The Moment I Knew

At 5 a.m., I knew I wouldn't be going in to work that day. This was the first time I woke up still drunk from the night before. Usually my hands shook, but my mind remained clear. Now back on anti-depressants however, I spent my days and nights in a hazy stupor spotted with terrifying blackouts never before experienced in my drinking. Plopping in front of the TV and putting on a movie, I grabbed my jug of cheap vodka for company. When my mother stopped by my apartment and found me at ten in the morning babbling about how I might be schizophrenic when clearly I was just drunk, I knew I had reached my breaking point.These low cost RFID key tags could be RFID key tag products. The jig was up. 

I was two years into a three-year Master's program. I smattered together a livable income with two low-wage jobs, and had been laid off twice since moving out of my parent's house at 23. During the times spent with only half an income, I racked up enough credit card debt to make interest payments suck up any money I could have saved, creating a cycle of fruitless frustration. After the last layoff, I spent four months underemployed until I settled for a job as a barista at half the wage I had previously earned. A month after accepting the job, I remember putting out the papers the day the stock market crashed and the world fell apart. Prospects of better work seemed hopeless. As the recession wore on, it became evident that the career for which I had been killing myself would all but disappear in the next few years, and my hopes of finding a job in my field shrunk to nil. 

In the meantime, I started having a nightly drink to quell the anxiety. The nightly drink became two, then four. Once I started working the four AM shift at the coffee shop, my internal clock went haywire, my body no longer knowing an acceptable hour to start drinking. Why would it? I began my day at 3:30 a.m., rolled out of bed and powered through work on fumes and caffeine until 9:30. I would have a few hours off to nap or do homework until my next job started around one. Then, I would work some more until dashing off to my evening classes, getting home anywhere between 8 and 9 p.m., only to study or write papers until I fell asleep with books on my chest and my laptop on the floor by the bed. 

After several months, I started my drinking before work, simply to stop the shaking. I didn't recognize this as a symptom of withdrawal, slating me into the category of alcoholic, because I still functioned at a remarkably high level. I continued to get all A's and show up to work and school without exception. 

However, I was miserable beyond description. I didn't have insurance to go to the doctor or receive any psychiatric help, but I finally managed to scrape together enough for one doctor visit and a prescription for generic anti-depressants. Little did I know, this signified the beginning of the end. For those unfamiliar with anti-depressants, drinking alcohol while on them causes severe drug interaction. This did not stop me, and I soon discovered why the two don't mix. 

When my roommate told me she was moving out, I knew I had to find another, and fast. I couldn't swing the rent alone because the amount exceeded my entire paycheck. The days zoomed by,Memory card reader / writer products Assorted Colors No Color Choice, the new roommate never materialized, and I was frantic. Another drink would ease my anxiety, but then I would black out, calling people and not remembering or calling in sick to work. Within a few weeks, I called myself defeated, asking my parents if I could move back in with them. 

On that first morning of missing work, when someone saw me as the mess on the couch with my plastic gallon bottle of liquor, I couldn't hide my alcoholism anymore, even from the hardest person to convince: myself. Though I didn't understand what I needed to do next, I did know that I could not figure it out while keeping up the same mad pace. Quitting one of my jobs and taking a leave of absence from the other, I hoped that by eliminating some of the stress, I wouldn't need to drink as much. 

It was too late for that, though. I had become a full-blown alcoholic without realizing it. I didn't know how to quit. Not long after moving back home, I poisoned myself, desperate for a drink and half-crazy. 

After hospitalization and the darkest, loneliest night of my life, my parents asked me to leave. They told me I needed treatment, and that they would help me get it, but I couldn't stay with them. For the first time, I started to agree. Though the idea of dropping everything seemed insurmountable and irresponsible, I did it. I had to. I had nowhere to live, no way to support myself, and no way to stop drinking on my own. I quit my other job, took a sabbatical from school, and started the business of starting over. 

After a rocky beginning with nights spent crashing at friends and my boyfriend's house, I landed in a nine-month long inpatient program. I went from a 150 miles an hour to zero. I had nothing but time: time to reflect, time to heal, time to learn my limitations and time to understand that imperfection is not a character flaw. Honestly, rehab was the best thing that could have happened to me. It was where I learned to be human, where I learned just how toxically stressful my life had become. I could have a fulfilling life without alcohol, and rehab taught me how to recognize overload warning signs. 

When I exited the program three years ago, I eased back into life, trying to be kind to myself. Living off of other people's generosity until I could get full-time work was a blow to my pride, but I accepted it as graciously as I could until I found work. I went back to school and finished my final year and a thesis. I learned to put my health -- physical, mental and spiritual -- first. 

Today, I don't try to tackle superhuman feats of endurance. I make time for exercise, for downtime, for activities with friends and family. When I feel the stress creep back in, instead of reaching for something to numb me, I step back, remove an unnecessary obligation, and take time for what I need, whether that is journaling, painting, reading, jogging or even crying. It takes strength to release control and find another way to live, strength to let yourself be weak, be vulnerable,Introducing the latest in thermal rewritable card products technology, be helped. I learned the hard way that stress can destroy your life if you let it, but I also learned you can rebuild, and what I am building now is far more satisfying. 

Now, you may be wondering exactly why a black-and-green laptop made by a gaming company is being compared to a silver-and-black laptop made by a company that is specifically avoided by gaming enthusiasts. Once you get your hands on the new Blade though, it becomes instantly clear it looks like Razer made its own version of a MacBook Pro with Retina display. From the slim form-factor and curved edges, to the backlit chiclet keyboard and smooth touchpad, the Blade looks like the MacBook Pros Windows sibling that started listening to death metal and wearing black nail polish.

The Cards Shuffle YOU

Break out the gin, Athletics Nation. Oakland folded early in this game, showing little heart on the diamond as they allowed a strong St. Louis club to score runs in spades. Not a lot went right for the A's in today's 7-1 loss, and it felt like they were drawing dead by about the 6th inning.

The afternoon started out promising, as a full house packed the Coliseum for Coco Lean Bobbletorso Day. A pair of aces took the mound, with Jarrod Parker facing Adam Wainwright, and it looked like we would be treated to a classic pitcher's duel. Both starters were dealing through the first three innings.

Oakland's visions of victory were flushed down the toilet in the 4th inning, however, when Parker went down with a hamstring injury. With two outs, he threw a pitch to Allen Craig and crumpled straight to the IC card, clutching his right leg. He raised back up to his feet, but Oakland made the smart decision by calling Parker's bluff and going all-in with their bullpen for the rest of the game. That's just the luck of the draw, folks; better to be cautious in June than to gamble with Parker's long-term health.

Jesse Chavez entered the game hoping to provide a bridge from Parker to the set-up relievers, but he was unable to hold 'em. Chavez flopped today, and the pitcher's duel quickly turned into a river of runs for St. Louis. The Cardinals put a deuce on the board in the 5th thanks to some small-ball, and Oakland's long-man was sent to the showers after putting the first two batters on in the 6th. He was a bit wild overall, and he looked like a fish next to a St. Louis lineup full of sharks.

With Chavez unsuited to retire hitters today, Bob Melvin turned to clubhouse joker Jerry Blevins to mop things up. Unfortunately, Blevins pitched like he was blind, and Matt Holliday greeted him with an RBI single to center. On the very next pitch, rookie Matt Adams smoked a three-run jack to right which landed somewhere between Omaha and Texas. Adams made quite a splash today; he would later double down by adding a second homer in the 8th inning.

It was not a good bet that Oakland would fight their way back into this game, especially against a stud pitcher like Wainwright. They did manage to spoil the shutout in the 8th on back-to-back hits by Joshes Donaldson and Reddick, but they couldn't come up with anything to trump the Cardinals' starter. They also drew a pair of free passes late in the game, which is quite an accomplishment against the pitcher who has been the king of avoiding walks this year. In the end, though, they just couldn't see Wainwright's pitches well enough, and the chips didn't fall their way.

When your top starter leaves early with an injury in a game against a Cy Young frontrunner and the second-best team in baseball, you just have to accept that the deck was stacked against you today and that you can't win 'em all. Pour yourself some rummy, throw on your favorite Queen album to celebrate Pride weekend, and check back tomorrow for the rubber game. Six runs won it last night, and seven were enough today; let's hope that the A's can come up with a crazy eight tomorrow to clinch this series.

In the commonwealth, in order to get a license to fight, one needs a social security number. It’s a law that the Massachusetts State Athletic Commission was unaware of when the UFC first came to the state. It’s also a rule that none of America’s other 49 states share.

The problem with that regulation is that only American citizens are routinely issued social security numbers. For this show, nearly half of the fighters hail from foreign countries, including participants in the main event, Brazilian Mauricio “Shogun” Rua, and the co-main event, Alistair Overeem of the Netherlands.

Fighters, however, may apply for social security numbers if they have valid visas, and the UFC’s immigration department has been working overtime to make sure the fight card stands.

This isn’t the first time that White and the UFC had to jump through hoops to put on a show. When he took over the company in 2001, the UFC was not allowed on pay-per-view and was in danger of being banned by all 50 states. Today, New York is the only state that doesn’t sanction MMA events.

The Boston card is of particular importance to the UFC and its new broadcast partner, as it is to be the launching pad for Fox Sports 1 — the new Fox network aiming to rival ESPN.

Though the plans for Boston created some uncertain moments, White said the UFC won’t think twice about coming back to the city.

“No. We ended up getting everything straightened out. The fights will happen. The card will be great. It’s going to be good,” White said. “There’s always something. It literally never ends. There’s always something, something that pops up or whatever. We’re pretty used to dealing with this stuff.”

The third weekend in August will be a big one for the Hub, the UFC and Fox. On Friday, Aug. 16, the Patriots will play the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in a preseason game on Fox. The next afternoon, the Red Sox are scheduled to take on the New York Yankees on Fox while the UFC launches Fox Sports 1 later that night.



Read the full story at www.smartcardfactory.com!

Local volunteers gut a New Jersey

It had been one man's slice of heaven, just a few steps from the water. The beach house on the barrier island of Point Pleasant Beach, NJ, boasted a big deck overlooking the ocean, along with a pool and a hot tub. Then Sandy came to call. She wrecked the place like no high season renters ever could. Besides, this was a family's primary residence, not a rental.

Perhaps, Sandy thought the homeowner would be much happier with his hot tub in the middle of his swimming pool. And inside the house, mildew and mold had overstayed their vacations. Now, they crept over the floors and were creeping up the walls.

This is the way Lend A Hand volunteer Pat Derstler describes it. She and her co-workers representing the Camp Hill-based disaster recovery group had their work cut out.
A combination of elbow grease and liberal use of hammers and chisels removed the mold-encrusted walls. Then they pried up three soggy layers of floorboard, the heavy plywood and particle board now scattered on the lawn.

Bit by bit, the homeowner, who Derstler refers to only as Charlie, began to see his beach house coming back. Still, those first steps are always the hardest. They involve removing all that's ruined. And the homeowner can still remember how things were. Before the storm.

By the end of the day, the homeowner was referring to the Lend A Hand volunteers as Charlie's Angels, Derstler said. The long, hard and emotional day proved a good start toward getting back his slice heaven near the sand. But there's so much more to do.

Derstler said local laws will require Charlie to elevate his house on pillars. Then, its entire interior must be restored. It will be many months and many hours of labor before he and his wife can return here for fun in the sun. Some things will be restored. Others can't be.

"Their precious possessions, many of which can never be replaced, are gone forever," said Derstler of York. "All they have left is memories."

This story is the same for so many here. And no amount of media coverage can do justice to the scale of the disaster, Derstler insists.

"Unless you are here, you cannot imagine the devastation," she said. "We spend a week of our lives giving these people hope and encouragement, but their loss will remain in our hearts forever."

If you grew up in the ’90s, loving Wu-Tang or Cypress Hill or the Beatnuts or the Fugees, you probably had a “wait, what?” moment with Master P. I remember mine vividly: One night in 1997, at the summer camp where I was working, after all the kids had gone down to sleep for the night. One of my co-workers put a VHS of I’m ‘Bout It, the archetypal rapper-made home-movie that helped make P a star. I haven’t rewatched the movie since that night, but I remember being confused as hell that something this sloppy and bloody and plotless could exist. It didn’t seem anything like a real movie, but all the guys I watched it with spent the whole rest of the summer quoting it at every available opportunity.

A couple of months later, I had a second “wait, what” moment while flipping through The Source at a Hallmark newsstand near my house and seeing a big spread on P, showing off his mansion and luxury-car fleet and foyer with floor-tiles in the shape of a dollar sign. And it was like: This is the same guy? Who made that shitty movie? He’s a star somehow? P was still a regional sensation at the time — his solid-gold-bathroom MTV Cribs stage still to come — but during his meteoric rise over the next year, I never quite lost that sense of confusion. P struck me as someone who could barely rap, whose image was so new-money baroque that it looked like parody, whose signature catchphrase was actually more of a grunt. It took a while, but eventually I got sucked in. P’s flow was always rocky and garbled, but he built No Limit Records into a sort of comic-book universe of platinum-plated tanks and insane Pen & Pixel album covers and du-rags worn with spotless white suits.

The music from his Beats By The Pound production crew seemed dizzingly rudimentary at first, but it had its own logic and its own sort of hooks, and soon enough half the stuff on rap radio sounded something like it. P’s No Limit label gave a home to some excellent rappers (Mystikal, Mia X, Fiend, Young Bleed, eventually a very young Curren$y), and it eventually yielded one hell of a double-disc greatest hits album. And now that P has suddenly reemerged from years in the pop-cult wilderness, bringing a mixtape about a million times better than I could’ve expected, I’m realizing how badly I missed the big lug. It’s nice to have him back.

That type of rap — hard, unapologetic music about doing dirt — has largely fallen from grace; most rap up-and-comers are now post-Kanye/Drake emotive-fashion-plate types. Even Rick Ross, the last street-rap star left standing, has a silk-robed good-life persona leagues removed from the grimy gold-teeth swamp-kingpin intensity that P radiated even when he was at his pop peak. And it’s cool to see that he’s lined up just about every artist still making vital, remorseless, snarling street-rap at this late date. P is in the midst of relaunching No Limit, and rather than reuniting any of his old crews, he’s shown a shocking taste level in signing a couple of up-and-comers: D.C.’s Fat Trel and Atlanta’s Alley Boy. These guys were doing just fine on their own, but they sound better as foils to P; they could’ve been standout No Limit Soldiers 15 years ago. Trel is a beast of a rapper, East Coast enough that he pops his plosives with authority but Southern enough that he knows to let his voice sink deep into track. Alley Boy, meanwhile, is permanently hoarse and gnarled, croaking slick threats from the back of his throat.

The guests fit the same increasingly rarefied mold: The Game, Meek Mill, Chief Keef. Considering that Keef is only slightly more than a third P’s age, he sounds remarkably at-home next to the man on “It Don’t Make No Sense.” And Meek’s adrenaline-blasted opening verse on “Paper” has me wanting to turn into Oldboy and hammer-fight a hallway full of dudes. It’s like P looked over the current rap landscape, figured out exactly which lane needed filling, and assembled the cast of characters necessary to do it. “I ain’t fuckin’ J. Cole,” says P on “My Life,” and that might be the mission statement of this whole relaunch.

But the joys of Al Capone aren’t just curatorial; P ain’t fuckin’ A$AP Rocky either. For one thing, there’s his voice, which is just an excellent rap voice. It’s a wizened, guttural moan. P throws Southern-preacher emphases on the ends of his phrases, but he more or less whoops everything with absolute relish. That voice, the way he uses it, isn’t far removed from 2Pac or Scarface, two guys P used to call his contemporaries. And something else: You don’t go on to sell fifty bazillion records if you don’t know how to put a song together, and P knows how to put a song together. His choruses are usually just stray phrases repeated over and over, and they look dumb on paper: “Al Capone Al Capone! / They love Al Capone! / I don’t fuck with no haters, make them bad bitches moan!” But the way he delivers them, they hook their way into your brain and stay there all day.

Encouraging the sick to be keen observers

DOCTOR Catherine Crock knows better than most that hospitals can be dangerous places. The leading physician has seen her fair share of medical errors in a 31-year career, including some she has made and learnt from.

When Crock was admitted to hospital recently for a small procedure, she couldn't help focusing on routine safety measures such as staff washing their hands between patients, checking identification tags before taking blood, and keeping medical histories up to date so crucial changes are detected in a timely fashion.

''Some of these things weren't being done, and at one stage I even saw a mix-up with two patients' histories. I kept noticing things in the area I was sitting and I thought, 'Should I mention it to them or not?' It made me nervous about my safety,'' she said.

Crock was also worried about signs of tension between staff whizzing through their work to get to the next patient needing attention. Having worked in teams, she knew how crucial collaboration was for safe and efficient care, so even minor bickering among the staff bothered her.

''It's a bit like watching people [working] in a restaurant. If they're fighting, you start wondering if the coffee's going to be cold,'' she said. ''How can you trust them if their house is not in order?''

The coffee example may seem slight, but the restaurant analogy is appropriate, given the common fear that you will be punished for sending back an unsatisfactory order. Complaining about minor medical mistakes may seem similarly fraught, but the consequences of such disharmony in the health system can be dire. Every year, at least one in 10 Australian patients will experience an adverse event in hospital - unwanted and usually harmful incidents that must be acknowledged if staff are to prevent them from happening again.

Extreme incidents that have been widely reported include surgeons operating on the wrong body part, or a pregnant woman having disinfectant accidentally injected into her spine instead of an epidural. Hundreds of thousands of others receive no publicity, such as a prescription error that resulted in a child receiving chemotherapy eight months longer than they should have, or an elderly person who picked up a life-threatening infection from a bed sore that would never have happened with more thorough care.

The most common cause of these errors is a breakdown in communication between patients and staff, or among staff themselves during clinical handovers, of which there are millions every year during shift changes. According to the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Healthcare, about half of all medication errors occur during these transitions in care.

The possibilities are endless and often so subtle that they would be untraceable if someone tried to work out where things went wrong. A hurried conversation, for example, might make a patient skip over some crucial details when a doctor asks about their symptoms to make a diagnosis.

While hospitals are already using many proven methods such as checklists and peer reviews to prevent errors, there is a growing feeling in the health sector that patients can and should play more of a role in their care to prevent mishaps.

Crock, who has worked in adolescent health and haematology at the Royal Children's Hospital for many years and who also directs the Australian Institute for Patient and Family Centred Care, says an increasing number of hospitals around the world are preventing errors by empowering patients and their families to participate more. Some are inviting patients to check their medications, for example, or have their family members measure their temperature or how much water they are drinking to ensure it is being done. Others are telling patients to ask their carers if they have washed their hands before they touch them. There has also been a move to put patient representatives on hospital committees, including those that make decisions about health professional job applicants.

After all, Crock says, patients and their families are well placed to see things that work and don't work. While hospital staff are usually thinking about dozens of patients at the same time, as well as their colleagues and what is happening in their private life, patients and their families are sitting around for hours on end noticing look-alike medication bottles and inconsistent advice from different doctors. ''The patient and family are the constant across all changes of care and location within the system. Collectively, they are a significant resource of valuable information that the healthcare system needs to tap into,'' she says.

One hospital that has achieved results from mobilising patients is the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in the US. A few years back, staff decided to encourage patients to cross-check their care more often and speak up if they noticed anything wrong. A campaign was run with the slogan ''Check, Ask, Notify'' on posters to remind people to participate.

When staff surveyed more than 2000 patients about their experience, they found a strong link between active participation and fewer adverse events. The survey asked patients about their illness, how often they spoke with doctors and nurses about it, whether they had relatives or a friend to help them make decisions and express their wishes, and if they ever checked things such as the medication they were being given. When the researchers looked at their medical records, they found that patients who scored highly on these measures had half the rate of adverse events in hospital compared with others.

Victoria's Health Services Commissioner, Beth Wilson, has seen many cases where patients or their families may have been able to prevent problems in the health system. She often hears about incidents where people saw missed opportunities.

''I've heard people say, 'I knew my baby was sick, I just knew it' after something has gone horribly wrong … It's powerful stuff. In some cases they felt afraid to speak up or they did speak up and were ignored.''

Wilson says most people feel disempowered by a paternalistic culture in hospitals and clinics where doctors have always known best. There are visible hierarchies everywhere. Surgeons and senior medical specialists boss junior doctors around, who in turn tell nurses and administrative staff what to do.

Wilson says the culture not only makes people scared to speak up out of fear that they will offend or embarrass someone, but they also think they might be punished for it or get someone sacked.

''I frequently see people telling me about an incident but not wanting to make a complaint because they don't want to get people into trouble,'' she said. ''We need to change the culture, and culture is often created by the language that is used. I've noticed that some healthcare workers are now being told not to call patients names like 'sweetie,' 'dear' or 'mate'. I'm sympathetic to that because I don't want someone calling me 'sweetie' while they put a suppository in me. If you're calling someone 'sweetie' or 'dear', you're talking down to them. Health professionals need to think carefully about the way they communicate with people. It needs to be respectful.''

Wilson says the paternalistic culture is also undermining the law of informed consent, which says people should be told as much as is necessary for them to be able to make an informed choice about their care.

''It does not happen anywhere near enough. A lot of hospitals seem to think that a signature on a form is informed consent. I've noticed in hospitals that where consent used to be a noun, it is now a verb, so people will say, 'Has she been consented yet?' Consent was something you used to give, but now it's something that is done for you. That practice is quite different to what the law says.''

Salvation Army benefits Knoxville

In response to the story titled "Possible homeless shelter concerns arise," I was shocked to read that Joyce Shoudy, director of Family Promise, would say, "We are not those people on Broadway," and "We are a benefit to the community."

"Those people" are precious children of God. They may be down, but they are not out. To infer that the Salvation Army is not a benefit to the community is fallacious.

The Salvation Army is an evangelical part of the universal Christian church. Its message is based on the Bible. Its ministry is motivated by the love of God. Its mission is to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ and to meet human needs in his name without discrimination. We have served suffering humanity in Knoxville since 1899 and touch approximately 30,000 souls in a given year through various emergency social services, feeding and homeless transitional housing programs.

The Salvation Army operates four residential programs at its North Broadway campus that equip, empower and educate clients. The Joy Baker Center is our domestic violence shelter. It provides a safe haven for battered women with children and provides counseling, a school liaison, court advocacy, referrals, meals, clothing, job placement, linens and laundry facilities.

The Bootstrap program is offered to homeless men and women who want to better themselves. Transitional Housing Program residents must commit to six months but can stay up to two years. In each of our programs, clients must maintain full-time employment and save money for permanent housing. The program includes meals, housing, counseling, life-skills classes and Bible studies. Intensive case management molds residents into motivated, self-sufficient, contributing members of our community.

"It's really going to grow their business. At a time when a lot companies are really scared, it's neat to see one of our local companies willing to take the risk and reinvest in their business," said incoming Orion Township Supervisor Chris Barnett.

Lake Orion resident and MPD employee Joel Hadden was proud to have the Governor visit his shop, and is also optimistic about the direction MPD is headed.

Hadden sees MPD's fortune as a forecast for national pocketbooks. "I feel like the economy is definitely boosting back, and I feel that companies like MPD are a big part of it," Hadden said.

MPD management has treated him "like family," and he loves coming to work, Hadden said. With an expansion and new hiring planned for the near future, Hadden has good reason to be optimistic.

Barnett thanked the Governor for visiting Orion Township.

"I think it's incredible that he took some time out of his schedule to come here to one of our awesome local manufacturing companies," Barnett said. "Anytime we can get our little community some attention and one of our great businesses here some attention—that's a good thing."

Bondar's conversations with the visiting chief executive were also positive. "Reading about him is one thing, but meeting him face-to-face and talking to him, I'm really impressed with him," Bondar said.

Combo inoculants hold promise for best of both worlds

How can a homofermentative inoculant improve milk production by 2 to 3 pounds per cow per day? Can farmers expect that from all homofermentative inoculants? And what are expectations for L. buchneri and the combo inoculants? Those are some of the questions addressed by U.S. Dairy Forage Research Center research engineer Richard Muck during World Dairy Expo in Madison earlier this month.

Muck admits he thought inoculants were improving dry matter digestibility, but two trials with alfalfa silage – and homofermentative inoculants as well as the heterofermenter, L. buchneri – didn’t show that. Muck admits that was “disappointing to us.” However, gas production was lower with some inoculants than predicted.

Muck points out that the main products of rumen fermentation are: Rumen microbes, volatile fatty acids and gases. With inoculants they’ve measured more rumen microbes and less of the gases. Rumen microbes are one of the main sources of protein for the cow. It appears what may be causing the difference in animal performance with inoculated silage is that cow is getting more protein, which supports more milk production. He reports that “inoculated silages from 3 of the 4 inoculants (researched in the lab) produced 8 percent more rumen microbes than untreated silage. That could support up to four pounds more milk per cow per day, he adds.

Muck went on to share results of a lactating cow trial with alfalfa silage (treated with L. plantarum). There was a “nice response” in pH, he mentions of 4.93 untreated silage and 4.56 inoculant-treated. The alfalfa silage was fed at 50 percent of the ration, along with corn silage, high moisture corn and soy hulls. The additional two pounds more milk with the inoculant wasn’t statistically significant. The MUN (milk urea nitrogen) level is noteworthy. Muck says the 10 percent reduction in milk urea N indicates better N utilization by the cows on the inoculated silage, suggesting more rumen microbe production. (That’s also a potentially positive environmental impact with less ammonia loss.)

What more does Muck need to know? He says they have to confirm that more rumen microbes were actually produced in the trial, but he’s fairly confident that’ll show up. He also needs to figure out “why” certain inoculants are causing silages to produce more rumen microbes, and confirm that the in vitro test really does screen for inoculants that can produce a significant animal response.

The bottom line? Muck says there’s “sound evidence that some inoculants can increase rumen microbe production in vitro,” and that “these increases can explain the milk production increases observed with some inoculants.” He adds that the inoculant they tested in their production trial increased milk and reduced MUN like they’d expected. MUN is a good indicator of better nitrogen utilization by the cow.

There’s “good strong evidence” that makes these products look even more attractive now, notes Muck.

“We now have increased confidence that some inoculants can truly increase milk production 2 to 4 pounds per cow per day,” he states, admitting more research is needed to understand why this is happening. He says they also may have a “tool for looking for better inoculants in the future.”

Muck characterizes the homofermenters as the best choice to improve DM recovery and animal performance. They’re a good fit for hay-crop silage, but less likely to be successful on corn silage. However, in vitro tests with corn silage (BMR and regular) indicate production of more rumen microbes (i.e. an effect on the cow). He admits he’s starting to change his tune a tad.

Aside from their preferred use on alfalfa silage, positive outcomes with homofermenters are more likely to occur with corn silage when it’s harvested on the dry side or immediately after a killing frost.

The heterofermentative inoculants like L. buchneri, he says, consistently increase bunk life/aerobic stability (an issue in warm weather with corn and small grain silages). Studies show L. buchneri raises acetic acid and results in higher-pH silage. Because acetic acid inhibits yeasts and molds, L. buchneri-treated silage is more aerobically stable. Heterofermentative inoculants work more consistently across a wide range of conditions, while success with homofermenters are best in hay crop silage with a wilt time of a day.

In terms of DM loss, L. buchneri is intermediate between untreated silage and homofermentative inoculants. That’s not surprising because carbon dioxide gas is made and lost while producing acetic acid. Typically there’s a 1 to 2 percent improvement in DM recovery over untreated silage. In lactation trials with L. buchneri, acetic acid also increased. However, there’s been no effect on DM intake by cows and generally little or no effect on milk production (except in keeping silage cool).

But when combining the two types of inoculants – homofermenters and L. buchneri – it seems there is indeed potential to “get the best of both worlds,” notes Muck of the DM recovery and animal performance of a standard inoculant and the bunk life/aerobic stability of L. buchneri. The potential for more milk appears to be happening on more than one crop, he notes, admitting that more animal trials are needed though.

This ag engineer reminds producers that the bacteria in the inoculant has to be alive when it goes on the crop to work. Keep the inoculant tank cool the best you can in the heat of summer. He also prefers to add the inoculant on the forage harvester as there are multiple opportunities for the inoculant to be mixed with the crop; good distribution is important.

She loves her Mini

Long ago, my Uncle Cary bought this new and totally cool ’67 Thunderbird. He was cool himself. The car was silver with a black top, and in the back it had the so-called suicide doors hinged on the rear.

It obviously was a Batmobile, so we used it to play Batman whenever he — my uncle, not Batman — drove it to my grandmother’s house. We’d run around sing-screaming the television show’s signature anthem: Dadadadadadadada — Batman!

I saw an identical T-Bird the other day, during something Mississippi Gulf Coast promoters call Cruisin’ the Coast. They bill it as America’s Largest Block Party — and longest, I might add. The extravaganza lasts an entire week. And that week adds about $20 million to the local economy, drawing old-car enthusiasts from 40 states and Canada.

My uncle’s T-Bird didn’t go through Hurricane Katrina in 2005, but the one I saw at Cruisin’ did. Its new owner bought it with that grim knowledge, fixed it up and now drives it every day. It’s not so much a show car as a showy car that he uses.

I saw only one of the official Cruisin’ events, but you can’t miss the old cars parading up and down, up and down, old U.S. Highway 90 by the ocean. It was like visiting Cuba, or what I imagine it would be like if our politicians would let so-called free citizens visit there, where frugal citizens keep old American cars running with spit and spare parts.

The Mississippi Sound was gleaming like a ditch full of diamonds on one side; the eager businesses on the other were enticing Cruisers with free gifts, food and libations. So royal and retro was the welcome, I wondered if the car owners felt like Fonzie and Pinky Tuscadero. One local bank had old 45-rpm records swinging from pink and black ribbons in its trees. Festive, truly.

I kept expecting to hear an “American Graffiti” soundtrack, or see Richard Dreyfus’ elusive dream girl in her ’55 Thunderbird. Every third car or so on 90 was an antique, which doesn’t exclude lots of Camaros, Corvettes and Mustangs. There was a parking lot full of those. Around 6,000 restored cars in all, the registrars reported, from Model T’s to Studebakers.

Men and women stood around comparing notes on gleaming automotive specimens. Now, I don’t know an alternator from an astronaut, but I do know the feel of driving certain cars. I can outline my life by my car choices.

My first was a VW bug; it cost about what you now pay for a pair of good shoes. The Pinto years were lean, indeed, though I always thought that car got a bad rap so far as dependability goes.

My MG-B convertible made me feel like a goddess if only it had stayed out of the shop for two weeks running. The used Alpha Romeo sedan that replaced it wasn’t much better.

Those frivolous forays into foreign resulted in two decades of Fords — Mustangs, Explorers, a van and a couple of pickups. Fords made me feel sensible and got me where I was going.

I’ll have to admit, though, my all-time favorite car is the one I’m driving now. Perhaps it signals a second childhood.

My Mini-Cooper lets me pretend I’m in Paris, even when I’m tooling the streets of Iuka, Miss. I wouldn’t have traded my Mini for any duded-up car on the coast, except maybe that silver and black T-Bird worthy of Batman.

Italian Pinocchio pleases

Call me film/culturally inept, but 30 minutes is the most I’ve lasted in front of a foreign language movie with English subtitles. What can I say? I like words. In a language I can follow.

So imagine my English-speaking jaw hitting the floor as I was put to shame by more than 200 children who didn’t just watch Enzo d’Alo’s Italian version of Pinocchio but were captivated by every rolling Italian ‘r’ that came their way.

The main showcase on Family Day at the Abu Dhabi Film Festival on Saturday, this latest interpretation of Carlo Collodi’s famous book is said to be as faithful to the original text as possible.

Italy’s most famous fictional character, the story of the wooden puppet is known the world over and is the European country’s most translated book.

The Naples-born director is confident and inspiring and was not surprised by the rapturous applause he received after a screening at Abu Dhabi’s Marina Mall.

“This film has been more than 10 years in the making,” said the bubbly Italian. “I started back in 2000 and then took a break. I would lose direction a little.”

Picking up again after the death of his father, D’Alo was inspired in a new way by what he says was a previously unexplored relationship between Pinocchio and his own father, Geppetto the carpenter.

“While Geppetto carves Pinocchio, he sees himself in his face. He imagines what Pinocchio sees when he looks at him and he realises he’s becoming a father too. I wanted to focus on this relationship as more of a metaphor than has ever been illustrated before. He makes a wooden boy but it’s just as important when he’s wooden as when he’s alive. He moulds him, just as every father tries to do for his living son. In the child-puppet he sees his past and his lost expectations, as well. He becomes emotional and nostalgic for the choices he never made.”

The movie has a distinctly Italian feel with music composed by popular singer-songwriter Lucio Dalla, who died in March. Dalla’s last compositions were for the production and he also did the voiceover for Il Pescatore Verde (The Green Fisherman) who attempts to eat Pinocchio.

“The Green Fisherman is a character which many movies, including the Disney version, leave out,” he said. “But I wanted to stay true to the book and he’s there so why wouldn’t we use him? I believe children are not as frightened as we think. They cope with things they see.”

One of the viewers was Aadita Gupta, 8, who was shocked she didn’t finish her popcorn. “The film was very funny and a bit scary so I put it down and I didn’t even finish it. Maybe I can take it home now,” she wondered. “I feel lucky to see this film and I like the bit when Pinocchio is eaten up,” she laughed.

D’Alo rewrote and worked the script more than 15 times before a final version was eventually decided.

Scripted by Umberto Marino, it features illustrations by Lorenzo Mattotti and music by Lucio Dalla. The voice cast Gabriele Caprio, Rocco Papaleo, Paolo Ruffini, Micheli Maurizio and Pino Quartullo all do a fantastic job at adding the layers which keep the youngsters gripped.

While some critics believe the music is too overpowering, D’Alo disagrees – as do the children.

“The film has a pace of running. It’s about Pinocchio’s journey and it increases with speed throughout the entire film. I wanted music to represent this. I believe music is the one thing in this film which is totally universal. It doesn’t matter what language you speak, everyone can interpret music the way they want. It has to work for everyone, to keep them inspired.”

Pinocchio, produced by Cometafilm, Iris Productions, Walking the Dog and 2D-3D Animation, was worked on between Italy, France, Belgium and Luxemburg, and has a very Italian feel.

Maricla Affatato, producer and the voice of the fox, said it would not have been possible without D’Alo.

“The biggest challenge when making a film in Italy is funding,” she said frankly. “Luckily we had a director who was so stubborn it was never going anywhere else. This makes it even more emotional for me. It’s a labour of love which is being loved by children everywhere.”

Alicia Manning, 11, from the UK has lived in Abu Dhabi for four years and watched the film with her cousin, William Trappnell, 12, visiting from England. “I think it was very good,” said Manning, who also wants to be a filmmaker. “I love the colours and the story. At first I thought it would be very hard to watch a film in Italian but it wasn’t. I wish I could speak Italian.”

Trappnell said his favourite bit was when Pinocchio’s nose grows. “I know it’s the bit everyone will say but I think it’s what you wait for. It’s what we know from the other films and it’s funny.”

Donald, 43, and Eliza Turner, 40, from Canada, brought their three children, Betty-May, 6, and twin boys Jonathon and Tristan, 12.

“It was a very interesting movie,” said the father-of-three as the children posed with director Enzo D’Alo. “It’s always interesting to see something with a little more substance than what Hollywood tends to throw out. I think it’s important for the children to know more of the history of these great stories rather than what an American studio wants them to buy into.”

Homes With Fake Brick

Seeing is not always believing when it comes to today’s home construction. That’s because choices abound for homeowners who want the look of natural materials but not the huge costs and maintenance involved. Like the look of logs, stone or brick? There are faux stand-ins for each one. But fear not. Unlike the cringe-worthy products of yesterday, today’s fakes are truly easy on the eye.

“Once you get past the fact that something, such as stone, is artificial, you can really see its design potential,” says Shane Starkweather of Boulder Creek Stone Products. “A cinderblock wall covered in faux stone can look as if it was built by a skilled mason or craftsman. And because the stone is lightweight, a couple of do-it-yourselfers can often do the work on their own.”

As is the case with many of today’s faux products, manufactured stone owes a lot to advances in technology. Huge molds can turn out replicas of stone that are so realistic, you’d swear they were cut from a quarry, gathered at a riverbank, or pulled from a farmer’s field. Many of these products will last for decades, and not fade. “A lot of people have a knee-jerk reaction to anything that’s fake,” says Starkweather. “But just because something isn’t real doesn’t mean it isn’t quality.”

For those interested in a coastal, New-England aesthetic, shingled exteriors provide almost-instant curb appeal. With their irregular edges, overlapping shadows, and hand-crafted finish, shingles offer texture, charm, and a sense of history. But caring for them can be a serious commitment. That’s why faux shingles, often made of cement or cement composite, can be an effective alternative. They go up in exactly the color you want. And they stay that color for years. In addition, they keep your home warmer and cooler as the season’s temperature’s change.

Another intriguing design option for homeowners–or those in the throes of building–is faux wrought iron. Made of a composite material, it weighs about one-tenth of the back-breaking material that inspires it. As a result, hoisting a decorative wrought iron window filligree onto, say, a circular third-floor window can be done with almost no effort. Plus, faux wrought iron isn’t wobbly like plastic, and it’s strong and substantial to the touch. Metal-like details can be added to exteriors to make it look more historic or authentic without hiring a specialty crew. And this means that basic Mediterranean-style home can be enhanced with faux iron gates or wall trellises at relatively low expense. But the most compelling feature of all? It won’t rust.

Belly casting can also be done at home. There are belly casting kits commercially available among online sellers priced from P800 to P1,800. This not only broadens the reach of the process but also makes it more convenient as expectant moms can do it in the comfort of their homes. Doing the belly cast in a studio with an artist is a bit pricier as the artist will charge for her services along with other fees.

Each of the six casts arrayed at the event last Saturday stood out. There was one painted with loud, vibrant colors in tribal pattern, another one had graffiti, while one came in pink adorned with ribbon, lace and gems.

Onlookers had different reactions to the exhibit. Jose Nucup, a father of three, seemed amused looking at the molds. “I just don’t know where to put my wife’s belly in the house if ever she did one,” he told GMA News Online.

Another guest, Mary An Gonzales, also a mom herself, shared it was “very interesting. If I knew about this, I would have tried it during my pregnancy.”

Back-to-basics trend boosts cut-price brands

Renault's boxy Logan sedan had rear-view mirrors as an option - or so the joke went after its 2005 launch under the low-cost Dacia brand.

Its similarly cheap replacement, unveiled at the Paris auto show, has a chrome dashboard finish and other stylistic flourishes worthy of a mid-market rival. Touch-screen GPS and parking radar feature in all but the simplest versions.

In a brutal auto sales slump, "crisis cars" are coming of age in Europe, narrowing the gap with mainstream brands in everything from esthetics to fuel economy.

"The differences are becoming more subtle," said Renault saleswoman Chloe Gomez as she showed off Dacia's Lodgy minivan.

"We're getting customers who have plenty of money," she said. "They might have owned a (Renault) Scenic, but now they're looking for simplicity, and to save some cash for other things."

Dacia's success echoes a recent survey by Britain's AA motoring association, which found that a sizable majority of drivers would prefer to do without such extras as heated seats, electric parking brakes and rainsensing wipers.

The back-to-basics trend has lifted other cut-price brands, including Volkswagen's Skoda, General Motors' Chevrolet, Hyundai and affiliate Kia. It has also put the squeeze on Fiat, Ford, PSA Peugeot Citroen and GM's Opel at a time when their compact cars are being challenged by a wave of new rivals from luxury makers.

Renault's so-called Entry models were an initial flop in target markets such as India and an accidental hit back home. They have since become the French automaker's biggest earner, with profit margins above six per cent and heading for nine per cent soon, some analysts say.

Wage costs at their assembly plants are 5 euros an hour in Romania and 3 euros in Morocco compared with 30 in France. The factories also use hand-me-down tooling from other Renault plants to save on investment.

"There may have been an element of luck in the success of the Entry strategy," Barclays analyst Kristina Church wrote in a recent note. "But management certainly hasn't been slow to capitalize on it."

Badged as Dacia in Europe and Renault elsewhere, the Logan family has spawned variants including the Lodgy and bestselling Duster 4x4, drawing ripostes from GM, Peugeot and Volkswagen.

Among budget-conscious cars on show in Paris are Chevrolet's Trax compact SUV and refreshed Spark mini, alongside a Peugeot 301 and Citroen C-Elysee - new spartan models from France's larger mass automaker.

Pending a promised lowcost range from VW, the Skoda division is wheeling out its own answer to the Logan: the Rapid sedan, aimed squarely at demand for functional four-doors in Central and Eastern Europe and around the Mediterranean.

In France, where Renault employs about 50,000 workers, the core brand's car sales fell 21 per cent in January-August, cutting market share by 1.8 points to 18.4 per cent. Imported Dacias claimed 4.4 per cent of the market, up half a point.

Global entry range deliveries are set to rise almost a quarter this year to top 1 million vehicles, or 37 per cent of the group total, compared with 15 per cent five years ago.

By 2014, French-built models will dwindle to 20 per cent with Renault's "silent metamorphosis into a low-cost automaker", Morgan Stanley analyst Stuart Pearson predicts.

The original Logan did, in fact, include mirrors - but no power steering or electric windows.

Its engines and fuel economy were a generation behind, and the Soviet-hangover styling imposed a hard, drab interior and black plastic bumpers of the kind last seen more than a decade earlier on mainstream models.

A rare day with the Nats

First of all,Washington’s baseball team isn’t known for excellence. Fact is, it had won nary a playoff or World Series game in all my aging lifetime of 79 years — until last week.

Thus, the day after that happened, I loaded us Blankenship boys into the minivan and celebrated by tooling down the Interstate to the Nationals’ fine new stadium in D.C. Rounding them up was easy. All five of us — myself plus sons Bud and Bob plus grandsons Jamie and Jason — now dwell happily ratcheer in Aquia Harbour.

Our tickets weren’t classy or too costly, at $24 per. They entitled us to seats about three rows back from the fence and a bit to the right of center field. From there I could easily see my favorite, 19-year-old rookie Bryce Harper, as center fielder throw out a runner trying to score from third base at home plate. He’s getting really good at that. Alas, the night we were there against Milwaukee, he went none for four at bat.

I could see little else, including most of the balls hit in the air by either team. You see — but I didn’t because I left my distance glasses in the car — we were seated also right in the glare of a huge bank of stadium lights atop the stadium on the opposite side. Downer.

I tried pulling down the bill of my Nationals cap to where it shielded me from the glare. But that didn’t do much good. So we then decided to sit in some unoccupied seats several rows higher in the stands. That helped, but not much for fly balls.

Also of no help was the giant TV screen that showed all the batters and replays of exciting things for fans on the opposite side of the ball park. I guess that didn’t handicap us too much since there was little or no excitement in the game anyhow.

It was nice to see my other favorite Nats player, Tyler Clippard, get into the game in the ninth inning to protect the home team’s 2-1 lead. His pitching record as an excellent stopper suffered that night as he blew the lead and let Milwaukee win the game.

Even so, and even though I could see very little of the plays and would have enjoyed the TV version much better, it was a lovely night, that first day of fall. I trust the Nats will now do better without me or all my Blankenship boys in person.

The crowd was friendly, not a bit rowdy, and it featured lots of families and couples. There was a big crowd, but not where we sat. Our food and drink choices were tasty, but pricey. A beer cost $8 and a hot dog $4 or thereabouts.

Regardless, it will be a while before I return to D.C. to watch baseball. After all, the last time, as I recall, the replacement Senators were on the verge of departing to Texas and were playing in RFK, where everyone was much closer to the field, by the way. I do remember that game. It was against the White Sox, and also dull. The Senators finally won that “night” game, 6-5 in 23 innings.

You read that right. My buddy and I didn’t get back home to Falls Church until nearly 3 a.m. and our wives wouldn’t believe we had only been at the game. We did get more of our moneys’ worth then than this time.

Lady Gaga – review

During a attenuate quiet moment in Lady Gaga's idea-splurging, two-hour show, the accompanist sits at a keyboard army on a motorcycle and talks about a almanac controlling who appropriate that her Born This Way anthology catered too anxiously to her fanbase's "weirdos and freaks". "They alleged it a niche," she says, triumphantly analysis the 55,000-strong crowd. "This is a big fucking niche."

It's acute to Gaga's self-image, this abstraction that she can be both fantastically acknowledged and an affected destructive accouterment to a association of outcasts. Whether or not you accept that, she absolutely does. The botheration is squaring this address with the businesslike demands of amphitheater pop. Just as her annal carve to reliable templates – Madonna, Bruce Springsteen, European trance-pop – her actualization ticks some accustomed boxes.

So there's an big-ticket set complete like a castle, enabling her to accomplish from assorted turrets as if she were Evita on the balcony. There's a band of formidably addict dancers with whom she can coquette and grind. There are apparel changes ad infinitum. And, inevitably, there is a backward abstraction that seems to absorb the actualization demography abode in a Government Owned Alien Territory (dancers beachcomber atramentous flags account GOAT) above-mentioned to Gaga advancing Earth and inventing a new, abstract chase – although it's harder to say for sure, or absolutely care.

Still, there are common moments of airs and high-wire ingenuity. For Heavy Metal Lover she moulds herself into a cyborg motorbike and invites one of her dancers to ride her. Before Born This Way's stampeding appellation track, she emerges from amid the legs of an inflatable abundant adaptation of herself, as if to say: bout that, Madonna.

At times, assuming in a face-obscuring insectoid helmet or banging on about GOAT, Gaga risks accepting absent central the spectacle, so the weakest allotment of the actualization is aswell the a lot of revealing. Donning a fan-made T-shirt, she plays a appropriate new song about Princess Diana and Amy Winehouse alleged – brace yourself – Princess Die, followed by John Lennon's Imagine. It's both angrily awkward and endearingly sincere: a absolute abandonment from the amphitheater Software that proves the awkward alien band is added than just shtick. Likewise her accommodation to absorb the hair-metal acclamation dancing with the affectionate of camp hardcore admirers that aegis guards are usually paid acceptable money to accumulate at a safe distance. The deeply choreographed hits complete terrific, but it's if this analytical brilliant sabotages the actualization that she seems a lot of herself.

Morgan apparent his additional Premiership actualization with his beginning try for Gloucester, a superb alone accomplishment in which he approved clip and backbone to breach four tackles afterwards he bankrupt from the abject of a ruck.

“The gap just opened up,” Morgan said about a try that approved the action that admiring England arch drillmaster Stuart Lancaster endure season.

Morgan’s try backward in the aboriginal bisected aerial the annoy for Gloucester but they bare 25 points, including seven penalties, from Freddie Burns to break in the bold until backward tries from James Simpson-Daniel and Akapusi Qera clinched their aboriginal win at the Madejski Amphitheater in about six years.

The Exiles conceded 40 credibility for the additional after anniversary but it was an advance on the mauling by Saracens at Twickenham and in addition Marland Yarde, accept they accept an all-embracing of the abreast future.

“I apperceive anybody was talking about Chris Ashton’s tries endure anniversary but Marland Yarde has produced two outstanding performances and he is traveling to could cause the England selectors a lot of problems if he keeps assuming the way he is,” Brian Smith, the Exiles’ administrator of rugby and a above England advance coach, said.

The versatility of corn

For the accomplished few weeks, we accept been seeing abhorrent pictures of the aftereffect of the aridity on the blah crop in the Midwest. Acreage aloft acreage of blah appearance anhydrous blah stalks with no arresting signs of the beefy aerial of America’s a lot of important vegetable.

Corn is no best just a vegetable; it is allotment of the alive activity caster of American industry. Therefore, the accessible assured curtailment of blah will be causing us to pay added for a abundant array of articles application corn, not alone as food.

One cannot buy abounding items in a bazaar that accept not in some way been affected by corn. Meat is abundantly corn. So is milk. American livestock and banty are fed and fattened on blah and cornstalks. Frozen meat and angle accept a ablaze cornstarch blanket to anticipate boundless drying. Even beginning angle is delivered to the bazaar in cartons or wrappings that are partially created out of corn.

The amber and aureate appearance that makes bendable drinks and puddings ambrosial comes from corn. All canned foods are bathed in a aqueous absolute corn. Every carton, every wrapping, every artificial alembic depends on blah products. Much of avant-garde agenda and cardboard, with the barring of newspapers and tissue, is coated with a blah product.

One primary artefact of the blah bulb is blah oil. It is not alone a affable oil, but aswell an important additive in margarine. And remember, adulate — fabricated from milk — is aswell a artefact of corn. Blah oil is an capital additive in soap, in insecticides that accept advised fruits and vegetables, and in mayonnaise and bloom dressings.

Corn syrup, which is adequately bargain and not badly sweet, is the base of candy, ketchup and bartering ice cream. It is acclimated in bonbon meats, abridged milk, bendable drinks, beer and even gin and vodka. It is even acclimated to accomplish the amethyst marks formed on meats and added foods.

Corn abstract provides physique in foods area physique is defective — in sauces and soups. Some say it gives a affable “mouth feel” to these items. Blah abstract prevents condensate and discoloring. It makes foods authority their shape, prevents capacity from amid and stabilizes damp content. It is actual advantageous if continued shelf activity of a artefact is required.

Cornstarch is acclimated in babyish foods, jams, pickles, alkali and yeast. It serves as a carrier for the bubbles agents in baking powder. It is generally alloyed with amoroso in authoritative icings. Abounding burning coffees accommodate some cornstarch to facilitate simple pouring. It is capital in annihilation dehydrated, such as milk or burning potato flakes.

Cornstarch is white, odorless, tasteless and calmly molded. It is the airy blanket and the accepted aloof carrier for the alive capacity in bags of products, from cephalalgia pills, toothpastes and cosmetics to detergents, dog food, bout active and charcoal briquettes.

Corn is acclimated if authoritative things stick, such as adhesives, and aswell if items should not stick, such as candy, which is dusted with cornstarch. All kinds of metal and artificial molds use blah products.

Although we eat alone about one-tenth of the blah this country produces, we absorb about three pounds per day in the anatomy of milk, poultry, cheese, meat, adulate and the blow of the articles accompanying to corn. Clearly, aliment and accompanying articles by no agency represent even a lot of of the uses of blah in our culture.

Modern blah assembly grew with the automated and abstruse revolutions. Avant-garde scientists angry to the a lot of accessible articles and raw abstracts to aftermath the articles acclimated today. Articles from antibiotics to abysmal conduct oil wells to bowl spark-plug insulators to embalming fluids cover some aspect of corn.

As we go to ample up our cars with gasoline, abounding of us apprehension the little assurance on the gas pump, which says this artefact contains 10 percent booze —made from corn, of course. Now with the curtailment of corn, we absolutely will see the amount of gas go up.

Today, the capital varieties of blah are popcorn, candied corn, cavity corn, flint blah and abrade corn. Airheaded and flint blah accept actual harder hulls. At one time popcorn’s admirable billow and butterfly shapes were abundantly admired by the Indians, who acclimated them for necklaces.

Flint corn, abnormally Close Flint, bedeviled the apple markets until the 1920s. It is able and aggressive to close insects. The Indians admired it best, and it is still actual accepted in Africa.

Flour blah is rarely developed alfresco South and Central America. There, it is awful admired for the affluence with which it may be arena by hand, application a abundant stone.

The a lot of accepted blah all over the apple is cavity corn. It is called afterwards the cavity in the top bend of every kernel. This cavity is formed by the abbreviating of the bendable starch in the kernel.

Syrian opposition leader calls for no-fly zone

The head of Syria's main opposition group in exile called Sunday for international powers to impose a no-fly zone in border areas to protect civilians who are coming under increasingly intense attacks by regime warplanes and helicopters.

The president of the Syrian National Council, Abdelbaset Sieda, told The Associated Press that such a move by the international community would show President Bashar Assad's regime that his opponents around the world are serious.

The Syrian opposition has been calling for a no-fly zone over Syria for months. But Sieda renewed the plea a day after U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Washington and Turkey were discussing a range of steps including a no-fly zone over some parts of Syria as the regime increasingly uses its air force to attack rebels.

"There must be special protection," Sieda said by telephone. "The numbers of martyrs are increasing and destruction too. If the country keeps going this way, then we are heading to a catastrophe."

Asked who will impose the no-fly zone, Sieda said: "We leave it to the international community."

Russia and China have vetoed attempts to pass tough U.N. Security Council resolutions aimed at Assad's regime. Last week, the U.N. and Arab League envoy to Syria, Kofi Annan, announced his resignation, following a frustrating six-month effort that failed to achieve even a temporary cease-fire.

Sieda said the no-fly zone should be along borders with Jordan and Turkey, adding that the opposition had called for such a move during last month's Friends of Syria meeting in Paris attended by world powers.

"Now that Syria's air force is taking part in bombing cities and towns, there must be protection for the Syrian people. There must be a no-fly zone so that there will be safe havens to refugees," he said.

Syria's civil war has spread to almost every province in the country and the death toll has increased over the past weeks. Activists say more than 20,000 people have been killed since the revolt against Assad's authoritarian rule began in March 2011.

Activists reported more clashes Sunday in some Damascus suburbs, the battleground city of Aleppo in the north, central Homs province, and the restive southern town of Daraa. The U.K.-based activist group Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said it had no immediate reports of casualties.

The deaths of two Syrian journalists on Saturday were reported on Sunday.

State-run news agency SANA said one of its reporters, Ali Abbas, was killed at his residence in Damascus. The report blamed an "armed terrorist group" _ the regime's catch-all term for its opponents _ but gave no further details.

Pan-Arab satellite news channel Al-Arabiya television said that Bara'a Yusuf al-Bushi, a Syrian national and army defector who worked with the station and several other international news organizations, was killed in a bomb attack while covering a story in al-Tal, a suburb in northern Damascus.

Journalists have suffered a number of casualties in the uprising, and in recent months there have been several attacks on pro-regime media.

The Observatory said that government forces were able to retake the northern town of Ariha, in the restive Idlib province, that had been under rebels control for months. The group said troops backed by tanks entered the town late Saturday and quoted witnesses as saying that many people were detained and some were the victims of "summary executions."

Also Sunday, SANA said troops killed Wael Mohammed al-Majdalawi who is a leader of the Sunni group al-Nusra Front, that claimed responsibility for deadly attacks over the past months including last week's killing of a prominent Syrian television broadcaster, who had been reported missing since July 19.

In a video released Sunday, Capt. Abdul-Nasser Shumeir, who commands the rebel "Baraa Brigades" said government troops launched two attacks in an attempt to free 48 Iranians they have been holding for 10 days. He said Assad's regime is responsible for the safety of the Iranians adding that any negotiations for their release should come after government forces lift the siege imposed on rebel-held areas.

He also called on the Iranian people to pressure their government to stop its support to Assad's regime. Rebels claimed the men are military personnel, including some members of Iran's powerful Revolutionary Guard, who were on a "reconnaissance mission" to help Assad's crackdown. Iran, however, says the group was pilgrims visiting a Shiite shrine in Damascus.

Syrian state news agency SANA also reported that security forces ambushed an armed group in Aleppo and killed and wounded some of them. It said that al-Safira residents in Aleppo prevented gunmen riding in five cars mounted with machine guns from entering their area.

The Observatory said three children, whose ages were between six and 11, were killed Sunday when a bus they were fleeing in with their parents from the Shammas neighborhood of the central city of Homs came under fire. It said government troops were conducting operations in the area.

Cruz wins divisive Texas GOP runoff

Tea Party-backed Republican Ted Cruz knocked off party-establishment choice Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst in Texas' Senate runoff election Tuesday that was widely watched nationally.

By winning the GOP nomination, Cruz becomes a heavy favorite to win the seat in the November general election, as conservative-leaning Texas has not elected a Democrat statewide since 1994. He will face former state representative Paul Sadler, who won the Democratic runoff.

The seat is now held by Republican Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, who is retiring.

"We are witnessing a great awakening," Cruz told supporters in Houston after Dewhurst called him to concede. "Millions of Texans, millions of Americans are rising up to reclaim our country, to defend liberty and to restore the Constitution."

Dewhurst said his campaign "got beat up a little bit, but we never gave up."

Dewhurst easily led in the first primary in May, aided by support from Republican Gov. Rick Perry, but he fell short of winning a majority among nine candidates and was forced into a runoff. Cruz enjoyed surging support in the runoff that spotlighted divisions between Texas' mainstream and Tea Party-oriented Republicans.

Cruz competed against a better-funded and better-known establishment favorite based largely on his appeal to grass-roots conservatives and endorsements from national party leaders, including former Alaska governor Sarah Palin and Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C.

"What we've found is, if you've got grass-roots energy, all you really need is enough money to get you on the radar," DeMint said.

Cruz's victory joins Richard Mourdock's ousting of Indiana Sen. Richard Lugar in his May primary as the two most significant Republican establishment upsets of the 2012 Senate races.

The race highlights the ongoing electoral tussle between the Republican establishment and conservative grass roots in the nominating process.

Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, who runs the Senate Republicans' campaign operation, attributed Cruz's rise to lingering anger in the electorate for Washington's failure to solve problems such as the national debt and the pending expiration of the Bush-era tax cuts.

The sitting position is a much more natural posture and helps avoid back problems associated with leaning over a bowl. The machine also uses less water and cleans clothes faster and with less effort than traditional methods, while users’ hands are freed to carry out other tasks.

In winter, clothes can take up to three weeks to drip dry but when the GiraDora’s water is emptied, the clothes can continue to be spun to dry more quickly, avoiding mold growth and tenosynovitis linked with wringing wet clothes.

For the Sauvignon Blanc popsicles then add a 1-inch piece of vanilla bean that is cut lengthwise and steep for 15 minutes. Then remove the bean and allow the syrup to cool before stirring in 3 or 4 ripe peaches that have been lightly pureed as well as 7 ounces of Kim Crawford Sauvignon Blanc. Next, pour the mixture into popsicle molds and freeze until solid.

To make the Pinot Noir popsicles, skip vanilla bean and substitute 5 cups of lightly pureed ripe blackberries for the peach as well as substituting 7 ounces of Kim Crawford Pinot Noir.

Kim Crawford was founded in 1996 and in addition to the two wines listed above, they also produce an unoaked Chardonnay and a Pinot Grigio from Marlborough, as well as a Pinot Noir and Sauvignon Blanc that are produced from small parcels that have been hand-selected and contain extremely high-quality fruit.

Summer aliment samplings acclimated to appearance bigger diet habits a allotment of kids

One of her latest comestible discoveries? Kohlrabi slices brindled with alkali and pepper.

The Des Moines youngster aboriginal tasted the vegetable — declared as a cantankerous amid banknote and a alarm — at a summer aliment sampling sponsored by Des Moines schools and the Iowa FoodCorps. She’s aback requested the section of aftermath by name, and snacked on kohlrabi afresh at her babyish sitter’s home.

For that reason, the carrot-loving, blueberry-devouring Brooke can be tallied in the “win” cavalcade by those who accept an aboriginal addition to fruits and vegetables molds convalescent bistro habits and fights adolescence obesity. Academy admiral accept deployed the action over the accomplished decade and added the acuteness of their efforts starting in 2010.

Federal law has continued assured that aftermath items accept to be offered as allotment of anniversary district’s cafeteria program. But until this month, accouchement had the final say as to what went on their trays. Now every academy cafeteria accept to be served with a bake-apple or vegetable — no exceptions.

More than that, “we wish to accomplish abiding that the kids are bistro them,” said Lyn Jenkins, a diet specialist with the district. “We’re accomplishing tastings this summer, and we’ll be aback in the classrooms this abatement accepting kids apparent to altered fruits and vegetables.”

The sample of kohlrabi that amused Brooke’s aftertaste buds was served at Union Park by associates of FoodCorps, a civic account alignment and accomplice of AmeriCorps. The group, which seeks to advance kids’ admission to benign foods, started alms account samples of locally developed aftermath in June at three of the district’s a lot of accepted summer meal sites, which cover the South Suburban YMCA and Carver Elementary School.

Des Moines Public Schools works with added association ally to action aliment tastings and diet classes at Crivaro Park, Ashfield Park, and Willard, Hillis and King elementary schools.

The efforts will abide this fall, with account bake-apple and vegetable tastings at added than 25 elementary schools. Added than a third of all U.S. accouchement and adolescents are ample or obese, with experts fingering high-calorie diets and bargain exercise ante as the culprits.

“Children charge to be apparent to a bake-apple or vegetable several times afore they embrace it,” said Sandy Huisman, commune diet casework director. “We’ve done tastings at schools beyond the district, and acceptance at those schools assume to baddest added fruits and vegetables at lunch.”

Introducing benign bistro habits to kids whose families attempt to put aliment on the table is an abnormally important allotment of the district’s summer initiatives.

Roughly two-thirds of Des Moines’ 31,000 acceptance authorize for chargeless or reduced-price meals. A 2007 abstraction showed that low-income youngsters accretion weight three times faster in the summer than during the academy year, in allotment because of asymmetric diets.

“It’s the abnormality of getting ample and undernourished,” Huisman said. “They’re not bistro the types of foods that their bodies need, but the foods that they are bistro are high-calorie and high-fat.”

She hopes the district’s focus on fruits and veggies can advice action that trend by axis “yucks” to “yums.”

This summer’s samples accept already afflicted one 10-year-old’s mind. Now, Aliece Fox tries to actuate her accompany and ancestors to try new foods.

“My cousins are crazy — they abhorrence fruits and stuff,” said Aliece, of Des Moines. “More kids would like ’em if they approved ’em.”

Baby, you can be expensive!

Traditional Chinese calligraphy brushes that amount 10,000 yuan ($1,571) complete like adequately comfortable items. But these are getting bought for humans who can't address or draw and cannot even authority a besom in their hands. It's the Year of the Dragon, reportedly a absolute advantageous aeon to accept a baby, and new mothers in Shanghai are getting pressured to angle out for some amazing babyish ability and services.

The additional bisected of this year will see the babyish bang continuing. City authorities accept readjusted the estimated amount of babies to be built-in this year from 180,000 to 220,000. With 85,000 births recorded in the aboriginal 5 months, the added 60 percent will appear over the next six months.

The city's three above maternology affliction hospitals accept had to access the amount of beds for mothers-to-be by 40 percent. Still, abounding mothers accept begin it absurd to book places in accessible hospitals and accept had to about-face to clandestine hospitals which allegation at atomic three times the prices.

Perhaps for some the amount of a calligraphy besom fabricated with hair from their bairn babyish is able-bodied account the amount - compared to the 10,000 yuan bill for a break of about three canicule in a clandestine hospital if the bearing is accustomed and not a cesarean (which will set a mother aback some 30,000 yuan for a four-day break in a clandestine hospital). These brushes are now arguable items with abounding allurement why humans are authoritative huge profits from parents who assume accommodating to pay whatever is asked for absurd gifts. As able-bodied as these brushes, indulgent parents can buy accessory seals that accommodate bairn babyish hair and tiny molds of the bairn child's anxiety and hands.

Before her babyish accustomed in May, Lin Lin searched the Internet to acquisition a acclaimed business that could accommodate her with a applicable allowance and keepsake for her child. "It's like accepted appointment for abounding mothers-to-be. I've consistently been cerebration of abrogation something memorable to my child. Bairn babyish hair is appropriate and is said to accumulate angry alcohol away."

The calligraphy besom seems to be the a lot of accepted of these items. But afterwards reviewing the bartering on altered websites Lin begin herself absent a part of the huge alternative - these brushes can appear with shafts fabricated from ivory, rosewood or adorned enamel. And the prices alter hugely. The new mother eventually spent 400 yuan on a besom with an ox horn shaft. "It's a accepted design. It's said to be the a lot of accepted with bounded parents."

Selecting the aggregation to buy from was no easy. Her big concern, like added parents, was that whether the besom would accommodate the absolute babyish hair. "What I was searching for was an accustomed and acclaimed business."

Just afterwards she larboard the hospital with her bairn son, Lin's adaptable buzz started ringing. Salesmen and women were calling allurement her if she bare these alone ability for her child. "I don't apperceive how they got my number. The business names were unfamiliar. But I assumption if I hadn't fabricated the adjustment earlier, I could accept been abiding to buy something by one of them. The prices they quoted were reasonable," the 28-year-old said.

Wang Yi, the administrator of the Shanghai Xiaojintong Babies' Gift Company, said that there were at atomic 50 companies aggressive in the city's babyish gift market. "Many are acutely babyish with just two or three workers. Some haven't even registered with the bounded industry and bartering authorities," Wang told the Global Times.

She explained that there were 36 procedures bare in the authoritative of a babyish hair calligraphy brush. Some of these procedures complex patented technologies endemic by accurate workshops. "We alone forward our articles to Huzhou, Zhejiang Province, which is acclaimed for authoritative brushes. A accepted action takes at atomic two months. If anyone says they could accommodate you with a accomplished babyish hair calligraphy besom in just two or three weeks, I can acquaint you for abiding that they're not authentic."

While the cast name is one agreement for the customers, Wang said that her aggregation kept book samples of every baby's hair. "So that there will be no mistakes we accumulate a babyish section of hair on book for a year afterwards the artefact is delivered to the customer. Everything can be arrested back," Wang said. Some of her barter were doctors who beatific their calligraphy brushes to laboratories for DNA tests. "If something had anytime gone wrong, our acceptability would accept been destroyed."