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Monday's Frosty Mug
By Kyle Lobner Updated Aug 22, 2011, 10:30am CDT
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Corey Hart and the rest of the Brewers spent a fair amount of time in "Beast Mode" this weekend in New York.
Some things to read while Tom Cruise ruins your life.
I did a radio interview late Thursday night where I all but said I wasn't expecting much from the Brewers this weekend. They were in the middle of a long stretch without a day off, playing in New York and probably a threat to be emotionally exhausted following the end of a long winning streak. I could not have been more wrong.
The Brewers bounced back off the canvas two different times this weekend and pounded the Mets en route to a three game sweep in New York for the first time in franchise history. The Cardinals won last night (which you already know if you've read Around the NL Central) but the Brewers remain 8.5 games ahead, tying the largest division lead in franchise history.
John Axford recorded two saves this weekend, his 37th and 38th of the season and 34th and 35th in a row. His streak is now tied for the eighth longest in NL history:
Pitcher Season(s) Saves
Eric Gagne 2002-04 84
Brad Lidge 2007-09 47
Heath Bell 2010-11 41
Trevor Hoffman 1997-98 41
Rod Beck 1993-95 41
Mike Gonzalez 2004-08 39
Trevor Hoffman 2005 38
John Axford 2011 35
Meanwhile, Axford spent the night last night checking out the set for the new Batman movie in Pittsburgh.
After the game, the Brewers announced a roster move: They've designated Felipe Lopez for assignment to make room on the roster for Chris Narveson, who will start the first game today (FanShot). Lopez hit .182/.245/.182 over 51 plate appearances in his second tour of duty in Milwaukee and had pretty clearly fallen behind the likes of Josh Wilson and Craig Counsell on the depth chart. If he clears waivers the Brewers will likely release him instead of attempting to send him to AAA.
Other notes from the field:
The Brewers are now 20 wins away from setting a franchise record with 96 victories.
Prince Fielder drove in his 97th and 98th runs yesterday, retaking the NL lead.
Craig Counsell even had a pinch hit yesterday on his 41st birthday.
There are six active major leaguers who are 41 or older. The Brewers have two of them. (Takashi Saito is the other.)
Prince Fielder reports that Counsell is "the oldest man on Earth."
Ryan Braun, Jerry Hairston Jr and Lucas Duda are leading FanGraphs' Star of the Game voting.
Since Friday's game was rain delayed nearly three hours, the Mets are letting fans exchange tickets for that game for admission to a September series against the Nationals. Shaun Marcum had warmed up and was ready to go when the decision was finally made to delay the game.
Benches cleared briefly on Friday after a minor confrontation involving Fielder and Mets reliever Tim Byrdak, but it appeared to be a misunderstanding.
Saturday's game was played without delay despite a massive fire that started at a junkyard beyond Citi Field's outfield wall. @AndrewHensch says it's about time the Brewers found another job for bench coach Jerry Narron.
The Brewers jump right back into the action today, opening a four game series in Pittsburgh with a doubleheader this afternoon. Joey Nowak of MLB.com has the preview. Chris Narveson is ready to come off the DL and will face Jeff Karstens in game one while Zack Greinke, our defending Brewer of the Week, will face Brad Lincoln in game two.
The Pirates are in an interesting situation regarding pitching today. They're starting two pitchers who may not pitch deep into the game and likely only have five available bullpen arms: Relievers Jose Veras and Joel Hanrahan have both pitched in three straight games and likely won't be used. I'd be surprised if they don't have a pitcher on hand in case they need to make a roster move between games.
The Bucs are also short a starting pitcher as Paul Maholm was placed on the DL this weekend with a sore shoulder and has been sent to visit Dr. James Andrews. Maholm last pitched on Wednesday and would have been on normal rest today.
The Brewers could also make a roster move between games today if they need to summon a pitcher, but it won't be Wily Peralta and it's also unlikely to be Michael Fiers. Fiers has another year before he needs to be added to the 40 man roster to be protected from the Rule 5 draft, and the team will likely save any vacant spots that come available for players that need protection.
The last time the Brewers and Pirates met they played a pretty exciting contest: Sam Hendrickson of The Hardball Times gave the game from eight days ago two stars and listed it as the third best contest of the week.
Ryan Braun ran wild on the basepaths this weekend, stealing three bases in three days (including twice yesterday). He entered the day with an NL-best .581 slugging percentage, leading @paapfly, @giantsnirvana and I to compile this (potentially incomplete) list of players with more than 25 steals who led their league in slugging:
Player Season
Barry Bonds 3 times
Larry Walker 1997
Ellis Burks 1996
Jose Canseco 1988
Joe Morgan 1976
Willie Mays 1957
Joe Jackson 1913
Ty Cobb 7 times
Napoleon Lajoie 1901
Even without the steals it would've been an eventful weekend for Braun, who was ejected from a game Friday night for the second time this season and third in his career.
Despite one early exit Braun had four hits, two walks and scored six times in the Mets series. One of those runs was scored on Saturday when he took Chris Capuano deep. Braun has only homered off lefties five times this season, but each of his last three have come against one. He's scored 19 runs in 18 games in August. Adam McCalvy has a note on his quest for the batting title. Jon Heyman has Braun and Fielder #1 and 2 on his NL MVP ballot.
Elsewhere in good hitting: Brewer pitchers are in rare company this season. At Disciples of Uecker Jordan notes that the starting pitchers have been worth 2 WAR offensively, and Arizona is the only contender getting a larger contribution.
Yovani Gallardo didn't help that number yesterday, going 0-for-2. He did, however, have a pretty good start: seven innings, six hits, two runs on a walk and six strikeouts. Both runs scored on a homer during Gallardo's final inning. Gallardo is arguably the Brewer ace (and the Bull of the Wisconsin Woods), but you might be surprised to learn that he's also one of just 33 pitchers this season to post eight or more starts with a game score under 25. He has nine.
Nyjer Morgan was held hitless yesterday, but drew a rare walk and managed to score a run. Danny Knobler of CBS Sports says Morgan is a perfect fit for the Brewers.
The Brewers' recent performance is once again raising the stock of rookie manager Ron Roenicke. Jon Heyman mentioned him in pretty glowing terms this weekend alongside fellow former Mike Scioscia assistants Bud Black and Joe Maddon. Adam McCalvy talked to Roenicke about his learning curve as manager, and got this pretty fascinating quote:
"I don't want to get negative on someone else, because I trust our coaches," Roenicke said. "But there is a time when I need to override, maybe, what they are thinking or suggesting. That's the part sometimes that I've hesitated on, maybe because it's my first year managing."
Of course, Roenicke isn't always right: Rob Neyer caught a quote of him talking up the bullpen before they melted down on Saturday. Roenicke also says the team is doing just fine without a situational lefty.
Another day, another set of notes on Prince Fielder and his impending free agency:
Ken Rosenthal of Fox talked to Craig Counsell and Mark Kotsay about Fielder following Saturday's win.
Pro Ball NW, who had a post last week making a case against the Mariners signing Fielder, has an opposing view today.
Phil Wood of The Washington Examiner says Fielder should not be the Nationals' top priority.
The Brewers might have a little more money to throw at Fielder if things keep going the way they have. Don Walker of the Journal Sentinel notes that the Brewers will exceed 3 million tickets sold this season, merchandise revenue is up 12% and in the top third of all of baseball, and the team is on pace to set a sponsorship revenue record.
We've already discussed Narveson, but here are the rest of today's injury notes: Adam McCalvy talked to Rickie Weeks and Carlos Gomez about what they've done during their time on the DL. Both players are along on the road trip this week.
Dear sabermetric community: Luck as a concept is something we'll always have to deal with, but it's not an appropriate catch-all for everything you can't explain. Today, Beyond the Box Score has a post listing Shaun Marcum's cutter and Randy Wolf's curve among baseball's "luckiest" pitches.
In the minors:
Things have gone from bad to worse for Mark Rogers, who has been suspended for 25 games after testing positive for a stimulant (FanShot). Rogers was already out for the rest of 2011 after undergoing carpal tunnel surgery, but now he'll miss the first couple of weeks of 2012 as well.
Elsewhere in former first round picks who are unlikely to become major leaguers, Adam McCalvy has a story on Eric Arnett.
The Nashville Sounds turned a bizarre triple play Saturday night when Logan Schafer caught a ball that had deflected off his head and doubled off runners on first and second. You can see the video here. (h/t @TimberRattlers)
The Dominican Summer League Brewers will likely be the organization's only minor league affiliate to make the playoffs.
In power rankings: Tom Haudricourt has the Brewers holding steady at third.
If this was a power ranking, it'd be a pretty high one: Jaymes Langrehr of The Brewers Bar compares the Brewers to Happy Gilmore.
Around baseball:
Angels: Signed pitcher Jered Weaver to a five year, $85 million contract extension.
Blue Jays: Signed pitcher Kyle Davies to a minor league deal.
Cardinals: Pitching coach Dave Duncan has taken a leave of absence from the team for "personal reasons."
Cubs: Fired GM Jim Hendry (FanShot).
Giants: Placed closer Brian Wilson (elbow inflammation) and catcher Eli Whiteside (concussion symptoms) on the DL.
Indians: Placed infielder Jason Kipnis on the DL with a hamstring strain.
Mariners: Placed shortstop Jack Wilson on the DL with a bruised heel.
Padres: Designated pitcher Pat Neshek for assignment.
Phillies: Released pitcher Aaron Heilman and first baseman/outfielder Jack Cust.
Pirates: Signed outfielder Jose Tabata to a five year contract extension with a guaranteed value of $15 million and club options for 2017, 2018 and 2019 and signed pitcher Aaron Heilman to a minor league deal.
Reds: Released pitcher Philippe Valiquette.
White Sox: Placed pitcher Phil Humber on the DL with a facial contusion.
Yankees: Placed pitcher Freddy Garcia on the DL with a cut on his index finger and claimed pitcher Aaron Laffey off waivers from the Mariners.
As Ryan Topp of Bernie's Crew points out, Jered Weaver is an interesting comp for Zack Greinke. He has a look at what Weaver's new deal might mean for the team's ability to keep Greinke in Milwaukee long term.
Jim Hendry's replacement with the Cubs will get to decide what to do with its manager, and that probably doesn't bode well for first year skipper Mike Quade. Even his former college coach thinks he's likely toast.
Elsewhere in the Central, Astros rookie second baseman Jose Altuve led off a game with an inside-the-park home run this weekend, becoming the first player to do it since Rickie Weeks against the Astros on August 7, 2010.
In former Brewers:
Jim Breen of Bernie's Crew has a look at the performance of players sent to Kansas City in the Zack Greinke trade.
ESPN has a recap of the events as the Padres retired Trevor Hoffman's number this weekend. Rollie Fingers and Mike Cameron were among the former Brewers in attendance.
The B-Ref Blog has a list sorting catchers (minimum 1000 games) by WAR per game, and Darrell Porter (17th) and Ted Simmons (20th) made the top 25.
Brewers in 11 has a list of things Ken Macha might be doing with his spare time.
I've already mentioned Braun's ejection today, but he wasn't the only person to have a problem with the umpires this weekend. Home plate umpire Brian Knight displayed some thin skin by ejecting Pirates manager Clint Hurdle from the dugout on Friday, then tossed him again after a controversial call Sunday.
At least Hurdle wasn't ejected on Saturday: He would've been forced to listen to Mitch Williams broadcast the rest of his game. Dejan Kovacevic has some highlights from the carnage.
Noted disgrace Bob Davidson was also in action this weekend: He ejected Reds bench coach Chris Speier from the dugout yesterday.
You can add John Feinstein to the list of people calling for baseball to do something about its umpiring issues. Meanwhile, Ben Badler of Baseball America points out that volunteer umpires in the Little League World Series are able to use instant replay without issue. The lack of replay is only part of the problem, though, as Tom Haudricourt points out:
No matter how much instant replay they put in baseball, they won't be able to fix erratic strike zones of umps who don't belong in majors.
Today in baseball economics:
The Angels won yesterday to improve to 69-59, but are still four games back in the AL West and likely to miss the playoffs for the second straight year. They're also likely to lose a large chunk of their season ticket base since they're moving up the deadline for renewals from January to October.
By drawing nearly 30,000 fans yesterday the Pirates moved over 10,000 fans past their season total from all of 2010.
Oh, and Shaun Marcum probably isn't going to make your wedding.
Now, if you'll excuse me, it's my turn.
Drink up.
Brewers DFA Jon Singleton as Brian Anderson signing becomes official A former top prospect, Singleton showed he still has some pop with AAA Nashville in 2022
Submit Your Questions for Brew Crew Ball Mailbag #20 Leave your Brewers questions in the comments below or on Twitter for a chance to have them answered on Friday


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Who is Shaughna Phillips? Winter Love Island star's career in politics, Instagram handle and age
Sophie Rainbow
Evening Standard 15 January 2020
Love Island is back on our screens, so prepare to have your January blues well and truly banished.
One of the 12 faces in the first ever Winter Love Island series is democratic services officer Shaughna Phillips from London.
Shaughna, who told The Sun that she hopes to return to the world of politics when she leaves the show, revealed that she worked with victims of the Grenfell Tower disaster while working for the local council.
Here's the lowdown on the 25-year-old...
Who is Shaughna Phillips?
Shaughna is a democratic services officer from London and has promised to bring a few surprises with her into the villa.
Speaking before the series started, she said: "I'm chatty, funny and clever – people won't expect it from me. When they hear me speak about certain things they'll be shocked. I like to get on with everyone, too."
Asked to describe herself in three words, Shaughna decided on, "Funny, easy-going but a little bit bossy," which obviously isn't three words but we'll let her off on this occasion.
By her own admission, her worst habit is "Thinking I'm always right… or should I say, knowing I'm always right", and she thinks her best feature is her lips, adding that she has "spent enough money on them!"
Before entering the villa, Shaughna worked for Lambeth council as a democratic services officer but quit her job to appear on the show.
It was during her time at the council that she worked with a fire safety team which helped ensure that the front doors in council properties were fire safe following the Grenfell Tower fire.
She told the newspaper: "To begin with, it was overwhelming. But because you're doing something good, that if I went home and there was a few more fire safe doors that had been installed, it was like, 'good, we're getting there'.
"It was hitting the ground running as there was so much to do, so it was like a project and I loved, loved, loved it."
She also revealed that despite quitting her job to go on the show, she would love to return to the world of politics when she gets back to the UK to help people.
Who has Shaughna coupled up with?
Initially, Shaughna coupled up with the Manchester scaffolder Callum - and she was over the moon at his decision.
However, things began to go awry thanks to the late introduction of twins Jess and Eve Gale, who soon revealed who they wanted to pair up with.
Eve eventually chose Callum - leaving Shaughna both single and fuming.
What's Shaughna's type?
Shaughna says that her ideal man is "Funny, a little bit smart, not smarter than me as I'd get really annoyed. I want someone I can watch the news with and have a conversation about it. I also want someone that gets along with their parents and who dresses nice and looks nice although looks aren't everything."
On the other hand, Shaughna says that an immediate turn off for her is "Someone who loves themselves. Someone that's not listening to you – I just think go and annoy someone else."
The worst chat up line she's ever seen was a message that said: "If you were on a McDonalds menu, you'd be a McGorgeous."
So who is her celebrity crush? "Jack Fincham is a bit of me on toast," she says.
Speaking of toast, Shaughna added that as an ideal first date she "wouldn't mind going for something to eat."
What has Shaughna said about Winter Love Island 2020?
Shaughna's last boyfriend cheated on her, so she has resolved not avoid anyone who has a history of cheating whilst in the villa.
"I always used to think if I got cheated on it'd be door shut, go away," she said. " It's not like that, cheating messes you up. I could never do that to anyone. I wouldn't like to be with someone who had cheated in their past."
When it comes to girl code, she added: "Don't go near your friend's man and don't go near a man who has got a girlfriend at all."
Overall, though, Shaughna wants to have fun on Winter Love Island, saying that the song that best sums up her love life would be Young Hearts Run Free by Candi Staton.
"I'm definitely up for having fun when it comes to love," she said.
Is Shaughna on Instagram?
She most certainly is. See all of her snaps on: @shaughnaphillips.
When does the new series of Love Island start?
Winter Love Island 2020 began on ITV2 on Sunday, January 12.
The action kicks off at 9pm, and each episode lasts around an hour.
The show is on every night, apart from Saturdays, and is followed up with Aftersun.
Throwback snaps reveal Love Island twins Eve and Jess's school days
Ultra-modern £5.3m mansion transformed for Winter Love Island
Jake Wood pokes fun at Love Island's Ollie with lookalike meme
How Laura Whitmore landed the biggest job in reality TV
*That* Brad and Jen SAG moment has been made into a Valentine's Day gift
Today presenter Peter Hobday remembered as 'lovely man' after death aged 82
Premier League is overrated & Man Utd's team of 1994 would give Liverpool game, says Ince
Katie Boulter beaten by fifth seed Elina Svitolina in opening round of Australian Open
Leicester Tigers appoint Borthwick as head coach

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


While I am Jewish by formation, practice, and ethnicity, my education has been eclectic. Three graduate degrees, a graduate diploma and a professional certificate introduced me to multiple spiritual paths: Western philosophy, Jewish rabbinics, Christian spiritual direction, Jungian psychology, and Ayurvedic yoga. In my interdisciplinary Ph.D. dissertation, I argued for broad definitions of critical thinking, including reasoned argumentation, political critique, and metaphorical creativity.
Inter-Religious Studies, where we explore Abrahamic and Indigenous traditions from multiple theological perspectives. Jewish Studies, where I introduce midrashic (traditional Jewish) principles of Biblical interpretation and kabbalistic (mystical) perspectives on spirituality.
I love to teach because I love to learn with students. I understand learning as both "making the strange familiar" and "making the familiar strange" – integrating new information and seeing from new perspectives. Our heart commitments deepen through intellectual examination, and our intellects come to greater life when feelings illuminate ideas. As we reach towards and beyond the previous boundaries of our thought, we glimpse the greater consciousness of God.
At VST, students and faculty share an ecumenical adventure. We cross denominational and faith languages to discuss multiple perspectives on God, social change, and spiritual community. We educate the whole person, working on thought, feeling, and practice.
I love a diverse group, including research, ministry, and pastoral leadership students. When three different approaches meet in a classroom, we all find something challenging. By sharing the challenge, we contribute to mind-opening moments, develop empathy, and grow in our spiritual capacities.
Currently, I am letting go of the familiar to move into uncharted inter-religious territory. My study of animals in Hebrew Bible is nearly complete. Beginning with the spring 2016 "Encountering the Other" project, I am now facilitating inter-religious scholarship, offering VST as a think tank for scholars, activists and artists.
Because I work at the margins between disciplines and religious traditions, I expect creative tension, challenging me to grow in knowledge and empathy.
We have to be fluent in multiple technologies of communication: written books and papers, oral storytelling, and new digital platforms. In a sense, we must "learn how to learn" again.
Many Christians are leading advocates for peace and justice. Across denominational lines, they work to heal rifts between Abrahamic religions, and advance Canadian Indigenous reconciliation. Peace is a face of God; through this work, God's face shines.
What advice or guidance would you give to students thinking about coming to VST?
You will change more than you imagined possible; be flexible. You'll be treated like an adult; be organized. You'll find some things challenging; be communicative. You'll become part of a lifelong network of people; be friendly. You'll grow in spirit; pray.
Laura, a native of New York City, is married to psychologist and musician Charles Kaplan. Together they are parents of two young adults, and caretakers of a changing array of companion animals.


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Behind The New Samsung Fold: How The Quest To Maximise Screen Size Is Driving Major Innovation
To enlarge a phone, or not to enlarge a phone? That is the question. In the world of flagship smartphones, there seems to be one clear trend: bigger is better.
Manufacturers are trying to strip away anything that might stand in the way of the largest possible slab of screen. There is also growing demand for thinner phones with diminishing bezels (the area surrounding a screen).
This trend has now culminated in the latest innovation in smartphone design, the foldable screen phone. These devices sport thin OLED self illuminating screens that can be folded in half.
The newest release is the Samsung Galaxy Z fold 2 – a device that is almost three-quarters screen and has extravagant overtones rivalled only by a hefty A$2,999 price tag.
But to prevent the phones themselves from growing to unwieldy size, manufacturers are having to find ways to balance size with usability and durability. This presents some interesting engineering challenges, as well as some innovative solutions.
Why do we love large phones? Pixabay, CC BY-NC-ND
Internal design complexities of folding phones
Modern phones still typically use a thin LCD or plastic OLED display covered by an outer glass panel.
Folding displays are a new category that exploit the flexibility of OLED display panels. Instead of simply fixing these panels to a rigid glass panel, they carefully engineer the panel so that it bends – but never quite tightly enough to snap or crack.
Internal structural support is needed to make sure the panel doesn't crease, or isn't stressed to the point of creating damage, discolouration or visible surface ripples.
Since this is a mechanical, moving system, reliability issues need to be considered. For instance, how long will the hinge last? How many times can it be folded and unfolded before it malfunctions? Will dirt or dust make its way into the assembly during daily use and affect the screen?
Such devices need an added layer of reliability over traditional slab-like phones, which have no moving parts.
Large screen, thin phone: a recipe for disaster?
Each generation of smartphones becomes thinner and with smaller bezels, which improves the viewing experience but can make the phone harder to handle.
In such designs, the area of the device you can grip without touching the display screen is small. This leads to a higher chance of dropping the device – a blunder even the best of us have made.
There's an ongoing tussle between consumers and manufacturers. Consumers want a large, viewable surface as well as an easily portable and rugged device. But from an engineering point of view, these are usually competing requirements.
You'll often see people in smartphone ads holding the device with two hands. In real life, however, most people use their phone with one hand.
Thus, the shift towards larger, thinner phones has also given rise to a boom in demand for assistive tools attached to the back, such as pop-out grips and phone rings.
In trying to maximise screen size, smartphone developers also have to account for interruptions in the display, such as the placement of cameras, laser scanners (for face or object identification), proximity sensors and speakers. All are placed to minimise visual intrusion.
In the engineering world, to measure the physical world you need either cameras or sensors, such as in a fingerprint scanner.
With the race to increase the real estate space on screens, typically these cameras and scanners are placed somewhere around the screen. But they take up valuable space.
This is why we've recently seen tricks to carve out more space for them, such as pop up cameras and punch-hole cameras, in which the camera sits in a cutout hole allowing the display to extend to the corners.
The Samsun Galaxy Note 10 has a centered punch hole front-facing camera. Samsung
But another fantastic place for sensors is right in front of us: the screen. Or more specifically, under the screen.
Samsung is one company that has suggested placing selfie-cameras and fingerprint readers behind the screen. But how do you capture a photo or a face image through a layer of screen?
Up until recently, this has been put in the "too hard basket". But that is changing: Xiaomi, Huawei and Samsung all have patents for under-display cameras.
There are a range of ways to do this, from allowing a camera to see through the screen, to using microlenses and camera pixels distributed throughout the display itself – similar to an insect's compound eye.
In either case, the general engineering challenge is to implement the feature in a way that doesn't impact screen image quality, nor majorly affect camera resolution or colour accuracy.
Insects have compound eyes. These are made up of repeating units called the ommatidia, sometimes with thousands in each eye. Each ommatidia is a separate visual receptor. Shutterstock
Laptops in our pockets
With up to 3.8 billion smartphone users expected by 2021, mobile computing is a primary consumer technology area seeing significant growth and investment.
One driver for this is the professional market, where larger mobile devices allow more efficient on-the-go business transactions. The second market is individuals who who only have a mobile device and no laptop or desktop computer.
It's all about choice, but also functionality. Whatever you choose has to get the job done, support a positive user experience, but also survive the rigours of the real world.
Andrew Maxwell, Senior Lecturer, University of Southern Queensland
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license.


Epson Expression Photo XP-850 Driver Download – This XP-850 really displays a rundown of yield works — 2-sided produce/ reinforcement/ converse with in-conceived movement course finding, moreover pretty much any 30-page Hard-wired Doc Feeder having shading fax. Showing bother free wireless4 and Ethernet long range interpersonal communication, this XP-850 could conceivably be dispersed to anybody in the friends and family. It is numerous when you require it with all the genuine Manifestation Picture XP-850.
The printer has a shockingly little foot shaped impression to its to a great extent shiny dark case and when you lift it you can tell that a considerable measure is being stuffed inside, as a result of its robust and substantial make-up. The top spread has a slight wave to it, showing Epson's consideration of a 30-sheet ADF, where the middle segment folds into a food tray.
The control board pivots out from the front surface of the printer and has a 88mm touchscreen in the core, with devoted touch catches down either side. Beneath this is a flip-down spread for the two, different paper trays. The main one of these takes 20 sheets of photograph paper, while the base one takes just 100 sheets of plain paper, which appears a little sum, actually for a home printer.


industrial cities (WOLLIE) was invited to participate in the circumpolar study on Arctic Youth and sustainable futures, headed Joan Nymard Larsen, and the Arctic Human Development Report and Arctic Social Indicators editors team. At a meeting in Stockholm in the beautiful building of Nordregio, we talked among 17 Arctic social scientists about the determinants for well-being among youth in the Arctic.
Our own project specifically studies notions of well-being among young people in cities where industry plays some role. We contribute with studies from Pyhäjoki, Kemijärvi in Finland,Neryungryi, Nizhnyi Kurannakh (Sakha Yakutia) and Kirovsk (Murmansk) in the Russian North. It is co-led by Aytalina Ivanova from North East Federal University in Russia, with partners Maria Pitukhina and team from Petrozavodsk, and Veli-Pekka Tynkkynen and team from Helsinki.
Other colleagues from the have conducted interviews in Alaska, Greenland, Northern Norway, Northern Sweden, and Iceland with young people.
The publication that is being prepared for 2019 from that project will highlight some key issues that influence young people's well-being across the circumpolar Arctic.
While engaging in the comparative discussion, WOLLIE team members Ria Maria Adams and Florian Stammler noticed the significant differences in the way how we anthropologists collect our 'data' in the project, and how our colleagues from other social sciences did this in the circumpolar project: our emphasis is on fieldwork with participant observation, and then 'topped up' with some interviews and focus-group interviews too. The circumpolar project relies on focus group interviews only, which is cheaper of course, but also it gives only what people SAY, and not what they DO.
It will be a challenge in the publications to compare data from participant observation from one set of sites, with the data from interviews in other sites. Also, in our project data we almost only have people from outside the higher education system with whom we worked, while in the circumpolar project they interviewed almost only university students. Obviously, there are huge differences in how these groups see the determinants for their own well-being. Any ideas how to frame such a comparison in a meaningful way?
This entry was posted in All, conferences, Fennoscandia, Fieldwork, Russian North, youth wellbeing and tagged circumpolar youth, comparison, methods. Bookmark the permalink.


Maximize MyPsoriasisTeam by sharing a little bit about yourself. This article will help you get started meeting great people on MyPsoriasisTeam. When making new connections and fostering friendships, it's always useful to start with oneself.
Begin with you. Consider the value of customizing your own profile on MyPsoriasisTeam. Whenever we hear something kind or insightful from someone, we have a natural tendency to want to know the person who said it. A photo of yourself adds personality at a glance and builds trust in the community. Your profile photo can be a large part of your identity on the site. To add your photo, just select the photo icon over your profile photo at the top left, then select a photo from your computer.
Add your story to your profile. Your story is another way for others to get to know a little bit about you. You choose what you want to share. Facts some people share in their MyPsoriasisTeam story might include their family members, work and relationship situation, hobbies, how they deal with bad days, and any advice they have for others with psoriasis.
Explore. A good first step to take when exploring MyPsoriasisTeam is to browse around before jumping in. There's nothing wrong with getting the "lay of the land." Figuring out who's active and how they are active is a great way to get to get a feel for the community. However, at some point, once you've figured it out, you should participate. Participating means commenting on other people's posts and sharing your own. Why is this important? It lets people know you're there, contributes to the overall tone of the site, and builds up trust with others. No one is here to judge. If anything, this is a place where others understand, vent, and share the small daily victories. It can be encouraging and uplifting to be a part of it.
You'll be surprised how far sharing a little bit about yourself can go toward building trust among others in the MyPsoriasisTeam community.
What brings you here? Before saying 'hi' to someone on the site, consider why you want to connect with others. People on MyPsoriasisTeam are initially drawn here out of curiosity and hope. They want to tackle the everyday challenges of someone who lives with psoriasis. To do this, they want to get perspective on what others go through by reading updates. They want to support others, share their day, and feel supported in return. As a bonus, they may find others in their neighborhood or even across the country who share their interests. All of these experiences build a great foundation for connecting with others on MyPsoriasisTeam. Knowing what you want out of MyPsoriasisTeam makes it easier to break the ice with others.
Meet others near you or who share a similar diagnosis. You can use the Meet Others feature on the site to filter search results for people by location, diagnoses, and even treatments. Once you find others like you, take a moment to read their story. When you click on a person's name on the site, you'll be taken to their page. At the top of the page is their "story." There you can learn more about each person.
Read and comment on someone's story. When you read someone's story, you realize that it makes you feel better – not because it solves your problem, but because you find someone you can relate to. By "liking" and commenting on another's story, you're letting them know you "get it" or that you appreciate the time they took to share their personal story.
Connect by acknowledging. The most effective connections we see on the site are made when people comment on each others' updates, or "like," or "hug," or all of the above. Another level of connecting is "saying hi." Saying hi shows you have taken a moment to learn about the other person through acknowledging what they've already shared about themselves on the site through their story, comments, or updates. Another way to acknowledge is to share what you have in common with the other person. Post on someone's page on MyPsoriasisTeam or comment in the activity stream. See what happens.
Welcome others to the site. You've seen them, you've been them – the new person on the site who works up the nerve and shyly writes in their first update, "This is my first post, I'm new here …" Welcome them! It sure takes guts to write that first post. Doesn't it feel good to be received and warmly welcomed by others? It's like being at a housewarming party you've been invited to, but you're not sure who to talk to. You can always feel good about welcoming new people to the site. It's a great feeling.
Add people to your team. Anyone can add anyone else to their team. This is a simple way to keep track of others you'd like to get to know better or view whenever they post updates. It's also a nice gesture between people. Be sure to let them know how you are doing by updating regularly!
Ask questions of others, and give and get answers. Gain a wealth of knowledge from others on the site and on your team! You can search by topic to find the questions that interest you, or ask your own. If you see a question someone has asked that you have an answer to, chime in.
Add providers to your team. Let others know which healthcare providers you use by adding their listings to your team. Your team might include your dermatologist, rheumatologist, or other health practitioner. Listing your providers on MyPsoriasisTeam is a great way of helping others near you learn more about resources you find valuable. You may even have providers in common with each other.
How do you like to connect with people on MyPsoriasisTeam? What ways have worked for you?
Next: Take a tour of our community guidelines! It's an easy way to become familiar with – and get the most out of – MyPsoriasisTeam.


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Planet Rock: Bloodstock
Josh Gray , August 15th, 2018 09:04
Move over, Womad: why Derbyshire's metal festival might also be the UK's best world music festival
Gojira photo by Katja Ogrin
One of the aspects of metal music that is not often remarked upon is its universality. While most other genres of music still tend to be heavily tied to the one country, state or even county in which their roots were originally laid down (if you want to hear a good argument for why this should generally remain the case, just listen the latest record from The Shires), the once distinctively British sound of heavy metal has spread its tendrils out around the planet, setting up a chapter in each new city it encounters like some kind of downtuned Trotskyist cult.
Nowhere is this world community of heavy more obvious than at Derbyshire's Bloodstock festival. While there is, of course, an oversized contingent of acts from Britain and the USA, the burgeoning presence of bands from around the world is impressive for what is still just a four-stage event. Womad might have more pageantry and Peter Gabriel, but there is an argument to be made that Bloodstock and its brethren are just as much world music festivals as they are rock ones.
Besides West Brom's finest exports Judas Priest, who do indeed deliver the goods on Friday, the headliners are Arkona (Slavic Russian folk metal), Gojira (environmentally conscious French death metal) and Nightwish (overblown Finnish power metal). Arkona kick things off on the Thursday evening with a spellbinding reminder that 'folk metal' doesn't have to mean some twat on a tin whistle playing along to some hyperstylised symphonic nonsense, although Nightwish provide an ample enough filling of that when they close things up on the Sunday.
At its best, folk metal takes the unique sounds and techniques of the music from a performer's homeland and marries them to the heart-stopping power of metal's shuddering riff-and-drum assault to create something utterly new yet familiarly rendered. For Arkona, this means taking the traditional chants and repetitive flute melodies of Russian folk to create a trancelike version of metal that, by design, burrows itself deep into the listener's head. 'Goi, Rode, Goi!' was still swimming around my brain during Pallbearer's set a full three days of music later, a testament to the staying power of its inherited mechanisms for passing songs down through generations.
Arkona photo by Steve Dempsey
The unity and universality of the world's metal community is remarked on by bands of all sizes, from tiny Manchester outfit Def Goldbum, whose Roots Manuva-meets-Biohazard take on rap-rock is actually worth your attention, to a visibly emotional ex-Hatebreed frontman Jasta (whose all-star rendition of Down's chug-fest 'Bury Me In Smoke' with Fear Factory's Dino Cazares, Killswitch Engage's Howard Jones and Crowbar's Kirk Windstein provides one of the most metal moments of the weekend).
But no band embodies metal's mission for unity and coexistence better than Orphaned Land, who have been reverently grafting metal onto their own native musical traditions since long before System Of A Down made it cool to do so. An Israeli group whose lyrics (sung in Latin, Hebrew and Arabic) call for peace in the Middle East between all religions, the band make cunning use of Middle Eastern maqams and other non-western techniques to convincingly evoke the distinctive sound of their wartorn homeland in soggiest Derbyshire.
Orphaned Land photo by Leigh Van Der Byl
Frontman Kobi Fahri's impassioned calls for a more tolerant society are enthusiastically received by the crowd of misfits and outcasts that populate the Sophie Lancaster stage, all of whom are aware of the story of the stage's namesake and the dangers of social and political othering. That the band formed in 1991 and are still dealing with the same subject matter is a bitter indictment of people's reluctance to change or channel their aggressive tendencies. If only we could get the Mossad and Iranian Revolutionary Guard to don Hawaiian shirts and do battle in the Cannibal Corpse pit (a popular Ace Ventura-inspired move at Bloodstock this year) then maybe we could leave the world a happier and more metal place for our grandchildren.
Alien Weaponry are one of the most exciting up-and-coming faces of modern metal at Bloodstock this year (alongside Texan thrashers Power Trip and Rugby band Conjurer). Hailing from Waipu, New Zealand, Alien Weaponry are a three-piece who formed eight years ago and are still teenagers. Brothers Lewis and Henry de Jong (frontman and drummer, respectively) are descended from the Māori tribes Ngati Pikiāo and Ngati Raukawa, and boy does it come through in their music.
Twinning slabs of groove metal with the Māori warrior tradition of the terrifying haka chant isn't a new idea… oh, wait a minute, it absolutely fucking is. And it absolutely fucking works too. The Te Reo Māori tongue in which they largely perform takes to metal music like a Balrog to Moria, each guttural bark helping the song to gain momentum until it becomes an unstoppable behemoth of fiery energy.
Their audience might not all be aware of fact that the lyrics of 'Raupatu' concern the oppressive land laws of 1863 that allowed the New Zealand government to seize traditional Māori homelands, or the fact that the death of the de Jongs' ancestor Te Ahoaho at the hands of the British is what inspired the passionate closer 'Rū Ana Te Whenua'. What they are certainly aware of is the brute power of what they are witnessing, the satisfaction that comes from watching a great idea executed well, and the huge potential of this ridiculously young band. As the set ends, the fondly abbreviated chants of 'Weaponry! Weaponry!' that ring out across the festival echo the 'Maiden! Maiden!'s and 'Priest! Priest! Priest!'s of yesteryear.
Alien Weaponry photo by Katja Ogrin
Certainly, no one walked away from Alien Weaponry thinking that they'd just witnessed some top-notch folk metal. But they had, and across the weekend Bloodstock 2018 facilitated similarly intriguing (if generally less mindblowing) performances that presented regional variations on the common theme of metal. From Argentina's Skiltron to Nepal's Underside via India's Demonic Resurrection, the most interesting and progressive bands tended to hail from overseas (which is not to say there wasn't some great music being thrashed out on the Hobgoblin New Blood stage. Shoutouts to Democratise, Ethyrfield and Ashborne are most certainly in order).
All of which begs the question: what will happen to outward-looking festivals like this as obtaining travel visas for touring bands gets more difficult? Who will fight for the diversity and universal love of music which festivals like Bloodstock and its associated international festivals embody? Who will take on the mantle of The Metal Peter Gabriel? Raise your horns if it's you.
Win Bloodstock Tickets »
The Rotted Guitarist Tim Carley Updates The Quietus On His Missing Finger »
FESTIVAL REPORT: Bloodstock »
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Surgical Strike: Bill Steer & Jeff Walker Of Carcass Interviewed »
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Hospital loses latest fight over tax-exempt status
■ An Illinois medical center did not provide enough charity care to qualify for a property tax exemption in 2002, an appellate court ruling states.
By — Posted Sept. 22, 2008
» External links
Washington -- An Illinois appeals court decision affirming that one nonprofit hospital must pay property taxes could call into question hundreds of millions of dollars in exemptions claimed by hospitals throughout the state.
The Illinois Fourth District Court of Appeals on Aug. 26 found that Provena Covenant Medical Center in Urbana, Ill., did not provide enough charity care in 2002 to merit its $1.1 million property tax exemption. The hospital will petition the Illinois Supreme Court to hear the case. Provena Health, a Catholic health system, owns five other hospitals in Illinois.
An attorney with the Illinois Hospital Assn. said the ruling ignores a century of case law and too strictly interprets what types of hospital services should be considered charitable.
The case began when a citizens group in Champaign County, Ill., challenged Provena Covenant's property tax exemption, said Mark Deaton, general counsel for the hospital association, which filed briefs in support of the medical center. The Champaign County Board of Review revoked the hospital's 2002 exemption, saying the hospital did not provide enough charity care. An administrative judge for the Illinois Dept. of Revenue and a circuit court disagreed with the Board of Review, but the Illinois Dept. of Revenue upheld the board's original decision and appealed the circuit court's ruling.
"In a way, it's been a little bit of a pingpong match," Deaton said.
The state's constitution does not provide much room for interpretation when it comes to property tax exemptions, said Mike Klemens, a spokesman for the Illinois Dept. of Revenue. "The rule is taxation and the exemption is the exception."
The constitution says only property used "exclusively for charitable purposes" qualifies, which has been interpreted instead to mean property used "primarily" for charitable purposes, Klemens said. The Dept. of Revenue concluded that Provena Covenant provided charity care equal to only 0.7% of its total revenues in 2002. That year the hospital gave free care to 196 patients and discounted care to 106 patients out of 110,000 admissions.
But the standard for meriting a property tax exemption is more complex than simply calculating a percentage, Deaton said. Property owned by hospitals, art galleries and volunteer fire departments historically has been exempted from taxes because the organizations themselves have been considered to have "charitable purposes," he said.
Instead, the Illinois Dept. of Revenue has interpreted the standard as requiring "free care to poor people," Deaton said. "There's a huge difference between charitable purposes and charitable care."
The department's interpretation doesn't account for hospitals' losses from caring for people on Medicaid and Medicare, which don't always cover hospitals' care costs, Deaton said. The standard also doesn't account for other uncompensated care.
Deaton estimated that Illinois nonprofit hospitals might owe hundreds of millions of dollars in property taxes if the Provena case standards were applied to all of them.
The appeals court decision could encourage other local governments to follow in the footsteps of Champaign County by challenging the tax exemption of nonprofit hospitals, said an aide to U.S. Sen. Charles Grassley (R, Iowa). Grassley, the Senate Finance Committee's ranking Republican, has been investigating hospitals' property tax exemptions since 2005 and is considering legislation that would set national standards for hospitals to qualify for such exemptions.
New hospital charity care reporting requirements from the Internal Revenue Service should shed more light on the issue and help determine the next move, the Grassley aide said.
Provena Covenant Medical Center and Provena Hospitals v. the Dept. of Revenue of the State of Illinois, Appellate Court of Illinois, Fourth District, Aug. 26, in pdf (link)


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Who is Ross Kemp Wife? Career, Net Worth, Bio, And Personal Life
In my opinion, Ross Kemp is among television's most unappreciated performers.
Grant Gibson has been a busy man throughout his tenure on EastEnders, winning multiple prizes for his films.
For those of you who haven't seen him in a while, here's everything you need to know:
On Thursday, September 6, ITV will screen Ross Kemp as well as the Armed Police.
In the series, Ross wears a military uniform and participates in raids around the nation as a member of the armed police forces.
Ross Kemp created Ross Kemp the Gangs, a multiple documentary series, in 2004 on the topic of current gang culture.
The Sun's editor Rebekah Wade married Ross Kemp in 2002, while she was still married to her husband. At the time, Wade was arrested for allegedly attacking Kemp, and he was held in custody. Nothing was done when the patient refused medical attention for a swollen lip. 4 years after they initially met, Kemp and Wade were divorced.
After the birth of their baby in October 2010, Kemp's makeup artist, Nicola Coleman, gave birth.
Kemp wed Australian Renee O'Brien in 2012, and the couple has been together since. Three years later, Kemp had become a father for the second time, this time to a newborn boy.
Kemp announced that he had gotten pregnant to twin girls in September of that year.
Ross Kemp made her EastEnders debut in February 1990 as Grant Mitchell. For the first time since his departure from the show in 1999, he has made a comeback appearance in 2016.
He portrayed Army Staff Sergeant William Garvie in Without Purpose, In Defence, and Ultimate Force in addition to ITV's A Christmas Carol in 2000.
In 2005, Kemp appeared as himself in Ricky Gervais & Stephen Merchant's comedy series Extras.
Ross Kemp Has The Following Renown: How Tall Is Him, Exactly?
"Brother Ross Kemp, How Many Members Of Your Family Are There?"
Ross Kemp's Second Wife, Renee O'Brien
Ross Kemp's children.
Biography And Wiki Of Renee O'Brien
Are You Familiar With Rose Kem?
Celeb Heights claims that Ross Kemp is 5'10" tall " (177.8cm).
Brother-in-law Ross Kemp is also a working filmmaker for the BBC.
A few of his credits include work on the documentaries Panorama, Murdered by Her Boyfriend, Within the Commons, and most notably, the BBC's Love & Hate Crime special.
The son of a police detective and a hairdresser, John Kemp was raised by Jean Kemp.
I'd want to know how old Ross Kemp is.
He celebrated his 54th birthday in 2018.
Ross Kemp has made a name for himself as an actor & investigative journalist by appearing in episodes like Ross Kemp on Gangs & Ross Kemp: Extreme World, among others.
With his new ITV documentary Britain's Tiger Monarchs: On the Trail with Ross Kemp, the 55-year-old BAFTA winner is given Louis Theroux a race for his money in the UK's big cat sector.
Away from the camera, Ross O'Brien with his family may be seen relaxing at their Berkshire home. Do you want to know more? The information you want is right here…
Ross Kemp's first wife, Rebecca Brooks, was killed in a vehicle accident in 2004, leaving Ross without a wife.
The relationship between Ross and Rebekah Wade, a former News of the World reporter, started in the late 1990s. He proposed in 2002 when Rebekah was working as the editor of The Sun in 1996. The couple's marriage was doomed from the start, and they split in 2009.
Since Ross's 2012 marriage to his second wife, an Australian named Renee O'Brien, the two have been living together happily ever after.
Renee's family wants to keep their private life secret, therefore nothing is known about her. In the past, though, the father-of-four has referred to this wife, albeit in a brief manner.
While discussing the demanding shooting schedule for EastEnders, the former EastEnders actor brought up his guilt for leaving his family behind. "Guilt, I feel, is a component of it," he remarked when questioned by Metro.
She may not have recognized me from my soap opera days, on the other hand. As soon as she saw me at the bar, Renee assumed I was just another cranky old bald man from the neighborhood, and I guess she's correct to this day; I am just another cranky old bald guy from the neighborhood."
After divorcing his first wife, Rebekah, Ross married makeup artist Nicole Coleman and had a son, named Ross. Since their marriage, the director and his wife, Renee, have had four children.
Leo was born in 2015, while Ava and Kitty were born in 2017; they are the only two children. With the message, "My kids and me," the pleased father uploaded a picture of himself cuddling his newborn children.
A year later, Kemp married an Australian woman named Renee O'Brien. Kemp's first wife was Rebekah Wade, a former Sun editor. As the editor of The Sun in 2002, Rebekah and her boyfriend got engaged. It was a short-lived marriage for the pair and they split in 2009.
He started a relationship that led to the birth of his first child immediately after divorcing his first wife, Nicole Coleman. Renee O'Brien, the woman he married in 2012, was the first woman he dated following the breakup of his relationship with his ex-girlfriend in 2010.
Since their marriage, the director and his wife, Renee, have had four children. The year 2017 saw the birth of both Ava and Kitty, who were born to Leo and Ava. With the message, "My kids and me," the pleased father uploaded a picture of himself cuddling his newborn children.
Ross James Kemp, who is now 51 years old, was born on this day. writer and journalist British actor After playing Grant Mitchell in EastEnders, he became a household name. Since his 2004 BAFTA-winning documentary series, Ross Kemp on Gangs, Kemp has garnered praise as a journalist across the world.
Who is Helen Cordet? Career, Net Worth, Bio, And Personal Life
Who is Barry Van Dyke? Career, Net Worth, Bio, And Personal Life


She taught me the importance of finding my voice in this experience and not being afraid to express my needs.
"Lindsey is an extremely caring and compassionate person and those qualities shine through in her work as a doula. Prior to the birth, Lindsey met with my husband and me multiple times to answer questions, provide helpful resources and ensure that we were all on the same page.
Most importantly, she helped me feel empowered in the birth process by promoting self-advocacy. She taught me the importance of finding my voice in this experience and not being afraid to express my needs. Throughout the birth, Lindsey was by our side ready and willing to help on any level. From holding my hand through contractions to massaging my legs and feeding me ice-chips, Lindsey remained calm and encouraging every step of the way.
The birth of Hannah was better than I ever could've hoped for. I was able to use the breathing techniques Lindsey had shown us to labor longer at home and arrived at the hospital in a peaceful state of mind. I felt extremely supported and at ease throughout the entire birth. Following the birth, Lindsey remained in the hospital to make sure I was ok and assisted in ensuring my recovery went smoothly. She continued to check in with me and made a home visit shortly after I was released. We were so impressed with Lindsey's knowledge, dedication and care throughout this entire process and are incredibly appreciative to have shared this experience with her."
Lindsey empowered me to provide the loving care and support that my wife needed.
"My wife initially reached out to Lindsey because the birth of our first daughter was both long and difficult and we wanted a different experience the second time around. Lindsey was so incredibly helpful through the planning, labor, and birth of our beautiful daughter. She took the time to meet with my wife and I in the months prior to the birth to ensure she knew our birth plan and to provide us with important information. As a father, I was initially concerned that a doula would make my role obsolete. On the contrary, Lindsey empowered me to provide the loving care and support that my wife needed. I was still the primary support for my wife throughout the process, but I was always able to rely on Lindsey for advice or to provide a helping hand. Lindsey was a very calming presence in the delivery room and helped put us both at ease. The labor and birth were an extremely positive experience for both my wife and I. We can't thank Lindsey enough for her guidance and support."
Through it all I felt her completely focused presence. It was as though she had loaded her arsenal of support with precisely the kind I needed.
"Andrew and I met Lindsey only once before my birth, but we both liked her right away and knew that at the very least, that she would be a nice person to have in the room with us. She ended up being the most outstanding support for both of us, and nurtured to fruition a strength in me that I didn't know I had.
While I knew in theory that to achieve vaginal birth after my C-section, I'd need to minimize medical interventions that might slow down the progress of my labor, I was apprehensive about being able to do it as my only previous experience with labor had been back labor that I was able to numb with an epidural when it became unbearable. I'd never managed to breathe through contractions before into the middle and later stages, and I'd underestimated how badly I'd need someone to stay by my side, remind me to breathe and to relax my muscles, to grab onto when I needed to grab someone, and to steady me as I sat on the ball, trying to hold it together as the baby bore further and further down on my cervix and the shock waves of labor at its most intense, unmedicated strength took over my body.
While Andrew would sooner have had me out of agony, Lindsey, without actually reminding me of my increasingly-idiotic-seeming ambition of no epidural (to keep labor progressing in the hopes of avoiding a repeat C-section), seemed to take for granted that I could and would progress on my own strength. And when my strength flagged, she seemed to lend me more.
Orthodox Jewish spouses traditionally refrain from physical contact in the later stages of labor and during birth, which made Lindsey's support even more essential. Even then, she encouraged Andrew to be my Number One, first having him apply counter pressure to my back and hips and later calling on him to encourage me and remind me of the joy awaiting us. Since Andrew knew that Lindsey had my pain covered, he was able to be present and not panic over being helpless to take away my pain. And having someone else there whose every move was attuned to my comfort took away my anxiety that my husband would somehow fall short in meeting my every need, which relieved us both.
While my nurse popped in intermittently and Andrew tried to hold it together nearby, Lindsey stayed close. When I started to have back labor, she had me lean forward on the birthing ball and that helped move the pain forward. She stayed right beside me, straddling the ball as well, and never flinching when I grabbed onto her, even though the soreness in my arms the next day told me I must have been grabbing her with brute strength.
She had a really keen sense of what my needs were at any given moment, and was able to say the right things. She never spoke too much, only just enough, and she seemed to know where particularly the pain was emanating from and went after it. Through it all I felt her completely focused presence. It was as though she had loaded her arsenal of support with precisely the kind I needed, and whether it was massaging exactly the right place, whispering my mantra to me, checking in that I had the information I needed along the way, telling me which muscle in my face or shoulders needed to relax, adjusting the lighting or airflow, handing me something to squeeze, lifting a drink to my mouth, having me try a new position, getting my hair out of my face, letting me know it was okay when I finally chose opiates during the transition phase, or whatever it was I needed at every precise individual moment through the hours of 2:45 am and 9:05am (when, squeezing Lindsey's and my nurse Kelly's hands and bearing down with every fiber of my strength, I pushed our gorgeous, chubby, screaming baby Ollie out into the world), she had my back. I feel so much gratitude to her for invaluably shaping the experience that I call to mind frequently, of when I did just what I had set out to do."
"She was so helpful, I couldn't have had the birth I wanted without her."
I sincerely believe that Lindsey's presence was a blessing to us as a family.
"My wife and I did vast amounts of research on anything that would help prepare us for the birth of our first child. We actually met Lindsey in a Hypno-birthing class a month or so prior to the birth. We chose Hypno-birthing simply due to the fact that we wanted to keep the birth as natural as possible with little to no interventions. After our class had ended, we decided to work with Lindsey and have her attend the birth of our child. Three words to describe working with Lindsey, "Best Decision Ever"! Our birth plan was very well thought out and we wanted to try and accommodate that in any way we could. Her presence was not only helpful from a physical standpoint but, an emotional one too. Lindsey helped my wife and I with changing positions, taking care of beverages, and helped my wife move around while in labor. She was very much a necessity from an emotional standpoint. She spoke softly and used affirmations that were part of our birth plan. She helped block out the undesired sounds and voices to make the room environment more accommodating to our plan. Lindsey was with my wife and I all the way through and I personally, am so glad that we decided to work with her. Lindsey is just a very knowledgeable person. She helped us with concerns and questions prior to the birth and also followed up after our child was born.
As a man, I truly thought that I was prepared individually. I practiced our affirmations, read our birth plan front to back probably a hundred times. What I've learned from the birth of our child is that, if you want your plan to work as smoothly and as accurately as possible, make sure your wife is emotionally sound. I sincerely believe that Lindsey's presence was a blessing to us as a family. She was so kind, and helped in so many ways, both emotionally and physically. If we ever have another child, I will absolutely request Lindsey to be there and I highly recommend her experience as a Doula to anyone having a baby."
Lindsey did a great job listening to our needs and providing support.
"We decided to hire a doula for the birth of our second baby because we wanted extra support, another person to help with ideas, advice, and comfort measures. We chose to work with Lindsey because we felt she was open and flexible. Her ideas about birth seemed to fit well with ours. I expected a quiet, positive environment. I wanted to feel prepared for all sorts of possibilities. I wanted my care team to be knowledgable and supportive. I feel the prenatal meeting was important to discuss expectations and discuss the birth plan. I found Lindsey to be especially helpful when supporting me with my decision to have the version when my baby turned breech, as well as attending the procedure. During the birth, I really appreciated her words and ideas. I also received much relief from the counter pressure on my back. Lindsey did a great job listening to our needs and providing support. I would absolutely recommend Lindsey to a friend or relative. I think having a doula is extremely helpful and Lindsey was great!"
"We cannot begin to express how thankful we were for Lindsey. She was able to address our needs, offer suggestions, and provide emotional/pain management support. Her calming demeanor, "find your breath," "slow down," was a HUGE help. I don't think that we could have completed a natural birth without her support, and we are very thankful.
I am so thankful that Lindsey was only a text away when I knew something wasn't right and I needed someone to talk to.
"As I have recently reflected back on the birth of my son Brennan, I am thankful that I chose to work with Lindsey. My birth plan included waiting on an epidural as long as I could, but leaving the option open. Lindsey was supportive of this flexibility before the birth and during when I decided to get an epidural. Brennan's birth did not go as planned to say the least - I never expected to have a C-section and when they recommended it after I ended up getting an infection I was shocked. Having a Doula who had experienced two c-section births by my side was a blessing, and I asked if she could also be in the surgery with my husband and I. In addition to a traumatic birth experience, I was dealing with in impending death in the family and my son needed to be in the NICU for a week. Postpartum depression set in almost immediately and I can honestly say that was the hardest week of my life. I am so thankful that Lindsey was only a text away when I knew something wasn't right and I needed someone to talk to. In addition, she sat down with me weeks after Brennan was born to walk through my birth story and help me find some closure. My husband and I both want to thank you for your support, Lindsey! I believe it was meant to be that we worked together and I am truly thankful."
Her guiding words were calming, reassuring, and encouraging.
"I could not have had an un-medicated birth without Lindsey as my doula.
My 2 previous births happened the exact same way; I went through the same symptoms and everything went very smoothly. With these two births I used an epidural. I had expected my third birth to go the same way except with no medication, of course this is not what happened. With my 2 previous births I did not have a single contraction before the day of delivery. With this birth I ended up being at the hospital for an entire day with contractions that did not further along the birthing process so I ended up going home. Lindsey was amazing and stayed by my side that entire day. It was very reassuring to have her there by my side. She explained medical decisions, made sure I stayed fed and hydrated, and we went through many different techniques to try and further the birthing process.
There was a week in between this false alarm day and when I actually gave birth and Lindsey checked in on me many times making sure I was ok and asking for updates. I felt supported and she took some of my worries away. The day of the birth did not go as I had anticipated either. I was leaking amniotic fluid and had to be induced. Even though absolutely nothing was wrong I was still worried. Lindsey was there for me during this time. When my contractions got extremely painful she guided me through them. She knew exactly where to give me a massage to ease my pain and her guiding words were calming, reassuring and encouraging.
Giving birth was overwhelming even though it was my third time. Everything I had read or researched I could not remember. I needed Lindsey there to tell me how to sit, how to breathe, what I should anticipate feeling, and explain to me what the doctors and nurses were doing. For my prior two births I had not used a doula, my husband and I both agree it was a much better experience with Lindsey there."


YOU usually only get the true measure of a person when you meet them face to face.
And so it was for me when I first interviewed erstwhile Prime Minister Tony Blair, soon after his election victory in 1997.
I had briefly met Mr Blair two years earlier in Glasgow while he was celebrating Labour's landslide wins in the local council elections. He was triumphant, beaming and pressing flesh in every direction. The Scottish faithful loved him.
I had helped elect him and his Labour Government on 1 May 1997, thus ending 18 years of Thatcherism and Majorism and the class-ridden Tory ruination of our country.
Like millions of others I was now hopeful for a brighter and more socially equal future… after all, things could only get better!
So when, in early December I was asked by my news editor at the Sunday Sun (a North of England Sunday tabloid, not to be confused with the rag the Sun on Sunday!) if I would like to interview the new Prime Minister on his return to his Sedgefield constituency, I jumped at the chance.
On a sunny Saturday morning, armed with a hand-held tape recorder and full of questions I made my way to the Labour Club in Trimdon in County Durham.
The club was full with the local faithful and many more had gathered outside. Here was the return of the conquering hero.
Looking tall in a dark suit, white shirt and equally dark blue tie, Mr Blair addressed the audience inside the club about his hopes and plans for a New Labour Britain. It was typical political rhetoric, the type I had heard many times from other party leaders. But Blair was convincing and comfortable in the knowledge that he was among friends.
He finished to a standing ovation and began to mingle with party activists.
I approached his agent John Burton and requested a few minutes of the PM's time for an interview which I could guarantee we would run the next day.
Ten minutes later John tapped me on the shoulder and told me Mr Blair was ready for 'a chat'.
Asked if stalwarts in his constituency shared many fellow Labour MPs' fears over benefit cuts, he became slightly more agitated.
Then in words which could have come straight from Conservative Central Office he gave a stark indication that the disabled and sick would be the next to face an overhaul of their benefits.
"We spend more on disabled and incapacity benefits than we do on the entire school system in the UK," he told me, before adding: "Benefit fraud – estimated at £4 to £5 billion a year – is enough to build 100 large hospitals.
We talked for another ten minutes before the Prime Minister moved away to the safety of his constituency friends.
This was my political watershed. Personally I felt my interview with Mr Blair was enlightening for many reasons.
Primarily because during the course of the conversation, Mr Blair avoided any eye contact and instead looked right through me, as if reading from an auto cue.
Secondly, because these were not the words, or message to the poorest in our society, that I was expecting from a new Labour Prime Minister. A Prime Minister charged with turning back almost two decades of Conservative pillage and division.
And finally, when all else failed, Mr Blair seemed to rely on cheap soundbites and a pre-learned script.
There was not one ounce of sincerity in anything he said.
And over the next four years, the actions and policies of Mr Blair's New Labour Government confirmed my worst fears.
While I still voted Labour in the June 2001 General Election, I had lost all confidence in this light blue successor to Thatcher or any dreams of a more socially fair country.
The events of post 9/11, Mr Blair's unswerving support of the moronic George W Bush, the illegal invasion of Afghanistan and the lies over the justification for war against Saddam Hussein and Iraq, finally nailed it.
I felt that like many, I had been caught in a web of lies and propaganda and lost in a smokescreen of rhetoric and deceit.
The poor were poorer, the rich got richer, and the innocent victims of Blair's wars lay charred and dead.
So by 2005, for the first time in my life I did NOT vote for any party or political leader.
That was nine years ago. Now sadly, just two weeks after the sad death of one true democratic socialist Tony Benn, I am still casting around for something and someone to believe in.
The fight for peace, social justice and the protection of the poorest and most vulnerable in our society must continue, but I don't believe one of our major political parties now has the will to do that.


Taking a step back into a plant colored world… This workshop will be filled with discussion, exploration, and a finished piece to take home. We will begin with a bit of history and origin of plant dye followed by discussion about fiber and using various solutions to achieve different results with dye solutions. We will cover ethics and regional options for plant dyestuff. We will dip a little into the lore and mystical realm of the plant properties–the medicinal and spiritual benefits of using this powerful process as part of a personal journey. We will quite literally get back to our roots! You will leave this workshop with tools, experience, and a beautiful talisman of the journey we create together.


KompoZer 0.7 (7.0 MB) is a web authorizing system with an easy-to-use WYSIWYG for web page editing. Features include tabbed interface, standard compliant HTML code, integrated FTP management, a powerful CSS editor; supports forms, tables, templates, etc. Freeware for Windows, Linux, Mac.
Absolute HTML Compressor Absolute HTML Compressor 1.11 (501 KB) is an award-winning tool that optimizes HTML files so that their size reduces. The program doesn't corrupt most HTML files unlike other optimizers. For Win9x/NT4/ME/2000. Freeware.
HTMLZip 1.03 HTMLZip 1.03 (261 kb) is a utility that creates compressed and protected html pages. True compression algorithm provides a size reduction of 20%-70% of the original file size. HTMLZip is compatible with MS Internet Explorer 4.0, 5.0, 5.5, Netscape Navigator 4.x, 6.0, Mozilla/M15-M17, and Opera 4.0 beta 2. Shareware $24.95.
Xtort.net Offers daily updates of 100's of pages which list 1000's of freeware alternatives to expensive Windows software.
Fractal Validates your HTML email across all the major email clients (i.e. Gmail, Hotmail, Outlook, Lotus Notes) and automatically fixes known email quirks and issues. The report also details fixes not applied to your code. Supports over 24 email clients and 100 CSS properties.
FindSticky.com Helps you to find the best FREE or almost free content on the Web to help you increase your site's stickiness. The site currently has 207 content providers listed, broken down into categories such as News headlines, free email, weather, games and more.
Completely FREE Software Freeware heaven! A fabulous selection of completely free Windows & DOS software - tested, reviewed and rated. Free weekly email newsletter, freeware CDs available, independent reviews, probably the largest freeware-only site on the Net.
Absolutelyfreebies.com A nice freebie site with useful webmaster, free services and freeware sections. Worth a visit.
Osalt.com A directory guide to the best open source software alternatives to popular and widely used commercial products. Open source alternatives are provided for ten major categories of software.
MajorGeeks.com A top shareware /freeware site run by geeks who take the time to install and test programs before listing them on their site. Over 25 major categories of applications to browse through. Surf on over for a look see.
DaveCentral A shareware site thats part of the Open Source Development Network. Dave's site has been around for awhile and is definitely one of the better shareware sites on the Web with a vast collection of Windows software and a growing collection of Linux software apps.
WebStuff4Free.com Another colorful freebies site with useful sections devoted to webmasters, Perl and AASP scripts and software. Site seems relatively new but has potential.
FreewareGenius.com One of the better freeware sites, providing detailed program descriptions as well as user and editorial comments. Definitely worth a visit.


"Exercise training, glucose transporters, and glucose transport in rat skeletal muscles."
Rodnick K.J., Henriksen E.J., James D.E., Holloszy J.O., Henriksen E.J.
"Cell surface labeling of glucose transporter isoform GLUT4 by bis-mannose photolabel. Correlation with stimulation of glucose transport in rat adipose cells by insulin and phorbol ester."
Holman G.D., Kozka I.J., Clark A.E., Flower C.J., Saltis J., Habberfield A.D., Simpson I.A., Cushman S.W.
"GLUT-4 translocation in skeletal muscle studied with a cell-free assay: involvement of phospholipase D."
Kristiansen S., Nielsen J.N., Bourgoin S., Klip A., Franco M., Richter E.A.
"Translocation of the Na+/H+ exchanger 1 (NHE1) in cardiomyocyte responses to insulin and energy-status signalling."
Lawrence S.P., Holman G.D., Koumanov F.
"MicroRNA-223 regulates Glut4 expression and cardiomyocyte glucose metabolism."
Lu H., Buchan R.J., Cook S.A.
"GLUT4 Mobilization Supports Energetic Demands of Active Synapses."
Ashrafi G., Wu Z., Farrell R.J., Ryan T.A.
"The diabetogenic effects of excessive ethanol: reducing beta-cell mass, decreasing phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase activity and GLUT-4 expression in rats."
Zhao L.N., Hao L.P., Yang X.F., Ying C.J., Yu D., Sun X.F.
"Proteomic Analysis of GLUT4 Storage Vesicles Reveals Tumor Suppressor Candidate 5 (TUSC5) as a Novel Regulator of Insulin Action in Adipocytes."
Fazakerley D.J., Naghiloo S., Chaudhuri R., Koumanov F., Burchfield J.G., Thomas K.C., Krycer J.R., Prior M.J., Parker B.L., Murrow B.A., Stoeckli J., Meoli C.C., Holman G.D., James D.E.
"Mitochondrial genome modulates myocardial Akt/Glut/HK salvage pathway in spontaneously hypertensive rats adapted to chronic hypoxia."
Nedvedova I., Kolar D., Elsnicova B., Hornikova D., Novotny J., Kalous M., Pravenec M., Neckar J., Kolar F., Zurmanova J.M.
"Transient changes in four GLUT4 compartments in rat adipocytes during the transition, insulin-stimulated to basal: implications for the GLUT4 trafficking pathway."
Hah J.S., Ryu J.W., Lee W., Kim B.S., Lachaal M., Spangler R.A., Jung C.Y.
"Translocation of the glucose transporter GLUT4 in cardiac myocytes of the rat."
Slot J.W., Geuze H.J., Gigengack S., James D.E., Lienhard G.E.
"Effect of transient ischemia on the expression of glucose transporters GLUT-1 and GLUT-4 in rat myocardium."
Tardy-Cantalupi I., Montessuit C., Papageorgiou I., Remondino-Muller A., Assimacopoulos-Jeannet F., Morel D.R., Lerch R.
"Insulin-stimulated cytosol alkalinization facilitates optimal activation of glucose transport in cardiomyocytes."
Yang J., Gillingham A.K., Hodel A., Koumanov F., Woodward B., Holman G.D.
"Insulin and okadaic acid induce Rab4 redistribution in adipocytes."
Cormont M., Tanti J.F., Zahraoui A., Van Obberghen E., Tavitian A., Le Marchand-Brustel Y.
"Identification and characterization of two distinct intracellular GLUT4 pools in rat skeletal muscle: evidence for an endosomal and an insulin-sensitive GLUT4 compartment."
Aledo J.C., Lavoie L., Volchuk A., Keller S.R., Klip A., Hundal H.S.
"Insulin increases the association of Akt-2 with Glut4-containing vesicles."
Calera M.R., Martinez C., Liu H., Jack A.K., Birnbaum M.J., Pilch P.F.
"Akt-2 binds to Glut4-containing vesicles and phosphorylates their component proteins in response to insulin."
"SNAP-23 participates in SNARE complex assembly in rat adipose cells."
St Denis J.-F., Cabaniols J.-P., Cushman S.W., Roche P.A.
"Insulin-induced translocation of the glucose transporter GLUT4 in cardiac muscle: studies on the role of small-molecular-mass GTP-binding proteins."
Uphues I., Kolter T., Goud B., Eckel J.
"Differential effects of insulin and exercise on Rab4 distribution in rat skeletal muscle."
Sherman L.A., Hirshman M.F., Cormont M., Le Marchand-Brustel Y., Goodyear L.J.
"Vp165 and GLUT4 share similar vesicle pools along their trafficking pathways in rat adipose cells."
Malide D., St-Denis J.F., Keller S.R., Cushman S.W.
It is a candidate for certain post-receptor defects in non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus.
Cited for: PHOSPHORYLATION [LARGE SCALE ANALYSIS] AT SER-10 AND SER-488, IDENTIFICATION BY MASS SPECTROMETRY [LARGE SCALE ANALYSIS].
"A glucose transport protein expressed predominately in insulin-responsive tissues."
Charron M.J., Brosius F.C. III, Alper S.L., Lodish H.F.
"Insulin-dependent interactions of proteins with GLUT4 revealed through stable isotope labeling by amino acids in cell culture (SILAC)."
Foster L.J., Rudich A., Talior I., Patel N., Huang X., Furtado L.M., Bilan P.J., Mann M., Klip A.
Cited for: INTERACTION WITH NDUFA9.
S77784 mRNA No translation available.


Three years ago I decided I would make sure I spent more time reading books than watching television. Since then I've read dozens of terrific books that have deepened my thinking, boosted my confidence in the Scriptures and strengthened my faith — and it's meant I've watched only the best quality and most enjoyable television, which I've therefore appreciated much more than before.
These are the books I've enjoyed most during the last 12 months. I hope you'll find at least one in this list that you'll appreciate. Why not make a similar pledge for 2018?
It's impossible to do justice to this book's themes here, but it's a slow and thoughtful exploration of place, belonging, fidelity and love. Both the author and main character have a Christian background but not necessarily a Christian faith, which adds an extra level of depth as you try to think through the many ideas presented in the novel. It's not a page-turner, but it would make an excellent literary read for a thoughtful secular or Christian book club.
Following a visit to Israel and Jordan in 2015, I've been fascinated by how people lived in biblical times. I've found that a clearer appreciation of everyday life has significantly deepened my appreciation of the biblical message. This is a slim but large format, lavishly illustrated paperback that gives fascinating insights into life in first-century Galilee and will deepen your understanding of the gospels.
This book's subtitle is How God is drawing Muslims around the world to faith in Jesus Christ. It's an astonishing read, a careful and nuanced account of an in-depth research project of nearly 70 Muslim movements to Christ, most of which are happening right now. The Muslim world is varied and complex, and converting from Islam is often fraught with dangers, which makes assessing stories of conversion extremely difficult. But Garrison is upfront about these difficulties and handles them well, often using testimonies of Muslim converts themselves. The book is far from triumphalistic but it is wonderfully encouraging.
This book contrasts the person and message of Jesus with the message behind various 'isms' of today — atheism, scientism, pluralism and so on. It not only gives a helpful primer of different secular worldviews but highlights the errors and weaknesses of each view by comparing them to what Jesus stands for and offers. It would be especially valuable for university students and others who frequently engage with non-Christian worldviews.
This was my favourite secular book of the year. Shipman, the political editor of the Sunday Times, has written a well-informed, balanced and fascinating book that's been well-received across the political spectrum. From a Christian perspective, it's fascinating to read how a few relatively small decisions or mistakes, made by a handful of people, made such a difference. History turns on small hinges and in the providence of God small victories can sometimes bring about great change. This should be a great encouragement to Christians who feel their community or nation is on an almost irresistible march away from the gospel.
A well-illustrated and very detailed book on the history of Jerusalem from the time of Ezra and Nehemiah through to Jerusalem's destruction four decades after Jesus' death. As it's a Jewish book rather than a Christian one, the time of Jesus' life gets no more attention than other periods, and the gospels are treated no differently to other first-century accounts. Nonetheless, it gives real insight into the varied and often complex beliefs and motivations of the background characters of the gospels, including Herod, the Pharisees, the scribes and chief priests, as well as the ordinary people.
I really benefitted from this book and am still applying its lessons. It explains how all of us can get alongside our brothers and sisters in Christ. The first half reminds us of our interdependence and need for one another, while the second half gives practical and biblical guidance. It's written for ordinary Christians who want to help, but perhaps don't know where to start. I loved its simplicity — I ended most chapters thinking, 'Yes, I could do that!'. Highly recommended for everyone.
Jesus and the Eyewitnesses is an academic work arguing for something most evangelicals instinctively believe, that the gospels were written by eyewitnesses, or by those who had spoken to eyewitnesses. Bauckham's interaction with non-evangelical scholarly viewpoints can be demanding, but it makes the book very useful for interacting with friends who have imbibed the popular myth that the four gospels are not reliable. It's scholarly, robust and fresh and while it has plenty of idiosyncrasies, its central premise is compelling.
It's rare to find a book so thoughtful, well-researched, challenging and thoroughly rooted in biblical principles. Reinke doesn't argue against smartphones or social media, but he does want Christians to be aware of their negatives so we can change our behaviour for the better. I consider myself a careful user of technology, but Reinke's book challenged me. I'd highly recommend it to any Christian who spends more than 15 minutes a day on their phone or using social media.
Without doubt, Seeking Allah, Finding Jesus was my favourite read of the year. Qureshi grew up in Scotland and the United States as a devout and happy Muslim, convinced of the superiority and beauty of Islam and its prophet, Mohammed. But in college he met Christians who challenged those beliefs, setting him on a quest to discover whether the Bible and Jesus were more trustworthy than the Qur'an and Mohammed. The book combines Qureshi's testimony with Christian apologetics and a primer on Islamic faith, which means you learn something on every page, without ever feeling you're being taught. Every Christian would benefit enormously from reading this book.