instruction and intensive laboratory experiences may include commercial applications of principles of nutritious, aesthetic, and sanitary selection, purchasing, storage, preparation, and service of food and food products; using and maintaining related tools and equipment; managing operations in food service, food science, or hospitality establishments; providing for the dietary needs of persons with special requirements; related research, development, and testing. Upon successful completion of the program, students may pursue positions as cooks, line cooks, and assistant pastry chefs and begin a post-secondary pathway leading to chef status, pastry chefs, or restaurant managers. Advanced Culinary Arts and Hospitality Management is a two year program. Students can just enroll in one year but will be receive the maximum benefit of the career pathway if they enroll both years. Dual college credits may be available. ServSafe industry certification will be offered to those who qualify.
This is a two year program open to sophomores, juniors and seniors. Students may earn a maximum of six (6) high school credits per year as well as six (6) college credits from Ivy Tech Community College. In addition, students may also earn a SERVSafe certification for the hospitality industry.
Dual Credit opportunity is available for students during the 2014-15 school year who meet all requirements set by Ivy Tech Community College Central Indiana Region as well as BRCP.
Culinary Arts & Hospitality Mgt. first year students can receive 5 college credits for the 2014-15 school year.
Advanced Culinary Arts & Hospitality Mgt. second year students can receive 3 college credits for the 2014-15 school year.
Please note: Dual Credit Courses are subject to change EACH year as the Department of Education and the Commission for Higher Education set new standards.
© 2008-2015 Blue River Career Programs.


Unique Pretzel's Original Splits Pretzels are their very first creation. Their "Unique" baking process precisely matures the pretzel dough and then bakes it to split-open perfection, creating an all-natural marvel of crispy bubbles and crunchy crevices with a burnished golden hue. Munch on these crunchy goodies as is, set them out for snacks or at parties, or use them to scoop up all your favorite dips from hummus to green goddess, peanut butter, chocolate hazelnut spreads, and more.
Ingredients: unbleached wheat flour, sunflower oil, salt, yeast, and soda.


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The intrinsic challenge of this project was integrating a new Learning Commons that responds to the 21st century student while keeping the context of a restored 1923 historic library.
The original bookstore has been demolished and the new 7 story new residence hall has significantly reduced the number of freshmen who are "tripled" each fall, plus introduce additional support services to this side of campus.
This adaptive reuse of a former PECO Building provides contemporary classrooms, makerspaces and support spaces utilizing a combination of grant money and capital reserve funds.
Harrisburg University partnered with Harrisburg City School District for a Math and Science Magnet School.
The Room to Grow project renovated the entire school, but the Heart of the project is the new 25,538 gsf Athletic & Recreation Complex reflecting the importance of health and wellness in education.


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Highlights 2005 — Natural Hazards
Drilling a fault
Mount St. Helens awakens
Reviewing Sumatra
For a complete list of hazards headlines from 2005, see the December 2005 print issue.
SAFOD crosses the fault
Big advances in understanding can come from little earthquakes. That's what is happening along the San Andreas Fault just north of Parkfield, Calif. In August, the drilling component of the National Science Foundation's EarthScope project hit scientific pay dirt, crossing the fault at a depth of 3 kilometers in a zone where magnitude-2 and -3 earthquakes nucleate (see Geotimes online, Web Extra, Aug. 12, 2005). With this phase of drilling complete, a string of geophysical instruments has been inserted down into the fault zone, providing the first-ever ringside seat for future (small) events.
For volcanoes, as for earthquakes, there is no substitute for studying an active system. And few volcanoes have been as active this past year as the reawakened Mount St. Helens (see Geotimes, March 2005). Since steam-and-ash explosions began on Oct. 1, 2004, the eruption has been nearly continuous, building a new dome that is already two-thirds the volume of the dome that formed during the six years following its catastrophic 1980 eruption.
Mount St. Helens' dome, shown here in September, has undergone extensive growth this year as the volcano reawakened. Image courtesy of Ken McGee/USGS.
Since last October, the extrusion rate has averaged 2.3 cubic meters per second. Before a partial collapse, the new dome's elevation was within 3 meters of the lowest point on the crater rim. The current eruption has been an important opportunity for volcanologists to study an active system up close, and to do so with a number of technological improvements unavailable during the 1980 to 1986 eruption, including high-precision GPS and new remote sensing techniques to measure gases and surface temperatures, and track volcanic-ash plumes. As the most active volcano in the Cascades, Mount St. Helens is yielding knowledge that can be applied to others in the mountain chain, many of which pose a significant threat to population centers. A new U.S. Geological Survey report assesses the threat from all active U.S. volcanoes and lays out a plan for a National Volcano Early-Warning System that will provide adequate monitoring to protect communities and aviation (see Geotimes, July 2005).
David Applegate
"Monitoring a restless volcano — the 2004 eruption of Mount St. Helens," Geotimes, March 2005.
"Monitoring the most dangerous U.S. volcanoes," Geotimes, July 2005.
The Sumatra fault slipped on Dec. 26, 2004, eliciting one of the most powerful earthquakes ever recorded and making Earth ring like a bell — it even threw off the planet's rotation by microseconds. The huge event set off a tsunami that traveled across the Indian Ocean, killing hundreds of thousands of people in coastal communities throughout the region. A magnitude-8.7 earthquake followed several months later in March, which triggered a smaller tsunami event.
The Dec. 26, 2004, tsunami that struck Sumatra, Indonesia, left this small valley in the region of Glebruk in ruins. Image courtesy of U.S. Navy; photo by Photographer's Mate 2nd Class Elizabeth A. Edwards.
The shocking destruction wrought by the tsunami led to pledges for a real-time, multi-buoy warning system, maintained by the international community. The inaugural meeting of the Indian Ocean Tsunami Warning and Mitigation System took place last summer in Australia, as efforts to place more buoys across the world's oceans continued.
The Sumatra events also spawned a fusillade of geoscience papers in the scientific literature in 2005. Thorne Lay of the University of California, Santa Cruz, marshaled several dozen seismologists to study the earthquake. Their analyses, published in the May 20 Science, showed the Dec. 26 earthquake to have been the longest fault rupture ever recorded, as well as the longest lasting — up to about an hour. With offsets from 5 to 20 meters along the fault, the temblor triggered a swarm of small earthquakes near Mount Wrangell in Alaska, half a world away. Roger Bilham of the University of Colorado in Boulder, calculated the total energy released, or the moment magnitude at 9.15, to be equivalent to 0.8 gigatons of TNT (11 days' worth of energy consumed in the United States), though he wrote that "the most reliable" estimate is closer to 0.25 gigatons of TNT.
First measured at magnitude 8.7, the quake was upgraded to 9.0 within a day of its occurrence. Seth Stein and Emil Okal of Northwestern University in Illinois used long wavelengths from seismometers in the Global Seismic Network to calculate that the earthquake may well have been a magnitude 9.3, posting their results online in February. Their work was later confirmed by Jeffrey Park of Yale University and colleagues, publishing in the May suite of Science papers, with calculations that used free oscillations — waves from the ringing Earth — to come to the conclusion that the earthquake was three times bigger than initial measurements showed. More results are to be presented at the American Geophysical Union's annual meeting this month in San Francisco, including modeling by Richard Gross of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., and his colleagues on how the event changed Earth's rotation and shape, if only slightly.
Other large historic earthquakes in the Sumatran subduction zone, where the Australian, Indian, Sumatran and other plates come together, have measured around magnitude 8. Past work by Kerry Sieh of Caltech in Pasadena, Calif., and Phil Cummins of Geoscience Australia indicated that something bigger could have been on the horizon. Now, new research on the Chilean subduction fault zone, which is quite similar to the Sumatran system, further indicates that the portion of the Sumatra fault that ruptured has probably been relieved of a huge amount of stress, so that it will not repeat its immense Dec. 26 earthquake anytime soon. Nevertheless, measurements of stress on other segments of the fault show that magnitude-8 and smaller earthquakes are, of course, still in Sumatra's future.
Naomi Lubick
"Shift in Chile's seismic history," Geotimes, November 2005.


text:
Hermonassa oleographa is een vlinder uit de familie van de uilen (Noctuidae). De wetenschappelijke naam van de soort is voor het eerst geldig gepubliceerd in 1911 door Hampson.

oleographa

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite is a fighting video game developed and published by Capcom. It is the sixth main entry in the Marvel vs. Capcom series of crossover games. Like previous installments, players control characters from both the Marvel Comics and Capcom universes to compete in tag team battles. Infinite features two-on-two fights, as opposed to the three-on-three format used in its preceding titles. The series' traditional character assists have been removed; instead, the game incorporates a tag-based combo system, which allows players to instantly switch between their two characters to form continuous combos. It also introduces a new gameplay mechanic in the form of the Infinity Stones, which temporarily bestow players with unique abilities and stat boosts depending on the type of stone selected.
Click the button below to add the Marvel vs. Capcom Infinite Steam CD-Key to your wish list.


Tinsel Christmas Pop-up Bar will take over the former space of Simpson's Jewelry, located next to Finn McCool's.
First, Nick Elmi's ITV got a holiday makeover, complete with stockings and festively-named cocktails.
Now, a new Christmas-themed bar – decorated top to bottom in twinkling lights – is opening in the city for a limited time.
In the space formerly occupied by Simpson's Jewelry, next to Finn McCool's, will be the Tinsel Christmas Pop Up Bar. It's set to open tonight, Dec. 8, at 5 p.m.
Inside the space, there are three rooms decked out in festive decorations. Over the former diamond safe is a glowing fireplace art installation. In the front window is a toy train. On the wall is a custom Krampus mural.
Guests can sit at the 25-foot bar along the former jewelry counter, or on the 12 bar stools at the main bar and order festive drinks.
Tinsel will offer a full selection of liquor and spirits to make Christmas cocktails, and will serve speciality Christmas beer on draft like Troegs Mad Elf, Hardywood Bourbon Gingerbread Stout and Chimay Grande Reserve.
The Christmas cocktails, $8-$10, will rotate each week throughout the season. To eat, there will be Christmas cookies, appetizers, sandwiches and holiday specials.
Tinsel will be open Tuesdays through Thursdays from 5 to 10 p.m., Fridays and Saturdays from 2 p.m. to midnight and on Sundays, noon to 5 p.m.
There will be happy hour specials during the week 5-7 p.m.
Tuesdays through Thursdays 5-10 p.m.
Sundays noon to 5 p.m.


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OnePlus could announce two Nord phones only days after the OnePlus 8T (Update)
Update: The OnePlus Nord N100 name looks set in stone thanks to a surprise certification listing from Thailand.
Ryan-Thomas Shaw / Android Authority
OnePlus will reportedly announce the N10 and N100 on October 26 at 8AM EDT.
The two phones will likely be the first Nord-branded devices to make their way to the US.
The OnePlus Nord N100 name has seemingly been confirmed via a certification listing.
Update: October 13, 2020 (2:30 AM ET): The OnePlus Nord N100 name has now appeared via a listing on Thailand's NBTC certification agency. Spotted by MySmartPrice, the listing also confirms that the phone will be LTE only, further suggesting that it could be the entry-level Nord.
Original article: October 9, 2020 (11 AM ET): If you've been following the OnePlus rumor mill, you'll know that the company reportedly plans to hold two launch events in October. We now have an exact date and time for the latter one. According to leaker Steve Hemmerstoffer, OnePlus will announce the N10 and N100 on October 26 at 8AM EDT.
Related: Everything we know about the OnePlus 8T
The N in the model numbers of those two phones likely denotes they belong to the Nord series. We expect both the N10 and N100 will make their way to the US, making them the first of the company's Nord-branded phones to do so. Here's what we know about the two devices so far:
OnePlus N10
According to a recent Android Central report, the N10 will feature a Snapdragon 690 processor supported by 6GB of RAM and 128GB of internal storage. Additionally, it will include a 6.5-inch display with a 1080p resolution and 90Hz refresh rate. For photos, OnePlus has apparently equipped the phone with a quad camera array led by a 64MP primary shooter. The company reportedly plans to price the phone under $400 in the US.
OnePlus N100
We know less about the N100. But there's a good chance it's the OnePlus Clover we first heard about in August. If that's the case, we expect the N100 will feature a Snapdragon 460 chipset, 4GB of RAM, a triple camera array with a 13MP primary sensor, and a 6,000mAh battery. It will also come with a 6.52-inch display with 720p resolution. The Clover will reportedly cost around $200.
In any case, we'll likely learn more about both devices soon.


text:
in Celebrities, Featured, Hollywood
by OKDio October 7, 2020, 2:06 am 6.5k Views
AOC Hot & Sexy Nude Leaked Photos
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is universally known as AOC, she is an American politician working as the U.S. Representative for New York's 14th congressional district. The district incorporates the eastern part of the Bronx and parts of north-central Queens in New York City. Alexandria is a supporter of the Democratic Party.
She gained national acknowledgment when she won the Democratic Party's primary election for New York's 14th congressional district on 26th June 2018. She trounced Democratic Caucus Chair Joe Crowley, a 10-term appointee, in what was widely seen as the biggest upset victory in the 2018 midterm election primaries. She beat Republican foe, Anthony Pappas, in the 6th November 2018, general election.
Taking office at age of just 29, Ocasio-Cortez is the littlest woman ever to serve up in the United States Congress. Alexandria has been remarked for her substantial social media presence relative to her fellow members of Congress. She studied in international relations and economics at Boston University, graduating cum laude in 2011. Alexandria was formerly an activist and worked part-time as a waitress and bartender before running for Congress in 2018.
She is among the first female members of the Democratic Socialists of America nominated to serve in Congress. She advocates a progressive platform that comprises Medicare for all, a federal jobs guarantee, a Green New Deal, abolishing the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement free public college and trade school, and a 70% marginal tax rate for income above $10 million.
She was born on 13th 1989 in New York City, U.S.
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