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Glasgow Housing Association van involved in Hit & Run

Written by Estate Agent Networking UK on - Breaking News -

Back in December 2017 video footage was captured of Darren Clarke who drove his Glasgow Housing Association van at another man following a street brawl in Maryhill, Glasgow.

The victim Lewis McChee was taken to hospital though refused treatment.

The initial charge was for murder though later down graded to assault at Glasgow Sheriff Court on December 2nd 2017. Mr Clark was handed 12 month supervision along with 250 hours of unpaid community work and had to pay the victim £500 in compensation – A 6 months driving ban was also imposed.

Footage of the incident can be viewed on Youtube:

Full story can be read on the Scottish Sun website.

Author: Estate Agent Networking UK

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“Our burn was around £800,000 a month.” Russell Quirk

Written by Estate Agent Networking UK on - Breaking News -

Our burn was around £800,000 a month.

An interview by Chris Watkin with Emoov founder Russell Quirk looks at why the company went in to administration.

When you are one of the first, you then see Purplebricks come along and get £27 million investment… They launched in a blaze of glory and had everything tied up and had a chance to sit back and look at the market and what we were doing rightly or wrongly. Even though they were 3rd, 4th, 5th to come along, they realised there was a position to realise a strong position in hybrid estate agency.

Full interview below by Chris Watkin.

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Lot 142 Washing machine by GE Profile Performance. WorksPick- Up 1/30 10am-2pm
Lot Number: 142
Item Location: 101 Willowburn Rd Villanova, PA 19085 Off Exit 13 of 476
Preview Date/Time: Weds 1/27 6pm-8pm
Pickup Date/Time: Pickup 1/30 10am-2pm
Start Date/Time: 01/23/16 8:00 AM
End Date/Time: 01/28/16 9:19 PM
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Building the Economy: Middle Class of Ghana Unconcerned

Are we really sleeping? Then it is time to wake up.

The Middle Class in Ghana, simply don’t care. They find means to solve public problems in personal ways and just remain unconcerned, very quiet!! It’s a culture problem, people say. Others say Ghanaians just think about their families and not the Public. Scholars blame it on education, stating that, “you can’t teach an old dog new tricks”. But is this helping the nation? Would it ever? How can we develop with this? Why won’t us remain poor? Failed government or State, Failed Top Class, Now failing Middle class & educated elites, and the Voiceless/uneducated poor (which are the most populated).
We have the platforms, we don’t use them. We have the knowledge, we don’t apply it to help our nation, the worst of all, we sell them cheap to other nations. We have the energy, we misuse it. Oh Mother Ghana!!! How long would the Middle Class decide to be silent. It’s pathetic they understand the problems better than anyone but decide to stay away.
Typical Middle Class (educated elites) Behaviors:
Power outage:- Put on the generator (For the family alone) and shut up.
Water Problem:- Get enough Poly-tanks to store water for the family. Don’t care about the community or person next door (who’s probably voiceless).
Education:- Send children to schools abroad. (No Teachers’ strike).
Health:– Go to private hospitals. Don’t care if doctors are on strike.
Ehhhhh!!!! My people. Are we safe? When the Voiceless or low class decide to talk or fight back, can we stand them? Ghana, we can’t afford to fail God and the next Generation. Let’s act NOW in all sectors of the economy. Let’s be responsible and not think about our families alone. Let’s build the economy of Ghana.
Oh Ghana!!!!. God Help us. Long Live Ghana

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Where to buy the ERC token ICONOMI (ICN)

If you want to buy the ICONOMI token, you need at first Bitcoins or Ethereum. There are different ways to get Bitcoins or Ethereum. The first way is to mine Bitcoins. For example I am mining my Bitcoins at Hashflare. But I accept this is the longest way. You need much hashpower to get fast some Bitcoins.

Another solution is Kraken. Here you can buy Bitcoins or Ether by a credit card. This is a very fast solution and should be done if you want the coins/tokens today.

Mining Ethereum to get ICONOMI is not a good idea. Ethereum is changing to the Proof-of-stake algorithm. Because of this it is better not to create an mining contract for this crypto currency.

After you have bought Ether or Bitcoins you have to go to an exchange. At the exchange you change for example Bitcoins to ICN. There are many exchanges for doing this. But the best exchange to get ICONOMI is LiveCoin. The volume which was traded in the last 24h was there 649.19$ (Pair: ICN/BTC). Compared to other exchanges there was traded the highest volume.

Exchanges which are trading ICONOMI

Exchange Pair Price Volume 24h
Binance ICN/BTC 0.2105 $ 0.00 $
Tidex ICN/BTC 0.1117 $ 0.00 $
Liqui ICN/BTC 0.0885 $ 0.00 $
HitBTC ICN/BTC 0.2090 $ 0.00 $
OKEX ICN/BTC 0.2022 $ 0.00 $
LiveCoin ICN/BTC 0.1651 $ 649.19 $
Kraken ICN/BTC 0.2017 $ 0.00 $
Bitsane ICN/BTC 0.2077 $ 0.00 $
Gatecoin ICN/BTC 0.5350 $ 0.00 $
Abucoins ICN/BTC 0.2933 $ 0.00 $
TuxExchange ICN/BTC 0.1467 $ 0.00 $


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Trump stumbles badly on his Russian openings; Europeans wary of Putin

Retired lieutenant general Michael Flynn quitted this week his position as National Security Advisor to President Donald Trump. (Snapshot from a video interview with Al Jazeera TV, 13 Jan 2016).

Retired lieutenant general Michael Flynn quitted this week his position as National Security Advisor to President Donald Trump. (Snapshot from a video interview with Al Jazeera TV, 13 Jan 2016).

In the fourth week of the Trump Presidency things have become more hectic. Those around the boss are now people of authority, and their actions directly affect America and the world. It’s not only that the chief himself changes his mind from one day to the next about crucial global issues, like the ‘one China’ policy or the Presidential advertising of his daughter’s ‘made in China’ garments; Trump has summoned around him a real circus of people, who are now on the helm of the US administration like Steve Bannon, the racist and extreme right journalist turned security expert, who inspired the boss’s unconstitutional order banning Muslims from travelling to the US. Thank God the US courts are always there, to remind Trump that he cannot run the country in the same arbitrary and unpredictable way as he manages his business.

All that, can, at the limit, be classified under a title of non-ruinous ‘Presidential Gaffes’, resulting from the complete lack of prior experience in public office and the attitude of an unstoppable entertainer. Some say he will soon adapt to his new duties. However, when things came to the central pillar of America’s foreign policy towards the European allies, the new President showed a very dangerous attitude of negative and rampant impatience. He probably rushed to accomplish what he had in mind from the very first moment, when he decided to run for President; to destabilize the serene and still democratic European Union and instead embrace autocratic Russia and its President Putin. Trump thinks that the absolute power that the ruler of Kremlin commands, plus his own unrestricted ego as the US Commander in Chief, may turn the world into a more manipulative place, for God knows what purposes.

Flynn like Trump

That’s why Trump cannot easily overcome the scandal of his obedient and Russia loving National Security Advisor, Michael Flynn, who was forced to resign this week for over-collaborating with the Russians. The retired lieutenant general couldn’t have acted without his master’s knowledge and directions. There is a whole chronicle about the relations between the Trump camp and Putin’s Russia. The traceable relations start right from the beginning, when Trump in 2015 was just one of the seven contenders of the Republican Party nomination for the US Presidential elections.

Paul Manafort, Trump’s campaign manager until July 2016, had served as Russia’s representative in the US and Ukraine, receiving millions of dollars for that. Manafort, an old Washington fox, also benefited from some dark dealings with a Putin’s oligarch friend. The campaign manager must have been behind an eye caching change in the Republican Party’s policy text about Ukraine. Some key phrases like “anti-Russian sentiment” were left out in a later version of it. The course of the Russian money in the US is not equally easy to trace. It’s a proven fact, however, that Moscow financially supports western populist politicians like Marine Le Pen and Beppe Grillo, who want to destroy the European Union and thus open the way for an increased Moscow grip on Europe.

The enemy is Hillary not Putin

Trump himself has loudly advertised his relations with the Russians, praised Britain for leaving the European Union and insulted the club by encouraging more member states to exit. At the heart of the hacking scandal targeting the US Democratic Party servers during the 2016 electoral confrontation, despite the fact that the entire US secret services community unanimously accused Russia and personally Putin for that, Trump exclaimed: “Russia! If you’re listening, I hope you’re able to find the 30,000 emails that are missing”. These are the Hillary Clinton’s e-mails of the time when she served as US Foreign Secretary. In a separate case last spring and summer, a round number of 3,000 e-mails were scrutinized by the FBI, because they weren’t operated through the official State Department servers. There were also another 30,000 electronic mails which were not detected by the FBI.

In any case, Trump strongly opposed the American security services findings about the Russian involvement in the US Presidential election, and accused the services of being politically motivated against him. Coming back to the present developments, it’s rather hard to believe that Flynn was acting on his own account, when talking over the telephone with the Russian ambassador in Washington long before the 20 January, after which date Trump and him were legitimately representing the US. In the face of it, this is the reason why Flynn was forced this week to quit his position as National Security Advisor. Evidently, he has promised the Russians some things before this date, at a time he didn’t have the authority to do so. Under US law, civilians are not allowed to deal in foreign policy.

Trump indifferent to Ukraine

It has become evident then, that Flynn, no matter when, had promised the Russians that the Trump administration will soon ease and probably lift altogether, the sanctions against Russia imposed by Barack Obama in early January. This is the real reason for his swift ousting from the White House. It seems that the anti-Russian and EU friendly quarters in Washington are still powerful, even within the Republican Party. Let’s return to the string of facts.

Only days before the inauguration of the new President, the previous administration felt obliged to introduce more sanctions against Moscow, to close down a Russian communications center on American soil and to expel from the US 34 Russians diplomats accused of spying. This was a tough American reaction against Moscow’s implication in the 2016 US election procedure, which favored Trump by hacking the Democratic Party servers and otherwise.

Obama also felt obliged to punish Russia, for the resumption of the separatist’s military action against the Kiev forces in the eastern parts of Ukraine. Obviously, Obama knew that nothing of the sort was expected under Trump. As it turned out, after 20 January, Trump did nothing to counter the Russia backed military action in Ukraine and for that he was strongly criticized by senator John McCaine.

Flynn was just an early bird

Flynn must have been Washington’s early bird of the new order in the area of Russian policy. As noted above, he had to resign because he did that before he was officially authorized, that is before he and his boss had officially taken the oath. Why did he rush to reassure the Russians, though, that the sanctions will be soon lifted? Some kind of pressure must have been exercised on him by the Russians. It’s as if a buyer demanding right away the delivery of the goods he has paid fort.

There is more to it though. The new Russian policy as expressed by Trump and Flynn – not a word yet from Rex Tillerson, the new Secretary of State – means that, at the same time, the European Union and NATO will be neglected by the US. In any case, Tillerson is in more ways associated with Russia as the CEO of Exxon-Mobil oil giant, than lieutenant general Flynn. The former has been opposing the sanctions against Russia, from the very beginning such action was taken by the Obama Presidency. In full consensus with the Obama administration, the West European powers, France, Germany and Britain, could not accept the annexation of the Crimean Peninsula by Putin’s Russia, or Moscow’s aggressiveness in Ukraine and Syria, and this is still true today. Europe feels unsafe vis-à-vis Russia without the unconditional backing of the US. The EU is also alarmed with the new coalition between Russia and Turkey. This last country may have traded with Moscow her needs in the Syrian borders, probably against a blind eye by Ankara elsewhere.

Flynn’s ideas about the US – Russia relations are, certainly then, not just about the sanctions. In the immediate future Trump and Tillerson will surely again try to start the new chapter in the US-Russia relations. Clearly, there are already close contacts between the new American Commander in Chief and the Russian ‘Czar’. Tillerson may prove to be the catalyst between the two, with the Europeans left to wonder what price the EU has to pay for this American-Russian rapprochement.

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The Office of Sustainability directs Illinois State University’s sustainability efforts both on- and off-campus through collaboration with faculty, staff, and students and serves as a centralized resource for all related information.

The Office provides guidance on incorporating environmental, economic, and social responsibility into the University’s operations, outreach, and academic programming.

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Tag Archives: ARFID recovery

Our Bodies and Us: The New Years Revolution

Image result for body positivity art

Artwork by Marie Boiseau

It’s approaching the New Year (another one already?!), and a lot of people will be suffering with those all-too-familiar post-Christmas blues. And a lot of those negative emotions will be coming from the shame and guilt so many of us feel for eating what we wanted and eating more than we usually would. Our cupboards are filled with leftovers: chocolates; biscuits;  crackers; cakes…not to mention the mountain of cheese in the fridge. We are slumped in front of the remaining Christmas TV and we are being inundated with advertisements. Diet advertisements. Like, seriously, they are really shoving it in our faces this year. Every time I turn on my TV there’s a woman with dead eyes smiling at me, talking about her calorie-controlled diet and how much weight she has lost. Her mouth says “this is great!” but her face says “help me I’m starving!”

The diet and weight loss industry raked in $66 billion in America in 2016, and in 2014 the British diet industry was worth £2 billion (and as far as I am aware that hasn’t changed). The UK has a £20 million laxative industry, and almost two thirds of Brits are on a diet “most of the time”, even though research has showed time and time and time again that diets do not work and that 95% of the time people regain the weight that they lost within 2-5 years (and frequently end up gaining more on top of that). In short, these corporate assholes are making money of our self-hatred, and they will feed into it (excuse the pun) as much as they can so they can continue bringing in the big bucks.

Their biggest secret? IT. DOESN’T. WORK. If it did, everyone who has been on a diet or restricted their intake (which if we are honest is pretty much all of us) would be thin, and we would be thin forever, because that is what a success is: reaching a goal and staying past the goal posts (obviously this is not what I view success as, but in that context that is what people on diets are aiming for). But we aren’t staying thin – if we even get there in the first place. Those who go on diets lose weight, then gain it back again, then find another diet to go on, and then regain the weight (and so on and so forth). Or they don’t lose weight at all. If we want to stay thin, we have to punish our bodies and our minds every single day; something that most people cannot sustain, and something that is extremely damaging. Those that can are nearly always the victims of torturous eating disorders – and some of us will die trying to reach an unattainable goal with ever-moving goalposts.

So this year, let’s go into the new year with a different motive. Let’s choose life. Let’s choose happiness. Let’s choose self-love, and body-acceptance. Let’s see food as just that – food. Let’s see how it brings us together. Let’s eliminate the use of labelling foods as “bad” and “good”, and let’s eradicate the words that send a shudder down my spine “I’m being good” or “I’m being naughty” (oh god I’m shuddering just typing it eaugh). Let’s choose to nourish our bodies with adequate and consistent energy. Let’s face our fear foods and overcome them. Let’s stand in front of the mirror and challenge all the negative things that we feel about our bodies. Let’s support our sisters and brothers in body positivity, and let’s make the promise to ourselves and each other not to waste time on diet and weight talk, and self-deprecating comments. It will take time, and it will be hard, but let’s make this not just a New Year’s Resolution, but a New Year’s Revolution. Let’s fight to end body hate, not be a part of it, even if that means taking it one small step at a time.

Coping At Christmas: A Rough Guide For Those With Eating Disorders (Take 2)

I have pretty much copied and pasted my article from last year on this topic, except for some tweaks, so if you recognise this article, that’s why!

Christmas is looming (how is it tomorrow already?), and people are preparing for Christmas with food, wine, presents, decorations, and of course, advent calenders. This time of year is always filled with trepidation for those of you with eating disorders. It’s a holiday focused around alcohol, food, and family, and at least two of the former bring on that familiar rising panic for lots of people suffering with or recovering from eating disorders.

If you are someone who is living with an eating disorder, and you are approaching Christmas Day with dread, you are not alone, and you can get through it. It is probably going to be a tough day, but there are steps you can take to make the most of it, and to protect yourself from at least some of the stress and anxiety that the day might hold.

Here are my suggestions on how to get through the day:

Focus on Family

Food is a big part of Christmas for most people, but you don’t have to let that be your main focus. Prioritise your family and/or friends and/or partner and enjoy their company. Catch up on the gossip, take part in the board games, and sing along to the carols with grandma. Spend time doing what is enjoyable for you. If your family can make this easier for you, let them know how. Maybe it means trying to keep the topic of conversation away from food. Maybe it means keeping food in the dining room and having the lounge as a food-free zone. Maybe it means going out for a walk with your siblings to get a bit of fresh air and space. Whatever you do, try to keep the focus on the company of those you love, and enjoying the time spent with them.

Set Boundaries with Loved Ones

This is a day that everyone should be able to enjoy to their very best, so do take the time to talk to the people that you will be spending your time with and set your boundaries for the day. This could mean asking them to refrain from talking about New Year’s diets, making food-moralising remarks, or reminding them not to comment on any of your eating habits or your weight. Do not be afraid to voice your needs, and do not be afraid to emphasise how crucial it is that they respect your boundaries. It is important to make clear what you need from them in order for you – and everyone else – to enjoy the day.

Use A Helping Hand

Have a chat with family and identify one or two people who you could use as a “safe person” during Christmas day. It might be good to have two people so that they can share the responsibility (one in the  morning, one in the afternoon for example). These family members can look out for warning signs that you are not coping (or you could devise a signal), and are people you can take aside for reassurance and support. If you don’t have a family member that can help you get through the day, then make sure you have a helpline phone number available on your phone that you can call if any situation gets too overwhelming and you need someone to talk to in order to get through it.

Challenge Yourself…But Not Too Much

A huge part of the anxiety of the day is that there will be a lot of delicious food around that you will want to eat but also will not want to eat, and that’s the fight between you and your eating disorder. For a lot of people, this battle is going to go on all day, and that can make the day extremely stressful and anxiety-provoking (see Focus on Family for ways to minimise this). This is also a great time to challenge yourself, but a time to not push it too far: you don’t want to make the day even more stressful by pushing yourself to the limit. One way to go about using this day as a manageable challenge is to make rough plan of what you might eat that day. This will give you a guideline that might help you feel a little more contained, but could involve trying something new or facing a fear food. Try not to restrict yourself as much a you can, but it’s okay if you need to feel safe for a day that is so difficult already. Remember that you deserve to enjoy yourself and you deserve to be able to eat the foods that you like.

Take Care of Yourself

You may be around people this Christmas that will not respect your boundaries or may be insensitive or ignorant to your recovery. They may talk about the triggering topics which I mentioned in the “Set Boundaries With Loved Ones” section above, such as complaining that they have put on weight/are going to put on weight, lamenting that they have eaten “too much”, are being “naughty” or “bad” because they are “indulging”, or moaning that they need to go on a diet because of that. Please ignore them. They are battling their own insecurities and are looking for reassurance that what they are doing is okay and that other people feel the same and that they are not alone. This is really, really sad, and something that no one should have to feel. Enjoying the Christmas food is part of the festivity, and no one should have to feel guilty for it. Know that other people’s worries are not a reflection on you, and you should keep in mind that it is not something positive that they are experiencing, but guilt, anxiety, and insecurity. So instead of letting their negativity impact on you, empathise with them, as guilt, anxiety, and insecurity are emotions that you are likely experiencing also (albeit on a much grander scale to those who do not have eating disorders). Then turn your thoughts to yourself and keep moving forwards towards your goals. Keep moving forward on your journey towards health and happiness. Keep in mind your motivations, and remember that the way you respond to others affects you primarily.

Leave the room for a bit if you need to. Take yourself off for a relaxing bath or a nap or to read a book. Go for a stroll. Have a quiet word with that relative who keeps calling the chocolate yule log “bad”. Just take care of yourself and do what you need to do, for you, to have the best day that you can. Do not be afraid to speak up. You need this. You deserve this.

If you are someone who has an un-supportive, highly triggering family, do know that it is okay to decide not to see them at all. If you want to spend Christmas with yourself, your partner, your partner’s family, your friends, or your pets, do it. Do what is best for you. Do what you need to do to continue moving forwards. Do what you need and you deserve to continue working towards health and happiness. Make positive choices, and don’t feel guilty about them. This is what you need. This is what you deserve.

Move On

Christmas is unfortunately never going to be an easy time for those with eating disorders, and it often means that those people go into it with anxiety, and leave it with guilt. It is okay to experience those feelings: you are not alone and those feelings are not your fault. However, you have to keep remembering that these negative emotions are caused by your eating disorder and the control that it has over your life. Keep fighting the war against it, and don’t respond to those negative feelings. You are going to be okay and you can get through this. Christmas will be over in a blink of an eye, and then it is time to put it behind you and move on from that day. Don’t carry the stress from it with you. Let the day go. Remember that it is absolutely, 110%, super okay to eat more than usual, go outside your meal plan, eat “normally”, or respond to extreme hunger (this applies for always, of course). It is okay to put on weight. It is okay to enjoy yourself. The guilt of going against those eating disorder rules can be overwhelming, but it is important to remember that this is part of recovery. Going against your eating disorder and doing what you deserve is part of fighting the battle inside your head. Eating whatever you want, whenever you want, is the goal, and so if you were able to do that for a day, or two, or more, or even if you were able to eat a little more than normal, you are making small steps towards achieving that outcome. That is a wonderful thing.

If the anxiety is becoming overwhelming, check out my article on anxiety management here.

Original article can be read here.

So Now We Have to Lose Weight to Get Surgery

On Sunday I read the news that obese NHS patients will not get non-urgent surgery until they lose weight.

It made me want to cry. I’m a recovered anorexic who is very active and eats a varied and balanced diet and because of that I am both fit and healthy. I also happen to fall into the “obese” BMI category. In order to lose weight I would have to restrict my food and exercise to the extreme, leaving me both hungry and exhausted; pushing my body below the weight that it sits naturally at. This is unhealthy, and it would mean that my physical and mental health would be in decline. I would also end up spiralling back down into a very dark and dangerous place, with even more devastating and continual effects to my physical and mental health. If I required non-urgent surgery, I would therefore have to force my body into a place where it is not at its healthiest, experience distressing physical symptoms, and in the process would be triggered into a life-threatening mental illness that could leave my physical health in such a bad way that it could kill me – if the torture of living with an active and consuming eating disorder didn’t tempt me to end my life first. In short, I would be put in a life-threatening situation in order to get non-urgent surgery. For me, it wouldn’t be worth the risk.

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Artwork by Francis Cannon

BMI is bullshit. All health professionals know this. And if they don’t, then they should: there’s been so much indisputable evidence that shows us that using a basic BMI chart to tell us whether we are healthy or not is ridiculously primitive, simplistic, and inaccurate. To think that I might not have access to the same healthcare as someone thinner than me after working so incredibly hard to get to this healthy and happy point in my life both physically and mentally makes me feel sick.

We all have individual natural and healthy weight ranges that our bodies choose and we maintain when we have a healthy lifestyle. We don’t get to choose that weight. No one else gets to choose that weight. Our bodies determine it. And those people who don’t fit into the “socially ideal” weight category (that literally wasn’t EVER intended as a way to measure health) get punished for it (whilst those who push the “obesity epidemic” and reinforce the stigma and myths around “obesity” profit from it). There is so much overwhelming evidence that it is possible to be healthy at most weights, shapes, or sizes (depending on yourself as an individual and what your own personal healthy weight is), and it is nauseating to think that people will be forced to make a choice that could cause them both physical and mental distress.

Even regardless of health, “singling out patients in this way goes against the principles of the NHS,” says Mr Ian Eardley, senior vice-president at the Royal College of Surgeons in The Independent.

The article also reports on more details:

Patients with a Body Mass Index (BMI) of over 40 will not be referred for routine surgery unless they are able to reduce it to under that number over a nine-month period.

Alternatively they will be required to shed 15 per cent of their weight, according NHS Herts Valley Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) and NHS East and North Hertfordshire CCG.

Whichever achieves the greater weight loss will then allow them to be considered for surgery.

Patients with a BMI over 30 but under 40 will also be required to reduce that figure to under 30 or lose 10 per cent of their weight before they are considered for surgery.

This decision is yet another discriminatory act against people in larger bodies in the UK, and I’m so tired of it. I’m tired of being told everywhere I look that my body is “wrong”. I’m tired of watching my category of bodies represented by images of men and women with protruding stomachs and their heads cut out of the shots as if they are nothing but  their size (for example right now I typed in “obese patients will not get non-urgent surgery until they lose weight” into Google and the majority of the images are fat people with their heads chopped off – seriously, I’m so done). I’m tired of things like having a “World Obesity day” following the National Mental Health day – which if it wasn’t so revoltingly ironic, would be laughable, without even addressing the fact that there is literally a day to tell us all how bad and unhealthy our bodies are if we are over a BMI of 30.

Image result for frances cannon

Artwork by Frances Cannon

Despite that, I’m someone who exists in a body that is fairly “average”. Even as an “obese” person, I have an amount of thin privilege. I can fit into clothing at regular stores. My friends laugh as if it is absurd when I say that my body fits into the “obese” category. My booty is the UK’s “average” size (although this booty is anything but average, just saying), and my top half is below the UK’s “average” size (and just so you know the average clothing size for women in the UK is a size 16, which is a US size 12, and in the U.S. the average size is between a 12-14, which is a UK size 16-18). I have only had one health professional (physiotherapist) mention my weight in a negative way (AFTER I had told him all about my previous experience with an eating disorder and described to him my active lifestyle and balanced diet. And boy, did he receive an educational six-page feedback letter on eating disorders and health at every size? Yes he most certainly did). The discrimination that I face is significantly less than those who live in bigger bodies than I do, and it can have devastating effects on mental health.

I don’t want to be fighting to be seen as equal to other people because of my BMI. I don’t want to fight for those bigger and smaller than me to be treated the same. I don’t want to fight to get rid of negative associations with certain body sizes. I just want it to BE like that. Right now. I will, of course, keep fighting this fight, but man, am I exhausted of having to argue with at least one person every time I say that to be obese is okay and that someone who is obese can be just as healthy as someone who is not. And now we have our healthcare to fight for, too.

Hopefully, one day, we will all be at peace with our own bodies, and each other’s, and regardless of our weight, shape, or size, we will be treated equally and our health considered individually. Until then, let’s keep being angry, let’s keep speaking up, let’s keep pointing out the evidence, and let’s never give up.

Artwork by Francis Cannon

A Balanced Diet: What Do Those Words Really Mean?

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We hear it everywhere: in order to be healthy, you need to eat a balanced diet. But what does that really mean? I’m scrolling through Google images right now trying to find an appropriate picture to go with this article, and at least half of the images only show “healthy” foods. You know what I mean: your greens; your grains; your fish; your eggs; your cheese; your meats (the latter four tiny splodges at the top compared to the large array of fruits and breads). A large percentage of the pictures are only of fruit and veg. I mean, come on: I have my own “cheese corner” in my fridge, and no one is ever taking that away from me. Especially not a food chart.

For the most part, the food triangle often used to demonstrate balanced eating is a fairly accurate rough guide, and looks something like this:
Image result for balanced diet

It is a rough guide to the way our diet will look if we listen to our bodies (when energy-balanced and healthy in themselves – not in a state of recovery or beforehand) and follow its cues – and we do not have to do any counting or checking or weighing or recording to trust that this is what our bodies will naturally lead us to do. Our bodies are extremely intelligent and I urge you to listen to them over most external influences.

I also like this pie chart, apart from the wording of “treats”, as these types of foods should just be another part of the pie chart rather than being labelled with a word that holds so many negative connotations.

Image result for balanced diet

What I do like about this pie chart is that it shows that 10% of your diet in a day should include foods deemed “unhealthy” by society. Foods like cookies, sweets, chocolate, cake, biscuits etc. Now this chart shows a representation of your daily diet. If you start to think about it, that means that you can eat these foods every day – something that I have seen demonised in countless magazines and online articles. I have often seen or heard advice that you should only eat “treats” a few times a week, and no way am I giving up my daily dose of baked goods, however much you tell me it’s not good for me, Karen.

The thing is, a lot of us believe the words “balanced diet ” to exclude those yummy foods that are so often seen as the devil. The thing is, these foods are an important part of a varied, balanced diet. They are part of our mental health – because we should not deprive ourselves of anything. They are a good, quick energy source for our bodies, and they are especially helpful to our bodies in recovery because of this. Eating a balanced diet means eating bits of everything. It means not restricting any food types or specific food items, unless you have a food allergy, food intolerance, or you have an illness that requires you to cut out certain foods or monitor them. It means varying what you eat and not eating the exact same thing every day (yeah, I’m talking to you, ED). It means eating foods and consuming liquids that you enjoy. It means getting in those nutrient dense fruit and vegetables. It means providing yourself with an adequate amount of carbohydrates so that you have enough energy for the day. It means having that coffee and cake with Ann, and getting takeaway with Heather, and digging into ice cream and popcorn in front of a movie with Sam. It means changing up your routine. It means being flexible. It means trying out new things. It means going back to old favourites. It means hearty meals, light bites, snacks, and puddings. It means not overthinking it and letting your body lead the way.

So often these wonderful foods like crisps, pizza, and cake are associated with feelings of shame, greed, and overindulgence, and there can be judgement from others when eating them. However, this is only because they also have been made to feel those negative emotions when eating those foods themselves. The thing is, food is not a moral issue (and you can read my article on that here). You are free to eat what you want, when you want. You are free to be as healthy or unhealthy as you want – and that is not anyone’s business. And if you want to be healthy, follow the lead of your body (yes, I will repeat that until my death). If you want to check that you are eating a varied, balanced diet, do a quick valuation of what you eat on an average day or an average week, but don’t overthink it, as this can very quickly descend into a spiral of obsession. As long as every food group is incorporated into your diet, that’s a good sign. And when you’re uhmming and aahing in the cafe with Susan, just get the damn cake.

Image result for cake

Are You Listening? How We Hear the Things that People Say About Our Bodies When We Have An Eating Disorder

My partner and I are lying in bed. He’s got his arms around me and we are a tangle of limbs beneath the sheets. Then he speaks.
“You’re so soft,” he says.
He says this a lot. He also says things like “you’re so huggable” and “you’re so squeezable”.

I wonder what your reaction was reading those words. Imagine hearing them said to you. How would you feel? What would you hear? I know what my reaction would have been a few years ago. I know that I would have heard “you’re fat”.

The thing is, we listen to what people are saying and then we apply our own filters to the words; filters which have been created from a whole myriad of experiences. That is what our minds do, and when it is someone with an eating disorder, that filter is especially pervasive, vehement, and antagonistic in the most negative of ways when it comes to comments about our bodies. People’s words go through this filter and it gets translated, so that what we hear is not necessarily what was said.

In this instance, I did a little laugh as I realised that his words went through my “ED translator”, and then carried on through my “recovered translator”, meaning that it went through two stages: “you’re so soft” turned into “you’re fat” and then into “he means your skin is soft or maybe he does mean your body is soft and so what Sarah, a lot of it is, and that’s nice, and it is nice to hug soft things that’s fine stop acting like he told you that you look like a naked mole rat that went through a blender.”

Sometimes my partner even puts his hand on my stomach and gently squeezes the squishy bit. Yeah, you can see my face now:

If it was me three years ago I would have had a meltdown and engaged in some drastic and incredibly harmful behaviours, and it would be something I would probably remember forever as a trigger point for self-loathing. However, I am not that person anymore and I am – thankfully – now not in that torturous place. Instead I asked (slightly incredulously):
“Are you squeezing my fat?!” to which he replied: “Yeah, sorry.” Again, three years ago I would have heard that answer as “yes you remind me of a beached whale and I am poking fun at your fatness and reminding you that you should probably do something about it because it is gross.”  But instead the translation that finally came out of my little two-staged system was “You have fat on your body and he squished it because he had his hand there and it is a part of you and it it something that squishes and that’s okay; he still finds you attractive and wants you to be naked 100% of the time.” Because I suffered from an eating disorder for ten years, and because I live in a society that highly values diet culture and thinness, my brain will always automatically put the words through a negative filter. But because I was able to fight tooth and nail for my life and succeed in claiming it back from my powerful and evil mental illness, and because I then went on to reject diet culture and embrace body positivity, I have a wonderful second filter in place that allows me to pause, rationalise, and try to really hear what people are saying when it comes to my body (and everything else).

The important thing in these situations is that the outcome is totally different depending on where your head is at and on your ability to hear what is really being said rather than putting it through your own personal filter. You want to be able to really hear what the speaker of the words means rather than ending up reflecting back your own insecurities as a response. If we hear things through a negative filter of our own, it can then lead to negative situations with that person or people, because we think that they are insulting or hurting us. It also leads to a spiral of negative thoughts and possibly subsequent harmful behaviours. It is important not to hear the words that people say as confirmation of our own insecurities. Your eating disorder is always looking out for ways in which to validate itself. Don’t let it cause distance and destruction towards others or yourself.

If you are struggling with something someone is repeatedly saying, or even a one-off comment that affected you, then talk about it. Be calm; be open; be honest; and try not to use accusatory language. Instead use “I feel” or “my eating disorder hears it like x” as opposed to “you are doing x/you are making me feel x”. People’s defensive barriers go up when they feel that they are being attacked. Often what is being said is actually okay to say and is not intended harmfully, but it is the eating disorder that translates it into something else and then causes harm. Because of this it is more productive to talk about how the eating disorder is at fault rather than them, or you. Of course I am perfectly well aware that there are those who are disrespectful, insensitive, and malicious and do intend to cause damage or do not care enough not to, but I am for now talking about those who we assume are not saying the wrong thing per se, but are saying things that are triggers for the eating disorder, which then rears it’s ugly head and translates for us.

It is not an easy thing to change the patterns within our brains, but it is possible. It takes time, and patience, and perseverance. It takes determination. It takes persistence. It means having to challenge negative thoughts every damn minute of every damn day. It means working towards liking and respecting yourself as a person. It means taking steps towards accepting your body as it is at its individual natural and healthy weight. It means screaming “NO” to the eating disorder and fighting for your health and happiness. It means recognising that the people who love you are not out to hurt you. It means remembering that you might at this point in your life feel hatred towards your body and self-loathing towards who you are, but that that is not how other people feel about you. It means recovery, and it means going on a journey to the place you want to be; to the life you want to live; to being the person that has been suppressed by the eating disorder. It means taking the path that leads to being free.

It’s Summer Soon and Surprisingly, Fat People Get Hot Too

Art by Jovanna Radic Eriksson

The summer is fast approaching and that means that the weather is cranking up and sweat patches are about to become a lot more common. It also is the season of self-consciousness as those with bodies that do not fit societal ideals feel unable to wear less clothes and therefore sweat in silence as their smaller counterparts breathe a little easier in mini shorts and tank tops.

There are many reasons someone who has more fat on their body than is deemed socially acceptable (or is only deemed acceptable when wearing less revealing clothes) will feel uncomfortable wearing less clothes. It could be the cellulite on their legs; the way their thighs rub together; the way parts of their body jiggle; the belly folds when they sit down; the softness around the tops of their arms; the back fat creasing around their bra strap; the curves of their hips…and the judgement they might receive for having a body that does those normal, natural, absolutely okay things.

This is a perfect time to point out that everyone of any weight, shape, or size, is allowed to feel physically and mentally comfortable in their bodies and in whatever clothing they choose to wear this summer (and any other season). Everyone deserves to feel safe from humiliation and judgement, and everyone deserves respect and consideration, regardless of what their body looks like. If you feel uncomfortable looking at someone else’s body, then you may want to have a good hard think about what makes you feel a certain aspect of someone’s natural body is unacceptable and why it is affecting you personally. If you are someone who makes comments about or towards other people in regards to their weight, shape, or size, you might want to take a moment to reflect on why you think that someone else’s physical appearance is any of your business and why you are treating that person with less respect just because of how their body looks.

If you are someone who does not fit society’s idea of the “perfect” body, and are struggling to know what to do this summer in regards to clothing, then I urge you strongly to…do whatever the fuck you want. If that means that you want to rock a short little number or feel more comfortable covering your curves in a floaty summer dress, then you do what feels good for you. If you want to strut your stuff in a crop top and leggings, or if you prefer to don a baggy t-shirt and harem pants, then you dress yourself in what feels right. If you want to strip down but aren’t at the stage where you feel confident doing so, then it is perfectly okay to cover yourself up, but please start/continue to work towards accepting and loving your (beautiful) body, because you deserve to feel comfortable in your own skin. Whether you want to get your body out or keep the layers on, you deserve to feel good about yourself.

Top tip: if you’re getting your legs out this summer and have issues with chub rub (those gorgeous thighs loving each other so much that it gives you friction burns), then pop some baby oil on your inner thighs before you stride down the street.

Enjoy your summer. It’s going to be beautiful, and you are too.

An Open Letter to the Girl I Saw at the Pool

Dear girl that I saw at the pool,

I went to the pool a few weeks ago to mindlessly bang out some lengths and think about nothing as the water swirled around me. I got into a cubicle and changed into my swimming costume, and then emerged; towel slung around my hips, with my belongings gathered in my arms. As I stepped out from the cubicle, I saw you looking into the huge mirror at the end of the aisle with sad eyes.

“I hate how i look,” you said. The woman next to you – presumably your mother – said “don’t look then.”
I sighed.
You still looked sad.
“You’re doing something about it though,” the woman said.

I wanted to say something, but I hadn’t worked up the courage or formed the appropriate response in my head quick enough. I watched you walk past to the pool, and I went and found a locker. Then I got in the pool and swam. I decided that I would say something if I saw you after. However, you were long gone before I got the chance to say what I wanted you to hear.

I wanted to say that you deserve to love yourself whatever your body looks like; whatever your journey is. I wanted to tell you that you don’t need to not look into the mirror: you need your reflection not to define your worth. I wanted to tell you that you are inherently beautiful and that you worth is not determined by your weight. I wanted to tell you that I don’t know your story, but that you don’t have to lose weight to be happy.

I wanted to tell you not to use self-hatred as a motivation for weight loss. I wanted to tell you that I’ve been there and I’ve done that and it didn’t make me any happier. I wanted to tell you that it’s your choice what you do with your body but that weight loss is not necessary for self-love. I wanted to tell you that I wish your mum (if that was your mum) could say these things to you instead of telling you to hide from your own reflection. I wanted to tell you that you are worthy and you are beautiful and you are loved.

And to everyone ever – the same message applies. Your weight, shape, or size does not negative your self worth. It does not negate your strength. It does not negate your beauty. Never let anyone tell you otherwise, and know that you do not need to change your body in order to be happy.


text:
Febrile events including convulsions following the administration of four brands of 2010 and 2011 inactivated seasonal influenza vaccine in NZ infants and children: the importance of routine active safety surveillance.

. The risk-benefit profile in children might not be equally favourable for all licensed paediatric influenza vaccines.

Vaccine. 2012 Jul 13;30(33):4945-52. doi: 10.1016/j.vaccine.2012.05.052. Epub 2012 Jun 1.

Petousis-Harris H1, Poole T, Turner N, Reynolds G.
Author information
To evaluate and compare rates of febrile events, including febrile convulsion, following immunisation with four brands of inactivated 2010 and 2011 influenza vaccine in NZ infants and children.
Retrospective telephone surveys of parents of infants and children who received at least one dose of the vaccines of interest.
184 NZ General Practices who received the vaccines of interest.
Recipients of 4088 doses of trivalent inactivated vaccines Fluvax(®), Vaxigrip(®), Influvac(®) and Fluarix(®) and/or monovalent Celvapan. Vaccinees were identified via the electronic Practice Management System and contacted consecutively.
Primary outcome was febrile convulsive seizure. Secondary outcomes were presence of fever plus other organ system specific symptoms.
The parental response rate was 99%. Of 4088 doses given, 865 were Fluvax(®), 2571 Vaxigrip(®), 204 Influvac(®), 438 Fluarix(®) and 10 Celvapan. Three febrile convulsions followed Fluvax(®), a rate of 35 per 10,000 doses. No convulsions occurred following any dose of the other vaccines. There were nine febrile events that included rigors, all following Fluvax(®). Fever occurred significantly more frequently following administration of Fluvax(®) compared with the other brands of vaccines (p<0.0001) and Fluvax recipients were more likely to seek medical attention. Influvac(®) also had higher rates of febrile reactions (OR 0.54, 0.36-0.81) than the other two brands Vaxigrip(®) (OR 0.21, 0.16-0.27) and Fluarix(®) (OR 0.10, 0.05-0.20). After multivariable analysis vaccine, European ethnicity and second dose of vaccine were significantly associated with reporting of fever within 24h of vaccination.
Influenza vaccines have different rates of reactogenicity in children which varies between ethnic groups. High rates of febrile convulsions and reactions in children receiving Fluvax(®) and to a lesser extent the higher fever rates in those receiving Influvac(®) compared with the other two brands of influenza vaccines in this study suggests that reactogenicity profiles need to be considered prior to national policy advice each season. The risk-benefit profile in children might not be equally favourable for all licensed paediatric influenza vaccines. More attention needs to be given to comparative research for all trivalent seasonal vaccines, and with all strain changes.
Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Categories: . Vaccine

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Courting Disaster

Courting Disaster, my weekly comic about sex, love, and relationships updates every Friday. You’ll laugh your pants off.

This week’s question:

This may be a no brainer, but would you tell me some little signs that guys make when theyâ€™re into you? –Watching Signals

Go on over and offer some advice.


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Courting Disaster

Courting Disaster, my weekly comic about sex, love, and relationships updates every Friday. You’ll laugh your pants off.

This week’s question:

I’m 36 years old and single, but I’ve been dating this guy for six years. He’s 29, and he has a girlfriend and kids too. She doesn’t know about me, and his sex is so good, I can’t let go. He can’t either. We can’t go out because everybody knows who were are; he’s from the neighborhood. So he comes over after everybody else has gone to sleep. What should I do about this? –Too Bad He’s Too Good

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Catering Tampa: For Those Who Love Food As Much As We Do

Cooking is a daily chore, right enough, but cooking for a special event will be a task you will entrust to a professional. Catering services have budded everywhere like mushrooms, and similarly, not all of them are edible. Some may be toxic and poison your special event, fading the brilliant image of your day in all minds that would be present. Therefore, Catering Tampa has stepped up with an unlimited love towards food. We are determined to add a culinary sensation to your day’s plan, and so far we have not failed at our attempt.

Saltblock Hospitality Group came forth with the intention of giving out an unmatched experience to all our customers. We work hard to exceed the customer expectations without limiting ourselves to a menu. Our professionals have done Catering Tampa a wholesome service with excellent appearance, best attitude, timeliness and moreover, the best food.

Specifically speaking of the quality of food produced by our team, we can claim they are exceptional. Made out of fresh and high-quality products they are prepared to match the occasion. Every dish is given individual attention and crafted with great care before arriving at the table, and are sure to please everyone’s taste buds.

Catering Tampa includes a beverage service as well. We offer a variety of beverages ranging from local beer to crafted cocktails, served only by bartenders who are accredited for safe-serving. That is, as mentioned before, there is no chance for anyone at your event to get poisoned. However, there is a higher chance at your guests falling in love with the food and beverages that they might demand more events powered by the services of Saltblock Hospitality Group. You may see that we are not kidding if you happen to visit our site for more info.

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1971 Year Coin Set Half Quarter Dime Nickel Cent in a Whitman Holder

SKU: YC110
1 in stock

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$12.00 $12.00
This is a original 1971 Year Coin Set. This is a stock photo. You will receive a beautiful set of coins pulled from our stock when ordering. The coins are placed in a plastic Whitman holder and securly shipped to you. Great for Birthday's, Anniversaries and other special occasions.


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Safety OSHA Experts Serving Kansas
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Experts in the Occupation Safety and Health Act (OSHA), including failure analysis of mechanical systems, including accident investigation and reconstruction, warnings and safety information analysis and development, safety design. Safety OSHA experts serve as expert witnesses and forensic consultants in Kansas legal matters, and provide expert reports and testimony for judges, attorneys, lawyers, law firms, insurance companies and government agencies in Federal and state court trials and arbitrations in Kansas.
The listings below are of Safety OSHA experts serving Kansas.

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Jon J. Pina, MS, CSPSafety, Health, & Environmental Expert
Jon J. Pina, MS, CSP
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Injuries, Fires, Spills, Wrongful Death, Toxic Tort; Slip/Trip/Falls, Material Handling, Forklifts, Defensive Driving, Off- road Vehicles; Asbestos, Hazardous Materials, Demolition, Construction; Stream/Groundwater/Soil Contamination.

Greg Gerganoff, CSP, Esq.Rocky Mountain Safety Consulting, Inc.
Greg Gerganoff, CSP, Esq.
Evergreen, CO
Mr. Gerganoff has 18 years’ experience as a safety professional, managing safety programs for businesses in mining, construction, oil and gas. For the past 3 + years he has operated his own consulting practice and has used his field safety experience to assist attorneys (plaintiff and defense), including Worker’s Comp subrogation cases. His 12 years’ legal practice experience prior to entering the professional safety field is beneficial in understanding the litigation process. This translates into opinions tied to facts presented under oath. He has also used his professional safety experience in offering suggested information requests during discovery phase. Asking the right questions can be helpful. His professional safety experience includes Mining, construction, oil and gas and Manufacturing. He maintains his law License (Colorado Supreme Court) but does not practice.

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Expert Listings

Leslie Hutchinson, MDHLM Medical Consultants
Leslie Hutchinson, MD
Auburn, GA

Chip Darius, OHST, CET, CSHO, CUSPSafety Priority
Chip Darius, OHST, CET, CSHO, CUSP
Cromwell, CT
27 years experience in safety and OSHA compliance consulting & training. 16 years as instructor for OSHA Training Institute Education Center. Over 750 safety clients in more than 30 states and internationally since 2000. Expertise in falls, scaffolds, ladders, aerial lifts, forklifts, slips, machine guarding, heavy equipment, work zones.

Ralph V Collipi Jr, CIH CHMM CPEAOracle Safety Consulting LLC
Ralph V Collipi Jr, CIH CHMM CPEA
Londonderry, NH
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Ralph V Collipi Jr CIH CHMM CPEA has more than 35 years of expertise in industrial hygiene, occupational safety, emergency preparedness and response and regulated waste management. He has knowledge on a wide variety of environmental and safety compliance topics and has been doing witness work since 2009.

Terry Morgan, DLP, CTL, Surface Transp. Practitioner.Terry Morgan Inc.
Terry Morgan, DLP, CTL, Surface Transp. Practitioner.
Melbourne, FL
Terry Morgan, Inc. has over 50 years of experience in the operations, management, economics and regulation of trucking and distribution services. Our clients include law firms, insurance companies, state and federal agencies, financial institutions, transportation businesses, warehousing, manufacturing firms, and freight brokers.

Kenneth WeinbergSafdoc Systems, LLC
Kenneth Weinberg
Stoughton, MA
Kenneth S. Weinberg, B.A., M.Sc., Ph.D. consults in environmental health and safety , as well as toxicology. He also has years of experience dealing with OSHA and other regulatory agencies. He consults for attorneys as well as for companies requiring his expertise in chemical safety, biological safety, exposure assessment. He also helps prepare and write safety protocols and safety manuals. He has worked as a safety director in a major teaching hospital in Boston, and has worked as a consultant for industries in a broad range of enterprises. He has written several books dealing with OSHA, Safety and Indoor Air quality. He is a trainer and educator. He is a certified Toxics Use Reduction Planner in Massachusetts.

Bransford PickettSystems Engineering and Forensic Services
Bransford Pickett
Chula Vista, CA
Cranes, rigging, forklifts, aerial devices, conveyors, mechanical and reliability engineering, failure and simulation analyses, ANSI, OSHA. Floating dry docks, barges, stability, multicrane lift planning, compliance.

Dennis EckstineEckstine & Associates, Inc.
Dennis Eckstine
Waynesboro, PA
Eckstine & Associates, Inc. (E & A) provides experts, safety consulting, safety training, and engineering consulting services relating to construction, industrial, and agricultural equipment including cranes, aerial lifts, fork lifts, trucks, ladders.

Timothy KobernatOSHAware, LLC
Timothy Kobernat
Eau Claire, WI
A former OSHA area director and District Supervisor, I am now working as a consultant with OSHAware, LLC. OSHAware is a consulting firm providing worksite safety/hazard analysis, accident investigation, cause determination and expert witness services for plaintiff & defense attorneys.

Nicholas CheremisinoffNo Pollution Enterprises
Nicholas Cheremisinoff
Charles Town, WV
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Dr. Nicholas P. Cheremisinoff is a chemical engineer with more than 35 years of industry applied research and international consulting experiences. He renders opinions based on a careful reconstruction of facility practices. He and his staff develop the source terms needed to quantify exposures and doses.

Georgia PerskyGeorgia Persky Consulting LLC
Georgia Persky
Harrison, NY
Expertpages Verified

Georgia J. Persky RN, MBA, PhD, CLNC, is a seasoned nurse with over 40 years of broad Clinical Nursing experience (inpatient and surgical) and 25 years of Senior Leadership in Healthcare Organizations. Expertise include Nursing, Hospital, Nursing Home and Home Health Agency, Fall Protection, Pressure Ulcer Prevention, Wrongful Death, Healthcare Practices and Records, Legal Nurse Consultants / LNC

David Stauffer, CSP,ARMSafety Compliance Solutions, LLC
David Stauffer, CSP,ARM
Carmel, IN
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David has an unparalleled insight to his role as a consultant & expert witness for law firms. He is objectively qualified to provide technical and practical safety expertise for litigations involving injuries, large losses, and fatalities. David specializes with litigation in the waste industry with over 15 years of experience in the business.

Clinical and Forensic MedicineErnest P. Chiodo, MD, JD, MPH, MS, MBA, CIH
Clinical and Forensic Medicine
Chicago, IL
Expertpages Verified

MD & JD (Wayne State), MPH (Harvard), MS (Biomedical Engineering and Toxicology-WSU), MBA (University of Chicago), CIH. Physician, Attorney, Certified Industrial Hygienist, Toxicologist & Epidemiologist. Former Medical Director of the Detroit Health Department. Board certified in internal med, occupational & environ. med, & public health.

Brad Avrit, PEWEXCO International Corp.
Brad Avrit, PE
Marina Del Rey, CA
40+ years as an industry leader in construction management, claims & claims prevention, safety programs & forensic analysis. Licensed Safety Engineers & Certified Safety Professionals. WEXCO has investigated over 10,000 cases, delivered over 2,000 depositions & testified in over 600 trials.

Ken Shorter, MS, CSP, ARM, TCDSAccident Prevention & Investigation, Inc.
Ken Shorter, MS, CSP, ARM, TCDS
Baltimore, MD
Focused on construction, demolition, traffic control, public injury & industrial accidents. Master’s Degree in Safety. Certified Safety Professional. Certified traffic control designer. ANSI A10 Committee member. Crane, forklift, trench, underground utilities, heavy equipment, falls, confined spaces, & other high-risk operations are my specialty.

Dr. C.J. Abraham, Dir., P.E., FRSC, FTI, DEEScientific Advisory Services, LTD
Dr. C.J. Abraham, Dir., P.E., FRSC, FTI, DEE
Great Neck, NY
International experience in Warnings & Instructions, OSHA, ADA, Labor Law, Human Factors, Household/Industrial Products, Safety Engineering, Manufacturing, Industrial Hygiene, Textiles, Fires/Explosions, Slips/Falls, Recreational/Sports Accidents, & Trial Consultant.

Howard CannonRestaurant Expert Witness
Howard Cannon
Chelsea, AL
Video Available

NATIONWIDE Services---we DO NOT charge for domestic travel!! Howard Cannon is one of the most highly visible American Restaurant, Bar and Hospitality Industry Expert Witnesses. He is experienced with State & Federal cases, and with Plaintiffs & Defendants. With 200+ Litigation and 300+ Pre-Litigation projects to his credit, Howard's firm provides expert witness services & litigation support (expert witness testimony, expert opinions, and reports) for restaurant and bar-related cases.

Gary L. Buffington, CSP, CRSP, CSHM, PIAmerican Safety Consulting
Gary L. Buffington, CSP, CRSP, CSHM, PI
Santa Clarita, CA
30 Years Experience. Certified Safety Professional. OSHA, CAL/OSHA, OR/OSHA, TX/OSHA, MSHA compliance expert; Certified OSHA/MSHA Instructor; Construction, General Industry, & Mining Safety/Health standards of care; ANSI; Personal Injury; Investigations; Audits/Inspections; Offices in Florida & Kansas.

Rauch Safety

Las Vegas, NV
With over 30 years of real world, hands on international experience, Rauch Safety provides consulting to insurance companies, municipalities, government agencies, and the legal profession. Rauch Safety offers consultation, expert testimony, litigation support, the rendering of independent expert opinions, strategic advice to attorneys and clients concerning technical issues safety violations, accidents, project and human factors and related negligence and incompetence. Main Areas of Specialization Include: • Audits • Accident Reconstruction • Accident Investigation • Construction Site • Structural & Façade Maintenance • Construction Safety • Building Maintenance Units (BMU) • Human Factors Engineering • Ladders & Scaffolds • OSHA • Safety • Safety Engineering • Safety Equipment • Walking & Working Surfaces

Sitework Expert Consulting, Inc.William Gulya, Jr.
Sitework Expert Consulting, Inc.
Raritan, NJ
35 Years of Experience- Areas of Expertise- Excavation & Construction-Site Preparation-Differing site conditions-Scheduling- Delays-Earthwork and Grading-Trenching- OSHA Safety,-Heavy Equipment rentals-Underground Utilities - Storm Sewer, Sanitary Sewer, Water Mains-Paving,-Concrete Curbs-Sidewalks-Parking Lots- Heavy Equipment Safety

James M Miller, PE, PhDJ.M. Miller Engineering Inc.
James M Miller, PE, PhD
Ann Arbor, MI
Dr. Miller is an Emeritus Professor at the University of Michigan College of Engineering and a registered professional engineer and consultant with over 30 years of experience as an engineering expert witness. He specializes in warnings, labeling and instruction manuals, consumer product design, machine guarding, process safety, fire science, vehicle visibility, tractor egress/ingress, pedestrian and worker slip and fall prevention, COF testing, recreational vehicle safety (boats, ATVs and personal watercraft), compliance with occupational safety and consumer safety standards (OSHA, MSDS, ANSI, ASTM, UL, CPSC). Dr. Miller has recently authored a chapter titled Hazard Communication Compliance in the Safety Engineering Handbook for ASSE. Dr. Miller has authored five books on the topic of Warnings and Safety Instructions and hundreds of journal articles. He is also currently a committee member of the ASTM Technical Committee F15 on Consumer Products. Dr. Miller’s experience includes the following: Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering (1963), M.B.A. (1965), and Ph.D. in Industrial Engineering (1971), Ohio State University. Owens-Corning Fiberglass (1964-1967): Corporate Methods Engineer. The University of Michigan (1970-present): Industrial and Operations Engineering (IOE) Professor, teaching courses in human factors/ergonomics, safety, engineering law, and labor relations. U.S. Department of Labor (1975-1977): Special Assistant for Safety, Assistant Secretary of Labor.

Sandra Whitaker, CSHOOn-going Safety & Health Advice (OSHA)
Sandra Whitaker, CSHO
Spring Branch, TX
Expertpages Verified
This expert is Attorney Endorsed

Sandra Whitaker was awarded the prestigious designation of Certified Safety and Health Official (CSHO) in 2005 from the U.S. Department of Labor â€“ Occupational Safety & Health Administration. Additionally, Sandra holds both an Associate of Applied Science and Bachelor of Science degree in Occupational Safety and Health and has been designated as an Authorized Trainer from US-DOL-OSHA. Her proficiency in litigation support is in Case Analysis; Accident Investigation; Written Programs; US-DOL-OSHA 29 CFR 1910, - Audits, Regulation Compliance, Record-keeping, and Response to Citation and Inspections. In 2013, after more than 40 years of personal experience in the field of Occupational Safety, Sandra left the corporate safety world to establish a private safety consulting firm. Under the business name On-going Safety & Health Advice, she provides expert witness services for plaintiff or defense attorneys.

Bill Nolte, C.S.H.O.Electrical Technical & Safety Services
Bill Nolte, C.S.H.O.
Fort Worth, TX
Licensed Master Electrician with 45+ years of experience, IBEW Journeyman Inside Wireman 39+ years (in Good Standing), Certified Safety and Health Official 2005 present (OSHA Region VI Southwest Training Center - Texas A&M Engineering Extension Service. Authorized OSHA Instructor, Electrical Safety and Technical Trainer 2011 present. Converting the technical into lay terms or translating the electrical installation into appropriate Code and or Standard references. Forensic Electrical Accident/Incident investigations.

The Expert of ExpertsForensisGroup, Inc.
The Expert of Experts
Pasadena, CA
Over 10,000 CLIENTS HAVE RETAINED OUR EXPERTS NATIONWIDE! Cross examine thousands of experts with one phone call. We are your Expert Witness Services firm since 1991! We make it easy & provide you with the RIGHT EXPERT promptly. Searches,referrals & initial discussions are at NO COST to you. Our TECHNICAL ADVANTAGE gives you COMPETITIVE EDGE.

Homer PetersonPeterson Construction Consulting Inc.
Homer Peterson
Houston, TX
Expertpages Verified

Mr. Peterson specializes in occupational health and safety management systems, standards of care, wrongful death, personal injury, negligence, construction, safety, falls, fall protection, OSHA matters, steel erection, and precast erection. Experience includes over 350 projects in 21 states and territories of the United States..

Michael J. Fagel, PhDAurora Safety
Michael J. Fagel, PhD
Sugar Grove, IL
Aurora Safety specializes in safety-related case consultation and support. We represent businesses of all types and sizes, including smaller companies that have been cited by OSHA or are struggling with complex OSHA regulations.

Gerald Hietpas, PECausey Engineering LLC
Gerald Hietpas, PE
Austin, TX
Our Experts are professionals with hands-on Industrial and Construction, office and field experience. They are trained in Forensic Engineering, have a broad scope of knowledge in OSHA as well as other industry regulations, and apply their knowledge to assist the Trier of Fact.

James StanleyFDRsafety
James Stanley
Franklin, TN
Jim Stanley President of FDRsafety is a nationally recognized expert in occupational safety, having served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Labor for OSHA, and is a highly experienced expert witness. Jim leads a team of experts with top-level credentials in safety who can address a wide variety of issues in the field.


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When Loretta Swit called her former co-stars from the television series “M*A*S*H” to help raise funds for an animal rescue organization based out of St. Augustine, there was no hesitation.Mike Farrell, Jamie Farr and Gary Burghoff cleared their schedules and immediately agreed to be a part of an event at the TPC Sawgrass Clubhouse on Saturday night.

Source: Stars from TV show ‘M*A*S*H’ gather in Ponte Vedra to raise money for area animal group |
Use the above source link to see the entire story!

Do NOT follow this link or you will be banned from the site!


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Elgin Fringe Festival 2017

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Wednesday, September 13, 2017 to Sunday, September 17, 2017

Side Street Studio Arts, 15 Ziegler Court, Elgin, IL, 60120

Fringe Festivals focus on performing arts but also include film, visual arts and music. Performances take place in downtown areas in cafes, theaters, storefronts, and a variety of other locations. The first Fringe Festival started in 1947 in Edinburgh, Scotland, as an alternative festival that played concurrently with the Edinburgh International Festival. There are more than 20 fringe festivals throughout the United States with more in Canada and Europe.

Downtown Elgin is a prime location for a fringe festival because of its urban feel and proximity to Chicago. “With the recent space additions of ArtSpace, Side Street, Elgin Art Showcase and the Next Wave Art Salon and Nightmare on Chicago Street events, Elgin has made a name for itself in the arts,” said Sean Hargadon, ECAC Chair and JTC founder. “The city’s unique architecture, easy walking access, and supportive community is an exciting stew of creative activity.”

Facebook Event


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A Taste of Autumn

Now the nights are drawing in, there’s nothing better than the warming scents and tastes of a real roast dinner, a burger and chips, a homemade pie or simply a cosy coffee or hot chocolate…

These places around Morecambe Bay are the perfect locations to sample great Autumn fare:

The Midland Hotel

The Royal at Morecambe

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Can’t believe you’re 16 in 2days!! Had a lovely birthday meal last night😘

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King’s Arms Morecambe

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The Station Morecambe

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Baked Camembert was definitely a good idea ! So tasty !! 🧀👍🏻 #cheese #food #fayre&square #morecambe #tasty

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The Morecambe Hotel

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Fillet of beef medallions salad now back on the menu #freshproduce #themorecambehotel #luxurylunch

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The Palatine, Morecambe

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The Hurley Flyer

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🌟⬆VEGAN⬆🌟 So I’ve been with Liam for the past week, before I start uni (tomorrow omg 😭) and we’ve been to Manchester, I took a trip to Liverpool to visit ma cutie Aoife @aoife_sweet and then we went back to Lancaster. I’m settled in my new house which is way better than the one we had last year and I’m feeling pretty good, but Liam is leaving tomorrow 💔 so yesterday we went to watch Morecambe play at the football, and they played well (for them, I suppose) and they were so close to winning until they let in a goal 😔 anyways it was actually enjoyable to watch and I don’t really like football. The real reason why I went was there is a pub just outside the stadium (The Hurley Flyer @marstonsplc) and it has an extensive vegan menu that Liam and I were dying to try. He had the nomeat b12 burger and I had the tikka masala 😁 both really good!! (I TRIED SOME OF HIS) and then I had apple pie and was dying from bloat and fullness by the end. I always overeat when there’s vegan food 😂 like I’m desperate to try it all incase they decide to stop serving it. #vegan #vegetarian #football #morecambe #morecambefc #thehurleyflyer #marstons #pub #restaurant #bar #food #pubgrub #burger #tikkamasala #b12 #nomeat #yummy #applepie #autumn #dessert #pie #icecream #whatveganseat #morecambevegans #lancastervegans #lancaster #lancasteruniversity

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The Royal at Heysham


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Data breaches are becoming impossible to escape. They occur in every business sector and in companies of all sizes. Juniper Research estimates that the average cost of a single data breach will exceed $150 million by 2020, with the global exposure exceeding $2 trillion by 2019.

Yet, many organizations still struggle to secure their production data effectively. In many cases, business leaders think they are protected, only to discover after a data breach that the opposite was true. For companies that develop, maintain, and/or customize software, either for sale or for internal use, the risk is even greater.

Software teams are under increasing pressure to deliver releases more quickly, yet security budgets haven’t risen to counter the escalating threat. Additionally, accelerated methodologies such as DevOps can create additional pressure, and meeting delivery timetables often takes precedence over security. For example, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) estimates that 90 percent of security incidents result from problems with software.

The time has come for organizations to accept responsibility for comprehensive, end-to-end security across the continuous delivery pipeline. In this article, we’ll cover some of the challenges and best practices specific to data security.

The Development Data Challenge

Delphix, a data virtualization firm, commissioned a report in 2015 demonstrating that copies of production data used in development and testing represent one of the greatest data breach risks in an enterprise. Furthermore, 62% of DevOps leaders say full data access for non-production environments is a requirement for success. Moreover, as many as 80% of firms use (and often store) production data at some point in their development and testing activities.

This approach is extremely dangerous, since development and testing environments are not often within the organization’s strongest layers of security. Instead of the data residing in tightly monitored systems with strong access restrictions and a small group of authorized users, it is accessible to a larger number of people with minimal security clearance.

In some cases, the data is being shared with disparate or even outsourced teams. As a result, sensitive data is crossing networks that may not be adequately encrypted or is leaving the confines of the U.S.

Data Leaks Compound the Issue

Even teams that do not use copies of large production datasets should scrutinize their processes and monitor their data more closely. If development and testing teams have any access to production data, there is potential for accidental leakage and outright theft.

Production data can be exposed in a number of ways, from an employee copying it to a laptop for off-site (e.g., home) testing to a team member sending it to someone in another department or another company. It may seem illogical that anyone would do such a thing in today’s threat-laden environment, but I assure you that it happens every day.

Furthermore, spearfishing—whereby a cybercriminal spoofs an email to look legitimate and then embeds malicious links in it—remains one of the most prevalent sources of data breaches. With software teams often connected to servers that might not be as heavily secured as a firm’s core data servers, the outcome if someone clicks on one of those links could be disastrous.

Disgruntled employees are also a leading source of data theft. Organizations must be vigilant about not allowing unbridled access to copies of production data, and they must immediately revoke access to all corporate resources when any employee leaves. Many organizations neglect to create/implement/utilize an off-boarding process to mitigate this threat.

If development teams are geographically separated from production and each other, organizations must exercise even greater caution. With remote operations, it is likely that both infrastructure and processes are optimized for remote access, potentially making it easier for criminals to steal cloned production data.

Production Servers Can Post Significant Risk

Production servers are another area where data is often endangered by development and testing activities. For web applications in particular, it is quite common for organizations to develop and test directly on production servers.

Exacerbating the problem, internal development and testing applications are often accessible online yet inadequately secured. If development and testing are being done on a production server, such applications can easily be leveraged by a skilled hacker running sophisticated (and sometimes even basic) scripts to compromise and access the production server.

Also, it is not unusual for teams to archive test sites hosting unmasked production data in public directories that even a moderately tech-savvy person can find. Because these applications are under development, they often have vulnerabilities that hackers can exploit to attain access. Web application content and server-side scripting create additional vulnerabilities, especially in unfinished, not-yet-security-tested projects.

The Problem Is Universal

At this point, you may be saying to yourself, “My firm doesn’t take any of these risks. We use best practices to protect data.” Maybe you clone production data for testing but believe your development and testing servers are adequately secured. Or, perhaps you use synthetic data, and only a handful of people can access production data for specific purposes. No matter what safeguards you have taken to protect your data, unless you have adopted end-to-end processes or technologies that mask and secure production data across the entire enterprise, your firm is painting a target on its back.

As an aside, synthetic data presents an additional challenge not related to security. Being a simulation, it may not adequately replicate what exists in production. Since synthetic data is a model, it may not account for scenarios outside the vision of its creator.

The hard truth for software teams—and the companies that develop, maintain, and/or customize software—is that the current state of software development and testing encourages security problems.

Whether due to competitive pressure or demand from users (internal or external), application development cycles are being shortened, yet resources and budgets are not increasing at the same pace. This is especially true for mobile apps, which are becoming requisite in both the consumer and enterprise arenas.

Gartner estimates that market demand for mobile application development services is growing at least five times faster than internal IT organizations’ capacity to deliver them. It is inevitable that these pressures will cause project leaders and their teams to take shortcuts, circumvent security protocols, and adopt “just-this-once” mentalities.

Gears cloudData Security Best Practices

Now that I have your attention, let’s talk about solving the problem. The following are some recommendations for best practices. This list is intended as a starting point—it is not all-encompassing, and every organization’s needs are different.

Production Data Handling

  • If production data is used for development and testing, it must be scrubbed or masked.
  • The data masking/scrubbing solution should be able to deliver data on demand, within minutes, and it should be self-service. This will help team members resist the tendency to circumvent security policies and use production copies.
  • The organization should also deploy data virtualization in tandem with the data masking/scrubbing solution. Such a solution provides data snapshots that give all team members access to consistent data from the same masked dataset, reducing the overall data footprint and eliminating the temptation to access production data.
  • Optimally, even with the best data masking solution, the organization should have a comprehensive set of validation procedures.

Production Data Storage

  • Data on production servers should be protected in transit and at rest with the highest possible grade of encryption (preferably at file-level).
  • Direct data access should be limited to a handful of trusted individuals, accessible only via multi-factor authentication. Permissions should be assigned using role-based access control.
  • Development and testing of web applications should always be done on servers isolated from the Internet and should never use or connect to production data and databases.
  • Web application or website data, code files, and scripts should always be on a separate partition or drive from that of any database, operating system, system files, or logs.

Policies and Procedures

  • Stringent policies and procedures should be developed and enforced, and the ramifications for accessing and/or distributing copied production data should be clear.
  • All employees (development, quality assurance, project managers, support personnel, third-party contractors, etc.) should review and sign off on the policies and procedures.
  • A mechanism for creating a testing activities audit trail with a risk assessment report is strongly recommended. This is a requirement for organizations subject to regulatory control and compliance. However, audit trails and reports are valuable for any firm that becomes the victim of a data breach. Not only can the documentation help identify and eliminate security holes, it can also establish proof of a consistent effort to take security precautions.

What to Look for in a Data Handling Platform

All data masking/scrubbing solutions are not created equally. Orasi finds Delphix to be an attractive choice for its ability to provide end-to-end data masking and data virtualization in a single, unified platform. Some of the features we like in Delphix, that organizational leadership should look for in their own solutions, include:

  • The capability to profile the data and automatically identify “at-risk” fields, rather than requiring users to define them.
  • The sophistication to provide data that, while not real, is realistic. Some data (e.g., social security numbers, credit cards, vehicle identification numbers, etc.), has very specific requirements and the solution must address those restrictions.
  • The confidence that the masked data is sufficiently anonymized, so it cannot be correlated back to the original data.
  • The complexity to maintain referential integrity so that data keys—as well as connections between lists, data subsets, and other pivot points—are not lost in the masking process.
  • The assurance of stringent, built-in validation of the resulting masked data.
  • The opportunity to subset the masked production data in order to minimize the organization’s total data footprint.

With organizations increasingly being subjected to compliance mandates such as the Federal Information Security Management Act of 2002 (FISMA), Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX), the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), and the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI-DSS), the need to protect production data at all levels will only increase. New standards such as the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) will add pressure for firms conducting business with major European partners.

Even for firms not subject to any of these mandates, the realities of data breaches can be financially catastrophic. Taking a forward-thinking approach to data security now can minimize the risk of significant disruption—and potential disaster—in the future.

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