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AAK1 (N-Terminus) antibody

AP2-associated protein kinase 1
Adaptor-associated kinase 1
AAK1, Adaptor-associated kinase 1, DKFZp686F03202, DKFZp686K16132, FLJ23712, FLJ25931, FLJ31060, FLJ42882, FLJ45252, KIAA1048, MGC138170, MGC164568, MGC164570
Regulates clathrin-mediated endocytosis by phosphorylating the AP2M1/mu2 subunit of the adaptor protein complex 2 (AP-2) which ensures high affinity binding of AP-2 to cargo membrane proteins during the initial stages of endocytosis. Isoform 1 and isoform 2 display similar levels of kinase activity towards AP2M1. Regulates phosphorylation of other AP-2 subunits as well as AP-2 localization and AP-2-mediated internalization of ligand complexes. Phosphorylates NUMB and regulates its cellular localization, promoting NUMB localization to endosomes. Binds to and stabilizes the activated form of NOTCH1, increases its localization in endosomes and regulates its transcriptional activity.

If you want to order offline - tel: +33 (0) 437 654 230 - fax: +33 (0) 437 289 416

Ref : 00015621

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Product Code pab70228
Immunogen Aak1 antibody was raised against a 20 amino acid peptide near the amino terminus of the human Aak1.
Target Specificity Reacts with human Aak1. Cross reacts with proteins from mouse and rat.
Name AAK1
Accession Number Q2M2I8
Print datasheet
Product type Primary antibodies
Clonality Polyclonal antibody
Produced in Rabbit
Species Human, Mouse, Rat
Labelling None
Appearance Liquid
Conc. / Activity 1 mg/ml
Form Antigen affinity purified
Constituents PBS
Preservatives NaN3 0.02%
Storage Short term 4°C, long term aliquot and store at -20°C, avoid freeze thaw cycles. Store undiluted.
Applications Western Blot, IHC - Paraffin sections, Immunocytochemistry
Working dilutions ICC, IHC - P (5 µg/ml), WB (1 - 2 µg/ml)
Research areas Kinases and phosphatases,Post translational modifications
Print datasheet

IHC : AAK1 (N-Terminus) antibody
(pab70228)
Anti-AAK1 antibody IHC of human placenta. Immunohistochemistry of formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissue after heat-induced antigen retrieval. Antibody concentration 5 µg/ml.

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Close Forward an order
By clicking this button, you can send a message to your purchasing manager to ask her/him to order this product. All information needed about our company and the product will be automatically attached. You will also have the opportunity to ask us for more information about the product. If so, your request will be forwarded to our technical service.

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DPP8 (Internal) antibody

Dipeptidyl peptidase 8, DP8
Dipeptidyl peptidase IV-related protein 1, DPRP-1
Dipeptidyl peptidase VIII, DPP VIII
Prolyl dipeptidase DPP8
Gene name: DPP8, DP8, DPRP1, MSTP097, MSTP135, MSTP141
Plays a role in proteolysis and immune response (T-cell activation).

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Ref : 00016722

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Product Code pab70796
Immunogen Synthetic 14 amino acid peptide from internal region of human DPP8 (NP_569118.1). Percent identity with other species by BLAST analysis: Human, Gorilla, Monkey, Marmoset (100%); Mouse, Elephant, Panda, Dog, Bovine, Bat, Horse, Rabbit, Opossum (93%); Rat, Pig (86%).
Target Specificity Reacts with human DPP8. Cross reacts with Gorilla and Monkey due to sequence identity.
Name DPP8
Uniprot ID Q6V1X1
Gene ID 54878
Print datasheet
Product type Primary antibodies
Clonality Polyclonal antibody
Produced in Rabbit
Species Human
Labelling None
Appearance Liquid
Conc. / Activity 0.8 mg/ml
Form Antigen affinity purified
Constituents PBS
Preservatives NaN3 0.1%
Storage Long term: -70°C; Short term: +4°C
Applications IHC - Paraffin sections
Working dilutions Optimal dilutions should be determined by the end user.
The following are guidelines only:
IHC - P (5 µg/ml)
Research areas Immunology,Synthesis and degradation
Print datasheet

IHC : DPP8 (Internal) antibody
(pab70796)
Anti-DPP8 antibody IHC of human uterus, endometrial glands. Immunohistochemistry of formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissue after heat-induced antigen retrieval.

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C5232PRB - TKC Fairy Lights - Customisable

TKC Fairy Lights - Customisable Roll-Up Banner

Lightstop Material

Thy Kingdom Come is a global prayer movement which the Archbishop of Canterbury is inviting people around the world to join. The wave of prayer will start on 10th May and run for 10 days between the Christian festivals of Ascension and Pentecost to 20th May. It’s not complicated – it simply encourages people to pray in whatever way they want and with whoever they want for others to come to know Jesus Christ.

Product Information

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Size Option Price Each
Overprinting Overprinting Charge - For overprinting one customisation of the same design, size and option: £5.00
(800mm × 2000mm)
Lightstop Material £125.00
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Embossing Folders

About Embossing Folders

Choose from some of the best embossing folders available online and take advantage of great prices on our cutting/embossing supplies. We carry brand names you trust so you know you are getting a quality folder. It's the best way to add texture to your craft projects and you can do it with intricate patterns and images. Browse through hundreds of options in discount embossing folders and get your next crafting project started off on the right foot.

How to Use Embossing Folders

Folders are made of hard plastic, and they have a front and a back side. One side of the folder has a raised design and the other side is depressed.

  1. Place your material, typically cardstock, over the raised side of your embossing folder and sandwich it with two cutting pads. Pads are the most essential cut/emboss accessory.
  2. Roll the sandwich through an embossing machine with compatible dimensions. The pressure that is applied causes the textured design to be pressed in to your material, leaving you with a stylish design embossed into your paper, cardstock, or other material.

Pro tip: use hand tools to remove your paper from your cutting pads. If you use your fingers, you may accidentally bend the edges of your paper.

Will My Folder Work with Any Machine?

For the most part, any embossing folder can be used with any standard machine. As far as width and length go, most folders are approximately 5" x 7" or 4" x 6" (A2). This means they will fit a standard size machine but there are bigger ones that can cover a whole 8.5" x 11" page. Most embossers can't handle that size, so be aware of all that before you make a purchase.

What Types of Material Can I Emboss?

Embossing is not just limited to paper; there are quite a few materials that you can emboss. Before embossing unfamiliar materials, be sure to read your machines user manual to find out what the maximum thickness is that is allowable. If your material is too thick, the embossing process can cause you machine to jam or even break. Some of the most commonly used material to emboss include:

  • Paper
  • Cardstock
  • Vellum
  • Tin
  • Metallic foil
  • Thin wood

Buy Discount Embossing Folders Online

Embossing folders are a fabulous option for any project! These iconic, brand name folders are really easy to use and make it possible to create classy projects with a third dimension in no time at all. We only carry the most trusted brands. You will love embossing with:

What Is an Embossing Folder?


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Site Lawyers

John D. Buretta

Partner, Litigation

John D. Buretta is a partner in Cravath’s Litigation Department. His practice focuses on advising corporations, board members and senior executives with respect to internal investigations, criminal defense, regulatory compliance and related civil litigation, including matters concerning the FCPA, antitrust, fraud, insider trading, tax compliance, cyber intrusion, money laundering and anti‑money laundering controls, trade sanctions, export controls, criminal environmental and national security‑related matters.

His clients have included global companies, company owners, boards of directors, audit committees, individual board members, members of senior management, lawyers and former government officials. Mr. Buretta has worked across many industries, including the banking, private investment, energy, aircraft, publishing, information, communications, technology, food, consumer, mining, transportation, healthcare and pharmaceutical sectors, and has represented clients before numerous governmental agencies, such as the U.S. Department of Justice, the SEC, numerous United States Attorney’s Offices, the U.S. Department of Treasury, the U.S. Department of Commerce, the State Department and various non‑U.S. enforcement agencies.

Mr. Buretta has served as an expert witness in foreign proceedings, on the subject of U.S. law, policies and practices in enforcement of the FCPA and as to U.S. anti‑money laundering laws.

Mr. Buretta has also served as a monitor in separate appointments by the U.S. Department of Justice and by the U.S. Department of Transportation. In December 2015, Mr. Buretta was selected by the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (“NHTSA”) to serve as the compliance monitor for TK Holdings, Inc. (“Takata”) and numerous affected auto manufacturers as part of a settlement agreement and consolidated remedy order concerning the recall of certain of Takata’s ammonium nitrate airbag inflators. NHTSA has described the recall as the largest and most complex in U.S. history. In April 2017, Mr. Buretta was appointed by the U.S. Department of Justice to serve as compliance monitor regarding the worldwide operations of Takata Corporation, headquartered in Japan.

Mr. Buretta was recognized by the 2016 through 2018 editions of Benchmark Litigation as a national Litigation Star in the area of white collar crime and investigations. Mr. Buretta was listed among the leading white collar attorneys in the United States in Euromoney Legal Media Group’s 2016 Guide to the World’s Leading White Collar Crime Lawyers. He was selected by Lawdragon as one of “500 Leading Lawyers in America” from 2014 through 2017. The Legal 500 United States describes Mr. Buretta as “sophisticated, sensible and persuasive,” and has recognized his work in the securities area (2015‑2017), white collar criminal defense (2016‑2017), antitrust (2017) and financial services litigation (2017). Along with his colleagues, he earned the Firm recognition from 2015 through 2017 in the Corporate Crime & Investigations category of Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business. Chambers USA describes Mr. Buretta as “a leading practitioner at the firm with extensive experience in internal and government investigations.” The Ethisphere Institute named Mr. Buretta to its list of “Attorneys Who Matter” from 2014 through 2016, including as a “Top Gun.”

Mr. Buretta first joined Cravath in 1996 where he was trained as a litigation associate working on private disputes involving securities fraud and complex commercial litigation. Following a one‑year clerkship with Hon. Peter K. Leisure of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, Mr. Buretta returned to the Firm in 1999. He left the Firm in 2002 and served for over ten years in the Department of Justice.

Mr. Buretta completed his time at the DOJ as the number‑two ranking official in the Criminal Division as Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General and Chief of Staff. In this role, he oversaw nearly 600 prosecutors on complex matters involving corporate fraud, FCPA, insider trading, health care fraud, money laundering, Bank Secrecy Act, trade sanctions, asset forfeiture, cybercrime, intellectual property theft, public corruption and other criminal investigations, and interacted with the Department’s Antitrust, Civil, Environmental, National Security and Tax Divisions on matters of mutual interest.

From 2011 to February 2013, Mr. Buretta served as Deputy Assistant Attorney General (DAAG), the third‑highest ranking position in the Criminal Division. In this position, he oversaw the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section, among others, including the Fraud Section’s FCPA Unit, and supervised the preparation of the DOJ and SEC’s Resource Guide to the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, issued in November 2012. Mr. Buretta also represented the Department before Congress and the Sentencing Commission with regard to the Department’s white collar crime enforcement efforts. In 2011, Mr. Buretta was appointed Director of the Deepwater Horizon Task Force, a leadership position he continued to fill while serving as DAAG.

Prior to joining the Criminal Division, Mr. Buretta served for eight years as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York, and was Chief of the Office’s Organized Crime and Racketeering Section from 2008 to 2011. Mr. Buretta also served in the Office’s National Security Section, where he handled investigations under the Anti‑Terrorism Act and Espionage Act, among others. He served as the prosecutor in ten trials during this time.

During his tenure at the DOJ, Mr. Buretta earned the Department’s highest commendations, including the Attorney General’s Award for Exceptional Service, the Attorney General’s Award for Distinguished Service and the FBI Director’s Award for Excellence.

Mr. Buretta was born in St. Louis, Missouri, and grew up in Fresno, California. He received his B.A. in 1993 from the University of California at Berkeley. In 1996 he received his J.D. cum laude from Georgetown University Law Center, where he earned the Edward Allen Tamm Award and was Editor‑in‑Chief of the Georgetown Law Journal’s Annual Review of Criminal Procedure. He rejoined Cravath in November 2013.

Mr. Buretta may be reached by phone at +1‑212‑474‑1260 or by email at jburetta@cravath.com.

+1 (212) 474-1260
+1 (212) 474-3700


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Would you help a drunk get into his car?

A man is so drunk he can’t actually put his car key in the lock. Do you walk past and let him get on with it, or try to discourage him from driving? A new web film suggests you might actually help him get in his car…

A man is so drunk he can’t actually put his car key in the lock. Do you let him get on with it, or try to discourage him from driving? In a new 90 second web film made by A Social Media Agency and The Online Video Company for Confused.com to highlight public apathy towards drink driving, more than two thirds of passers by, unaware they’re being filmed, actually help the ‘drunk’ actor get into his car…

“Over the festive period, thousands of people will threaten the safety of others by making the decision to drive whilst under the influence of alcohol,” says Sharon Flaherty, head of conent at Confused.com who commissioned the film.

“Our video highlights just how many people are willing to permit drink driving, or turn a blind eye to it,” she continues. “The video is a hopefully shocking way to remind people that drink driving kills and that in many cases, it can be stopped. By preventing friends and family from driving under the influence of alcohol, you could save a life.”

During the filming, of more than fifty people the actor asked to help him, only eight refused. One person retained the actor’s keys and called the police. Several people who spotted the actor pretending to be drunk simply ignored him and walked past.

Concept A Social Media Agency
Filming and editing Online Video Company
PR 10 Yetis

CR In print

In our December issue we look at why carpets are the latest medium of choice for designers and illustrators. Plus, Does it matter if design projects are presented using fake images created using LiveSurface and the like? Mark Sinclair looks in to the issue of mocking-up. We have an extract from Craig Ward’s upcoming book Popular Lies About Graphic Design and ask why advertising has been so poor at preserving its past. Illustrators’ agents share their tips for getting seen and we interview maverick director Tony Kaye by means of his unique way with email. In Crit, Guardian economics leader writer Aditya Chakrabortty review’s Kalle Lasn’s Meme Wars and Gordon Comstock pities brands’ long-suffering social media managers. In a new column on art direction, Paul Belford deconstructs a Levi’s ad that was so wrong it was very right, plus, in his brand identity column, Michael Evamy looks at the work of Barcelona-based Mario Eskenazi. And Daniel Benneworth-Gray tackles every freelancer’s dilemma – getting work.

Our Monograph this month, for subscribers only, features the EnsaïmadART project in which Astrid Stavro and Pablo Martin invited designers from around the world to create stickers to go on the packaging of special edition packaging for Majorca’s distinctive pastry, the ensaïmada, with all profits going to a charity on the island (full story here)

Please note, CR now has a limited presence on the newsstand at WH Smith high street stores (although it can still be found in WH Smith travel branches at train stations and airports). If you cannot find a copy of CR in your town, your WH Smith store or a local independent newsagent can order it for you. You can search for your nearest stockist here. Alternatively, call us on 020 7970 4878 to buy a copy direct from us. Based outside the UK? Simply call +44(0)207 970 4878 to find your nearest stockist. Better yet, subscribe to CR for a year here and save yourself almost 30% on the printed magazine.

CR for the iPad

Read in-depth features and analysis plus exclusive iPad-only content in the Creative Review iPad App. Longer, more in-depth features than we run on the blog, portfolios of great, full-screen images and hi-res video. If the blog is about news, comment and debate, the iPad is about inspiration, viewing and reading. As well as providing exclusive, iPad-only content, the app will also update with new content throughout each month. Try a free sample issue here

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Reagan should woo Mrs. Gandhi

Prime Minister Indira Gandhi's visit to the United States gives President Reagan a window of opportunity to mend relations and provide a basis for mutual trust between the two leaders of functioning democracies.

The President has reason for such a rapprochement.

Mrs. Gandhi's government seems to be moving away from a pro-Soviet foreign policy to stronger links with the West. The most recent developments in the policy shift are: purchase of 40 Mirage 2000 jet fighters from France, new diplomatic initiatives in dealing with Pakistan and China, winning a new friend by a visit to Saudi Arabia, and an interest in American military equipment.

On the economic front, Mrs. Gandhi's administration has concluded that economic growth lies in the private sector, rather than a controlled central economy. She has lifted controls on imports, private sector expansion, licensing , plant capacity, and foreign investment.

These policy shifts are important signals to the Reagan administration, an indication that Mrs. Gandhi is willing to start a new chapter in India-US relations. The administration should follow through with these steps:

* US foreign policy strategists have regarded India with benign neglect in spite of its dominant role in South Asia and the Gulf region. The Reagan administration can improve relations at little cost by courting India on regional and global issues. This means consulting with and informing India about US interests in the region, recognizing and accepting India's role as an independent world power, promoting India as a model of democratic society to communists and authoritarian countries, and catering to India's national pride.

* The US should encourage Mrs. Gandhi's attempt to reach out to Pakistan and China. President Reagan might propose hosting a summit meeting between Pakistani President Zia ul-Haq and Mrs. Gandhi to sign an India-Pakistan nonaggression pact. A similar type of meeting was hosted by the Russians in Tashkent after the 1965 Indo-Pakistan war. A summit meeting under the auspices of the President would dispel Indian perceptions that the Reagan administration is particularly hostile to India.

* Indians view the US sale of F-16 and other military equipment to Pakistan as a threat to India's security and national interests. However, New Delhi has failed to dissuade Washington from selling the military hardware. So instead India showed interest in buying American military equipment. The list includes the Northrop F5G intermediate fighter, Howitzer, and an improved version of TOW antitank missiles.

President Reagan should permit these sales in order to give Mrs. Gandhi a defense against her anti-American critics.

* President Reagan should frankly tell Mrs. Gandhi that the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan and the situation in Poland are unacceptable to the Americans. The US will continue to provide arms and support to the Afghan guerrillas. The administration should indicate that it would consider it as a gesture of genuine friendship if the prime minister used her good offices toward improving US-Soviet relations by persuading the Russians to achieve a political settlement in Afghanistan. This, in turn, would enhance the role that Mrs. Gandhi seeks as an important leader on the international scene.

* Mr. Reagan should take this opportunity to brief Mrs. Gandhi on the Arab-Israeli war. She has a close relationship with PLO leader Yasser Arafat and other Arab leaders. These ties could be utilized by the US in formulating a new policy for the Middle East. Indian troops could be used in the multinational force in Lebanon. India has experience in international peacekeeping efforts since its troops participated in the International Control Commission in Laos in 1961.

* India is interested in attracting investments from the US. Mrs. Gandhi is taking steps to liberalize the economy and trade policies. India's impressive scientific manpower coupled with a diversified industrial infrastructure provide opportunities for American businessmen to invest in India. The expanding Indian market can offer outlets for American equipment and consumer goods.

Already big US companies such as Dow Chemical Company, Revlon Inc., Xerox Corporation, and DuPont are showing keen interest in investing in India. The Reagan administration should be pleased with India's economic policies and publicly give credit to Mrs. Gandhi for her efforts.

There is no real problem between India and the US except for poor communication and, consequently, mutual misperceptions. Given the President's proven communication skills with the American public and world leaders alike, he can do much to dispel this wall of misperceptions which separates the American and Indian peoples.

We want to hear, did we miss an angle we should have covered? Should we come back to this topic? Or just give us a rating for this story. We want to hear from you.


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Independence Day weekend means more Americans are roadtripping, despite high gas prices

Gas prices will be up 15 to 20 cents higher this Independence Day weekend compared to last year, experts predict. But, undeterred by high gas prices, 34.8 million Americans will travel by car to celebrate Independence Day – a six-year high, according to AAA.

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    Traffic stacks up on the eastbound Santa Monica Freeway in Los Angeles, as residents of Southern California leave work to start their holiday weekend, July 3, 2008. This July 4 weekend, 41 million Americans will be traveling 50 miles or more, according to AAA.
    Kevork Djansezian/AP/File
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More Americans will be traveling this Independence Day weekend by car, but drivers will see an uptick in gas prices due to violence in Iraq

This year, 41 million Americans will travel 50 miles or more from home during the July 4 holiday weekend, according to AAA Travel. That means between July 2 and July 6, there will be almost 2 percent more Americans compared to this time last year, and nearly 14 percent more people traveling than during the Memorial Day holiday weekend.

Of those 41 million Americans, 34.8 million of them will travel by car, according to AAA Travel. It is the highest level since 2007. Part of the reason: July 4 falls on a Friday this year, giving people a long weekend for traveling. However, the fact that gas prices will be 15 to 20 cents higher per gallon compared to last year won’t deter Americans from traveling, experts say.

Recommended: Top 20 cities to save on hotels this summer

“Based on our research, we find that Americans rarely want to cancel their trip due to the high price of gas,” AAA spokesman Michael Green says in a phone interview. “They look forward to traveling to places like the beach, the lake, and their friends’ houses, and people don’t want to give that up due to the high price of gasoline.

However, AAA has found that people travel on fixed budgets, Mr. Green says. If people pay more gas prices, they’ll cut back on other expenses such as shopping or dining, he adds. But, the higher gas prices won’t stop Americans from traveling – in fact, the higher gas prices ‘have become the new normal,’ Green says.

AAA previously predicted gas prices to fall by 10 to 15 cents in June, but that didn’t include the extremist group Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant capturing Mosul and concerns of possible disruption of oil producing in Iraq.

Gas prices will stay expensive due to high crude oil costs and higher demand, but they won’t go up much higher, Green says. Gas prices will most likely stay within the $3.60 to $3.70 per gallon range. It is ‘unlikely’ that most Americans will pay $4 per gallon for gas, he adds.

That said, the two wild cards to this year’s gas prices are if Iraq’s oil production gets disrupted, Green says, or if a major hurricane hits refineries in the Gulf of Mexico. This weekend, a depression off the coast of Florida turned into Tropical Storm Arthur, the first named storm of hurricane season. It is expected to gain strength and hit the East Coast, but it isn't clear if it will have a significant effect on gas prices.

We want to hear, did we miss an angle we should have covered? Should we come back to this topic? Or just give us a rating for this story. We want to hear from you.


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Financial stress remains high in October

A weekly index published by the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis shows a continued elevation in financial stress in October 2012.

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    This graph tracks the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis' weekly stress index since 1999.
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The Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis recently began publishing a new weekly index that seeks to track the general level of financial stress.

As periods of financial stress come and go a whole host of fundamental economic indicators immediately adjust to meet the near and long term expectations of market participants.

Interest rates, yields spreads, popular market volatility indices all move in real time giving observers unequivocal evidence of changes general sentiment.

The St. Louis Fed has devised a method of crunching eighteen of these sensitive indices down into one convenient index it calls the St. Louis Fed Financial Stress Index (STLFSI).

The latest results of the STLFSI indicate that the level of financial stress remains elevated with October's results at -.20, a level roughly equivalent to the immediate recovery period following the tech-wreck.

The Christian Science Monitor has assembled a diverse group of the best economy-related bloggers out there. Our guest bloggers are not employed or directed by the Monitor and the views expressed are the bloggers' own, as is responsibility for the content of their blogs. To contact us about a blogger, click here.To add or view a comment on a guest blog, please go to the blogger's own site by clicking on

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Turkish-style red lentil soup with chard

Sweet Hungarian paprika, garlic, cayenne pepper, sumac, diced tomatoes with green chilies and just a bit of lamb make Turkish-style red lentil soup with chard a lively, healthy, robust meal in a bowl.

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    Lentil soup makes for a hearty autumn meal. This dish incorporates the zip of Mediterranean spices.
    Blue Kitchen
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We mostly try to eat fairly sensibly. But on occasion, we don’t (and when we don’t, it’s usually pretty wonderful). When we have had a shockingly sumptuous meal, I often say for the rest of the week all I am going to eat is one lentil.

Not that eating lentils is suffering. Really, I can’t say enough about how good and important they are. Lentils are not only so, so delicious, but so, so healthy. They are an excellent source of cholesterol-lowering fiber and packed with plenty of important minerals, like magnesium, plus two B vitamins and slow-burning complex carbohydrates. And they are low in calories. Lentils are at the heart of many cultures – they are one of the first plants to have been cultivated, before recorded time, and while they are growing, they are even good for the soil. In fact, Health.com has named lentils one of the world’s five healthiest foods. People all over the world love lentils, and so do we.

What’s more, lentils, of the entire class of dried pulses (dried beans, chickpeas and other legumes), are the ones that cook up fairly quickly. Most kinds take only 30 or 40 minutes on the stovetop to become a hearty, satisfying, inexpensive meal – with no soaking beforehand.

Recommended: Soup Recipes: Warm up with these soups, stews, chowders, and chilis

For the last few months I’ve been experimenting with lots of lentil recipes, from all over the world. This is just one of them. This soup was inspired by several Turkish recipes, but, this being us, with extra touches. Adding rice brings in the two missing amino acids that complete the protein. Adding chard increases the vitamin, calcium and fiber punch. For this recipe I also like adding a little meat, for the umami flavoring, and I like it to be lamb, in honor of delicious Turkish cuisine.

The recipe also calls for sumac. This pleasantly tart Mediterranean spice adds a nice, bright zip to dishes. You’ll find it in many Middle Eastern recipes and, increasingly, in markets in the US. If you can’t find it locally, it’s available online at The Spice House. Alternatively, you can substitute fresh lemon juice.

Like any lentil soup, this one is terrific for the cooler months. It would be suitable for a casual autumn lunch with friends, or as something to make on Sunday for heating up when you come home from work during the week. It’s robust and satisfying, as well as healthy. And, with its hearty texture, the rich rust color of the lentils and the deep emerald green bits of chard, it just invites you to pick up a spoon and dig in.

Turkish Style Red Lentil Soup with Chard
Serves 8

1/2 pound ground lamb (see Kitchen Notes)
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon garlic, coarsely chopped
3/4 cup onions, coarsely chopped
2 tablespoons paprika
1 10 to 12 ounce can diced tomatoes with jalapeños (see Kitchen Notes)
2 cups dried red lentils [see Kitchen Notes]
5 tablespoons white rice
4 cups water
2 cups stock (chicken or vegetable)
1/8 teaspoon cayenne
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 tablespoon sumac plus 1/2 teaspoon per bowl for garnish
1/2 pound chard, center rib removed, cut into small pieces (see Kitchen Notes)

1. Put 1/2 tablespoon olive oil in a sauté pan and heat the pan. Brown the lamb, then drain it on paper towels or in a sieve over a bowl. Discard the drippings.

2. Rinse the lentils and pick them over to make sure there aren’t any tiny stones in the mix.

3. Put the rest of the olive oil in a deep, heavy pot and heat it to medium. Add the onions and garlic and sauté for a couple of minutes, until the onion is translucent and limp. Lower the flame, then add the paprika all at once and stir into the oil – stir and sauté the mix for a couple of minutes. Then add in the lentils, stir everything, and add the stock and water and stir again.

4. Stir in the rice, canned tomatoes, cayenne, and black pepper. Bring the pot to a boil and reduce the heat to a simmer. Add in half the lamb at this point. Let everything simmer and kind of keep an eye on it, stirring to make sure it does not stick and does not need more liquid.

5. The lentils should be cooked through after about 35 to 40 minutes. At this point, turn off the heat. Take out about a third of the soup and blend it smooth, then return to the pot. Add the rest of the lamb and reheat the soup. When it is simmering, stir in the 1 tablespoon of sumac and then the chard. It will look like way, way too much chard for the volume of soup. Don’t be alarmed—as it cooks, it quickly shrinks down to a cooperative size. When the chard is deep green and cooked, the soup is ready to serve. Serve in individual bowls, garnished with a scattering of sumac.

Kitchen Notes

Lamb – varieties and possible substitutes. This version calls for ground lamb, but I’ve also made it using meaty lamb bones we had in the freezer that were left over from another dinner. There was less actual meat involved with that version, but a stronger lamby flavor. You could also use a stew cut of lamb, or you could go for goat, another kind of meat used in Mediterranean and Middle Eastern cooking. You could even use pork – it wouldn’t have the authentic Turkish flavor, but it would be very good. The idea is to use meat, but just a modest amount of it, as more of a flavoring than the centerpiece. For that matter, you may omit meat entirely from this. It won’t be the same, but it will be different.

Tomatoes and heat. If you don’t have canned tomato with jalapeño (such as RO-TEL), substitute plain canned tomato and add a little more cayenne or a little jalapeño.  If you really don’t want any hot peppers at all, you can omit them entirely.

What color is your lentil? There are many kinds of lentils, each with its own variation on the basic earthy flavor. This recipe calls for red lentils, which I chose for the pretty color and their lighter nutty taste. (Note that red lentils happen to be lower in fiber than other varieties.) Brown lentils, the everyday variety that is most widely available in North America, would be terrific in this recipe.

Cutting the chard. Cut the chard into pieces the size you would like to eat with a spoon – that is, no snaky ribbons or huge sheets.

Related post on Blue Kitchen: Senate Bean Soup

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Peaceful Photo Sympathy Cards

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Set of 8 (2 of each design)

1. Front: Words cannot express all the heart longs to say.
Inside: May it comfort you to know you're surrounded by love. With Sympathy
2. Front: Where there is love, there is peace.
Inside: Remember the love and happy times, and find comfort in these memories.
3. Front: Those who have given of themselves will live forever in each heart they have touched.
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Retail Businesses for sale in Ottery St Mary

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Bespoke school uniforms and workwear

An interesting business that specialises on the supply and embroidery/printing of a wide range of school, work and leisure wear. They enjoy a number of long standing relationship that provides regular reoccurring income. The business ethos...

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Stylish GIFT SHOP, popular EAST DEVON coastal town, occupying one of the best EXMOUTH town centre trading positions, highly visible, close national retailers and banks, masses of pedestrian foot flow, on route seafront, car parks, bus and...

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Profitable Convenience Store and Post Office in Estuary Town

Topsham is an attractive town on the Exe estuary, Devon. Now part of Exeter, it nevertheless maintains a distinctive identity. Loved by its locals, and favoured by visitors, Topsham offers many independent characterful shops, restaurants and...

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North Devon Pet Supply Business for Sale

Successful Wild bird food and Pet Supply Business operated by present owner for the last 10 years in Local Indoor Market trading 2 days a week 52weeks a year. Supplying Wild Bird and Pet supplies plus all associated accessories. Plenty of regular customers and orders. We offer delivery service to local area and our policy is if we do not have what you want then we will aim to get it for you. This business has a...

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Eye catching FLORISTS, situated in the affluent and desirable EAST DEVON seaside town of BUDLEIGH SALTERTON, fronts primary vehicle and pedestrian thoroughfare, easily accessible with free parking in front, close free car park, main shopping...

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TO LET - Air-conditioned Retail Premises with Parking

The property currently trades as the K&M Polish Delicatessen and comprises a modern ground floor lock-up retail unit with a full height plate glass display window with a central recessed entrance. Internally the premises are very well...

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BUSINESS Hilton Smythe welcomes to the market Exeter Surplus Stores, For Sale after many years sucessful trading,  owing to our clients wish to take a well-earned retirement. Effectively an Army & Navy Surplus store which has...

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A mixed use freehold building comprising a ground floor retail shop with tenant currently trading as a Cook Shop with a two bedroom maisonette over. The maisonette is also currently let out. Current total income £12,000 p.a. Investment...

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Enviable location popular residential area Devon city. Modern lock-up shop premises. Comprehensively equipped throughout with stock room and w.c. Turnover approximately £3000-£4000 per week. Totally unexploited. Genuine potential. New...

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The property has a return frontage from Boutport Street to the High Street and is in a strategic location, ideal for passing trade. The ground floor premises offer approximately 330 sq ft on the retails space with double fronted windows and...

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How The New Motion Cuts IT Costs and Why Electrical Driving is the Future: An Interview with the CFO Sander Nijssen

Nov 29, 2013

Have you ever wondered how companies offering innovative solutions cut their own costs? Sander Nijssen, a CFO at the New Motion talks about IT cost reduction and their own solution to electrical driving.

Sander Nijsen and Daxx. How the New Motion Cuts IT costs

  • Daxx: Sander, let’s talk about the New Motion.  What does your company do?

Sander: The New Motion was founded in 2009 by Ritsaart van Montfrans and Alef Arendsen. These guys have solid financial, entrepreneurial and IT background. Ritsaart worked as a Strategy Consultant at McKinsey and was an Investment Banker at J.P. Morgan. Alef was very successful with two IT companies before. They both started the company and entered the Electric Vehicle market without a clear vision on what the business model would exactly be.  The only thing they knew, was that electric mobility would become a big thing. Today The New Motion is leading the market in offering charging solutions and charging services to owners of electric vehicles in the Netherlands. We are currently expanding our business towards Germany and Belgium.

We sell two types of products. Our first product is called lolo smart. This is a charging station for electric cars and is perfect for home use. Thanks to integrated IT intelligence this charging station prevents your household from possible problems with insufficient amount of electricity and helps you to control your electricity costs. So, if it happens that there is not enough electricity to charge your car and use your oven, your flat screen or other devices simultaneously, the lolo smart will stop charging the car. The second feature it has is that we can remotely monitor how much electricity has been charged through the charging points. Most of the people who own an electric car don’t buy the car themselves, usually their employer provides them with an electric car. But you need to charge it at home, so you have to pay for the electricity the car uses. Sure you want to charge this electricity to the employer and it would be difficult to prove how much electricity was used by your car if you would have our lolo smart. So we basically arrange an online declaration for the employee. We send an invoice to the employer and we arrange that the charging costs are compensated to the driver by the end of the month.

Daxx: How much time is needed to charge your electric car?

Sander: There are different types of cars with different battery packs, some have a big battery and the others have small batteries, so depending on the battery pack it could be within 2 to 6 hours. There is also another technique to charge the car battery. It is called fast charging or quick charging and you would need a very powerful charging installation for this.  You would typically find these in The Netherlands at petrol stations and roadside hotels/restaurants. With a fast charger you can charge your battery up to 80% in 15-30 minutes.

Daxx: How much electricity does electric car usually consume?

Sander: If you start driving an electric car your energy bill for your home will double.  A car will consume as much as a regular household.

Daxx: Can you compare the cost of electricity and petrol in Holland? What will be the difference?

Sander: Basically you can say the electricity costs are much lower than the costs of petrol. However buying an electric car is still more expensive than buying a petrol car. So the investment is higher for electric cars but the usage costs are lower. This makes that total cost of ownership (TCO) is similar to TCO of a petrol car.

Daxx: How many people use electric cars in the Netherlands? Why do people decide to drive electric?

Sander: There are currently around 12,000 electric cars driving on the Dutch roads.. There are three main benefits to why people or companies choose an electric car over a petrol car.

#1 Environmental Benefit

The first one is because of the environmental benefit and this is not only reducing CO2 emission, but it is also polution of air by small particles. CO2 deteriorates the ozone layer and the particles provide health problems cities.

#2 Fiscal Incentive Scheme

As I said the total cost of ownership is already comparable for driving electric cars and driving usual cars. However in Holland there is a fiscal incentive scheme, which makes it financially attractive if you are an entrepreneur to buy or lease an electric car. This makes driving an EV in the Netherlands even cheaper than driving a car with a combustion engine. This however does not hold for all countries as the Netherlands are quite unique in their stimulation policy.

#3 The Driving Experience is Amazing

And the third reason is that the driving experience is amazing. The acceleration of these cars is amazing and the driving experience is really comfortable as you don’t have the usual noise of a combustion engine.

Daxx: Can you tell me more about the second product you are selling?

Sander: People who drive an electric car will not only charge at home but also when they are on their way. This creates the need for being able to charge at charging stations in the public space. Transaction settlement has proven to be a problem here as the providers of public charging stations want to be compensated for the electricity they supply. In order to solve this problem we have introduced a charge card. This card has similar features as a credit card and allows the user to identify her/himself via an RFID reader and to pay for the electricity transaction. We make sure we invoice the user and compensate the location owner who supplied the electricity. We call this transaction ‘payment settlement’ and Daxx is helping us with developing the back-office which links all of these pieces of information together and makes it possible to arrange the payment settlements.

Daxx: Thank you. So, your company has remote developers with Daxx. Why did you decide to look for a solution of this type? What were the drivers?

Sander: I think there are two main reasons. One is the lack of availability of good developers in Holland and the fact that the few who are really good, tend to be very expensive.

Daxx: Can you compare the costs of developers in Ukraine and in the Netherlands?

Sander: Yeah. If we compare the costs of what we pay Daxx and what we would be pay to a Dutch developer. I would say that Daxx is about 25%-30% cheaper.

Daxx: Have you used project outsourcing companies, freelancers or other IT subcontractors?

Sander: Daxx is really the main supplier. The rest of our IT development is being done in-house. We did recently started working together with a company that does an external review and tests of the robustness of our IT systems in terms of data control and privacy. We thereby make sure it is not easy for other parties to hack our systems to gain entry to our customer data.

Daxx: How did you choose Daxx? Did you participate in the selection process?

Sander: I was personally involved in the selection process. A friend of mine has his own company and worked with Daxx for several years. He was very enthusiastic about this partnership. We did look into some Indian companies offering similar services but eventually decided to choose for DAXX based on the positive feedback from my friend about Daxx.

Daxx: Today we are talking about IT cost reduction. Are there any IT cost reduction strategies you can share?

Sander: For one, our company has over 85 fully employed people, so we are pretty big and we still don’t have internal IT facilitation desk. I think lots of companies of that size have at least one person who just makes sure that everybody can work efficiently. So that would be someone who installs software and who makes sure that there is a backup of the data, servers and those kind of things. Even when we were a startup at early phase everybody worked from the Apple, a MacBook. Some people will think it is ridiculous, as a MacBook is really expensive but it doesn’t require any maintenance. If you work on Windows every half a year your computer crashes or you need to install updates, you need to get virus software and everything else. So if you than have 80 people working on a Windows computer you do need somebody to fix the problems all the time. I think choosing for Mac’s was a very good decision. The second thing is that we don’t have any servers. All the IT we use is SAAS (software as a service programs). For example, we use Dropbox and an online accounting package called Twinfield.

Daxx: Is there anything you can add?

Sander: I think in general that, in order to be successful in working with remote developers, you need an IT person at the head-office with very good project management skills. You need somebody who really tightly manages the process. If you do this, working with remote developers could be incredibly efficient. If you fail it could become a real nightmare.

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Walter Reed Ex-Patient, Wife Speak Out on Poor Conditions at Army’s Top Medical Facility

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The Army’s Vice Chief of Staff General Richard Cody admitted on Wednesday there has been a “breakdown in leadership” at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center. His comments came three days after The Washington Post revealed that hospital rooms at Walter Reed were infested with mouse droppings, cockroaches, stained carpets, rodents and black mold. We speak with a former Walter Reed patient, the wife of another patient, and a reporter who documented the problems at Walter Reed two years ago. [includes rush transcript]

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JUAN GONZALEZ: A top Army general admitted on Wednesday there’s been a “breakdown in leadership” at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center. The comments of General Richard Cody, the Army’s vice chief of staff, came three days after The Washington Post revealed that hospital rooms at Walter Reed were infested with mouse droppings, cockroaches, stained carpets, rodents and black mold. General Cody said no one has been fired or relieved of command because of the neglected facility, but he vowed that the Army would immediately fix the problems.

GENERAL RICHARD CODY: I have never been made aware of Building 18, its condition or complaints by any of our wounded warriors over the last five years. That is not an excuse by any shape or form. Clearly, we’ve had a breakdown in leadership, and a bureaucratic, medical and contractual processes bog down a speedy solution to these problems. I can assure you that the appropriate vigor and leadership is being applied to this issue, and we will correct any problems immediately.

JUAN GONZALEZ: General Richard Cody, the Army’s vice chief of staff. While The Washington Post investigation has attracted the attention of President Bush and top Army officials, it is not the first time the press has exposed problems at Walter Reed. Two years ago, began publishing a series of articles by Mark Benjamin on how soldiers receiving outpatient treatment for mental wounds were suffering from a shocking pattern of neglect. This is Mark Benjamin speaking on Democracy Now! in March 2005.

MARK BENJAMIN: What I found was that at Walter Reed there’s an interesting thing going on, and this seems to be the case at other military facilities. Soldiers from this war who suffer acute wounds, amputees, head injuries, bullet wounds, you know, people that are blown up by roadside bombs, get excellent, excellent medical care, or that’s what they report to me. They get off those battlefields very, very quickly. They’re bought back to Walter Reed. You’ll see them — you will see their good news stories on TV, where reporters are allowed to see them rehabilitating there at Walter Reed. What is interesting about that is that soldiers who are hurt in their mind, soldiers who have debilitating, really scary post-traumatic stress disorder — we’re talking about people that are acutely homicidal, acutely suicidal after what they’ve seen or had to do in Iraq — their treatment, the way they describe their treatment at Walter Reed is extremely substandard. They don’t get the kind of therapy they deserve. They don’t get one-on-one therapy. They don’t — they’re treated by not even doctors, they’re medical students, and the entire time that they’re at Walter Reed, the Army seems to be more bent on trying to determine that their problems were not, in fact, caused by the war and that, in fact, these soldiers were just crazy of their own accord.

AMY GOODMAN: Mark Benjamin, the national correspondent of, speaking on Democracy Now! in March of 2005, almost two years ago. At the time, Walter Reed officials refused to discuss _Salon_’s findings. Instead, they issued a statement, saying, “We are satisfied that there is a very high level of patient satisfaction with their treatment.”

Mark Benjamin joins us now live from Washington, D.C. And joining us on the phone from Knoxville, Tennessee, we have retired Army veteran, First Lieutenant Jullian Goodrum. He was treated at Walter Reed for two years. And we’re also joined on the phone from Chesterfield, South Carolina, by Annette McLeod, wife of National Guardsman Dell McLeod, who was treated for almost a year at Walter Reed. We welcome you all to Democracy Now!

Mark Benjamin, can you start by responding to what The Washington Post has exposed and the Army’s response?

MARK BENJAMIN: Well, I think The Washington Post did an excellent job of covering two subjects. One is the obvious dilapidation of some of the facilities of Walter Reed, which is a problem there for the outpatients. And also I think that they did a good job of exposing how soldiers — and I think Lieutenant Goodrum — I know his case relatively well — can describe, which is where people are — particularly people with injuries that aren’t as obvious, you know, people that don’t have a leg missing, but people who are suffering from, say, post-traumatic stress disorder, can really languish there at Walter Reed for, in some cases, years while they’re struggling to get proper treatment, proper care and proper compensation for their injuries. So, I think they did a good job.

I think with respect to the response from the military, to be completely frank, it has me rather concerned. And there’s a lot of discussion from the Pentagon about taking care of this mice and mold problem, which, of course, there shouldn’t be mice, you know, in a building where soldiers are recuperating. That, to me, to be completely frank, is a bit of a red herring. I mean, you know, fixing the mold in one building is just not what’s really the big problem here. What is the big problem, as far as I can tell, among the soldiers who are recuperating there, is they want to be promptly treated for their problems, promptly and accurately diagnosed for their problems, and they want to be fairly compensated for their injuries, which are service-related. That is the nasty bureaucracy that The Washington Post uncovered.

And I’m, to be completely frank, really concerned that the way that the military so far has responded to this is, “We’re going to throw some more paint up on the walls, we’re going to fix that in this one building, Building 18.” That’s great and wonderful, and, of course, those soldiers seem to deserve that, but the real problem here is a system that, if you don’t, as I said two years ago, if you have an injury that is not obvious, a traumatic brain injury, which can be extremely debilitating — Annette can talk about that — or post-traumatic stress disorder, which, yes, can be very dangerous — and I think Lieutenant Goodrum can talk about that — those are the kinds of soldiers who want to be treated and want to be compensated and are fighting and fighting unfairly to get that.

JUAN GONZALEZ: And, Mark, in terms of this whole issue of once they’re there at Walter Reed, often — I’ve interviewed soldiers who have waited months and months in the battle over determining the extent of compensation and how much of a disability they will have. It becomes a huge and drawn-out process and a battle for them. What could be done to change that whole procedure?

MARK BENJAMIN: I’m glad you asked that. To me, that’s one of the most important issues. It’s not as sexy, as I said, as the mice and mold issue, but there is a fundamental problem, or my reporting seems to show a fundamental problem. The way it works is, when you are injured or hurt serving in Iraq, for example, and you come back to a place like Walter Reed, two things are happening at the same time, and the Army is trying to do both. On the one hand, the Army is trying to help you heal, to treat, for example, your post-traumatic stress disorder. On the other hand, the same Army is trying to make a determination about how much money the Pentagon is going to pay that soldier, perhaps for the rest of their life. Now, the Army’s mission, you have to understand, is to take ground and hold it. The Army’s mission, frankly, is not to compensate veterans for their service. So what we have is essentially a conflict of interest. The Army is trying to do both at the same time: save money for bullets and bombs on the backs of veterans, and also treat them and compensate them. So it’s this strange problem.

And my reporting suggests that those two missions are conflicted, and the person who is suffering is the veteran. So the veteran is — essentially their medical care is getting mixed up in their compensation. A simple example is somebody who appears to have post-traumatic stress disorder, ends up getting diagnosed as something called personality disorder not otherwise specified. In other words, “It’s not our fault you have mental problems; it’s your fault. You came to the Army that way.” I see that all the time. To be totally honest, if I could wave a magic wand, I would take the ability of the Army to be in the business of compensating soldiers out of their hands. I just don’t think they should be — just as my reporting suggests, they shouldn’t be in the business at all. You know, let the VA do it, an organization that is dedicated solely to treating and compensating veterans, because, frankly, I just think the Army is conflicted here about handing out money.

AMY GOODMAN: I want to turn to First Lieutenant Jullian Goodrum, treated at Ward 54 in Walter Reed for two years. Mark wrote a piece about you, and it begins, “Groucho Marx once said that military justice is to justice what military music is to music. Lt. Jullian Goodrum laughs at that quote. ’It’s crazy,’ the 35-year-old Army reservist and Iraq vet says about his knock-down, drag-out fight with the Army. It pushed him to the edge, physically, emotionally and financially. 'I have to laugh. Otherwise, I'd go crazy,’ he says.” Well, First Lieutenant Jullian Goodrum, Mark Benjamin is writing about you. Tell us what happened to you.

FIRST LT. JULLIAN GOODRUM: Yes, ma’am. Good morning, and thank you for having me on the show. To my dismay, and to be honest, I still have problems actually believing what I encountered was actually true. But, unfortunately, I was caught in a — or I actually found myself in a system that basically, as far as treating soldiers, was illegal and unethical, as far as, for myself, trying to receive the proper and mainstream medical care and also to be diagnosed properly and to be rated justly and fairly.

I’ll give one example. During my stay at Walter Reed, during one time I came, I had homicidal tendencies. I went to my treating psychiatrist and told him, “Hey, I’m having some real serious problems here. I’m thinking about killing.” And his response was, “There’s nothing I can do for you. You will be held fully accountable for your actions.” So, on that note, I sought treatment at a local vet center, which is ran by the VA in Silver Springs, Maryland.

Another great, great example of the medical board, another psychiatrist I had — unfortunately, you obtain psychiatrists as probably — they rotate every three, four months. But one of them kept asking me about alcohol. Did I drink? Did I drink? Did I drink? I kept saying, no, no, no, no. And after he rotated on, I came under care of a civilian psychiatrist at Walter Reed, and I told her the conversation. And she said, “Good for you.” She said, “This is what they do. If they can get you or prove that you drink, even just one or two beers, they’ll put you in a” — the Army, there’s a three-week alcohol program at Walter Reed. From that, that documentation goes in your medical file, and most patients with PTSD have a dual diagnoses of major depression disorder. So when the board is looking at a percent for rating you for a major depression, they’ll see the form in there that you was in an alcohol problem. They’ll turn to the doctor, say, “Doctor, can a depression be” — excuse me —- “Can alcohol cause depression?” They’ll say yes. “OK, his depression is self-induced. Zero percent.” So that’s just several examples of things a soldier faces. You know, for example -—

AMY GOODMAN: First Lieutenant Jullian Goodrum, we have to break. But when we come back, I want to ask what happened when you sought treatment at a civilian hospital and how the military then responded. First Lieutenant Jullian Goodrum was treated at Ward 54 in Walter Reed for two years. We’ll also be back with Mark Benjamin and speak with the wife of a soldier who was treated at Walter Reed for almost a year. Stay with us.

AMY GOODMAN: We’re talking about the revelations that The Washington Post has just revealed in a series of investigations of Walter Reed Hospital. We’re talking to Mark Benjamin, who had been focusing on Walter Reed Hospital now for years, along with First Lieutenant Jullian Goodrum, treated at Ward 54 in Walter Reed for two years.

Now, when you left after being dissatisfied with the treatment at Walter Reed, Jullian Goodrum, you went to a Knoxville, Tennessee psychiatric hospital, a civilian hospital. The Army subsequently accused you of desertion, because you had been turned away from the military hospital but went into a civilian hospital?

FIRST LT. JULLIAN GOODRUM: That’s absolutely correct. Actually I was — which they confirmed through medical documentation and testimony, that I was denied medical treatment at Fort Knox, Kentucky, but it was a misunderstanding. When I sought treatment, I was in the midst of what I know now to be a point of dysfunction, otherwise known as a nervous breakdown. I sought treatment at an in-patient psychiatric hospital in Knoxville, Tennessee, which received great care, and they was able to get me stable in a week, week and a half. But from that, the Army was contacted that I was in-patient, my diagnoses, but yet they still considered me AWOL. And I actually had at one time alleged charges for a desertion.

JUAN GONZALEZ: Lieutenant, you had been in the military 16 years. Is that correct?

JUAN GONZALEZ: And one of the things I’ve heard from many veterans is that sometimes the whole situation of their medical treatment is used sometimes as retaliation against possible things that may have happened while in the military. I know Mark Benjamin at one point wrote a piece that said that you had blasted superiors for misdeeds that you said cost a soldier’s life. Did that have anything to do, in your sense, with the way you were being treated?

FIRST LT. JULLIAN GOODRUM: Yes. The evidence, as far as Army documentation and email, definitely gives the appearance — at the minimum, the appearance that my safety concerns and equipment concerns in Iraq was part of the foundation for their illegal and unethical behavior. Personally, I say yes.

JUAN GONZALEZ: And, Mark Benjamin, have you found that to be the case with some of the other soldiers you’ve interviewed, the use of retaliation in terms of the way that soldiers are dealt with in terms of medical treatment?

MARK BENJAMIN: Well, certainly, I think what Lieutenant Goodrum is talking about is when a soldier who has a stellar career sees something that they think is wrong in the theater, say, in Iraq and tries to alert superiors and tries to do the right thing and ends up resulting, in this case, in the death of a young soldier, and in Goodrum’s case, which I think is very well documented, it ends up that there’s a lot retribution against the soldier, and it’s carried out through his medical care, and it’s carried out through charging him with AWOL for trying to go get psychiatric care. I think those cases are relatively unusual. They do happen. I mean, being a whistleblower in the military, stepping up and doing, frankly, what officers are taught to do, which is blow the whistle when things get out of hand, yes, there are serious, serious cases of retaliation, and you do come across them.

I think the bigger problem, though — and I think Lieutenant Goodrum can speak to both of those — is you have those situations where you have somebody who tries to blow the whistle about dangerous equipment or lack of equipment, and so on and so forth, but then you get into this other issue of this frightening sort of bureaucracy, where the military is, A, trying treat you and, B, trying to determine if they can compensate you — and I think a lot of soldiers would say “not compensate” you by trying to save money, and doing those at the same time. And when you mix all that stuff together — for example, in Lieutenant Goodrum’s case, you have a very nasty recipe, where soldiers are both being retaliated against and struggling against a bureaucracy that is set out to primarily — or my reporting suggests — primarily save money on long-term disability payments and not so much emphasizing medical care.

AMY GOODMAN: I want to bring in Annette McLeod into this conversation, wife of Dell McLeod. Before he was deployed to Iraq, he worked in the rural steel and textile mills of South Carolina. Can you talk about what has happened to your husband since returning from Iraq?

ANNETTE McLEOD: My husband is no longer the man that he was when I married him. It’s almost like the day that he was injured, he actually died and had rebirth as a different man.

AMY GOODMAN: Can you elaborate? Can you tell us what happened when he came back, when he started his treatment at Walter Reed Hospital?

ANNETTE McLEOD: Well, before the accident, my husband was very easygoing. He was well liked, very quiet, very laughable. He would laugh at just the least little thing. Now, he’s angry. He’s aggressive. It’s like I told his psychiatrist and his psychologist, it’s almost like he’s angry, and he vents everything toward me. It’s like I don’t know him anymore. He’s angry at the system, but he knows he’s powerless. At the same time, he knows that if something’s not done, he’s not going to recuperate.

JUAN GONZALEZ: Could you tell us a little bit what was the nature of his injury? I understand that he suffered some brain damage. What happened in Iraq? And then, when he came back to the hospital, what kind of treatment he got?

ANNETTE McLEOD: Well, he was pulling inventory on an 18-wheeler. And first of all, the door was strapped off by a hamburger bun sack, instead of the nylon straps that they’re supposed to use. He was pulling the inventory, when the wind got behind the door, and the door actually struck him, sending him airborne through the air. From that, they didn’t realize that he had a brain injury, didn’t bother to check, didn’t bother to run x-rays. They did, however, run x-rays of the lower back at the time. He was not medevaced immediately. He was put on watch in quarters, so that he — because he couldn’t lift anything. He couldn’t move.

When he come back to Walter Reed, he was never in-patient. The day that I saw him, it was like — by talking to him, I knew something was wrong. He was very argumentative. It was almost like you had to prove everything to him. He was angry. He was always looking for — at me like I was the enemy. And this was the guy that — we just celebrated our 21st anniversary. So when you don’t know somebody anymore, something’s wrong. And I tried to tell them at Walter Reed. I talked to his social worker, I talked to his case manager, I talked to his doctors. And I kept telling them, I said, “Something is wrong. This is not my husband.”

AMY GOODMAN: Annette, Anne Hull and Dana Priest of The Washington Post began one of their pieces, their exposés, called “Injured Vets Now Battle for Benefits,” with the story of your husband Dell. They say, “One day he’s led on stage at a Toby Keith concert with dozens of other wounded Operation Iraqi Freedom troops from Mologne House, and the next he’s sitting in a cluttered cubbyhole at Walter Reed, fighting the Army for every penny of his disability.” What is your major concern right now? What are you demanding of the Army and Walter Reed?

ANNETTE McLEOD: Well, we were fortunate. By the help of a staffer, he got 50 percent from the Army. However, they did not rate his brain injury. They rated the cognitive dysfunction from the brain injury, and he got more for anxiety than he did for any of the other injuries. However, their thinking is — they rated him 30 percent for the anxiety. They would not classify him as PTSD. The thing is, they’re saying that this may get better with time, and then if it does so-called in time, then he’ll wind up with nothing.

AMY GOODMAN: Well, Annette McLeod, we’re going to leave it there. We thank you very much for being with us. But we do want to follow what happens with your husband Dell McLeod, who has been treated at Walter Reed for almost a year. First Lieutenant Jullian Goodrum, thanks so much for being with us, treated at Ward 54 in Walter Reed for two years. And Mark Benjamin, national correspondent at, thank you.

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Jasin Boland, Universal Pictures
Matt Damon as William Garin in “The Great Wall.”

“THE GREAT WALL” — 2½ stars — Matt Damon, Tian Jing, Willem Dafoe; Andy Lau, Kenny Lin, Eddie Peng; PG-13 (sequences of fantasy action violence); in general release

Taken on its own merits, “The Great Wall” is a fun and quickly forgettable B-movie monster flick that just happens to have an A-lister for its protagonist. It feels like a perfect fit for mid-February.

“The Great Wall” is about a fortune hunter who teams up with an outmatched army to fight off an invasion of lizard monsters. Matt Damon plays William, a career mercenary who has fought under various flags, but never with any true purpose. He and his partner, Tovar (Pedro Pascal), have come to China in search of gunpowder, which they hope to introduce to the West. But before they can secure any, they encounter a shadowy creature that only dumb luck allows them to kill.

Soon after, they are taken prisoner by a vast army called the Nameless Order, stationed at the Great Wall of China and preparing for the invasion of an old foe. According to legend, an alien race of monsters called Tao Tei arrived by a meteor to punish mankind’s limitless greed every 60 years and, wouldn’t you know it, the countdown is up.

After somehow surviving the first Lord of the Rings-style onslaught of the Tao Tei, William and Tovar are begrudgingly taken in by the Order, which is led by a striking female commander named Lin Mae (Tian Jing).

That’s about as deep as the plot goes, save for a prisoner named Ballard (Willem Dafoe) who plots with Tovar to steal as much gunpowder as possible and leave everyone else to deal with the meteor lizards. For the most part, the story works to serve the action set pieces and the characters serve only their most minimal functions.

Actually, the character that stands out most is the wall itself, which is enhanced with a number of elaborate defense mechanisms. At one point, long slits in the wall uncover giant blades that slash through any man or beast who tries to scale the wall, and we first meet Commander Lin as she leads a team of spear-throwing daredevils called the Crane Corps who bungee jump off complex platforms on the wall.

All the crazy machinations make “The Great Wall” a lot more watchable than it should be, and efforts like this leave you with the impression that the filmmakers are trying to earn your ticket price. Some striking visuals and elaborate set design suggest director Yimou Zhang is trying to blend the artistry of Asian martial arts films with a West-friendly action flick, but too often the heavy emphasis on slow motion and corny, 3-D-friendly effects undercuts any serious artistic credibility.

Damon puts a familiar face in the lead role, but his character ultimately is as two-dimensional as Lin, who serves as both William’s vague romantic interest and the film’s strong female action co-star. Damon’s casting led to accusations of whitewashing (variety.com), but that kind of issue feels appropriate for serious movies, and “The Great Wall” is just not a serious movie.

The design of the Tao Tei, who operate as a hive mind under the control of a queen, is certainly menacing, with mouths full of fangs and creepy eyes set back around the shoulder blade area. But the sheer volume of CGI beasts actually undercuts their menace a bit, and wide shots of them piling on top of each other to get over the Great Wall are evocative of the zombie attacks from 2013’s “World War Z” (which actually makes sense when you see the author, Max Brooks, with a story credit).

Long story short, if you can grimace through the cheese and Damon’s noncommittal accent, “The Great Wall” will keep the theater fires going until the big spring and summer releases arrive.

“The Great Wall” is rated PG-13 for sequences of fantasy action violence; running time: 103 minutes.

Points for parents

By Shawn O'Neill

Violence: There are many scenes of soldiers fighting fierce creatures that are determined to feed on them. Weapons are used against the creatures, including large projectiles on fire spears, arrows and explosives. Some creatures attack humans, bite them and thrash them around. Blades are used to cut the creatures as they climb the wall. Two beasts ambush a group of soldiers. The beasts are seen attacking the capital city of China. A man shoots another man with an arrow and he falls from his horse. Some sacrifice their lives for others.

Gore/peril: Green blood gushes from monsters as they are cut. Some wounds on humans are seen after attacks. Soldiers run down walls to attack the beasts.

Language: There are a couple uses of swear words, sometimes in subtitles.

Joshua Terry is a freelance writer and photographer who also teaches English composition for Weber State University. You can also find him on YouTube.


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lensbaby, composer, regular single optic, 5.6, HD&LD Porter building in rhyolite

I have to admit it, I love my Lensbaby. I know it is probably not logical to “love” an inanimate object, so I suppose I should qualify my original statement. I love what my Lensbaby can do and how it affects an image and yes, how it inspires me.

The ghost town of Rhyolite (above) seems particularly suited for Lensbaby use, adding to its out-of-time feeling. This image of the HD & LD Porter building was photographed with the Single Glass optic and a f5.6 aperture disc.

After taking several shots of people, diner stools and food with my Lensbaby in the Mojave National Preserve Visitor Center, I took a seat at the Kelso Depot lunch counter. Several seats away, a man was staring intently at my camera on the counter in front of me.

“Excuse me,” he said “what’s that thing on your camera?”

“It’s a Lensbaby,” I said and spent the next half an hour talking about “that thing.” He seemed particularly intrigued as I showed him my photos that I had made that day, and explained how it all worked. (You gotta love digital and instant replay of your pics.)

It is so great introducing folks to what looks like toy, but is actually a finely-crafted instrument through which one can see the world in a unique and maybe a slightly skewed way. Fantasy and reality become intertwined when working with the Lensbaby.

Shown is a camera with the Soft Focus Optic.

So What Is a Lensbaby

The Lensbaby is a Creative Effects SLR lens that creates a Sweet Spot of focus surrounded by a graduated blur. Tilting the lens moves the Sweet Spot around depending on the effect you want.

This image was made with a normal 50mm lens. You can compare this pic with the photos taken with the various Lensbabies.

The aperture is controlled by a set of disks that come with the optics. They are held into place by shielded magnets and can be easily changed.

Just as in a regular SLR lens, the smaller the aperture, the more focused the image. Wider apertures mean more blur and a smaller Sweet Spot — where the photo is sharpest.

Exposure is most easily controlled with shutter speed and ISO adjustments and can also be balanced by swapping out aperture disks. The aperture will not show up on the LCD or in your meta data.

I started out with Version 1 in 2005.

The original Lensbaby has evolved into three different body types with interchangeable optics — the Optic Swap System — which fit into the basic Lensbaby bodies and add to the lens’ flexibility, and to the creativity of the photographer.

One of the first images I made with a Lensbaby was of a family enjoying the late afternoon sun. I think the scene works well with a soft approach.

For this self-assignment, I tried to shoot sample photos at a single location using the different optic parts. As I found out, after a few days of shooting, that approach didn’t work very well. Different situations needed different optics.

This Union Pacific locomotive rests in a display at the Western America Railroad Museum. The Sweet Spot is located over the UP logo and front end of the train.

What might work well for a dreamy portrait, does not necessarily work well for a locomotive. Shooting an engine sitting still with a Lensbaby can add an illusion of movement. (Notice how I snuck “trains” in here?)

Little John

Randall Dancing Elk

With different aperture discs I can control how much of a portrait is in focus. In the portrait of “Little John,” left, I used a much smaller aperture disk to keep as much of his face in focus as possible with a minimum amount of blur around him. I also used some selective Photoshop techniques to enhance the detail in his beard. In the portrait of Randall Dancing Elk, I used a disk with a larger opening to create more blur.

How to Choose Which Lensbaby

Lensbabies come in three flavors: The Composer, the Muse, and the Control Freak.

lensbaby_composerTHE COMPOSER: (right)
The Composer is great for a smooth and precise shooting style. You can bend and focus it with one hand, similar to the way you would focus with a traditional lens. The Composer utilizes a ball and socket that stay in place when you adjust it.THE MUSE: (left)
The Muse is similar to earlier Lensbabies; the photographer compresses the flexible tubing to find focus and tilts the lens to move that focus. The Muse is great for street photography and shooting on the fly.lensbaby_control_freak

The Control Freak is great for macro and tabletop photography and for photographers who need to shoot in a more concise way. Focus can be locked into place and fine tuned with knobs on the end of focusing rods.

For our purposes, we are going to concentrate on the Composer, the Lensbaby I bought to replace my Version 1. I wanted to be able to control the blur and sweet spot without getting too methodical as with the Control Freak. The Composer gives me more predictable results than the Muse would.

Any new piece of gear has a learning curve and after using the Composer for a few weeks I felt I had made the right decision when I chose to replace my “Baby.”

The Composer with the Optic Swap System.

Currently there are six optic choices for the Lensbaby: the Double Glass, Single Glass, Plastic, Pinhole/Zone Plate, Fisheye and Soft Focus optics.

Double Glass Optic

The Double Glass Optic is a 50mm multi-coated optical glass doublet, providing a tack-sharp Sweet Spot of focus with minimum diffusion at all aperture settings. Photo Fabiola Forns ©

Single Glass Optic

The Single Glass Optic is an update of the Original Lensbaby’s primitive optic, ideal for fine art, portraiture, black and white images and any shot requiring a subtle, soft, dreamy effect. You can see the blur on the left and right side of the photo while the front of the building is where the Sweet Spot of focus is. Compare this image with the Plastic Optic in the following example.

Plastic Optic

The Plastic Optic is the softest optic overall. It creates very ethereal photos with abundant chromatic aberration. Again, I think black & white works well for the situation and the optic.
Photo © David Morel
Soft Focus Optic (right)
The Soft Focus Optic is a 50mm flat field multi-coated doublet that creates images with an overall soft and diffused look without the sweet spot of sharp focus. You can vary the amount of softness by changing and stacking the aperture disks that come with the optic.

Wait you say, what is chromatic aberration?

According to Wikipedia,

“Chromatic aberration manifests itself as ‘fringes’ of color along boundaries that separate dark and bright parts of the image.”

In other words, sort of a slight bluish-purple glow around contrasting parts of a colour photo.

That aberration is one of the things I like about the Single Glass optic in my Lensbaby.

It is easy to see the aberration in in the Zone Plate example #2 below.

Fisheye Optic

The Fisheye Optic is an ultra-wide 12mm focal length with a 160 degree field of view. The Fisheye Optic requires an adapter in order to use it with the Muse or the Control Freak.

Pinhole/Zone Optics

The Zone Plate Example 1
The Zone Plate Example 2

Pinhole Optic

The Pinhole Optic. Photo © Tina Louise

The Pinhole/Zone Plate option (in a single optic that utilizes a sliding switch between pinhole and zone plate) achieves softer focus, producing dreamy images that are equally sharp from edge to edge. The surface area of the zone plate is larger than the pinhole and therefore requires less exposure time. The zone plate will also produce images with a much more glowing and diffused light than the pinhole, which tends to be sharper.

You will not see any Lensbaby blur in the Pinhole/Zone Plate, Soft Focus or Fisheye photos. These optics are extra creative options for Lensbabies. The Lensbaby is centered facing straight ahead when using these optics.

(Note to the Tooth Fairy, Lara would like the Zone Plate/Pinhole optic, please.)

Depending on the optic, a Lensbaby focal length is 50-55mm.

There is a super-wide adapter that changes the focal length to 21mm.

I love the wide-angle perspective and use that accessory quite frequently.

Lensbaby Wide Angle Adapter

The wide-angle adapter increases the horizontal point of view. The lens was pointed straight ahead so the Sweet Spot is in the middle of the frame with the graduated blur to either side.

I can also take off the front element of my wide-angle adapter and turn it into a macro lens — with blur. How cool is that!

If macro is your thing, there is also the Lensbaby Macro Kit which lets you use selective focus on a very small scale.

It features one +4 filter and one +10 filter, allowing you to focus from 2 to 13 inches inches away.

Lensbaby Macro Kit

Rays of a sunflower become yellow abstraction when photographed with the macro part of the wide-angle adapter.

In addition to the normal aperture disks that come with an optic, there is a optional accessory, the Creative Aperture Kit, which lets you custom cut your aperture disks into any shape you want.

Out of focus specular highlights (bright points of light) take on the shape of the hole in your aperture disk.

The Creative Aperture Kit.

For this image, I used the wide-angle adapter and a star shaped creative aperture disc. It looks as if handful of stars was thrown across the image.

Lensbaby lenses are compatible with Canon, Nikon, Sony, Pentax and 4/3’s mount SLR cameras — digital or film. Remember, if your camera has a sensor magnification crop, the focal length will vary from camera to camera.

Lensbabies will not work with point & shoot cameras.

No matter which body you choose, and which optics, adding a Lensbaby to one’s shooting arsenal will open up a range of new visual possibilities.

The Lensbaby may not be for everyone, but as I said in the beginning, I love mine and what it can do.

Product photographs courtesy of Lensbaby, Corp.
Photos © Lara Hartley unless otherwise noted.

  1. Lara,
    You explained the “lens baby” better than what I have read in the past from so many magazines and sites. From this review, you can actually figure out what one might want to try. Also,the images you showed really help imagine what photographers might want to try out. Thanks again!

  2. Thanks Lara! I have always wondered what the Lensbaby was all about and why people would be so excited about a lens that blurs things…now I get it! 🙂

  3. Lara – really well laid out and succinctly described great examples – I want one!!

  4. Great photos, I’ve been looking to buy one of these for a while, and now I finally have a reason, thanks for the push your photo’s inspired me to buy. Just more photography stuff to play with. Thanks

  5. WOWEEEWOW-WOW – this looks like a whole bunch of fun! I’m trying to get back into SLR going to digital and this would be right up my alley – that and my most favorite piece of equipment – a polarizing filter!!! I can wait and I am copying this article for future use!!!

    Thanks for showing this and the many things it can do!

  6. You should be a teacher. your explanations are very thorough and spoken in a way i can easily understand.

  7. I just bought the muse and I have a Pentax K20. I used manual and aperture and I am having trouble getting a good picture, the images are over exposed or under exposed. I have adjusted settings on contrast, etc., but nothing seems to help. Any advise would be helpful. Thanks. Carol

  8. hi carol,

    are you shooting RAW with no image manipulations in camera? no contrast, no sharpening etc. the images can be off a little bit but not by much. of course, where you aim the camera can affect the exposure. pointing at something black and not compensating will result in overexposed images. conversely, pointing at something very light without making adjustments will result in under-exposed images.

    here is an article we did on exposure and manual mode.

    to get the best results from your lensbaby, shoot on RAW mode with no in-camera settings other than “realistic” or “normal” or “faithful” so you are getting the most from the image that you can then adjust in your image processing software.

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Bulgari Saipan | Brands

Saipan EN.jpg
Saipan BMP_VIDEO_IMAGE_Desktop.jpg
Saipan Bulgari Bulgari,Beauty,Fashion & Accessories,Watch & Jewelry
Bulgari, one of the world’s leading luxury brands, was founded in 1884. It has since then become one of the global players in the luxury market, and today has a distribution network of over 286 stores in the most exclusive shopping areas in the world. Bulgari has a product portfolio that ranges from jewels and watches to accessories, perfumes, skincare and hotels. Today the Bulgari creations, renowned for the distinctive, bold and contemporary style, are highly appreciated by an international clientele fond of high quality and unique design.

Where to shop

Whether you're departing for a journey across the Atlantic or touring a buzzing metropolis, spot our iconic red dot and experience a destination of the world's finest in Fashion & Accessories, Beauty & Fragrances, Watches & Jewelry, Wines & Spirits, and Food & Gifts.


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Tip #1
11/29/2012   (#13) Tip By: lion
Long dogleg left. For advanced players that are right handed and throw primarily backhand I recommend you throwing a straight drive down the middle of the fairway as far as you can. If you make it to the back of the opening on your drive to the basket you should have a putter or midrange approach that is short and easier to manage then being short of the opening. I recommend throwing a boss or nuke or cannon. At all costs avoid being against the left side of the fairway near the tree line. If your there it will severely handicap your second shot.