Book Brief #11: A Bunch of Journals

<i>"Book Briefs" are an ongoing series of posts with two- or three-sentence first-hand descriptions of some of the numerous books that make their way into my library. These briefs are not full-blown reviews, but they are a way to share more books worthy of attention than can find their way into reviews on my <a href="http://archidose.blogspot.com/search/label/book-review">daily</a> or <a href="http://www.archidose.org/books/books.html">weekly</a> pages.</i><br /><br /><img alt="BB11-1.jpg" src="http://www.archidose.org/Blog/BB11-1.jpg" title="Covers" /><br /><br /><b>1: <a href="http://www.mascontext.com/14-communication-summer-2012/"><span style="font-style: italic;">MAS Context 14: Communication</span></a> | MAS Studio | Summer 2012 </b><br />MAS Context is a quarterly journal created by Chicago's MAS Studio, led by Editor in Chief Iker Gil. The main idea driving the journal is the multidisciplinary responses to a particular topic for each issue. Those responding to issue 14's theme of communication include the <a href="http://welcometocup.org/">Center for Urban Pedagogy</a>, <a href="http://klaustoon.wordpress.com/">Klaus</a>, <a href="http://www.fashionarchitecturetaste.com/">Sam Jacob</a>, <a href="http://www.craightonberman.com/">Craighton Berman</a>, Oriol Tarragó, and a bunch of international curators. Respectively they are coming at communication from civic policy, architectural criticism/cartooning, architectural practice, illustration, sound design, and exhibitions; and that's about half of the issue. <i>Communication</i> is a good balance of text (essays, interviews) and images (illustrations, visual essays) that are well-dispersed throughout the issue to make it a good browse and read. The theme is open-ended enough to invite varied responses from the contributors, but it's also a topic that is timely, what with more (and faster) means of communication at our disposal than ever before. Consensus is hardly to be expected, but the issue illustrates that what we communicate is as important (if not more so) than how. <br /><br /><b>2: <a href="http://www.candidejournal.net/current-issue/"><span style="font-style: italic;">Candide — Journal for Architectural Knowledge — 5</span></a> | Department of Architecture Theory RWTH Aachen | 2012 | <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/8415391056?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creativeASIN=8415391056&linkCode=xm2&tag=aweeklydoseof-20">Amazon</a></b><br /><i>Candide</i> is a bilingual (German, English) journal that is published twice a year. Unlike <i>MAS Context</i> no theme is given, but within the pages of each issue are five sections: Essay, Analysis, Project, Encounters, Fiction; this has been consistent since the <a href="http://archidose.blogspot.com/2010/04/candide-round-table.html">first issue</a>. In the fifth issue, Essay and Fiction feature short texts by a number of contributors. For Encounters, Ian Pepper examines <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/usbdevice/916037659/">Richard Serra's sculpture</a> appended to the end of Robert Maillart's viaduct in Grandfey, an installation I was not familiar with but wish I knew of before my <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/archidose/sets/72157631222068264/">recent trip to Switzerland</a>. Claire Zimmerman traces "architectural knowledge from Rudolf Wittkower to Reyner Banham," or from "legibility of form" to "memorability as an image." But the highlight for me is Project: Marcus Garvey Park Village, the Institute for Architecture and Urban Studies' only realized building. The thorough and multi-faceted history and oral history by Kim Förster reveals not only the commendable architectural design but also the greater intentions of the Institute and other parties (MoMA, UDC). Elsewhere the project might not be deserving of such attention, but it's a fascinating story that also captures New York City and the broader architectural culture in the 1970s.<br /><br /><b>3: <a href="http://www.oasejournal.nl/en/Issues/87"><span style="font-style: italic;">OASE #87: Alan Colquhoun</span></a> | OASE Foundation and nai010 Publishers | 2012 | <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/9056628550?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creativeASIN=9056628550&linkCode=xm2&tag=aweeklydoseof-20">Amazon</a></b><br />It's been many years since I've picked up my copy of Alan Colquhoun's <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004UNU59O?ie=UTF8&tag=aweeklydoseof-20&linkCode=xm2&camp=1789&creativeASIN=B004UNU59O"><i>Essays in Architectural Criticism</i></a> (Opposition Books, 1981) to read his takes on modern architecture, Le Corbusier, typology, or Robert Venturi. While those topics rise to the fore among his writings, what I never realized until #87 of OASE was the quality of Colquhoun's architectural output. At the beginning of this journal looking at three sides of the man—architecture, history, criticism—is a short section documenting some of his projects, most with Colquhoun, Miller and Partners. What follows are essays by Kenneth Frampton (who introduced the collection of essays from 1981), Owen Hatherley, Michiel Riedijk, Sanislas von Moos, and others on Le Corbusier, typology, and so forth. The issue ends with the editors interviewing Colquhoun about his career and his views on how criticism, history, and theory have evolved in the last five decades.<br /><br /><img alt="BB11-2.jpg" src="http://www.archidose.org/Blog/BB11-2.jpg" title="Covers" /><br /><br /><b>4: <a href="http://jia.sipa.columbia.edu/future-city"><span style="font-style: italic;">Journal of International Affairs: The Future of the City</span></a> | Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs | Spring/Summer 2012 | <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007WF1T7Y?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creativeASIN=B007WF1T7Y&linkCode=xm2&tag=aweeklydoseof-20">Amazon</a></b><br />The year 2012 marks the 65th anniversary of Columbia's <i>Journal of International Affairs</i>, which started after World War II as "a forum for exploring topics of global concern." Based on the longstanding belief that "innovative solutions to contemporary problems of international affairs demand interdisciplinary solutions," this issued devoted to the city pulls together architects, sociologists, economists, politicians, and academics of various stripes. Not surprisingly, the writing is quite academic, but a number of interviews (with Rem Koolhaas, Ricky Burdett, Rahul Mehrota, and others) are a plain-spoken alternative to some of the density. The essays and interviews appropriately cover a global context of cities: China, New York, Paris, and Singapore, to name a few. People interested in the future of cities will find much of interest and value in what can ultimately be seen collectively as a positive outlook on urbanism this century. <br /><br /><b>5: <a href="http://www.kerbjournal.com/"><span style="font-style: italic;">Kerb 16: Future Cities</span></a> | RMIT University School of Architecture + Design | 2008 | <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001AP3YCK?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creativeASIN=B001AP3YCK&linkCode=xm2&tag=aweeklydoseof-20">Amazon</a></b><i> </i><br /><i>Kerb</i>, "a progressive design journal focused on contemporary landscape architecture issues from an international and national perspective," is celebrating its 20th issue this year. Issue 16, which I picked up recently in a remainder bin, is focused on "future cities," a broad topic that is surveyed by some familiar names (Alan Berger, Michael Van Valkenburgh, Arakawa + Gins, Arup) among others not as well known. While four years old, the issue's essays are still timely, looking at sustainable urbanism, sprawl, density, and other bits of urbanism. Flipping through it takes me back to Urban Design grad school the year before the issue came out. It's a solid collection of contributions that's very on-topic and ambitious in breadth.

Book Brief #11: A Bunch of Journals

"Book Briefs" are an ongoing series of posts with two- or three-sentence first-hand descriptions of some of the numerous books that make their way into my library. These briefs are not full-blown reviews, but they are a way to share more books wor…

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I Love Conspiracy Theorists

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br />Hola conspiracy theorists! I’m a magnet for weirdos  freaks, creeps, punks, geeks, sportos, motorheads, dweebs, dorks, sluts, butt-heads and mentally unstable. I’m not complaining because that’s what makes life interesting. Also, I often times have very serious concerns about my own mental well-being until I meet one of these people and I feel better about myself. Anyway, people feel free to share their conspiracy theories with me all the time. I thought I would share a few of them with you guys.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1KDVuXLTiumNtYUqGgwU55nz42eh6kn-ilfjZzOaUzcfCr2NtoLVlPgt9Aeux8K0IiKJ-5Vgxm6_i6-qZ7y0Jz_dpvtNVgGdlPhmuBItnmVS91v2k0bix3dARJW82D027SFVfg9EDovg/s1600/Tin+Foil+Hat+Conspiracy+Jay.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="267" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1KDVuXLTiumNtYUqGgwU55nz42eh6kn-ilfjZzOaUzcfCr2NtoLVlPgt9Aeux8K0IiKJ-5Vgxm6_i6-qZ7y0Jz_dpvtNVgGdlPhmuBItnmVS91v2k0bix3dARJW82D027SFVfg9EDovg/s320/Tin+Foil+Hat+Conspiracy+Jay.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><b>Space Junkie:</b> I was walking into Walmart one very hot summer day and there was a truck driver right next to me. I gave him the bro-nod and said “hi” to him and he then asked me “hot enough for ya?” I answered in the affirmative and he then said “I tell you what! If they don’t stop shootin’ stuff off into outer space, they’re gonna make it too damn hot to live here on this planet.”<br /><br />I told him I always thought it had something to do with the positioning of the Earth and Sun during the summer months here in the Northern Hemisphere. “Well, that’s what they tell us, isn’t it?” was his response as he shook his head in bitter disappointment that I had fallen victim to the government weather propaganda machine.<br /><br /><b>Miss Independent:</b> I met a coworker’s mother once who spent every single day of her life defending American Independence from the threat posed by the United Nations. There wasn’t a doubt in her mind that the U.N. was working to take over America first and then the rest of the world would fall into line under a ONE WORLD GOVERNMENT! In fact, for a while in early 1992 she was sure that the great U.N. Coup was underway right under our noses.<br /><br />“If you drive past the National Guard building near the airport, coming from Highway 65, really slow” she told me in hushed tones “and look behind the building … *looks around to see if anyone is listening* … you will see two white Jeeps with blue ‘U.N.’ lettering on them.”<br /><br />I stared at her slack-jawed with wide eyes and loudly whispered “NO SHIT?!?” She nodded knowingly so that I knew that she understood how much fear I was in and she then shushed me in case anyone was listening in. <br /><br /><b>Sovereign Citizen:</b> This guy was my neighbor for a while back in the day. He had a new cell phone and was talking about how he could sign up for alerts from the Power Company and Cable Company when there are outages and stuff. I told him he could also get emergency messages in case of bad weather or even terrorists attacks. Before I could even finish talking he was shaking his head.<br /><br />“I’m not giving the government my phone number dude. No damn way that’s happening!” He fired back. “Hell, I refuse to even give them my social security number when they ask for it on different forms. They just don’t need to have any kind of access to me and my life like that.”  I asked him how giving them his phone number would hurt he replied “If they get my phone number, they can track me pretty easily.”<br /><br />And there are lots and lots more. Most of them pushing some variation of the U.N. takeover of America and even a few who told me about Mexico taking Texas back after the Latino Power Structure takes over the Texas and federal governments. And, there was the barber who explained that all of our problems can be traced to “bad Americans” buying all these foreign cars. Like I said, I love each and every one of these people and thank them for entertaining me so much over the years.<br /><br />Jayman<br /><a href="mailto:Jayman3768@gmail.com">Jayman3768@gmail.com</a><br /><a href="http://twitter.com/jayman_iws" target="_blank">@Jayman_IWS </a><br /><br /></div>

I Love Conspiracy Theorists

Hola conspiracy theorists! I’m a magnet for weirdos  freaks, creeps, punks, geeks, sportos, motorheads, dweebs, dorks, sluts, butt-heads and mentally unstable. I’m not complaining because that’s what makes life interesting. Also, I often times have v…

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A National Mystery

Amidst the media crisis that is the Yankees, there only seems to be three markets that remember that there is <i>another</i> Championship Series going on in baseball right now: San Fransisco, St. Louis, and the MLB Network.<br /><br />I have been prone to dismissing the National League Championship Series, simply because my Tigers aren't in that league, and barely plays any of the teams in that league. Such dismissal happened back in 2006, when I was wrapped up completely in the Tigers' improbable World Series run. That was a big mistake - the St. Louis Cardinals kept cruising after a 7-game series with the New York Mets and beat Detroit in five games. I forgot that not <i>every </i>team was going to roll over for the Tigers in that postseason.<br /><br />I barely heard much of anything about the NLCS this morning as I prepared for work. Actually, I barely heard anything about the ALCS, either. Any baseball news was all about instant replay and how Joe Girardi - who three years ago was insistent that it <i>not</i> be used (I'm not even kidding - <a href="http://www.usatoday.com/story/gameon/2012/10/14/new-york-yankees-manager-joe-girardi-instant-replay-baseball-playoffs/1633563/" target="_blank">USA Today dug up a good quote from the ALDS in 2009</a>) - was adamant that it be instituted as soon as possible.<br /><br />Unfortunately, there was more instant replay controversy in the NLCS tonight, when Jon Jay made a spectacular catch in right field and Allen Craig caught Gregor Blanco at first base on a tag...and none of the umps saw the tag. It wouldn't have ended the inning, but it did allow the Giants to score two more runs in that inning. This isn't going away. <br /><br />I am making an effort to watch more of this NLCS because whoever the NL champion plays in the World Series (please let it be Tigers...), I want to be prepared and have a good idea what kind of Series I'm going to watch.<br /><br />Initially, I had a feeling that St. Louis was the more dangerous team. The Cardinals, going back to last year, have a team where you never know from where the runs are going to come. Between David Freese and Daniel Descalso, who have the ability to fly under the radar till the postseason, their entire lineup is dangerous (I did get the opportunity to see this team in person in June, when they were in Detroit). Meanwhile, San Fransisco lost Melky Cabrera in the summertime due to his doping suspension, but that didn't deter the Giants from crushing a formidable division with pitching that was both outstanding (Matt Cain's perfect game) to middling (Tim Lincecum's below-average season), and surrounding them with reliable offensive juggernauts like Buster Posey, Angel Pagan, and Pablo Sandoval. Game 1 didn't deter my opinion at all.<br /><br />Game 2 was a different story. After a questionable slide into second base by Matt Holliday into Marco Scutaro, the Giants were energized and pounded Cardinals' pitcher Chris Carpenter, while Giants' pitcher Ryan Vogelsong continued his solid pitching in the playoffs, only allowing one run.<br /><br />But if there's any team that would easily halt a momentum swing, it's the Cardinals. Washington tried so hard to drive the Cards away in each game, trying to put a streak together, and the Cardinals would not let it happen. A lot of times a game is decided on streaks. And when a team has the ability to stop a streak, it is admirable...and scary.<br /><br />Make sure to pay attention on the <i>other</i> Championship series, which can display just as much drama and momentum shifts than the ALCS...and with far less media overload.

A National Mystery

Amidst the media crisis that is the Yankees, there only seems to be three markets that remember that there is another Championship Series going on in baseball right now: San Fransisco, St. Louis, and the MLB Network.I have been prone to dismissing th…

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fMRI in court: Neuroscience may change the legal system. - Slate Magazine

<base href="data:"><div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14px; color: black; text-align: left; "><div class="text parbase section" style="margin: 1.5em 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: verdana, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 18px; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; "><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; "><em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; font-style: italic; ">his article arises from Future Tense, a partnership of <strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; font-weight: bold; ">Slate</strong>, the New America Foundation, and Arizona State University that explores emerging technologies and their implications for public policy and for society. On Monday, Oct. 22, Future Tense will host "My Brain Made Me Do It," an event in Washington, D.C., on how the legal system will adapt to changes in neuroscience. For more information and to RSVP, or to watch the live stream, </em><a href="http://futuretense.newamerica.net/events/2012/my_brain_made_me_do_it" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(86, 129, 140); text-decoration: none; "><em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; font-style: italic; ">visit the New America Foundation's website</em></a><em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; font-style: italic; ">.</em></div></div><div class="text parbase section" style="margin: 1.5em 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: verdana, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 18px; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; "><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; ">Although academic fields will often enjoy more than Andy Warhol's famous 15 minutes of fame, they too are subject to today's ever-hungry machinery of hype. Like people, bands, diets, and everything else, a field gets discovered, plucked from obscurity, thrown into the spotlight, and quickly replaced as it becomes yesterday's news.</div></div><div class="text parbase section" style="margin: 1.5em 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: verdana, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 18px; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; "><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; ">Neuroscience is now the popular <em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; font-style: italic; ">plat de jour</em>, or, perhaps better, the <em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; font-style: italic; ">prefix</em> <em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; font-style: italic; ">de jour</em>, and neurolaw is one of the main beneficiaries—and victims. Neuroscience will have important and even dramatic effects on our society and, as a result, on our laws. But not yet, and not as dramatically as some envision.</div></div><div class="text parbase section" style="margin: 1.5em 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: verdana, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 18px; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; "><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; ">First, consider timing. Many of the most interesting neuroscience results come from functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). This technique allows us to see what parts of the brain are working and when, and thus to begin to correlate subjective mental states with physical brain states. The use of fMRI on humans goes back about 15 years, and although about 5,000 peer-reviewed scientific articles involving fMRI will be published this year, we are still trying to figure out how it works—or doesn't. The fMRI results showing apparently purposeful brain activity in dead salmon are a wonderfully funny example of some of the limits of this technology, and fMRI is one of the oldest of the "new" neuroscience technologies. Half of what neuroscience is teaching us about human brain function will be shown, in the next 20 years, to be wrong—and we will need each of those 20 years to figure out which half.</div></div><div class="text parbase section" style="margin: 1.5em 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: verdana, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 18px; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; "><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; ">But, second, we need a sense of proportion. Neuroscience will provide tools that will change the law in some important ways, but those tools will be neither perfect nor used in isolation, and those changes are not likely to strike at the law's roots.</div></div><div class="text parbase section" style="margin: 1.5em 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: verdana, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 18px; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; "><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; ">For example, neuroimaging will be able to read minds—to some extent. A scanner may be able to tell whether I am hungry and even whether I want a burger. Without my cooperation, it will not know that I want a bacon cheeseburger, hold the mayo and mustard, extra ketchup. Similarly, it can never know what I was thinking three months ago or, with certainty, what I will be thinking three months from now.</div></div><div class="text parbase section" style="margin: 1.5em 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: verdana, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 18px; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; "><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; ">Plus, neuroscience is likely to be used in conjunction with behavioral evidence. Typically, the best way to know what someone wants to do is to see what she does. Neuroscience will rarely make usable findings about, say, competence to stand trial or insanity, without evidence about the person's actual behavior. Normally, it will provide just one piece of the puzzle and not a magic key.</div></div><div class="text parbase section" style="margin: 1.5em 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: verdana, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 18px; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; "><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; ">Finally, law is not going to disappear because of neuroscience. Getting a better handle on what brain machinery causes certain behaviors will change the criminal justice system, but it will not make it dry up and blow away. Neuroscience evidence of mental state may ultimately be admitted in trials, but it will not restrict the roles of judges and juries to reading brain scans. The most extreme outcomes are the most interesting—as science fiction and in the popular media —but they are not the most likely.</div></div><div class="text parbase section" style="margin: 1.5em 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: verdana, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 18px; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; "><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; ">After all this talk about what neuroscience will <em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; font-style: italic; ">not</em> do, what is left? Quite a lot, I think, in five different categories: prediction, mind-reading, responsibility, "treatment," and enhancement.</div></div><div class="text parbase section" style="margin: 1.5em 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: verdana, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 18px; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; "><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; ">Neuroscience will help us predict future mental states or behaviors, usually not alone and not perfectly, but usefully. And these will lead to legal issues. When we can accurately predict which 60-year-olds are going to be diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease in the next 15 years, those predictions will affect, among other things, employment, insurance, guardianships, financial planning, and Medicaid. If we could tell which roughly one 15-year-old in 100 will be diagnosed with schizophrenia, to what ends would we want, or allow, those predictions to be used? Or what about good predictions of who is going to commit violent crimes, either after conviction or before? We already use psychology, demographics, and personal history to make such predictions—what will we do if neuroscience can greatly improve those predictions?</div></div><div class="text parbase section" style="margin: 1.5em 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: verdana, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 18px; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; "><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; ">Neuroscience will help us read minds better. We all read minds constantly, but we aren't very good at it. The subjective feeling of pain depends on the brain; hundreds of thousands of legal claims each year turn on whether a person is feeling pain and, if so, how much. When neuroscience can "see" that pain, the law will change, both in individual cases and in some broad policies. Similarly, if we can ever use neuroscience to help determine whether someone is lying—a use for which substantial controlled experimental evidence already exists—how would we use such a lie detector? At least three courts have already rejected <a href="http://www.aclu.org/blog/technology-and-liberty/high-tech-mind-readers-are-latest-effort-detect-lies" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(86, 129, 140); text-decoration: none; ">fMRI-based lie detection evidence</a> (properly, I think), but I make no bets about the situation in 2022.</div></div><div class="text parbase section" style="margin: 1.5em 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: verdana, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 18px; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; "><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; ">As to responsibility, neuroscience will not turn all criminal law into psychiatry, but there will be cases in which neuroscientific evidence plays a role in deciding whether someone is competent to be tried or to represent himself, really is experiencing aural or visual hallucinations, or, in a few cases, really does seem to <em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; font-style: italic; ">deserve</em> a particular verdict or punishment. The case of <a href="http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn2943-brain-tumour-causes-uncontrollable-paedophilia.html" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(86, 129, 140); text-decoration: none; ">the child molester whose pedophile impulses were triggered by a tumor</a> is a nice example. One may question whether he should be found guilty of child molestation or, at least, sentenced to prison rather than to surgery. On the other hand, almost no child molesters will be able (credibly) to show a similarly powerful tumor. Neuroscience's effects on responsibility will mainly be retail, not wholesale.</div></div><div class="text parbase section" style="margin: 1.5em 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: verdana, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 18px; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; "><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; ">Surgery raises the issue of "treatment." No scare quotes are needed when willing patients seek treatment for schizophrenia, Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, or obsessive-compulsive disorders. But what about the unwilling? Should a judge be able to order a defendant to get brain surgery, even if it is proven safe and effective at preventing his future crimes? Or, perhaps, not "order" surgery but give the defendant a "free choice"—life in prison or the knife? Of course, prison also changes your brain—<em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; font-style: italic; ">everything</em>, even this article, changes your brain. We know prison is neither safe nor effective. Is it morally different from surgery?</div></div><div class="text parbase section" style="margin: 1.5em 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: verdana, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 18px; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; "><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; ">Finally, what about enhancement? We are spending billions of dollars to find treatments to improve the memories of people who have dementia or, perhaps, just age-appropriate memory impairment (afflicting those of us whose memories aren't as good as we remember our memories having been). What if it works—and what if it works for young people, premeds studying for an organic chemistry exam or law grads cramming for the bar? Is that like using performance-enhancing drugs in sports? Or not? Inevitably, the law must at least draw the borders of the broad social uses of brain-enhancing technologies, as well as decide how it will use those technologies in its own workings.</div></div><div class="text parbase section" style="margin: 1.5em 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: verdana, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 18px; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; "><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; ">I have written far more questions than answers because we are just beginning to define the questions, let alone crafting the answers. I am confident that neuroscience, fueled by biomedical research funding and impelled by the moral desire to relieve human suffering, will learn things about the workings of our brains that will spill over from medicine to society, and to law. I am not confident, but I am hopeful, that thinking about some of those dual uses ahead of time will help us manage them wisely—or, at least, less catastrophically. The time to begin—with a proper sense of both timing and proportion—is now.</div></div></div><a href="http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/future_tense/2012/10/fmri_in_court_neuroscience_may_change_the_legal_system.single.html">http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/future_tense/2012/10/fmri_in_court_neuroscience_may_change_the_legal_system.single.html</a><div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14px; color: black; text-align: left; "><br class="webkit-block-placeholder"></div>

fMRI in court: Neuroscience may change the legal system. - Slate Magazine

his article arises from Future Tense, a partnership of Slate, the New America Foundation, and Arizona State University that explores emerging technologies and their implications for public policy and for society. On Monday, Oct. 22, Future Tense will…

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NAAEE 2012--Friday

Friday of the 2012 NAAEE conference were spent mostly learning about outdoor classrooms.<br /><br />The most helpful sessions were put on by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.  They have, or are involved in two excellent habitat education programs.<br /><br />The first is the Pacific Region's Schoolyard Habitat Project Guide.  You can download a copy of the guide <a href="http://www.fws.gov/cno/pdf/HabitatGuideColor.pdf" target="_blank">here</a>.  This fantastic guide lays out the following 9 steps to a successful habitat project:<br /><br />Step 1--Form a Team.  This is a critical first step that, if skipped, can really jeopardize the future of your site.  Many of these projects are championed by one enthusiastic teacher, typically the science teacher in the school.  But, if there is no formal committee or team to delegate projects and responsibilities to, to keep informed, to keep momentum, what happens when that teacher leaves the building or retires?  The project falls by the wayside.  I've seen this happen dozens of times and it's quite frustrating.  So, if you are interested in starting a habitat improvement project at your school, form a team or committee FIRST!<br /><br />Step 2--Develop a Master Plan.  This can also make or break your plans.  I always like to say "Think BIG, Start small."  Having a Master Plan doesn't mean that once a project or idea is in the plan, you can't take it out or alter it.  Master Plans just help you stay focused and thoughtful in your efforts so that you're not wasting your time or energy going after "the next big idea."  Try to draft everything in a thoughtful, timeline oriented plan at the beginning.  You can always modify the plan as needed, but this way you'll have set goals and it won't be so overwhelming to you and your team.<br /><br />Step 3--Assess Your Project Site.  You don't know where you can go until you know where you are.  This is also a great way to involve your students from the beginning.  You need to know what you have already, how you can use what you have already, then start planning on any modifications, additions, changes, etc.  Conduct soil testing, runoff calculations, plant and animal inventories, temperature variations from various parts of the site, sunlight exposure, water sources, accessibility issues, conflicts in use, and more.  You really need to get to know your site.  This can almost be done before your Master Plan, depending on what you're hoping to do.  At the very least, you can conduct your site assessment at the same time as your developing your Master Plan. <br /><br />Step 4--Design Your Project.  This is the meat of the plan.  Create a map of your site, based on your site assessments of course.  Once you're map is done, start laying out the first few parts of your Master Plan.  Where are you going to put a butterfly garden?  Where can you put the frog pond? Do you need a foot bridge over that seasonal wet area behind the soccer field in order to get to the woods? Add it to the map! <br /><br />Step 5--Decide Your Money Matters.  How much is it going to cost to do this?  This part can be overwhelming to your team.  But don't forget, Think BIG, Start small.  Break your plan into manageable, fundable parts.  Don't try to complete it all in one year.  You'll burn yourself out for sure.  Or worse, you'll burn out your team.  Settle on what parts of the plan you want to start with and find funding for those first.<br /><br />Step 6--Install Project.  Do what you said you wanted to do! Have the students help as much as possible with this part too.  The more you involve your students, the more they will take ownership of the projects and the less likely you'll have vandalism issues, etc.  And it allows them to see the fruits of their labor.<br /><br />Step 7--Create a Maintenance Plan.  One thing that is critical is to involve your maintenance staff as early in the process as possible.  If your maintenance staff doesn't know what's going on, or worse, doesn't approve or care about your project, it's going to be hard to keep your project maintained.  You and your students can only do so much.  Make sure you involve your maintenance crew in decisions about project placement as well as maintenance schedules.<br /><br />Step 8--Use the Project.  Get outside with those students and use these wonderful sites! And their not just for science.  Art, writing, history, phys ed can all be taught using outdoor habitats.  Get creative, don't think of it as an extra thing you have to do with your students.  Just think of it as a different way of teaching.  <br /><br />Step 9--Share Your Story.  For goodness sakes, show off your hard work!!  Tell people what you're doing, the benefits, the fun, the excitement of new and creative opportunities that you're creating for your students.  Have the students tell what their learning!  Create press releases, newspaper articles, conduct dedications of the site, make signs, invite the community to participate, toot your own horn!<br /><br />These are all critical steps to a successful schoolyard habitat project.  The Schoolyard Habitat Project Guide provides helpful tips and tricks for conducting surveys of the schoolyard, field notes from experienced planners, and suggestions for projects on both urban and more rural sites that can utilize woodland, wetlands and meadows.  This guide is an invaluable tool for anyone planning an outdoor learning area.<br /><br />The Ohio Division of Wildlife has a program called WILD School Sites that follows these same philosophies about outdoor areas, just a different name.  If you'd like to be involved in Ohio's program, contact us at 1-800-WILDLIFE or <a href="mailto:outdoor.education@dnr.state.oh.us">outdoor.education@dnr.state.oh.us</a>  You can find more on our website at <a href="http://www.ohioprojectwild.org/">www.ohioprojectwild.org</a>  <br /><br /><br /><br />The second program I sat in on was a program called Nature Explore, which was actually developed by the National Arbor Day Foundation and has been championed by the USFWS in the form of several certified Nature Explore preschools at their facilities.  We heard about one at fish hatchery in Montana and the newest site at the National Conservation Training Center in West Virginia.  <br /><br />These Nature Explore classrooms are fantastic for providing outdoor learning space for little ones.  They contain areas where kids can build things with natural materials, play in the dirt and mud, look at leaves, climb and explore logs and rocks, and generally enjoy themselves in unstructured play outside.  <br /><br />If you're interested in learning more on how to become a certified Nature Explore classroom, check out their website at <a href="http://www.natureexplore.org/">www.natureexplore.org</a> <br /><br />More on the local sites tomorrow.  Enjoy!

NAAEE 2012--Friday

Friday of the 2012 NAAEE conference were spent mostly learning about outdoor classrooms.The most helpful sessions were put on by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.  They have, or are involved in two excellent habitat education programs.The first is …

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Monday, Monday

<span style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://www.archidose.org/wp/">A Weekly Dose of Architecture</a> Updates:</span><br /><br />This week's dose features <a href="http://archidose.org/wp/2012/10/15/francis-a-gregory-neighborhood-library/">Francis A. Gregory Neighborhood Library</a> in Washington, D.C., by Adjaye Associates:<br /><a href="http://archidose.org/wp/2012/10/15/francis-a-gregory-neighborhood-library/"><img alt="this week's dose" src="http://archidose.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/Oct12-15.jpg" style="cursor: move;" title="This week's dose" width="640" /></a><br /><br />The featured past dose is the <a href="http://www.archidose.org/Jul07/23/dose.html">House of Sweden</a> in Washington, D.C., by Gert Wingårdh:<br /><a href="http://www.archidose.org/Jul07/23/dose.html"><img alt="this week's dose" src="http://www.archidose.org/Jul07/23/image01.jpg" style="cursor: move;" title="featured past dose" width="640" /></a><br /><br />This week's book review is <a href="http://archidose.org/wp/2012/10/15/ai-weiwei-art-architecture/"><i>Ai Weiwei: Art | Architecture</i></a> edited by Yilmaz Dziewior (L):<br /><a href="http://archidose.org/wp/2012/10/15/ai-weiwei-art-architecture/"><img alt="this week's book review" height="300" src="http://archidose.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/ai-weiwei.jpg" style="cursor: move;" title="This week's book review" /></a>   <a href="http://www.archidose.org/books/turrell.html"><img alt="this week's book review" height="300" src="http://www.archidose.org/books/turrell.jpg" style="cursor: move;" title="This week's book review" /></a><br />(R): The featured past book review is <a href="http://www.archidose.org/books/turrell.html"><i>James Turrell: Into the Light</i></a> edited by Claudia Giannini.<br /><br />: : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">World-Architects.com U.S. <a href="http://www.american-architects.com/projects/reviews/41">Building of the Week</a>:</span><br /><br /><a href="http://www.world-architects.com/en/projects/project-current-review/38470_harvest_pavilion">Harvest Pavilion</a> in New Haven, Connecticut by David Thompson Architects:<br /><a href="http://www.world-architects.com/en/projects/project-current-review/38470_harvest_pavilion"><img alt="this week's Building of the Week" src="http://c214210.r10.cf3.rackcdn.com/files/projects/38470/images/900:w/HarvestPavilion1.jpg" title="Current Building of the Week on american-architects.com" width="640" /></a>

Monday, Monday

A Weekly Dose of Architecture Updates:This week's dose features Francis A. Gregory Neighborhood Library in Washington, D.C., by Adjaye Associates:The featured past dose is the House of Sweden in Washington, D.C., by Gert Wingårdh:This week's book rev…

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Saturday Reference Librarian & Substitute Reference Librarians - Avon Free Public Library

<strong>Saturday Reference Librarian</strong> & <strong>Substitute Reference Librarians</strong> - <strong><span style="color: #48286d;">Avon Free Public Library</span></strong>. Saturday, Sunday and Substitute positions available at Avon Free Public Library. One Reference librarian position wanted for Saturdays 10:00 am to 5:00 pm, rotating every third Saturday at the Avon Free Public Library. Two Reference Librarian positions wanted for alternating Sundays from January through March 1:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m. Also, substitute reference librarians wanted to work as needed, days, evenings, or weekends at busy reference desk. MLS required. Must have excellent people skills, a strong commitment to customer service, knowledge of print and electronic resources, Internet and computer software. Public library experience and working knowledge of SIRSI library system a plus. $25.46 per hour (no benefits associated with these positions). Deadline is 4:30 p.m. on <span style="color: red;">October 25, 2012</span>. Employment application at <a _fcksavedurl="http://www.town.avon.ct.us" href="http://www.town.avon.ct.us/" target="_blank">www.town.avon.ct.us</a> (under job opportunities). Send completed application and resume to William F. Vernile, Director of Human Resources, 60 West Main Street, Avon, CT. 06001. EOE/M-F, ADA.

Saturday Reference Librarian & Substitute Reference Librarians - Avon Free Public Library

Saturday Reference Librarian & Substitute Reference Librarians - Avon Free Public Library. Saturday, Sunday and Substitute positions available at Avon Free Public Library. One Reference librarian position wanted for Saturdays 10:00 am to 5:00 pm, …

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Can You Do Too Much to Prevent a Stroke? - NYTimes.com

<base href="data:"><div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14px; color: black; text-align: left; " class=""><div id="well" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; " class=""><div align="left" class=""><div class="entry-content"><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-size: medium; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.7em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 1.375em; " class=""><a href="http://health.nytimes.com/health/guides/disease/stroke/overview.html?inline=nyt-classifier" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102); text-decoration: none; " class="">Stroke</a> is the fourth leading cause of death among Americans, and a much larger contributor to chronic disability and health care costs than this ranking suggests. There's no question that preventing strokes is important. But a big question is how best to do so and in whom.</div><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-size: medium; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.7em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 1.375em; " class="">Currently, some experts say, far too many people who are free of symptoms that might herald a stroke are undergoing surgery to ream out carotid arteries that feed the brain, or are having stents inserted in these arteries, than is justified by available evidence.</div><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-size: medium; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.7em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 1.375em; " class="">Critics say these invasive procedures on asymptomatic patients are unnecessary and create a risk of serious complications like <a href="http://health.nytimes.com/health/guides/disease/heart-attack/overview.html?inline=nyt-classifier" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102); text-decoration: none; " class="">heart attack</a> or, ironically, stroke itself, even death, and drive up health care costs by billions of dollars a year.</div><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-size: medium; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.7em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 1.375em; " class="">Based on the latest research, they maintain, most patients without symptoms like a mild stroke or <a href="http://health.nytimes.com/health/guides/disease/transient-ischemic-attack/overview.html?inline=nyt-classifier" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102); text-decoration: none; " class="">transient ischemic attack</a> do as well - or nearly as well - with intensive medical therapy to control <a href="http://health.nytimes.com/health/guides/test/blood-pressure/overview.html?inline=nyt-classifier" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102); text-decoration: none; " class="">blood pressure</a>, <a href="http://health.nytimes.com/health/guides/nutrition/cholesterol/overview.html?inline=nyt-classifier" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102); text-decoration: none; " class="">cholesterol</a> and <a href="http://health.nytimes.com/health/guides/disease/diabetes/overview.html?inline=nyt-classifier" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102); text-decoration: none; " class="">diabetes</a>.</div><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-size: medium; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.7em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 1.375em; " class="">"Intensive medical therapy is a much safer way to prevent strokes caused by clots than either surgery or stenting," said Dr. David Spence, a stroke prevention specialist at the University of Western Ontario.</div><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-size: medium; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.7em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 1.375em; " class="">But surgeons, even those who acknowledge the limitations of current research, say <a href="http://health.nytimes.com/health/guides/surgery/carotid-artery-surgery/overview.html?inline=nyt-classifier" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102); text-decoration: none; " class="">carotid endarterectomy</a>, as the reaming operation is called, is the treatment of choice for many patients with serious blockages in one or both carotid arteries. That sentiment also is reflected in guidelines from the Society of Vascular Surgeons and the American Heart Association.</div><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-size: medium; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.7em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 1.375em; " class="">Dr. Michael Belkin, the chief of vascular and endovascular surgery at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, who performs scores of endarterectomies each year, said, "In asymptomatic patients with high-grade carotid stenosis, meaning a blockage of 70 percent or greater, surgical therapy is better than medical therapy."</div><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-size: medium; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.7em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 1.375em; " class="">But he emphasized that good surgical results depended on selecting patients who have at least a five-year life expectancy and are healthy enough to tolerate the operation. He also said the procedure should be done only by a surgeon with a good track record and lots of experience, someone who does at least 70 or 80 of the operations each year.</div><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-size: medium; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.7em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 1.375em; " class="">"This is an elective procedure," Dr. Belkin said. "Patients should be well-informed about the benefits and risks and not bullied into it."</div><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-size: medium; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.7em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 1.375em; " class=""><strong class="">To <a href="http://health.nytimes.com/health/guides/surgery/stent/overview.html?inline=nyt-classifier" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102); text-decoration: none; " class="">Stent</a> or Not</strong></div><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-size: medium; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.7em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 1.375em; " class="">Dr. Belkin and other experts are less sanguine about inserting stents in asymptomatic patients. They said pressure was being exerted by manufacturers of stents, who would like to see them as widely used as possible. Stents, which are threaded through a catheter from the groin to the carotid arteries in the neck, are used to keep an artery open after a balloon presses the plaque against the artery's walls.</div><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-size: medium; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.7em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 1.375em; " class="">"Stents are pretty good, but not as good as surgery for asymptomatic disease," Dr. Belkin said.</div><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-size: medium; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.7em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 1.375em; " class="">Still, many cardiologists who insert stents into coronary arteries to prevent heart attacks are now stenting partly blocked carotids in hopes of preventing strokes in patients otherwise free of symptoms.</div><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-size: medium; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.7em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 1.375em; " class="">Dr. Frank J. Veith, a vascular surgeon affiliated with New York University and the Cleveland Clinic, called carotid stenting in asymptomatic patients by interventional cardiologists "a moneymaking free-for-all" that doesn't take into account vital differences between arteries to the heart and those to the brain, which has more vessels feeding it.</div><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-size: medium; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.7em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 1.375em; " class="">Dr. Spence said, "Cardiologists have no business messing with carotid arteries."</div><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-size: medium; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.7em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 1.375em; " class="">There is "a natural bypass called the Circle of Willis at the base of the brain to which all four arteries that feed the brain are connected," he said. "If one artery is blocked, blood gets to the brain through the other three."</div><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-size: medium; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.7em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 1.375em; " class="">Despite pleas from interventional cardiologists, <a href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/health/diseasesconditionsandhealthtopics/medicare/index.html?inline=nyt-classifier" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102); text-decoration: none; " class="">Medicare</a> has thus far declined to cover the costs of carotid stents in low-risk patients without better evidence of their benefit.</div><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-size: medium; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.7em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 1.375em; " class="">Complicating the issue is that only about one-quarter of strokes result from carotid disease. The rest are caused by problems like clots coming from the heart and ruptured blood vessels in the brain. So treating carotid arteries surgically or with stents is no guarantee against a stroke.</div><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-size: medium; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.7em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 1.375em; " class="">Another problem is identifying patients without symptoms of carotid disease who do face a high risk of stroke, Dr. Veith said. About 50 of his patients with severe carotid disease have remained free of strokes for years, he said.</div><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-size: medium; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.7em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 1.375em; " class=""><a href="http://health.nytimes.com/health/guides/test/ultrasound/overview.html?inline=nyt-classifier" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102); text-decoration: none; " class="">Ultrasound</a> is most often used to screen for carotid disease, which may also be suggested by a whooshing sound in the neck, called a bruit, heard through a stethoscope.</div><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-size: medium; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.7em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 1.375em; " class=""><strong class="">Reducing the Risks</strong></div><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-size: medium; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.7em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 1.375em; " class="">No one questions that surgery or stenting is advisable for patients with symptoms if they are healthy enough to undergo the procedure. But for patients who lack symptoms, all sides agree that a trial comparing the benefits and risks of surgery, stenting and modern medical therapy is sorely needed.</div><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-size: medium; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.7em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 1.375em; " class="">Until that study is done, the controversy will continue over how to best treat carotid disease in patients without symptoms.</div><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-size: medium; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.7em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 1.375em; " class="">For example, Harvard Medical School experts recently stated that before carotid surgery or stenting is recommended, doctors should consider that "medical treatment is preferred for symptomatic patients with mild narrowing and also for many asymptomatic patients with moderate or even severe narrowing. And even patients who undergo artery-opening procedures need long-term medical therapy."</div><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-size: medium; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.7em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 1.375em; " class="">Dr. Spence, noting that <a href="http://stroke.ahajournals.org/content/41/10_suppl_1/S31.full.pdf+html" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102); text-decoration: none; " class="">the main study used to justify invasive treatment, called Crest</a>, enrolled patients in 1995, said, "Interventionists are using old data to justify procedures now not warranted because the risk of stroke in asymptomatic patients has changed dramatically since then."</div><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-size: medium; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.7em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 1.375em; " class="">These reductions in stroke risk, Dr. Spence said, are the result of better drugs to treat <a href="http://health.nytimes.com/health/guides/disease/hypertension/overview.html?inline=nyt-classifier" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102); text-decoration: none; " class="">high blood pressure</a>, lower cholesterol and prevent clots; stopping smoking; and improved control of blood sugar in people with diabetes.</div><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-size: medium; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.7em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 1.375em; " class="">Dr. Veith said statin therapy is primarily responsible for reducing the risk of stroke in asymptomatic patients to a level equivalent to the benefits of surgery or stenting. <a href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/health/diseasesconditionsandhealthtopics/statins_cholesterollowering_drugs/index.html?inline=nyt-classifier" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102); text-decoration: none; " class="">Statins</a> are mainly used to lower artery-damaging cholesterol, but the drugs also stabilize arterial plaque, preventing pieces from breaking off and blocking small blood vessels in the brain where they would cause a stroke.</div><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-size: medium; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.7em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 1.375em; " class="">Dr. Spence is a strong advocate of a traditional Mediterranean <a href="http://health.nytimes.com/health/guides/specialtopic/food-guide-pyramid/overview.html?inline=nyt-classifier" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102); text-decoration: none; " class="">diet</a>, high in whole grains, fruits and vegetables, lentils and beans, olive oil and canola oil and low in cholesterol and animal fats.</div><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-size: medium; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.7em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 1.375em; " class="">"Americans tend to name their meals by the meat. 'Tonight we're having steak, or chicken or fish,' " he said. "I recommend that my patients go vegetarian every other day, and when they eat meat, chicken or fish on the days in between, the portion should be the size of the palm of their hand."</div></div></div></div></div><a href="http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/10/15/can-you-do-too-much-to-prevent-a-stroke/?pagewanted=print" class="">http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/10/15/can-you-do-too-much-to-prevent-a-stroke/?pagewanted=print</a><div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14px; color: black; text-align: left; " class=""><br class="webkit-block-placeholder"></div>

Can You Do Too Much to Prevent a Stroke? - NYTimes.com

Stroke is the fourth leading cause of death among Americans, and a much larger contributor to chronic disability and health care costs than this ranking suggests. There's no question that preventing strokes is important. But a big question is how bes…

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rug-less dining rooms

I'm currently working on a little experiment in the <a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com/p/dining-room.html" target="_blank">dining room</a>. As much as I love that big chunky sisal rug, it is a pain in my arse. It is not very easy to clean when little ones drop their food and it sheds like a...something that sheds a lot. It's like having another dog in the house.<br /><br />So after cursing at it and complaining about it, I had the hubs help me to roll it up and take it out. Just to see how it felt.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwzbwK0VDR3mxPDHRVhdh8r2FsDUpX3fhdsXVGrCc3ET1ZDJlv_VoBRF8U4G9FqZE754Eb6zG4S4mX5W1iLlBPFhVCFG0cGfC9wSjSkMtgmNINqrCrou47RdBJDZEeviQbjx0TyxsSlsL_/s1600/DiningRoomLBD2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="587" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwzbwK0VDR3mxPDHRVhdh8r2FsDUpX3fhdsXVGrCc3ET1ZDJlv_VoBRF8U4G9FqZE754Eb6zG4S4mX5W1iLlBPFhVCFG0cGfC9wSjSkMtgmNINqrCrou47RdBJDZEeviQbjx0TyxsSlsL_/s640/DiningRoomLBD2.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />And so far I'm loving it. It's like cutting off all your hair, or a long hot shower after a camping trip. I feel lighter, and my vacuum is happy for a rest.<br /><br />I was a bit perplexed about a room without a rug but the more I see it around, the more I like it.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAkoXnPcsPiMVIGqfWiwlbOVo_sn7iytNqXZpKwiRJW44VKyZ9nrV-zKmDRD9FFTjzNXjiTG5tTkcl8PfIMkt6qGI7XjdxXzIh4fAS7Hqx9kB-x2n46kpsfW0__BQydvpdZgvtcisfuErp/s1600/Home+of+Tanja+Vibe+of+ATWTP.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAkoXnPcsPiMVIGqfWiwlbOVo_sn7iytNqXZpKwiRJW44VKyZ9nrV-zKmDRD9FFTjzNXjiTG5tTkcl8PfIMkt6qGI7XjdxXzIh4fAS7Hqx9kB-x2n46kpsfW0__BQydvpdZgvtcisfuErp/s640/Home+of+Tanja+Vibe+of+ATWTP.jpeg" width="571" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Home of Tanja Vibe via <a href="http://pinterest.com/pin/6896205650685115/" target="_blank">Pinterest</a></td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi06Ka8oUK0OvJ_21EMbasnLDDkOPMzuyxvlGDhqpReoWXPqwIrEeyW7w0QnHX6ya8vGKmwMpNU9Bmcwmx2raXTXrLjlpJ5AZIQFd3gCW83kfV_r9Lab4pE3-HPIA-3IyBfyXcGe0BXN4Nu/s1600/welcome-to-our-house.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi06Ka8oUK0OvJ_21EMbasnLDDkOPMzuyxvlGDhqpReoWXPqwIrEeyW7w0QnHX6ya8vGKmwMpNU9Bmcwmx2raXTXrLjlpJ5AZIQFd3gCW83kfV_r9Lab4pE3-HPIA-3IyBfyXcGe0BXN4Nu/s640/welcome-to-our-house.jpeg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://absolutelybeautifulthings.blogspot.com/2008/12/welcome-to-our-house.html" target="_blank">Anna Spiro</a></td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoF-nfyfve42HgM3-QvJI3Jy01alB_LTjflKsjqkekb1zKfw1UK-_gdplu8MbevxRFIZuiPB9AeQixuCdO40rOwpXaYeyFlnjeJyIiChg2_C1yKxq0ut_u6q1b-NBlckLZcTixdgS8eow_/s1600/mr-banks-beforeafter-entryway-living-dining-rooms.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoF-nfyfve42HgM3-QvJI3Jy01alB_LTjflKsjqkekb1zKfw1UK-_gdplu8MbevxRFIZuiPB9AeQixuCdO40rOwpXaYeyFlnjeJyIiChg2_C1yKxq0ut_u6q1b-NBlckLZcTixdgS8eow_/s640/mr-banks-beforeafter-entryway-living-dining-rooms.jpeg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.peppermintbliss.com/2012/06/mr-banks-beforeafter-entryway-living-dining-rooms/" target="_blank">Bailey McCarthy</a></td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiw1sygpovwCVjA81AsmXou7Gvjr-vO_dJYe4h-ACX6y1hbPNP2goRLxVVggdjbmiMR6I9wmNyRRoQnGRUPIrOkpsg8j3lkHSTVP3LLn2fpkFH8mvVbhx7a2PenIcL3RDCAxC-yZ_gx0mfr/s1600/perfect-gray.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="448" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiw1sygpovwCVjA81AsmXou7Gvjr-vO_dJYe4h-ACX6y1hbPNP2goRLxVVggdjbmiMR6I9wmNyRRoQnGRUPIrOkpsg8j3lkHSTVP3LLn2fpkFH8mvVbhx7a2PenIcL3RDCAxC-yZ_gx0mfr/s640/perfect-gray.jpeg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Nate Berkus via <a href="http://pinterest.com/pin/6896205649654902/" target="_blank">Pinterest</a></td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmitGxHdUcUs0BIqhLmjFNnYDDkfYC_0UK2v4GL9cw3dZ8L5cO1uzCMTJNN9hqxbWtY2IOMXOh6PnAOuwW9pX0e27Cna3aRTw3WU9eAT5mXWSmD-ptxBu8tbx0fB-HABDSI7vXt_9fZAn2/s1600/search.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmitGxHdUcUs0BIqhLmjFNnYDDkfYC_0UK2v4GL9cw3dZ8L5cO1uzCMTJNN9hqxbWtY2IOMXOh6PnAOuwW9pX0e27Cna3aRTw3WU9eAT5mXWSmD-ptxBu8tbx0fB-HABDSI7vXt_9fZAn2/s640/search.jpeg" width="510" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.elledecor.com/" target="_blank">Elle Decor</a> via <a href="http://pinterest.com/pin/6896205649144107/" target="_blank">Pinterest</a></td></tr></tbody></table><div>So, a dining room without a rug (gasp). What do you think?</div>

rug-less dining rooms

I'm currently working on a little experiment in the dining room. As much as I love that big chunky sisal rug, it is a pain in my arse. It is not very easy to clean when little ones drop their food and it sheds like a...something that sheds a lot. It'…

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