text:
Skip navigation links
My Account
Contact Us
Privacy Policy
About Heritage

Click on the link for your Card to read the Terms & Conditions:

Heritage Traveler Terms and Conditions

Purchase or Use of a Heritage Bank Visa TravelMoney (VTM) Card constitutes acceptance of the Terms and Conditions governing this Card.

Heritage Bank Contact Information
For any information or query about the VTM Card, view the Bank’s web site or contact a representative as given below:

  Heritage Bank Web
 Email: or
 Phone:(501) 223-5698 or 223-6783
 Fax:(501) 223-0368 or 223-1971
 Card Log-In Web Site:

VTM Card
Heritage Bank VTM Card is a prepaid reloadable non-personalized card with magnetic strip, which is used as an alternative payment medium to conduct cash withdrawals, Internet purchases and purchases in stores. The Card does not incur nor pay interest.

Uses of VTM Card
  • This card is called Heritage Traveler because it is Safe and Convenient to carry around as opposed to carrying cash.
  • Heritage Traveler card facilitates fast, easy repeated payments, such as salaries, dividends or commissions to employees/agents as opposed to using checks or wire transfers.
  • Heritage Traveler card is acceptable worldwide in stores, at ATMs and on the Internet.
  • Heritage Traveler card is in US dollar; however, conversion from other currencies is automated and does not delay transactions.
  • The VTM card can be co-branded and re-designed exclusively for your business clientele
Purchasing a Heritage Traveler Card
  • Application Form and additional information are available on Bank’s Web Site or can be requested from Customer Services (note contact information above).
  • Heritage Traveler card is pre-embossed with card number and expiry date; has pre-assigned PIN; and non-personalized; thus allowing Bank to issue card promptly
  • Card is mailed to you at no risk since Bank mails card before it is activated and funded
  • Purchase cards individually or in multiples for corporate clientele
  • Card is reloadable and therefore no new plastic is necessary when initial funds are depleted. Just instruct Bank to reload money on the same card for further use.
  • Load/Reload occurs within minutes after your instruction is received; thereby providing you with quick access to your money.
  • Your loading instruction is easily sent to Bank via Fax or Email
Personal Identification Number (PIN)
This is a 4-digit number provided with the VTM Card. It is important that you do not share your PIN with anyone and that you keep it in a secure place accessible only by you. Memorize your PIN and do not carry around with the Card. Security and Confidentiality of your PIN are important because the PIN is a means of authentication to access funds on your VTM Card.

You may go online via Bank’s web site and change PIN at anytime; however, you need to know the old PIN in order to create new PIN. If you are unable to recall your PIN, contact the Bank for new card and PIN as PINs are pre-assigned and Bank is unable to re-issue only PIN.

If you forget your PIN when attempting transactions, your Card will be temporarily blocked after 3 failed attempts. This measure is in place to safeguard your funds in the event the Card is lost or stolen and someone else is trying to guess your PIN to deplete funds on the Card. Remember, this is only a temporary block allowing you time to report the Card missing for Bank to take more permanent action.

Lost, Stolen, or Damaged Card
Contact the Bank as soon as possible to report your Card Lost, Stolen or Damaged so the Bank can immediately take necessary action to protect any money held on the Card; or if you have immediate access to the Internet, you may log in to the Card site given above and suspend the Card from further use. Subsequent to suspending or blocking your lost/stolen/damaged Card, contact the Bank to obtain a new Card and to have the Bank transfer any funds remaining on the lost/stolen/damaged Card onto the new Card.

Authorized Card Transactions
All transactions done with your VTM Card and/or PIN are equivalent to your signature and will be processed as being authorized by you, unless such transaction occurred after you notify the Bank of your Card being lost, stolen or damaged.

Transaction Statement
The Bank does not issue statements detailing transactions done with your Card. However, you may log in to the Card site (given above) at anytime to view your Card transactions.

Dispute Charges
In the event you wish the Bank to dispute a charge made to your Card on your behalf, provide the Bank with details of the transaction and the reason for your dispute in writing and within 30 days that the transaction occurred.

  • Refer to Bank’s Depository Agreement, which also governs operations of VTM Card.
  • Bank may refuse to sell or may choose to cancel a VTM Card if Bank believes the Card will be used or is being used to facilitate activities falling outside Bank’s acceptable line of business.
  • VTM Terms & Conditions are governed by and construed in accordance with laws of Belize and parties hereto hereby submit to the jurisdiction of the Courts of Belize on any matter relating to the Terms & Conditions.
  • Bank may change the Terms & Conditions in its sole discretion at any times and any variation shall be binding upon Cardholder.   We invite you to review the Bank’s web site for any changes, enhancements or promotions pertaining to your VTM product.

Card Limits
Card Balance:

Single Load:

Monthly Load:

Daily Number of Loads:

Card Cash Limits
Per Cash Withdrawal:

Daily Cash Withdrawal:

Daily Number of Withdrawal:

Card Purchase Limits
Per Purchase:

Daily Dollar Purchase:

Daily Number of Purchase:

Card Fees*
           $1 - $1,000:

           $1,001 - $5,000:

Replacement Card:

Monthly Maintenance:

ATM Cash Withdrawal:

Declined Transaction:

No Activity after 90 days:

Currency Conversion Fee:

Chargeback Processing:

* Certain Fees are discounted when multiple cards are purchased

Read these Terms and Conditions carefully and keep for future reference.

For the purpose of these Terms and Conditions, the words 'we' and 'our' means Provident Bank & Trust of Belize Limited (PBTBL). The words 'you' and 'your' means the individual purchaser or user of the PBTBL MasterCard Prepaid Cards. To purchase or to use a PBTBL MasterCard Prepaid Card or to sign a purchase receipt of same or sign an application for this product constitutes the acceptance of the Terms and Conditions or any other terms and conditions contained on the purchase receipt or on the card itself.

Provident Bank & Trust of Belize Limited MasterCard Prepaid Cards are cards with magnetic strips, which are acquired as alternative payment medium with minimum risk, and which do not incur nor pay interest.

Process of Purchase

You can purchase PBTBL MasterCard Prepaid Cards by completing an application for review. One of each card per person is issued. The minimum value to activate a PBTBL MasterCard Prepaid Card is US$20.00. The maximum load/reload amount per prepaid card and the maximum cumulative balance on a prepaid card vary according to the card Program through which you acquired your card. In application, you should determine the balance of the Card in U.S. Dollars.

You can deposit additional amounts on prepaid cards in US Dollars, which can be added to the existing prepaid card balance providing it does not exceed the cumulative balance limit assigned to your card Program. Your PBTBL MasterCard Prepaid Cards allow you to access your funds from any MasterCard Cirrus Automated Teller Machine (ATMs), merchants that accept card payments, or on websites requiring on-line payment via credit/debit card.

Once the Card has been purchased, any query, information or assistance will have to be requested through the telephone numbers for Customer Service, via the website, or from your card provider.

Personal Identification Number

The Personal Identification Number (PIN) is a 4-digit number use to withdraw cash from your card. It is important that only you have access to this number and that you keep it in a secure place. It is best to memorize your PIN since it is the equivalent to your signature. This is a means of authentication and is required at merchants with pin capability or to access your funds at ATM.

In case you lose or misplace your PIN, immediately contact customer service. In the event you forget your PIN, you will be allowed a maximum of three tries in order for the card not to be deactivated. If your card is deactivated at the end of the third try, you will have to contact customer service to receive further instructions.

Lost, Stolen or Damaged Cards

If your Cards have been stolen, misplaced or damaged and you have forgotten or misplaced your PIN, please notify customer service and report immediately or via our website

Once the report has been made your card(s) will be blocked from use. If you are certain that you were the only one to have access to your PIN, it is optional to make a report of theft/misplacement. However, if you do not make this report it will be your responsibility for usage of the card.

Appropriate Use

All transactions done with your PBTBL MasterCard Prepaid Cards and your PINs are equivalent to your signature, which are the only means of identification for the use of the cards. Therefore, it is understood that the transactions were made by you or by someone on your behalf, unless you notify customer service of a lost/stolen card. Sale of this product is to be made to our customers as an alternate payment medium.

Types of Transactions and Limitations

You can use your PBTBL MasterCard Prepaid Cards to access cash at any MasterCard Cirrus ATM Worldwide. All withdrawals will be deducted from your registered balance.

You can access your total available balance at a MasterCard Cirrus ATM in any part of the world but it is important to consider that due to the different rules and policies of individual banks in certain countries, the ATMs may have a limit on the amount of cash it will dispense.

You must also take into account the following:
  • If your card remains inactive for 3 consecutive months it will be charged an inactive fee of US$10.00
  • Your card will be charged a monthly maintenance fee in accordance with your card program Agreement.
  • When a minimum balance of US$10.00 or less is in your PBTBL MasterCard Prepaid Card and the card is inactive, it will be charged the inactive fee and deactivated for use as a MasterCard Prepaid Card. However, you can purchase another MasterCard Prepaid Card in the future.
  • When your card has a balance equal to or less than the monthly maintenance fee, it will be charged the monthly maintenance fee and deactivated from further use. However, you can purchase another MasterCard prepaid card in the future.

Charges & Commissions *

  1. Activation/Initial Sign up fee
  2. Monthly Maintenance Fee
  3. Load Fee
  4. Transfer Funds to Replaced Card $10.00
  5. ATM Withdrawal Fee
  6. ATM Balance Inquiry/Decline
  7. Foreign Transaction Fee 2.5%
  8. Courier Fees (Depends on FEDEX destination)
  9. Online & POS fees
  10. Per Charge Back Fee $55.00
  11. Inactive Fee $10.00
*These fees are subject to change without notice at the discretion of the Bank and are established in accordance with your card Program Agreement. Refer to your personal Terms & Conditions for your specific fees or contact Customer Services or your card provider.

As PBTBL MasterCard Prepaid Cards, PBTBL will not be issuing statements detailing the transactions used by you. However, you can look up your recent transaction history (view the 5 current items) or pull up statements providing up to date and accurate balances on If there is a transaction that was not authorized by you, you must immediately contact PBTBL via telephone or the website.

In case of errors or doubts over electronic transactions, please contact the service numbers or via the website as soon as possible so that the problem may be resolved. You have 30 days from the date transactions were made to present your dispute. In the event you wish to dispute a charge, you must provide a written letter explaining your case.

This MasterCard Prepaid Cards products are operated in relation to the bank's Depository Agreement. PBTBL can refuse to sell a MasterCard Prepaid Card to a person if after doing its due diligence it finds out that the card is being used for illegal activities. These Terms and Conditions shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of Belize and the parties hereto hereby submit to the jurisdiction of the Courts of Belize on any matter relating to these Terms and Conditions.

PBTBL may change these Terms and Conditions at any time or times in its sole discretion whether or not a similar amendment is made to these Terms and Conditions with any other Cardholder provided that at least 30 days prior notice of any such change is given to the Cardholder and a variation so notified shall be binding upon the Cardholder Terms and Conditions.

Returning Cardholders


Content-Type: application/http; msgtype=response

WARC-Identified-Payload-Type: application/xhtml+xml

WARC-Type: response

text:
Archive for April, 2012

The Four Paradigms of Public Diplomacy: A Longer Version

April 16, 2012

At the International Studies Association I presented a paper based on the four paradigms of public diplomacy concept that I blogged about here.  The paper is here: ISA 2012 v4

In the paper I argue that one way to improve our understanding of public diplomacy is through comparative studies but in order to do this we need ways of talking about national approaches.  Hence the four paradigms (extended diplomacy, national projection, cultural relations, and conflict mode (or political warfare) and the balance between them tends to give distinct national approaches.  In the paper I go further and suggest that we should map the paradigms onto national organizational fields (this is bit underdeveloped but I will come back to this.)  The final part of the paper applies these ideas to the UK, France, Germany and the US.  Looking at the balance between concepts and at the way they map onto organizational fields provides a way of talking about the ways that different countries approach external communications activities.

In terms of findings I argue that France and Germany models have been strongly marked by a concern with culture although institutionally the French model has had a much greater degree of foreign ministry steering. In both cases over the past 15 years there has been a greater interest in alternative models. Across all four countries there has been a growth in the influence of economically motivated projection (branding activities).  The US is summed up as ‘political warfare and its critics’ the Second World War, the Cold War and the War on Terror have had a strong impact on American models although it can be argued that PD2.0, 21st century statecraft etc are indicators of strengthening of a view of PD as an extension of diplomacy.   As soon as you start to make comparisons you are forced to try and explain the similarities and differences the become visible so this is has been an extremely fruitful exercise for me.

The response to the overall approach and argument of the paper has been extremely positive although Nick Cull and Ellen Huijgh raised some important questions about aspects of the US and French cases that will be addressed in the next iteration.

Parliamentary Committee Gives the FCO a Kicking

April 13, 2012

The House of Commons Foreign Affairs Select Committee has just put out its latest report on the work of the Foreign Office, the BBC World Service and the British Council.

The headline is that the Committee is impressed with the job that the FCO has done given that they don’t have any money.

Many of the specific points in the report won’t surprise readers of this blog

On the cuts

In this context, we conclude that the lack of detail provided by the FCO and the BBC World Service as to exactly how the spending reductions target set by SR2010 will be met is disappointing. While there is no doubt that meeting the targets set by the Spending Review will be challenging and will require much planning and forethought, it is equally disappointing that the FCO has not yet planned how a reduction of £40 million, or over one-third, of its programme spending will be achieved

Translation: ‘The FCO won’t tell us how it’s going to meet its financial targets and we suspect it’s because they haven’t got a clue.’

The FCO is trying to reshape its network of posts without incurring an overall cost by selling existing building and buying new ones in priority areas

We conclude that the FCO’s internal target of achieving £60 million of assets sales per year, and reinvesting this sum back into the overseas network, must be considered extremely optimistic; for this target to be reached, the FCO will need to sell, every year of the spending review period, properties with a total value three times the total value of those properties sold in 2009-10. We believe that the FCO will not be able to reach this target without inflicting serious damage on its overseas network.

Translation: ‘We don’t believe you can do this’

 The “Diplomatic Excellence” programme, and the consequent emphasis on increased skills for UK diplomats, is welcome. However, we question whether it will be able to reverse the long-term trend for the FCO to emphasise “management” over “traditional” diplomatic skills.

If you read the reports from the FCO to the committee appended to the report you will certainly get the impression that managerialism is alive at well at the FCO

The committee is unimpressed with efforts to save money by reducing overseas postings for younger diplomats by relying more on locally engaged staff, combined with the FCO encouraging staff to take secondments to the European External Action Service the result will be a smaller and less capable service.

The committee also echoes points made here about the future of the BBC World Service  and the British Council as parts of the UK public diplomacy effort

‘Public diplomacy’ and ‘strategic communication’  don’t get a mention anywhere in the report although soft power comes up in a couple of the evidence sessions.

Despite the headline the report is less than optimistic about the state of UK’s foreign policy capability.

warcinfo:
isPartOf: CC-MAIN-2019-04
publisher: Common Crawl
description: Wide crawl of the web for January 2019
operator: Common Crawl Admin (info@commoncrawl.org)
hostname: ip-10-145-104-113.ec2.internal
software: Apache Nutch 1.15 (modified, https://github.com/commoncrawl/nutch/)
robots: checked via crawler-commons 0.11-SNAPSHOT (https://github.com/crawler-commons/crawler-commons)
format: WARC File Format 1.1
conformsTo: http://iipc.github.io/warc-specifications/specifications/warc-format/warc-1.1/


text:
Papers in Evolutionary Economic Geography

December 21, 2018

# 18.43 A network-based method to harmonize data classifications

Filed under: 2018 — Tags: , , , , , — T.Broekel @ 9:02 am

Dario Diodato

Abstract: A frequent problem in research is the harmonization of data to a common classification, whether that is in terms of – to name a few examples – industries, commodities, occupations, or geographical areas. Statistical offices often provide concordance tables, to match data through time or with different classifications, but these concordance tables alone are often not sufficient to define a clear methodology on how the matching should be performed. In fact, the concordance tables have, in numerous occasions, a many-to-many mapping of classifications. The issue is exacerbated when two or more concordance tables are concatenated. In this Jupyter notebook, I discuss a network- based abstraction of this problem and propose, as a general solution, a method that identifies the network components (or the network communities) to make data converge to a new classification. The method simplifies the issue and reduces greatly conversion errors.

December 20, 2018

# 18.42 Does inward FDI influence the quality of domestic institutions? A cross-country panel analysis

Filed under: 2018 — Tags: , , — T.Broekel @ 2:28 pm

Roberto Antonietti & Jasmine Mondolo

Abstract: Domestic institutions are recognized as important in attracting foreign direct investment (FDI) and spurring economic development in host countries, but FDI can also affect and shape domestic institutions. In this paper we use extensive data on the quality of institutions and on inward FDI in 127 countries over a period of 22 years to see whether attracting FDI improves the quality of institutions in the host economies. We distinguish between different types of institution, FDI and country, and we estimate a series of pooled ordinary least squares, fixed effects, and dynamic panel data models to address endogeneity. Our findings suggest that higher amounts of inward FDI improve the average quality of institutions in recipient countries. This holds particularly when the quality of institutions is measured in terms of political stability, regulatory quality and rule of law, and when host countries are developing or transition economies.

November 21, 2018

# 18.41 Scaling of Atypical Knowledge Combinations in American Metropolitan Areas from 1836 to 2010

Filed under: 2018 — Tags: , , , , — T.Broekel @ 12:34 pm

Lars Mewes

Abstract: Cities are epicenters for invention. Scaling analyses have verified the productivity of cities and demonstrate a super-linear relationship between cities’ population size and invention performance. However, little is known about what kinds of inventions correlate with city size. Is the productivity of cities only limited to invention quantity? We shift the focus on the quality of idea creation by investigating how cities influence the art of knowledge combination. Atypical combinations introduce novel and unexpected linkages between knowledge domains. They express creativity in inventions and are particularly important for technological breakthroughs. Our study of 174 years of invention history in metropolitan areas in the United States (US) reveals a super-linear scaling of atypical combination with population size. The observed scaling grows over time indicating a geographic shift towards cities since the early 20th century. The productivity of large cities is thus not only restricted to quantity, but also includes quality in invention processes.

# 18.40 Spinoffs, parents, and institutions: Evidence from the Italian motorcycle industry

Filed under: 2018 — Tags: , , , , — T.Broekel @ 12:32 pm

Gianluca Capone and Andrea Morrison

Abstract: In this paper we study the impact of spinoff generation events on the performance of parent organizations. Using data from the Italian motorcycle industry (1893-1993), we find that parents have higher survival chances after a spinoff generation event, confirming results from previous studies about other manufacturing industries. We also show that these enhanced survival patterns differ across time and space, and we link these effects to institutional differences: spinoff generation did not determine any survival advantage for parent firms in the Fascist era and in the Turin cluster, while it had an additional positive effect in the Motorvalley cluster. The paper contributes to the literature on spinoff generation and employee mobility and adds to the debate on the role of institutions in evolutionary economic geography, by showing the importance of contextual factors for the performance of parent firms.

# 18.39 The geographical dimension of structural change

Ron Boschma

Abstract: This chapter explores patterns of structural change from a geographical perspective. It summarizes recent insights on the geography of structural change, and in particular on regional diversification. It shows how local capabilities and institutions impact on structural change, and why the capacity of regions to diversify differs substantially. This chapter describes how concepts like diversification and relatedness have been fruitfully combined in a rapidly expanding literature. Diversification refers to the emergence of new activities, an important feature of structural change. These new activities are often embedded in, or related to, existing activities at the national and regional scale, requiring similar capabilities. But new activities can also be unrelated to existing ones. For our understanding of structural change, the role of agency is considered crucial, as it shapes diversification at the regional level.

October 28, 2018

# 18.38 Specialization, diversification and environmental technology life-cycle

Filed under: 2018 — Tags: , , — T.Broekel @ 2:48 pm

Nicoló Barbieri and François Perruchas and Davide Consoli

Abstract: The paper analyses whether and to what extent regional related and unrelated variety matter for the development of green technology, and whether their influence differs over the technology life-cycle. Using patent and socio-economic data on a thirty- year (1980-2009) panel of US States, our study finds that unrelated variety is a positive predictor of green innovative activities. When unpacked over the life cycle, we find that unrelated variety is the main driver of green technology development in early stages while related variety becomes more prominent as the technology enters into maturity.

October 24, 2018

# 18.37 Disentangling link formation and dissolution in spatial networks: An application of a two-mode STERGM to a project-based R&D network in the German Biotechnology industry

Tom Broekel & Marcel Bednarz

Abstract: The analysis of spatial networks’ evolution has predominantly concentrated on the formation process of links. However, the evolution of networks is similarly shaped by the dissolution of links, which has thus far received considerably less attention. The paper presents separable temporal exponential random graph models (STERGMs) as a promising method in this context, which allows for the disentangling of both processes. Moreover, the applicability of the method to two-mode network data is demonstrated. We illustrate the use of these models for the R&D collaboration network of the German biotechnology industry as well as for testing for the relevance of different forms of proximities for its evolution. The results reveal proximities varying in their relative importance for link formation and link dissolution.

October 10, 2018

# 18.36 Related variety, unrelated variety and the novelty content of firm innovation in urban and non-urban locations

Filed under: 2018 — Tags: , , , , , — T.Broekel @ 4:36 pm

Marte C.W. Solheim and Ron Boschma and Sverre Herstad

Abstract: In this paper, we investigate whether the composition of experience-based knowledge accumulated by firms in urban and rural locations is reflected in the novelty content of their innovations. Looking at the manufacturing industry, and using Norwegian Linked Employer- Employee register data (LEED) merged with Community Innovation Survey (CIS) data, we find that unrelated experience variety within firms increases the probability of radical innovation, independently of firms’ location, whereas related variety increases the probability of incremental innovation in large-city regions. These results demonstrate that innovation capacity cannot be understood from the single perspective of R&D efforts and strategy as it also depends on experiences accumulated in ‘entire organizations’ and the locations in which accumulation occurs. Moreover, they suggest that for manufacturing firms, urban locations are not hot spot for radical change. Instead, they support incremental innovative activities by facilitating effective sharing of knowledge between related sectors.

# 18.35 Migration and invention in the age of mass migration

Filed under: 2018 — Tags: , , , , , — T.Broekel @ 4:34 pm

Andrea Morrison and Sergio Petralia and Dario Diodato

Abstract: More than 30 million people migrated to the US between the 1850s and 1920s. In the order of thousands became inventors and patentees. Drawing on an original dataset of immigrant inventors to the US, we assess the city-level impact of immigrants patenting and their potential crowding out effects on US native inventors. Our study contributes to the different strands of literature in economics, innovation studies and economic geography on the role of immigrants as carriers of knowledge. Our results show that immigrants’ patenting is positively associated with total patenting. We find also that immigrant inventors crowd-in US inventors. The growth in US inventors’ productivity can be explained also in terms of knowledge spill-overs generate by immigrants. Our findings are robust to several checks and to the implementation of an instrumental variable strategy.

September 11, 2018

# 18.34 What kind of related variety for long-term regional growth?

Filed under: 2018 — Tags: , , , , , — T.Broekel @ 5:45 am

Kadri Kuusk & Mikhail Martynovich

Abstract: We investigate the evolution of relatedness linkages between Swedish industries during five sub-periods between 1991 and 2010. Distinguishing between the stable ties (present in all sub- periods) and non-stable ties (emerging, disappearing, etc), we demonstrate that the relatedness linkages change considerably over time. Furthermore, we show that the changes in the relatedness matrix matter for the impact of related variety on regional employment growth. We argue, therefore, that the relatedness linkages have a ‘best before date’ and that the choice of what relatedness indicator to apply and how deserves more consideration than it is usually given.

Older Posts »

Create a free website or blog at

%d bloggers like this:


WARC-Identified-Payload-Type: text/html

text:
Ted Cruz’s 21-hour Speech: Political Game-Changer or PR Stunt?

By Emily Pirt, Communications Committee

On Tuesday, September 24, Senator Ted Cruz, a Tea-Party Republican from Texas, took the floor of the Senate in an effort to gain support from his fellow Republicans to defund Obamacare. If successful, Cruz and Co. would have caused a shutdown of the government. Cruz’s stand came quite close to the voting deadline for a spending plan that would avoid the shutdown. In fact, merely hours after his speech ended, Cruz and the rest of the Senate were voting on the issue.

Cruz, a “freshman” Senator this year, was elected by the citizens of Texas for his pledge to “shrink government, especially the new health care law”, according to CNN.com. Wanting to live up to his promise, Cruz set out on an ambitious task, vowing to speak on the issue “until I am no longer able to stand.”

Cruz took the floor at approximately 2:40 p.m. and spoke throughout the night for a total of 21 hours. Although the initial topic was Obamacare, the Senator was found discussing other unusual topics such as Saturday Night Live, his love of White Castle burgers and his wishes to become a pirate one day. The Senator even took the time to read Dr. Seuss’s Green Eggs and Ham to his daughters while relating it to the Republican reception of Obamacare, albeit tangentially. Now the entire work is now on Congressional record at the Capitol.

In the wee hours of the morning on the 25th, Cruz began an intense “Question and Answer” session with fellow Republican, Mike Lee. Notable questions included: How long was the Hundred Years War? Where do Chinese gooseberries come from? and Where were Panama hats created?

Cruz, answering the questions, informed the nation that they are 116 years, New Zealand, and Ecuador, respectively.

As the senator neared the home stretch of his speech, he made an elaborate analogy comparing Washington to the Empire, and his push to defund Obamacare as being the rebel alliance from Star Wars. Cruz even went as far as to reference the famous line by Darth Vader: “I wondered if at some point we would see a tall gentleman in a mechanical breathing apparatus come forward and say in a deep voice `Mike Lee I am your father.’

It seems that all of Senator Cruz’s work was for naught, though. In the end, Cruz voted with the other 99 Senators to pass the spending budget, allowing revisions to be made to Obamacare later down the line.

This action begs the question: Why would Ted Cruz waste 21 hours of his life speaking to a virtually empty Senate chamber about something he would turn around and disregard in less than two hours after finishing his speech?

The answer is clear: public relations.

Although most view the House of Representatives and the Senate to be a solely legal body, a good deal of the work done on Capitol Hill resembles that of the public relations industry. Think about it: most Senators work to please their constituents and maintain a good relationship with them. Many use multiple social networking sites like Twitter, Facebook and Instagram to communicate with their audiences, similar to how public relations consultants would.

Cruz, realizing the deck was stacked against him, did not bother to think about the fruitlessness of his attempt to turn the tide on Obamacare. Instead, he spent the better part of a day voicing his opinion on the subject, while throwing multiple superfluous (yet hilarious) pop culture tangents into this speech. This kept his audience interested, as well as helped him make headlines to promote not only himself, but his cause.

Due to his bold and colorful speech, Cruz has gained more support from his conservative grass roots followers, which could help him in a future run for president. On Twitter there were many supporters of Cruz using the hashtag #MakeDCListen.

Popular supporters included Glenn Beck, Rand Paul and Sarah Palin. The latter of whom, sent her support around 9:30 p.m. Tuesday night: “Stay strong @SenTedCruz! Wear comfortable shoes. As we did for Rand Paul, fortifying caribou jerky is on its way #KeepCruzing #MakeDCListen.”

On the other hand, many Republicans were against Cruz’s stunt and deemed it a waste of time. This could hurt Cruz come election time because he might not have the backing (and more importantly, funding) of the GOP.

The White House managed to get its two cents in as well by tweeting: “#MakeDCListen to the 6.3 million seniors who are paying less for prescription drugs thanks to#Obamacare.”

Regardless of whether Cruz is seen as the “Luke Skywalker” or the “Darth Vader” in his story, one thing is for certain: although Cruz’s mission did not succeed, it does not mean he did not set himself up for future success politically. By utilizing his public relations skills Ted Cruz was able to keep support among his constituents high, as well as ensure he would be headline news for at least for 21 hours.

Leave a Reply

Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in:

WordPress.com Logo

You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. Log Out /  Change )

Google+ photo

You are commenting using your Google+ account. Log Out /  Change )

Twitter picture

You are commenting using your Twitter account. Log Out /  Change )

Facebook photo

You are commenting using your Facebook account. Log Out /  Change )

Connecting to %s


text:
Matthew Eisman/Getty
November 09, 2018 10:47 PM

Ice-T has the Internet shook to its core.

The Law & Order: SVU actor, 60, shocked his Twitter followers on Friday when a fan asked what his favorite bagel was and the star revealed he’s never eaten one.

“Lol. I’ve never eaten a Bagel in my life…” he tweeted.

In addition, Ice-T, who was born Tracy Lauren Marrow, went on to reveal another shocking revelation: he’s never sampled coffee before. “I’ve never drank a cup of Coffee either… Go CRAZY!!!” he joked.

RELATED: Robin Roberts Says She ‘Never’ Drinks Coffee Even Though She Wakes Up at 3:15 A.M.

Ice-T's tweet
Ice T/Twitter
Ice-T's Twitter

Even Philadelphia Cream Cheese tweeted at Ice-T and offered to treat him to the breakfast favorite.

“Ice, we’re trying to remain calm, we’re just having a hard time letting you miss out on deliciousness,” the company wrote. “We’d be happy to send you some bagels and cream cheese so you can see for yourself. Thoughts?”

Needless to say, the Twittersphere couldn’t believe the news and started trolling the actor for his nutritional choices and preferences.

Many shared their disbelief and interest — especially given that he plays a police offer on SVU and films in New York City — while others went for a different route, sharing how they were sad by the revelation.

“Ice this might end our friendship,” wrote one Twitter user.

“What do you have against bagels” added another, while someone else joked, “I’m calling the police.”

But in the actor’s true laidback fashion, he was not bothered by any of their comments. “It’s like I said ‘I hate anyone who eats Bagels!’ Lol these MFs…” he wrote in one tweet.

“Don’t lose your Fn minds because I’ve never eaten a Bagle[sic].. Take it easy…. lol” he responded to another fan.

He also argued that television was made up when one follower argued that his character ate a cinnamon raisin bagel on the NBC crime drama.

RELATED: Law & Order: SVU‘s Ice-T Arrested for Toll Evasion While Driving His New McLaren Sports Car

Recently, Ice-T was arrested in New York by Port Authority police after he allegedly evaded a toll while approaching George Washington Bridge on the New Jersey side. As he was driving a brand-new McLaren, Ice-T reportedly attempted to cross the bridge in the E-ZPass lane but was pulled over by police officers.

He was charged with theft of services, issued a summons and was released on his own recognizance, The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey confirmed to PEOPLE. He was also issued a summons for not having plates and registration.

RELATED VIDEO: When Was the Last Time Ice-T Shed a Tear?

Ice-T confirmed the arrest on Twitter on Oct. 24, writing, “Cops went a little Extra. Coulda just wrote a ticket. In and out.. Moovin.”

He also mentioned that he is not above the law, despite playing a police offer on television for 18 years. “I love how people think just because I ACT like a cop on SVU I get special treatment from real cops… lol,” he tweeted.

You May Like


text:
Bashian Alison Gray Area Rug, 3.9'x5.9'

Step onto a field of finely spun wool with shimmering highlights of pure viscose. Artistry and elegance are at your feet with designs that stretch your imagination and colors that sooth your senses. Sturdy, reinforced cotton canvas backing protects the carpet and adds and extra layer of cushion.


text:
Eangee Home Decor

Eangee Home Design Esh Four Votive Candle Holder Multi

Measures 3.5 X 7 X 7 InchesMade of MetalMakes A Great GiftDetails define a space. Add a pop of color with the tinted hand-blown votive glass candle holder. The glass candle holder is held in place by an old fashioned wired basket; scaled to size of course! Combined the two pieces complement each other and complete the modern farmhouse or vintage feel.


text:
LIGHT IT! by Fulcrum

Light It! By Fulcrum, LED Wireless Motion Sensor Wall Sconce with Dimmer and Adjustable Timer, White

Never stumble or fumble in the dark again with this motion sensor wall sconce. Its dimmer slide allows for gentle or vivid light. It Installs easily with included double-stick tape or screws, no hardwiring or plugs required. It also has an adjustable delay timer, so the light will turn off automatically after 30 or 60 seconds after no movement is detected. This light runs on 3 AA batteries, which are not included.


text:
FREE SHIPPING FOR ORDERS OVER $79! (excluding sales tax)

Perk Energy Chai Flavor - 20 Servings

Qty Price Discount
Buy 1 $29.99 ea 0% Off
Buy 2 $27.99 ea 7% Off
Buy 3 $26.99 ea 10% Off
Buy 6 $24.99 ea 17% Off

Real Talk. Mornings can be rough. Sometimes the bed just calls to you. We get it. That’s why Perk Energy™ provides a natural boost with EGCG—a powerful antioxidant from green tea, just enough caffeine, and collagen to support healthy hair, skin, and nails. Perk also satisfies with five grams of protein to support lean muscle and no added sugar. And, most importantly, Perk tastes so good you'll look forward to getting up in the morning. Really!

Simply add one scoop of Perk Energy Chai to 8 oz. of hot water, stir and enjoy.

  • Supports lean muscle with 7 grams of protein
  • Supports weight loss with EGCG from green tea
  • Supports healthy hair, skin and nails with collagen

Related Items


text:
Logo for N.C. Cooperative Extension N.C. Cooperative Extension Homepage

This event has already ended.
7 months ago
Jul 4 2018

Also Coming Up

3 days away
Jan 21 Mon
Granville County Expo & Convention Center, 4185 US-15, Oxford, NC 27565 Granville County Expo & Convention Center, 4185 US-15, Oxford, NC 27565 Person County Center 7 days away

This FREE program is a series of 3 woodland workshops addressing a range of topics concerning woodland management issues. The first session will cover topics such as, understanding trespass laws, survey reading, and boundary marking. You can choose which sessions you would like to attend by signing up at the following site: go.ncsu.edu/manageyourwoods.

Jan 24 Thu
Roxboro, NC 2 weeks away
Jan 28 Mon
2 weeks away
Feb 1 Fri
2 weeks away
eventeventevent This is a recurring event
Feb 4 Mon
3 weeks away

Have heard about the new set of Federal food safety regulations and that small farms are exempt from this law? Come get the facts about the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA)'s Produce Safety Rule (PSR) and learn how the practices in the rule are relevant to small farms and how your farm may be impacted by the PSR. As part of the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), the FDA developed “Standards for the Growing, Harvesting, Packing, and Holding of Produce for Human Consumption”, commonly referred to as the Produce Safety Rule (PSR). The goal for this Rule is to minimize the risks for consumers of eating raw fruit and vegetables that could be contaminated with bacteria, viruses, or parasitic organisms that cause food borne illness. The Produce Safety Rule targets produce (fruits and vegetables) that are usually eaten raw. The intent of this workshop is to help you understand where your farm may falls under this regulation and learn about food safety practices that are relevant to small, diversified farms in NC. Farm inspections are expected to start in the Spring of 2019 and even though most small and medium scale farms may be not covered or qualified exempt from some of the stipulations of the Rule all produce growers have the responsibility to grow, pack and hold produce following safe practices. Come learn with us!

Dinner will begin around 5:30 pm and the program will start around 6:00 pm.

Dr. Chip Simmons is an Area Specialized Agent for food safety serving eastern NC. His background is in environmental/public health microbiology and food safety. He is a lead trainer for both the Produce Safety Alliance (PSA) curriculum as well as the Food Safety Preventive Controls Alliance curriculum, the two training curricula currently approved for meeting the requirements for the FSMA Produce Safety Rule and the Food Safety Preventive Controls Rule, respectively. He grew up on a farm in eastern NC and the focus of his efforts are to promote food safety on produce farms by helping growers understand and prepare for FSMA implementation as well as to assist growers in meeting their buyer requirements.

Feb 5 Tue


text:
Wasp Nest Removal in Haughton

Wasp Nest Removal
Our Best Deal
Wasp Nest removal fixed cost 1 visit Guaranteed Removal
Additional Nest On Property £30
Book Today

Wasp Nest Removal in Haughton Overall rating: ★★★★★ 5 based on 6 reviews
5 1

Wasp nest Removal for a fixed cost £60.00 call 07916 322 280

Wasp Nest Removal Haughton can remove your Wasp nest in Haughton today We Charge £30.00 for each Additional Nest

Wasp Nest Removal Haughton offer the same day response to all Wasp nest removal enquires from just £60.00 7 days a week with no call out charges. We have bookings available today.

[price_table id=”7804″]

Please note: it is important that you do not go near a live wasp nest- Wasp swarm very easily and can be dangers so it is important that you leave it to the experts

A wasp nest can contain up to 6,000 Wasps so it is a good idea not to get them angry. Please see link to the Guinness book of record holders for the largest Wasp nest ever found in the UK- Link Please Click Here

Wasp nest in shropshire

If Wasps Feel Threatened they will swarm  so for your safety Please call Wasp nest removal Haughton On 07916 322 280 for the same day response to your home or business.

About Wasps in Haughton:

Wasps can be very annoying especially in and around food or drink. Wasps will build their nest from late April in any crack or crevices as long as there is a void behind it.

For Example in the eaves of your house in a garden wall, tree, bush, birdhouse, loft space or chimney. Wasps will continue to build their nest throughout the summer months and they can reach from 2,000 to 6,000 wasps in a single nest. Wasp nest Removal Haughton use only the latest methods to ensure all adult insects and their larva are destroyed.

Pest Control Shropshire can destroy wasp nests for all domestic and business premises, timber yards and outside work places.

Contact Wasp Nest Removal Haughton Today

Please leave a Review about our Service

Review Title
Review Content


text:
Sunday, 11 March 2018 : Fourth Sunday of Lent, Laetare Sunday (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Rose (Laetare Sunday) or Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this Sunday, as we approach quickly the coming of Holy Week and Easter, we recall with joy the salvation which God had brought upon His people, time and again, throughout the history of our salvation, how He renews with us His promises and the loving relationship we ought to have with Him, through the Covenants He made with us.

That is why today rose vestments are used, as we mark Laetare Sunday, with the word Laetare coming from this Sunday’s Introit, ‘ Laetare Jerusalem, remembering that in the midst of difficulties and challenges, we ought to rejoice because of the salvation and consolation that has come upon us from God. This is the time in Lent when we do not just focus on our sinfulness and our regret for those sins, in penance and almsgiving, but also look forward to the joy which is to come, when we are fully reconciled with God.

In the first reading today, we listened to the tale of destruction of the last remnants of the kingdom of Israel, when the southern kingdom of Judah centred in Jerusalem, ruled by David’s descendants, was destroyed by the Babylonians under king Nebuchadnezzar. That was because of their lack of faith and commitment to the Lord, even though the Lord had commanded them to obey His laws and commandments.

They have installed foreign and pagan gods and idols in their midst, and even desecrating the sanctity of the House of God, the Temple in Jerusalem on occasions. Thus God punished them for their refusal to obey His will, and for their wickedness and their sins. But what God truly hated was their sins and disobedience, and not their persons. God still loved them all dearly even though their sins were numerous.

It is proven by what God subsequently did for His people. In the same first reading we heard today, even though we heard to a story of despair and humiliation, but the subsequent passage in fact spoke of hope and gladness, relief and happiness, when God called upon Cyrus, the great King of Persia, to let the people of Israel go back to their own land, after he conquered the Babylonians in the year 538 BC.

And that is the reality of God’s love, that even though we mankind have sinned many, many times and refused repeatedly to follow Him, preferring our own sinful ways and habits, but the Lord is equally generous with His mercy, love and forgiveness. He is always ready to forgive us our sins and trespasses, but more often than not, we are unwilling to accept His generous offer of mercy, because we are often too proud, thinking that we are in no need for forgiveness or healing.

And we are often too preoccupied by the many temptations in life which swayed us away from the ways of the Lord, and we end up falling deeper into the trap of sin, which the devil is pulling us into, through his many persuasions and temptations. We often put our priority in our worldly cares and concerns, worrying about money, about having financial security, about our relationships and how we can maintain a good and comfortable lifestyle, about having career advancements, or having a good house to stay in, and many more.

But in the midst of all that, we often ended up forgetting about God, as we become too focused on satisfying our needs and wants, our desires and ambitions. We no longer put God as the priority of our lives, but instead we glorify and idolise money, worldly possessions, fame, prestige and many other worldly glories. We may think that we obey the laws and rules of the Church by coming to Sunday Mass regularly, but are we truly having a genuine faith in God?

Brothers and sisters in Christ, why do we come to the Mass and celebrate the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist? Why do we spend our time to do the devotions and the prayers? Is it because we truly want to be with God and to communicate with Him? Is it because we think that we have to do it because the Church commands us to do it, or because we are afraid of the punishment God will inflict on us if we do not do what the Church asked us to do?

Do we realise that God has done so much for us, trying to call us to Himself and to reconcile us to Him? He has done His very best, even to the point of giving us the best and the ultimate of all gifts, namely the gift of His own beloved Son, Jesus Christ Our Lord. That is what St. Paul mentioned in his Epistle to the Church and the faithful in Ephesus. St. Paul wrote about God’s rich grace through Christ, by which many people are saved.

In the Gospel today, the Lord Himself made it plain to us, that because of God’s great and everlasting love for us, He gave us His own beloved Son, by Whom and through Whom we are saved, and by Whose sacrifice and death on the cross, all of us are made whole again and be made worthy of His eternal life and the inheritance and glory He has promised to all of us. He came into this world not to condemn us, but to save us, and that is the reality that we must be aware of.

Again, I want to emphasise that God does not hate us and neither is He angry with us in person. Rather, He despises our sins and our disobedience. Those sins and disobedience are the obstacles that prevent us from being able to achieve perfect reconciliation with God. As long as we continue to sin and refuse to repent from those sins, we will continue to be separated from God, and the eventual consequences may be dire, as we may end up falling into eternal damnation in hell.

He has given us very generously the gift of His Son, because of His love for us, that all those who believe in His Son, will receive true joy, happiness and salvation, freed from the sorrows and the sufferings caused by our sins and disobedience against God. But now, it is up to us, whether we want to embrace His loving mercy and compassionate heart, or whether we arrogantly reject His offer of salvation and forgiveness for our sins.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we continue to progress through the season of Lent, let us rededicate ourselves to live our lives according to God’s will, if we have not done so. Let us develop a strong relationship with God, through our commitment to prayerful life, and also to deepen our efforts in various charitable activities. Let us remember how God has loved us so much, that He should indeed be the centre of our lives, and not all the worldly temptations of power, ambition, glory, wealth and many others.

Let us have a genuine faith in God, shown through our loving devotion, as well as by sharing the love He had shown us and blessed us with, with our brothers and sisters, especially those who are poor, weak, oppressed, lonely and unloved. May the Lord be with us, that in our Lenten journey, we may draw ever closer to Him and be ever more righteous and just in all the things that we say and do. Let us truly rejoice because of all the wonders that God has done for us. Amen.

Leave a Reply

Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in: Logo

You are commenting using your account. Log Out /  Change )

Google+ photo

You are commenting using your Google+ account. Log Out /  Change )

Twitter picture

You are commenting using your Twitter account. Log Out /  Change )

Facebook photo

You are commenting using your Facebook account. Log Out /  Change )

Connecting to %s

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.


text:
It has been about a year since I have been to Bombo. On my last visit I rolled my ankle on a rock, breaking a bone in my foot. Lately we have had heavy weather, so in a break between downpours, I headed to the old quarry at Bombo hoping that waves might be breaking over the sea walls.

Waves on columns
Waves on columns

Bombo seemingly was named after Thumbon, a local indigenous leader, at the time of the settlement of the Kiama district. When the railway was first built south from Sydney, it stopped just north of Kiama at Bombo, where the basalt quarries provided blue metal for concrete, building railway lines and roads.

Mar 2014 Toyo Fomopan100 B Xtol+Adonal 1
Old basalt quarry

Bombo headland has geological formations of hexagonal basalt columns of international significance, abutting sandstone formations, which have reversed magnetic polarities from a time when the North and South Magnetic Poles were reversed. Rocks of Permian age throughout the world show a reversed polarity and this unique formation is used for “intercontinental paleomagnetic correlation of Late Palaeozoic rock sequences.”

Mar 2014 Toyo Fomopan100 B Xtol+Adonal 2
Quarry pools

Quarrying began at Bombo headland in the 1880s. Basalt was carried to Sydney by dozens of small vessels known as the Stone Fleet until the railway line was built. The Irish miners employed to quarry the basalt, left rock columns and walls adjacent to the ocean protecting the works from the onslaught of the sea.

Mar 2014 Toyo Fomopan100 B Xtol+Adonal 5
Pool and pillars

Today part of the old quarry is used for a sewerage plant, but that is largely concealed from the coastal walk that wends its way around the headland from Kiama via Bombo to the surf break known locally as The Boneyard, and then on to Jones Beach and Minnamurra.

Mar 2014 Toyo Fomopan100 B Xtol+Adonal 4

On most days the headland is deserted, with the exception of seabirds watching for fish from the columns, just above the waves which pound along the walls.

Mar 2014 Toyo TMY2 D Xtol+Adonal 4

Here and there a few broken columns reveal their hexagonal structure. Where waves crash through gaps, it seems as though the fortress wall has been breached.

Mar 2014 Toyo TMY2 D Xtol+Adonal 6

The break in the wall opens a window to the ocean, clouds and the swirling tides.

Mar 2014 Toyo TMY2 D Xtol+Adonal 5
Foaming sea

On occasions the surging sea rushes over these formations, and once I got struck by water falling over the other side. Although the headland resembles a ruined fortress, or rock amphitheater for waves with seabirds as an audience, local children seemingly also call it Toothbrush Island.

Mar 2014 Toyo Fomopan100 B Xtol+Adonal 6
Toothbrush Island

Wave action shots were taken using Kodak TMax 400, except for the last one in series, which was made using Fomopan 100 along with the rest, using Toyo-View 45CF field camera with Nikkor-SW 90mm f/8 lens, and Tiffen Y12 filter. The film sheets were developed in a mix of Xtol (1:2) and Adonal (1:200).


text:
Some pics from Italy – pt 1

While waiting for the Vatican to make up it’s collective mind on the worthiness of speaking to me about intuition, I’ve been busy doing other things: like lining up interviews outside of the Holy See.

And with Elena and Piotr’s help, it looks like this coming week will be full on, with some very interesting people agreeing to be involved.

In the meantime I thought I might post some pics that I’ve taken these last several days –

Monk at Assisi Basilica -

Cross 2 at La Verna - @gonetours.compine cone on door -

Perugina chocolate fish-

cheese board -

Assisi Basilica -

5 thoughts on “Some pics from Italy – pt 1

    • Hey Lynda, I try and mix the pics up. These ones appealed to me for different reasons. I don’t expect others to like the shots I like. My tastes in photography are sometimes obscure. I can’t for instance bring myself to take landscape shots, or “tourist” shots. I can’t do it. I just can’t see the pictures in my head. I admire people who can do that kind of photography well. There’s a market for it. Don’t know there’s any market for the crazy stuff I shoot…!

  1. Bill,
    I love the food in Italy, it is truly scrumptious, as with the food in France and Spain and Portugal and Greece. I especially love the cheeses, you have me salivating over the cheese platter, was their some wonderful bread and wine served with it?

    Liked by 1 person

    • Hi Arlene, the cheeses in Itsly are wonderful. A specially the hard cheeses, like the Reggio Parmigiana. Combined with a sublime glass of red wine, what more could you want?

Comments are closed.


text:
Sunset Vibe

National Holiday

The unknown Fish

I saw this little fish only because it just had left its hidingplace between a soft coral. First I thought it was a piece of seaweed. Then I realized what an interesting animal had come across my camera lense.

Hard to discover
Unknown Fish.JPG
The brown-white pattern and the ray-finns offer great camouflage
Unknown Fish 1
The pair of antlers stands out as its distinctive mark.

Monkey Island (Part II)

Most of us live in Boracay for many years already. We saw the changes and  maybe we don’t like the development. People like us try always to escape mass tourism. Finally arrived on the beach, we just can imagine how Boracay must have been alike twenty or so, years ago. Not many tourists back then. No tourists now here! Only us. Well, a couple of eco tourists were here as well. They stayed in a little, neat resort in the back. Apart from that, its only us and the locals who live here. Sadley we got to know, that the Chinese have already bought a big part of that piece of quiet nature. So, this is perhaps the last time we’ll experience this beach this quiet and this untouched!

Money Point Trip 1_Donna_Beach
Just beachless!

Monkey Point Trip 2018_On the rock
Cliff jumping
Monkey Point Trip 2018_Waterview_Rock
Crystal clear

Monkey Point Trip 2018_Water_Jungle

Monkey Point Trip 2018_Rocky_Next Beach
Wild around the edge

The warm evening light reminds us – the boat is waiting. For me, a day imagining Robinson Crusoe comes to an end, one beautifull day off the beaten track!

Monkey Island (Part 1)

The trip to ‘Monkey Island’ will take approximately one hour by bangka. As the name suggest, our thought was we were going to an island which was inhabited by monkeys. But as it turned out we had a little misunderstanding here. The location we were heading to was not called Monkey Island but Monkey Point. And this name was not referring to monkeys living there but to a protruding rock formation that should resemble the head of a monkey (Gorilla probably). Anyway, its a beautiful site off the beaten tourist track.

Rock formation almost like Palawan, El Nido

Monkey Point ahead.

Monkey Point
Dropping Anker
On the small shuttle boat
Jungle and Beach
Touch down


text:
Are you maximizing your revenue cycle potential by proactively treating deceased accounts?

Deceased patient account treatment is a commonly overlooked or underserved segment of a system’s revenue cycle population. But with healthcare expenses almost three times higher for those over age 65 than those under 65, coupled with the continued rise in self-pay and patient responsibility percentages and their associated write-offs, your deceased patient account population could represent significant opportunity. When handled with a proactive, sensitive and compliant approach, this account population can add considerable value to your bottom line.

The challenge

Hospitals and healthcare systems are especially susceptible to significant exposure for unpaid debts from deceased patients. Today, patients are responsible for almost 25% of their hospital bills (with hospitals writing off over half of those charges). And nearly 80% of true self pay charges are currently being written off. Unpaid charges associated with deceased patients represent a significant challenge for hospitals and require a specialized recovery process that incorporates rigorous training and compliant processes for the special circumstances surrounding deceased patient account care and the associated hospital reputational protection.

The opportunity

In our experience as Deceased Account Care and Collection specialists over the past 13 years, we have seen that traditionally, without the partnership of deceased care specialists, deceased receivables are typically either warehoused or treated administratively/reactively. This type of treatment customarily revolves around awaiting notification of death, seeking estate information, filing a claim, and processing payments when or if they come in. However, with the insight as to what a dramatic impact this segment can have on your revenue cycle, we find that a proactive and comprehensive strategy designed specifically to sensitively address deceased patient account care and collections serves to dramatically enhance the revenue contribution of this segment.

The solution

Recognizing the context of emotional and time sensitivity with which deceased patient account care is associated, components of a proactive strategy may include elements such as a scrub of your receivables portfolio to proactively identify deceased accounts, a comprehensive multi-jurisdictional estate search and follow up process, scoring models and segmentation strategies to ensure the right treatment to the right account at the right time, specialized training and compliance staff, and compassionate and effective family/executor communication series. When you deploy an effective proactive strategy either internally or via a partnership with a specialist in Deceased Account Care, you ensure that risk is mitigated, deadlines and claims are protected, and revenue is maximized all while protecting your reputation and preserving the dignity of your patients. As there are many tactical factors and considerations associated with effectively developing and executing a proactive approach, we recommend that a component of your strategy includes partnering with experts in Deceased Account Care to optimize the value of your deceased account revenue cycle while ensuring the sensitive and dignified treatment of your patients’ accounts. It is imperative to ensure that whether handled internally or outsourced, you trust your sensitive contacts only to the hands of professionals dedicated to comprehensive knowledge of deceased account care, and that you are maintaining a compassionate and compliant approach while providing family members with the highest level of patient account care. Rather than writing-off or reactively treating your deceased patient accounts, unlock the value of this revenue stream! By proactively enhancing your existing internal process or by partnering with a specialist, you can maximize the revenue cycle potential of your deceased patient accounts.

By |2017-10-20T13:50:20+00:00August 23rd, 2011|Company News|0 Comments


text:
4 The Spiritual Significance of Human Relationship

From a spiritual perspective, the ways in which we interact with each other is a pretty big deal. It leads to growth of individuals and also unification of beings. But let’s face it, such co-mingling isn’t without a few snags. Indeed, on this human plane of existence, individual units of consciousness exist and sometimes we all get along. Just as often though, conflicts arise creating friction and crisis.

The good news is that once we graduate to the next higher plane after Earth, we’re no longer going to be fragmented units. So some day, all will live in harmony as one consciousness through which every single created being will express itself uniquely. As we come, more and more, into our own, dealing with our own inner disharmonies, we will experience this truth. And realizing it won’t diminish us in the slightest.

On the contrary, we will come to feel our own wholeness—our own individual oneness. Because every principle that applies on the macro level—meaning to all of humanity—applies the same for each of us personally, on a micro level.

For now, each one of us is made up of mismatched parts. On the innermost levels of our being, we have some bits governing our thinking, feeling, willing and acting that are quite nicely developed, thank you very much. Then again, there are other parts still in a lower state of development—and they like to have their say in things, too.

We are all, each and every one of us, living in a house divided, which always creates tension, anxiety and pain. In short, that’s why we’ve got problems.

So some aspects of our personalities are already in truth. Others, not so much. Errors and distortions abound. This results in confusion that leads to disturbances in the force fields of our lives. And what do we usually do about that? We look the other way—away from the dirty laundry and towards the parts that are already tidied up.

This pushing aside of one part of ourselves and identifying ourselves with another, is not—surprise, surprise—a path that leads to unification. Nope. Instead, it widens the gap. So how do we sew up this split? We have to be willing to bring out the deviating side and face it. Only by facing the conflicting sides within ourselves can we find the ultimate reality of our unified selves.

What can emerge then from our willingness to recognize, accept and understand the nature of our own inner conflicts, is peace. To the degree we move our feet in the direction of inner unification, to that exact same degree we will know outer peace.

So consider how all this applies on the outer level, where we find either dissension or unity between people. Because beyond the level of appearances, all must be one. The dissension, it turns out, has nothing to do with actual differences, per se, but rather with the differences in our levels of development. Just as within each individual.

Even though the principle is the same—what applies between individuals is the same exact thing that applies within them—we can’t actually apply this truth to someone else unless we have first applied it to our own inner self. In other words, if we’re not facing, accepting and understanding our own inner divergent parts, we can’t put this process of unification into practice with others. This is an important fact that explains the need to emphasize self-responsibility as a foundation for doing spiritual development work. In fact, self-responsibility is a key requirement for cultivating relationships with others in a meaningful and effective way.

Relationships, as you may have noticed, create a great challenge for most folks. Here’s why: only in relationship to others do our own as-yet-unresolved problems get activated. And what do we typically do then? We back off. This helps tremendously in maintaining the illusion that the problem lies with the other person. Because after all, the disturbance in our little private force field only appears in their presence. Ergo, it must be them.

But then, being alone elicits this inner call to be in contact with others. The less we cultivate this contact, the louder the call. Well, crap. Isolation, then, creates a different brand of pain: loneliness and frustration. Over time, it requires some mental gymnastics to keep up the illusion that we, all on our own, are faultless and harmonious.

This is why relationships are, at one and the same time: a fulfillment, a challenge, and an accurate gauge to what’s going in one’s own inner state. But if we play it right, the friction can be a sharp instrument for self-recognition, and ultimately, purification. Again, we have to play it right.

Pull v.1

If we take the weenie way out, shrinking from this challenge and giving up on intimate contact, many of our inner problems won’t get called into play. Ah, safe. This illusion of inner peace and unity can easily lead to the notion that spiritual growth is furthered by isolation. Sorry—foul ball. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Now, that doesn’t mean we don’t need some intervals of downtime or seclusion now and then. These are necessary for the task of self-confrontation, which requires a bit of inner concentration. But these periods need to alternate with periods of contact—and the more intimate, the better. Because the more intimate, the more spiritually mature we are.

On the spectrum of contact, there are many, many degrees. On one end is the outer extreme of total isolation. On the other is the deepest, most intimate ability to relate. The latter involves the capacity to love and accept others, to deal in a mutual way with problems that arise, to find the delicate balance between giving in and asserting oneself, and to being acutely aware of how we are interacting with the other on all these levels. Most people fluctuate somewhere between these extremes.

It happens that we can master a certain superficial ability to relate, but we still withdraw from revealing ourselves in a more meaningful, open and unmasked way. In the end, we can measure our personal sense of fulfillment in a relationship by the depth of our intimate contact, the strength of the feelings we allow ourselves to experience, and our willingness to both give and receive.

Feeling frustration, by contrast, is a pretty good litmus test indicating lack of contact. When this happens, we’re withdrawing from the challenge of being in relationship and essentially deciding to give up on personal fulfillment, pleasure, love and joy. Not a great trade.

Pull v.1

It sometimes happens that we only want to share of ourselves based on receiving according to our own terms. In this case, we are secretly unwilling to share and our longings are going to remain unfulfilled. And then often, at this point, we conclude that we are just unlucky and unfairly put upon by life.

Instead, we need to look at our level of contentment and fulfillment in relationships like a yardstick: they measure our own inner state and help point us in the direction we need to go for our own self-development. Then we need to have a come-to-Jesus moment of honesty with ourselves. Because it’s only through self-facing honesty that we can allow feelings to blossom in long-term relationships, and that’s what creates the vitality needed to keep them alive. It is in this way that personal relationships play such a heavy role in the game of human growth.

On the flip side, when we’re still mired in inner conflicts, we may run from relationships because of the way they surface our turmoil. Our choice then for isolation can throw a major wrench into the works because our unfulfilled longing for connection becomes unbearably painful.

The way out is by searching for the cause of the conflict within ourselves, without resorting to the defensive strategies of annihilating guilt and self-blame. These two things do nothing but change the whole game into a losing proposition, effectively eliminating the possibility of getting to the bottom of the real conflict.

So a willingness to search must be cultivated along with a willingness to change, if one wants to escape this painful dilemma in which both options—contact and isolation—equally stink. What’s more, we may need to poke around in seeing how we actually have a fear of pleasure, strange as that may sound.

Keep in mind, this business of isolating and withdrawing can be quite subtle. It may even be outwardly unnoticeable. There’s just a guardedness and a wonky self-protection going on. Being a social butterfly is no guarantee that one has any real capacity for inner closeness. For many, closeness just feels too taxing. This is brushed off as being related to how difficult others are, when in actuality, the difficulty lies in the self. Regardless of how imperfect the other may also be.

Pull v.1

When two people interact who are on different levels of spiritual development, the more highly developed one is responsible for the relationship. Moreover, the more highly developed one is responsible for searching the depths of the interaction for the cause of any friction. The less developed one often isn’t capable of such a search, being stuck in the state of blaming the other and needing the other to “do right” if unpleasantness is to be avoided.

The less developed person will also tend to get tripped up in duality. From the perspective of this illusion, only one person can be right. So then any problem in the other is used to whitewash themselves, even in cases where their own negative involvement is more weighty than the other person’s.

When we do the work of surfacing and healing our own inner conflicts—which is what we need to do to become more spiritually developed—we become more capable of realistic, non-dualistic perception. We may then be able to see that either one of us has a deep problem to work on, but that doesn’t eliminate the importance of a lesser problem also existing for the other person. Because in any conflict where people feel affected, there is something for everyone.

The more developed a person is, the more they will be willing to search for their own involvement whenever they feel negatively affected. It doesn’t matter how at-fault the other may be. A lesser-developed person always lays the blame at someone else’s feet. This is true whether we’re talking about loving partners, parents and children, friends or business associates.

We tell ourselves that it’s easier if we shift the burden of blame onto others. But man, what a price we pay. Such avoidance makes us helpless, brings about isolation, and traps us in unending friction with others. It’s only through the doorway of self-responsibility that we begin to look for our part in our own problems. Our willingness to change then becomes the passageway to freedom. Relationships then become both fruitful and fulfilling. And that is their deeper spiritual significance.

Pull v.1

If the more highly developed person doesn’t take the high road of assuming responsibility, as part of their spiritual duty, and seeking the root cause of any dissension by looking within their own core, the deeper understanding of the mutual interaction will be missed. We won’t uncover where this problem lives within, or see how one problem affects another. Things, then, are likely to fall apart. It is such a lost opportunity if both parties leave confused and less able to cope with themselves or others.

On the other hand, if the more spiritually developed person accepts their responsibility, they will help the other out in a subtle way. By resisting the temptation to belabor the obvious sour points of the other and instead look within, they will not only raise their own development considerably, but also spread peace and joy. This is the way to eliminate the poison of friction, while also making it possible to move on and find other partners for a truly mutual growth process.

So then how does this work when two equals relate? Simple. They both carry the full responsibility for the relationship. What a beautiful venture this can be, creating a deeply satisfying state of mutuality (which we’ll discuss in greater detail in later chapters). Each person will recognize even the slightest flaw in their mood for its inner meaning, so they will keep up with the growth process. Both will look to see how they have co-created any momentary flaw, whether it’s an actual friction or a deadening of feelings. This will increasingly add to the significance of the interaction and keep the relationship from being injured. That’s how to keep a good thing going.

So does this mean, then, that in uneven pairings, the more developed person is always stuck having to carry the less developed one? No, that’s not how it works. No one can ever really carry another or their burden for them. That just can’t ever be.

Rather, the situation is this: someone who, spiritually speaking, is still a tad primitive does not typically explore the difficulties that arise in a relationship in much depth. Such a person is going to quickly jump to blame, which by definition leaves out half the people involved. By not seeing the whole issue, such a person is not in position to eliminate the disharmony. No, only the person who is willing to assume responsibility for finding the deeper disturbance and seeing the way it is affecting both can untangle the knots. Hence, the spiritually immature person will be dependent on the more spiritually evolved one.

So let’s say the destructiveness of a less developed person makes it downright impossible to experience growth, harmony and good feelings. Like when all of the contact seems so darned negative. What then? In this case, the relationship needs to end. And as a rule, the more highly developed person is going to need to take the initiative. And what if they don’t want to? That probably points to some unrecognized weakness and fear that needs to be faced. Yep, more work to do. (And just when we were thinking we could totally claim the high road.)

As always, there is “what we do,” and then there is “how we do it.” In this case, dissolving a relationship on the grounds that it is more destructive and pain producing than constructive and harmonious should be done after inner problems and their effects are fully recognized and worked through. Otherwise, an old tie will be severed only to turn around and form a new relationship with the same live wires dancing on the ground of the inner interactions. Also, this assures that the decision to move on comes from a motive for growth, rather than as a result of spite, fear or a desire to run away.

Pull v.1

This is no easy thing, exploring the underlying difficulties of two people, laying them bare and accepting the unattractive sides. At the same time, nothing could be more beautiful or rewarding. And coming into such an enlightened way of relating will dismantle any lingering fears about any kind of interaction with anyone in our lives.

Our fears and difficulties arise to the same degree that we project our problems in relating onto others, making them responsible for everything that goes against our liking. For example, let’s say someone has a fault that bugs us. At first glance, it may seem justified to focus on this. We may even subtly overemphasize this one aspect and exclude some other aspects. We deny that we have any responsibility for our difficulty in relating to this person. But we are now dependent on them being perfect, which creates fear and hostility in us for the way the other has let us down by not meeting our standard of perfection.

The bottom line is this: no matter what the other does wrong, if we are disturbed by it, there is something in ourselves that we overlook. In this case, being disturbed doesn’t refer to clear-cut anger, where we express ourselves free of guilt and don’t end up feeling any trace of inner confusion or pain. No, we’re talking here about disturbed, as in arising from conflict and creating further conflict.

What we repeatedly do is overlook our own part in just about any conflict. Because it’s not easy to look within for the source of a disturbance. It is humbling and it takes serious, conscious effort. But it’s a necessary step on the path to liberation and unification—inside us and between our fellow human beings and us.

The blame game is so ubiquitous, we often don’t realize we’re playing it, essentially telling the world, “You are doing it to me,” or “You’re making me feel this way.” The game goes on in attempting to make others feel guilty for this. One person blames another, one country blames another, one political party blames the other. That’s how far we’ve come collectively in our development, perpetuating such harmful and illusory processes.

So why do we do this? Because we get pleasure from expressing our hostility while whitewashing ourselves. We don’t connect this with the pain that ensues and with the insoluble conflicts that follow, which are way bigger than the puny, momentary pleasure. This is a lose-lose game that harms all of the players, and we are often not aware of our blind involvement in it.

Pull v.1

But, you may ask, what about when we really are the victim? How do we deal with that? Well, right out of the gates, if we believe we are a victim, we are already caught in illusion and not even aware of what is happening. Most often, though, victimhood happens in subtle, unarticulated ways. There will be a silent, covert, indirect blame launched without anyone speaking a word.

So step one, we need to name the game. We have to pinpoint and articulate what is happening. Otherwise we will respond unconsciously in equally destructive ways, believing we are defending ourselves. Once this ball gets rolling, it’s extremely hard to sort out all the threads of actions, reactions and interactions, as everything gets enmeshed in a big ol’ snarled up mess. Of course, many a relationship has fallen victim to such insidious and unconscious missteps.

This kind of launching of blame is a poison that spreads fear and as much guilt as one can attempt to project. The receiver of such blame and guilt will react in any number of ways, dictated by their own problems and unresolved conflicts. As long as one reacts blindly, there will be countercurrents of destructiveness. Only by raising all this into conscious awareness can that be prevented. That’s the proper way to refuse a burden that someone is trying to place on us—by challenging the subtle blame put on us for another’s personal happiness. This is an important pitfall to look for, especially in a relationship that is about to blossom.

When all is said and done, the only way to avoid becoming a victim of blame and projected guilt is to avoid doing this ourselves. But if we indulge in this folly—and we may do it differently than the way someone does it to us—we won’t be aware of it when it is being done to us. Bullseye. We then become a victim.

Mere awareness that this goes on can make all the difference in the world, even if we don’t verbally express our perceptions or confront the other. To the degree that we remain undefended, exploring and accepting our own off-base reactions and destructive tendencies, we can defuse someone’s attempt to project guilt on us. We’ll steer clear of being drawn into a maze of confusion, where we either retreat or become aggressive. We’ll be able to sort out self-assertion from hostility, and not confuse flexible compromise with unhealthy submission.

These are the skills we need to develop if we want to cope well with relationships. The more we understand how to do this, the more we’ll create intimate, fulfilling and beautiful interactions with other people.

Otherwise, how can we assert our rights to reach out for pleasure? How can we love fearlessly unless we approach interactions with others in such a manner? Unless we learn to purify ourselves, which we do by uncovering and transforming our own inner negativity, we will always feel threatened by intimacy because it so often is used as a weapon for unloading guilt.

In truth, loving, sharing and having profoundly satisfying closeness with others could be a purely positive and powerful experience, without any gotchas. That is, if we are willing to look at any snares directly—and of utmost importance, to look within ourselves first.

Pull v.1

The magnet that draws people together is the purest spiritual energy, giving us an inkling of the purest spiritual state. Without a doubt, intimate sexual relationships are the most beautiful, challenging, spiritually important and growth-producing kind. The power that attracts two people together in love, and the pleasure that this creates, is a small taste of cosmic reality. It’s as if we all, in some recess of our being, know about this blissful state, and we want to have it in the most potent way possible: through love and sexuality.

But for two people to stay together in an enduring, committed relationship, the ability to hang onto and even increase the bliss depends entirely on how the two relate to each other. Do we recognize the link between enduring pleasure and inner growth? Do we use inevitable difficulties as a yardstick for assessing our own inner difficulties? Do we share deeply and truthfully, helping our partners grow rather than planting guilt and whitewashing ourselves?

These are important factors for determining whether a relationship will falter, dissolve, stagnate or thrive. Looking around, you might notice that very few people reveal themselves in such an open way. Equally few appreciate the way that growing together determines the solidity of feelings, of pleasure, of enduring love and of respect. And that is why, not surprisingly, most long-lasting relationships are so often more or less dead in terms of feelings.

When difficulties arise—and they always do—they are flags for something unattended to. For those who are listening, these are loud and clear messages. The sooner we heed their call, the more spiritual energy will be released, so bliss will keep building. It’s like a finely calibrated instrument that reveals the most subtle aspects of the relationship, as well as of the two people. Every day and every hour, we can tune into our inner state and assess our feelings as a testimony to our present state and what we need to be paying attention to for growth.

As such, mature and spiritually valid relationships are always intimately connected with our individual growth. The moment we start thinking of our relationships as irrelevant to our inner landscape, it’s curtains. It can’t be otherwise. Because it’s all connected.

And that, right there, explains the fate of most failed relationships, especially the intimate kind. As soon as we lose sight of how they are a mirror for inner growth, they start to wear out. The first blush fades and nothing remains. In barges overt friction and dissension, or along comes stagnation and boredom, wrecking what was once so promising.

When both people grow to their ultimate potential, the relationship can become more dynamic and even more alive. This is the way to build on rock, not sand. Then fear can’t wiggle its way in. Feelings will deepen and security about the self and the other will expand. Then each person can, at any moment, become a precious mirror for the other and for the state of the relationship.

But if there’s friction or boredom, something’s gotten stuck—something that needs to be seen. If, however, there is a fear of intimacy, there is also a rigidity present and a denial of the way that we’re intended to show up. If we choose to ignore this reality, or just give it lip service, then we aren’t ready to assume responsibility for our own suffering—either inside of a relationship, or in the absence of one. We’re likely then still in the state of wanting to shift blame onto others. And that will make it impossible to find the pleasure of closeness.

Bliss and beauty are eternal spiritual qualities. They are readily available to all who seek the key to the problems of beings in relationship, as well as to loneliness. And that key, we need to discover, is in our own hearts. If we’re ready for this kind of growth, along with the accompanying profound fulfillment, vibrant aliveness and joyous relating that is possible, we’ll find the appropriate partner with whom such sharing will be possible.

We won’t be frightened to use this all-important key, because we will realize that we can’t ever feel helpless or victimized when we no longer render others responsible for what we experience or don’t. This opens up a whole new way to meet life. We can finally decide to take a few risks, seek the cause in ourselves, and become free to love. What a joyful way for us to live our lives and for relationships to bear fruit.

Next Chapter

Return to The Pull Contents.


text:
Miss M | Four Months Old

This little turkey is four months old today! She is in a pretty good routine with daycare and evenings at home, typically eating every three hours and napping throughout the day, then falling asleep around 9 p.m. and waking up once around 4 a.m. to eat. (Luckily she goes right back to sleep.) She has started rolling over front to back and grabbing toys, and she loves to give us big smiles, squeals, and little giggles. She follows her sister everywhere with her eyes! See how she’s changed since last month.


text:
Bacteria help discover human cancer-causing proteins

January 10, 2019, Baylor College of Medicine
Escherichia coli. Credit: Rocky Mountain Laboratories, NIAID, NIH

A team led by researchers at Baylor College of Medicine and the University of Texas at Austin has applied an unconventional approach that used bacteria to discover human proteins that can lead to DNA damage and promote cancer. Reported in the journal Cell, the study also proposes biological mechanisms by which these proteins can cause damage to DNA, opening possibilities for future cancer treatments.

"Our cells make carcinogens," said co-corresponding author Dr. Susan M. Rosenberg, Ben F. Love Chair in Cancer Research and professor of molecular and human genetics, of molecular virology and microbiology and of biochemistry and molecular biology at Baylor. "Cancer is a disease of mutations. A normal cell that has accumulated several mutations in particular genes becomes likely to turn into a cell."

Mutations that cause cancer can be the result of DNA damage. External factors such as tobacco smoke and sunlight can damage DNA, but most DNA damage seems to result from events that occur within cells and is mediated by cellular components, including proteins. Despite the importance of these events, they have not been studied extensively.

"One way proteins can cause DNA damage is by being overproduced, which is a relatively frequent cellular event," said Rosenberg, who also is leader of the Cancer Evolvability Program at the Dan L Duncan Comprehensive Cancer Center at Baylor. "In this study, we set out to uncover proteins that, when overproduced by the cell, cause damage to DNA in ways that can lead to cancer."

To uncover these DNA "damage-up" proteins, the researchers took an unconventional approach. They searched for proteins that promote DNA damage in human cells by looking at proteins that, when overproduced, would cause DNA damage in the bacterium E. coli.

"Although bacteria and people are different, their basic biological processes are similar, so with this approach we thought we might find common mechanisms of DNA damage that could be relevant to cancer," Rosenberg said.

"This was a wild idea," said Rosenberg, and was possible because of funding from two sources aimed at trying high-risk strategies that, if successful, would have high impact: a National Institutes of Health Director's Pioneer Award and a gift from the W.M. Keck Foundation, among many other grants to the 16-lab team.

E. coli reveals novel candidates for cancer-promoting proteins

The researchers genetically modified bacteria so they would fluoresce red when DNA was damaged. Then, they overexpressed each of the 4,000 genes present in E coli individually and determined which ones made bacteria glow red.

"We uncovered an extensive and varied network of proteins that, when overproduced, alter cells in ways that lead to DNA damage," Rosenberg said. "Some of these proteins are, as expected, involved in DNA processing or repair, but, surprisingly, most are not directly connected to DNA. For instance, some of the DNA damage-up proteins participate in the transport of molecules across the cell membrane."

When the researchers looked for human protein relatives of the DNA "damage-up" proteins they had found in bacteria, they identified 284. Interestingly, they determined that these human proteins are linked to cancer more often than random sets of proteins. In addition, the proteins' RNAs, an indicator of protein production, predicted mutagenesis in tumors and poor patient prognosis. When the researchers overproduced these proteins in human cells in the lab, half of the proteins triggered DNA damage and mutation.

"We showed that E. coli can help to identify DNA damage-up proteins and mechanisms of action in human cells quickly and inexpensively. Some of the proteins and their mechanisms were known to be involved in cancer, but many others were not suspected of being in the cancer-causing list," said co-corresponding author Dr. Christophe Herman, professor of molecular and and molecular virology and microbiology at Baylor College of Medicine and member of the Dan L Duncan Comprehensive Cancer Center.

"I think it is extraordinary to identify so many ways DNA can be damaged. This study is opening up new avenues for discoveries of novel mechanisms that protect our genomes and how their dysfunction can alter the integrity of our DNA and cause cancer," said co-corresponding author Dr. Kyle M. Miller, associate professor of molecular biosciences at the University of Texas at Austin and member of the Dan L Duncan Comprehensive Cancer Center at Baylor. "It is yet another example of the power of model organisms to uncover basic biological processes that can shine a light on how human and cancer work."

"Our work has significant implications both in basic biological fields and in clinical research," Rosenberg said. "We provide a previously unknown understanding of the diverse mechanisms that can generate DNA damage leading to cancer. In the future, this finding may lead to new ways to identify people who are likely to develop cancer so that strategies to prevent it, slow it down or catch it early can be used."

Explore further: Researchers find that accurately transcribing DNA overrides DNA repair

More information: Cell (2019). DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2018.12.008

Related Stories

Scientists discover how satellite RNA leads to cancer

July 3, 2018

Only some of us have satellite TV in our homes, but all of us have satellite DNA in cells in our bodies. Working copies of satellite DNA (called satellite RNAs) are high in certain types of cancer, such as breast and ovarian. ...

Protein analysis may reveal new cancer treatment targets

June 15, 2018

Researchers have used lab technology called mass spectrometry to study the proteins expressed by human cancer cells. The advance, which is described in a new Molecular Oncology article, allows for the quantitation of thousands ...

Recommended for you

How our cellular antennas are formed

January 17, 2019

Most of our cells contain an immobile primary cilium, an antenna used to transfer information from the surrounding environment. Some cells also have many mobile cilia that are used to generate movement. The 'skeleton' of ...

Please sign in to add a comment. Registration is free, and takes less than a minute. Read more

Click here to reset your password.
Sign in to get notified via email when new comments are made.


text:
Member Discounts

CPA partners with best-in-breed organizations to bring you exclusive savings at work, home and play.

Taking advantage of these offers can easily offset the price of your membership.

Please join us in welcoming our newest partners!

BMS Travel

BMS Canada Risk Services Ltd. (BMS Group), CPA’s exclusive broker and provider of professional liability and practice risk insurance, is pleased to introduce a new Travel Medical program for CPA members and their families.

Whether you’re traveling with your family or flying solo; taking short, frequent trips or planning an extended vacation, the CPA Travel program has a solution for you.

Fitterfirst has been “Leading the World to Better Balance” with quality, innovative products since 1985, including balance training gear, core stability, family fitness and active office products.

CPA Members save 10% on all Fitterfirst brand products and receive a free VIP membership on orders over $80.

Sleepy Kneez

Unique patented knee pillow for side sleepers. Ensures the spine remains in a neutral position, soothing your back and hips, and stays in place while you sleep. Improves knee comfort, and eliminates pressure on the lower back and hips by restoring natural alignment.

Sleepy Kneez is offering all CPA members, as well as their patients, a 10% discount on both our newest knee pillow and our memory foam knee pillow.

Engineered in Canada, SpiderTech Tape offers the most comprehensive line of Kinesiology Tape products in the market.

CPA members receive a 25% discount on the entire line of rolls and precut tapes. Plus, get complimentary access to education modules to provide patients with treatments supported by kinesiology taping.

And our long-standing supporters...

GoodLife/Énergie Cardio

CPA and GoodLife / Énergie Cardio: A great fit for you!

CPA members save up to 55% off the regular annual gym membership!

Gowlings Legal Services

Pro-bono legal service associated with professional and practice liability.

Johnson Inc.

As a member of the Canadian Physiotherapy Association (CPA), you can get group discounts on Johnson Inc.’s Home and Auto Insurance.

MBNA MasterCard

No annual fee platinum plus MasterCard with 3.9% introductory interest rate and added benefits like travel accident and trip cancellation insurance.

CPA members receive group discount rates on comprehensive term life, personal accident, office overhead, critical illness, health & dental insurance.

And don't forget!

As a CPA member, you get BIG discounts on advertising with CPA: job listings, ads on our website, in our publications and member emails, and much more!

PLUS get exclusive discounts for your professional needs from our Business Solutions partners!

*This page provides links to non-CPA websites that provide additional information about services and from which products and/or services may be made available to you. By clicking on the provided links, you will leave the website and enter a non-CPA website. These links are provided solely as a convenience to you and the inclusion of any link does not imply endorsement, investigation or verification by the CPA of the linked website or information contained therein or of their security or privacy practices. If you decide to access such non-CPA websites and/or purchase any products or services from the owners or operators of such websites, you do so at your own risk and the CPA shall have no responsibility to you in relation to such access or purchases