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Status Woe

The idea behind sunset reviews is straightforward enough: On a staggered 12-year schedule (in most cases), Texas’ state agencies, commissions and boards submit to examination by an independent commission charged with rooting out waste, fraud and defunctitude. The agency under review may get a clean bill of health or an opportunity to reform. If it’s judged to have outlived its usefulness or is otherwise beyond saving, it may be mothballed. In practice, the outcomes are rarely that simple.

When the largest and most important state agencies undergo sunset review, political fisticuffs are almost always the result. Such was the case this session when the Legislature tried to reform two of Texas’ most controversial bureaucracies: the Texas Department of Transportation and the Texas Department of Insurance.

Both agencies arrived at their day in the sun trailing the same basic stories. Each deals with a contentious political issue. In TxDOT’s case, it’s the building of toll roads. For the insurance department, it’s the high price—highest in the country—Texans pay for homeowners insurance. Each agency has long been dominated by powerful industries. Contractors and road builders have long held sway at TxDOT, while major insurance companies have had the run of the insurance department. In both cases, consumer advocates hoped the sunset review recommendations would spur the Legislature to call for reforms curtailing industry influence.

The Legislature did file bills reauthorizing the agencies, but that’s as far as it went. Industry hijacked both bills midway through the session, and both jumped the tracks on the session’s final weekend. So did the so-called safety net bill—which simply ensures an agency’s continued existence—that lawmakers usually pass when sunset bills fail. As it stands now, both TxDOT and the insurance department are set to expire in September 2010. Lawmakers will have to return for a special session just to keep the agencies alive for another two years so they can go through the process again.

Maybe consumers will fare better in 2011. This year, though, the TxDOT and insurance department sunset bills are excellent examples of how much weight big industries still carry at the Capitol.

Ensuring Failure

No pocketbook issue facing Texas this year was more pressing than homeowners insurance. Texans pay, on average, the highest homeowners rates in the country, an average annual premium of roughly $1,300. The national average is about $800.

With foreclosures on the rise and the economy contracting, costly home insurance could contribute to people losing their homes. They’re also barriers to homeownership for working families.

While Texans have suffered, the industry has made a killing. The past five years in Texas have been among the most profitable ever for home insurers, even with the occasional hurricane rolling ashore (see “Are You in Good Hands?” Dec. 12, 2008).

The insurance companies have long contended that they set high rates in Texas because of the unpredictable weather. Consumer advocates say the weather has some influence, but they attribute the high rates mostly to the state’s lax regulation.

Insurers have wide latitude in Texas to set their own rates. Under the system in place since 2003, home insurers are required only to notify regulators of rate increases. If the rates are deemed too high, the Department of Insurance can object and take the company to court—after the hike has gone into effect. The department has had little success winning large rate reductions in court.

Consumer advocates hoped the sunset process would spur lawmakers to tighten regulation of the home insurance market. They wanted a prior-approval system, in which insurance companies would have to gain regulatory approval before raising rates.

But when the insurance sunset bill came to the Senate floor, the insurance industry once again prevailed. With Republican senators leading the way, the Senate rejected prior approval and passed a bill that would have kept the system of minimal regulation for years to come. One consumer advocate called that outcome “catastrophic” for homeowners.

Consumer advocates hoped for a better result on the House floor, but the bill never got that far. It got hung up behind the voter ID legislation that bottlenecked the Legislature at session’s end. House members could have voted to suspend their rules and bring up the insurance sunset bill out of order, which many Democrats and some Republicans wanted to do. The move would have required a two-thirds vote. But more than a few in the GOP wanted to stall the sunset bill to death. With many Texas homeowners angry over high rates, some Republicans feared that voting with the insurance industry would carry too high a price come re-election time. So they did nothing and let the bill die, an approach that comes with its own political risks.

That outcome means the status quo will remain in place for as long as two more years while the Insurance Department goes through the sunset process all over again.

“This is a complete and utter failure of leadership to address the very clear desire and need of homeowners in this state,” said Alex Winslow of the consumer advocacy group Texas Watch. “The industry wanted nothing to pass. They wanted to get out of this session with the status quo. They got what they wanted.

“It’s clear from our polling and our research that Texans expect their lawmakers to do something about high rates. Not doing so is, I suspect, going to come back to haunt them.”

The one bright spot in the muddle is that because nothing passed, consumer advocates will get another crack at reforming the system in two years, perhaps sooner. Winslow hopes that Gov. Rick Perry, once he calls the inevitable special session, will put insurance reform on the agenda.

More likely, lawmakers will use the special session to pass the safety net bill that simply extends the life of the department. In that case, Texas homeowners will most likely continue to pay the highest home insurance rates in the country through 2011.

Toll Road to Nowhere

Just six months ago, legislators seemed eager to reform the Department of Transportation. The Sunset Advisory Commission had issued a scathing report summing up the agency as “permeated with an atmosphere of distrust.” The public and legislators complained that the agency was intent on building toll roads at taxpayer expense. Some legislators pledged to follow the commission’s recommendations and trim the bloated department into a lean, transparent agency that would be more responsive to the public.

But by May, the sunset bill that was intended to reform TxDOT—House Bill 300—had been so larded down with amendments that some reformers felt the legislation in its final form would do more harm than good. The 344-page bill was left stranded when negotiations broke down in the final weekend. Some advocates weren’t sorry to see it die.

“It was horrible,” said Terri Hall, founder of a grassroots organization called Texans Uniting for Reform and Freedom, which opposes toll roads. “It was a taxpayer’s nightmare that did not even remotely represent the original sunset recommendations.”

It’s no surprise that TxDOT created controversy in the Legislature. For two years legislators had politicked and debated whether to reform the agency and, if so, how.

As the session progressed, the House and Senate took markedly different paths: Some House members wanted to rein the agency in, much as the Sunset Commission recommended. The Senate preferred a softer touch, fearing that anything too drastic would result in a veto by the governor, who has long favored toll roads. By the time the TxDOT sunset bill surfaced in the Senate in the waning days of the session, senators were so miffed with the more than 100 House amendments—many of them handwritten and nearly illegible—that they chucked the House’s version and crafted their own.

The tension between the two chambers peaked on the next-to-last day of the session over an amendment to add a local-option gas tax. Sen. John Carona, a Dallas Republican, was pushing the idea as a way for local governments to boost their transportation funds. The House’s refusal to accept the amendment in conference committee got Carona’s Sicilian blood boiling. He issued a news release written partially in Italian: “Dai nemici mi guardo io, dagli amici mi guardi iddio.” Which more or less translates to “Y’all screwed me over big time.” Carona, who chairs the Senate Transportation Committee, wrote that HB 300’s demise would be no real loss anyway.

There was loss, though: The bill would have allowed the state to sell $2 billion in general obligation bonds for road building. Steven Polunsky, Carona’s spokesman on transportation, said the senator hopes during the upcoming special session to pass legislation allowing the state to sell the bonds, and to let TxDOT reform wait until 2011.

Many experts say Texas needs billions of dollars worth of infrastructure additions and improvements. The big question is how to pay for it all. It may be two years before we have an answer. A local-option gas tax is off the table for now, and TxDOT’s much-maligned “comprehensive development agreements” to allow private companies to build toll roads will evaporate at the end of August unless the Legislature reauthorizes them.

It seems unlikely that Gov. Perry will be looking to overhaul his signature agency in a special session, and Republican legislators aren’t likely to have the stomach to address such a contentious issue headed into next year’s primaries.

Polunsky says Carona will hold a transportation hearing this August in Fort Worth. No doubt angry Texans will show up to vent their frustrations about TxDOT. Now they can add their frustration that the Legislature doesn’t seem willing to do anything about it.

Melissa del Bosque is a staff writer and a 2015-16 Lannan Fellow at The Investigative Fund.

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One of the greatest financial success stories of the past 10 years has been the phenomenal growth in the themed restaurant market. There was a time when concepts such as Hard Rock Café, with its burgers and Beatles, and Wheelers Restaurants, with its classically cooked fish, seemed quirky as well as innovative. Today we are awash with themed restaurants, covering everything from football to rainforests.

Many operators have recognised that such restaurants have a clearly-defined market in terms of age group and food requirement. Like it or not, the cleverness of the food tends to matter less than the buzzy and trendy nature of the restaurant to the all-important 25- to 34-year-olds that make up the largest segment of customers.

There are plenty of entrepreneurs who can think up new themes – and this is important, since themes are fashion-driven and fashion, like most themed restaurants, has a finite life span.

Yet the Marketpower report on this sector (page 10) will be causing a good deal of head-scratching in the boardrooms of companies that run themed restaurants. It predicts that there is a decline coming in their core customer base. Government demographic forecasts are for a 20% fall in people in the 25-34 age group in the years ahead.

So what should the themed restaurateurs do? First, don’t write corporate strategy for the next 10 years based on one report or one Caterer & Hotelkeeper Opinion column.

But the restaurant themers do need to be aware of the effects of growing choice and the predicted diminishing of the market.

The answer may be for themes to mature along with their customer base. The family dining market is growing rapidly in the USA and will follow here. Dating sweethearts who 10 years ago were happy to gaze at just each other over dinner now need a restaurant that can accommodate both their own hunger and that of their young children. This family dining market is already core business for pubs in the UK, but ripe for widespread restaurant development.

Alternatively, the restaurant themers could move ahead of the market. If fashion and football were the banker’s bet of the1990s, maybe the ultimate in trendy themed restaurants with long-term growth might be the grey market. Anyone care to develop a themed restaurant called Gramps?

Bob Gledhill

Deputy Editor

Caterer & Hotelkeeper

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Obama: Silencers of Dissent Are on the Wrong Side of History

By January 20, 2009

Today we have asked President Obama to help fight speech codes on college campuses, which not only violate the rights of millions of college students but also teach them that censorship is more efficacious and desirable than tolerance of each person’s views, no matter how profoundly antithetical to one’s own.

In this vein, one line from President Obama’s inaugural address is of particular note:

To those who cling to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent, know that you are on the wrong side of history[.]

Of course, the President was not referring to administrators of U.S. colleges and universities; he was referring to dictatorial governments. And obviously no U.S. university inflicts anything close to the types of depravity that millions suffer every day in nations with repressive political systems, and none ever will.

Yet even if lives are not physically at risk, it is still worth noting that Americans are not exempt from the desire to use power to silence opponents and damage careers. Just ask Kara Spencer, a student government leader at Michigan State University (MSU) who was labeled and punished as a "spammer" for e-mailing professors about her dissent from proposed policy changes at the university. Or ask Hayden Barnes, who was expelled from Valdosta State University (VSU) after he peacefully protested the construction of new parking garages on campus.

History demonstrates that the desire for powerand for the silencing of those who would challenge its useis all too human. But a central characteristic of a free society is that this desire to silence is ultimately defeated. In this sense, VSU’s former president, Ronald Zaccari, was on "the wrong side of history" when he expelled Barnes for his criticism. By way of proof, consider the fact that not only was Zaccari’s unconstitutional punishment of Hayden Barnes reversed by the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia, but VSU’s repressive "free speech zone" (see video) was also dismantled shortly after he left office.

MSU’s anti-spam policy, which labels anyone a spammer who sends more than about 20–30 people unsolicited e-mail on any topic without prior review and permission, is also on the wrong side of history. Let’s hope that it is soon to be found only in history’s dustbin.

Schools: Michigan State University Valdosta State University


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Gay rights: National pride

Trawling hard for support in unrewarding times, Labour has made a determined pitch to gay and lesbian voters in the run-up to today's Gay Pride march in London. Gordon Brown's poetic comment on Thursday that "you can't legislate love" was part of an insistent government message that Labour has stood up for gay people through the years, while the Conservatives cannot be trusted with equality.

Other ministers went further. The Tory heart remains homophobic, charged Harriet Harman, pointing to the opposition's alliance with anti-gay parties in Europe and its fence-sitting on gay adoption, and warning gay voters not to be fooled by David Cameron's recent apology for his party's 1988 legislation outlawing the promotion of homosexuality. Openly gay ministers Chris Bryant and Ben Bradshaw have taken up the same theme, with Mr Bryant cautioning that gay people would "rue the day" they voted Tory. The government has a good record on gay rights, but this is crude stuff, not least because Labour has its own homophobes too.

Given that all the parties are parading their gay rights credentials this week, some caution is in order about Mr Bryant's newest move, on which we report today. At the Foreign Office Mr Bryant has taken to congratulating British ambassadors - three in eastern Europe so far - who show solidarity with local gay communities. He also wants our high commissioners in Commonwealth countries to emphasise Britain's support for gay rights, and wants diplomats to raise the profile of gay and lesbian issues within the UK's human rights policy. Perhaps this is just an opportunist pitch to coincide with the march. But the policy could have international implications.

Prejudice (and much worse) against gay and lesbian people is one of the most widespread human rights abuses on the planet. This week's ruling by the Delhi high court to decriminalise homosexuality in the Indian capital is a reminder that gay sex is illegal throughout the rest of the world's second most populous nation. Denial of gay rights in religiously conservative societies remains deep-rooted and the punishments against sexual relations draconian. The Anglican communion still faces schism with many of its African churches over the issue. In theocracies like Iran, whose president once made the Soviet-style claim that there are "no gays" in his country, discrimination is often much more virulent.

Any government which made the requirement to uphold gay rights into an absolute precondition for relations with other states would need to understand what it might be getting itself into. Mr Bryant is not going that far. But he is right to push the issue up the agenda.


text: It's National Children's Book Week this week (October 3-7) - parents, teachers and of course children themselves can find out more about the annual event, sponsored by Booktrust, on its website. There's plenty of information on how best to celebrate the week, as well as a diary showing when you can catch the Children's Bookshow (a national tour of children's authors), which begins today. It's also worth checking your local library or arts centre to find out if any events are being planned; in the meantime, if you're in need of inspiration, take a look at our children's library of classics and new releases.


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How to give lessons a real talking point

In schools where English is mainly a second language, use of whiteboards is helping overcome barriers by engaging children and improving their language at the same time

Imagine a primary school where children from 30 different races speak 28 different languages. The playground is filled with the excited chatter and colour of Zulu, Tagalog, Svetsi, Punjabi, Polish, Turkish, Somali, Ukranian and a myriad of other tongues, with English threading through and starting to tie this melting pot together.

Drove primary school is in the heart of Swindon next to the local red light district and in a centre of severe deprivation. Pupils come and go as their families move to the UK, then in and out of the area as they get established in this country. That equates to 54% of the school population changing every 23 months.

"Because we have so many different languages being spoken, some children may be the sole speakers of their lang-uage," says headteacher Nick Capstick. "About 80% of my children are from black or ethnic minority communities and 80% have no English at all when they arrive."

This is where ICT comes into its own, not only allowing young students access to the curriculum but also simultaneously teaching them the English language. Using interactive whiteboards as the loadstone, teachers share the curriculum with students. The arts are important here, as they allow pupils to express themselves without language, says Capstick. "The one thing that transcends all language is creativity, so we do a lot of dance and drama that enables the children to communicate in other ways. We bring that into the classroom and, as a result, they are more willing to communicate in language."

In a dance class, a teacher will show the children a film on the whiteboard of the dance they are to learn, slowing down the images on the screen to break up the movements into minute detail. Students are then split into groups to learn the dance in the hall and take it in turns to film their peers using Digital Blue video cameras. That is then brought back into the classroom and put on to the whiteboard, where students start by analysing what they have done and comparing it with the original dance footage.

"This is really good literacy work for years 1 to 6," says Capstick. "If the point of video is to communicate something, then through editing, drafting and redrafting the video to create a piece, they improve that communication. This means when they acquire language, they already have these skills."

Big-screen premier

The year 6 students at Drove have a roleplay area designed to look like the Who Wants to be a Millionaire? studio. Over five or six lessons, they work in groups of mixed language ability to create storyboards for filming a show and a set of questions based on a topic they are working on. The show is filmed by the students, then edited. And occasionally tickets and cinema hotdog menus are made and printed off, and classrooms are transformed into cinemas for the big-screen premier.

A year 5 group created a film to prove universality across cultures, using £10,000 from the Barclays New Futures fund. The high quality footage carries five montages of cultures in Swindon, showing how they are similar. Using "consumer groups" of classmates to watch partially-edited versions of the film, the team used a split screen on the whiteboard to make notes during the screening on what needed to be changed. The finished copy will be produced and circulated throughout schools and libraries in Swindon.

Drove also uses voting systems from Research Machines (RM) that enable teachers to understand children's level of understanding of language. "If every child has a handset and votes, you know which kids have which ones so you can see who isn't answering and individually assess each child," says Capstick. "Or if a child understands maths but doesn't have the English to answer verbally, the teacher can use voting as a brilliant form of assessment."

Easiteach Maths software from RM and Activprimary from Promethean gives teachers at Audley infant school in Blackburn the ability to communicate easily with classes of students with poor or little English language skills, in maths. Emma Taylor, a reception class teacher at Audley, says the students do well in maths as its logic transcends language barriers. With Activprimary the class can look at a screen covered in objects with price tags. At the bottom are numbers one to 20 to help the children count. The pupils work in pairs to add together two objects, such as the doll and the car, then one lucky pair are asked to come up to the board to take the correct coins out of the on-screen purse.

Audley is in an Asian community and has 99% Asian and Pakistani pupils. English is a second language for most of its pupils, who tend to begin school in reception and stay until it's time to move to the next stage. This means the reception period of each child's school career is vital, says Taylor. "By the time they leave reception, because of the way we use ICT in this part of the school, the children are able to communicate confidently with the staff."

Using the whiteboard with children with English as a second language builds confidence and self-esteem, Taylor says. She feels the technology excites and focuses them, so it is easier for them to develop the language skills they need. For her, ICT is about engaging children and then giving them something to start talking about, so they want to learn to communicate.

In learning English, Taylor says whiteboards enable students to develop a sense of achievement, no matter where they are in their language attainment. For children unable or not good at writing on paper, the ability to un-jumble a sentence on the whiteboard using Activpimary software allows them to do something that they otherwise could not have done.

"They also learn sentence structure and how to speak in grammatically correct sentences. Often, in their own languages, sentence structure is in a different order. Teaching English as a language is all about getting the children talking, and ICT lets the teacher build an exciting, enthusiastic atmosphere in the classroom."


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Going it alone

Caroline Oulton tells how, abandoned by the father of her first two children, and desperate for a third baby, she ended up upside-down in a London restaurant

When you're pushing 43, not even slightly in a relationship, you've got an eight-year-old and a 10-year-old already, and you decide you absolutely, totally, screamingly have to at least try to have another baby, at best people think you're ill-advised and, at worst, that you're stark staring bonkers.

Five years earlier, the father of my first two children and I (we had been together since university, albeit unmarried) were besotted with our two small boys and were happily planning to embark on our third child. We were blithely confident this baby would be a girl and we even had a name for her. Then, pretty much out of the blue, as far as I was concerned anyway, my partner fell in love with someone else (who had a little girl of her own - double woe) and, after an excruciating year of all-round misery, married her and went off to live in America for a year. The kids and I were plummeted into a bleak, dark place for much too long as I seemed utterly unable to find a way of reassembling the splintered remains of what had, up until then, seemed, to me at least, to have been a normal happy family.

So absurdly convinced was I that I was destined to have a third baby with the father of my first two that, even during the gut-wrenching misery of his abandoning us I somehow imagined that eventually he would come to his senses, return and we would have our third child together. From time to time he dangled the possibility of coming back, so I clung to this pipe dream for years.

Like a lot of women, I imagine, I had always had 40 in my mind as the cut-off point, after which it would be mad, bad and dangerously impossible to conceive or give birth. My 40th birthday came and went, and still my ex and I weren't back together. I had had the odd relationship and skirmish since being dumped but had never seriously considered having a child with anyone else. I had always been going to have three children and suddenly, heaven knows how, I was 43 with only two.

I was fantasising compulsively about brightly coloured beaker cups with spouts and tiny fat little feet and, worse, I was cross with women who dared to be pregnant with third children. Absurd as it sounds, when one of my boys had a friend round, and there were three children hurtling around in my care, it always felt right. I was somehow convinced that my third child was out there, waiting to be lassoed - if only I could work out how. Finding a gorgeous unattached man who wanted to be a dad, and with whom my two sons would also fall instantly in love as well, was obviously becoming unrealistic within the fast telescoping time frame.

And then one day it dawned on me that maybe I could just give it a whirl solo. I did not want to be 70 and bitter and twisted, mourning the fact that I had been robbed of my right at a crack at a third child. I knew that I could cope with not getting pregnant, but what I suddenly realised was that I could not live with not even giving it a bash.

I decided that I was not after a co-parent, and that I emphatically wanted a donor baby. That's splitting hairs, I hear you cry: it's a selfish thing to do. Yes, I know that but, then again, as my sage sister-in-law pointed out, choosing to have children is always selfish - you do it almost entirely to gratify yourself. I needed to be assured that there was to be no possibility of shambolic complications involving maintenance or contact demands, as I was not prepared to submit myself to any of that stress for a second time.

What to do next? There were a number of options. Over the years I had met several lesbian couples with glorious donor babies, so perhaps the most obvious option was to go online or to an established clinic and select dark-haired olive-skinned window cleaner number blah blah, but I decided I couldn't take that path when I was doing it alone. There was too much choice somehow, it was probably quite expensive and, for whatever reason, I just couldn't seem to gear myself up to do that in spite of the obvious advantages.

Perhaps I could identify a gay male friend or colleague who wanted to be an unlive-in dad. Fine in principle, but I couldn't find anyone who felt right. I did have a deeply damaged and adorable sexy ex knocking about still, who had dumped me when I was 20 and would probably have been OK in most respects, and was also keen, but he lived in America illegally, so the logistics were too problematic. We did contemplate Fed-Exing filled test tubes, but that was never really feasible.

So, even though I hadn't yet solved where to get the sperm from, I was at least fired up with the beginnings of an exciting plan. I was going to try to have a baby by myself, through artificial insemination, without telling anyone what I was attempting, apart, obviously, from the providee, until I was pregnant and ready to go public with it, if indeed I was lucky enough to conceive.

There was one exception however - my slightly scary but deeply cool GP. I wanted some advice about taking supplements, what health issues I should attend to, and I realised that I also wanted at least one person to know that this baby, if I was lucky enough to get pregnant, was massively yearned-for and not some kind of inept accident. Said GP listened to my defensive babbling, and said that, in cases of this nature, 'I would usually advise serious counselling but, in your case, just take some folic acid and get on with it.' So I did. There was me, with, I hoped, some viable eggs still knocking about, but I still needed part B.

I cannot go into any more detail here about the provenance or the specifics of my sperm search, but suffice to say that eventually I did manage to find someone who agreed to give me, or get me, some healthy sperm with absolutely no follow-through, and no question at all of any contracts, emotional, financial or legal, between the two of us. Anonymity was key, and I agreed that, to protect all the parties involved, I would never reveal my source.

The next problem was when and where. The obvious place would have been at home, but - with festive live-in nanny, a cleaner with the most erratic hours in the world, and my ex popping in to help his sons with their homework - the chances of being disturbed were high. I had been so keen to catch my first two boys as quickly as possible that I did have quite a good sense of my own fertile periods. Oddly, a quiet lunch hour away from work in a dear little restaurant that I knew and loved, that I knew had a scrupulously clean, charmingly furnished ante room to the loos, seemed to me the best solution. Given my age, I knew it was highly unlikely that I would get pregnant first time, but having tried it once I thought further attempts would be much easier.

So, I identified the best possible day for me both in terms of getting discreetly away from work - slightly tricky as my brother worked in the same office - and of course what I hoped was the right time physically. Lift-off was achieved in my lunch hour on one show-stoppingly beautiful ice-blue day in January. I rang ahead 40 minutes in advance of my arrival and, as I walked towards the restaurant, unable to contain myself and wait until I got inside, I grabbed what I hoped was fresh semen in the street from my provider in one of those plastic containers used for storing camera films, carefully scalded out in advance with boiling water. I levered up the grey plastic lid in the street for a surreptitious peek and was slightly concerned about the consistency, which seemed less viscous than I had expected. Later, however, I read an article explaining that that's how it goes after a while for improved swimmage. I still have that receptacle safe in a drawer. It represents pure wild happiness, a leap into the unknown.

All the cars and lamp posts seemed suddenly super-defined to me, and I felt mildly giddy as I sorted out my pay-and-display ticket outside what will always be the prettiest and most magical little oriental restaurant on the planet. There were no other diners as I ordered a modest green curry set lunch, and then, barely able to contain my excitement, retired to a charming lockable anteroom. Everything was spotlessly clean. There was bamboo furniture with pretty cushions, and soothing pale-green walls. I double-checked that the door was locked and then simply sat down and, improbable as it sounds, upended the little film canister, which fitted rather well as it goes, and then got myself into a shoulder stand as recommended.

I remember thinking that every drop was incredibly precious as it was potential babeage, and might just be the nano cell that would yield me up a baby. I had somehow, by force of will, to be hugely careful to retain it all in case I lost the crucial snidge. In the end though I was too concerned about other diners and too edgily overexcited to stay in that position for too long. Then, hoping and smiling, and buzzing with adrenaline at my daring, and suddenly starving, I sashayed back to my corner table, crossed my legs, ate my delicious lunch, paid the bill and returned to my desk in a small film and television production company where I worked. And that was it, the moment that would define what I hoped would be the second half of my life.

Given my age and circumstances, the wait, the putting off the buying of the pregnancy test to avoid disappointment, was, of course, in a different league from my other two pregnancies. I remember on the one hand lecturing myself repeatedly that the odds were massively stacked against me, and I was almost certain not to 'catch' a baby at the first attempt like this, but at the same time being utterly convinced I could actually feel a tiny wriggly fairy start taking root in my stomach - and so it proved to be. I remember my inordinate glee having done the test. I was meeting a friend to go to a film, and I soared down the pavement in great pogoing leaps, hugging the best secret in the world to myself and thinking: 'It has begun!'

Everyone delights, often in a faux sympathetic way, in telling me how impossibly difficult all this will be for my child to negotiate and I have never doubted that for an instant. Of course it will be hard for her. I have never denied that, and I do not feel complacent at what lies ahead for us. But then my first two children found their father leaving searingly difficult to cope with for a very, very long time. I am relieved that my third child will never have to suffer that particular brand of pain.

Once safely, visibly, ecstatically, terrifiedly pregnant, I faced savage criticism from many quarters, including a drunken writer who railed at me at a work party about how inappropriate it was to have a child without a father. He, it turned out, had walked out on two families. Apparently, early research suggests that donor babes are unusually well-parented as they are so seriously longed-for. I did, and do, find it bizarre that I continue to face considerably more opprobrium for deciding to have my daughter alone than my ex-partner ever did for dumping his family.

If ever my electrifying, indomitable, opinionated, ferociously individual daughter wishes she had never been born, then, and only then, will I know I have made the wrong call. Occasionally, after all, children in the most well-ordered and conventional families suffer depression or confusion about their identities. To date, however, I repeatedly garner compliments about how strikingly happy my daughter appears, even if we do all get a bit tense around Father's Day.

Looking back to my boys at this stage, no one ever said how happy they seemed, as they so clearly were not. They were devastated and confused that their adored father had gone off. My elder boy, aged four when his dad left, wrapped ropes and bits of string round his torso, ankles and wrists and burst into tears when they rotted through and dropped off and I had to rush to replace them. You do not need a PhD in psychology to guess what that was about. He clearly feared that he was literally falling apart. Some of the 'happy holiday photos' from that time show a child in such pain and confusion that I still can't bear to look at them.

I know that it is a very different journey that I am going on with her. The gorgeous midwife at the hospital asked me with a smile if I wanted to tell her anything about the father and when I shook my head and replied 'so not' she went into peals of laughter and firmly crossed out a number of sections in her paperwork. I do admit to a tremor of anxiety still when filling in official forms and am faced with boxes for the father's mobile-phone number. I worry that my child might be discriminated against in some way but I write 'non-applicable' sweepingly across it all, and so far that seems to have been fine.

I think it is fair to say that, for my sons and me, this little girl erupting into our midst has turned out to have been one of the best and most exciting presents. She is like a permanent blast of sunshine and Christmas round the house. She revitalised me and I now have my yearned-for third child, without having to live with someone who was not a parent of my other children.

The irony is that, by having another baby by myself, I achieved some kind of closure on the collapse of my family and what seemed to be the dashing of all my hopes and imaginings. This person emphatically came into being as a result of my ex's leaving - and that feels great. We were definitely on the mend before she arrived, but now we really do feel like a proper family, as we went from being a wobbly tripod into a solid four-legged unit.

My daughter and I are starting to talk about the fact that she does not have a daddy in the 'normal' sense of the word, and it is certainly true that her brothers and her grandfather take on considerably more significance for her than they otherwise would. She likes the fact that her father may have had blue eyes and be good at drawing, as those are things that she has and her brothers and I do not. Who knows, though, how this mad adventure that I embarked on will pan out.

The other thing that happened was that when I was six months pregnant, I suddenly fell in love and, although he was not the biological father of my child, he was boyishly handsome, a successful screenwriter, a brilliant cook and convinced me to give up television production to try to become a writer. Did it last? Well, that's another story.

· Caroline Oulton is the author of Dumped - a Single Mother Shoots from the Hip, published by Short Books, £9.99


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Paris fashion week faces a dilemma

Do designers embrace the exhuberant trends that swept through New York, London and Milan or stick with a minimal aesthetic?
Dries van Noten
A model wears a creation designed by Belgium's Dries van Noten for his ready to wear spring/summer 2011 collection in Paris. Photograph: Christophe Ena/AP

Paris fashion week, which began on Tuesday, faces a dilemma: stick with the minimalist aesthetic championed last season, and risk looking outdated. Or embrace the exuberant 1970s trend that has swept New York, London and Milan fashion weeks, and look derivative.

As outdated and derivative are to fashion what rocks and hard places are to the wider world, this is not an enviable position.

Six months ago in Paris, Céline and Stella McCartney were at the forefront of a return to minimalism. But now, with those clothes newly available in boutiques, fashion in New York, London and Milan has already moved away from minimalism in shade and shape, towards bold colour and print, peplums and flared trousers.

Milan, which six months ago found its schedule shortened and its importance sidelined, has had rave reviews for last week's shows. Even after the fashion industry moved on to Paris yesterday, Italian fashion seemed reluctant to relinquish the limelight. Roberto Cavalli took centre stage in Paris with a gala dinner for 800 to celebrate his 40th anniversary in fashion – held in the grand halls of the École des Beaux-Arts, the left bank alma mater of Degas, Fragonard, Ingres and Monet.

Paris's situation is emblematic of how the fast pace dictated by the internet is rewriting the archaic rules of the fashion industry. Live streaming of catwalk shows and the rise of a generation of fashion bloggers have forged a direct connection between catwalk and customer, a relationship strengthened by booming online coverage. In the US, Conde Nast has funded a heavyweight relaunch of competing against its only site, suggesting that the magazine company is investing in an online future. As a result, the genteel rhythms of glossy magazines have been steamrolled in favour of a voracious appetite for the new.

The dramatic about-turn now happening in fashion may encourage more labels to follow the example of Burberry, which now allows customers to "click and buy" direct from the runway, thus sidestepping the concern that the clothes will be out of fashion by the time they hit stores several months later.

The first day of Paris shows offered little clue as to whether the city would stick or twist. Dries Van Noten, the first big show of the week, had moved locations from a grand, gilded salon to a chilly, dusty concrete strip next to the Seine and the show began in distinctly stripped-back style – starting with an outsize black cotton blazer over a simple white cotton skirt. But the mood lightened with silk dresses in sky blue and plaster pink, painted with Japanese-style florals: intricate crysanthemums in intense colours, blossom on delicate branches, and sculptural orchids. These were summer dresses perfectly judged to please his grown-up, slightly cerebral customer. But as that customer is not much swayed by trends, it did not serve as a weather vane.

British design talent is increasingly dominant in Paris fashion. To the stellar names already on the schedule – McCartney, John Galliano (at Christian Dior), Phoebe Philo (at Céline), Hannah MacGibbon (at Chloe) and Stuart Vevers (at Loewe) are added the debuts of Giles Deacon at Emanuel Ungaro, and Sarah Burton, who after 12 years in the Alexander McQueen studio was appointed head designer after his death.


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House prices fall 0.6%, says Halifax

Lender expects little change in house prices over the remainder of the year 'so long as the economic climate does not worsen substantially'
Estate agent signs piled up in a yard
House sellers and buyers are 'locked in a stand-off' over house prices. Photograph: John Giles/PA

House prices fell by 0.6% in July, reversing much of the 0.8% increase recorded in June, according to mortgage lender Halifax.

The bank's latest snapshot of the housing market echoes that of rival lender Nationwide, which reported a 0.7% fall in July. But while Nationwide put the annual decline at 2.6%, Halifax said it was just 0.6%.

The three-month change, which is regarded as a better indicator of the state of the housing market, showed prices remained flat. Halifax now puts the average value of a UK home at £161,094 – about the same as in the summer of 2009.

The bank's housing economist, Martin Ellis, said the ongoing stability in prices was a result of a lack of activity in the market. According to the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors the ratio of house sales to unsold properties has changed very little over the past 21 months.

Ellis said: "Looking forward, we expect little change in prices over the remainder of 2012, so long as the economic climate in the UK does not worsen substantially."

However, Howard Archer, chief UK economist at IHS Global Insight, said the latest round of price data heightened his belief that the market would fall further over the remainder of 2012.

"With the economy slumping in the second quarter, and the outlook highly uncertain amid worryingly strong domestic and international (mainly eurozone) headwinds, we believe there is a very real and mounting danger that house prices could fall by appreciably more than 3% from current levels."

Property website Rightmove said homebuyers and sellers were locked in a stand-off over prices, which could lead to a further fall in sales over the coming months.

The website, which surveyed almost 40,000 home movers, found that 49% of those planning to buy within the next 12 months believe house prices in their local area are above what they regard as "fair and reasonable". Only a third of those expecting to sell held the same view, suggesting they may not be prepared to cut prices to secure a sale.

Recent figures from mortgage lenders show that approvals for new loans fell to an 18-month low in June and, at 44,192, are running at about half of the average monthly level seen since 1993.

The government's new funding for lending scheme is designed to boost mortgage lending and kickstart the housing market, but so far many of the deals have been aimed at those with large deposits.


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Olympics: Anya Tarasiuk on synchronised swimming at London 2012

Anya Tarasiuk has been inspired by the chance to compete at the London Games
Great Britain's Olympic synchronised swimming squad.
Great Britain's Olympic synchronised swimming squad in 2008. Photograph: Rebecca Naden/PA

Team event

Age 17

Born Bristol

Honours Sixth at the 2010 European Championships; ninth at 2010 World Cup

"When London won the Olympic bid in 2005 a light was turned on in my head that showed me a path towards achieving my dream - to compete in the synchronised swimming team at the Olympics Games. This has driven me to train tirelessly six days a week, put my education on hold, conquer injuries and devote all my energies into competing at the London Games. Although the journey to get there may prove to be one of the hardest I may ever travel, this risk is worth all the sacrifices if I am lucky enough to follow my passion and achieve my dream."


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Toronto got smart with the Phaneuf deal but that doesn't mean Ottawa are dumb

Maple Leafs fans will be cartwheeling with delight at a trade that many believed couldn’t happen

Dion Phaneuf
Dion Phaneuf (right) is heading to the Senators. Photograph: John E Sokolowski/USA Today Sports

NHL trades don’t have to be zero sum games. Fans and media love to assign wins and losses to each deal as they get made, on the assumption that what’s good for one team must be bad for the other, but that’s not really how it works. Some trades can be win-win, some are lose-lose, and most need to be evaluated as two separate entities, with one side having little if anything to do with the other.

All of which is good news for the Ottawa Senators, because man, Tuesday’s Dion Phaneuf blockbuster sure looks like a monster win for the Toronto Maple Leafs.

The deal sees the Leafs send their captain (and highest paid player) to the Senators, along with minor-leaugers Matt Frattin, Casey Bailey, Ryan Rupert and Cody Donaghey, in exchange for Jared Cowen, Milan Michalek and Colin Greening, prospect Tobias Lindberg and a second round pick in 2017. That’s a lot of names, but in reality we can scale the deal down to something much simpler: it’s Phaneuf and some contract slots for a pick, a prospect and enough short-term salary dumps to balance the books.

The Senators get the best player in the trade – heck, by this time next year, he may be the only NHL player in the trade at all – and based on old-time hockey wisdom, that means they win the deal. But old time hockey wisdom was born before the salary cap and guaranteed eight-figure contracts, and that’s where this gets tricky for Ottawa. Phaneuf carries a cap hit of $7m for this year and five more after it, which is a ton for a player who’ll turn 31 before the season ends. On a cap ceiling team like the Maple Leafs, that’s daunting. For a budget team like the Senators, it could be a disaster.

But that’s for down the road. In the short term, the Sens get a player who’ll help them make a late push for a playoff spot, and the contracts they offloaded mean they’ll actually save money through next season. And while Phaneuf was badly miscast for years in Toronto as a No1 defenseman who was expected to play in all situations, maybe he rediscovers some of his best game in a situation where he’s no longer expected to be both a workhorse and the face of the franchise. It’s not hard to see this working out fine for Ottawa, at least for a little while. This doesn’t look like a disaster for the Senators.

But even given all of that, this still feels like the Maple Leafs being handed a gift by their one-time arch-enemies. If you’d gone up to any Leafs fan before news of the deal broke and told them that the team would be able to trade Dion Phaneuf for a solid prospect and a decent pick without taking back any long-term deals or retaining even one dollar of salary, they’d have laughed at you. Those fans aren’t laughing now, only because they’re too busy cartwheeling down the street in gleeful disbelief.

From the moment Phaneuf signed his extension in 2013, it felt like a deal that would represent marginal value if all went well and be completely untradeable if it didn’t. And while the blueliner was never nearly as bad as a certain type of Maple Leaf fans insisted on making him out to be, he couldn’t live up to the massive expectations the franchise continually dumped on him. When the Leafs set out to explore trading him, first at least year’s deadline and then again during the offseason, most of the hockey world scoffed. Good luck with that, Toronto.

On Tuesday, good luck arrived, and the Leafs are now free of the only truly bad contract they had left on their books. The deals of Greening, Cowen and Michalek were a problem in Ottawa, but they don’t especially matter for Toronto – all three contracts expire next year, well before the Leafs will be ready to contend again, and Cowen’s even carries a rare cap credit if the Leafs buy him out.

So the Leafs traded an untradeable contract, and even managed to get two future assets back in return. That’s a great deal. And more importantly, it’s yet another piece of evidence that the team’s new management group really does know what it’s doing. Brendan Shanahan, Lou Lamoriello and friends in the front office keep making good decisions, both big and small, and Mike Babcock’s reclamation project on Phaneuf has already paid off. There’s no guarantee that any of that continues, of course, and no assurances that all those steps forward ever add up to anything more than near-misses and disappointment. But after years of being the franchise that was too dumb to realize it was the big sucker at the poker table, watching the Maple Leafs slowly but surely navigate themselves back to something resembling respectability has been fascinating.

And again, the Maple Leafs getting smart doesn’t mean that the Senators just got dumb. There’s room for this deal to work for both teams. But the risk here all seems to be on one side, and it’s the side that just found itself in possession of a long-term commitment to a player who may not have the skillset to live up to it. And the Senators had better hope that this can all pay off in the short term, because they just helped the future get even brighter for their rebuilding rivals down the road.


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Farrah Abraham Swimsuit Pic
This photo of Farrah Abraham in a swimsuit might be hot in an alternate universe, but she basically looks like a mannequin.

Rating: 5.0 / 5.0 (1 Vote)
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Farrah Abraham Quotes

I felt some pain, but I was a sex warrior and I moaned louder to get Jimmy more aroused. I knew I shouldn't have been tricking myself into not feeling pain, what with my period and incisions.

I was more than ready for a shower. I didn't do a bukkake scene, but it felt like it. My body was swimming with Jimmy semen.


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If you line up the events of the past two weeks in Washington with the statements made by politicians about them, it’s more or less impossible to make sense of the deal struck between the White House and Congressional Republicans, which would extend the Bush tax cuts for two more years and unemployment benefits for thirteen months, with some additional stimulative tax cuts thrown in.

The Republicans have spent two years—an entire election cycle and postelection victory lap—repeating with tourettic persistence dire warnings about the existential threat posed by large deficits and mounting government debt.

And yet, amazingly, these same Republicans (and a few conservative Democrats), who love to offer lectures about the necessity of shared sacrifice, also spent the week demanding that all the Bush tax cuts be made permanent, a policy that would increase the debt over the next ten years by an astounding $3.3 trillion. Occasionally, you would find politicians oscillating madly between these two positions in the same paragraph or media appearance, reaching its reductio ad absurdum with a blog post about Kent Conrad’s views on the matter that George Stephanopoulos headlined: Sen. Conrad: Extend All Tax Cuts; Time to Get ‘Serious’ About Deficit.

This apparent contradiction makes sense only if you understand what has become so manifestly obvious that writing it out makes me bored and angry: conservatives do not care about deficits or the national debt. Nothing they have done over the past several decades—from the record deficits of the Reagan and Bush/DeLay years to their party-line opposition to nearly every legislative measure (public option healthcare reform, cap and trade) that would reduce the deficit—suggests otherwise. The great spokesman for the so-called fiscal hawks in the GOP caucus, Wisconsin’s Paul Ryan, not only voted against the largely conservative recommendations of the president’s deficit commission but in 2003 cast the deciding vote for Medicare Part D, a corporate giveaway and entitlement expansion that was unfunded and will, according to the Washington Post‘s Ezra Klein, add "$400 billion to the deficit in the first 10 years, and trillions more in the decades after that."

What Republicans do care about is defending the incomes of the country’s wealthiest, distributing income upward and cutting taxes in order to make progressive governance impossible. Obama was right to say in his press conference that tax cuts for the rich are the Republicans’ Holy Grail.

Which is why they were fine with throwing in that bunch of new tax cuts with the Bush tax-cut extension, at a cost of more than $300 billion. They know that by extending the upper-income cuts now, not to mention the historically low (35 percent) rate of estate taxes, they have all but foreclosed the possibility of rates being raised in two years. Tax cuts today. Tax cuts tomorrow. Tax cuts forever.

And what of the White House? Well, it seemed to enter the past few weeks with the upper hand. In September John Boehner said that if faced with a choice between extending only the middle-class tax cuts or no cuts at all, he’d suck it up and vote for the White House’s preferred option. Obama campaigned in 2008 on allowing the Bush tax cuts for top earners to lapse—it was a central plank of his platform. The deficit hysteria provided a useful rhetorical tool to highlight the budget-busting cost of those cuts—$700 billion over ten years—and also allowed Obama to make a basic case for equity. According to The Huffington Post, Obama had "described the Bush-era program that he’s now adopting as his own as ‘tax cuts for millionaires and billionaires’ no fewer than 50 times."

Despite Republican attempts to carp about "raising taxes on job creators," the public, in poll after poll, has expressed majority support for extending the tax cuts for those who earn less than $250,000 and letting the cuts for top earners expire. A December 2 CBS poll found that by a 2 to 1 margin Americans favor allowing the tax cuts for top earners to expire over extending all of them.

What’s more, the official Republican position, expressed in a letter signed by all forty-two GOP senators, was that they would not allow the Senate to vote on anything until the tax cuts were extended. With 2 million people set to lose their unemployment benefits in December, this meant that the GOP was ready to put 2 million Americans out on the streets the week before Christmas, unless millionaires got tax cuts!

So why did the White House compromise? It was partly the familiar logic of the filibuster. The forty-two senators really can, under current rules, shut down the chamber and stall a vote on the Dream Act or "don’t ask, don’t tell." But part of it was that the final deal, despite White House protestations, was likely not far from what Obama wanted. It’s essentially what former OMB director Peter Orszag advocated in his first New York Times column, penned just a few weeks after leaving the administration.

My sense is that the White House economic and political team is starting to panic as they recognize the stubborn persistence of unemployment. They know the economy needs more stimulus, and that Republicans are loath to allow them to deliver it. Through this deal they were able to secure some stimulative tax cuts, like the payroll tax reduction. Briefing liberal writers, the White House sold the plan as stimulus 2.0. And even if tax cuts for the rich aren’t stimulative, it’s money into the economy. At this point, the White House will take what it can get.

It’s the standard bribery model of legislating that has come to characterize Washington in the era of oligarchy: if you want to put food on the table of the unemployed, you must lavishly wine and dine the CEOs and bankers who laid them off. Obama didn’t create this system, but he is making it stronger before our very eyes.


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The new tool is designed to help organizations achieve more sustainable fit-outs. Anybody interested in fitting out an office building in a more environmentally sustainable way can use the method to carry out an informal self-assessment of the environmental performance of their fit-out; commission a quality assured assessment and certificate from an RICS accredited Ska assessor; obtain clear guidance on good practice in fit-out and how to implement it, and benchmark the performance of fit-outs against each other and the rest of the industry.

This programme discusses the details of the scheme and considers how it works in practice.


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Spice up your kitchen with turmeric

Ancient ingredient a rising star in modern food trends packs a ton of health benefits.

Turmeric is one of the main spices in curry powders. The ancient ingredient is becoming a popular latte flavour.
Turmeric is one of the main spices in curry powders. The ancient ingredient is becoming a popular latte flavour.  (Dreamstime)

Have you tried a turmeric latte yet? If not, you might want to — if you want to stay on top of the latest nutrition trends, that is. According to the recently released report, “Think with Google’s Food Trends for 2016,” turmeric is the No. 1 rising star in food-related searches, outpacing other red-hot trends like bone broth and kefir. Interest in turmeric has caused a 56-per-cent spike in searches from November 2015 to January 2016 alone, and even Gwyneth Paltrow has gotten in on the action, touting the now-famous turmeric latte on her lifestyle website, goop.

Why is this ancient spice such a big deal these days? We’ve assembled a primer to bring you up to speed.

What is turmeric?

Turmeric is a spice derived from the roots of the Curcumin longa plant, which is native to Southeast Asia. Perhaps best known for providing the distinct flavour behind curry dishes, turmeric contains a class of active compounds known as curcuminoids, which are not only responsible for turmeric’s yellow-orange hue, but are also thought to provide health benefits. The most active and best-studied curcuminoid of all is curcumin, which is often extracted from turmeric and sold as a supplement.

What does it do (at least theoretically)?

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Turmeric has anti-inflammatory functions that are similar to omega-3 fatty acids, the key type of fat found in fatty fish, like salmon. That could translate to potential benefits for heart and joint health, and indeed, several studies suggest curcuminoids could help reduce symptoms of osteoarthritis, the painful condition caused by the breakdown of the cartilage cushion between joints, to an extent similar to the anti-inflammatory ibuprofen, and with fewer digestive side-effects.

Other studies suggest curcumin could help manage digestive disorders. In one study, more than half of patients with ulcerative colitis found themselves in remission after taking 3,000 mg of curcumin per day for four weeks compared with none of the patients given a placebo.

There are also suggestions curcumin could help prevent the onset of diabetes, control blood pressure, and even minimize muscle soreness after exercise, though not all studies have produced positive results. A number of studies on animals and human cells also suggest curcumin could have anti-cancer effects, and at least one study demonstrated that taking two or four grams of curcumin per day for a month was associated with slower development of pre-cancerous changes in the colon of in smokers.

How can you use it in food?

Turmeric is one of the main spices in curry powders. Since the amount of active curcuminoids in curry powders varies, you can try adding a bit of extra turmeric to your favourite curry for a healthful punch. Turmeric can also be used to add a flavour kick to a number of common vegetables, most notably cauliflower, but also green beans, not to mention pulses such as chick peas and lentils.

If you want to be on trend, however, then the turmeric latte is definitely the way to go. While numerous variations exist, the most common ingredients are turmeric (usually 1/2 to 1 tsp of ground turmeric per serving), ginger (1 to 1-1/2 tsp per serving), a cup of milk (dairy or non-dairy — your choice), and something to add a bit of sweetness, like maple syrup, coconut sugar, vanilla extract, or — gasp — table sugar. Warm all the ingredients together on a stovetop, and whisk or froth together before serving.

You might have noticed that there is something missing in this latte, and you’d be right: It’s caffeine-free because it contains no coffee. So really, it’s more like a turmeric hot chocolate — without the chocolate.

What about supplements?

If you’re looking to use turmeric therapeutically, your best bet is probably to take it via a supplement. While there’s no accepted dose of turmeric used to treat or prevent specific health conditions, many studies have used 500 to 1,500 mg of curcumin per day, with a varying outcomes. Unfortunately, curcumin is poorly absorbed in our digestive tract, which means only a small fraction ends up in our blood stream. While researchers are experimenting with different formulations to increase curcumin’s potency, taking it with a meal that contains some fat may help. While turmeric is fairly safe, at least one study suggests high doses can cause initially stomach upset for some individuals.


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Terminator gunning to save lives

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is staring down anti-abortion opponents of stem-cell research with a warning to leave religion out of politics and health.

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is staring down anti-abortion opponents of stem-cell research with a warning to leave religion out of politics and health.

Schwarzenegger, in Toronto yesterday to sign accords with Premier Dalton McGuinty on collaborating with Ontario to fight cancer and curb climate change, said saving lives is paramount.

"I always said that you should not have your religion interfere with government policies or with the policies of the people," the former action film superstar turned politician told hundreds of people at the MaRS Discovery District research centre.

"I am a Catholic and a very dedicated Catholic, but that does not interfere with my decision-making because I know that stem-cell research, the way we are doing it in California ... is the right way to go and will save, very quickly down the line, lives and cure a lot of these illnesses," he said.

After signing a deal with McGuinty for a new joint research initiative between California and Ontario scientists, Schwarzenegger recounted his personal interest in the subject.

"I have a father-in-law, Sargent Shriver, who has Alzheimer's," he said of the 91-year-old husband of Eunice Kennedy Shriver, sister of late U.S. president John F. Kennedy.

"Now, Sargent Shriver, I'll tell you was one of the most brilliant minds in the world. He was working under the Johnson administration, the Kennedy administration, started the Peace Corps, the Jobs Corps, like I said, brilliant, brilliant," the governor said.

"Today, he does not even recognize his wife," he said. "Alzheimer's is a terrible disease and this is why I am so very passionate about supporting (research)."

Abortion foes are against stem-cell research because microscopic embryos, usually donated by fertility clinics, are destroyed in the process.

McGuinty, a fellow Catholic praised by Schwarzenegger for his "fantastic" support for the research, said he understood those with religious or ethical concerns.

"I would argue ... there's one moral imperative that transcends all faiths, all culture and all traditions, it would be this fundamental desire to relieve pain and suffering and death where we find it," said the premier, who announced $30 million from the Ontario Institute for Cancer Research will be earmarked for the Cancer Stem Cell Consortium of researchers here and in California.

"I'm confident we can strike the right balance between respecting people's sensitivities and ... we have some laws in the books here in Canada that ensure that."

The pair also signed a deal on the grand staircase at Queen's Park that will see Ontario adopt California's standard requiring producers of transportation fuels to reduce carbon emissions from their gasoline and diesel 10 per cent by 2020.

The governor said he's not disappointed that Ontario – the leading auto-producing jurisdiction in North America – wouldn't adopt California's tougher standards for auto tailpipe emissions.

Security at Queen's Park for the governor's visit was tight with extra police and sniffer dogs. Protesters unfurled a huge banner as McGuinty and Schwarzenegger rode in a motorcade for the two-block trip from Queen's Park to MaRS.

"They should walk or bicycle and breathe the same air as we have to," said Ivona Vujica of the Paradigm Shift Environmental Alliance, holding a banner urging McGuinty to "Terminate coal plants," a reference to the premier's broken promise to close heavily polluting coal-fired electricity plants this year, as well as to Schwarzenegger's tough "Terminator" film role.


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B.C. woman bringing sentimental tsunami debris back to Japanese man

A 23-year-old B.C. woman is flying to Japan to return a fishing pallet to its rightful owner after it was washed away during the 2011 tsunami.

Hanako Yokota (left) and Karla Robison load a fishing pallet for its long journey from Ucluelet, B.C. to reunite with a man in Japan who says the etched item reminds him of his past.
Hanako Yokota (left) and Karla Robison load a fishing pallet for its long journey from Ucluelet, B.C. to reunite with a man in Japan who says the etched item reminds him of his past.  (THE CANADIAN PRESS)

VANCOUVER—A B.C. woman will board a plane Monday to return a piece of Japanese tsunami debris that washed ashore after the deadly 2011 earthquake, ending a cleanup in the province while reconnecting a fisherman half a world away with his father’s past.

Hanako Yokota, 23, who worked on the debris cleanup near Ucluelet, B.C., is returning a plastic fishing pallet to a Japanese man who recognized it as equipment passed down from his father after seeing the distinctive markings etched on its side.

Yokota’s trip will conclude a two-year cleanup effort by the District of Ucluelet and a student club called the Japan Love Project that removed up to 10 tonnes of tsunami debris from B.C. shores.

“It’s like a final mission,” said Yokota, who is originally from Yokohama.

In March, Japan Love helped a volunteer group from Japan travel to the West Coast to clean up tsunami debris that washed ashore in the Pacific Rim National Park Reserve.

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Volunteers found the 34-kilogram pallet, and writing on the equipment allowed them to trace it back to the Minami Sanriku region in Japan, which was hit hard by the 2011 tsunami.

A volunteer who returned to Japan showed a picture of the pallet to a local oyster fisherman, who asked for it to be returned after he recognized the inscription on the pallet as name of his boat. The pallet was given to him by his father, who also fished for oysters.

The volunteer contacted Yokota, who will be giving the fisherman back his pallet.

Many fishermen in the region had their possessions swept away during the 2011 tsunami, Yokota said, and items with historical or sentimental value were lost forever. That’s why bringing the pallet back to the fisherman is so important.

“This pallet that he’s been using for generations means a lot to him, because it reminds him of his past,” Yokota said.

Karla Robison, who also helped manage the cleanup, said the item is highly valued because most fishing gear manufactured before 2011 was lost in the disaster.

“This pallet has been used for many, many years up and down the coast of Japan,” said Robison. “The majority of the fishing gear was replaced with new material because all the older gear was swept away, and so this pallet can act as a relic.”

Robison, who is the environmental and emergency service manager of the District of Ucluelet, said reuniting the fisherman with the equipment helps strengthen relationships between Canada and Japan.

“It acts as a reminder to everybody to show their respects to all those affected,” she said. “It also acts as a reminder for both countries — and other countries located in that ring of fire — to be prepared for emergencies.”

“It also helps to illustrate the strong bonds that we have between Japan and Canada, and it showcases how we’re connected by the Pacific Ocean.”

“It’s quite amazing,” said Robison. “Everybody that’s been part of these cleanup programs really hopes this fisherman and his family and the community he resides in can find peace and comfort and fond memories and inspiration from this item.”

Mayor Bill Irving of Ucluelet said his district had been very active in the collection of tsunami debris.

“We are pleased to participate in the return of this item to its original owner and are thankful it brings some comfort to his family in Japan,” he said in written statement.

The March 2011 earthquake disaster in Japan killed about 19,000 people. The quake also triggered a tsunami and multiple meltdowns at the Fukushima nuclear power plant.

The Japanese government said the tsunami swept an estimated 1.5 million tonnes of debris into the Pacific Ocean. The items have been widely dispersed by ocean currents and winds. Heavier debris sank close to Japanese shores while lighter materials have clustered in debris fields in the ocean.


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Clause 55 - Monitor

Part of Health and Social Care(Re-Committed) Bill – in a Public Bill Committee at 9:15 am on 7th July 2011.

Alert me about debates like this

Photo of Tom Blenkinsop Tom Blenkinsop Labour, Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland 9:15 am, 7th July 2011

The point is that the NHS was subject to the Competition Act, as are all services in the UK. However, as the Minister should know, the NHS is covered under category B services in the European competition rules and is therefore exempt from the Act’s full requirements. The notion that the NHS was already subject to the Competition Act in the same way that this Bill is writing it in—forcing the NHS to be a player in the market rather than the market itself—is wholly untrue.

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AT&T DirecTV

Welcome to this week’s edition of “The Week in Tech,” where we recap some of the most interesting technology and mobile stories from the past week.

This week we cover AT&T’s deal for DirecTV, Apple’s talks to buy Beats, the new Square Order app, new features for Yelp and Twitter, and the continuing net neutrality saga.

AT&T to Buy DirecTV

Following Comcast’s purchase of Time Warner Cable, the consolidation in the TV business continues, as AT&T is in talks to buy satellite TV provider DirecTV for about $50 billion.

The move would significantly expand AT&T’s national TV footprint. The company’s digital TV service, U-Verse, currently has 5.7 million subscribers, while DirecTV has about 20 million.

The issue with these mega-deals is whether they’ll pass antitrust regulation. TV industry lawyers will certainly be busy this year.

Apple to purchase Beats Electronics

Apple is making a big move to grow its streaming music business (and maybe launch smart headphones?) by pursuing a purchase of Beats Electronics for $3.2 billion.

This would be Apple’s largest acquisition by far, with the closest being NeXT for $400 million in 1996. The company is under pressure to launch the another big product, as iPhone and iPad sales have stagnated lately.

Will the addition of Beats Music help Apple compete against Spotify and Pandora? Will selling headphones help Apple get into the wearables game? $3.2 billion is a lot of money to spend to answer these questions.

Square launches pre-order app, nixes Square Wallet

Square has shuttered its mobile payments app, Square Wallet, and launched Square Order, an app that allows customers to order food and beverage ahead of time from vendors who use their point-of-sale software.

Square Wallet was a big bet by the company, and despite a big partnership with Starbucks, it ultimately failed because it just didn’t offer much more utility than swiping a credit card to pay for something. Square hopes that Order will achieve a higher level of adoption and drive more customers to businesses.

Read more at Recode.

New app features for Yelp and Twitter

Yelp announced a free restaurant reservation system this week called Yelp Reservations. The company already offers a subscription-based reservation service through its purchase of SeatMe last year that charges restaurants $99 a month, and users can book reservations on the site through a partnership with OpenTable. In essence, Yelp has become a frenemy of OpenTable and itself. Weird.

Oh man, have we all been waiting for this Twitter feature. The microblogging service has rolled out a “Mute” feature that lets you remove a user’s tweets from your feed. All of our streams just became less cluttered.

FCC accepts new net neutrality framework but opens rules to debate

The FCC agreed to accept Commissioner Tom Wheeler’s new net neutrality rules but also voted to open the framework up for public debate.

Basically, very little has changed and the net neutrality battle rages on with no horizon in sight.

Like this post? Then follow us on Twitter – @thorntech and @mikewchan – for future updates.


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Hello from Sweden :D

Discussion in 'Introduce Yourself' started by thediyman2015, Jun 22, 2016.

tinnitus forum
    1. thediyman2015

      thediyman2015 Member

      Tinnitus Since:
      I was a kid
      Cause of Tinnitus:
      machines, tractors, others
      Hi everyone! I'am Thediyman2015 and now i'am going to tell you my story of my tinnitus and the reason I have it.

      It started off when I was a small kid. My dad used chainsaws, tractors and other fun stuff. I loved watching him driving the tractor, but it was propably to loud for my ears. I remember saying to my mom ''I can hear beep sounds in my ears''. Back in the day I didn't know what tinnitus was, and my mom didn't understand what I meant with ''I can hear beep sounds in my ears''. Over the years it's gotten worse. When I was a kid it was easy to forget about the tinnitus because in my brain I converted the beep sound into firewood circular saw sounds and I really loved that sound when I was a kid and I still do today. When I was a kid I did not have a hard time sleeping at all. Because as I said, I converted the tinnitus sound into saw machines sounds which I really like to listen to. But nowadays everything has changed. My tinnitus has gotten a lot louder/worse. It can be really REALLY hard to sleep. So what I do is I watch youtube videos on my tablet when I'am in my bed before I sleep and it seriously helps. It makes me forget about the tinnitus and makes it a lot easier for me to sleep. But when I wake up the hell starts again. Loud as hell, the only thing that helps is watching a youtube video or listening to some good music in speakers, not headphones because I do not like the bass response of headphones :D Usually I forget about the tinnitus during the day when I'am working with my electronics projects or doing something else. Outside it's fine, I can hear the tinnitus but not that loud (thanks birds!!). Inside it's horrible. I can hear the tinnitus extremely loud. When I'am inside I like playing with my computers and they make noise (thanks fans!!) so when I use my computers I can't hear my tinnitus. But as soon as I turn the computer off... BEEEEEEEEEEEEEP!

      Well... Tinnitus is not fun to have in any way, but I'am enjoying my life anyway :D

      I hope that you are having a nice day and I will see you all later :) /Thediyman2015
      • Like Like x 1
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    2. LukeYoung

      LukeYoung Member

      Queensland, Australia
      Tinnitus Since:
      Cause of Tinnitus:
      A loud concert
      I'm glad you are still enjoying life even with T!

      It's great to hear :)
    3. hoper

      hoper Member

      Tinnitus Since:
      Hello from Austria

      1:4 *cough*

Share This Page

If you have ringing ears then you've come to the right place. We are a friendly tinnitus support board, dedicated to helping you discuss and understand what tinnitus treatments may work for you.


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1989 Alan Trammell Archive Print #400

Price From: $29.99
Product Ribbon 1989 Alan Trammell Archive Print #400

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1989 Alan Trammell Archive Print #400

Price From: $29.99
  • Please select Print Size prior to selecting Frame

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  • Premium Alan Trammel Poster
  • 10.5” x 14”, 17.25” x 21.35” or 23” x 31” Unframed
  • Printed on 1/64” cotton fine art paper
  • Embossed with Topps Archives official seal
  • 2” flat wood or metallic frame*
  • Glare-resistant glass*

*Framed prints only
Orders ship within 4 days

This print started out as a baseball card more than twenty years ago. Every aspect of it is designed to preserve the original look and feel of the card, from the printing pattern to the slightly worn edges. In fact, this print started by finding the actual card in our vault and then painstakingly re-mastering it with a team of designers. The authenticity extends to manufacturing; each print is made on high-quality, cotton fine art paper that measures 1/64 inches in thickness. Framed prints feature 2-inch flat wood or metallic frames with high-end, glare-resistant glass. And all prints are officially licensed by MLB and the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

The 1989 season was a struggle for the Tigers as they had one of their worst seasons in franchise history with 103 losses. It also was a struggle for shortstop Alan Trammell, shown in this '89 Topps card. After making two straight All-Star teams and winning back-to-back Silver Slugger Awards, Trammell slipped to a .243 average with five home runs and 43 RBIs.

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TRU Patch v1 1

  • Download 5x Faster
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TRU Patch v1 1

Free and Direct Download with 300GB+ free

Torrent info

Name:TRU Patch v1 1

Total Size: 105.29 MB

Magnet: Magnet Link

Seeds: 1

Leechers: 5

Stream: Watch Online @ Movie4u

Last Updated: 2010-09-12 13:26:35 (Update Now)

Torrent added: 2008-12-17 02:44:30

Torrent Files List

TRU_Patch_v1.1.rar (Size: 105.29 MB) (Files: 1)

105.29 MB

Announce URL:

Torrent description

heres the 1.1 patch for Tomb Raider Underworld:

Here is the fix list:

- Inability of users to map the mouse buttons.
- Inability of users to map the ‘center camera’ button.
- Some occasional crash fixes.
- Graphics card stability:
+ A change to re-enable use of some graphics card features on ATI hardware, with their latest drivers.
+ Progress has been made towards addressing stalling on GeForce 6/7 series hardware.
- Fixed compatibility issues with certain Realtek sound drivers which could cause crashes.
- Autosaves now made for each chapter. Number of save slots is increased to accommodate these.
- Bug with ramp not raising in Xibalba.
- Fixed black screen deadlock when skipping doppelganger cinematic.
- Issue with door lever at Kraken room entrance.
- Occasional control issue during headshot move.
- Fixed an occasional problem when entering a save game filename.
- Some PDA fixes.
- Some cinematic subtitle fixes.

some users negative comments on the patch

if anyone can provide a crack for this please let us know..
also how good it works for you
heres the http link i got it from

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Europharma - Healthy Ligaments & Tendons 60cap Europharma - Healthy Ligaments & Tendons 60cap

SKU: 67703-34006    UPC: 367703340063

Suggested Retail Price: $25.95  SRP
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Europharma Healthy Ligaments and Tendons
Supports Elasticity and Strength of Ligaments and Tendons
Product Number: 34006 - 60 Capsules
Dietary Supplement

Recommendations: 2 capsules daily, or as needed.

Ligaments and tendons, which connect joints together and connects muscles to bones, are formed from bands of connective tissue.
Healthy Ligaments and Tendons contains a combination of ingredients to support:

• Healthy connective tissue formation
• Activation of collagen production
• Strong, stable ligaments and tendons

Healthy Ligaments and Tendons is ideal for supporting flexible, elastic connective tissue formation, especially in the hands, wrists, elbows, shoulders, knees, and heels.

Serving Size: 2 Capsules
Servings Per Container: 30 Capsules Amount/Serving Daily Value
Vitamin C (as ascorbic acid) 500 mg 833%
Niacinamide 200 mg 1,000%
Vitamin B6 (as pyridoxal-5-phosphate) 40 mg 2,000%
Vitamin B12 (as methylcobalamin) 500 mcg 8,333%
Magnesium (as amino acid chelate) 75 mg 18%
Zinc (as amino acid chelate) 10 mg 66%
Manganese (as amino acid chelate) 36 mg 1,800%
Bromelain (2400 GDU) 100 mg **
Boswellia (Boswellia Serrata) Gum Resin Extract 250 mg **
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Body, Water Pump PART #: 4131A062

Body, Water Pump

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Part # 4131A062

Product Fit

Check if this product fits your machine type, make and model

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Did your Kioti body give up on you? We're here to help. Our replacement 4131A062 body is built tough and fits the Kioti DK90 tractor properly. We strive to keep your Kioti running for the long term, which is why we sell quality parts that are built to last.

It can be pricey to replace a body on the Kioti DK90. Thats why we sell new high quality bodies direct at often lower prices than even a used Kioti body!

We back our parts with an industry leading warranty. Whether you have just the DK90 or other machines, it's important to keep your equipment running smoothly. So when something breaks in your Kioti, TractorJoe can help.

Body, Water Pump

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#6 Copper Metal Gasket (20/pk) PART #: 450-462

#6 Copper Metal Gasket (20/pk)
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Part # 450-462
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#6 Copper Metal Gasket (20/pk)

PART #: 450-462

Price: $39.79

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Compressor w/ Clutch - New PART #: 8814622241

Compressor w/ Clutch - New
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Part Number 8814622241
Product Specific Notes (1) 1) 5' 2 Groove Seltec/Tama TM16, 12V, w/ 8 & 10 Vert. O-Ring Manifold, w/ Service Ports, 134a, Pag 100, 6 oz. - New
Product Specific Notes (2) 2) Compressor 88146222 w/ Manifold 88141, Replacement Clutch 885029, Replacement HPRV 8851000
Product Specific Notes (3) 2) Always Flush A/C System & Replace Receiver Drier & Expansion Valve When Replacing Compressor to Validate Warranty.
Compressor w/ Clutch - New

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The Greenest Government Yet

Posted by Chloe Bennett on 16th May 2011

On Tuesday, a long term programme said to reduce carbon emission is to be announced. This is expected to detail exactly how Britain will commit to two decades of drastic carbon emissions reductions and make them legally binding. This will put the UK ahead of almost any other country that is changing their ways for a greener world and this move supports his promise of ‘the greenest government ever.’

The legally binding agreement is intended to put the UK on-track to reduce carbon emissions 80% below 1990 levels by the year 2050, and 60% by 2030.

This commitment to renewable energy stimulates the formation of such industries and installers job opportunities. Imagine the installations the UK will have to create by the year 2030 if 6o% of carbon emissions are to be reduced.

Image Source @ tangerine-digital-pr.blogspot.com

Categories: green deal, decc, renewable energy, government, solar pv


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Pochette Swirl Design Rare Shoulder Bag

Measurements: 8"L x 4.7"H x 3"W
Price: $498.00

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Available for your consideration is a timeless addition to any Bottega Veneta wardrobe. This is the ultimate evening, BV SILVER NAPPA LEATHER Limited Edition Mini Shoulder Pochette Bag or Wristlet. Add in the iconic Intrecciato weave, the two strap options -- mini wristlet strap or short pochette shoulder strap, and matching silver hardware, and you have your favorite BV piece for parties or evening events.

Hand crafted in Italy of super-luxurious, silver leather with an intriguing swirl-effect motif design. This beauty is in excellent pre-loved, condition and measures approximately 4.7" tall (not counting the top wristlet strap) by 8" long by 3" deep. The braided strap will give you an 8 inch opening approximately. The interior of the bag is in clean condition and houses the BV hallmark as shown. What an adorable and glamorous BV choice at a super price!

8"L x 4.7"H x 3"W

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