Detroit's creditors won't view their mess

Detroit's emergency manager, Kevyn Orr, invited 25 of the city's creditors on a bus tour to actually see the disaster they created. He's hoping they'll forgive some of the debt.<br /><br />The bankers canceled. You can guess why -- they didn't want to have their pictures taken.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.mlive.com/news/detroit/index.ssf/2013/07/emergency_manager_kevyn_orr_ca.html">Michigan Live</a> reports,<br /><blockquote class="tr_bq">Emergency Manager Kevyn Orr's office announced Tuesday afternoon that a bus tour of Detroit planned for 25 bankers who are being asked to forgive the city's debt has been cancelled. </blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq">“Unfortunately, the Office of the Emergency Manager will not be sponsoring a city tour for creditors Wednesday,” Orr spokesman Bill Nowling said in a prepared statement. “The city's creditors informed our office that they would like to spend more time conducting due diligence research into the city's financial state while they are in Detroit. It became apparent Tuesday that postponing the tour was necessary."<br />Orr has been trying to get city creditors, who are owed billions, to accept massive concessions in order to prevent bankruptcy and steer city funds away from debt service and instead toward public safety and redevelopment.</blockquote>Chris Savage at <a href="http://www.eclectablog.com/2013/07/detroits-creditors-decline-to-witness-the-mess-they-helped-enable.html">eclectablog</a> wasn't impressed:<br /><blockquote class="tr_bq">Although Orr’s office says they are hoping to reschedule the tour, it’s obviously not going to happen. You can just about guarantee that, as soon as the folks back at the corporate office heard about the tour, they pulled the plug immediately. These creditors, mainly bankers who do not live in Detroit, have no interest in the visuals of wealthy mostly-white, mostly-men in front of the desperation that Orr wanted them to see. </blockquote>Yup.

Detroit's creditors won't view their mess

Detroit's emergency manager, Kevyn Orr, invited 25 of the city's creditors on a bus tour to actually see the disaster they created. ...

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Smithsonian workers strike over low wages

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRDChEPSgqClXg20VOunGoDVj4_oMJ2GAr4D0KrXCy9SJLOtetXEk7KflgtOjBzdcVmLjt_FwwGparH9gNFBtlHWotWwzOKt0D5ceyuX0JOVXwlbhB09icYterQAQCxBqwkeEu1l1uOErk/s1600/can't+survive.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRDChEPSgqClXg20VOunGoDVj4_oMJ2GAr4D0KrXCy9SJLOtetXEk7KflgtOjBzdcVmLjt_FwwGparH9gNFBtlHWotWwzOKt0D5ceyuX0JOVXwlbhB09icYterQAQCxBqwkeEu1l1uOErk/s320/can't+survive.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>The revolt against poverty wages surged ahead in Washington, D.C., today as more low-wage Smithsonian workers walked off the job for a third time.<br /><br />And last night, the DC city council defied Walmart and approved a bill that would require big-box retailers to <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/dc-politics/dc-council-approves-living-wage-bill-over-wal-mart-ultimatum/2013/07/10/724aab6e-e96f-11e2-a301-ea5a8116d211_story.html">pay a living wage of $12.50 an hour</a>. Walmart threatened to scuttle its plans to build three stores in the city. (Don't let the door hit you on the way out.)<br /><br />Today's action continues a string of one-day strikes against poverty wages that began last fall and accelerated in the spring. Thousands of workers at fast-food restaurants and retail stores have walked off the job in cities around the country to demand better pay and the right to form a union. The government contract workers concentrated their protests in the nation's capital.<br /><br />The <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/federal-eye/wp/2013/07/11/low-wage-workers-to-strike-at-smithsonian-museums/">Washington Post</a> covered today's strike:<br /><blockquote class="tr_bq">Low-wage workers connected with the nation’s marquee museum network held a strike on Thursday, continuing a string of recent demonstrations to promote better pay for employees at federal buildings. </blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/GoodJobsNation">Good Jobs Nation</a>, a group representing low-wage workers employed under federal concession agreements, organized protests throughout the morning in front of several Smithsonian museums. </blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq">The events started with a press conference and a street-theater sketch near the Air and Space Museum, where actors playing Ronald McDonald and Uncle Sam climbed into bed together. That performance was meant to represent the relationship between private-sector CEOs and the federal government.</blockquote>In case you miseed it, the <a href="http://teamsternation.blogspot.com/2013/05/federal-govt-has-more-low-wage-workers.html">U.S. government creates more poverty</a> than Walmart and McDonald's combined. Amy Traub at <a href="http://www.demos.org/blog/concession-workers-strike-smithsonian">Demos</a>, the group that uncovered that disturbing fact, commented today:<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3OAhmSvRCoUpeiY70oEZKHM4fxtYkY9-BwMwy3FRgpMdA9apmbI08HhYZjjg0W2_l2-npsMw-Bx2MyjW39x5o-O6Q4FNOTp9OtMxQtsMyrgyaPAJVOWYFB9kt_vxhum3rjZvxuWE1QR3w/s1600/woody.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="161" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3OAhmSvRCoUpeiY70oEZKHM4fxtYkY9-BwMwy3FRgpMdA9apmbI08HhYZjjg0W2_l2-npsMw-Bx2MyjW39x5o-O6Q4FNOTp9OtMxQtsMyrgyaPAJVOWYFB9kt_vxhum3rjZvxuWE1QR3w/s200/woody.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><blockquote class="tr_bq">But while workers’ families are struggling, not everyone working for a federal contractor or concessionaire is poorly paid. Under current law, contractors can be reimbursed by taxpayers for as much as $763,029  in compensation for each top manager. This is one way our current model of federal outsourcing and contracting worsens the trends toward inequality already harming our economy. </blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq">At the bottom of the Smithsonian’s website is an image honoring the centennial of Woody Guthrie. There’s little question where this balladeer of ordinary Americans and their strugglesincluding fights for better pay and union representation—would have stood in the current dispute between the Smithsonian and the workers who serve food to its patrons. Officials at the Smithsonian would do well to listen to any of Woody’s directly pro-worker and pro-union songs available for purchase from their own website.  But the most relevant message might come from the Dust Bowl classic, “Goin' Down The Road Feeling Bad.”<br /><blockquote>My children need three square meals a day,<br />Now, my children need three square meals a day,<br />My children need three square meals a day, Lord,<br />And I ain't a-gonna be treated this way.</blockquote></blockquote><br />

low-wage workers strike Smithsonian workers strike over low wages

The revolt against poverty wages surged ahead in Washington, D.C., today as more low-wage Smithsonian workers walked off the job for a third...

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When Lyme Disease Lasts and Lasts - NYTimes.com

<p style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><a title="In-depth reference and news articles about Lyme disease - chronic persistent." href="http://health.nytimes.com/health/guides/disease/lyme-disease-chronic-persistent/overview.html?inline=nyt-classifier" target="_blank">Chronic Lyme disease</a> is a highly controversial catch-all term for a host of long-lasting symptoms that may or may not stem from prior infection with the bacterium that causes acute <a title="In-depth reference and news articles about Lyme Disease." href="http://health.nytimes.com/health/guides/disease/lyme-disease/overview.html?inline=nyt-classifier" target="_blank">Lyme disease</a>. Often misdiagnosed and mistreated, chronic Lyme disease leaves thousands of people physically and mentally debilitated and without a medically established recourse.</p><p style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Mary Rasenberger, 51, a New York lawyer, experienced "a series of ailments going back 10 years." She was finally given a diagnosis of chronic Lyme disease last summer after having been told that she had <a title="In-depth reference and news articles about Multiple sclerosis." href="http://health.nytimes.com/health/guides/disease/multiple-sclerosis/overview.html?inline=nyt-classifier" target="_blank">multiple sclerosis</a>.</p><p style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Her long-term symptoms were "aching joints, headaches and indescribable fatigue" that made her miserable and unable to exercise. In the last few years, two additional symptoms developed: neuropathy in her limbs and face, and <a title="In-depth reference and news articles about Vision problems." href="http://health.nytimes.com/health/guides/symptoms/vision-problems/overview.html?inline=nyt-classifier" target="_blank">vision problems</a>. In an interview, she said she "woke up every day feeling sick"; if she became overheated, she felt as if she had <a title="In-depth reference and news articles about The flu." href="http://health.nytimes.com/health/guides/disease/the-flu/overview.html?inline=nyt-classifier" target="_blank">the flu</a>.</p><p style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Yet a test for Lyme disease came back negative. Desperate, she finally consulted a Lyme "specialist," one of a number of doctors who treat patients with symptoms like Ms. Rasenberger's with long-term <a title="Recent and archival health news about antibiotics." href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/health/diseasesconditionsandhealthtopics/antibiotics/index.html?inline=nyt-classifier" target="_blank">antibiotics</a>, despite the fact that such a regimen has shown no significant or lasting benefit in controlled clinical trials. These trials involved randomly assigning patients to the antibiotic Rocephin (often administered intravenously) or a placebo, with neither patients nor those evaluating their symptoms aware of who got what.</p><p style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Still, after several months on antibiotics Ms. Rasenberger, like many similar patients, said she felt "completely healthy for the first time in years." Each time she tries to stop the medication, her debilitating symptoms return.</p><p style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Reports like Ms. Rasenberger's are hardly unusual, and experts now realize that some people who get Lyme disease go on to develop a chronic illness even if their initial infection was promptly diagnosed and correctly treated. Approximately 10 percent to 15 percent of people who are treated for medically documented Lyme disease develop persistent or recurrent symptoms of fatigue, musculoskeletal pain and cognitive complaints.</p><p style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">The condition is known as <a href="http://www.cdc.gov/lyme/postLDS/" target="_blank">post-treatment Lyme disease syndrome</a>, or PTLDS. "It is a real disorder, although nobody really knows what's happening," Dr. John N. Aucott, an infectious disease specialist in Lutherville, Md., said in an interview.</p><p style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); position: static; z-index: auto; ">"A lot of patients have been told they're not really sick, just tired or depressed," he added. "But this is not normal fatigue, and it's not caused by <a title="In-depth reference and news articles about Depression (Mental)." href="http://health.nytimes.com/health/guides/symptoms/depression/overview.html?inline=nyt-classifier" target="_blank">depression</a>" — although depression certainly can result from the patient's seriously diminished quality of life.</p><p style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Antibiotic therapy for PTLDS is based on disputed reports that these patients may harbor hidden reservoirs of the spirochete causing Lyme disease, Borrelia burgdorferi, long after their initial treatment. But researchers who have studied the therapy have <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2430045/">found it of little or no benefit</a>, and many say the regimen is fraught with hazards that could be even worse than the illness.</p><p style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Risks include the development of an antibiotic-resistant infection, intractable <a title="In-depth reference and news articles about Diarrhea." href="http://health.nytimes.com/health/guides/symptoms/diarrhea/overview.html?inline=nyt-classifier" target="_blank">diarrhea</a>, kidney or liver damage and, as happened to a 30-year-old woman treated with an antibiotic through a catheter, <a href="http://cid.oxfordjournals.org/content/31/4/1107.long" target="_blank">death from a systemic infection called sepsis</a>.</p><p style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">People with PTLDS are not hypochondriacs seeking attention or sluggards wanting to avoid work or chores, Dr. Aucott said, though they may benefit from psychotherapy that helps them cope better with their symptoms.</p><p style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">"These are high-functioning people — couch potatoes don't get Lyme disease," he said. "They are not crazy, and the doctors who treat them are not evil. These are desperate people trying to get better, and well-intentioned doctors who are trying to help them."</p><p style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">But until the causes of PTLDS are discerned, it will be difficult for researchers to find effective therapies. Among the possible causes of the syndrome are prolonged post-infection fatigue and an autoimmune reaction to the infecting organism, according to a recent book by Dr. Adriana Marques of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.</p><p style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">As for why some people with PTLDS seem to benefit from intensive antibiotic therapy, at least temporarily, Dr. Aucott suggested a few theories. The antibiotics may have an anti-inflammatory effect that relieves pain and swelling. Alternatively, patients may have a low-level, persistent infection that is temporarily suppressed by antibiotics — but not killed by them. Or it may be that some PTLDS patients experience a placebo effect, improving because they believe the treatment will help and because someone is finally taking their symptoms seriously.</p><p style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Complicating the picture is the fact that some people with PTLDS symptoms apparently never had Lyme disease in the first place, Dr. Marques said in an interview. There are other infectious organisms — Epstein-Barr virus, for example — that can produce similar symptoms and may be the real culprits.</p><p style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">But experts cannot rule out Lyme spirochete as a cause, either. Many, if not most, people who are infected with it never know they have been bitten by the tiny deer tick that spreads the bacterium from animals to people. They may never develop or notice the red rash that can result. Even when a rash occurs, only one in five is the characteristic bull's-eye associated with Lyme disease. Most are solid red and round or oval.</p><p style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Such people may never receive treatment for the infection in its early stages and end up weeks, months, even years later with the kinds of symptoms that have plagued Ms. Rasenberger. Symptoms may develop gradually, as they did in my dog, which had minimal effects from a Lyme-carrying tick until nine months later, when he collapsed, unable to eat or drink on his own.</p><p style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Both Dr. Aucott and Dr. Marques said more research is desperately needed if people are to get the help they need. "This is a huge disease that's only going to get bigger, yet it receives only a tiny fraction of the N.I.H. budget," Dr. Aucott said, referring to the National Institutes of Health.</p><p style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Given the uncertainties about chronic Lyme disease, prevention is more important than ever. Avoid walking through brush and high grass. When hiking in the woods, camping, gardening or mowing the lawn, wear long, light-colored clothing and tuck pant legs into tightfitting socks. Spray exposed skin with a 20-percent DEET insect repellent and clothing with permethrin. Remove clothes before coming back indoors, and wash and dry them separately.</p><p style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); position: static; z-index: auto; ">Shower as soon as possible after being outdoors, using a washcloth or loofah, and check your body carefully, especially in skin folds, for attached <a title="In-depth reference and news articles about Ticks." href="http://health.nytimes.com/health/guides/poison/ticks/overview.html?inline=nyt-classifier" target="_blank">ticks</a>. They should be carefully removed with a tweezer without crushing them by pulling gently and steadily near the mouth. Then apply an antiseptic to the site.</p><br><a href="http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/07/08/when-lyme-disease-lasts-and-lasts/?pagewanted=print">http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/07/08/when-lyme-disease-lasts-and-lasts/?pagewanted=print</a>

When Lyme Disease Lasts and Lasts - NYTimes.com

Chronic Lyme disease  is a highly controversial catch-all term for a host of long-lasting symptoms that may or may not stem from prior infec...

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A Large Belly Might Be Caused By Sleep Issues

<div style='font-style:italic;' class='uawbyline'>By Dale, Ella</div><br /><br /> <div class='uawarticle'>A healthy weight loss diet will consider many factors in addition to the foods that you consume. For example, you want to be sure to get enough sleep in order to prevent weight gain. the typical six hours of sleep per night will actually cause your metabolism to decrease, and it will increase food cravings according to recent studies. If you get even less sleep, say four hours per night, you will increase your chance of obesity to 70%.<br /> <br /> What are the scientific reasons that sleep problems cause obesity or weight gain? When you suffer from sleep deprivation, your body will see increased levels of cortisol and of insulin. Both hormones trigger your fat programs which will cause your body to enter a fat storage mode.<br /> <br /> Try these tips to help you sleep more soundly and decrease your body's stress response:<br /> <br /> *Don't fall asleep in front of the TV; it causes chemical changes in your brain that interrupt your sleeping patterns<br /> <br /> x Be sure your room is dark and cool and get as comfortable as possible<br /> <br /> *If possible, avoid eating anything 3 hours before bed<br /> <br /> *Switch to herbal teas instead of caffeinated beverages, especially after 12:00 p.m.<br /> <br /> x Try a hot shower or bath before night time<br /> <br /> x Falling asleep to relaxation Cd's will help your sleep patterns throughout the night<br /> <br /> If you snore heavily, have difficulty breathing, or need to lose 100lbs or more, you might have sleep apnea. It's impossible to lose weight if you're suffering from sleep apnea so please see your doctor immediately to get tested. A healthy weight loss diet will include many factors outside of simply what goes into your food.<br /> <br /> </div><br /> <div class='uawresource'><br /> <div style='font-style:italic;' class='uawabout'><br /> About the Author:<br /> </div><br /> <div class='uawlinks'>For more <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7_SwsRZUPhE">quick weight loss tips</a>, head over to watch this video and click the link for a free PDF download on a <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gcRjyYdJCBc">healthy weight loss diet</a>.</div><br /> </div><br />

A Large Belly Might Be Caused By Sleep Issues

By Dale, Ella A healthy weight loss diet will consider many factors in addition to the foods that you consume. For example, you want to ...

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Who's Watching When You Look For Health Information Online? : Shots - Health News : NPR

When it comes to sensitive health information, government-run websites appear to do a better job protecting your privacy than many news and commercial sites.<br /><br><br /><br>A brief survey published online by JAMA Internal Medicine looked at how 20 health-related websites track visitors. They ranged from the sites of the National Institutes of Health to the health news section ofThe New York Times online.<br /><br><br /><br>Thirteen of the sites had at least one potentially worrisome tracker, according to the analysis performed by Dr. Marco Huesch, an assistant professor of health policy at the University of Southern California.<br /><br><br /><br>He also found evidence that health search terms he tried — herpes, cancer and depression — were shared by seven sites with outside companies.<br /><br><br /><br>The federally run sites and those affiliated with medical journals generally raised fewer flags than media sites. "It's wonderful to have consumers taking charge of their health," Huesch tells Shots. "But to see how common the third-party harvesting tools was left me disappointed."<br /><br><br /><br>Huesch says he's concerned that these tracking and sharing capabilities could erode consumers' trust in sources of online health information. Eventually, they might decide it's too risky to look for help on the Web. He cites confidentiality worries in the early days of AIDS that kept many people from getting tested and treated.<br /><br><br /><br>"Let's be very honest, I think this is a massive regulation failure," he says. The federal government, including the Federal Trade Commission, hasn't been aggressive enough in safeguarding privacy, he says. "We should be a little more mature in how we regulate these information markets."<br /><br><br /><br>He's pushing for better controls, not a blackout. "I'm not down on data," he says. "I want it treated with respect." Information could be used for good, he says, such as tailoring vaccination campaigns to reach people who are most likely to benefit.<br /><br><br /><br>For more information on how the technology and market for your online information work, see the archive of coverage on the topic by The Wall Street Journal. Huesch says the newspaper's stories inspired him to investigate the health sites.<br /><br><br /><br>If you're interested, you can do some research yourself. Try Ghostery, one tool Huesch used to find trackers. It's free. I aimed it at Shots and found nine items, most are related to social media, commenting or internal analysis. One called Rocket Fuel is a third-party tracker that Huesch flagged.<br /><br><br /><br>"Rocket Fuel is a tool for sponsorship messaging, which is stated in our privacy policies," NPR spokeswoman Anna Christopher Bross tells Shots. "We do not share search terms, and what we do share is what's clearly stated in the privacy policies."<br /><br><br /><br><a href="http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2013/07/08/200055678/whos-watching-when-you-look-for-health-information-online">http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2013/07/08/200055678/whos-watching-when-you-look-for-health-information-online</a>

Who's Watching When You Look For Health Information Online? : Shots - Health News : NPR

When it comes to sensitive health information, government-run websites appear to do a better job protecting your privacy than many news and ...

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Manager, Electrical Design (analog and digital electrical design | vendor management related to sensors, boards or COTS | semiconductor industry) (#109851)

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="WordSection1"><div class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Job Title:</span></b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"> Electrical Design Manager<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Location:</span></b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"> Milpitas, CA<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Duration:</span></b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"> Fulltime<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Job description:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Business Unit:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">The RAPID Engineering team is a world-class organization tasked with developing the next generation of DUV and EUV reticle inspection and metrology tools.  These systems are critical to the advancement of the semiconductor industry.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Responsibilities:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">This role is for the head of RAPID electrical engineering.  Responsibilities include:<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">1.Manage the electrical engineering group with direct involvement with multiple program teams<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">2.Generate project plans, schedules and budgets for applicable subsystems<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">3.Generate specification and requirements from high level system requirements<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">4.Provide technical oversight for the development of all electrical subsystems from initial concept development to production release<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">5.Drive the technology roadmap for key electrical subsystems<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">6.Interface with Corporate Technology and other divisions in KLA to synchronize the image acquisition subsystem technology which is a strategic initiative for the company<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">7.Manage external vendors or contractors to deliver subsystems that meet design specification<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">8.The person in this role will also have the opportunity to fill a project or program management role given the right skill set and KT experience.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Preferred Qualifications:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">1.Experience in managing a large team is a must<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">2.Experience in project or program management is desirable<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">3.Solid knowledge in both analog and digital electrical design<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">4.CCD sensors design experience is desirable<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">5.Past experience with vendor management related to sensors, boards or COTS is a must<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">6.Proven capability in presenting to high-level customers, suppliers and internal reviewers<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">7.Must be able to cross functional boundaries to ensure customer and company goals are met<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">8.Excellent written and verbal communication skills<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">9.Sensitivity to cost, reliability, manufacturability and serviceability are all considerations for this role <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">10.Knowledge of PLC processes is desired<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Minimum Qualifications:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Doctorate (academic) with at least 5 years of experience<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">OR<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Master's level degree with at least 7 years of experience <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">OR<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Bachelor's level degree with at least 8 years of experience<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Please send in your resumes to vinod.sanker@kla-tencor.com<span style="font-size: x-small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div></div></div>

Manager, Electrical Design (analog and digital electrical design | vendor management related to sensors, boards or COTS | semiconductor industry) (#109851)

Job Title: Electrical Design Manager Location: Milpitas, CA Duration: Fulltime Job description: Business Unit: The RAPID Engineering team...

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Research Scientist (optics) (optical inspection | patterned wafers | electro-magnetic simulations) (#109747)

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="WordSection1"><div class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Job Title:</span></b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"> Research Scientist (optics)<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Location: </span></b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Milpitas, CA<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Duration:</span></b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"> Fulltime<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Job description:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Responsibilities:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">The Research Scientist will be responsible for designing and conducting feasibility investigations to provide valuable guidance for KLA-Tencor's roadmap in optical inspection of patterned wafers.  KLA-Tencor has a rich history of innovation and technical leadership in wafer inspection for the semiconductor industry.  The advent of devices having 25nm, 18nm and smaller design rules with complex three dimensional structures, using advanced processes and materials, will present a particularly challenging goal of maintaining high-speed inspection and classification of defects that are much smaller than the wavelength of light used to inspect the wafer.  The Research Scientist will work within a small technology group to identify, investigate, and develop promising new concepts, methods and subsystems that could be used to meet these challenges.  The Research Scientist will devise and test new inspection tool configurations and modify test benches by working with Design Engineers. To test new tool configurations, the Research Scientist will work with Customers, Marketing and Applications Engineers to obtain relevant wafer samples and then measure the wafers on modified tools and test benches. The Research Scientist will use electro-magnetic simulations of our current and future inspection tools on our customer's defect challenges to devise new inspection tool configurations.  The Research Scientist will acquire, analyze and present his/her data to the technology group and to the rest of the organization and to customers. To complete this work the Research Scientist will work within a team, where peer review of designs, test plans and data analysis is customary.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Preferred Qualifications:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">M.S./Ph.D. in a scientific or engineering field that involves electro-optical detection or imaging is required.  A Ph.D. or 2 to 4 years of relevant industry experience in any of these fields is preferred.  The successful candidate will have a proven record of designing highly complex experiments or engineering trials that involve sophisticated optical data collection and other physical measurements.  The candidate will also have proficiency in data analysis packages such as MatLab and demonstrate the ability to extract clear results from large, complex data sets.  Excellent communication and presentation skills are required.  Travel of up to 30% might be required to foreign destinations.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Minimum Qualifications:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Doctorate (Academic) <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">OR<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Master's Level Degree with at least 2 years of experience. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">OR<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Bachelor's Level Degree with at least 3 years of experience.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Please send in your resumes to vinod.sanker@kla-tencor.com<span style="font-size: x-small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div></div></div>

Research Scientist (optics) (optical inspection | patterned wafers | electro-magnetic simulations) (#109747)

Job Title: Research Scientist (optics) Location: Milpitas, CA Duration: Fulltime Job description: Responsibilities: The Research Scientis...

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Systems Engineer, Product development (Physics | Optics| Electrical or mechanical Engineering | lithography | semiconductor) (#109742)

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="WordSection1"><div class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Job Title:</span></b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"> Systems Engineer, Product development<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Location</span></b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">: Milpitas, CA<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Duration:</span></b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"> Fulltime<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Job description:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Responsibilities:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">The selected Product Development Engineer will develop the next generation product as well as support currently released products. The work will cover all aspects of product development. This includes developing concepts and designs, defining and allocating system and sub-system requirements, designing and executing test plans and experiments, prototype testing, integration planning, creating and improving process documentation, and supporting products in both manufacturing and field settings.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">The Product Development Engineer will report to the Engineering Program Manager as part of a small team of engineers in a larger engineering organization. The role requires interaction with many disciplines as the systems engineer plays the central role in the product development throughout different phases.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Additional key responsibilities:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">1.Coordinate and participate in subsystem and system integration and testing.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">2.Perform product acceptance testing and iterative system and sub-system improvements and redesigns if needed.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">3.Communicate status and summary of work as needed to peers and managers.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">4.Participate and drive subsystems and system planning, including scoping, budgeting, and scheduling.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">5.Drive product introduction, including training of operations and field personnel, creation and release of procedures and checklists, and resolution of technical and non-technical impediments to product introduction.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">6.Work on product concepts with understanding of market requirements to enable solutions to meet market demand. This leads into roles in architectural designs, building models, and system and subsystem budgets to meet the required performance.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">7.Drive future improvements such as cost reduction, increased operational efficiency, creation of new technologies, ideas, structures, and ways of doing business.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Preferred Qualifications:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">We are looking for future leaders, so we are looking for candidates who are looking for growth and can demonstrate leadership attributes. The engineer must possess strong sense of purpose and be self-driven to continually improve self, others, and processes. Strong communication skills both oral and written are required for this job. Some travel might be required.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">The semiconductor industry transforms quickly with increasing speed of new product introductions. Successful candidate is expected to adopt and promote new ideas and methods. Successful candidate must have clear sense of urgency and adaptability to fast moving and highly competitive industry.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Required skills:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Degree in Physics, Optics, Electrical Engineering, Systems Engineering, or related field.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Desirable skills:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">1.Experience in optoelectronics, sensor technology, microscopy, or optics design<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">2.Experience in driving projects that include system concept, integration and testing<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">3.Understanding of lithography and semiconductor manufacturing process<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">4.Background in material science, vibration testing<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">5.Programming experience, particularly in Python, MATLAB, or LabView<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Minimum Qualifications:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Master's Level Degree <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">OR<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Bachelor Level degree with 1 yrs of experience.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Please send in your resumes to vinod.sanker@kla-tencor.com<span style="font-size: x-small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div></div></div>

Systems Engineer, Product development (Physics | Optics| Electrical or mechanical Engineering | lithography | semiconductor) (#109742)

Job Title: Systems Engineer, Product development Location : Milpitas, CA Duration: Fulltime Job description: Responsibilities: The selecte...

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*UPDATED* Librarian 2 - Middletown Library Service Center

<b>Librarian 2 - </b><b><b><span style="color: #48286d;">Middletown Library Service Center</span></b></b>. Schedule: Full Time – Monday through Friday. Hours: 8 hour days; 40 hour workweek. Salary: $60,593 (AR23). Closing Date: <span style="color: red;">July 26, 2013</span> at 4pm. CSL, Division of Library Development is seeking an enthusiastic, innovative, social media savvy candidate with one year post-graduate professional experience in library services. As part of a team, the candidate will be able to strategically respond to the rapid growth in the availability of online/virtual services, web presence and social media and supporting the CT library community needs. Candidate will work cooperatively with the Division team to foster a community service environment that harnesses technology creatively to deliver information, resources and services. The preferred candidate will be familiar with professional library work including cataloging activities and workflows; coordination of circulation tasks; administrative tasks and is able to oversee the daily operations of a small library service center in the absence of the director and consultant. The candidate will also coordinate the continuing education calendar and related duties for the division. Examples of Duties: Performs most complex related duties in providing consultant services to public, institutional and agency libraries and library groups; coordinates and maintains continuing education calendar; maintains division social media applications; performs communication and training support; responsible for administrative tasks as related to continuing education classes; coordinates webinar offerings, registrations and publicity; participates in web presence committees; performs copy cataloging of professional materials; may be assigned to staff development projects; may conduct workshops; may serve as liaison to groups and organizations; may be assigned to special projects requiring a high level of professional library duties as directed by the State Librarian; performs related duties as required. Minimum Qualifications: Knowledge of professional principles and practices of library science including classification systems; reference sources and techniques; knowledge of library administration principles and techniques; interpersonal skill; oral and written communication skills; ability to analyze and solve problems relating to library methods and procedures; computer skills. Experience and Training: General Experience: A Master's degree in Library Science or Information Science from a library school accredited by the American Library Association AND one year of post graduate degree experience in a relevant area of professional library work. Special Requirements: 1. The State Librarian may determine other advanced educational degrees equivalent to the MLS degree based on staffing needs. 2. Incumbents of this class may be assigned to special projects requiring advanced level professional library duties as directed by the State Librarian. The official job specification may be viewed at: <a _fcksavedurl="http://das.ct.gov/HR/JobspecNew/JobDetail.asp?FCC=5989" href="http://das.ct.gov/HR/JobspecNew/JobDetail.asp?FCC=5989" target="_blank">http://das.ct.gov/HR/JobspecNew/JobDetail.asp?FCC=5989</a>. The salary plan is available at: <a _fcksavedurl="http://www.das.state.ct.us/HRDocs/CompPlans/AR%206%2018%202010.pdf" href="http://www.das.state.ct.us/HRDocs/CompPlans/AR%206%2018%202010.pdf" target="_blank">http://www.das.state.ct.us/HRDocs/CompPlans/AR%206%2018%202010.pdf</a>. Application Instructions: Interested and qualified candidates who meet the above experience and training requirements should submit a cover letter that describes your interest and suitability for the position, resume and application for Examination or Employment (Form CT-HR-12 at <a _fcksavedurl="http://www.das.state.ct.us/cr1.aspx?page=13" href="http://www.das.state.ct.us/cr1.aspx?page=13" target="_blank">http://www.das.state.ct.us/cr1.aspx?page=13</a>) to: Deborah Craig, Human Resources Specialist, Department of Administrative Services, Small Agency Resource Team – SmART Unit, 165 Capitol Avenue, 5th Floor East, Hartford, Connecticut 06106. Confidential Fax: (860) 622-4921 (preferred method of submission). The State of Connecticut is an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer and strongly encourages the applications of women, minorities and persons with disabilities. Position filled pending clearance of SEBAC/Re-Employment lists.

*UPDATED* Librarian 2 - Middletown Library Service Center

Librarian 2 - Middletown Library Service Center . Schedule: Full Time – Monday through Friday. Hours: 8 hour days; 40 hour workweek. Salary:...

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How Faith Can Affect Therapy - NYTimes.com

<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: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;"><div align="left"><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; ">Can belief in God predict how someone responds to mental health treatment? A recent study suggests it might.</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; ">Researchers at McLean Hospital in Belmont, Mass., enrolled 159 men and women in a cognitive behavioral therapy program that involved, on average, 10 daylong sessions of group therapy, individual counseling and, in some cases, medications. About 60 percent of the participants were being treated for depression, while others had bipolar disorder, anxiety or other diagnoses.</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; ">All were asked to rate their spirituality by answering a single question: "To what extent do you believe in God?"</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; ">The results, <a href="http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/07/10/how-faith-can-affect-therapy/?src=me&ref=general&pagewanted=print" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102); text-decoration: none;">published in The Journal of Affective Disorders</a>, revealed that about 80 percent of participants reported some belief in God. Strength of belief was unrelated to the severity of initial symptoms. Over all, those who rated their spiritual belief as most important to them appeared to be less depressed after treatment than those with little or no belief. They also appeared less likely to engage in self-harming behaviors.</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; ">"Patients who had higher levels of belief in God demonstrated more effects of treatment," said the study's lead author, <a href="http://centerforanxiety.org/about_us.html" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102); text-decoration: none;">David H. Rosmarin</a>, a psychologist at McLean Hospital and director of the Center for Anxiety in New York. "They seemed to get more bang for their buck, so to speak."</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; ">One possible reason for this, he said, is that "patients who had more faith in God also had more faith in treatment. They were more likely to believe that the treatment would help them, and they were more likely to see it as credible and real."</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; ">Of the 56 people who expressed the strongest belief in God, 27 also had very high expectations for the treatment, while nine had very low expectations. In contrast, of the 30 patients who said they had no belief in God or a higher power, only two had high expectations for the treatment.</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; ">"It's one of the first studies I've read that actually looks at perhaps a mechanism" for "why we see some correlation between the strength of religious commitment or the strength of spiritual commitment and better outcomes," said Dr. Marilyn Baetz, a psychiatrist at the University of Saskatchewan who studies the effects of religion and spirituality on mental health. An <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16688737" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102); text-decoration: none;">earlier yearlong study</a> by Dr. Baetz and her colleagues found that people with panic disorder who rated religion as "very important" to them responded better to cognitive behavioral therapy, showing less stress and anxiety, than those who rated religion as less important.</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; ">Assessing how religious practices affect health is difficult, in part because researchers can't randomly assign people to embrace religion or not, the way they might assign participants in a drug test to take a new medication or a placebo. Most studies of this relationship are observational, and people who are more or less religious may differ in other important ways, making it difficult to know whether religious faith is actually causing the effect or if it is a result of some other factor.</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; ">But teasing out the effects of faith on treatment outcomes may be an important goal. Most Americans believe in God — 92 percent, <a href="http://www.gallup.com/poll/1690/Religion.aspx#2" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102); text-decoration: none;">according to a 2011 Gallup poll</a>, though the percentage among mental health professionals may be considerably lower. <a href="http://ps.psychiatryonline.org/article.aspx?articleid=98449" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102); text-decoration: none;">One study from 2003</a> found that 65 percent of psychiatrists said they believed in God, compared with 77 percent of other physicians.</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; ">Previous research has associated church attendance with <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10332617" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102); text-decoration: none;">increased life expectancy</a> and, in some studies, a <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3426191/" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102); text-decoration: none;">reduced risk of depression</a>. But this study looked not at how often the participants went to church or at their religious affiliation but at their belief in a higher power.</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; ">"I think it's a scientifically sound way of measuring things that have to do with people's experience of spirituality," said Torrey Creed, an assistant professor of psychology in psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania. "I think about this as a study of cognitive styles, that there's a pattern of thinking that helps people get better in treatment. And two examples of this pattern of thinking are 'I believe in treatment' and 'I believe in God.'"</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; ">Randi McCabe, director of the Anxiety Treatment and Research Center at St. Joseph's Healthcare in Ontario, said, "People's belief that something is going to work will make it work for a significant proportion of people," similar to the placebo effect.</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; ">"Your belief that you're going to get better, your attitude, does influence how you feel," Dr. McCabe continued. "And really, in cognitive behavior therapy, that is really what we're trying to change: people's beliefs, how they're seeing their world, their perspective."</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; ">Dr. Rosmarin offered further explanation for why religious faith might aid psychiatric treatment. "There's a vulnerability associated with physicality," he said. "I think people, psychiatric patients in particular, might recognize that vulnerability and recognize that things can't be counted on.</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; ">"Sometimes medications don't work, and sometimes psychotherapy doesn't work," he continued. "But if someone believes in something that is metaphysical, if someone believes in something spiritual, which would ostensibly be eternal, permanent, unwavering, omnipotent, then that could be an important resource to them, particularly in times of emotional distress."</div></div></div></div><br><a href="http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/07/10/how-faith-can-affect-therapy/?src=me&ref=general&pagewanted=print">http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/07/10/how-faith-can-affect-therapy/?src=me&ref=general&pagewanted=print</a>

How Faith Can Affect Therapy - NYTimes.com

Can belief in God predict how someone responds to mental health treatment? A recent study suggests it might. Researchers at McLean Hospital ...

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Doctors Badmouthing Other Doctors - NYTimes.com

<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; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: -webkit-left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); position: static; z-index: auto; " class="">A physician friend known for her conscientious work recently disclosed that a year ago she was named in a malpractice lawsuit. The revelation rattled me not only because there were no discernible errors in the care she provided, but also because I couldn't believe who had provoked the patient to hire a lawyer.</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; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: -webkit-left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); " class="">It was another doctor.</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; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: -webkit-left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); " class="">"I'm shocked that nothing was done sooner," the other doctor had said when the patient went for a second opinion. "You could have died."</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; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: -webkit-left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); " class="">The patient later decided to sue.</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; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: -webkit-left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); " class="">Like many who heard the story, I was quick to criticize the other physician. Throughout training and regularly at work, we are reminded of the importance of professionalism and respect. Shifting blame, doctors are taught, demoralizes other clinicians, undermines patient trust and <a href="http://jama.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=198334" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102); text-decoration: none;" class="">compromises patient outcomes</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; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: -webkit-left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); " class="">Surely, I thought, the doctor who had trashed our colleague was out of line, his comments aberrant. But it didn't take long for me to recall instances when friends and I had been equally critical about other doctors' work. And while I wanted to remember those indiscretions as private, limited to a few colleagues at most, I wasn't entirely sure.</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; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: -webkit-left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); " class="">I had to wonder: <em class="">are we all capable of talking like that in front of patients</em>?</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; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: -webkit-left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); " class="">The answer, according to a <a href="http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs11606-013-2499-9" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102); text-decoration: none;" class="">recent study in The Annals of Internal Medicine</a>, is an unqualified and disturbing, "Yes."</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; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: -webkit-left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); " class="">Over the last decade, few issues have garnered as much interest among health care experts as disrespectful behavior among doctors. While sociologists have devoted careers to researching the topic, it wasn't until the 1990s that the medical profession itself began to take serious note.</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; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: -webkit-left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); " class="">Spurred on by the increasing complexity of medicine, concerns about safety and patient satisfaction and an ever-growing urgency to contain costs, the Institute of Medicine convened a national panel of health care experts to <a href="http://www.nap.edu/html/quality_chasm/reportbrief.pdf" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102); text-decoration: none;" class="">discuss "the chasm" </a>between what could be and what was actually being done for patients. In 2002, they published an <a href="http://www.nap.edu/html/quality_chasm/reportbrief.pdf" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102); text-decoration: none;" class="">ambitious report</a> that called for a "sweeping redesign of the entire health system." Realizing that vision, said the panel, would require, among other changes, better collaboration and cooperation among physicians and the creation of a "<a href="http://www.ajustnhs.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/Culture-1-AM.pdf" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102); text-decoration: none;" class="">culture of respect</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; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: -webkit-left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); " class="">Medical schools, regulatory agencies, professional organizations and entire health care systems responded to this <em class="">cri de coeur</em>. Official definitions of professionalism were rewritten to incorporate the concepts of <a href="http://www.abimfoundation.org/Professionalism/Medical-Professionalism.aspx" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102); text-decoration: none;" class="">teamwork and shared responsibility</a>. Schools added mandatory coursework on the <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1492501/pdf/jgi_30635.pdf" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102); text-decoration: none;" class="">whys and hows of working in a team</a>. And licensing and accreditation boards began asking for evidence that doctors could not only lead, but that they also knew how <a href="http://www.acgme-nas.org/assets/pdf/NEJMfinal.pdf" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102); text-decoration: none;" class="">to work as part of a team</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; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: -webkit-left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); " class="">But this new study reveals that old habits and responses die hard.</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; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: -webkit-left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); " class="">Researchers trained three actors to portray "standardized patients" with advanced lung cancer who had recently moved to town after being treated by another doctor and who remained unsure about their diagnosis or prognosis. The actors, carrying medical records written to reflect only universally accepted guidelines of care, made a total of nearly three dozen office visits to various family physicians and cancer specialists working in the community.</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; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: -webkit-left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); " class="">The actors were not told to elicit the doctors' opinions about their previous care; but after analyzing transcripts from each office visit, the researchers found that in 40 percent of the consultations, doctors went ahead and spontaneously offered their opinion anyway. A tiny percentage of these comments were neutral; a third were supportive. The vast majority, however, were unabashedly critical, with the doctors' comments ranging from "Hell, you don't want to trust doctors," to "This guy's an idiot!"</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; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: -webkit-left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); " class="">"Doctors will throw each other under the bus," said Susan H. McDaniel, lead author of the study and a professor of psychiatry and family medicine at the University of Rochester Medical Center. "I don't think they even realize the extent to which they do that or how it can affect patients."</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; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: -webkit-left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); " class="">Probably, added Dr. McDaniel, most of the comments were unintentional. Faced with a constant pressure to cut costs, increase productivity and keep patients happy, plus the additional difficulty in this case of discussing prognosis with a terminal cancer patient, many of the doctors no doubt experienced significant levels of stress. In the moment, criticizing another physician to a patient might have felt like an effective way to fortify their own credentials and build up the patient's trust.</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; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: -webkit-left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); " class="">"There is probably something reassuring in saying, 'Boy, your doctor didn't do a good job and now I'm going to take care of you,'" Dr. McDaniel noted. "But those kinds of comments are bad for the patient."</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; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: -webkit-left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); " class="">To help remedy this problem, Dr. McDaniel began a physician coaching program at the University of Rochester Medical Center a year and a half ago. So far, she and her team have managed to work with approximately 150 doctors, observing them with patients and with colleagues, then offering feedback and support. Eventually they hope to expand the program. "When you really think about it, it's hard for people to regulate themselves when they get frustrated," Dr. McDaniel said. "And physicians get frustrated a lot."</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; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: -webkit-left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); position: static; z-index: auto; " class="">She added: "There's a lot of attention focused on the patient experience, but I think we need to work on improving the clinician experience as well."</div><br class=""><a href="http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/07/11/doctors-badmouthing-other-doctors/?hpw&pagewanted=print">http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/07/11/doctors-badmouthing-other-doctors/?hpw&pagewanted=print</a>

Doctors Badmouthing Other Doctors - NYTimes.com

A physician friend known for her conscientious work recently disclosed that a year ago she was named in a malpractice lawsuit. The revelatio...

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Mining co. hires private army to guard Wisco iron mine site

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhikaU1MTHYOW_6ktAMLXK_JZSN-PkhRZe7rOtA4TI0seNHjB5COyEe3Q06eN8LQQtxZZaTULXrl80zrySs1vrzJ4BtKci0WVtWlUCQX1o-eN-F1J5HQ9NmAmR3ABCyA1OhAU340k-5ifsF/s1600/paramilitary.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhikaU1MTHYOW_6ktAMLXK_JZSN-PkhRZe7rOtA4TI0seNHjB5COyEe3Q06eN8LQQtxZZaTULXrl80zrySs1vrzJ4BtKci0WVtWlUCQX1o-eN-F1J5HQ9NmAmR3ABCyA1OhAU340k-5ifsF/s200/paramilitary.jpg" width="145" /></a></div>A heavily armed private army showed up at a controversial iron mine site in Wisconsin on July 4, and citizens didn't like it one little bit.<br /><br />Masked, armored, camouflaged mercenaries carrying automatic weapons were discovered in the woods over the weekend. Word spread quickly. Charles Pierce's take on it over at <a href="http://www.esquire.com/blogs/politics/wisconsin-iron-mine-security-070913">Esquire</a> is priceless:<br /><blockquote class="tr_bq">...the rented gunmen are from an Arizona outfit called Bulletproof Security. (Once again, we go to Bogart from The Maltese Falcon: "The cheaper the crook, the gaudier the patter.") Josh Marshall has <a href="http://editors.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2013/07/rent_an_army.php?ref=fpblg">some more about the company</a> -- and some wicked cool photographs -- which seems to make a tidy profit from the paranoia of the nation's plutocrats. If one did not know better, one might suggest that the governor of the state should get everybody in a room somewhere and defuse this craziness before someone gets iced out in the woods. </blockquote>Here's what happened in the past when mining companies hired private armies: lots of people got killed. From <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ludlow_Massacre">Wikipedia</a>:<br /><blockquote class="tr_bq">The Ludlow Massacre was an attack by the Colorado National Guard and Colorado Fuel & Iron Company camp guards on a tent colony of 1,200 striking coal miners and their families at Ludlow, Colorado on April 20, 1914. </blockquote><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYEmg4PfrnsmK8w_Q-P5XaEtLYtagZUw8n3CrI1prQP2VGxi0RHQeJAeY11a302bGUwrKSEeEdwNtezvnVGdiGpqV0hDlKV9q8G6DDb1fHYFJfgHuyeKNb2VEYQCJ-zBP7qb3bhoNETv-l/s1600/ludlow+massacre+funeral.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="220" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYEmg4PfrnsmK8w_Q-P5XaEtLYtagZUw8n3CrI1prQP2VGxi0RHQeJAeY11a302bGUwrKSEeEdwNtezvnVGdiGpqV0hDlKV9q8G6DDb1fHYFJfgHuyeKNb2VEYQCJ-zBP7qb3bhoNETv-l/s320/ludlow+massacre+funeral.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ludlow Massacre funeral</td></tr></tbody></table><blockquote class="tr_bq">In 1914, when workers at Colorado mine went on strike, company guards fired machine guns and killed several men. More battling followed, during which 2 women and 11 children were killed and John D. Rockefeller Jr., the chief mine owner, was pilloried for what had happened. </blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq">The massacre resulted in the violent deaths of between 19 and 25 people; sources vary but include two women and eleven children, asphyxiated and burned to death under a single tent.  </blockquote>But at least for now, here's some good news from the <a href="http://www.jsonline.com/news/firm-providing-armed-security-at-mine-site-may-not-be-licensed-here-b9951985z1-214953381.html">Milwaukee Journal Sentinel</a>:<br /><blockquote class="tr_bq">An out-of-state security company providing armed guards for a proposed mining site in northern Wisconsin is standing down for now after it was revealed that the firm isn't licensed to provide private security inside Wisconsin.</blockquote>

Mining co. hires private army to guard Wisco iron mine site

A heavily armed private army showed up at a controversial iron mine site in Wisconsin on July 4, and citizens didn't like it one little ...

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UPDATE!!! Exciting times......

UPDATE:  Here is the info to hear it live...<br /><br />Here is the direct link to tonight's radio show for listeners to hear the show live online... <br /> <br /><a href="http://www.blogtalkradio.com/playgroundradio/2013/07/12/arena-pharmaceuticals-belviq-the-ellie-wenker-story">http://www.blogtalkradio.com/playgroundradio/2013/07/12/arena-pharmaceuticals-belviq-the-ellie-wenker-story</a> <br /> <br />Here is the link to the Playground Radio home page, where all of the radio shows are listed... <br /> <br /><a href="http://www.blogtalkradio.com/playgroundradio">http://www.blogtalkradio.com/playgroundradio</a> <br /> <br />The call-in number for you to call in to the show and for listeners to call in is (347) 934-0239.<br /><br />ORIGINAL POST:<br />I just realized that I forgot to post yesterday to the blog.  Oooops - sorry.  I've been pretty busy at work and then an impromptu dinner with a friend last night.  It was tempting to order something really sinful off of the menu!!!  Everything looked so darn yummy!  But, I settled for a veggie plate - it comes with a side dinner salad, and 4 veggie sides.  I am GLAD I picked that, it was soooooo good.  I was not able to eat it all, so I got a to go box and I will have it today for lunch.  <br /><br />I need to get back into my workout routine.  I haven't done the treadmill since Sunday and I feel it for sure.  So tonight - it is on!!! <br /><br />Also tonight I will be on a Blog Talk Radio segment through Play Ground Radio.  It is hosted by Demian Russian and Spencer Osborne.  I will get more information on how you can listen live with the opportunity to call in and ask questions.  I am pretty excited.   I will post a new posting this afternoon with that information.<br /><br />Please join in and listen if you can.  It will be at 7:00 pm CST / 8:00 EST - more info will be posted shortly!<br /><br />Happy Thursday!!!

UPDATE!!! Exciting times......

UPDATE:  Here is the info to hear it live... Here is the direct link to tonight's radio show for listeners to hear the show live online....

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Afton summer views

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6H7rxAWJ8Eune__-ZcmSpHVGuIA4knXJGpkzAFFYCNKWgl0QtBLHD9HMjqghddy-Shty7M-t7GuQKnrcRivDtIm4bQqBA6f55PdIa0flzXjkYNqyb1v63L3zRZgU5W_a-tJckn432BTCr/s1600/1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="262" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6H7rxAWJ8Eune__-ZcmSpHVGuIA4knXJGpkzAFFYCNKWgl0QtBLHD9HMjqghddy-Shty7M-t7GuQKnrcRivDtIm4bQqBA6f55PdIa0flzXjkYNqyb1v63L3zRZgU5W_a-tJckn432BTCr/s400/1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Chicory was in full bloom Wednesday on top of Afton Mountain. The sky was overcast with rain on the way as I snapped this photo looking north toward Shenandoah National Park.</div><br />Photo by Lynn R. Mitchell<br />July 10, 2013

Afton Mountain Blue Ridge Mountains chicory Shenandoah National Park Afton summer views

Chicory was in full bloom Wednesday on top of Afton Mountain. The sky was overcast with rain on the way as I snapped this photo looking nort...

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Today's Teamster News 07.11.13

<a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/09/low-wage-workers_n_3569298.html?utm_hp_ref=business">Low-Wage Workers Hit Hardest In The Recovery: Study</a>  Huffington Post   ...Workers in low-wage industries have lost a greater share of their inflation-adjusted income during the economic recovery than better-paid workers have, according to a <a href="http://www.nelp.org/page/-/Job_Creation/NELP-Fact-Sheet-Inequality-Declining-Wages.pdf?nocdn=1">new analysis from the National Employment Law Project</a>...<br /><a href="http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2013/07/10/2280101/charles-koch-minimum-wage/">Billionaire Koch Brother Says Eliminating The Minimum Wage Will Help The Poor </a> ThinkProgress   ...On Wednesday, the Charles Koch Foundation launched a $200,000 media campaign in Wichita, Kansas, with a hint of expanding it elsewhere...<br /><a href="http://www.usnews.com/opinion/blogs/world-report/2013/07/08/us-eu-trade-agreement-needs-more-congressional-oversight">The Big Problems in Obama's Big Trade Deals</a> (opinion)  US News   ...The U.S.-EU Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) and the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) make up the majority of the world's global domestic product and are already plagued by oversight and accountability issues. The vulnerable communities that will be impacted are wide-ranging, spanning the environmental, labor and health sectors...<br /><a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/comment/ambroseevans_pritchard/10172530/The-wheels-are-coming-off-the-whole-of-southern-Europe.html">The wheels are coming off the whole of southern Europe </a> Telegraph   ...Europe’s debt-crisis strategy is near collapse. The long-awaited recovery has failed to take wing. Debt ratios across southern Europe are rising at an accelerating pace. Political consent for extreme austerity is breaking down in almost every EMU crisis state...<br /><a href="http://www.cnbc.com/id/100875894">Smithfield CEO Faces Grilling in Senate on Food Safety</a>  Reuters   ...Chinese plans to buy America's Smithfield Foods—the world's biggest pork producer—faces scrutiny Wednesday when U.S. senators question Smithfield's chief executive about food safety and foreign ownership...<br /><a href="http://www.ksee24.com/news/local/FAA-Ups-Requirements-for-Co-Pilots-on-Passenger-Planes-214930101.html">FAA Ups Requirements for Co-Pilots on Passenger Planes</a>  NBC News ...The federal government is toughening the qualifications for co-pilots on American passenger planes — days after a crash landing in San Francisco in which pilot experience has become a question...<br /><a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2013/07/the-2-supreme-court-cases-that-could-put-a-dagger-in-organized-labor/277616/">Two Supreme Court Cases That Could Hurt Organized Labor</a>  The Atlantic   ...Amid the ruckus over its voting rights and gay marriage rulings, the justices quietly accepted a pair of cases that could make it nearly impossible for private sector unions to organize new members...<br /><a href="http://www.businessweek.com/news/2013-07-09/fedex-settles-lawsuit-over-claims-it-overcharged-customers-1">FedEx Settles Lawsuit Over Claims It Overcharged Customers</a>  Bloomberg News   ...FedEx Corp. agreed to settle a lawsuit over claims the company was “systematically overcharging” customers by billing for deliveries to businesses and government offices at higher residential rates...<br /><a href="http://www.sheboyganpress.com/viewart/20130709/SHE0101/307090278/Judge-blocks-portion-state-Capitol-access-policy">Judge blocks portion of Michigan state Capitol access policy</a>  Sheboygan Press   ...Groups of up to 20 people can gather in the state Capitol without a permit, a federal judge ruled, striking down portions of the current policy requiring permits for all activities as an unconstitutional infringement on free speech rights...<br /><a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/dc-politics/dc-council-approves-living-wage-bill-over-wal-mart-ultimatum/2013/07/10/724aab6e-e96f-11e2-a301-ea5a8116d211_story.html?hpid=z1">D.C. Council approves ‘living wage’ bill over Wal-Mart ultimatum</a>  Washington Post   ...D.C. lawmakers gave final approval Wednesday to a bill requiring certain large retailers to pay their employees a <a href="http://articles.washingtonpost.com/2013-05-30/local/39627226_1_living-wage-minimum-wage-draft-report">50 percent premium over the city’s minimum wage</a>, a day after Wal-Mart warned the law would jeopardize their plans in the city...<br /><a href="http://www.staradvertiser.com/news/breaking/20130709_Teamsters_ratify_new_OTS_contract_with_64_percent_raise.html">Teamsters ratify new OTS contract with 6.4 percent raise</a>  Honolulu Star Adviser   ...Honolulu’s bus drivers ratified a new five-year labor contract Tuesday with Oahu Transit Services, Inc. The new pact covers 1,400 bus drivers, clerical and maintenance members of Teamsters Local 996...<br /><a href="http://www.wickedlocal.com/winchester/news/x606639444/Teamsters-back-Clark-in-run#axzz2YebRHh00">Mass. Teamsters back Clark in run</a>  Wicked Local Winchester   ...Teamsters Local 25, representing more than 11,000 workers in Massachusetts, this week announced its support for state Sen. Katherine Clark in the race for U.S. Congress to represent the fifth district...<br /><a href="http://www.buffalonews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20130709/CITYANDREGION/130709226/1003">City lawmakers delay approving contract with Rural/Metro as ambulance strike looms</a>  Buffalo News   ...For Buffalo residents, this might not be the best time to have a medical emergency. The Common Council on Tuesday put off renewing a contract with Rural/Metro Medical Services, which handles as many as 34,000 emergency calls a year in the City of Buffalo...<br /><a href="http://www.teamster.org/audio/download/91322/Safari%2020130710%201111.mp3">Rural/Metro Putting Profits Ahead Of People</a>  Tony Trupiano Show   ...Labor radio host Tony Trupiano interviews Local 375 members in Buffalo about their fight to win a fair contract with Rural/Metro medical service. Download the audio <a href="http://www.teamster.org/audio/download/91322/Safari%2020130710%201111.mp3">here</a>...<br /><a href="http://www.teamster.org/content/congress-must-vet-pacific-rim-trade-proposal-0">Hoffa: Congress Must Vet the Pacific Rim Trade Proposal</a>  IBT   ...Workers across Michigan and the U.S. are working harder today for less pay than they received just a few years ago. Jobs that once allowed wage earners to support their families disappeared during the last recession, replaced by jobs that pay poverty wages. But more importantly, millions of good jobs have been exported over the past 20 years because of bad trade deals... <br /><a href="http://www.abc27.com/story/22788714/umwa-holding-14th-patriot-protest-in-wva-tuesday">30 arrested during UMWA protest in W.Va.</a>  WHTM   ...United Steelworkers President Leo Gerard told the crowd that every union is threatened if Patriot gets away with shedding legacy costs and breaking promises...

Today's Teamster News 07.11.13

Low-Wage Workers Hit Hardest In The Recovery: Study   Huffington Post   ...Workers in low-wage industries have lost a greater share of their...

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Jenna Bush Hager reveals 5 life lessons learned from her grandparents

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-bsE6rsJGcnkGSvJyhVDGaGZhiMd7lWuTy5VSHNVlKaoqltlJLe0agF0aj9FjwtFUKlziO9cY_fsTAnVJi4eZTE1UawjBfmsTPwo7INgkTskSBlc-bsGXVCxoqTNrMG5hVqFg-zZQYXiq/s1600/Jenna+Bush+2+baby.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-bsE6rsJGcnkGSvJyhVDGaGZhiMd7lWuTy5VSHNVlKaoqltlJLe0agF0aj9FjwtFUKlziO9cY_fsTAnVJi4eZTE1UawjBfmsTPwo7INgkTskSBlc-bsGXVCxoqTNrMG5hVqFg-zZQYXiq/s320/Jenna+Bush+2+baby.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />Jenna Bush Hager, one of the twin daughters of former President George W. and Laura Bush who is married to Henry Hager, son of Virginia's former Lieutenant Governor John Hager, recently shared <a href="http://www.today.com/allday/jenna-bush-hager-5-things-i-learned-my-grandfather-grandmother-1C8819779">five life lessons</a> that were passed along from her grandparents. Those grandparents are former President George H.W.  and Barbara Bush.<br /><br />Be sure to <a href="http://www.today.com/allday/jenna-bush-hager-5-things-i-learned-my-grandfather-grandmother-1C8819779">read Jenna's article</a> for her expanded explanations of the five life lessons passed along from George and Barbara: <br /><br />1. Don't talk too much about yourself.<br />2. Have lots of loyal friends -- and be one.<br />3. Laugh.<br />4. Love.<br />5. Write handwritten notes.

Barbara Bush family friendship George H.W. Bush George W. Bush Henry Hager Jenna Bush Hager John Hager Laura Bush Jenna Bush Hager reveals 5 life lessons learned from her grandparents

Jenna Bush Hager, one of the twin daughters of former President George W. and Laura Bush who is married to Henry Hager, son of Virginia'...

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U.S. House schedule for Thursday, July 11, 2013

<a href="http://majorityleader.gov/"><i>From Majority Leader Eric Cantor....</i></a><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><u><b>THURSDAY, JULY 11TH </b></u><br /> On Thursday, the House will meet at 9:00 a.m. for legislative business. <br /> First votes expected: 10:30 - 11:00 a.m. Last votes expected: 12:30 - 1:30 p.m.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><b>One Minute Speeches</b><br /><br /> <b><a href="http://republicanleaderforms.house.gov/Components/Redirect/r.aspx?ID=346688-6846703" target="_blank">H.R. 2642</a></b> - Federal Agriculture Reform and Risk Management Act of 2013 (Closed Rule, One Hour of Debate) <i>(Sponsored by Rep. Frank Lucas / Agriculture Committee)</i><br /><br /> <b>Special Order Speeches</b><br /><br /> <div style="text-align: center;"><u><b>COMMITTEE ACTIVITY OF THE DAY </b></u><br /> Natural Resources Subcommittee on Public Lands and Environmental Regulation hearing on “<a href="http://republicanleaderforms.house.gov/Components/Redirect/r.aspx?ID=346689-6846703" target="_blank">Wildfire and Forest Management</a>” (Thursday, July 11th, at 10:00 a.m.)</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><a href="http://republicanleaderforms.house.gov/Components/Redirect/r.aspx?ID=346690-6846703" target="_blank">Printable PDF</a><br />

Congress Eric Cantor U.S. House of Representatives U.S. House schedule for Thursday, July 11, 2013

From Majority Leader Eric Cantor.... THURSDAY, JULY 11TH On Thursday, the House will meet at 9:00 a.m. for l...

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SchoolNet Conference 2013 - Powerful Professional Development For Sure!

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWGhQ4uWoQ_Fu8WWW-bD46X2sWwpH59pGeNuFWbHvtM6APl7ta0aYBIvXOJtVFB6AEXj3C-tZhJlkM3xYA_crDAWtMTkSBy3DmDTzuDtWarDnTwGLUTKIr_xUH7gXBZQtKFkuKNYCggLY/s1600-h/image%25255B6%25255D.png" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><br /><img alt="image" border="0" height="183" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjp00cn5nwVuTmXlDsoeMsSpiuv4jeop3WE5sl5kl0JtlpxNHY3gXz7Hdc_kxqha4w8VhGPGmKgru3ymyj9-pA0JJ2PW_YwqzR78yHYH7ycJPF1s3_ifsP0IpF_5Urt7tbIlJAk5GMpgzs/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border: 0px; display: inline; margin: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="244" /></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Are you all ‘teched-out’ (a new Conference phrase we heard bandied about) after attending the SchoolNet2013 ICT in the Classroom  Conference held in Bloemfontein from 2nd – 4th July? Have you returned home inspired and motivated to do more in your classroom in the ensuing days? Of course all conferences have their hiccups of one sort or another but  the relationships formed and the learning that takes place in the space of three days definitely outweighs any downsides! </span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZDnH17dAPt8oT9OtV3Sh8d-AVhw1Vx-y_yLOoHmX1bQ8Qy6qItTXc7qyg7d5usFwxcUSGTkK0gzktZIx3-pficqr5SywkdtqPYdnWr2bQVl28iz2G4k8p1xXJ_2KXRLsxaX_97lShqhE/s1600-h/image2.png" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="image" border="0" height="184" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLNgHPjJRDlUKM3G1un2FNF3nvUe6oD9wJDkzAogkuvc25SUt3985ODSBUFLvrpEMw7pmpoD5acRqGI3uXVKSr4WkQPdl_R5IJeCeB_G2Qo0ucYkD49cMvVt8ZZRfL6VO9NtWcO-nb2lM/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-width: 0px; display: inline; margin: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="244" /></a></div><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It was a busy time getting ready for the Conference in Blomefontein but Janet Thomson, SchoolNet’s Executive Director,  skilfully co-ordinated the Schoolnet team and the Bloemfontein ICTize team as they prepared for this biennial event. In this picture you can see the whole team on the stage at the close of the Conference. </span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><u><br /></u></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b style="font-size: x-large;">Our keynote speakers</b></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">SchoolNet conferences are known for including International speakers and we were thrilled to have four superb speakers who added their perspectives to those of our wonderful local presenters from around South Africa. We were especially thrilled to have our Deputy Minister of Education, Enver Surty, open the Conference. </span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><u><br /></u></span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCDkIs5vsORCmYRaSNZy1kreHNQbM4vocVTwvFoffESgwWumV8X98h_JLfXzXLQ1jWt0YJNYXQPaTBFJiGvsvvl-qNFS1MDIigqxvVFuVzJLNrYhxKgkZOhs3xaxwP0ZsmITVA_UNeS50/s1600-h/image5.png" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="image" border="0" height="244" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPmSKl08F0Y8Yau2dB4rhowokTfcuyXuSQrBDjsAVsce6tU2d_cpr-gfWIB5UWkbBK1yiqn61fJGYrqG_c3MpDQpwVcKDLdd-nWeZ51RGXkMSKnAHDkDiLiOQpuultRMIWx5FXQv2Iwts/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-width: 0px; display: inline; margin: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="182" /></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><u>Naomi Harm</u> </b>has been an invited keynote speaker at several of our SchoolNet Conferences over the years and she always gives us so much to think about and take away.  She presented tirelessly throughout the Conference with her various presentations and the closing keynote in which she summed up the Conference with her '<i>Top 10 Learning Tips</i>'. Naomi’s presentations included:</span><br /><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So You Want to Hangout In My Community?|</span></li><li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What Would You Like to Create Today? iPad Literacy Center “Apptivities"</span></li><li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Intel Elements: Blended Learning</span></li><li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Visualize Your Thinking and Learning - Visual Ranking App</span></li><li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Closing Keynote ‘10 top learning tips’</span></li></ul><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">You can read Naomi’s conference reflections on the conference on her great blog <a href="http://goo.gl/jv2ZV">http://goo.gl/jv2ZV</a> She provides links to all her presentations on her blog. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhI86dwMmgZJorzSEVZbuo812pVKyOIgnXzatCoiUdZ4jybR6T4_90qOeCkdprHyuohtE3USEH-RvB3d8UY60f-XLCUmaMJ5U2VE8pHY150xCd82zQYkEbPl85v_vOIP-9-OGv5vEQ3zDY/?imgmax=800" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="image" border="0" height="163" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhI86dwMmgZJorzSEVZbuo812pVKyOIgnXzatCoiUdZ4jybR6T4_90qOeCkdprHyuohtE3USEH-RvB3d8UY60f-XLCUmaMJ5U2VE8pHY150xCd82zQYkEbPl85v_vOIP-9-OGv5vEQ3zDY/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border: 0px; display: inline; margin-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="244" /></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><u><b>Baldev Singh</b></u> from <a href="http://www.imagineeducation.net/">Imagine Education</a> in the UK was our opening keynote speaker. Baldev presented his keynote on "Trends in Technology and Implications for Learning, Teaching and Developing the International Dimension in Schools."   </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">One of Baldev’s quotes was constantly tweeted throughout the conference ‘Technology might be the answer but what was the question?’ </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Baldev’s workshop sessions in the following two days included:</span><br /><ul><li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">21st Century Learning Design Through a Technology Lens </span></li><li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Create System-wide Change. Build Innovative Schools </span></li><li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">TeachMeet</span></li></ul><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: underline;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: underline;">Frédéric Kastner</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><u style="font-weight: bold;"> and Malik Wilson</u> are from The Virtual School in the UK. They presented</span><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdSWznmb8y4dazFtBdN8FQfvuaG6WI2O95HSfC7rYdaQp97GuXxibKwdBIAASkKQGMYiL6zq-3ff-dhkIiOWQrjvYMOBRH1kgJzDf4ufs7CRicKtZxWD-ia2qFL4sVgE2364AOFPgFLEg/s1600-h/clip_image0023.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="clip_image002" border="0" height="197" hspace="12" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2FhGN-k7IOWlPr9LpX8suldhtyOLZEbPe5TQFd6tnZ-gsnIiUZ-7vbTc62ruP3uOfZPf-LABSDyNXfCnInU21lNmGae7bvj78y8SltpzI5xdvmpa47JiU0O8zzgahhF97exqGSe8ufJg/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-width: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="clip_image002" width="240" /></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">a keynote entitled ‘Open Educational Resource Movement –Inspiring your Teaching and Sharing with Teachers around the world’. During the conference they provided sessions of hands-on movie-making projects through digital video productions and screen casting opportunities with free online and offline resources. Teachers were very eager to participate in these content creation technology sessions and one couldn’t easily get a seat in their sessions. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Their sessions included:</span><br /><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Finding and using OER in and around the classroom. </span></li><li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Enabling teachers to create their own Multimedia Lessons</span></li></ul><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Frédéric has published an article for those who missed his presentation on his </span><a href="http://thevirtualschool.wordpress.com/2013/07/10/schoolnet-south-africa-ict-in-the-classroom-conference-for-all-those-who-missed-our-talk/" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">blog.</a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> You can also view their various videos on their Virtual School YouTube playlist: </span><a href="http://www.youtube.com/user/virtualschooluk" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">http://www.youtube.com/user/virtualschooluk</a><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Apart from our keynote speakers we had inspiring local presenters of high calibre leading different sessions. We are very grateful for their input. </span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTbqnQtjXOF8X_Gid37t29CFvVNsIgwt4BKIgVdFYzeksxBASK5XKg6vBLyPNCYyhFsrzjy6cqgCMhZk3ejgG47DGGJuiZpLwor5Co6R04QhSxE67MaTBICCeZ2ScfJ153Lpzk85gLRLE/s1600-h/image%25255B3%25255D.png" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="image" border="0" height="181" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIVASsTmr6gzQ0b-Yy5yA9uuAXJ_q-Q5w-X6XVrlQvl5pk8XzPadqNEY2I7Nc3SayLhQ3-89btY-TqW2VNHqQJhr__2vUuDZQEUjV8deenqtqLl4wgOEHXscSTzyviqqFzE1MlDcIAoko/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border: 0px; display: inline; margin: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="244" /></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: x-large;">Social networking</span></b><u><br /></u>It is amazing how social media can bind a conference together. Maggie Verster  did a sterling job of introducing teachers to Twitter and keeping the social media alive and well. We have captured the tweet archIves from the three days of the Conference using Storify:<br /><u><b>Day1</b></u>: <a href="http://goo.gl/QPaJY">http://goo.gl/QPaJY</a></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><u><b>Day 2</b></u>: </span><a href="http://goo.gl/sWXmG" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">http://goo.gl/sWXmG</a><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><u><b>Day 3: </b></u><a href="http://goo.gl/qN3Wj">http://goo.gl/qN3Wj</a> </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Our <a href="http://schoolnetsa13.blogspot.com/">Conference blog</a> is being updated with all the presentations that have been received to date. These presentations have also been shared via Dropbox plus they also appear on the SchoolNet website under Conference (<a href="http://schoolnet.org.za/conference_2013/">http://schoolnet.org.za/conference_2013/</a>). Photos can be found on the SchoolNet website </span><a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/114485521154323474375">https://picasaweb.google.com/114485521154323474375</a>.<br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><u><br /></u></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: x-large;">Reflections</span></b><br />It was according to all accounts a very successful and exciting conference. Here are some of the reflections via blogs or PDFs. (Please let us know if you have written a reflection on your blog)</span><br /><ul><li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="mailto:PDFs.@MaryFaragher">@MaryFaragher</a> 's reflection on the <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23Schoolnetsa&src=hash">#Schoolnetsa</a> conference  "The last three days I have been at a conference for “innovative teachers” in Bloem and it has been amazing! From the breadcrumb navigation to presentations of the latest technology, to the active workshops that formed the bulk of the programme, it has been an eye-opening journey."<a href="http://t.co/1TBoceYZiz">http://bit.ly/13o38uA </a></span></li><li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">@nharm reflection on our #schoolnetsa conference. It also has all her resources!! <a href="http://goo.gl/jv2ZV">http://goo.gl/jv2ZV</a> </span></li><li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="https://docs.google.com/file/d/1v7zeChaYe_6e_RAG84SfHQjIRjy5XasW9g3E611Xn236Sw0mOpHZI2S5v1Md/edit?usp=sharing">Bongani Ncube</a> from Ilanga Secondary School, Emalahleni, has sent in a reflection. </span></li><li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Frédéric Kastner has a reflection on his Virtual School <a href="http://thevirtualschool.wordpress.com/2013/07/10/schoolnet-south-africa-ict-in-the-classroom-conference-for-all-those-who-missed-our-talk/">blog</a></span></li><li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 18px;">Kobus van Wyk also writes about the SchoolNet Conference </span><a href="http://goo.gl/X50Jx" rel="nofollow nofollow" style="background-color: white; cursor: pointer; line-height: 18px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">http://goo.gl/X50Jx</span></a></span></li></ul><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /><b><span style="font-size: x-large;">Three essential points</span></b><br />Once again we realise three essential points that emerge after attending a national technology in education conference:</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />1) We not alone. Everyone starts as a beginner and everyone can move forward and use technology where it matters most; no-one knows everything and everyone learns from others.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />2) We share a worldwide vision for improving our education system and embracing technology to enhance it and do things we couldn't do before including technology. Attending a conference often shows new ways of engaging in and using technology to develop student skills at one’s own school.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />3) A personal learning network is important. A conference introduces us to others who we can now add to our PLN. Joining Twitter links us to a means of gathering a powerful learning network around us whenever we need them. We hope that you will include @SchoolNetSA as one of your free professional development organisations in this personal learning network. </span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span> <b><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">Recommendations</span></b><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As we all know, not every teacher at our schools feels as enthusiastic as we do about the value of using technology to improve student learning and engagement. So, as you return to your day to day environment we encourage you to chat and share in the corridors, discuss over lunch, and offer ideas for the possibilities for learning that technology can bring.  Use your energy and renewed enthusiasm to build and develop relationships with your various teams, teachers and students to slowly help all to see that connections and learning through and with technology are important in education.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If you were at the conference we have sent you a link to an evaluation form. Please fill it in so that we can make our next conference even better. </span></div>

conferences SchoolNet Conference 2013 - Powerful Professional Development For Sure!

Are you all ‘teched-out’ (a new Conference phrase we heard bandied about) after attending the SchoolNet2013 ICT in the Classroom  Conference...

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