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The Nepal Digest - October 19, 1995 (6 Kartik 2052 BkSm)

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The Nepal Digest Thursday 19 October 95: Kartik 6 2052 BS Volume 43 Issue 4

     Happy Dipawali - The Nepal Digest

 * TND Board of Staff *
 * ------------------ *
 * Editor/Co-ordinator: Rajpal J. Singh *
 * TND Archives: Sohan Panta *
 * SCN Correspondent: Rajesh B. Shrestha *
 * *
 * +++++ Food For Thought +++++ *
 * *
 * "If you don't stand up for something, you will fall for anything" -Dr. MLK *
 * "Democracy perishes among the silent crowd" - Sirdar Khalifa *
 * *

********************************************************************** Date: Thu, 12 Oct 95 17:38:00 CDT From: mahesh <U45330@UICVM.UIC.EDU> Subject: Re: The Nepal Digest - October 9, 1995 (26 Ashwin 2052 BkSm) To: Editor <>

Dear Mr. Singh,

I'm writing this short note to thank you for enrolling me on your subscriber's list. To give you brief note about myself, I'm a graduate student at University of Illinois at Chicago in the ecology and evolution program.If there are any more info you might want or any support please feel free to let me know. I'd be more than glad to be of help to our digest.

Thanking you once more, Namasteji!! Mahesh Gurung

********************************************************************* From: Sushil Upadhyay <> To: Date: Fri, 13 Oct 1995 08:51:03 +0545 Subject: Hello.

Quite interesting to read the views of Nepalis living abroad.

Both sensible and distorted. Don't ask me to specify. I don't keep records.

Will debate with author(s) directly when and if.

Keep us posted!
  Sushil Upadhyay, Malla Treks, PO Box 5227, Kathmandu, Nepal
  Reply to:
  Fax: 977-1-418382, Phone 418387, 418389, 410089

  Malla Treks info on the Web -

************************************************************ Subject: nepali children behind bars? To: Date: Sat, 14 Oct 1995 14:00:10 -0400 (EDT)

a report from WFS...
         ** W o m e n ' s F e a t u r e S e r v i c e **
                            Weekly Digest

         20 West 20th Street Suite 1103, New York, NY 10011 USA
   tel: (212) 807-9192 fax: (212) 807-9331 e-mail:

Table of Contents:
 Nepal, Aug. 8 (WFS) -- Nine-year-old Tara looks like any other girl her age. Her front baby teeth have been replaced with larger, slightly crooked ones and her chocolate-brown hair is constantly falling into her eyes. She responds to queries in the mildly bored manner of a young child.
    But Tara is not like other children. When she was two and a half years old, Tara's father murdered her mother. Tara witnessed the crime.
    Since then, she has been living in a prison for adults.
    "My father was sure my mother was a flirt, so one night he killed her in her sleep. I watched him slit her throat with a knife," she says almost matter-of-factly as she chews a piece of gum.
    Several months ago, Tara was finally rescued from prison by volunteers of an nongovernment organization called Prisoners Assistance Mission (PAM). The organization lobbies for human rights in prison and for better jail conditions.
    Tara is like many other Nepali children whose parents are sentenced to prison. Often they have no one left to care for them. They are either sent to live in jail or left to fend for themselves on the streets.
    Sukanya Waiba from PAM said children end up living in Nepali prisons if their bread-winner guardian is arrested, or if both the parents are in jail. Sometimes the guardian they were living with outside dies, and they are brought to their imprisoned parent. Some of them are born in prison.
    "The child is not a criminal. He is helpless, yet has to stay with the father or mother," Waiba said.
    She claimed such children are always at risk of being physically molested, maltreated and malnourished. "Not to mention the psychological scars they will inevitably end up with as a result of their incarceration," she added.
   In a new venture that began in March this year, PAM has set up a small home for such children. Tara is one of a dozen children who now live in the PAM Nestling Home, which provides shelter, education and health facilities for the children of prisoners.
   The home has also accepted children who have never been to prison with their parents, but were left behind with neighbors or relatives.
    Director Singh B. Moktan said these children are often not cared for at all. "They usually end up at the prison walls waiting for their mothers to feed them. Their mothers share their food with them, passing it through the prison bars," he said.
    Though Tara spent several years in prison, she was lucky she was put into the women's prison cell where one of the female inmates took care of her. Her two younger brothers, however, are still in prison with their father.
   Moktan believes around 70 to 75 children are living inside Nepal's prisons today. But he regrets that he cannot help them because the home lacks space and money.

  "We have the capacity to house 20 children," Moktan said, "and when we receive more funding we would like to put the older children into boarding school to make room for more children."
   Moktan said the home gives priority to girls living inside the prisons, because they are more often abused.
   "In one instance we learned of a girl living in an all-male jail with her father," he recounts. The girl had earlier been living with her mother outside prison, but when the mother remarried she turned over the daughter to the father in jail because her new husband would not accept the child.
    "We considered this to be a desperate situation, and made an immediate rescue," said Moktan.

   No law in Nepal stipulates that prisoners should relinquish their children to a children's home. Waiba admits many of the parents, especially wealthier prisoners, do not allow their children to leave prison.
   "In the case of a couple held for counterfeiting, their 5-year- old child was imprisoned with the mother," said Waiba. "She refused to let the child be taken away because she would be too lonely in prison without her."
   Waiba said she has had to work hard towards gaining the trust of jailers in order to get information on the conditions of the children in prison.
   Her efforts are slowly paying off. She now receives letters from some of the district jailers informing her if children are forced to live in particularly bad conditions. Sometimes they inform her if a child is about to be turned out on the streets.
   Prison regulations state children are to be released from the
 prison when they reach the age of 10. But because most of them have nowhere to go, some of the jailers have been known to alter the children's ages on the records to prevent their being thrown out.
   "I don't want to keep the children here because I know this is not the right place for them. But where is the authorized children's home where I can send them?," a jailer once asked Waiba.
  Back at the PAM Nestling Home, a faint smile flickers across
 Tara's face when she is asked if she is happy to be out of prison.
     "Yes I'm happy," she said, her eyes darting around the room,
 "because now I have the opportunity to go to school." (Ends/870

Amidst grief and joy I was first, I first knew sorrow and pleasure, good
and evil. Obeying you or disobeying means the same. I was first to know. I
was first to touch the tree of knowledge, first to bite the red apple. I
was rebellion first on your earth.                 - Kabita Sinha

********************************************************* From: Date: Sun, 15 Oct 1995 13:44:25 -0700 To:

What follows is an essay on women and journalism by MANISHA ARYAL. This was published in Kathmandu's SPOTLIGHT newsmagazine of August 12, 1994. This is produced here with Manisha's permission, and through Ashutosh Tiwari's help. Devoted HIMAL readers may know that until August 1995, Manisha was the Associate Editor of that Himalayan bimonthly.

Struggling For Space Is it necessary to reserve a percentage of jobs exclusively for women? Will quota ultimately lead to professionalism among women journalists or will they lose direction under the protective umbrella of a male dominated Nepali media?

Newspapers and newsmagazines are coming up by dozens every year. Journalism is an up and coming profession. Add to this the low ratio of competent journalists to papers, and you have innumerable opportunities available for the taking. The doors to the profession are just as open to female as to their male colleagues. But the number of capable and committed women is very small, and once someone proves her skills, papers compete among themselves to hire her.

To talk of quota, as a means of ending all discrimination is unfair on the emerging group of sincere and talented young women who have come into journalism wanting to do something. Genuinely interested in writing, and willing to take up the challenges that come with the job, this group will carve a niche for its members by fighting obstructions along the way.

Dangling the quota carrot in front of women might attract a number of them in the beginning, but will not sustain the interest of the better among them in the long term. Part and parcel with the quota concept comes the assumption that one will be sheltered, that one can get in even if one is not good, that one does not need to work too hard, and that one will be allowed to hang around even when one proves herself to be incompetent.

Except in some exceptional cases - I limit my arguments to the general here - reservations do not encourage hard work, and those that demand and enjoy quotas will be found slipping into some comfortable job within a paper's hierarchy. This is when the process of actual discrimination starts. Women journalists will be treated by their editors and male colleagues not as fellow professionals but as bodies that encroach on their space. Those of us practicing journalists in Kathmandu comprise a privileged group of women. Good schools, colleges, exposure and the freedom of choice. Granted it is not all roses, but we learn to take the thorns as well. We make our choices and decide we like the challenges reporting and editing offers. That, in essence, is what keeps us afloat.

We want to be free, to range far and wide across the vast space of journalism, not to be hemmed within the boundaries of a sanctuary, covering soft features and "women's columns", which is exactly what a quota system would ultimately lead to.

There was no quota for us. We never demand to be protected because we believe we are equal. We joined the profession to become journalists, not a protected species. If we know who we are we do not need protection.

Here I would like to share an experience I and a colleague from Gorkhapatra, Harikala Adhikari, had in mid-March in 1994 while conducting a workshop on basic writing skills for some 25 women in Palpa. The focus was on news and feature writing. Among the women attending the workshop from the villages of Madan Pokhara and Tansen were college students, school teachers, a college lecturer, community development workers, a political activist, and the wife of RSS' Tansen correspondent (she did most of his writing).

These women had come for the 40 hour workshop, genuinely interested in learning. The 4-hour-a-day scheduled sessions stretched to 8 to 10 hours every day - sometimes with only one break in between. The women of Palpa did not have lofty dreams - they wanted to be able to write occasional pieces on events in their communities.

Today, five months later, out of the 25 women, eleven write frequently in Deurali, published for rural readers from Tansen, 4 have linked up with Asmita and Panos and three have even had their stories published in Gorkhapatra.

Compare this with a training I went through in Kathmandu in 1991 with Centre for Women and Development. It was an all female group of 25 women (it was believed that mixed training were not good enough for the advancement of female journalists, and that a women-only training would produce more and better women journalists). The training was 8 months long, with two months as internship in the media of choice. Only 5 of my fellow trainees write sporadically and 20 of them never utilized their training. It was not that they did not have opportunities. They made a clear choice - and the choice was not to write.

There you have it: A journalism career is a matter of interest and commitment. The call for "affirmative action" comes mostly from the privileged urban milieu, where women have been exposed to the enticements that our sisters in the hinterland do not know exist.

Those of us who choose journalism as our career do so with open eyes. We are confronted with innumerable options - between daily papers and weekly one. between newspapers and newsmagazines, between writing in English and Nepali language, between daily news and in-depth features, etc. In deciding a career in journalism, we give up a lot but we also gain immensely.

Every generation, has to make its own choices. For in the end, it is not on grounds of gender, group, caste, ideology or affiliation but on the basis of ability, efficiency and quality work that you are judged. I for one, want to be known as a journalist, not as a "women journalist" a title that men love to bestow.

********************************************************************** Subject: Radio Nepal Shortwave frequencies To: Date: Thu, 19 Oct 1995 10:34:51 -0400 (EDT) From: "Rajesh B. Shrestha" <rshresth@BBN.COM>

Cross-posted from SCN: ---------------------

> (S. Sinha) wrote: > > >Anyone knows the shortwave frequencies to hear Radio Nepal (If there > >are any) ?? > > Try tuning to 5.005 MHz between 6:30 - 7:30 A.M EDT > > I saw a posting loooong trime ago which mentioned that Radio Nepal was > received at the above frequency in Houston. >

Radio Nepal broadcasts on 5.005 MHz from 00:15 UTC to 18:15 UTC and on 7165 MHz, same times. Thus Radio Nepal broadcasts from 8:15 pm to 2:15 pm the next day, until standard time returns. But you wou't be able to hear it over all that time.

To convert from "UTC" to local time, subtract 4 hours for EDT and 5 hours for EST, and so forth for other US timezones.

(This is from the 1996 Passport to World Band Radio, which is available in bookstores for $19.95.)

Because of shortwave propagation conditions, the signal will be strongest when it is night or twilight over the signal path between Nepal and the US. 7:00 am EDT is 4:45 pm in Nepal. So earlier in the morning here would be better, while later in the evening would be better in Nepal. Thus the suggested times in the posting are kind of the best compromise for propagation conditions, with the resulting stongest signal.

Also, Nepal is "over the north pole" from most of the U.S., which is a bad path for radio signals. The poles have more electrical disturbances from solar activity, which upsets the radio reflecting layers resulting in very poor signal quality.

Keep trying, as conditions vary yearly, seasonally, daily and even hourly!

**************************************************************** Date: Thu, 19 Oct 1995 11:24:13 -0400 (EDT) From: Nuru Lama <> Subject: An article for all of us!!! To: The Nepal Digest <>

Dear Editor, The following article by Bikas Joshi appeared in The Kathmandu Post of July 30,Sunday. I thought it might be of considerable interest to those facing the moral dilemma between 'home sweet home' and economic opportunism. Here it goes!!

Brain Drain:Why Not? By Bikas Joshi

A few days ago, in a letter to the editor, a concerned citizen made an impassioned plea against 'brain drain', the migration of skilled Nepalis to countries in the West. As a recent graduate of an American university myself, the subject hit quite close to home.

It is an issue hundreds of people like me have to face every year, it demands a disppassionate look, shorn of all the hot-buttons of emotionality.

First, let me state whom I am defending. I am not speaking for those who go out to foreign countries on government scholarships and decide not to return. I believe that is morally indefensible,and that such actions constitute serious transgressions on their part that are surely improper.

I am defending those people who go to foreign countries to study on their own. To say that they have to return home, "to serve one's country", is quite irrational. Other than chanting the mantra of patriotism, what other reason can be given for this? Why is it that Nepalis have the "duty" to come back home? At best, such an expectation is an affront to their freedom as human beings to do what they please.

What makes a Nepali decide to stay in the West? By West, I include the developed part of the world, including countries in South East Asia. Skilled -and unskilled, for that matter- migration occurs because of people's inherent desire to better themselves in every material way. People always go for what is good for them; it is their nature. To quote John Locke, people have to have life, liberty, and property (the last being modified to "pursuit of happiness" by Thomas Jefferson). Any government action that prevents the exercise of any of these rights constitutes a violation of the inherent contract that people have with society. Rather, than being carried away by emotional rhetorics and condemning perfectly rational people who may have decided to emigrate, it may be better for us to identify factors that caused them to take this decision, so that actions could be taken to ameliorate the situation.

The following four factors were listed in a survey by economists Jagdish (a "brain drain" from India to the United States) and Paul Krugman in the seventies, when the study of this topic was in vague.

Income differential was the first factor identified. The reason this is important should be clear: people try to maximize their lifetime wealth. Earnings, even net of costs, are considerably higher in the West than in Nepal. These people have invested their own money for studies. Many parents have poured their life savings into their children's education, even selling assets (such as land). Is it not fair for them to expect some return on that investment? Back in Nepal, there are hardly any opportunities to do so, if one is to remain honest at the same time. A Secretary at the government ministry - the highest position attainable in civil service - officially earns a mere six thousand rupees a month.That is less than the expected monthly repayment on the loans that many have taken out in their studies. Government policies have hardly helped; real wages for skilled workers have declined steadily. While pursuit of egalitarianism may be politically expedient, it reduces incentives for trained people to perform. A reduction in the gap between the lowest and the highest salaries may have long-lasting repercussions, indirectly forcing able, trained professionals to raise their welfare by moving out.

Available professional opportunities also matter. What can a graduate from a good foreign university do? I presume very few take the civil service route, because of the red tape and the frustations involved. These days, many who return to Nepal are going for NGOs and the international development agency-type jobs as the pay is considerably better. But what about the long-run? Working in these agencies, they are bound to hit that proverbial glass ceiling eventually; they are stuck in a dead-end job. These people move out of the country because they just cannot do what they would like to here, due to lack of openings and sufficient diversity. How important is this factor? This may affect the very best professionals, whom Nepal needs desperately, but who can also sell themselves in foreign countries.

Potential emigrants also consider the living conditions. Nepal does not offer security anymore. The government has not been able to guarantee the safety of citizens. It has not been able to ensure a welcome political environment, either. Schools and colleges are frequently closed for the flimsiest reasons. What people fail to realize to realize is that those who decide to emigrate are humans, too; they want what is best for themselves and their families. The West guarantees, in addition to better professional opportunities, better health care and better educational system. Who are we to say that they are wrong in trying to ensure a better future for themselves?

Working conditions was the last factor identified in the survey. Take an example of a scientist who has studied esoteric subject because of her love for it. What is going to do in Nepal? The utter failure of government past and present to create an infrastructure for specialists like her to work here in definitely one fator driving these invaluable human resources out of the country. Specially with the recent politicization of almost every walk of life, a professional who only wants to eke out an honest living is in for a tough time. She may just want to opt for an anonymous bliss in the West rather than a life full of tension back home.

Somewhat related to this is another factor, very prevalent in Nepal- an excessive premium that we put on age. Stuck to our strict social structure, we have failed to realize that, on certain things, a twenty-something recent graduate of a university may indeed know a lot more than a fifty-something who has not touched a scholarly book since his college days in the Sixties. Whereas an old person spouting off discredited ideas is treated with respect, a youngster who tries to correct him is considered an upstart. The only way to go up the hierarchy in Nepal is through age, and that can be frustrating for people who may be bubbling with zeal and ideas, but are too young to have the authority to put them into action. This appreciation of talent is much more evident in the West (though, by no means, perfect), and that inspires the best and the brightest to go there.

But what about entreprenuership? If they cannot get used to existing system, why can't Nepal's "educationally qualified people create green pastures in the country itself, rather than seek seek them elsewhere?" Why not indeed? It is because it's just not as easy as it sounds. Green pastures cannot be created overnight. One needs a lot of capital and influence to do anything in Nepal. And a recent graudate whose parents are mere citizens is bound not to have either. Many graudates from rich families may decide to come to Nepal for, with the resources they already have, Nepal can offer them much more prestige than they can ever hope to get in any Western country. Others, however, may not have any choice. It is not that these "brain drain" professionals do not want to stay in Nepal - after all, they have their families and their hearts in Nepal. Most of them are basically forced out of the country because of the restrictive environment.

The leaders of Nepal have frequently stated their intention to see Nepal developed like Singapore. It may be beneficial for our politicians to actually look at what Singapore is doing. The country nurtures its best talents, providing them with the best possible education and ensuring that they get to exercise their abilities. The best professionals are also encouraged to enter polciy-making, with the all-powerful ruling people's action party virtually ensuring their entry into the parliament. The best and the brightest Singaporeans are compensated for their contribution, providing them further incentives to stay within the country. While other restrictive regulations of Singapore are best ignored, this may be one thing worth emulating.\

All said and done, patriotism alone cannot ensure that the talents of Nepal will stay within its borders. Nepal is backward-there is no doubt about that-but the way to get out of it is not to condemn those who had to leave the country to pursue their own dreams, but to ensure that they have the right environment to return. Blame not the emigrants, but those who created stifling policies.Only when this is realized and corrected can the country retain its talents, and have them work for development, as it desperately needs.

*********************************************************************************************** Date: Mon, 16 Oct 1995 09:21:32 -0500 (EST) From: Subject: HimNet - Himalayan Network: No. 22 (II) (fwd) To: THE NEPAL DIGEST <>,

This issue of Himnet has two articles of interest to Nepali Netters.

---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Mon, 16 Oct 1995 10:20:31 +0100 From: Himalayan Network <> To: Subject: HimNet - Himalayan Network: No. 22 (II)

#04 Conference Report: Hard Livelihood - the Himalayan Porter From:

A Summary Report

The meeting entitled "Hard Livelihood: Conference on the Himalayan Porter", held in Patan (Nepal) on 3-4 August 1995, raised important questions relating to portering, which is among the most excruciating of human labours. Himalayan load carriers, a productive and much-needed work force have long been used (and often exploited) for their ability to transport heavy goods, for long distances, at low wages. The Hard Livelihood conference, which was the first of its kind, addressed issues ranging from economics to collective bargaining, from psychological trauma to orthopaedic considerations. (A full report on the conference will be carried in the Sep/Oct 1995 issue of Himal magazine. A monograph is also planned.)

In the course of the proceedings, it became clear that Himalayan portering should be categorised under four heads. Domestic Porterage, which is ubiquitous, involves carrying daily household requirements such as firewood and water, as well as lugging yearly supplies of daily essentials from roadhead to homestead. Commercial Porterage, which involves the heaviest loads (of kerosene, foodgrain, calico), is done either by dokey sahu who do their own trade, or porters working for hill merchants. Development Porterage is a phenomenon of recent decades, in which villagers hired by the government or development agencies carry construction material and supplies for hydropower projects, suspension bridges, schools, health posts, etc. However, it is Tourism Porterage which has the highest profile, and is the mainstay of the trekking industry and Himalayan mountaineering.

Among the papers presented, the study entitled "Portering in the Garhwal Himalaya" by Ramamurthi Sreedhar (Institute of Environics, Dehra Dun) focused on Nepali porters active in the Gangotri and Kedarnath pilgrimage areas. Sreedhar found that most of porters come from the Rolpa District of West Nepal, but also from Rukum, Bajhang, Dailekh and other districts. There is no institution, governmental or non-governmental, looking after the interests and welfare of these Nepali porters.

Lhakpa Norbu Sherpa (Thame Village, Khumbu) researched the impacts of helicopters on portering in Khumbu, and concluded that heli-transportation had a definite negative impact on the earning capacity of mountain porters. Porters have always been vulnerable to advances in "portering", such as trucks, Urang herds, mule trains and Twin Otter aircraft. The overall critical question was whether the diverted wealth was returning to the national economy, or simply being consumed by expensive foreign technicians, imported machinery and fuel. Lhakpa Norbu reported that the average income of a porter in Khumbu last season (after the advent of helicopters) was NRs 155 a day, and the expenditure was NRs 74 a day. Sherpa ends his paper with a cartoon that has a porter exclaiming, "It is no longer worth the pain!"

Lawyers Bharat Raj Upreti and Hari Phuyal analysed the legal provisions in Nepal as they applied to porters, and concluded that the Civil Code (Muluki Ain) tends to protect employers rather than labourers. Regarding the all-important question of wages, the paper suggests that the emphasis should not be to make additional laws, but to develop a simple and effective mechanism for enforcement of porters' right to wages.

Dr. Buddha Basnet, Medical Director of the Himalayan Rescue Association, in a presentation entitled "Medical Problems of Porters" said that high-altitude porters may have "protective physiology" which makes them less vulnerable to hyperventilation, more tolerant to cold, and allows better adaptation to the high altitude oxygen-depleted environment. One study of muscle biopsies shows that Sherpas had a high capillaries-to-fibre ratio, which meant that the muscles were more efficient because received more blood supply. There was even a possibility that both human beings and animals (yaks) which have lived at high altitudes for centuries, have adapted so well that they might be anatomically different from lowlanders. Dr. Basnet cautioned participants not to ignore the severe problems of hypothermia, altitude sickness, anxiety attacks, gastroenteritis faced by midhill porters who travel to higher climes.

A pioneering study by Dibya Gurung and Tsering Tenpa (KMTNC/ACAP) looked at the specific issues related to women who join the load-carrying workforce, including ethnicity, working conditions, sexual harassment, and physiological concerns. Up to 15 percent of porters in trekking tourism are women, in the age group 14-30. The researchers suggest that portering has also opened up economic opportunity to women and that there are trekking groups that prefer women porters because they are thought to be more reliable. Gurung and Tenpa cautioned the conference participants portering women, having found an employment opportunity, did not want it jeapordised by wrong- headed activism.

Nancy J. Malville and J. McKim Malville (University of Colorado, Boulder) in their paper "Loads and Body Mass: Commercial Portering on the Jiri-Namche Route" document the load- carrying by the traditional Nepali porter. They found that even younger porters (11-15 years) was carrying 135 percent of their body mass. Males in their late 20s carried the heaviest loads in relation to their size, 83 kg average, which was 159 percent of their body mass. Even those in their 60s were carrying 116 percent of their body mass. The heaviest load-carrying recorded was one of 108.2 kg (238 lbs) carried by a 44-year-old Rai trader who stood 146 cm tall (4'9"). He was carrying 228 percent of his own body mass. The researchers end by stating: "The institution of portering demonstrates the strength and resilience of the human body, which the Nepali porters have probably pushed to the physiological limit." They add that load carrying may have significance for early hominid evolution, and that "dorsal load carrying" may actually have helped stabilise the bipedal habit in humans.

Pitamber Sharma of ICIMOD, presenting his paper "Equity and the Nepali Porter", stated that the issue deals with poverty, opening better options for gainful employment, and providing porters with the dignity that goes with such strenuous labour. Collective bargaining was rare and porters were therefore unable to effectively articulate their problems. He said equity issues should be first be addressed in the more organised sectors of portering, which was in development projects and tourism. A regional porter labour market oriented to tourism portering must be established. While portering was often seen as a "dying occupation" by development planners because of the expansion of road networks, Sharma felt that "it is quite likely that in the year 2015, about 30 percent of the hill mountain population will still remain beyond a day's walk from the nearest road". While long distance domestic portering may be reduced, there would be a manifold increase in short distance portering, particularly due to the projected expansion of the mountain economy.

In their paper "Thaplo Bata Namlo Hatau" ("remove the tumpline from your forehead"), T.B. Shrestha, Bishnu Bhandari and Anil Chitrakar (IUCN Nepal) state, "portering is one of the few professions in the world where the more experienced you are the less is the pay". Porters have neither insurance nor political leverage. In the past, there was some respect for portering, which is why chautari rest platforms, water spouts (dharapani), dharmasalas and patis (night halt stops) were established at proper intervals on hill trails. These are all languishing today. The researchers said that on the one hand the state must develop a more "porter-sensitive development strategy", and on the other, it must develop the country in such a manner that the full potential of the Nepali workforce will be realised without the use of the namlo.

In "Push and Shove: The Construction of a Portering Economy in Northern Pakistan", Kenneth Iain MacDonald (University of Toronto) said over the last 150 years, portering in Baltistan had emerged from a form of codified forced labour into a legitimate part-time occupation. During the transition, a significant change had been the increasing refusal by porters to passively accept the conditions under which their labour was appropriated. Through time, the Baltis have used various means to gain a measure of control over their own labour power. MacDonald suggests that Baltis tend to be characterised in tourism and other literature as 'unreliable', 'cowardly' and 'unintelligent' mainly because they engage in acts of resistance, in an effort to exercise a degree of self-determination and retain an element of dignity in a task that can be most degrading. "What has been transmitted among travellers as a bad reputation is actually a racist misinterpretation of the actions of subordinate groups involved in continuous resistance against domination and the appropriation of their labour."

Ben Campbell (University of Manchester), in "Porters, Poverty and the Protected Periphery", studies portering among the Tamang in the Kathmandu Valley periphery. Campbell (who could not attend the Conference), states that historically portering was a primary means for the state to extract value from village communities which produced little or no surplus that could be taxed. The population of the Kathmandu hinterland was always used to move goods through the Himalaya. The Tamangs' position within the strategic interests of the polity of Nepal was not to warrant the granting of trade privileges, which many of the Bhotiya traders received. The strategic role of Tamang communities in central Nepal was rather as porters, as an underdeveloped reserve of labour power at the service of the central elites. Their marginal niche and subsistence economy was treated with neglect, and jealously guarded from recruitment to Gurkha regiments.

Dr. Upendra Devkota, Nepal's only neurosurgeon, in his paper "The Cervical Spine of the Male Nepali Porter", presented preliminary findings based on the study of load carriers. The aim of his study was to see "whether the condition of the cervical spine of male Nepali porters was better, similar or worse than that of the controls". It would be expected that there would be accelerated degeneration of the upper spine (known as spondylosis) of individuals engaged in a lifetime of portering. However, the initial findings indicated that this might not be the case. Dr. Devkota reported that in the 40-49 age group, only 12.2 percent of the porters studied had significant wear and tear of the cervical spine. The average for a "control group" was as much as 25 percent. The study therefore, "tended to suggest that male Nepali porters in their 40s have significantly less spinal degeneration compared to the Western controls." If this is supported by further research which is continuing, then perhaps the use of a namlo-like devices would be useful as physiothery aids in the world of medical science.

#05 Water use efficiency in the Himalaya From: Bhanu Neupane u <>

I'm developing a conceptual model to assess water use efficiency in the Himalaya. I've selected Langtang-Trishuli basin as my study area. To pursue this task, I will be using SRM model to elaborate the supply side of the issue.

Can somebody please provide me the email addresses of Dr. K. Siedel and Dr J. Martinec and suggest somebody equally renowned in SRM modelling in the Himalayas. Drs. Siedel and Martinec, to my knowledge, are associated with ERTZ.

Thanks in advance.

Bhanu (

*************************************************** Date: Mon, 16 Oct 1995 19:15:03 -0400 (EDT) To: Subject: Article by Ashutosh Tiwari From: Mahesh Ghimire <umghimir>

We all have experienced similar situations in Nepal. Once I had hard time persuading a book-store man to let-me glance through a book I intended to buy. The experience was bad but... When I (Sahariya short pant man) go to a shops or resturants in not so remote outside kathmandu valley district Sadarmukams I get the same VIP treatments tourists get in Kathmandu and other tourist centres. So I reason as long as I don't mind getting those `sir' or `madsab' treatments I shouldn't....:-)

Many of my well read and well positioned collegues are so prompt to quote phoren experts on Nepali issues and so eager to please phoren delegates and experts in their Nepal time-travel that the smiles on the waiter's face while serving a tourist is pale in comparision.

**************************************************************** Date: Mon, 16 Oct 1995 19:16:40 -0400 (EDT) To: Subject: Discrimination acts of Malaysia how do you guys compare?? From: (Remo)

List of discrimination act pratice by the government.

1. 70% of university place is reserved to Bumiputra 2. As 70% of U places is allocated for bumi hence entrance to U is

not base on merits but base on the race you belong to.

3. 5% discount for Bumi house buyers and 0% to non bumi

4. Bumi privilege is in the constitution and cannot be question

5. 30% of houses/flats/condos in any new housing scheme have to be reserve to Bumi purchasers

6. Companies must have at least 30% Bumi staff

7. Government projects must have 30% Bumi content

8. Government agency and civil services are monopolised by Malays

9. Only Malay can be elected to be Prime Minister

10. Public listed company must have at least 30% bumi share

11. Priority is given to Bumi in company share balloting

12. TV programs banned for no good reason

Note :

Bumi/Bumiputra = Native Malays ,muslim religion

Equivalent to Aborigines from Australia Red Indians in USA

The Malaysian definition of a Malay is constitutional: (M.G.G. Pillai) wrote: a Malay is one who practices the Islamic faith, habitually speaks Malay and adopts Malay customs and practices. All other natives are bumiputras.

************************************************************** Date: Mon, 16 Oct 1995 19:17:28 -0400 (EDT) To: Subject: Sentenced to Death - Oct 22 From: Shyam <>

Talks on Minority and Human Rights in South Asia

Asma Jahangir (Pakistan) Asghar Ali Engineer (India)

11 year old Salamat Masih, a christian living in Pakistan was sentenced to death this year on a charge of blasphemy. Two years ago thousands of muslims were killed in India in mob violence following the demolition of a mosque. What is the connection between these events? Find out from two people on the frontline.

Asma Jahangir, noted activist, author and defense lawyer for Salamat Masih is the founder of the largest umbrella organization of women in Pakistan. Asghar Ali Engineer, a reknowned scholar and activist from India has devoted his entire life to studying and fighting mob violence and oppression in the name of religion.

Sunday, MIT October 22nd Building 6 Room 120 3-00 PM Closest T Station: Kendall Square Bus Number 1 to 77 Mass Ave

Info: email Alliance for a Secular and Democratic South Asia

********************************************************************** Date: Mon, 16 Oct 1995 22:46:53 -0500 To: From: (Padam Sharma) Subject: Kurakani

Agriculture and Forestry University: More questions than answers!

Commenting on The Kathmandu Post editorial, about above subject Mr. Tuladhar writes,

"Just for starters, re: the new proposed ag+for university is another example of reproducing emppty institutions to socio-techno fix what is essentially a deep political problem. As an insider of the forestry institute, I think this new initiative is intellectually and politically bankrupt and neither will the agriculture productivity will go up nor will forest environment will be ameliorated with "more mechanized production for agriculture" or training more unwanted foresters for forestry sector job. Please read and come forward with your discussions. Thanks ----amulya"

I was thinking of commenting and starting a discussion on the above subject. But Mr. Tuladhar's snap judgement on the issue threw me off guard. Before entering into further discussion, I would like Mr. Tuladhar to answer some questions and elaborate on his statements. The idea is to discuss the issue on a more logical sequence.

1. Does Nepal need an institution of higher learning in agriculture and forestry? If yes why and if not why?

2. If yes, does agriculture and forestry need separate universities? Same university?

3. Could Mr. Tuladhar elaborate on his statement, "ag+for university is another example of reproducing empty institutions what is essentially a political problem."

4. What is the meaning of , "I think this new initiative is intellectually and politically bankrupt?"

5. What is the basis of the statement, "neither will the agriculture productivity go up nor will forest environment be ameliorated"?

6. Is Mr. Tuladhar's objection to the proposed univeristy based on fear that Institutue of Agriculture might gobble up Institute of Forestry?

7. Is Mr. Tuladhar's cynical statement on the subject just a force of habit?

It is very easy to make a few rhetorical statements on any issue. The trouble starts when we start thinking hard on the subject.

Sincerely Padam Sharma Email :

**************************************************************** From: (Bhuban Pandey) Subject: Happy Dipawali To: Date: Tue, 17 Oct 95 8:35:55 CDT

Hi Netters! Greetings from Omaha, Nebraska.

We wish you all a very happy "DIPAWALI."

Bhuban, Prabha and Bhumika Pandey

********************************************************************** Date: Tue, 17 Oct 1995 18:57:58 -0400 From: To: Subject: About subscription of TND

Dear Editor

I could not stop thanking you for a wonderful THE NEPAL DIGEST, which I recently happened read at my friend's house. The articles in TND, were so well written and I really enjoyed when going through them. This is the only paper that I can get access about Himalayan Kingdom and its happenings. I have my own e-mail now, and I want to subscribe TND. So, Please kindly send TND on my address.

Sincerly yours, Achyut Basnet Springfield College (Grad Student) MA, 01109

************************************************* Date: Tue, 17 Oct 1995 20:37:21 CDT To: Subject: Help Needed to Find the Address From: <Sudeep Mool>

I request the editor to publish this massege in TND.

I am looking for the internet address of some of my friends. If anyone reading this massege happens to know the address(es) of the person(s) listed below, please email me. I would be grateful. Thanks.

1. Mr. Anoj Dhoj Joshi, NY 2. Dileep Agrawal (previously attended Clark University, MA) OR Mr. Manoj Agrawal. 3. Subash Dhakal (second batch from St. Xavier's Campus, Jawalakhel, Nepal) 4. Jagadish Maharjan (") 5.

********************************************* From: Puspa M Joshi <> Subject: Tidbits To: (Nepal Digest) Date: Wed, 18 Oct 1995 08:02:25 -0400 (EDT)

Tidbits from Columbus, Ohio : By Puspa Man Joshi

Although, because of Mid-terms, several people were unable to attend, the Dashain celebration in Columbus was great fun. Credit for the success goes to Gyanu Sherchan who spent her valuable time organizing the party.

Though the food was excellent, the highlight of the party was the presence of 8 student guests from Ohio Wesleyan, and Cornell who made the party very lively. After the dinner, Monica Sherchan presented a short cultural program that she had organized. The party ended with the singing and dancing by the guests and hosts. ----------------------------------END

Dear editor, I am mailing a poem I wrote which I recited during the Dashain celebration in Columbus. I hope you would post both versions. Thank you.

Puspa Man Joshi

Man Ko Bhookha (Hungry for Respect)

Malai Lagchha Kasaibata Man Pauna Purkhyauli Ko Nam Sunaunu Parchha Bhanne Chhaina Na Ta Pad wa Yogyata Bataunu Parchha Bhanne Chha Ajjha Sampatti Wa Adhikarko Dhank Lagauna Ta Katti Pani Abashyak Pardaina

Kinaki, Aphule Man Manaparayejhhain Arule Pani Man Manaparaunchha Bhani Janera Kasailai Man Gari Diye So Byaktibata Manko Badala Samman Painchha

Tara Kunai Pani Byakti Sampatti, Pad, Adhikar Wa Upadhile Mattiako Chha Bhane Yekatira, Chahindo Bhanda Badhi Man Khojna Thalchha Ta Arkotira, Arulai Man Garna Birsera Apaman Garna Sikee Janchha

Ajjha Tyatimatra Kahan Ho Ra Kasaile Man Gardapani Apaman Gareko Samjhi Janchha Ani Sadhain Sadhainko Lagi Manko Bhookha Banee Rahanchha

Hungry for Respect (Manko Bhookha) By:Puspa Joshi

I believe that To gain the respect of someone One does not need to mention one's family background Neither does one need to tell the qualification or position Nor is it not necessary to declare a huge bank balance

It is so simple If we treat someone As we wanted to be treated We would be honored

However, when a person is conceited Because of wealth, qualification or position He forgets to respect others He learns to lower people

More than that Even when someone respects him He feels he deserves more

In spite of wealth, qualification, or position Such a person is always hungry for respect.

****************************************************************************** * * * The Nepal Digest(TND) is a publication of the Nepal Interest Group for * * news and discussions about issues concerning Nepal. All members of * * will get a copy of TND. Membership is open to all. * * THE EDITOR RESERVES THE RIGHT TO EDIT ARTICLES FOR CLARITY. * * * * Subscription/Deletion requests : NEPAL-REQUEST@MP.CS.NIU.EDU * * Provide one line message: sub nepal "lastname, firstname, mi" <user@host> * * [OPTIONAL] Provide few lines about your occupation, address, phone for * * TND database to: <A10RJS1@MP.CS.NIU.EDU> * * Snail-Mail Correspondences to: Rajpal J.P. Singh * * Founding-Editor/Co-ordinator * * TND Foundation * * 44 Greenridge Ave * * White Plains, New York 10605, U.S.A. * * * * Digest Contributions: NEPAL@MP.CS.NIU.EDU * * Contributors need to supply Header for the article, email, and full name. * * * * Postings are divided into following categories that are listed in the * * order below. Please provide category-type in the header of your e-mail. * * * * 1. Message from TND Editorial Board * * 2. Letter to the Editor * * 3. TAJA_KHABAR: Current News * * 4. KATHA_KABITA: Literature * * 5. KURA_KANI: Economics * * Agriculture * * Forestry * * Health * * Education * * Technology * * Social Issues * * Cultural Issues * * Environment * * Tourism * * Foreign Policy * * History * * Military/Police * * Politics * * 6. CHOOT_KILA (Humor, Recipies, Movie Reviews, Sattaires etc.) * * 7. JAN_KARI: Classifides (Matrimonials, Jobs etc) * * 8. KHOJ_KHABAR (Inquiring about Nepal, Nepalis etc. ) * * 9. TITAR_BITAR: Miscellaneous (Immigration and Taxex etc. ) * * * * **** COPYRIGHT NOTE **** * * The news/article posters are responsible for any copyright violations. * * TND, a non-profit electronic journal, will publish articles that has * * been published in other electronic or paper journal with proper credit * * to the original media. * * * ******************************************************************************

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Wednesday, April 18, 2012

Refried serotonin lunch

That title sounds like the prequel to a William Burroughs novel. I wish I'd come up with it myself, but I'm actually plagiarizing almost word for word from Dr. Steven Hyman, Director of the Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard. Last week, Emory awarded Dr. Hyman this year's Neuroscience and Ethics Award. Dr. Hyman spoke on "Addiction as a Window on Volitional Control", which shouldn't be surprising, given his molecular and genetic studies of the dopaminergic system.

Earlier in the day, Dr. Hyman stopped by the Emory Center for Ethics to have lunch with faculty and students from several schools and programs. He held forth on the state of translational neuropsychiatric research for an hour and a half, while the rest of us prevented him from eating by constantly barraging him with questions. I have a feeling I'm not the only one who found what he had to say both thought-provoking and provocative. He liberally spiced up his comments with colorful phrases like the aforementioned "refried serotonin meal" (which I will put in context at the end of this post).

Before I talk about what Hyman talked about, though, I have to put the man himself in context. Here's an interview with him and a talk he gave at a benefit, if you want to check them out. And here's the Cliff's Notes version of his career: Hyman started college as a philosopher, and then realized that neuroscientists were the ones working on the questions he wanted to answer, and so he snuck into the field through the back door of med school. Eventually he established his own lab. He then went on to head the National Institutes of Mental Health (NIMH) for five years, and followed that with a stint as provost at Harvard before becoming director of the Stanley Center. Let's relate all that to what he had to say at lunch. I guess his background explains, in part, his ability to turn a phrase. And his C.V. explains why those phrases tend to cast psychiatry and big pharma in a pretty harsh light.

Hyman leapt right into why we've had such a hard time curing mental health disorders. According to him, there's two main reasons. One is that research, for a long time, focused on drugs--the "paradigm dominate[d] the field". He conceded that research on drugs initially made sense: the drugs helped people with mental health problems when nothing had before. As he pointed out, Thorazine was just one of many antihistamines, which had great sedative properties, until doctors noticed it ameliorated some psychotic symptoms. The other reason we’ve had such a hard time curing mental health disorders, according to Dr.Hyman, is that psychoanalytics still casts a long shadow over psychiatry. He pointed to the DSM-III, released in 1980 (if you don't know, that's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders), which he said was based on "1970s science". With the DSM-III, he said, you had a case of extremely "bright people becom[ing] guardians of the holy writ". Even now, as the American Psychological Association puts together the DSM-V, "people will kill each other over the placement of a semi-colon".

The end result of the DSM is that disorders are defined in terms of symptoms. The problem with this is that human beings, especially those struggling with mental disorders, are not likely to be easily divided into groups based on their symptoms. No one who is depressed thinks, "Oh, it's been two weeks and I've only had three episodes of suicidal thoughts--I'd better get some stinkin' thinkin' goin’ to meet my quota." Yet, this is exactly the way that scientific studies were being framed when Hyman became head of the NIMH, and, because of the DSM, they’re still being framed that way. Hyman tried to change that. “I felt I was responsible for two billion dollars of taxpayer money--and if we are [funding] biological characterization of something that is not a natural kind, the study [was] stillborn.” In other words, we’ll never come up with a therapy for a mental disorder that doesn’t really exist.

In contrast, Hyman feels that “the genetics of neuropsychiatric disease is going to work”. The cost of sequencing genomes has come down something like 10-million fold. “It makes Moore’s law look pretty lazy.” He pointed out that we know that mental health issues run in families, even if the symptoms don’t always look the same. There are shared genes that put people at risk for mental health disorders in general: bi-polar patients show up in families with high incidence of schizophrenia. By the same token, Hyman said, all this genetic data has shown that phenotyping—i.e., looking at symptoms—is “worthless”. For example, there’s no correlations between genes and symptoms of schizophrenia that show that we can divide the disease into sub-classes. And while we do see a clear correlation between certain genes and the presence or absence of mental health problems in general in families, we still have to deal with 100s or 1000s of genes of small effect. “The hard problem is the genes to biology problem” in Hyman’s view.

There were a lot of other topics Dr.Hyman covered during the hour and a half that he talked with us. A couple of people asked questions about epigenetics, and I thought his answers came off as a bit glib. In case you don’t already know, the field of epigenetics studies changes in gene expression that are inherited but don’t require changes in DNA sequence. For example, DNA methylation patterns can be transferred from one generation of cells to the next, and these patterns affect transcription of genes. Epigenetics provides a way for the environment to affect the genome. In other words, this field could explain why one man suffers from a mental disorder when his identical twin doesn’t. Shouldn’t we be studying that, and worrying a little less about those 1000s of “genes of small effects”?

I also was a little taken aback to hear someone in Hyman’s position say that big pharma had woken up from its “refried serotonin meal”. I mean, I thought SSRIs were not so efficacious when I was watching my depressed friends in high school crush them up and smoke them, but I wasn’t head of the NIMH at the time. (And I guess I won’t be after writing this paragraph.) With the benefit of age and wisdom and stuff, I realize that they represent about the best we can do right now. So I have to agree with Dr. Hyman when he says “no one’s improved on Lithium,” in terms of efficacy, “and that was 1949.” To improve our therapies, we’ll have to overcome a lot of the baggage left over from that time in psychology when Freud stopped studying crawfish and started prescribing cocaine. (That’s my cynicism you hear in that sentence, not his.) Hyman’s take-home message is that we have an opportunity right now to make big leaps forward in treating psychiatric disorders. I think we can all agree on that.

--David Nicholson Neuroscience Graduate Student, Sober Lab

Want to cite this post?
Nicholson, D. (2012). Refried serotonin lunch. The Neuroethics Blog. Retrieved on , from

Laura E. Mariani said...

Nicely summarized, David, although I was disappointed that you didn't say more about the lunch. That baba ghanoush was good.

I think a lot of scientists share Hyman's qualms with the DSM's attempt to define psychiatric diseases through sometimes arbitrary checklists, and I agree with him that we're in the midst of learning a ton of useful stuff from genetic studies. (I'd better agree with that point or they'd have to kick me out of the Department of Human Genetics.) But, I'm hesitant to be totally dismissive of the DSM's symptom-based categorizations, even if they don't agree with patient genotyping, if it turns out that grouping patients by symptoms is still helpful in terms of treatment outcomes. I guess upon further reflection, I don't find the point about phenotyping being "worthless" because it doesn't align with genotyping to be so damning. It can be true that people with the same symptoms have very different etiologies for their disease, and thus require different treatments to correct different underlying neurobiological problems. But I'm also remembering what we learned about predictive validity way back in first-year Systems Neuroscience -- like how the rodent forced swim test is wacky and not really measuring "depression," but it's good at showing which antidepressant drugs are going to be effective, so we roll with it as a model. I'm not saying the categories in the DSM are currently so awesome at predicting which patients will respond best to which therapies, but it may turn out that assessing how patients feel and behave is more helpful than looking at their DNA sequence or at some biomarker when we're dealing with a disease caused by many genes of small effect. This is something that will have to be determined empirically, though, rather than by a committee of semicolon fanatics.

Of course, the really interesting question is WHY genotype and phenotype don't always match up, which is where your point about epigenetics (and also stuff like brain plasticity in the face of different environments/experiences, and any number of other things that fall under "nurture" and not "nature") comes in.

David Nicholson said...

Thanks for your comments, Laura. I feel like I could write a couple more posts about different things that were said at the lunch, and one of them was Hyman's statement that the forced swim test was a "sham" (or remarkably strong words to that effect). Like you, I remember being taught that the test has "predictive validity" because the same antidepressant drugs that get rats to swim longer also help people that are diagnosed with depression (even if the drugs act right away in rats but take months to help people feel better...I hope any neuroscientists reading will forgive my informal description of the forced swim test, but I just gave myself an "acute administration" of caffeine which is preventing me from thinking of multisyllabic words).

And I totally agree that we shouldn't just ignore patients' self-reported systems just because results from sequencing studies don't line up with diagnoses in the DSM. As far as the giant gap between genotype and phenotype goes, I hope people that are running giant institutes are doing more than just acknowledging that "there will be an industry of research studying epigenetics", as Hyman said at the lunch. They're missing a huge opportunity if they don't start doing that research themselves.

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Tuesday, February 5, 2013

First Installment: First Year, Neuroscience Students at Emory Write About Socioeconomic Status and the Brain:

As we did in 2011, in 2012 Emory's First Year Neuroscience Graduate Students were asked to write a blog post for the Neuroethics portion of their Neuroscience and Communications Course.

These posts will be delivered in 4 weekly installments, each week featuring a commentary on a different neuroethics piece.

This week, we feature blogs covering the following article:

Socioeconomic status and the brain: mechanistic insights form human and animal research Nature Reviews Neuroscience 11, 651-659 (September 2010)

Gray Matter Volumes Correlated with SES PLOS | One Jendnorog et al, 2012

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text:
Bathing Mrs. Wolfson

Opponents of looser hospice regulations say they’ll mean the end of good care for those nearing death.

A statue outside Connecticut Hospice of an elderly man, surrounded by family. Susan Wolfson had not had a bath in almost a month. A broken right arm—combined with large tumor masses in her abdomen that were obstructing her intestine, and one in particular that was pressing on the nerves to her right leg, causing her intense pain—meant that a bath was an almost insurmountable task. And for Susan Wolfson, that’s saying something. Mrs. Wolfson was a lawyer known for getting things done. She began practicing. . . Read more
Katie Falloon


text:
Stopping the Presses

The New Haven Register is closing its press this month. In the future, the paper will be printed in Hartford.

1981. The New Haven Register moved from a small office on Orange and Audobon to 40 Sargent Drive, a former shirt factory. Busloads of people came to tour the new state-of-the-art Goss Metroliner printing presses. New Haven was the industry showroom. Rockwell International, the company that manufactured Goss Metroliners, featured the Register’s pressmen on the cover of its 1982 catalogue with the headline “Winning Team in New Haven.” In the picture, you can see the men’s reflections in the gleaming floors. Today, the floors are. . . Read more
Victoria Sanchez


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Full-time: Sunderland 1 Recreativo de Huelva 0

GUSTAVO POYET would have preferred to have given more of his first team players a decent run out in Portugal when this week’s three fixtures in Albufeira were arranged earlier this year.

Instead he used the opening game of the pre-season trip to the Algarve as a further chance to blood a few young guns in to the first team picture and the outcome was a narrow win at the Estadio Municipal de Albufeira against Spanish side Recreativo de Huelva.

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The result building up to the start of the Premier League season on August 16 is inconsequential and the vast majority of his pool of Premier League players will face CD Nacional on Wednesday night instead.

But Poyet will know he would have preferred greater depth in the initial travelling party to mix things up for the back-to-back fixtures. Instead, while great for the younger players’ experience, he had to be more careful.

The Uruguayan has hoped for more new players – last Friday’s arrival of Patrick van Aanholt aside – for weeks but despite plenty of efforts the club’s attempts have failed to lure top targets Cristian Rodriguez and Fabio Borini so far.

This pretty straight-forward friendly in Portugal did provide opportunities for Liam Bridcutt, who has missed three friendlies through injury so far, to build up his fitness after his introduction in the second half. It also provided some action for players with uncertain futures, such as Alfred N’Diaye, Charis Mavrias and Valentin Roberge.

Greek winger Mavrias it was who earned the penalty from which Mandron scored the winner 12 minutes from the end when he powerfully smashed down the middle.

Given the time it is taking Sunderland to significantly improve Poyet’s first team squad, the performances of the younger players during pre-season will be higher in the head coach’s thinking than it might have been at the start of the summer.

This was a further opportunity for the development squad players to put themselves in to the frame for an appearance or two in the Premier League against a Spanish second division team which finished eighth last season.

Recreativo’s greater experience showed in the early exchanges, with them retaining possession better than Sunderland, although chances were few and far between on a difficult surface.

The only half chances which arrived in the opening 20 minutes were when Tom McNamee had to be alert to clear in his six yard box after towering centre-back Juanan’s header at the back post was blocked by Mikael Mandron.

There was a rather tame effort from striker Joselu too, which trickled in to the hands of goalkeeper Joel Dixon. After that, though, a largely unfamiliar Sunderland grew in confidence and almost took the lead.

Midfielder Martin Smith curled a brilliant free-kick with power against the crossbar, with goalkeeper Ruben Galvez beaten. The follow up also went close, when David Ferguson drilled his low drive a yard wide of the far post.

Regardless of what was served up on the pitch, the supporters enjoyed the occasion anyway, with the first team players so close to them in the only stand separated from the pitch by an athletics track.

Recreativo did look dangerous down the left, with Cabrera particularly evident and displaying some nice touches. Victor Diaz, on the opposite wing, would have scored had Liam Agnew not been on the line to clear his clever back heel which caught Dixon out.

Poyet wanted to give some of his first team players a decent run and that is what he did. If it was a chance for the development squad’s players to impress, Mavrias and El-Hadji Ba initially looked full of intent to try to show Poyet that they deserve a bigger role in his plans. The latter looked hungry to get on the ball and has had a decent pre-season.

But as the pace of the second half slowed from a Sunderland view, Recreativo hit the bar themselves. Hector Mennosse turned a Montoro free-kick to the back post against the woodwork with a fine diving header.

Shortly after the Spaniards made a team of changes, Sunderland found the breakthrough. Mavrias charged in behind Fran Avila and the defender pulled him down when a goal looked on. Mandron converted for his second goal of pre-season.

SUNDERLAND (4-1-2-3): Dixon; Cartwright, McNamee (Roberge 46), Beadling, Ferguson; Agnew (Bridcutt 46); Smith (N’Diaye 46), Honeyman (Watmore 73); Lawson (Ba 46), Mandron, Watmore (Mavrias 46). Subs: Mannone (gk).

RECREATIVO DE HUELVA (4-4-1-1): Galvez; Diaz, Menosse, Juanan, Veja; Nunez, Montoro (Jesus 61), Dimas, Cabrera; Zambrano; Joselu. Subs (all used on 73): Sotres, Corcoles, Zamora, Jorge, Araujo, Aitor, Molina, Koke, Caye, Avila.


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At-A-Glance SW706-50 Flip-A-Week Desk Calendar Refill

Weekly - 1 Year - January 2017 till December 2017 - 1 Week Double Page Layout - 5.62" x 7" - Desktop - Yellow, Blue, Red

Item # AAGSW70650

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  • Refill for AT-A-GLANCE Flip-A-Week desk calendar plastic base (sold separately)
  • Federal holidays highlighted
  • Ruled for open scheduling; past, current and future months reference; Julian dates
  • Features Yellow highlighted section for notes and to-dos
The Manufacturer's Description Weekly refill is designed for use with At-A-Glance Flip-A-Week Desk Calendar bases SW706X, SW706 and SW700X. Use it to view your weekly schedule and look to future months in one convenient location with the QuickNotes format calendar. Each two-page-per-week spread offers a full-week view at a time with ruled daily entries, Monday-through-Sunday scheduling, federal holidays in red, and past, current and future months reference. Each spread includes a QuickNotes area for extra note-taking. The current reference month is labeled in red ink, and the current week is highlighted in red for easy identification. Calendar refill ranges 12 months from January to December and is printed in blue, yellow and red inks.

Product TypeCalendar Refill
Brand NameAt-A-Glance
ManufacturerACCO Brands Corporation
Product NameFlip-A-Week Desk Calendar Refill
Manufacturer Part NumberSW706-50
Manufacturer Website Address
Packaged Quantity1 Each

Sheet Width5.62"
Time Period1 Year
Date FormatWeekly
Environmentally FriendlyYes
Sheet Height7"
Double Page Layout1 Week
Start MonthJanuary
Start Year2017
End MonthDecember
End Year2017
Country of OriginUnited States
Recycled Content0%
Assembly RequiredNo

UPC code038576000261
Alternate code/substitutionAAGSW70650
MPC number (Moore product code)493716
Moore prefix and stock numberAAGSW-706-50
Package Weight0.2
Package Height0.3
Package Length7
Package Width5.6
Product Classification CodeECCA
Country of OriginUS
Ready to AssembleN
Recommended substitutions
Old item number
Minority/Women-Owned/Challenged Vendor
Old item number
Special order itemN
Relevant TermsAt-A-Glance,Desk Calendars,Refills,Flip A Week,Flip-A-Week,QuickNotes Format Weekly Refill SW706 SW706X SW700X 2PPW 1-ring English
 calendars & planners acco sw706-50 11958183 44112002 038576000261 038576022232 038576981973 205780392 aagsw70650 aag sw70650 0038576000261 0038576022232 0038576981973 211255401 602957 20567735 0347713 b1sw706-50 sw70650 11958183 50038576981947 at-a-glance desk calendars refills flip a week flip-a-week meadwestvaco calendar quicknote reference current yellow blue date january february march april may june july august september october november december jan feb mar apr jun jul aug sep oct nov dec month year day days desktop desk-top top december jun. dec at-a-glance flip-a-week desk calendar refill weekly 1 year january 2017 till december 2017 1 week double page layout 5.62" 7" desktop yellow blue red Flip-A-Week Desk Calendar Refill Calendar Refill No Yes 0
Overall: based on 0 reviews Leave your own review!
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Eyenavision x Roger Bacon Eyewear Custom 3D Printed Eyewear

This I can’t wait to see… How to bring 3D custom printed eyewear to your patients? Eyenavision in a partnership with Roger Bacon Eyewear has the solution. You can see them at Vision Expo East at Eyenavision’s booth (#4474)

If you have been following the 3D printing trend, you know that Roger Bacon Eyewear created quite a stir at Silmo with his made to measure 3D printed eyewear collection available for sale through independent optical retailers.

Every face is unique, why not every pair of glasses? This question led Roger Bacon Eyewear to develop a proprietary system that makes use of a biometric scanner attached to an iPad. The scanning process provides the patient’s precise dimensions that enable Roger Bacon to produce a pair of custom made frames using a 3D printer.

Roger Bacon

ECPs that provide Roger Bacon Eyewear will receive a scanner and visualization unit which allows the customer to preview any frame in the collection using the patient’s image as shown on the visualization unit’s LCD display. Customers can choose from over 20 frame shapes, each available in 10 colors, with new frame designs to be continuously added to the collection. Individual frame orders are easily placed from the iPad using Roger Bacon’s cloud based ordering system.

The frames are then custom printed and the parts are provided to Eyenavision for inspection and assembly. The completed frame is provided by Eyenavision to the ECP. Roger Bacon Eyewear providers will receive one on one  training on the new exclusive technology so that they may offer their customers a unique in-of ce experience. As an additional benefit, retailers offering Roger Bacon Eyewear will no longer experience costly frame buy-ins and exchanges of poor selling frames. With Roger Bacon, inventory carrying costs are eliminated as each frame is custom made. The ECP only carries frame samples and colors. New frame designs are automatically downloaded to the iPad and visualization unit.

Roger Bacon-3

Representatives of Eyenavision and the founders of Roger Bacon, Pieter Jonckheer and Jan-Berend Zweerts, will be demonstrating the Roger Bacon system at Eyenavision’s booth (#4474) at Vision Expo East. Eyenavision will be accepting pre-orders of the system at Vision Expo and will begin shipping in store display units and accepting frame orders on July 1, 2016.

Joseph Zewe, CEO of Eyenavision commented, “Retailers will be truly amazed at the Roger Bacon Eyewear system. Not only is the in store experience unique, but the t and quality of the frames is exceptional.” Mr. Zewe added, “Roger Bacon represents a whole new category of eyewear and an opportunity for early adopters to differentiate their practice from the competition.” Pieter Jonkheer, CEO of Roger Bacon commented, “We are pleased to partner with Eyenavision to rollout Roger Bacon Eyewear in the United States. We look forward to additional products and features that will reinforce our belief that our customers should feel one with their eyewear.”

Eyenavision Inc. is a technology based eyewear company whose products include the patented Chemistrie Lens Layering System.

Roger Bacon Eyewear is a Dutch company that is committed to using digital manufacturing technologies to produce eyewear that is both beautiful in design and tted to the individual’s biometrical features.

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Regular grape consumption may contribute to eye health by protecting the retina from deterioration, according to a study presented at the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology conference in Orlando, Fla.

Grapes may aid eye healthThe study, done at the University of Miami’s Bascom Palmer Eye Institute, investigated whether a diet supplemented with grapes could protect the photoreceptors in mice that have retinal degeneration.

Mice were fed either a grape-supplemented diet corresponding to three grapes servings per day for humans or one of two control diets. Lead investigator Abigail Hackam and researchers found that retinal function was significantly protected in the mice consuming the grape-enriched diet, according to a news release.

The retina contains the cells that respond to light, or photoreceptors. There are two types: rods and cones. The grape-consuming group tripled rod and cone photoreceptor responses compared with those on the control diets, and exhibited thicker retinas. Grape consumption also protected retinal function in an oxidative stress model of macular degeneration.

Further analysis found the grape diet resulted in lower levels of inflammatory proteins and higher amounts of protective proteins in the retinas.

“The grape-enriched diet provided substantial protection of retinal function which is very exciting,” Hackam said in the release. “And it appears that grapes may work in multiple ways to promote eye health from signaling changes at the cellular level to directly countering oxidative stress.”

Retinal degenerative diseases affect more than five million people in the U.S., and can cause blindness due to photoreceptor cell death.

The Orlando conference was May 4-8.


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In Washington, organic apple and other tree fruit growers are closely watching the debate by the National Organics Standards Board on the possible de-listing of tetracycline and streptomycin for use on organic orchards.

Addie Pobst, import coordinator for CF Fresh, Sedro-Woolley, Wash., said banning the substances, which are antibiotics used to control fire blight, would devastate the organic tree fruit industry in Washington. Fire blight is highly contagious and can quickly decimate an orchard, killing acres of trees outright, Pobst said.

The Washington State Horticultural Association has petitioned the board to keep the substances on the allowed list, claiming that 76% of the organic apple and pear growers in the state say they would reduce or entirely eliminate their organic apple and pear production if a de-listing occurred.

The Organic Trade Association is also working to extend an exemption for apple and pear growers in the state to use the substances until a replacement method for fire blight control can be developed.

Shippers that do business across international borders are also awaiting the board’s decision on a recommendation to disallow sodium nitrate to be used in organic growing. The compound is used to keep vegetable plants from freezing during the winter months, but its use goes against organic standards for many countries, including Canada and Japan.

Sodium nitrate has created issues in international trade for U.S.-certified organic produce, according to the USDA action memorandum that requests it to be disallowed. In the U.S. equivalence agreement with Canada, sodium nitrate use is one of very few deal-breakers. Because European Union countries also prohibit the use of the compound, its acceptance in the U.S. may also complicate efforts to achieve an equivalence agreement there, according to the memo.

The board is scheduled to take up the recommendation at its April 26-29 meeting in Seattle.

Marco Brakkee, vice president of importer OTC USA, the American arm of the Dutch company OTC, said its business in the U.S. is limited in the U.S. by import regulations for certain varieties.

“We cannot import certain types of organic fruits and vegetables from certain countries because of strict food safety regulations,” Brakkee said.

The company just tries to react as quickly as possible when regulations allow for a new item to be imported to quickly address new demand. The company’s growers are certified by both European and U.S. certifying organizations, Brakkee said.

In the tree fruit industry, pear growers like Wenatchee, Wash.-based Stemilt Growers Inc. are hoping for a change in regulation that allows ethylene to be used to pre-ripen organic pears.

“Currently, our industry cannot ripen organic pears with ethylene, even though organic bananas are allowed to,” said Brianna Shales, communications manager. “We want that to change, as pre-ripening significantly increases consumer satisfaction of pears.”

The Los Angeles Times brought to national attention the undisclosed—or rather covered up — use of synthetic chemicals in fertilizers marketed as organic. The indictment of Kenneth Nelson Jr. of Port Organic Products Ltd., is the latest in a short string of arrests made in a U.S. Department of Agriculture crack-down on fertilizers posing as organic.

In Nelson’s case, the supposed organic fertilizer was supposed to be made from fish meal and bird guano, but was, “spiked with far cheaper synthetic chemicals,” according to the Times. Nelson had sold $9 million worth in eight years.

As of March, the USDA had seven open investigations involving the National Organic Program, according to the article.

Tom Deardorff II, president of Oxnard, Calif.-based Deardorff Family Farms, said the regulatory issues go far beyond just organics in his neck of the woods.

“California is over-regulated whether you are an organic grower, conventional grower or both. It does not matter,” Deardorff said.

Deardorff said he works with Western Growers and the United Fresh Produce Association, along with other advocacy groups, to help level the playing field for California growers when it comes to transportation and water resources, among other issues.


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Sunday, June 21, 2015

Master of Defence - Frasier MacLeod - a.s. l

Project:Master of Defense for Frasier MacLeod
Words:Mistress Alys Mackyntoich
Paper:17 x 14" Parchment by David de Rosier-Blanc
Script:German Fraktur
Pens:Turkey & Goose feather quills
Ink:Ian the Green's Iron Gall
Paints:Holbein Artist's Gouache & Finetec metallic
Inspirations:W and general layout from Landesarchiv Baden-Württemberg, Abt. Hauptstaatsarchiv Stuttgart, J 250 Nr. 14 and Wappenbrief der Gemeinde Blindenmarkt.

The Fraktur hand for the text is from various pages in Werke der Schönschreibmeister - Staatsbibliothek Bamberg JH.Msc.Art.88. This book also inspired the shell gold highlights on the text, gold margin lines, and flourishes.

The central image is based on the October Calendar page from the Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry.

Monday, June 15, 2015

Bronwen Rose of Greylyng - Order of the Laurel - a.s. l

Project:Order of the Laurel for Bronwen Rose of Greylyng
Words:Mistress Mylisant Grey
Paper:Arches Cold Press Watercolor
Script:English Secretary Hand
Pens:Turkey Feather Quills, pointed metal nib
Ink:Kuretake Sumi
Inspiration:Cadel based on this image, which I can't find firm details on the specific document it is from. It is similar to many other cadel H's from documents during Henry VIII's reign.
Text based on Lilly Library at Indiana University, Ricketts 259, a letter from Henry VIII to Andrew, Lord Windsor.


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Was a DACA Recipient Deported, or Did He Voluntarily Leave?

by Sharon Rondeau

(Apr. 19, 2017) — In recent days, a number of mainstream media outlets have reported on the saga of Juan Manuel Montes, aka Juan Manuel Montes-Bojorquez, who was arrested and returned to Mexico in February after attempting to re-enter the U.S., according to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) on Wednesday.

In most cases, the media has appeared to accept Montes’s version of events, which is that he was “deported” rather than that he left the U.S. without the required “advance parole” to remain “protected” by DACA, a program established by executive action in 2012.

According to most media reports, Montes was apprehended by unidentified U.S. Border Patrol personnel on February 17 and deported within “three hours” because he did not have his wallet with him and was therefore unable to prove that he was a DACA enrollee.

On Tuesday, USA Today reported that “Federal agents ignored President Trump’s pledge to protect from deportation undocumented immigrants brought to the United States as children by sending a young man back to his native Mexico, the first such documented case, a USA TODAY examination of the new administration’s immigration policies shows.”  The paper further reported that “After spending an evening with his girlfriend in Calexico, Calif., on Feb. 17, Juan Manuel Montes, 23, who has lived in the U.S. since age 9, grabbed a bite and was waiting for a ride when a U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer approached and started asking questions.”

On Tuesday, NBC News reported that Montes’s attorneys have asserted that he “has a cognitive disability from a brain injury.”

USA Today amplified on that claim with a report stating that Montes reportedly “suffered a traumatic brain injury as a child that left him with learning disabilities that meant a constant struggle to keep up in school and everyday conversations.” Having reportedly come to the U.S. at the age of 9, Montes was said to have “made it through special education courses and graduated high school in 2013. He started taking welding classes at a Southern California community college and paid for it by picking crops in California and Arizona.”

Although the reports say that Montes is now being assisted by a U.S. legal team in suing DHS, the lawsuit or FOIA request appears to be for “documentation” surrounding Montes’s alleged removal from the country rather than for the immediate right to return to the U.S.

USA Today reported that on Tuesday, a DHS spokeswoman said that “the department had no record of him renewing his DACA status after it expired in 2015.”  On Wednesday, however, DHS agreed with Montes’s attorneys’ claim that Montes had been a DACA enrollee since 2014 and had not allowed his status to lapse.

The two sides appear to agree that regardless of how he left, Montes re-entered the U.S. on February 19, was apprehended by the U.S. Border Patrol and sent back to Mexico the next day.

A statement attributed to Montes is quoted by USA Today as “Some people told me that they were going to deport me; others said nothing would happen. I thought that if I kept my nose clean nothing would happen,” which might refer to his general understanding of the difference in approach toward DACA recipients between the Obama and Trump administrations rather than the alleged events of February 17-20.

Montes reportedly has on his record “four convictions: one for shoplifting in January 2016, and three for driving without a license, most recently three months ago.”

DHS’s statement on Wednesday reads:

After a detailed records search, it was determined that Juan Manuel Montes-Bojorquez was approved for DACA starting in 2014 and had a DACA expiration date of Jan. 25, 2018. However, Mr. Montes-Bojorquez lost his DACA status when he left the United States without advance parole on an unknown date prior to his arrest by the U.S. Border Patrol on Feb. 19, 2017.  According to his interview with the Border Patrol, conducted in Spanish, he entered the United States on February 19, 2017, and he acknowledged that he understood the questions that he was being asked.  Departing the country without advance parole terminates the protections Montes-Bojorquez was granted under DACA.

The U.S. Border Patrol has no record of encountering Mr. Montes-Bojorquez in the days before his detention and subsequent arrest for immigration violations on February 19, 2017.  There are no records or evidence to support Montes-Bojorquez’s claim that he was detained or taken to the Calexico Port of Entry on February 18, 2017.  Prior to his arrest by the United States Border Patrol on February 19, 2017, Montes-Bojorquez’s last documented encounter with any United States immigration law enforcement official was in August of 2010, where he was permitted to withdraw his application of admission in lieu of receiving an Expedited Removal.

During Mr. Montes-Bojorquez’s detention and arrest by the United States Border Patrol on February 19, he admitted to agents that he had illegally entered the United States and was arrested.  He later admitted the same under oath.  All of the arrest documents from February 19, 2017, bear Montes-Bojorquez’s signature.  During his arrest interview, he never mentioned that he had received DACA status.  However, even if Montes-Bojorquez had informed agents of his DACA status, he had violated the conditions of his status by breaking continuous residency in the United States by leaving and then reentering the U.S. illegally.  Montes-Bojorquez’s Employment Authorization Document is only for employment and is not valid for entry or admission into the United States.

USA Today additionally reported on Tuesday under the headline “Trump increases deportations of formerly protected DREAMers” with a photo of Montes that “The Trump administration has stepped up the deportation of undocumented immigrants who had come to the United States as children and lost their protected status, which had allowed them to stay, federal data provided to USA TODAY shows.”

The article then clarifies that DACA recipients who “committed serious crimes, became affiliated with gangs or otherwise became threats to public safety” were deported.  Under Obama, the rate of deportations in such situations was reportedly “seven a month since the first DACA applications were approved in September 2012,” while a reported 43 “former DACA enrollees” were removed from the U.S.

During the 2016 presidential election cycle, in a break from its custom of refraining from endorsing or condemning political candidates, USA Today took a strong position against Trump, calling him “unfit for the presidency.”

The outlet has stressed that “a growing number” of illegal aliens “face deportation” because of crimes in their past considered to be “non-violent,” including having entered the U.S. illegally in the first place.

In the wake of Montes’s story, Democrat members of Congress have been quick to condemn President Donald Trump for allegedly reneging on his promise to avoid deporting DACA enrollees.

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Jenn Cherrey was 23 when she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. Although Cherrey was a sprinter in her youth, she became less active in her late teens and early 20s. Cherrey admits after her diagnosis, she was not quick to make healthier decisions.

"When I found out I had MS, I probably did the exact opposite of being fit," Cherrey says. "I did all the wrong things."

Cherrey, now 41, turned things around about four years ago. She stopped smoking on her 37th birthday, June 17, 2010 (she started smoking at age 14), and went for her first "serious" run that morning. Along with running, Cherry started biking and willed herself into shape.

"For me, being active, especially having running in my life, has been a way for me to kick MS in the shins a little bit," she says. "I keep doing what I want to do and what I like to do. I can keep my body strong, so it doesn't fail me as much as it should."

Cherrey, who works in compliance for Credit Suisse, has run seven marathons, along with several long distance races. Her fastest marathon time of 4:40:02 came at the New Jersey Marathon. Cherrey has two more upcoming marathons and a triathlon on her schedule. The Annapolis, Md., resident also has a history of long-distance bike rides, including the recent Bike MS: Chesapeake Challenge. For the two-day ride, Cherrey did a metric century (day one) and a 50-mile trek (day two).

"I don't have any race wins, but for me, finishing is a pretty big accomplishment," she says of her ironwoman history.

Outside of work and racing, Cherrey gets paddle boarding/yoga instruction from Kate Grove. The classes consist of about an hour of paddleboarding involving such techniques as how to stand up, how to move, how to get across waves and how to turn. For the last half hour, Grove gives the students yoga instruction on paddleboards.

"It works your core more than yoga because you have to use all your core strength to stay balanced," Cherrey says. "Balance is one of the things affected by MS. We do a lot of planks and stuff to strengthen while you're on the board."

Along with trouble balancing, Cherrey notes MS affects her ability to walk in a straight line and causes her foot to drop unexpectedly. Cherrey also has trouble running in heat.

Biking is one of the easier exercises on Cherrey's body due to the built-in seat and breeze. While Cherrey's muscles are challenged, the wind cools her body off.

Cherrey also finds a cooling aspect in paddleboarding.

"If I fall in the water, it's kind of a nice way to cool my body down," she says. "There's a downside to having trouble balancing, but the water's a nice break during the workout."

When Cherrey was married this May in Oxford, Md., she and her partner Jen Bornemann (yep, that's right, Jenn and Jen) did not ask for gifts. Instead, the couple asked for donations. Guests could donate to their choice of three organizations: The Girls on the Run of the Greater Chesapeake, the Challenged Athletes Foundation and the National MS Society. Cherrey and Bornemann also hosted a "Wedding 5K+1 Run" (with T-shirts made) to highlight the charities. The wedding raised $1500 for the Challenged Athletes Foundation, $1650 for Girls on the Run of the Greater Chesapeake, and almost $6000 for the National MS Society Maryland Chapter.

Cherrey attributes Bornemann as a voice pushing her to challenge herself.

"We sign up for races together, train together and she is currently teaching me triathlon swim technique, so I don't drown in September," Cherrey says.

Cherrey's father also suffers from MS. Bornemann senses her wife's determination may stem from that family connection.

"I think that with every run, ride, swim, paddle and strength session, she has her dad with her," Bornemann says. "Unfortunately, his MS has worsened and she brings his spirit, influence and love with her at every workout and event.

Cherrey's MS is currently relapsing/remitting and her active lifestyle limits the chance of any major exacerbations. Still, such instances as fatigue in heat are common and must be dealt with accordingly. Jenn is not one to make excuses. Instead, she troops on.

"Jenn is incredibly tough, in every sense," Bornemann says. "She does not often talk about her MS, as she doesn't like to burden others, but I do know when it's effects are taking their toll."

Jenn Cherrey has suffered from MS for 18 years, but the word suffer should be used loosely. It has not stopped her from living out her everyday desires. One of those desires is kicking MS in the shins.

-- Follow Jeffrey Eisenband on Twitter @JeffEisenband.


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Wednesday, November 20, 2013

Waiting on Wednesday: The Murder Complex

Waiting On Wednesday was created by Jill over at Breaking The Spine. It's a weekly post for you to share what upcoming books you can't wait for!

Title: The Murder Complex
Author: Lindsay Cummings
Release Date: June 10, 2014

An action-packed, blood-soaked, futuristic debut thriller set in a world where the murder rate is higher than the birthrate. For fans of Moira Young's Dust Lands series, La Femme Nikita, and the movie Hanna.

Meadow Woodson, a fifteen-year-old girl who has been trained by her father to fight, to kill, and to survive in any situation, lives with her family on a houseboat in Florida. The state is controlled by The Murder Complex, an organization that tracks the population with precision. The plot starts to thicken when Meadow meets Zephyr James, who is-although he doesn't know it-one of the MC's programmed assassins. Is their meeting a coincidence? Destiny? Or part of a terrifying strategy? And will Zephyr keep Meadow from discovering the haunting truth about her family? Action-packed, blood-soaked, and chilling, this is a dark and compelling debut novel by Lindsay Cummings.
(taken from

Why I Need It:

1) I adore Lindsay Cummings' Twitter feed and cannot wait to check out her novel.
2) I'm a sucker for any book with a heroine who knows how to fight and defend herself.
3) Even though it reminds me of a few other books I've seen, it looks like an interesting dystopian tale.

What do you guys think? Are you excited for The Murder Complex?


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Sony puts PlayStation 2 at heart of Net strategy

Console provides missing link between IT and home entertainment

Sony today took the wraps off the PlayStation 2 and immediately positioned the devices beyond its games console roots, promoting it as a home's gateway to digital content distributed via the Internet. It's a canny move, and while the PlayStation 2 isn't the first console to embrace the Net -- Sega's Dreamcast is already shipping with a built-in modem and a Web browser -- Sony is looking at the Internet as something more than a source of information. The machine will ship with a 4x speed DVD-ROM drive to support existing media, but it will also contain an Ethernet port to allow users to hook it up to broadband Internet access devices such as a ADSL and cable modems. The plan isn't simply to allow the PlayStation 2 users to view the Web more quickly, but to use the Internet as a storage medium in its own right. So, Sony will be posting PlayStation 1 and 2 software online for download backed up by an e-commerce. Built-in encryption and authentication technology -- possibly based on Sony's MagicGate -- will provide protection against piracy, even though downloaded material will be stored on removable memory card media or plug-in hard drive units. The machine's own memory bank consists of 32MB of Rambus Direct DRAM. Right now, the focus is on the delivery of games via the Net, but the plan clearly ties in neatly with Sony's other media endeavours, initially the delivery of music, and later, movies. The PlayStation 2 features FireWire/IEEE 1394 and digital optical hi-fi ports to allow it to be connected not only to devices like digital cameras, but to other consumer electronics kit. That will, in Sony's eyes, put the PlayStation 2 at the heart of the networked home. Download an album via your PlayStation 2 then immediately blast it out through your amplifier and speakers -- that kind of thing. The PlayStation 2 is set to ship in the US and Europe this time next year, but Sony's proposed online e-business infrastructure won't be in place until 2001. Clearly it has some way to go to convince music, movie and software companies that its approach is sufficiently secure, but there's also the issue of consumer acceptance of the new medium. Given the slow speed at which the public is taking to new consumer technologies, such as digital TV and DVD, it's likely to be some time before buyers are ready to embrace buying albums and movies in a non-physical format, and it makes sense for Sony to focus on selling the PlayStation 2 as a games console before pushing its wider usage. It also needs time to support home networking infrastructures in its other consumer electronics goods. ® Related Stories PlayStation 2 ship date slides three months

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