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Bedford, Bedfordshire, MK40 4NS Mon - Fri 9.00 - 18.00. Saturday & Sunday CLOSED
Phone: +44 (0) 1234 889 213 Email: info@workplacedoctors.co.uk
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Clients & Compliance
Doctors Guide to Working in Australia – Workplace Doctors
Resident / SHO, Registrar, Senior Registrar, General Practice, Specialist Doctor & Consultant – Doctor Jobs
Australia offers a fabulous setting in which to enjoy a medical sabbatical, an overseas elective or even a permanent medical career. From red deserts and green jungles to golden beaches and vibrant cities, there is really 'nothing like Australia'.
Australia consistently ranks as one of the world's best places to live in terms of income, human development, healthcare
and civil rights. It is the world's 13th-largest economy and has the world's sixth-highest per capita income. It is the sixth-largest country in the world by land mass, but it has a comparatively small population (circa 23 million), which is concentrated in and around metropolitan cities and coastal areas.
The vastness of the country means that there is a huge range of climates and lifestyle options. Whether you want to work regionally and buy a vineyard, surf every day, live by the ski fields or experience life in the unforgettable outback, we can help find the right job for you.
Explore what Australia has to offer by visiting Tourism Australia's website
Around the world Australia is known for its rich culture and diversity, not just amongst its people but also in its landscape. There are very few places in the world where you can find such a variety of climates and beautifully variable landscapes.
From the rich red sands surrounding majestic Uluru in Australia's Red Centre, steeped in its mystical Aboriginal heritage, to the crystal clear waters off Western Australia where you may chance an encounter with the beautiful (and totally harmless) Whale Shark…
From the lush forested ridges of the Great Dividing Range that stretch across the land from the south east all the way up the East Coast, and carry within them an abundance of unique wildlife, to the complex colourful corals that fill the Great Barrier Reef like magical underwater gardens.
Wherever you go, you are sure to find your own unique piece of Australia, full of a beauty that has to be seen to be believed.
And even when you look beyond the unmistakable beauty of Australia, you will find that Australia offers an uncrowded, unpolluted, modern and prosperous setting to enjoy a medical sabbatical, a fixed term clinical appointment or a permanent medical career.
Well known as a country that combines beauty and comfort with a sophisticated yet relaxed lifestyle, Australia remains the most popular destination in the world for doctors looking for a change.
Australia is divided into eight states/territories which, whilst maintaining themselves separately, function as one country under a federal government. Each state/territory boasts its own unique features and charms, and you can even find a range of climates depending on where you are based.
Working in Australia
Almost 70% of health expenditure in Australia is funded by government: The Australian Federal Government sets national health policies and subsidises health services which are provided by State and Territory Governments.
There are two major national subsidy schemes, Medicare and the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (,but many Australians (55% in 2012) also take out private health insurance, partly as it is tax-efficient to do so. The Australian Government provides a subsidy of approximately 30% to individuals who purchase private insurance, and further incentives include The Private Health Insurance Rebate and The Medicare Levy Surcharge. For further information, a useful Information Kit about Medicare's programmes and services is available on the Medicare Australia website.
Improving the health status of Australia's indigenous Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples is both a longstanding challenge and a priority for governments in Australia. The Office for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health (OATSIH), part of the Commonwealth Department of Health and Ageing, is committed to supporting sustained coordinated action to achieve health improvements over time for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Their vision for the future is health outcomes and health services for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples equal to that of the general Australian community, whereas there is currently a gap.
Time taken to gain registration and a visa to work in Australia will vary depending on type of registration applied for and seniority. SHOs and Registrars should allow 3-4 months after securing a position, but for Consultants and GPs this will take at least 6-8 months. The steps involved in gaining registration are outlined below, with further information on Immigration see below:
Stage 1: The AMC is responsible for ensuring that standards of education, training and assessment of the medical profession promote and protect the health of the Australian community. The AMC is also responsible for conducting Primary Source Verification of a Doctor's qualifications, click here for more information.
Stage 2: The relevant specialist college will assess the Doctor's comparability to an Australian trained Doctor, looking at their training and examinations in addition to their clinical experience. Doctors may be required to attend an interview in person or via Skype or video link.
Stage 3: AHPRA/ Medical Board of Australia are the final stage in the professional registration process and give final approval for a Doctor to practice in Australia, based on their own checks around good standing and that a Doctor meets all requirements, and has indeed been deemed competent to practice at the desired level in Australia.
After registration the next step in the process is for us to apply for a temporary visa for the Doctor and any accompanying and eligible dependants. For all Doctors we use the Temporary Work (Skilled) visa (Subclass 457). This gives the Doctor up to a 4 year visa (dependent on the length of their job offer), which can be renewed multiple times, each time for up to four years, and allows their partner and dependants to travel with them and live and work in Australia for the same duration. The application is submitted online and approved electronically. Further information is available from the Department of Immigration and Border Protection.
Source: www.border.gov.au
All Doctors must satisfy the requirements of the Medical Board of Australia's English Language Policy, which can be found here . If English is not your first language, and you didn't complete tertiary education in an English-speaking country, you will need to pass the Academic Module of the International English Language Testing System (IELTS). Tests can be taken regularly in test centres worldwide – please see the IELTS website for further details. There are a range of preparatory courses, practice papers and video tutorials available online. The Occupational English Test (OET) is another option, providing a valid assessment of all four language skills of healthcare professionals seeking to register and practise in an English-speaking environment require, with an emphasis on medical and health professional environments.
Living in Australia
Australia is the product of a unique blend of established traditions and new influences. Today Australia has a population of nearly 23 million people, with approximately 25% of the resident population comprised of people born overseas. The defining feature of Australia is not only the cultural diversity of its people, but the extent to which they are united by a unifying commitment to the country.
Australia has a vibrant arts scene that reflects both the nation's Indigenous cultural traditions and its rich tapestry of migrant cultures. All forms of visual and performing arts have strong followings, including film, art, theatre, dance and music. Australia is so large that it experiences most climatic conditions, from tropical monsoons to hot, dry weather and snow. Generally, however, the climate is warm and temperate, particularly in the major coastal cities. This relatively benign climate means people spend a good deal of time outdoors at beaches, in the countryside or on sporting fields.
There are lots of things to discover about living in Australia. You can start by taking a look at the tourism section on the Australian Government's website, and also by visiting the lifestyle page on the Immigration & Citizenship website.
A comprehensive overview of the cost of living in Australia can be found at the Aussiemove website, and a handy comparison site can also be found here.
For public sector work, salaries in Australia vary slightly from state to state and are based on fixed Government award rates. Salaries for a 1st year Consultant can start at $230,000 remuneration package and go up to $330,000 with allowances. A Clinical Director can earn over $400,000 (with allowances) in some locations. The table below outlines some approximate basic salaries (excluding overtime and on-call rates):
t is a fairly well publicised fact that in Australia you will generally find a work-life balance better than almost any other country in the world. Your working week is based around a standard 38 hours, and you will generally find that (based on department setup) you have a lot of control over just how much after hours and on call work you want to take on.
When you take a medical job in Australia – you will be contracted directly by the facility you work for. At no stage will you be an employee of Workplace Doctors (nor will we adjust your wages in any way, shape or form) and this means you will be paid the same rate as your Australasian colleagues – just another way that we make sure you get the best benefits you can from working with IMR.
Salaries in Australia can vary slightly from state to state, but each state's government regulates all doctors' salaries. These are all approximate figures for basic salaries in Australia – note that after overtime and on call work these salaries will be approximately 15-25% higher, and then you can factor in 'salary packaging' (scroll down for more info)
Career Level Basic Salary
(Australian $) Average Overtime
(Australian $) Gross Pay Total
(Australian $)
Resident / SHO 60,000 – 75,000 70,000 – 90,000 80,000 – 110,000
Registrar / Senior Registrar 75,000 – 110,000 85,000 – 140,000 100,000 – 180,000
General Practitioner 150,000 – 350,000 170,000 – 450,000 195,000 – 550,000
Consultant (Specialist) 150,000 – 350,000 170,000 – 450,000 195,000 – 550,000
Salaries may include all or some of the following elements (with the exact package dependent on location, seniority and specialty):
Professional Development Allowance
MotorVehicle Allowance
Private Practice Allowance
On-Call Allowance
ManagerialAllowance
Accommodation Allowance
Retention Allowance
As we mentioned earlier, your basic salary assumes a working week of 38 hours – anything after this will be paid at penalty rates (usually double-pay). So, in reality you have a fair amount of control over how much you earn based on exactly how many work hours you are willing to do. Most facilities will have some degree of flexibility when it comes to additional hours.
Tax Rates In Australia
For current tax rates please visit the Australian Taxation Office's website by clicking here
Salary packaging is a tax-minimisation system allowing all hospital employees in Australia to receive some of their salary tax free. This is often up to 30% of their gross wage. The basis of this is that hospital employees are exempt from 'Fringe Benefits Tax'. This is normally a tax on all rewards given to employees which do not form the cash component of their salary. Due to this special exemption for public hospital employees, there is the opportunity to 'sacrifice' some of your salary and receive it as fringe benefits, which is free from all forms of tax (including income tax).
The way this works in practice is that you designate a proportion of your income (up to a maximum of 30% of total salary in many hospitals) that is to be set aside for expenses. These can include things like your household mortgage or rent, petrol expenses, household utility bills, computers, holiday travel, all the way up to eating out at restaurants. On showing the receipts for these items, you can receive your income to the value of these receipts free of tax.
Most doctors try to package the maximum amount and so receive a significant proportion of their income tax free resulting in reducing their taxable income substantially. Before commencing work, you should contact your hospital and ask for further details about salary packaging as it can save you a lot of money.
In addition to salary packaging, most hospitals will give all doctors working in Australia the following benefits:
Sick Leave – up to 10 paid days per year
Annual Leave – up to 5 weeks paid leave per year
Superannuation (pension) – all doctors working in Australia receive superannuation payments to the value of at least 9.5% of their salary (this is paid in addition to your salary and is not deducted from it). All doctors who work temporarily in Australia may cash their superannuation earned when they leave to return to their home country.
Many hospitals will also provide subsidised meals, free or cheap accommodation and other perks
Australian cities offer a wide range of housing options, ranging from a house on a block of land in the suburb of a big city, to sleek city-centre apartments. Country towns and regional cities are smaller and widely separated. Renting a home is usually done through real-estate agents. A comprehensive guide to renting in every state in Australia can be found on the Australian Government's website here . It is also worth having a look at the following real estate websites to get an idea of what is available:
First National
The Australian school year runs from January to December, with four school terms. The longest holiday is over the Christmas period. Most educational institutions close for at least six weeks over the Christmas holidays. There are three other two-week school holidays during the year, in April, July and October.
The educational structure in Australia follows a three tier model that includes primary education, followed by secondary education (secondary schools/high schools) and tertiary education (universities and/or vocational education and training).
Australian universities are among the best in the world, with several in the Top 200 Jiao Tong University Ranking. An undergraduate degree course usually takes three years, but there are also double-degrees and post-graduate studies that take longer to complete. The Universities Admissions Centre (UAC) website has lots of useful information about the university application process and how it applies to international students.
Australian Government Medical Initiatives & Bodies:
Department of Health and Ageing (DoHA)
Doctor Connect
Health Care Provider Numbers
Medicare Australia
Specialist Medical Colleges:
Australasian Chapter of Palliative Medicine
Australasian College for Emergency Medicine
Australasian College of Dermatologists
Australian College of Rural and Remote Medicine
Australasian Faculty of Occupational and Environmental Medicine
Australasian Faculty of Public Health Medicine
Australasian Faculty of Rehabilitation Medicine
Australian and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists
College of Intensive Care Medicine of Australia and New Zealand
Royal Australasian College of Physicians (including the Paediatrics and Child Health Division)
Royal Australasian College of Surgeons
Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists
Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Ophthalmologists
Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists
Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Radiologists
Royal Australian College of General Practitioners
Royal College of Pathologists of Australasia
Royal New Zealand College of General Practitioners
Feel free to visit our jobs section to find the latest vacancies as per your grade & specialism.
If you require any further guidance,
get in touch, we'd love to hear from you.
Contact us on +(44) 1234 889213
Email: info@workplacedoctors.co.uk
Workplace Doctors is a specialist international medical recruitment agency solely focused on supplying healthcare professionals to hospital private healthcare organisations throughout the UK, Republic of Ireland, Saudi Arabia, Dubai and Australia.
+44 (0) 1234 889 213 info@workplacedoctors.co.uk www.workplacedoctors.co.uk Bedford, Bedfordshire, MK40 4NS
Doctors Guide to Working in the Republic of Ireland – Workplace Doctors
Doctors Guide to Working in the United Kingdom (UK) – Workplace Doctors
Doctors Guide to Working in United Arab Emirates (UAE) – Workplace Doctors
Doctors Guide to Working in Saudi Arabia – Workplace Doctors
Nurse / Midwife Guide to Working in the Republic of Ireland – Workplace Doctors
Nurse / Midwife Guide to Working in the United Kingdom (UK) – Workplace Doctors
Allied Health Professionals Guide to working in the United Kingdom (UK)
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"I was Bold in the Pursuit of Knowledge, never fearing to follow Truth and Reason to whatever results they led, and bearding every authority which stood in their way." Thomas Jefferson
TBP Journal
Patriots Notepad
Patriotic Perspectives
JWTs Journal
About TBP
If the Constitution Doesn't Matter…
Joseph Beverly, Guest Contributor
The Democrats support bills like restricting the size of ammunition magazines, expanding controls over who can buy guns, and limiting the types of guns that citizens can buy, even though the Constitution expressly forbids them from passing any such laws.
The EPA director uses a false email identity to hide her communications from public scrutiny. An entire network of three-letter agencies takes over Congressional functions and operates outside of Constitutional bounds as unaccountable lawmakers, enforcers, and judges in every area of life.
The president decides he doesn't care for certain laws and therefore won't enforce them, even though that is his job. He demands that private companies obey his wishes, and attacks those who don't.
The Congress votes on far-reaching laws without even reading them. The Supreme Court declares them to be Constitutional even though they are outside the functional areas delegated to the federal government. The Senate can't be bothered to consider a budget.
The Fourteenth Amendment guarantees equal treatment under the law, but the president casually waives the application of onerous legislation for companies he favors, sparing them massive cost and compliance burdens that their competitors must still bear.
The federal government refuses to carry out its Constitutional border control responsibility, and sues a state that tries to protect itself by enforcing existing federal law.
The Tenth Amendment reserves all undelegated powers to the states or the people, but the docile states take federal money and mostly operate as federal departments, not as independent and sovereign entities.
In 2008 our current president said we need a "civilian national security force" as large and well-funded as the U.S. military. Domestic agencies have now stockpiled over a billion rounds of ammunition, much of it hollow-point cartridges designed for close-combat use… inside the country?
Does the Constitution not matter anymore?
George Washington believed that
…the Constitution, which at any time exists 'till changed by an explicit and authentic act of the whole People, is sacredly obligatory upon all.
The means of changing it "by an explicit act of the whole People" are set forth in the document itself, and they don't include having a "living document" draw deeply on something that looks like a homemade cigarette, wander among the penumbras and emanations, and declare itself to mean something new, something never before imagined.
The only alternative is for it to be discarded, if not kept; there's no provision for it to be gently smudged into a slightly different set of "suggested guidelines" for each new administration. It has no severability clause allowing some pieces to be kept and others struck. Picking and choosing is not an option.
So has it been discarded? Are we in a post-Constitutional period, as Mark Levin suggests?
Let's take a stroll through a world where the Constitution no longer governs:
The first Article is gone. Well, look at that. We no longer have a Congress, and no one has the power to tax us for the responsibilities listed in Article I, Section 8. There is no Senate, and no House of Representatives. The smoke-filled cloakrooms can be aired out and turned into museum storage. The restaurants around the Capitol will have 535 fewer customers for lunch when the moving vans are gone, not counting reporters, lobbyists, and others who can go back to their hometowns and find real work.
Article II is gone. We no longer have a president. Whoever is living in the White House needs to pack up his family and go find a job; he's trespassing on someone else's property, and there's no Treasury to pay that pension he was counting on. Put the teleprompter on eBay and give the Japanese shotgun to someone who can actually point it at the skeet.
Article III is gone. That grand Supreme Court building is empty. The District of Columbia can use the building for a City Hall. Oops, the District of Columbia is gone, and we have a square section of land between the states that has no government. (Actually, that's not much of a change.)
The ACLU no longer has to worry about the Ten Commandments being displayed in a government building, since the building has outlasted the government. In fact, the ACLU may need to find real work too.
Article IV is gone. No new states can be admitted to the Union; of course, there's no Union left to be admitted to.
Article V? No need for rules to amend a discarded document. Article VI? The states can make their own treaties, and there's no more need for an oath to support the abandoned document.
And so it goes. If the Constitution no longer matters to the president, the Congress, or the Supreme Court, then it no longer matters. To anyone.
But that's the document that creates and defines the structure and role of the federal government itself. If we have no Constitution, then we have no federal government.
Perhaps those who refuse to honor the Constitution should consider where that road leads. This could have a serious impact on the housing market along the Potomac.
And without a federal government, who will bail out California?
Posted on January 19, 2014 by ClioPosted in Uncategorized
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One thought on "If the Constitution Doesn't Matter…"
Robert Arvay says:
Extremely well said, Joseph, and the double entendre is intended as a compliment.We the people no longer govern ourselves.The Constitution is but an inconvenience to the ruling class,and soon the last vestiges of it (the Constitution, that is) will vanish from the American politic.
Erik Rush: Full Contact

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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Dirty: Writing Sex Scenes Part Three
We've gotten over our jitters, and decided that we really do want that sex scene in the book. Now, what heat level should the scene be? And because the two coincide, how much detail?
Heat level, you ask? I'm happy to explain that. This is a quick post, as it should be a fairly easy decision.
There is no set scale for the heat level in romance novels. It's all subjective, and each writer and reader's taste determines what heat level they like. The following heat scale is sort of my own amalgamation of the ones I've seen on publishers' and reviewers' websites. It also hits on the level of detail to consider, so it's a dual-purpose deal.
Innocent- no sensuality
Sweet - subtle sensuality - kissing, no sex (or a 'behind closed doors' scene where sex is suggested rather than described)
Strong- strong sensuality - mildly described kissing and sex
Steamy - sensual kissing, more descriptive, detailed intimacy
Hot -graphic sensuality - graphic description, possibly multiple scenes
Vivid - very graphic sensuality - graphic sex, graphic detail, sometimes with multiple participants or non-traditional lifestyles (BDSM, fantasy fulfillment, partner swapping, etc.).
Any of these heat/detail levels can occur in any genre of book and should be pretty self-explanatory. If you're writing an Inspirational or Religious themed book, you're most likely not going to have a scene that could be described as Vivid. If you're writing erotica, however, you're probably not going to think in terms of an Innocent scene, except maybe in the beginning, perhaps when your characters first meet. Obviously, that's not always the case and is always up to you.
Finding the right heat level may not be a cut-and-dried process, but once you do, you're ready for the big step: actually writing that scene!


Hearing problems come in all shapes and sizes. Some hearing problems have an underlying medical cause. We are trained to pick up these problems, and will refer you to your GP immediately if there is any concern. Other hearing problems are just down to "wear and tear" – either due to exposure to loud sounds, or simply the passage of time, or a combination of the two.
Here are some common types of hearing loss.
Exposure to very loud sounds can lead to extra wear and tear on the delicate structures in the inner ear. In most cases the exposure to loud sounds happens over many years. People that are typically affected are those that worked in loud factories, military personnel and other marksmen, and musicians. Today there is much more awareness of the long term effects of loud sounds, but unfortunately it wasn't always so. In modern society we have a relatively new problem of exposure to loud music. One too many excessively loud rock concerts and headphones turned up too loud are putting people of all ages at risk.
This is a technical term for hearing loss due to ageing. It is by far the most common type of hearing loss. Mostly the inner ear is affected, and the high tones (birds chirping etc) go first. But other parts of the ear can be affected too, so there is no single pattern. The good news is that this type of hearing problem responds extremely well to intervention with hearing technology. So there is nothing stopping you from continuing to do all the things you enjoy.
If you've ever had a cold and felt like your ears were blocked up, you probably had a temporary conductive hearing loss. This type of hearing loss mostly affects the middle part of the ear, which is connected to the back of the throat via a passage called the Eustachian tube. Ear infections associated with colds and flu are the most common culprit. Most conductive hearing loss is temporary and treatable with medication, but there are some conditions that are more serious and require specialist intervention from an Ear Nose and Throat specialist. If in doubt, get your hearing checked sooner rather than later!
Many people think that their hearing problems are down to excess ear wax, but in fact that is seldom the case. Ear wax build up is a problem for some people, but even with a lot of ear wax usually there is enough of a gap for sound to get through. For excess ear wax to cause a hearing loss it has to have built up over a long time and become hard and impacted.
If you do have excess build up of wax, it is nonetheless a good idea to have it removed regularly. Some GP surgeries offer ear irrigation, or you can come to us to have it removed with a special technique called micro suction.


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Suppressing Growth Hormone in Early Adulthood May Prevent Cancer
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – A modest suppression of growth hormone and related compounds beginning in early adulthood may delay the onset or progression of several types of cancer, researchers from Wake Forest University School of Medicine and other centers reported today at ENDO 2005, the annual meeting of the Endocrine Society, in San Diego.
Suppression of growth hormone and insulin-like growth factor (IGF-1) also may decrease cancer risk in those individuals at high risk for disease, and perhaps could be a preventive measure, said William E. Sonntag. Ph.D., the lead investigator, who based his findings on research in rats.
He said IGF-1 is an important blood-borne factor that increases cell growth and prevents cell death and has been proposed to be a factor in the initiation of cancer.
"Elevated IGF-1 levels in pre-menopausal women have been demonstrated to be a risk factor for breast cancer as well as numerous other cancers," said Sonntag, professor of physiology and pharmacology at the School of Medicine, a part of Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center.
IGF-1 in the blood also may act as a tumor promoter during the early development of cancer, he said.
Although additional research is needed, he said, drugs in the somatostatin class are currently available to suppress growth hormone and IGF-1 in people, so somatostatin analogs could be given as preventative measures to lower plasma IGF-1 before the onset of disease, especially in high-risk people.
In a previous study, rats with high levels of growth hormone (a circulating factor that increases IGF-1 levels) exhibit an increase in spontaneous mammary tumors. Dwarf animals with 50 percent lower IGF-1 levels do not develop tumors in response to a chemical carcinogen. But Sonntag said that if these dwarf rats are given growth hormone to increase IGF-1 in the blood, tumors develop at the same rate as in the normal animals.
Suppression of IGF-1 activity inhibits the proliferation of numerous cell types and cancers. "IGF-1 levels in the blood can be reduced by low-calorie diets, which could be a mechanism for the diet-cancer relationship," said Sonntag, whose work explores the neurobiology of aging.
Previous studies in some animals indicate that a reduction in IGF-1 activity increases lifespan. To date, there are no studies of a specific suppression of IGF-1 on aging or age-related diseases.
In the current study, Sonntag found that a life-long deficiency of IGF-1 decreased cancer risk by approximately 45 percent and decreased cancer deaths by 12-15 percent.
"Besides reducing the incidence of cancer in these rats, we found that a modest suppression of plasma IGF-1 beginning shortly after puberty and continued throughout life reduces the incidence of kidney disease and increases lifespan," Sonntag said.
The research was supported by the National Institutes of Health, an American Federation of Aging/Pfizer grant, and the Claude D. Pepper Older Americans Independence Center at Wake Forest Baptist.
Media Contacts: Robert Conn, rconn@wfubmc.edu, Shannon Koontz, shkoontz@wfubmc.edu, or Karen Richardson, krchrdsn@wfubmc.edu, at 336-716-4587.
About Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center: Wake Forest Baptist is an academic health system comprised of North Carolina Baptist Hospital and Wake Forest University Health Sciences, which operates the university's School of Medicine. The system comprises 1,298 acute care, psychiatric, rehabilitation and long-term care beds and is consistently ranked as one of "America's Best Hospitals" by U.S. News & World Report.
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The Case Against Breast-Feeding
In certain overachieving circles, breast-feeding is no longer a choice—it's a no-exceptions requirement, the ultimate badge of responsible parenting. Yet the actual health benefits of breast-feeding are surprisingly thin, far thinner than most popular literature indicates. Is breast-feeding right for every family? Or is it this generation's vacuum cleaner—an instrument of misery that mostly just keeps women down?
Hanna Rosin
Jose Luis Pelaez / Getty Images
One afternoon at the playground last summer, shortly after the birth of my third child, I made the mistake of idly musing about breast-feeding to a group of new mothers I'd just met. This time around, I said, I was considering cutting it off after a month or so. At this remark, the air of insta-friendship we had established cooled into an icy politeness, and the mothers shortly wandered away to chase little Emma or Liam onto the slide. Just to be perverse, over the next few weeks I tried this experiment again several more times. The reaction was always the same: circles were redrawn such that I ended up in the class of mom who, in a pinch, might feed her baby mashed-up Chicken McNuggets.
In my playground set, the urban moms in their tight jeans and oversize sunglasses size each other up using a whole range of signifiers: organic content of snacks, sleekness of stroller, ratio of tasteful wooden toys to plastic. But breast-feeding is the real ticket into the club. My mother friends love to exchange stories about subversive ways they used to sneak frozen breast milk through airline security (it's now legal), or about the random brutes on the street who don't approve of breast-feeding in public. When Angelina Jolie wanted to secure her status as America's ur-mother, she posed on the cover of W magazine nursing one of her twins. Alt-rocker Pete Wentz recently admitted that he tasted his wife, Ashlee Simpson's, breast milk ("soury" and "weird"), after bragging that they have a lot of sex—both of which must have seemed to him markers of a cool domestic existence.
From the moment a new mother enters the obstetrician's waiting room, she is subjected to the upper-class parents' jingle: "Breast Is Best." Parenting magazines offer "23 Great Nursing Tips," warnings on "Nursing Roadblocks," and advice on how to find your local lactation consultant (note to the childless: yes, this is an actual profession, and it's thriving). Many of the stories are accompanied by suggestions from the ubiquitous parenting guru Dr. William Sears, whose Web site hosts a comprehensive list of the benefits of mother's milk. "Brighter Brains" sits at the top: "I.Q. scores averaging seven to ten points higher!" (Sears knows his audience well.) The list then moves on to the dangers averted, from infancy on up: fewer ear infections, allergies, stomach illnesses; lower rates of obesity, diabetes, heart disease. Then it adds, for good measure, stool with a "buttermilk-like odor" and "nicer skin"—benefits, in short, "more far-reaching than researchers have even dared to imagine."
In 2005, Babytalk magazine won a National Magazine Award for an article called "You Can Breastfeed." Given the prestige of the award, I had hoped the article might provide some respite from the relentlessly cheerful tip culture of the parenting magazines, and fill mothers in on the real problems with nursing. Indeed, the article opens with a promisingly realistic vignette, featuring a theoretical "You" cracking under the strain of having to breast-feed around the clock, suffering "crying jags" and cursing at your husband. But fear not, You. The root of the problem is not the sudden realization that your ideal of an equal marriage, with two parents happily taking turns working and raising children, now seems like a farce. It turns out to be quite simple: You just haven't quite figured out how to fit "Part A into Part B." Try the "C-hold" with your baby and some "rapid arm movement," the story suggests. Even Dr. Sears pitches in: "Think 'fish lips,'" he offers.
In the days after my first child was born, I welcomed such practical advice. I remember the midwife coming to my hospital bed and shifting my arm here, and the baby's head there, and then everything falling into place. But after three children and 28 months of breast-feeding (and counting), the insistent cheerleading has begun to grate. Buttermilk-like odor? Now Dr. Sears is selling me too hard. I may have put in fewer parenting years than he has, but I do have some perspective. And when I look around my daughter's second-grade class, I can't seem to pick out the unfortunate ones: "Oh, poor little Sophie, whose mother couldn't breast-feed. What dim eyes she has. What a sickly pallor. And already sprouting acne!"
I dutifully breast-fed each of my first two children for the full year that the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends. I have experienced what the Babytalk story calls breast-feeding-induced "maternal nirvana." This time around, nirvana did not describe my state of mind; I was launching a new Web site and I had two other children to care for, and a husband I would occasionally like to talk to. Being stuck at home breast-feeding as he walked out the door for work just made me unreasonably furious, at him and everyone else.
In Betty Friedan's day, feminists felt shackled to domesticity by the unreasonably high bar for housework, the endless dusting and shopping and pushing the Hoover around—a vacuum cleaner being the obligatory prop for the "happy housewife heroine," as Friedan sardonically called her. When I looked at the picture on the cover of Sears's Breastfeeding Book—a lady lying down, gently smiling at her baby and still in her robe, although the sun is well up—the scales fell from my eyes: it was not the vacuum that was keeping me and my 21st-century sisters down, but another sucking sound.
Still, despite my stint as the postpartum playground crank, I could not bring myself to stop breast-feeding—too many years of Sears's conditioning, too many playground spies. So I was left feeling trapped, like many women before me, in the middle-class mother's prison of vague discontent: surly but too privileged for pity, breast-feeding with one hand while answering the cell phone with the other, and barking at my older kids to get their own organic, 100 percent juice—the modern, multitasking mother's version of Friedan's "problem that has no name."
And in this prison I would have stayed, if not for a chance sighting. One day, while nursing my baby in my pediatrician's office, I noticed a 2001 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association open to an article about breast-feeding: "Conclusions: There are inconsistent associations among breastfeeding, its duration, and the risk of being overweight in young children." Inconsistent? There I was, sitting half-naked in public for the tenth time that day, the hundredth time that month, the millionth time in my life—and the associations were inconsistent? The seed was planted. That night, I did what any sleep-deprived, slightly paranoid mother of a newborn would do. I called my doctor friend for her password to an online medical library, and then sat up and read dozens of studies examining breast-feeding's association with allergies, obesity, leukemia, mother-infant bonding, intelligence, and all the Dr. Sears highlights.
After a couple of hours, the basic pattern became obvious: the medical literature looks nothing like the popular literature. It shows that breast-feeding is probably, maybe, a little better; but it is far from the stampede of evidence that Sears describes. More like tiny, unsure baby steps: two forward, two back, with much meandering and bumping into walls. A couple of studies will show fewer allergies, and then the next one will turn up no difference. Same with mother-infant bonding, IQ, leukemia, cholesterol, diabetes. Even where consensus is mounting, the meta studies—reviews of existing studies—consistently complain about biases, missing evidence, and other major flaws in study design. "The studies do not demonstrate a universal phenomenon, in which one method is superior to another in all instances," concluded one of the first, and still one of the broadest, meta studies, in a 1984 issue of Pediatrics, "and they do not support making a mother feel that she is doing psychological harm to her child if she is unable or unwilling to breastfeed." Twenty-five years later, the picture hasn't changed all that much. So how is it that every mother I know has become a breast-feeding fascist?
Like many babies of my generation, I was never breast-fed. My parents were working-class Israelis, living in Tel Aviv in the '70s and aspiring to be modern. In the U.S., people were already souring on formula and passing out No NestlÉ buttons, but in Israel, Nestlé formula was the latest thing. My mother had already ditched her fussy Turkish coffee for Nescafé (just mix with water), and her younger sister would soon be addicted to NesQuik. Transforming soft, sandy grains from solid to magic liquid must have seemed like the forward thing to do. Plus, my mom believed her pediatrician when he said that it was important to precisely measure a baby's food intake and stick to a schedule. (To this day she pesters me about whether I'm sure my breast-fed babies are getting enough to eat; the parenting magazines would classify her as "unsupportive" and warn me to stay away.)
Formula grew out of a late-19th-century effort to combat atrocious rates of infant mortality by turning infant feeding into a controlled science. Pediatrics was then a newly minted profession, and for the next century, the men who dominated it would constantly try to get mothers to welcome "enlightenment from the laboratory," writes Ann Hulbert in Raising America. But now and again, mothers would fight back. In the U.S., the rebellion against formula began in the late '50s, when a group of moms from the Chicago suburbs got together to form a breast-feeding support group they called La Leche League. They were Catholic mothers, influenced by the Christian Family Movement, who spoke of breast-feeding as "God's plan for mothers and babies." Their role model was the biblical Eve ("Her baby came. The milk came. She nursed her baby," they wrote in their first, pamphlet edition of The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding, published in 1958).
They took their league's name, La Leche, from a shrine to the Madonna near Jacksonville, Florida, called Nuestra Señora de La Leche y Buen Parto, which loosely translates into "Our Lady of Happy Delivery and Plentiful Milk." A more forthright name was deemed inappropriate: "You didn't mention breast in print unless you were talking about Jean Harlow," said co-founder Edwina Froehlich. In their photos, the women of La Leche wear practical pumps and high-neck housewife dresses, buttoned to the top. They saw themselves as a group of women who were "kind of thinking crazy," said co-founder Mary Ann Cahill. "Everything we did was radical."
La Leche League mothers rebelled against the notion of mother as lab assistant, mixing formula for the specimen under her care. Instead, they aimed to "bring mother and baby together again." An illustration in the second edition shows a woman named Eve—looking not unlike Jean Harlow—exposed to the waist and caressing her baby, with no doctor hovering nearby. Over time the group adopted a feminist edge. A 1972 publication rallies mothers to have "confidence in themselves and their sisters rather than passively following the advice of licensed professionals." As one woman wrote in another league publication, "Yes, I want to be liberated! I want to be free! I want to be free to be a woman!"
In 1971, the Boston Women's Health Book Collective published Our Bodies, Ourselves, launching a branch of feminism known as the women's-health movement. The authors were more groovy types than the La Leche League moms; they wore slouchy jeans, clogs, and bandanas holding back waist-length hair. But the two movements had something in common; Our Bodies also grew out of "frustration and anger" with a medical establishment that was "condescending, paternalistic, judgmental and non-informative." Teaching women about their own bodies would make them "more self-confident, more autonomous, stronger," the authors wrote. Breasts were not things for men to whistle and wink at; they were made for women to feed their babies in a way that was "sensual and fulfilling." The book also noted, in passing, that breast-feeding could "strengthen the infant's resistance to infection and disease"—an early hint of what would soon become the national obsession with breast milk as liquid vaccine.
Pediatricians have been scrutinizing breast milk since the late 1800s. But the public didn't pay much attention until an international scandal in the '70s over "killer baby bottles." Studies in South America and Africa showed that babies who were fed formula instead of breast milk were more likely to die. The mothers, it turned out, were using contaminated water or rationing formula because it was so expensive. Still, in the U.S., the whole episode turned breast-feeding advocates and formula makers into Crips and Bloods, and introduced the take-no-prisoners turf war between them that continues to this day.
Some of the magical thinking about breast-feeding stems from a common misconception. Even many doctors believe that breast milk is full of maternal antibodies that get absorbed into the baby's bloodstream, says Sydney Spiesel, a clinical professor of pediatrics at Yale University's School of Medicine. That is how it works for most mammals. But in humans, the process is more pedestrian, and less powerful. A human baby is born with antibodies already in place, having absorbed them from the placenta. Breast milk dumps another layer of antibodies, primarily secretory IgA, directly into the baby's gastrointestinal tract. As the baby is nursing, these extra antibodies provide some added protection against infection, but they never get into the blood.
Since the identification of sIgA, in 1961, labs have hunted for other marvels. Could the oligosaccharides in milk prevent diarrhea? Do the fatty acids boost brain development? The past few decades have turned up many promising leads, hypotheses, and theories, all suggestive and nifty but never confirmed in the lab. Instead, most of the claims about breast-feeding's benefits lean on research conducted outside the lab: comparing one group of infants being breast-fed against another being breast-fed less, or not at all. Thousands of such studies have been published, linking breast-feeding with healthier, happier, smarter children. But they all share one glaring flaw.
An ideal study would randomly divide a group of mothers, tell one half to breast-feed and the other not to, and then measure the outcomes. But researchers cannot ethically tell mothers what to feed their babies. Instead they have to settle for "observational" studies. These simply look for differences in two populations, one breast-fed and one not. The problem is, breast-fed infants are typically brought up in very different families from those raised on the bottle. In the U.S., breast-feeding is on the rise—69 percent of mothers initiate the practice at the hospital, and 17 percent nurse exclusively for at least six months. But the numbers are much higher among women who are white, older, and educated; a woman who attended college, for instance, is roughly twice as likely to nurse for six months. Researchers try to factor out all these "confounding variables" that might affect the babies' health and development. But they still can't know if they've missed some critical factor. "Studies about the benefits of breast-feeding are extremely difficult and complex because of who breast-feeds and who doesn't," says Michael Kramer, a highly respected researcher at McGill University. "There have been claims that it prevents everything—cancer, diabetes. A reasonable person would be cautious about every new amazing discovery."
The study about obesity I saw in my pediatrician's office that morning is a good example of the complexity of breast-feeding research—and of the pitfalls it contains. Some studies have found a link between nursing and slimmer kids, but they haven't proved that one causes the other. This study surveyed 2,685 children between the ages of 3 and 5. After adjusting for race, parental education, maternal smoking, and other factors—all of which are thought to affect a child's risk of obesity—the study found little correlation between breast-feeding and weight. Instead, the strongest predictor of the child's weight was the mother's. Whether obese mothers nursed or used formula, their children were more likely to be heavy. The breast-feeding advocates' dream—that something in the milk somehow reprograms appetite—is still a long shot.
In the past decade, researchers have come up with ever more elaborate ways to tease out the truth. One 2005 paper focused on 523 sibling pairs who were fed differently, and its results put a big question mark over all the previous research. The economists Eirik Evenhouse and Siobhan Reilly compared rates of diabetes, asthma, and allergies; childhood weight; various measures of mother-child bonding; and levels of intelligence. Almost all the differences turned out to be statistically insignificant. For the most part, the "long-term effects of breast feeding have been overstated," they wrote.
Nearly all the researchers I talked to pointed me to a series of studies designed by Kramer, published starting in 2001. Kramer followed 17,000 infants born in Belarus throughout their childhoods. He came up with a clever way to randomize his study, at least somewhat, without doing anything unethical. He took mothers who had already started nursing, and then subjected half of them to an intervention strongly encouraging them to nurse exclusively for several months. The intervention worked: many women nursed longer as a result. And extended breast-feeding did reduce the risk of a gastrointestinal infection by 40 percent. This result seems to be consistent with the protection that sIgA provides; in real life, it adds up to about four out of 100 babies having one less incident of diarrhea or vomiting. Kramer also noted some reduction in infant rashes. Otherwise, his studies found very few significant differences: none, for instance, in weight, blood pressure, ear infections, or allergies—some of the most commonly cited benefits in the breast-feeding literature.
Both the Kramer study and the sibling study did turn up one interesting finding: a bump in "cognitive ability" among breast-fed children. But intelligence is tricky to measure, because it's subjective and affected by so many factors. Other recent studies, particularly those that have factored out the mother's IQ, have found no difference at all between breast-fed and formula-fed babies. In Kramer's study, the mean scores varied widely and mysteriously from clinic to clinic. What's more, the connection he found "could be banal," he told me—simply the result of "breast-feeding mothers' interacting more with their babies, rather than of anything in the milk."
The IQ studies run into the central problem of breast-feeding research: it is impossible to separate a mother's decision to breast-feed—and everything that goes along with it—from the breast-feeding itself. Even sibling studies can't get around this problem. With her first child, for instance, a mother may be extra cautious, keeping the neighbor's germy brats away and slapping the nurse who gives out the free formula sample. By her third child, she may no longer breast-feed—giving researchers the sibling comparison that they crave—but many other things may have changed as well. Maybe she is now using day care, exposing the baby to more illnesses. Surely she is not noticing that kid No.2 has the baby's pacifier in his mouth, or that the cat is sleeping in the crib (trust me on this one). She is also not staring lovingly into the baby's eyes all day, singing songs, reading book after infant book, because she has to make sure that the other two kids are not drowning each other in the tub. On paper, the three siblings are equivalent, but their experiences are not.
What does all the evidence add up to? We have clear indications that breast-feeding helps prevent an extra incident of gastrointestinal illness in some kids—an unpleasant few days of diarrhea or vomiting, but rarely life-threatening in developed countries. We have murky correlations with a whole bunch of long-term conditions. The evidence on IQs is intriguing but not all that compelling, and at best suggests a small advantage, perhaps five points; an individual kid's IQ score can vary that much from test to test or day to day. If a child is disadvantaged in other ways, this bump might make a difference. But for the kids in my playground set, the ones whose mothers obsess about breast-feeding, it gets lost in a wash of Baby Einstein videos, piano lessons, and the rest. And in any case, if a breast-feeding mother is miserable, or stressed out, or alienated by nursing, as many women are, if her marriage is under stress and breast-feeding is making things worse, surely that can have a greater effect on a kid's future success than a few IQ points.
So overall, yes, breast is probably best. But not so much better that formula deserves the label of "public health menace," alongside smoking. Given what we know so far, it seems reasonable to put breast-feeding's health benefits on the plus side of the ledger and other things—modesty, independence, career, sanity—on the minus side, and then tally them up and make a decision. But in this risk-averse age of parenting, that's not how it's done.
In the early '90s, a group of researchers got together to revise the American Academy of Pediatrics' policy statement on breast-feeding. They were of the generation that had fought the formula wars, and had lived through the days when maternity wards automatically gave women hormone shots to stop the flow of breast milk. The academy had long encouraged mothers to make "every effort" to nurse their newborns, but the researchers felt the medical evidence justified a stronger statement. Released in 1997, the new policy recommended exclusive breast-feeding for six months, followed by six more months of partial breast-feeding, supplemented with other foods. The National Organization for Women complained that this would tax working mothers, but to no avail. "The fact that the major pediatric group in the country was taking a definitive stance made all the difference," recalls Lawrence Gartner, a pediatrician and neonatologist at the University of Chicago, and the head of the committee that made the change. "After that, every major organization turned the corner, and the popular media changed radically."
In 2004, the Department of Health and Human Services launched the National Breastfeeding Awareness Campaign. The ads came out just after my second child was born, and were so odious that they nearly caused me to wean him on the spot. One television ad shows two hugely pregnant women in a logrolling contest, with an audience egging them on. "You wouldn't take risks before your baby is born," reads the caption. "Why start after?" The screen then flashes: "Breastfeed exclusively for 6 months." A second spot shows a pregnant woman—this time African American—riding a mechanical bull in a bar while trying to hold on to her huge belly. She falls off the bull and the crowd moans.
To convey the idea that failing to breast-feed is harmful to a baby's health, the print ads show ordinary objects arranged to look like breasts: two dandelions (respiratory illness), two scoops of ice cream with cherries on top (obesity), two otoscopes (ear infections). Plans were made to do another ad showing rubber nipples on top of insulin syringes (suggesting that bottle-feeding causes diabetes), but then someone thought better of it. The whole campaign is so knowing, so dripping with sexual innuendo and condescension, that it brings to mind nothing so much as an episode of Mad Men, where Don Draper and the boys break out the whiskey at day's end to toast another victory over the enemy sex.
What's most amazing is how, 50 years after La Leche League's founding, "enlightenment from the laboratory"—judgmental and absolutist—has triumphed again. The seventh edition of The Womanly Art, published in 2004, has ballooned to more than 400 pages, and is filled with photographs in place of the original hand drawings. But what's most noticeable is the shift in attitude. Each edition of the book contains new expert testimony about breast milk as an "arsenal against illness." "The resistance to disease that human milk affords a baby cannot be duplicated in any other way," the authors scold. The experience of reading the 1958 edition is like talking with your bossy but charming neighbor, who has some motherly advice to share. Reading the latest edition is like being trapped in the office of a doctor who's haranguing you about the choices you make.
In her critique of the awareness campaign, Joan Wolf, a women's-studies professor at Texas A&M University, chalks up the overzealous ads to a new ethic of "total motherhood." Mothers these days are expected to "optimize every dimension of children's lives," she writes. Choices are often presented as the mother's selfish desires versus the baby's needs. As an example, Wolf quotes What to Expect When You're Expecting, from a section called the "Best-Odds Diet," which I remember quite well: "Every bite counts. You've got only nine months of meals and snacks with which to give your baby the best possible start in life … Before you close your mouth on a forkful of food, consider, 'Is this the best bite I can give my baby?' If it will benefit your baby, chew away. If it'll only benefit your sweet tooth or appease your appetite put your fork down." To which any self-respecting pregnant woman should respond: "I am carrying 35 extra pounds and my ankles have swelled to the size of a life raft, and now I would like to eat some coconut-cream pie. So you know what you can do with this damned fork."
About seven years ago, I met a woman from Montreal, the sister-in-law of a friend, who was young and healthy and normal in every way, except that she refused to breast-feed her children. She wasn't working at the time. She just felt that breast-feeding would set up an unequal dynamic in her marriage—one in which the mother, who was responsible for the very sustenance of the infant, would naturally become responsible for everything else as well. At the time, I had only one young child, so I thought she was a kooky Canadian—and selfish and irresponsible. But of course now I know she was right. I recalled her with sisterly love a few months ago, at three in the morning, when I was propped up in bed for the second time that night with my new baby (note the my). My husband acknowledged the ripple in the nighttime peace with a grunt, and that's about it. And why should he do more? There's no use in both of us being a wreck in the morning. Nonetheless, it's hard not to seethe.
The Bitch in the House, published in 2002, reframed The Feminine Mystique for my generation of mothers. We were raised to expect that co-parenting was an attainable goal. But who were we kidding? Even in the best of marriages, the domestic burden shifts, in incremental, mostly unacknowledged ways, onto the woman. Breast-feeding plays a central role in the shift. In my set, no husband tells his wife that it is her womanly duty to stay home and nurse the child. Instead, both parents together weigh the evidence and then make a rational, informed decision that she should do so. Then other, logical decisions follow: she alone fed the child, so she naturally knows better how to comfort the child, so she is the better judge to pick a school for the child and the better nurse when the child is sick, and so on. Recently, my husband and I noticed that we had reached the age at which friends from high school and college now hold positions of serious power. When we went down the list, we had to work hard to find any women. Where had all our female friends strayed? Why had they disappeared during the years they'd had small children?
The debate about breast-feeding takes place without any reference to its actual context in women's lives. Breast-feeding exclusively is not like taking a prenatal vitamin. It is a serious time commitment that pretty much guarantees that you will not work in any meaningful way. Let's say a baby feeds seven times a day and then a couple more times at night. That's nine times for about a half hour each, which adds up to more than half of a working day, every day, for at least six months. This is why, when people say that breast-feeding is "free," I want to hit them with a two-by-four. It's only free if a woman's time is worth nothing.
That brings us to the subject of pumping. Explain to your employer that while you're away from your baby, "you will need to take breaks throughout the day to pump your milk," suggest the materials from the awareness campaign. Demand a "clean, quiet place" to pump, and a place to store the milk. A clean, quiet place. So peaceful, so spa-like. Leave aside the preposterousness of this advice if you are, say, a waitress or a bus driver. Say you are a newspaper reporter, like I used to be, and deadline is approaching. Your choices are (a) leave your story to go down to the dingy nurse's office and relieve yourself; or (b) grow increasingly panicked and sweaty as your body continues on its merry, milk-factory way, even though the plant shouldn't be operating today and the pump is about to explode. And then one day, the inevitable will happen. You will be talking to a male colleague and saying to yourself, "Don't think of the baby. Please don't think of the baby." And then the pump will explode, and the stigmata will spread down your shirt as you rush into the ladies' room.
This year alone I had two friends whose babies could not breast-feed for one reason or another, so they mostly had to pump. They were both first-time mothers who had written themselves dreamy birth plans involving hot baths followed by hours of intimate nursing. When that didn't work out, they panicked about their babies' missing out on the milky elixir. One of them sat on my couch the other day hooked up to tubes and suctions and a giant deconstructed bra, looking like some fetish ad, or a footnote from the Josef Mengele years. Looking as far as humanly possible from Eve in her natural, feminine state.
In his study on breast-feeding and cognitive development, Michael Kramer mentions research on the long-term effects of mother rats' licking and grooming their pups. Maybe, he writes, it's "the physical and/or emotional act of breastfeeding" that might lead to benefits. This is the theory he prefers, he told me, because "it would suggest something the formula companies can't reproduce." No offense to Kramer, who seems like a great guy, but this gets under my skin. If the researchers just want us to lick and groom our pups, why don't they say so? We can find our own way to do that. In fact, by insisting that milk is some kind of vaccine, they make it less likely that we'll experience nursing primarily as a loving maternal act—"pleasant and relaxing," in the words of Our Bodies, Ourselves and more likely that we'll view it as, well, dispensing medicine.
I continue to breast-feed my new son some of the time—but I don't do it slavishly. When I am out for the day working, or out with friends at night, he can have all the formula he wants, and I won't give it a second thought. I'm not really sure why I don't stop entirely. I know it has nothing to do with the science; I have no grandiose illusions that I'm making him lean and healthy and smart with my milk. Nursing is certainly not pure pleasure, either; often I'm tapping my foot impatiently, waiting for him to finish. I do it partly because I can get away with breast-feeding part-time. I work at home and don't punch a clock, which is not the situation of most women. Had I been more closely tied to a workplace, I would have breast-fed during my maternity leave and then given him formula exclusively, with no guilt.
My best guess is something I can't quite articulate. Breast-feeding does not belong in the realm of facts and hard numbers; it is much too intimate and elemental. It contains all of my awe about motherhood, and also my ambivalence. Right now, even part-time, it's a strain. But I also know that this is probably my last chance to feel warm baby skin up against mine, and one day I will miss it.
Hanna Rosin is a contributing writer at The Atlantic and the author of The End of Men, which is based on her story in the July/August 2010 issue of The Atlantic.


Otto engines require an ignition spark in order to burn the air-fuel mixture in the combustion chamber. This spark is produced on the spark plug. The required high voltage transforms the ignition coil from the battery's electrical energy and makes it available.
The air-fuel mixture is ignited in the combustion chamber by an ignition spark. In order for the spark plug to produce the spark, an ignition voltage of approx. 30,000 Volt is required. This voltage is generated by the ignition coil from the 12 Volt voltage of the vehicle electrical system and transferred to the spark plug at the moment of ignition.
The ignition coil acts like a transformer. By means of two coils, one inside the other, the ignition coil transforms the electrical energy from the vehicle battery into high voltage, saves it briefly and then emits it as a high voltage current pulse to the spark plug.
The fuel rail made of plastic or stainless steel supplies fuel to the fuel injectors mounted directly on the fuel rail.
Connectors are used to connect control units, sensors and actuators with the cables of the vehicle electrical system.


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PRESIDENCY ORDERS CRACKDOWN ON BANDITS IN KATSINA
by Martins Ayotunde | May 18, 2020 | NEWS, Security | 0 comments
President Muhammadu Buhari has ordered a major military crackdown on bandits and kidnappers in Katsina state.
This was made known in a statement released on Sunday by the senior special adviser to the president on Media and Publicity, Mallam Garba Shehu.
Mallam Shehu revealed that the Chief of Defence Staff, General Gabriel Olonisakin, was currently working out the modus operandi of a major military operation to flush out bandits in Katsina State.
He said a major proactive operation by Special Forces was now in force, to replace the counter- strikes against insurgent camps in the state.
According to the statement, a planning team had been dispatched to the state, with the mandate to select targets and make preparations for the launch of an unprecedented operation.
The statement explained that Buhari expressed sadness over recent attacks in the state and condoled with the families of victims


IT'LL BE HARD to beat 2017's light show of the year — courtesy of the solar eclipse, of course — but as the winter holidays draw nigh, you'll have your choice of any number of illuminating events.
Stick close to home or venture as far as Jekyll Island on the Georgia coast, about five hours away if you set your cruise control to 60 mph. Um, right? Jekyll offers a Tour of Cottages, twinkly twilight tours and an ice-skating village.
Here are a few other options (in alphabetical order), whether you've been naughty or nice. We've broken them down in a couple of user-friendly ways: when the lights come on, "watt" it costs and what to know before you glow. Enjoy.
Mother Nature, natch, stars in "Nature's Wonders," a thousand strands of light suspended from the tops of the Storza Woods' hardwoods and the 30-acre Midtown site's canopy walk. The lights, with synchronized music and sound, are meant to evoke the planet's phenomena — ocean waves, thunderstorms, snowfalls and meteor showers.
Go to the great lawn for "Orchestral Orbs" and giant candles. Take the Tunnel of Light and bathe in cool hues of green, blue and teal. Restaurants and s'mores-making stations are open late, so you can nosh between your oohs and ahhs.
LIGHTS ON: Nov. 11-Jan. 7. 5-10 p.m. Sunday-Thursday; 5-11 p.m. Friday-Saturday. 1345 Piedmont Ave. NE. 404.876.5859.
WATT IT COSTS: $14.95-$34.95; $5 less for Garden members. Premium, flex and value tickets available online. Deck parking is $5 weekdays; $10 on weekends or $5 for carloads of four or more. Details, tickets HERE.
KNOW BEFORE YOU GLOW: Piedmont Park shares the parking deck, so consider taking MARTA (Arts Center station) or another means of transport, especially on weekends.
The centerpiece at Atlantic Station is a 50-ft. tree.
You'll find 250,000 lights in an eight-block chunk of this live-work-play bright spot in Midtown. Nightly snowfalls are promised, plus ice-skating and an open door to Santa's cottage in Central Park. There are plenty of places to snack and shop here (don't miss the German Christkindl Market for gifts from Deutschland).
LIGHTS ON: Nov. 18, beginning at 8 p.m. with a parade and the lighting of a 50-ft. tree. Snowfalls at 6 p.m. Monday-Thursday & Sunday, and hourly (beginning at 6 p.m.) Friday-Saturday. Through Jan. 1. Find Atlantic Station off 17th Street, west of the Downtown Connector. Map it HERE.
WATT IT COSTS: Free self-parking for the first two hours. Valet parking available.
White lights snake through the gardens at Barnsley Resort in Adairsville.
Visit the 1840s — an era that saw five U.S. presidents, Conestoga wagons and the birth of baseball — at this storybook English-inspired village and garden in Adairsville, about 90 minutes northwest of downtown Atlanta.
The estate was built by Godfrey Barnsley for the love of his life, wife Julia. Today, it offers fine cuisine, golf, a sporting club, a spa, horseback riding and plenty of nature. The place will blaze with hundreds of lights at the historic Manor House Ruins, the gardens and surrounding village.
LIGHTS ON: Nov. 24-Jan. 7. Until 8 nightly, 597 Barnsley Garden Road, Adairsville. 770.773.7480. Map it HERE.
WATT IT COSTS: Self-guided garden tours $15; $10 for senior citizens and students; under 12 and overnight resort guests free. Depending on when you go, parking may be as much as $20.
KNOW BEFORE YOU GLOW: The gardens do close occasionally for private events, so check before you go.
Holidazzle lights, music and Santa in a wetsuit. All are part of the season in the aquarium's plaza and gallery areas. Splashy special events in the Ocean Ballroom include a holiday-themed Toddler Time (Dec. 4) and Breakfast With Santa (Dec. 16).
LIGHTS ON: Nov. 18-Dec 31 (hours vary so check the website HERE). Park at 357 Luckie St. Nearby MARTA stops include the Georgia Dome/GWCC/Philips Arena/CNN Center station, the Civic Center station or the Peachtree Center station. 404.581.4000.
WATT IT COSTS: $31.95; age 2 and under free. Discount/combo tickets HERE.
KNOW BEFORE YOU GLOW: Prepay for parking online and get $1 off the $10 fee.
A Woodstock city park by day, a walk-through wonderland by night. Holiday Lights of Hope features a 30-ft. Christmas tree and 17-ft. tall reindeer that spring from among its million-plus lights. Also here: a 120-ft. tunnel of lights, holiday backdrops for photo ops, a Christmas maze, carolers, games, bounce houses and a spot for making s'mores. The event benefits the Anna Crawford Children's Center, a nonprofit that serves families and victims of child abuse.
Woodstock's Holiday Lights of Hope benefits a nonprofit that serves families and victims of child abuse.
LIGHTS ON: Dec. 7-23, at 6 nightly. Hobgood Park, 6688 Bell's Ferry Road, Woodstock. No phone. Details HERE.
WATT IT COSTS: $10; age 14 and under free.
KNOW BEFORE YOU GLOW: Lights of Hope fills four fields with events, activities and lights, so smart revelers will wear comfortable shoes.
A million bulbs across a mile of the Life University campus have made this Marietta display, now in its 28th year, a seasonal tradition for lighting bugs. The 65-ft. tall Santa is one of the largest jolly giants in the Southeast. There's also a menorah and Nativity scene. Drive through the display or park and walk. While on foot, let the kids take a train or pony ride and/or visit the petting zoo.
LIGHTS ON: Nov. 23-Dec 31. 6-9 p.m. Monday-Thursday; 6-10 p.m. Friday-Sunday. 1269 Barclay Circle, Marietta. 78.331.4342.
WATT IT COSTS: $10 per car on weekends, and opening and closing weeks. $5 other evenings. $20 per bus every night. Children's activities $3-$5 each. Updates and more details HERE.
KNOW BEFORE YOU GLOW: Don't let your ho-ho-ho get hijacked by long entrance lines. There are two ways to get in — one on Cobb Parkway, another across campus on South Cobb Drive.
If y'all want to Yule at a working farm with Comet and Cupid (real reindeer), Pettit Creek in Cartersville is the place to go. The laid-back spot, about 84 minutes northwest of downtown Atlanta, includes a petting zoo with zebras and emus, and concessions that include hot chocolate and warm cider. See the sparkle from your windows or hop on a hayride. Santa is on-site Thursday-Sunday. Weekends feature a live Nativity. You can even grab a freshly cut Christmas tree.
LIGHTS ON: Nov. 23-Dec. 30. 6-9 p.m. Sunday-Thursday; 6-10 p.m. Friday-Saturday. 337 Cassville Road, Cartersville. 770.386.8688. Directions HERE.
WATT IT COSTS: $15 per car; hayrides another $12 per person (free for babies that are held). Group rates available. More details HERE.
KNOW BEFORE YOU GLOW: Planning a hayride? Bring blankets.
USA Today puts Stone Mountain Park on its list of the 10 best places to see Santa (he arrives via parade on select dates). While you wait, take in the park's 1 million bulbs (hung throughout the Christmas village), the special effects of the Skylight Spectacular, the tunnel of lights that creates Wonderland, a sing-along train, a 4-D Christmas movie and familiar characters at Rudolph's Merry Meet and Greet.
LIGHTS ON: Nov. 11-Jan 3. 1000 Robert E. Lee Blvd., Stone Mountain. 800.401.2407.
WATT IT COSTS: $31.95 and up. Christmas Adventure passes available. Some are combo tickets; some include all-day activity access. Details HERE.
KNOW BEFORE YOU GLOW: Reservations required for events. $15 parking permit or $40 annual pass needed to enter.
Still in the dark? Don't be. Other options include Lake Lanier's Magical Nights of Lights, a seven-mile glow show; Christmas at Callanwolde, with a 23-ft. tree and 37 billion color combinations choreographed to holiday classics; and Callaway Gardens in Pine Mountain, famous for its 8 million twinkles. Do you have a favorite light show? Email us, and tell us why: kathy@EncoreAtlanta.com.


Suede Schutz pumps styled with a scalloped top line and a pointed toe. Slim straps with buckle closures. Covered stiletto heel. Leather sole. Leather: Cowhide. Imported, Brazil. This item cannot be gift boxed. Measurements Heel: 4in / 100mm.


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Q: Cast MySQL Decimal data type type to c# float data type I have a Decimal data type column in my MySQL database and i am reading it with reader.Read() in my C# code. Now I need to cast it to C# float data type. How can I do it:
float fl = (float)reader[9]; throws System.InvalidCastException

A: You can try using Convert.ToSingle method
float fl = Convert.ToSingle(reader[9]);

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


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VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA, April 29, 2016 - Lupaka Gold Corp. ("Lupaka Gold" or "the Company") (TSX.V:LPK, FRA:LQP) reports financial results for the year ended December 31, 2015.
The following is taken from the Company's audited annual consolidated Financial Statements and Management's Discussion and Analysis for the year ended December 31, 2015, both of which are filed at www.sedar.com under the Company's profile.
Exploration expenses -- all such expenses relate to the Peru operations of the Company and totalled $2,189,000 for 2015, compared to $3,216,000 for 2014, a net decrease of $1,027,000, due to the following: Camp, Community Relations and related costs totalled $1,320,000 for 2015 compared to $2,089,000 for 2014, with the decrease of $769,000 being a result of an aggregate decrease in Crucero exploration activities totalling $680,000, and $184,000 in decreased Josnitoro community relations costs, offset by an increase of $95,000 in Invicta pre-construction activities; Project Administration expenses which totalled $866,000 for 2015 compared to $1,064,000 for 2014, with the decrease of $198,000 being the result of net decreases of $499,000 in Crucero Gold Project exploration and employee severance costs, offset by an increase of $301,000 for Invicta pre-production expenditures incurred; and Technical Reports, Assays, and related costs totalling $3,000 for 2015 compared to $63,000 for 2014, a decrease of $60,000, as very little of such costs were incurred.
General and administration expenses -- all such expenses relate to the Canadian operations of Lupaka Gold and totalled $1,563,000 for 2015 compared to $1,541,000 for 2014, with the net increase of $22,000 being mainly the result of: Salaries and Benefits totalled $1,081,000 for 2015 compared to $601,000, an increase of $480,000, which reflects accrued severance of $644,000 to the Company's former President & CEO, offset by reduced Share-based compensation ("SBC") expenses of $55,000 for 2015, and lower salaries expense (excluding the accrued severance payment above) of $109,000; Shareholder and Investor Relations ("IR") expenses totalled $177,000 for 2015 compared to $425,000 for 2014, a decrease of $248,000, reflecting an IR cost reduction of $146,000 relative to 2014, when there was an investor relations program focused on the establishment of a European investor presence in the Company's shareholder base, a decrease in IR staffing costs of $93,000, reduced SBC expenses of $5,000 for 2015, and reduced travel costs of $4,000; Professional and Regulatory Fees totalled $165,000 for 2015 compared to $260,000 for 2014, a decrease of $95,000, reflecting a reduction of $18,000 in corporate legal and Peru listing-related sponsorship fees, and lower audit and legal cost decreases of $53,000, a decrease in advisory costs of $22,000, and lower transfer agent costs by $2,000; and lower Office and General, and Travel costs of $91,000 due mainly to reductions in office lease costs of $67,000 and $20,000 in corporate travel costs.
Cash used in operating activities in the year ended December 31, 2015 was $2,786,000 ($4,376,000 -- year ended December 31, 2014), principally to fund the Company's loss for the period of $3,800,000 ($4,609,000 -- year ended December 31, 2014) which was offset by non-cash charges including depreciation of $118,000 ($140,000 -- year ended December 31, 2014), and share-based compensation of $118,000 ($224,000 -- year ended December 31, 2014), offset by a discounting of the reclamation provisions for the Company's Invicta and Crucero properties, as well as a net decrease of $871,000 in non-cash working capital (decrease of $36,000 -- year ended December 31, 2014). In the year ended December 31, 2015, the Company accrued $644,000 ($Nil -- year ended December 31, 2014) as a severance payment accrual for the termination of Eric Edwards (as President and CEO) in October 2015, and in the year ended December 31, 2014, the Company had a gain on sale of the investment in Southern Legacy of $90,000 ($Nil -- year ended December 31, 2015).
Net cash used in investing activities in the year ended December 31, 2015 totalled $62,000, compared with net cash from investing activities of $1,201,000 in the year ended December 31, 2014, with $995,000 of that from the sale of the Company's previously held Investment in Southern Legacy Inc., in an open-market transaction conducted through the TSX Venture Exchange. The Company's purchases of equipment totalled $62,000 in the year ended December 31, 2015 ($78,000 -- year ended December 31, 2014). In 2014, the Company sold equipment for net proceeds of $284,000 ($Nil -- year ended December 31, 2015).
Total current liabilities as at December 31, 2015 totalled $1,937,000 ($1,159,000 - December 31, 2014), comprised of accounts payable and accrued liabilities, mostly for community and Invicta project-related obligations, as well as an accrued liability of $644,000 for severance due to the Company's former President & CEO. Long-term liabilities consisted of provisions for reclamation of $278,000 ($380,000 - December 31, 2014), the difference being attributable to discounting of the long-term provisions and a change in foreign exchange rates in 2015.
The Company has extended the January 21, 2016-announced Pandion Mine Finance Letter of Intent to May 31, 2016.
"The due diligence process has been more extensive and time consuming than originally anticipated but is moving ahead efficiently", commented Gordon Ellis, President and CEO of Lupaka Gold.
Mr. Ellis added "Although the process has taken longer, there are positive consequences. As an example, one outcome of the due diligence process is the decision to upgrade the access road beyond that needed for 150tpd. This accelerated upgrade should produce a minimum 50 percent increase in mineralized rock payload volume, resulting in significant transportation costs saving over time."


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Obama On Rioting: Republicans Can Continue To "Stoke Raging Fires" Of Trumpism Or They Can Chose America
From former President Barack Obama: History will rightly remember today's violence at the Capitol, incited by a sitting president who has continued to baselessly lie about the outcome of a lawful election, as a moment of great dishonor and shame for our nation. But we'd be kidding ourselves if we treated it as a total surprise. For two months now, …
Gallup: Michelle Obama Is Most Admired US Woman
The Hill reports: Former first lady Michelle Obama was named the most admired woman in the U.S. for the third consecutive year according to Gallup polling released Tuesday. Ten percent of Americans named Obama as their most-admired woman, followed by Vice President-elect Kamala Harris, the first woman elected to the office, with 6 percent. First lady Melania Trump received 4 …
Obama Records Campaign Ads For Rafael Warnock
The Hill reports: Former President Obama cut three digital ads in support of the Rev. Raphael Warnock ahead of the Georgia Senate runoffs in January that will determine control of the Senate. "John Lewis wrote that 'Democracy is not a state. It is an act.' Georgia, the time to act is now. Let's send Raphael Warnock to the Senate to …
Obama To Rally Virtually For GA Senate Candidates
The Washington Post reports: Former president Barack Obama will try to boost the fortunes of the two Democratic Senate runoff candidates in Georgia with an appearance Friday at a virtual get-out-the-vote rally. The event comes in advance of a Dec. 7 voter registration deadline in the state for those who want to participate in the twin runoff elections on Jan. …
Bush And Clinton Join Obama On Getting Vax Publicly
The Hill reports: Former Presidents Barack Obama, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton are offering to publicly take the COVID-19 vaccine to prove its safety and encourage Americans to be inoculated. "President Clinton will definitely take a vaccine as soon as available to him, based on the priorities determined by public health officials. And he will do it in a …
Obama: I May Get Vax On TV To Build US Confidence
CNBC reports: Former President Barack Obama said Wednesday that he will take a coronavirus vaccine once one is available and may film it to build confidence in the U.S. about vaccine safety. "I will be taking it and I may take it on TV or have it filmed so people know that I trust this science," he told SiriusXM's "The …
Obama Calls It His "Screw Up" That Dolly Parton Didn't Get A Presidential Medal Of Freedom: "I'll Call Biden"
The Hill reports: Former President Obama says it was a major "screw up" of his administration that he failed to honor Dolly Parton with the Presidential Medal of Freedom. "That's a mistake. I'm shocked," Obama said Monday on CBS' "The Late Show" after host Stephen Colbert asked how it was possible the "9 to 5" singer hadn't received the country's …
Obama's New Book Sells 890,000 Copies On First Day
The Associated Press reports: Former President Barack Obama's "A Promised Land" sold nearly 890,000 copies in the U.S. and Canada in its first 24 hours, putting it on track to be the best selling presidential memoir in modern history. The first-day sales, a record for Penguin Random House, includes pre-orders, e-books and audio. The only book by a former White …
Obama: Trump Has Accelerated "Truth Decay" [VIDEO]
The Hill reports: Former President Barack Obama made some of his most pointed criticism of President Trump to date in an interview that aired on "60 Minutes" Sunday night, saying his successor has hastened "truth decay." "We have gone through a presidency that disregarded a whole host of basic institutional norms– expectations we had for a president that had been …
Obama Rules Out Biden Cabinet Position If Offered
The Guardian reports: Barack Obama would not take a position in Joe Biden's cabinet if the president-elect offered it – because if he did, he fears, Michelle Obama would leave him. The 44th president made the remark in an interview with CBS Sunday Morning, two days ahead of publication of his memoir, A Promised Land. He was due to speak …
Obama Congratulates Biden On "Decisive Victory"
USA Today reports: Politicians on both sides of the aisle, including former Presidents, presidential candidates, and Congresspeople have taken to Twitter to congratulate President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris on clinching the victory over President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence. "In this election, under circumstances never experienced, Americans turned out in numbers never seen. And once …
VIRAL VIDEO: Obama Easily Sinks Three-Point Shot
The Hill reports: Former President Barack Obama went viral on Saturday night after shooting a three-pointer while on the campaign trail for Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden. Obama made the shot just before leaving a gymnasium in Flint, Mich. While he walks out the door, he appears to tell campaign staff "That's what I do!" Celebrities and social media users …
Obama To Visit Georgia In Election Eve Bid To Flip State
Atlanta's CBS News affiliate reports: Former President Barack Obama will visit Atlanta on Monday in a final effort to rally supporters for former Vice President Joe Biden and get them to the polls. The Biden-Harris campaign confirmed Obama's visit to Channel 2′s Richard Elliot. The campaign hasn't confirmed specific details. However, Georgia Democrats are hosting a "Flip Georgia Blue" car …
Obama Resurfaces Biden's Year-Old Pandemic Warning
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New Obama Ad Urges Floridians To Vote Early [VIDEO]
Politico reports: Barack Obama is being tapped to gin up support for voting ahead of Election Day in Florida, putting the former president at the center of a new TV ad campaign kicking off in the nation's biggest swing state. "It is going to be close and it could come down to a handful of voters just like you," Obama …
LIVE VIDEO: Obama's First In-Person Biden Event
Philadelphia's CBS News affiliate reports: Former President Barack Obama is returning to Philadelphia on Wednesday for his first in-person 2020 campaign event for Joe Biden. It will be held in the afternoon outside Citizens Bank Park in South Philadelphia. The event will be ticketed without public access. In 2016, the man known as one of the Democratic Party's strongest orators …
Obama Hits Trump For Spreading QAnon Batshittery
The Washington Post reports: As former president Barack Obama prepares to hit the campaign trail to boost Joe Biden's bid for the White House, he lashed out at President Trump on Wednesday. In an interview on the liberal "Pod Save America" podcast, Obama particularly blasted his successor for continuing to spread misinformation. "Trump is a symptom of [misinformation] and an …
Obama Issues Multiple State-Specific Voting Tutorials
CBS News reports: Former president Barack Obama released multiple state-specific tutorials on how to vote on Tuesday, 21 days before the Nov. 3 election. Looking straight into the camera, Obama said, "So much is at stake in this election, from getting the pandemic under control to building a fairer economy to taking on climate change to protecting our healthcare. You …
Obama To Hit Campaign Trail In Support Of Biden
ABC News reports: Former President Barack Obama is expected to hit the campaign trail "soon" for Joe Biden, his former vice president — a move that could help animate Democrats as the presidential race enters its pivotal final weeks. "President Obama plans to hit the trail soon, in addition to all the other activities he's undertaken all year in support …
Obama Sends "Best Wishes" To Trump And Melania, Trump Campaign Fires Out "Lyin' Obama" Money Beg
Deadline reports: As a COVID-19 infected Donald Trump arrived at a military hospital, Barack Obama offered "best wishes" to his successor and First Lady Melania Trump in their battle against the harsh virus. In striking contrast, the former Celebrity Apprentice host's re-election campaign simultaneously attacked "Lyin' Obama." "Although we're in the midst of a big political fight, and we take …


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BY Abby Graf
From the February 2020 issue
'Bringing Back History': Dog Sled Racing Returns to Lake Minnetonka
Watch the first local dog sled race in over 85 years.
Mike Bestgen, one of the mushers in the Klondike Dog Derby, and two of his sled dogs.
With the holidays freshly passed and winter at its peak, Lake Minnetonka-area residents are looking for new (and old) ways to enjoy the great outdoors. This month, Lake Minnetonka will host an event that harkens back centuries and is growing popular again. On February 9, the Klondike Dog Derby will kick off: 40 teams of eight sled dogs and a musher each will race around Excelsior and the lake.
Bethany Hway, founder of the Klondike Dog Derby, began planning more than two years ago. She built a board of 11 members who helped her coordinate the logistical challenges.
"My inspiration came from wanting to bring sled racing here," Hway says. She raced as a child and grew up competing, watching races and being involved in dog sled racing culture. She's competed in many professional races and it's something she wants to bring back home. Her father competed in the Iditarod, the famous Alaskan race. She also wanted to bring back a part of history—this isn't the first time Lake Minnetonka has hosted a sled dog race.
In the 1930s, Klondike Day was a local event that included ski races, coronations and a dog derby. This was the start of sled dog racing in the Lake Minnetonka area, and it was revived again in the 1970s.
Planning for the event included finding mushers, mapping the route, fundraising, finding sponsors, working with the Excelsior-Lake Minnetonka Chamber of Commerce, hosting events and more. The planning and managing will continue on the day of the race, but Hway says it's all worth it.
"We are bringing history back to the lake," she says. It's going to be a highlight of winter for her.
On February 8, the day before the race, the public is welcome to visit Lord Fletcher's, where the dogs competing in the race will have their veterinary checks from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. and participate with their mushers in a Meet-the-Musher and Hug-the-Husky event at 3 p.m.
Klondike Dog Derby
Kick-off ceremony 9:30 a.m.; race start 10 a.m.
Downtown Excelsior
For a detailed schedule and more info, visit klondikedogderby.com.
[Sports]
Local Author Highlights The Role Of Two Minnesota Athletes In The Road To Title IX
Recent Minnetonka High School Grad Competes at Nationals
SkyBrothers Paragliding Soars to New Heights


ITV is hoping for a £150 million windfall from the sale of its iconic South Bank HQ.
The site, which was home to countless ITV shows for the past 40 years, is being sold with planning permission for a 31 storey residential tower made up of 213 apartments. There are also plans for a separate office and studio development at the site.
Originally the HQ for London Weekend Television, ITV bought the previously leased site from Coal Pension Nominees in 2013 for £56 million.
In 2017, ITV announced plans to refurbish the site, retaining an area for offices and daytime TV programmes. Last year, the last programmes to broadcast from the South Bank moved out, with ITV breakfast and daytime programmes moving to the former BBC HQ, Television Centre in West London.
Later in 2018, ITV confirmed it wouldn't be moving back, eyeing up the potential profits to be made from selling the site. The broadcaster's head offices are now based in Chancery Lane.