This Day, April 25, In Jewish History

1367: Poland's Casimir III "The Great" expanded the "privileges" of 1334 to include the Jews in Lesser Poland and Ukraine.1599: Birthdate of Oliver Cromwell. Most people remember Cromwell as one of the leaders in the revolt against Charles I that left the latter a beheaded monarch and the former Lord Protector. To the Jews, he is the English leader who enabled the Jews to return to England after three and half centuries of exile. Despite a great deal of opposition, Cromwell held fast to his commitment to the return of the Jews. Although they came in secret at first, by 1657, one year before the death of Cromwell, the Jews of London felt confident enough in their position to purchase a building to be used as a Synagogue. Cromwell passed away in September, 1658.1607: During the Eighty Years' War, the Dutch fleet destroys the anchored Spanish fleet at Gibraltar. The Eighty Years' War, or Dutch Revolt, was the war of secession between the Netherlands and the Spanish king that lasted from 1568 to 1648. The war resulted in the Seven United Provinces being recognized as an independent state. The United Provinces of the Netherlands, or the Dutch Republic, became a world power for a time through its merchant shipping and experienced a period of economic, scientific and cultural growth. The region now known as Belgium and Luxembourg also became established as the Southern Netherlands, part of the Seventeen Provinces that remained under royal Habsburg rule. The Spanish were Catholics. The Dutch were Protestants. More importantly, the Protestant Dutch were willing to provide a safe haven for the Jews. In fact, the early Jewish community in the Netherlands was dominated by Sephardic Jews whose families had been driven out of Catholic Spain. It was this Dutch victory over the Spanish that would mean that New Amsterdam would be Protestant and would be a haven for the first Jewish community in what would become the United States. 1846: The United Order of True Sisters, the first independent national women's organization in America, held its first meeting. Organized at Temple Emanu-El in New York City, the United Order of True Sisters (UOTS) held its first meeting on April 25, 1846. Conceived as a female counterpart to the male Jewish B'nai B'rith organization (founded in 1843), but functioning separately, UOTS claims to be the first independent national women's organization in the United States. Some of the Order's goals resembled those of earlier Jewish women's mutual aid and charitable societies. The Sisters sought "refinement of the heart and mind and moral improvement," and paid regular dues to be used for burial fees and material aid to members struck by illness or sudden poverty. Unlike earlier charitable women's organizations, however, the UOTS also had explicitly political goals. In the words of the group's 1864 constitution, the Order sought "particularly the development of free, independent and well-considered action of its members. The women are to expand their activities, without neglecting their obligations as housekeepers, in such a manner, that if necessary they can participate in public meetings and discussions." The structure of the lodge, with secret passwords, degrees of membership, and closely-guarded rituals, mirrored the organization of men's fraternal organizations like B'nai B'rith, the Masons, and the Odd Fellows. The members of UOTS were mostly middle-class German-Jewish women, as evidenced by the fact that meetings at most lodges were conducted in German until the end of the First World War. Many members were wives of B'nai B'rith members. The UOTS provided these women a place to exercise their leadership abilities and develop a role in the public sphere, without being subject to the authority of men. Although most probably did not fear material want, the system of mutual aid provided an unusual degree of security and independence. Initiated under the leadership of Henriette Bruckman, and founded with just ten other members, the original lodge counted over 100 members by 1851. In the same year, the UOTS established a Grand Lodge as an umbrella organization to connect lodges in different cities and to centralize authority. By the mid-1860s, lodges existed in Philadelphia, New Haven, and Albany as well as New York. Active in public life from the beginning, the UOTS established its own newspaper, Der Vereinsote, in 1884. Today, the UOTS continues to maintain chapters across the country, although its focus has changed and is no longer identified as an exclusively Jewish organization. Since 1947, the main activities of the Order have been raising money for cancer research and providing support to cancer patients. The most recent chapter was formed in Suffolk County, New York, in 1978.1848: The new Austrian constitution guaranteed freedom of the Jewish religion.1850: Paul Julius Reuter used 40 pigeons to carry stock market prices. Born Israel Beer Josaphat, Reuter had left his uncle's bank just two years before to establish what would become one of the world's greatest news gathering organizations.1852: Twenty-one Reform Jews formed Washington Hebrew Congregation in Washington D.C.1859: Construction of the Suez Canal begins. The construction and operation of the canal became entangled in the European power politics and imperial conflicts between the French, who built the canal and the British who wanted to control it. While serving as Prime Minister, Benjamin Disraeli bought a controlling interest in the company that owned the canal. This “extra-legal” purchase was made possible by money from the House of Rothschild.1881: A petition signed by 250,000 Germans was presented to the government requesting the barring of foreign Jews from admission into Germany. The petition bore no less than two hundred and fifty-five thousand signatures. This petition marked the opening of modern German anti-Semitism.1886: Sigmund Freud opened his practice at Rathausstrasse 7, Vienna.1898: Michael Wromser, the son of a poor butcher from Lorraine, passed away in Phoenix, Arizona, where he was the sole possessor of an agricultural empire worth a quarter of a million dollars. 1900: Birthdate of Wolfgang Ernst Pauli. The Austrian born physicist won the Nobel Prize in 1945. Pauli shows up on lists of Jewish scientists. In reality, his father was born Jewish and his maternal grandfather was Jewish. But like so many German and Jewish intellectuals of the time, conversion had taken him out of the House of Israel and only the blood laws of Hitler could have “brought him back.”1900: A two day crisis began in the Jewish Colonial Bank. Herzl called a meeting of the directors, and had the bank affairs reviewed by an accountant and a bank expert.1903: Herzl Journey back to Paris as he continues to search for support for a Jewish home with the leaders of European government and business. His approach would stand in stark contrast with the methods of the leaders of the Second Aliyah.1908: Joseph Dulberg, a leader of the Manchester Jewish Community, writes to Winston Churchill expressing sympathy for Churchill’s failure to win re-election and reiterating the strong support that Jews showed for him during the election.1911: Birthdate of Jack Ruby, the man who killed presidential assassin Lee Harvey Oswald. Ruby was Jewish. Oswald was not.1911: As part of “The Case of Mendel Bellis,” two medical professors from Kiev University issued a second autopsy of the thirteen year old boy who had been killed in March of 1911. The report “stated the victim had been almost been completely drained of blood…” and intimated that a ritual murder had been committed. The autopsy was a fraud. The two medical men had received a 4,000 ruble bribe from the Russian Ministry of Justice.1915: The Anglo-French invasion of the Gallipoli peninsula began. Almost 30,000 men landed on the beach to fight the Turks for this strategic position. Fighting with the British was a Jewish force known as the Zionist Mule Corp. The Zion Mule Corps was a supply unit that carried material from the beach up to the front lines. The work was not glorious. The founders of the corps had hoped to have a Jewish fighting force. That would come later. In the mean time, this was the first military unit composed of Jews who fought as Jews since the second century of the common ear. Unbeknownst to the Jews serving with the Allies, the Turkish army had Jews fighting in Gallipoli at the same time.1920: At the San Remo Conference, the Supreme Allied Council assigns mandates for Mesopotamia and Palestine to Britain, and Syria and Lebanon to France. The Zionists scored a triumph since, when awarding the mandate to the British it was stated that “the mandatory would be responsible for putting into effect the declaration originally made on the 8th November 1917 by the British government.” In other words, “the Blafour Declaration was affirmed in an international treaty. 1920: As the San Remo Conference comes to an end, “Jewish and Arab delegations dined together in the Hotel Royal, toasting each other as the British looked on benevolently at the next table.” Enmity between Zionists and Arabs was neither inevitable nor “present at the creation.”1920: “The Paris Peace conference formally confirmed the allocation of the Middle East’s Arab rectangle to Britain and France. The Allies’ final boundaries for their respective mandates in Palestine and Syria did not produce the viable frontiers the Zionists had anticipated for their National Home.” 1926: The first regular meeting of the recently created Department of Industrial Economics of the National Civic Federation was held at the Park Avenue Hotel. Speakers for the evening included Louis D. Brandeis of the National Civic Federation and Samuel Gompers, President of the American Federation of Labor. As the last speaker of the evening, Gompers “reviewed the blessings which had come to the individual through organized labor and expressed the opinion that the beneficiaries would hardly agree to the proposition that association curtailed their liberty. He said that labor could not depend upon the courts for protection citing the recent decision of the Supreme Court of the United States in holding the ten-hour day for bakers unconstitutional. ‘I suppose bakers will have to go back to the eleven and twelve hour and even longer day. If they do I will urge them to strike.’”1930: Birthdate of Paul Mazursky, director of “Down and Out in Beverly Hills.”1932: Rose Franken's "Another Language", premiered in New York City.1933: The Law against the Overcrowding of German Schools and Institutions of Higher Learning set a Jewish quota of 1.5 percent of high-school and university enrollment, and stipulated a limit of 5-percent Jewish enrollment in any single school. Because a compulsory education law was in effect, Jewish enrollment in primary schools was not limited for the time being. However, growing numbers of Jews voluntarily moved to purely Jewish settings by 1938, when they were totally barred from general institutions. In autumn 1941, the Jewish schools were closed by administrative order. Ironically, extra-legal discrimination against Jews seeking admission to colleges and universities existed in the United States at this time. These quotas would hang on until the later 1960’s.1933: Birthdate of songwriter Jerry Leiber. Leiber teamed with another Mike Stoeller, “another Jewish white boy” who also loved Jazz and Boogie Woogie to create some of the greatest songs of the early days of Rock and Roll including Hound Dog, Love Potion #9, On Broadway and most of the hits recorded by the Coasters. If you recognize these classics, you are almost as old as the author and if you are scratching your because you never heard them, then you are young, very young and should be home practicing the Four Questions.1938: The Palestine Post reported that Arab terrorist gangs murdered two Arabs who refused to hand over money and valuables in a village near Tulkarm. There were isolated shooting incidents in Jerusalem and Haifa. Arturo Toscanini, the famous conductor, and Bronislav Huberman, the great violinist and the founder of the Palestine Symphonic Orchestra, who just gave a series of concerts all over the country, were granted the freedom of Tel Aviv.1943: As the Warsaw Uprising raged on, Germans continued their invasion of the ghetto by lighting fires to buildings. Escaping women and children were shot to death and burned. Thus, the ancient Polish Jewish Community began its final descent from greatness into oblivion.As fires set by Germans consume the Warsaw Ghetto, a German Jew named Hoch desperately leaps from a fourth-floor window, breaking both arms and his spine.1943: Composer Ezra Laderman was inducted into the U.S. Army and served as a radio operator with the 69th Infantry Division during World War II. Laderman writes "we were in Caversham, England poised to enter the war. It was here that I learned that my brother Jack had been shot down and killed in Germany. The Battle of the Bulge, crossing the Rhine at Remagen, liberating Leipzig, meeting the Russians at Torgau on the bank of the Elbe were the points in this constellation that was filled with tension and waiting, victory and grief. We became aware of the horror, and what we now call the 'holocaust,' while freeing Leipzig." During the weeks after the war was over, Laderman composed his Leipzig Symphony. This work brought him recognition within the army, and subsequently he was assigned as orchestrator of the GI Symphony Orchestra.1944: Joel Brand, a member of the Relief and Rescue Committee of Budapest, was summoned to a meeting with Adolf Eichmann, who presented him with an offer that would be known as "Blood for Trucks." Eichmann told Brand that the highest SS authorities had approved the terms, in which Eichmann would barter "a million Jews" for goods obtained outside of Hungary, including 10,000 trucks for civilian use, or, as an alternative, for use on the eastern front. The 1 million Jews would have to leave the country-since Eichmann had promised that Hungary would be Judenrein-and might head for any destination other than Palestine, since he had promised the Mufti of Jerusalem that no Jews would be allowed to emigrate there. To negotiate the effectuation of the deal, Eichmann let Brand leave Hungary. Although Brand was unaware of it at the time, the offer was evidently connected with an attempt by Himmler to drive a wedge between the Western Allies and the Soviet Union, and to conclude a separate peace with the former. Brand did go to Ankara, Jerusalem, and Cairo, and he negotiated with American officials and leaders of the Jewish Agency for Palestine. However, he was arrested and imprisoned in Cairo, and the rescue scheme was never implemented.1945: In Italy, partisan uprising that begin that ended with the execution of Fascist Party dictator Benito Mussolini. Members of the Jewish Infantry Brigade Group, an all Jewish fighting force in the British Army, was part of the Allied forced that helped liberate Italy.1946: “The French ship Champollion brought 880 Jewish refuges with Palestine immigration certificates to Haifa today from Marseille. Of the group, 500 were children, mostly orphans.” Many of the immigrants were concentration camp survivors.1946: A force Jewish fighters attacked a police station in northern Tel Aviv killing seven British soldiers and policemen while wounding two other Britons and nine Jewish civilians. The Jewish fighters got away without suffering any casualties and have apparently escaped the security cordon created by the British.1946: Several thousand Jewish youth marched through the streets of Tel Aviv mourning the death of Braha Fuld who was killed during the attack on the Sarona police mobile force headquarters. She was referred to as ‘a fighter for immigration’1948: A reporter for The Times of London (the voice of the British establishment) described the efforts of the Jewish leaders in Haifa to convince the Arab residents to remain. “The Jews wish the Arabs to settle down again to normal routine, but evacuation continues.” While the Haganah was distributing leaflets urging the Arabs to stay, the Arab High Command based in Damascus was urging them to leave supposedly to avoid Arab casualties when Arab planes would bomb Haifa. The planes never came, but the Arabs took flight and the “refugee problem” was born.1950: Following the collapse of a building in Jaffa that killed nineteen and injured thirty mostly recent Jewish immigrants, Mayor Israel Rokah “called for the immediate evacuation of 1,700 people from unsafe houses in Jaffa”1950: Mohammed Pasha Shureiki “formally notified the United Nations today that Jordan had annexed eastern Palestine and the old walled city of Jerusalem.” This action is in complete violation of the United Nations partition resolution which called for Jerusalem and Bethlehem to be administered by the UN Trusteeship Council. There was no motion of condemnation of the Jordanian action which was really the “ratification of facts on the ground” created by the invasion of Jerusalem in the winter of 1947/1948. 1950: Prime Minister David Ben Gurion addressed the Zionist General Council on the sixth day of its meeting in Jerusalem. Ben Gurion told the leaders from around the world that “their financial and other aid to Israel did not entitle them to a voice in the affairs of Israel.” While acknowledging the importance of aid and support from the Jewish communities in the Diaspora, Ben Gurion took the classical Zionist line that “only Zionists who came to Israel and assumed the responsibilities of citizenship were entitled to a voice in determining policy.1964: Birthdate of actor Hank Azaria, voice of Moe and Comic Book Guy on “The Simpsons.”1967: Jules Feiffer's "Little Murders", premiered in New York City.1969: Birthdate of Israeli yachtsman Nir Shental. Shenatal and his brother Ran won a bronze medal in the 1995 the World 470 Sailing Class Championships. Nir and Ran also represented Israel in the 1996 Olympics.1978: The Jerusalem Post reported that Myron Marcus, an Israeli prisoner in Mozambique, was released in a three-way prisoners exchange swap. In Washington the White House officials declared that the U.S. President Jimmy Carter, will not consider any compromise with Congress on the all-or-nothing aircraft package sale to Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Israel that would change the number of planes involved. A group of outspoken critics of the Carter Administration published a full-page advertisement in the "New York Times" warning that any weakening of Israel was in effect, a weakening of U.S. in the Middle East.1979: Peace treaty between Israel and Egypt went into effect.1979: In an article entitled “Camp David: Farseeing Diplomacy or Neocolonialism?” Daniel Pipes expresses his concerns about the newly signed peace agreement.1982: The Sinai Peninsula was returned by Israel to Egypt, as part of the 1979 Camp David Accord.1988: The popular ABC news program "Nightline" went on location to Jerusalem Israel.1999: The New York Times features reviews of books by Jewish authors and/or special interest to Jewish readers including “The Lexus and The Oliver Tree” by Thomas L. Friedman2000: Producer David Merrick passed away. Born in 1912 in St. Louis, Merrick's name was originally Margoulis. He lived in what he described as a mid-western Jewish ghetto. He had an extremely unhappy childhood. He found solace and success working in stage production at The Young Means Hebrew Association where his uncle was the director. Merrick married well, moved to New York where he disassociated himself from his Jewish origins and carved a successful career on Broadway. Some of his more notable hits were Beckett and Hello Dolly.2004: The New York Times reviewed books by Jewish authors and/or of special interest to Jewish readers including “Alexander Hamilton” by Ron Chernow and “A Chance Meeting: Intertwined Lives of American Writers and Artists, 1854-1967” by Rachel Cohen2006: Observance of Yom Hashoah – Holocaust Remembrance Day. “Yom Hazikaron LaShoa VeLagvura (יום הזיכרון לשואה ולגבורה), or "Holocaust and bravery Remembrance Day", takes place on the 27th day of Nisan, in the Hebrew calendar. It is held every year in remembrance of the approximately six million Jews who were killed in the Holocaust. It is a national holiday in Israel. It was originally proposed to be on the 15th of Nisan, the anniversary of the Warsaw ghetto uprising (April 19, 1943), but this was objected to as being the first day of Passover. Instead, the 27th was chosen, being eight days before Yom Ha’Azma’ut, or Israeli Independence Day. Yom Hashoah was established by Israeli law in 1959, and was signed by David Ben-Gurion and Yitzhak Ben-Zvi, then Prime Minister of Israel and President of Israel, respectively. Chareidi (ultra-Orthodox) Jews do not attribute any significance to this day and continue their daily lives. They remember the victims of the Holocaust on other days, which were already days of mourning before the Holocaust such as Tisha b'Av. At 10:00am on Yom Hashoah, air-raid sirens sound for two minutes throughout Israel. Public transport (including virtually all highway vehicles) comes to a standstill for this period, and people stop and stand silent. During Yom Hashoah, much public entertainment and many public establishments in Israel are closed by law. Israeli television and radio channels transmit mourning songs and documentaries about the Holocaust, and no commercials. All flags on public buildings are flown at half mast. Also during this day, tens of thousands of Israeli high-school students, and thousands of Jews from around the world, hold a memorial service in Auschwitz, in what became known as "The March of the Living", in defiance of the Holocaust Death Marches. This event is endorsed and subsidized by the Israeli Ministry of Education, and is considered an important part of the academic studies--a culmination of several months of studies on World War II and the Holocaust.”2007: At the Leo Baeck Institute Barbara Hahn, Distinguished Professor of German at Vanderbilt University, previously Professor of German at Princeton University, delivers a lecture entitled, “Kafka´s Wife - the Children of Bruno Schulz - On broken Traditions.”2008: The Jerusalem Cinematheque features a screening of “The Decalogue” \ עשרת הדיברות. In the Decalogue series, Krzysztof Kieslowski set out to examine the ways in which each of the Ten Commandments functions in the contemporary world. The common denominator between the otherwise disconnected films, besides the director and scriptwriter (Krzysztof Piesiewicz), is the setting: an average housing complex in Warsaw. In each chapter the character of the stranger appears, always in the climax of the film. Who is the stranger? Just a passerby? Fate? God? This riddle remains unanswered. The message of the films is universal and the stories could take place in anywhere. Far from providing mere illustrations of the commandments, Kieslowski challenges his viewers to search within themselves for possible solutions (including the connection between the film and the commandment). Each chapter has a different cinematographer and thus different visual and stylistic approach. All of the chapters, each about one hour long, are screened on 35mm prints and with English translation.2009: Rosh Chodesh Iyar, First Day of Iyar 5769

August 2008 County Council Meeting Report

By Kay H.Greetings 4-H Members!What a busy summer 4-H has had! Several exciting state-level events took place, the first of which was 4-H Legislature. Youth were able to learn all about how our government works by going to Tallahassee and spending the week performing mock legislature. The next event was the Camp Ocala. This was a week-long camp where senior 4-H youth could be counselors and junior and intermediate youth could be camp participants. It was a fun week full of interesting activities! Finally, there was 4-H Congress. This was a state competition, where senior level 4-H youth who had succeeded at county and district levels could compete with each other and spend a week on UF campus taking workshops. The Shooting Sports camp, as well as our summer day camps, had a good turnout and offered lots of fun activities.Our first County Council meeting of the new 4-H year was held on August 26th. Several upcoming events were discussed. The next District V council meeting will be held on September 23rd. Our district delegates this year are Mary B., Kay H., Jeffrey K., and Amanda M.. Our alternates are Becky B. and Tori B.Coming up is the Alachua County Public Safety/4-H ATV Safety Education Workshop. This will be held at Mebane Middle School on September 13th from 9:00am to 3:30pm. The workshop is for ages 8-16, and will teach youth how to be safe while handling ATVs.Also discussed was the Alachua County Fair. Several 4-H adults have volunteered to spearhead a committee for the 4--H division at the fair. Help is always appreciated so if interested in being involved with this committee, please contact Mrs. Hinson or Mrs. Banner for more information.Our County Council officers also gave descriptions or their committees. They are as follows:The Awards committee is in charge of 4-H Awards Program and the annual Volunteer Dinner. Chairperson: Amber Y., Vice President.The Funding committee is in charge of fundraising and financial management. Chairperson: Tiffany B., Treasurer.The Publicity and Recruitment committee is in charge of monthly reports on County Council meetings and 4-H promotion. Chairpersons: Kay H. and Jeffrey K., Reporters.The Program and Service committee is in charge of community service leadership. Chairperson: Tori B., Secretary.If you are interested in being involved with any of the committees listed above, please get in touch with the chairpersons mentioned.This year, 4-H once again plans to have a float in the Homecoming Parade. The float committee meeting will be September 11th. Contact Mary B. for more information if you are interested in participating.National 4-H Week Proclamation Day for the city of Gainesville is scheduled for September 18th, 2008, and the Alachua County 4-H Proclamation is scheduled for September 23rd, 2008. We encourage you to attend the reading of these proclamations at the City and County Commission meetings.4-H would also like to recognize the hard work that Mr. Ernie Terry has put forth as our County Extension 4-H Agent, as he is leaving the program. Thank you for all that you have done, and we wish you well in your future endeavors!Our next County Council meeting will be on September 16th at 6:30pm at the Alachua County Extension Office. We have a lot to look forward to during this new 4-H year. I hope to see you all at some of these exciting upcoming events!

3 counrtyies people

Heading For Jonestown

I've marveled, the last couple of days, how the crackpot right can muster outrage over such a small thing as the President's choice of mustard. I have, in the past, assumed that similar outbursts were symptoms of insanity. Doug over at Balloon Juice goes meta and clarifies things for me:if you look at it from the right perspective. Dijongate—along with a
great deal of what happens on Glenn Beck—doesn’t make any sense. It
isn’t clear to me that it’s even supposed to make sense...I can’t
help but feel that the whole texture of wingnuttia is starting to feel
different these days. And that more generally, any kind of mythology
eventually moves towards forms that cannot be understood on a literal
level.If you look at the overblown reaction of the far right to utterly insignificant "outrages" it becomes clear: these are neither sincere reactions nor empty political posturing. They're much more complicated than that. They're rituals designed to simultaneously bond and reassure a diminishing community of True Believers. I've assumed that the right would catch on to how nutty it sounds when it accuses President Obama of being, for example, simultaneously fascist and socialist. I've assumed they'd moderate their rhetoric so they didn't sound loony. Now I understand: rationality is not an issue because the point of what they're doing is not to persuade people on the outside to come in, but to reassure those on the inside that they're members in good standing of a viable "movement." In a threatening environment, the best way to do that is to move toward forms that, as Doug says, can not be understood on a literal level. So, like members of a cult which perceives itself under attack, the far right is talking more and more only to itself, using code words and constructs that are indecipherable to those on the outside. They are, in effect, preparing for the ultimate act of purification, after which they'll be out of our hair for a while.

Journal of Police and Criminal Psychology: Special Issue on Criminal Profiling

The latest issue of Journal of Police and Criminal Psychology [23(2)] is a Special Issue on Criminal Profiling edited by Craig Bennell. The issue contains several articles on the research basis for criminal profiling, its limitations and applications. In his introduction to the issue, Bennell explains that the papers touch on some of the
&debates [that] are ongoing about what roles profilers should play in criminal investigations, how profiles should be constructed, delivered, and evaluated, whether the contributions made by profilers are valid and, if so, how, and whether there are new, potentially more productive approaches to profiling that could improve upon or even replace the methods that are currently being used.
Though he rightly notes that its impossible to do the topic justice in one issue Bennell argues that he has pulled together some examples of research that will help in some small way to move the profiling field forward. One problem with this issue, however, is that it only shines a spotlight on research being conducted by members of Bennells research lab at Carlton University and Bennells current or former associates. As such, it offers a somewhat partial view of the range of research that is and could be done in this area. So I cant help but agree that this issue represents only a small step forward, but science is generally built on small steps rather than great leaps.
What Bennell has done here is offer a taster of the kind of research that could and should be done to advance this field, including papers on the reliabilility of data that profiles are based on, the theoretical assumptions underlying some forms of profiling, the ways in which readers might interpret profiles and new, potentially fruitful approaches to profiling. There is plenty here that will be of interest to a range of readers including students, more established researchers and practitioners. Contents and further comments after the break.
The contents include:
Investigating the Reliability of the Violent Crime Linkage Analysis System (ViCLAS) Crime Report - Melissa M. Martineau, Shevaun Corey
A Failure to Find Empirical Support for the Homology Assumption in Criminal Profiling - Brandy Doan, Brent Snook
The False Recognition Effect in Criminal Profiling - Craig Bennell, Rebecca Mugford, Alyssa Taylor, Sarah Bloomfield, Catherine M. Wilson
Body Disposal Patterns of Sexual Murderers: Implications for Offender Profiling - Eric Beauregard, Jessica Field
Taming the Beast: The UK Approach to the Management of Behavioral Investigative Advice - Lee Rainbow
Ive only had time to skim some of the articles in this issue, but I was particularly taken with experienced Behavioural Investigative Advisor Lee Rainbows future challenges section in his article on the provision of behavioural investigative advice in the UK. Rainbow explains in detail how behavioural advice is used in police investigations in the UK and summarises the various steps taken in the last decade to put such advice on a scientific and professional footing, including strict accreditation standards for individuals offering behavioural investigative advice and systematic evaluation of their reports. But Rainbow argues that the first challenge for the future is addressing a growing misconception that profiling skills are widespread and easy to obtain, a misconception that has been created by the expansion and availability of post-graduate forensic psychology courses, and courses more specifically focussing on some form of profiling ”. Rainbow goes on to suggest that this
has created a situation where individuals within the police service itself are exploiting the opportunity to apply the principles of behavioral science to the investigative process, but for which the appropriate quality assurance mechanisms could be lacking. Such ambiguous provision of support must be addressed to arrest the potential dilution and undermining of the current high standards of the service.
A second, and Rainbow suggests, more significant challenge
results from the intense media interest in such activity. Media coverage of any major crime story in the UK is almost exclusively accompanied by a psychologist or “profiler” waxing lyrically about the offender’s likely characteristics, personality, psychopathology and the resulting recommended investigative actions. Whilst such observations are a somewhat inevitable product of both the popular fascination of “getting inside the mind of the killer” and 24 hour news scheduling, the apparent readiness with which some individuals feel compelled to feed such appetites may be viewed as contrary to expected levels of professionalism.
As longtime readers will know, psychologists and psychiatrists offering speculative comments on high-profile cases is something I (and many others) have criticised before. As Rainbow points out:
These individuals should be acutely aware from experience that the information available within the public domain during investigations is a deliberately restricted subset of the known facts in the case. To base speculation on such limited information demonstrates a disregard for expected standards of scientific integrity.

Life in Hell : Made in Italy

Quand on arrive de France, et que l’on vient de traverser les Alpes de la Savoie, Turin semble une ville italienne ; quand on revient de Naples ou de Rome, on se croirait dans une ville française. Turin, la plus petite des capitales, est peut-être la plus propre et la plus régulière des villes. La plupart de ses rues sont tracées au cordeau et décorées de chaque côté d’édifices semblables. Quelques-unes sont même bordées d’une double rangée de portiques à arcades. » Frédéric Bourgeois de Mercey, « La Galerie royale de Turin », in La Revue des deux mondes, t. 28, 1841. Le chef d’orchestre s’ennuyait. Il ne dirigeait que d’une main distraite et sans grandes nuances l’orchestre qui n’avait d’ensemble que le nom : les musiciens – peu nombreux, l’œuvre requérant une formation de chambre – devaient s’ennuyer aussi et, ne prêtant pas une attention particulière à leurs collègues, ne brillaient pas par la synchronie de leur jeu. Quant au public, il était tout aussi peu nombreux, la salle aux trois-quarts vide, programme sans doute trop contemporain pour les habitués : c’était pourtant des Danses concertantes que l’orchestre de la RAI était en train d’exécuter (littéralement), mais le nom du compositeur – Stravinsky – fait fuir encore bien des auditeurs près de quarante ans après sa mort. L’œuvre suivante, le Concerto pour violon de Korngold avait pourtant tout pour les charmer : le néo-romantisme débordant, qui faisait se pâmer la jeune soliste qui possédait une bonne technique et une belle sonorité, mais qu’on s’attendait à se voir liquéfier d’émoi sur la scène quand elle ne se lançait pas dans des trémolos vigoureux (un regain de l’école russe de violon, que Chloë Hanslip avait suivie ?), les leitmotifs insistants limite harcèlement, le réveil de Jeffrey Tate qui se mit à diriger avec entrain, et le bref rappel hypervirtuose et néo-paganinien de John Corigliano… À l’entracte, Anna, Luca et Akbar décidèrent comme un seul homme de ne pas se soumettre aux 45 minutes de la première symphonie de Walton qui s’ensuivait et sortirent de l’auditorium de la RAI. Dommage, l’acoustique y était vraiment excellente, se dit Akbar. • Avant le concert, Anna les avait emmené manger léger – une nécessité après les délicieux repas qui avaient ponctué la conférence – dans un petit restaurant de quartier, Alla Mole, situé via Giuseppe Verdi, comme il se doit pour une soirée musicale. Sa pizza à la roquette méritait non seulement une mention particulière – dont acte – mais de revenir le lendemain soir, ce qu’Akbar n’hésita pas à faire, nonobstant son régime : la pâte fine, élastique, savoureuse et légèrement dorée et croustillante sur les bords, le sel discret à souhait ; une fine couche de mozzarella, des tomates fraîches, des feuilles de roquette et un soupçon d’origan ; chaude et généreuse tout en étant parfaitement digeste, quel plaisir ! Ce restaurant tient son nom du bâtiment qui héberge actuellement le musée national du cinéma à l’architecture aussi singulière que son histoire, et devenu le symbole de Turin : destinée à être une synagogue, la Mole Antonelliana est le fruit du délire de son architecte auquel elle doit son nom (Alessandro Antonelli) dépassant, en budget et en hauteur (113 m, et ultérieurement, 167 m), la commande initiale de la communauté juive (67 m) qui se retira du projet. L’intérieur, vide, est aménagé de façon spectaculaire en cinq niveaux sur le pourtour de l’édifice et propose une très riche histoire du cinéma, les merveilleuses inventions qui l’ont émaillée – les ombres chinoises, les lanternes magiques, la photographie, les chambres obscures, la stroboscopie… – ses metteurs en scène, ses acteurs et ses stars mythiques… Le rez-de-chaussée du musée est une immense salle de cinéma avec deux écrans géants et où trône un immense Moloch, et dont le pourtour consiste en des décors reconstituant des lieux magiques. • Turin n’a pas que la Mole de spectaculaire. On est, après tout, en Italie, et tout y est spectacle : les galeries couvertes, même celles d’immeubles plus récents, sont monumentales (sept à huit mètres de haut), les façades sont monumentales, les places sont monumentales. Les palais sont légions. Les étalages et les devantures – de pâtisseries, de glaces (Akbar préféra celle au parfum de cassate à la ricotta) –, les magasins d’habits, sont des combinaisons chatoyantes et d’une grande élégance. On est dans la mise en scène permanente. La visite de la La Venaria Reale, à l’origine pavillon de chasse de la famille de Savoie, transformé en un complexe et labyrinthique palais royal, puis abandonné, voire partiellement détruit ou brûlé à diverses époques, et enfin récemment restauré de façon remarquable et agrémenté d’une mise en scène intéressante de Peter Greenaway, a constitué un splendide point d’orgue à ce bref séjour. Guidés par l’historien et le conservateur Andrea Merlotti, un homme passionné et particulièrement bien informé, Akbar et Anna ont traversé avec étonnement et plaisir, en parcourant ce très riche complexe, les quelque mille ans de l’histoire de la Maison de Savoie, celle de ses principaux personnages et de ses États aux frontières fluctuantes au fil des siècles. • Revenu à Paris, Akbar regretta le caffè, la polenta et les autres petits plaisirs quotidiens qu’il avait appréciés durant son séjour. • Jeff et Akbar sont les personnages d’une série de bandes dessinées de Matt Groening, qui est aussi le père de la fameuse – et infâme – famille Simpson.

1952 Vespa.

Play Dough

J3 loves his play dough! He plays at least once a day. Everyday he has a workbox full of play dough fun. We have a lot of play dough tools. A lot. Every once in a while I rotate the tools so we don't have them all out at once. Recently, I went through the tools and the play doh in our boxes in the craft closet and I got rid of old play doh and switched out some tools. That was productive!I pulled out the alphabet shapes that you can use with play doughs. What a great preschool item! I bought these at Discount School Supply, but they no longer have them. I know that craft stores sell the Wilson cookie cutters in large bins that have letters in them. We have those too for use in the kitchen of course.I love the mat. I only wish it had all the letters on it. We had a grand time making the letters and talking about them. This will be nice to have on hand as J3 plays with his favorite play dough.For inquiring minds, no I do not make my own play dough. I have done it and to be honest I don't like the texture and Play Doh is so inexpensive it doesn't seem worth the time and effort.

The Basics Conference (I)

Today marks the beginning of the 2009 Basics Conference at Parkside Church in Chagrin Falls, Ohio. This year's speakers are Alistair Begg, John Lennox and John Piper. I intend to bring you six updates through this conference, one for each of the keynote addresses that will happen between now and Wednesday morning (that's two today, three tomorrow and one on Wednesday).
John Lennox had the privilege of teaching the first session. Lennox is Professor of Mathematics in the University of Oxford, Fellow in Mathematics and the Philosophy of Science, and Pastoral Advisor at Green Templeton College, Oxford. I think it's safe to say that, of all the conferences I've been to, this is the first where one of the keynote speakers was a mathematician!
Lennox began by reading from Mark 12:28ff and 1 Peter 3:18ff. His message was an interesting combination of theology and biography. It was not entirely linear in structure so was a little bit difficult to follow. Therefore, what you read here may seem a bit unstructured. I did what I could! I found it a very compelling message and I think any pastor could benefit from listening to it (and I'll let you know when the MP3 files are available for download).
He spoke of the enormous import of coming to a settled conviction that what we are dealing with in our faith is the truth because it deals with Jesus Christ who claimed to be the truth. When science asks questions about the world, what is the truth about water? About hydrogen? About oxygen? Ultimately, behind every chain of such questions stands Jesus Christ the Creator saying "I am the truth." Lennox says that his life's passion is somehow, with God's help, to communicate the sheer wonder of the truthfulness of the message we have so we stop being ashamed of bringing it into the marketplace.
In recent years Lennox has been involved in public debates with the New Atheists and this has taken place on both continents. He has twice debated Dawkins and Hitchens. These men have declared war on religion in the name of reason and science and say that Christianity is anti-intellectual and anti-science. Their books have sold in the multi-millions, showing that their ideas are resonating in the public square. Many of these people are finding their concerns answered better by the atheists than by their [former] pastors. The Christian voice is eventually squeezed out of the public space.
How do we approach this concern about atheism? Increasingly, atheism is finding its way into the legal codes of the nations. We can take courage first in the historical record of the New Testament as the social situation there was much the same. Many of us have lived through a strange period of history where we are returning to the situation of the first century where Christianity is becoming a mere minority. In the first century the Apostles had the audacity to believe that they could cut into Greek and Roman society, with all their sophistication, and impact those people with a foolish message.
At stake is the public perception of the content and truth of the Christian message. We are being called to be ready to give a defense to anyone who asks the reason for the hope that is in us. Scripture will not allow any of us to stand on the sidelines. We have no option but to get involved in the battle. What does this have to do with pastors? Everything! It is not only non-Christians who are asking the tough questions but also Christians and Christian pastors. We shall never engage the minds of others if our own hearts and minds are not engaged. You cannot bring someone logically to where you are not yourself.
Reason and defense belong together. Paul reasoned the gospel. The essence of what Peter calls for in giving a defense is to be willing to dialog. Paul is constantly engaged in this. Are we? If a week goes by without us being involved in dialog, it may be that something is going wrong. The biggest reason for not attending church in the U.K. is that pastors never address the questions people are asking. We cannot know what people are asking if we are not among them. The gospel will be misunderstood and misrepresented and we need to be ready to give a reasoned defense.
One of Lennox's passions is getting this message out: the defense of the gospel, apologia is not a specialist activity but something all Christians are called on to do. Defense of the gospel is evangelism--persuasive evangelism in the face of questioning and accusation. It has been a catastrophe for us to think that apologetics is not critical to the faith and witness of every Christian. Why do so many people shy away from it?
He looked briefly to the context of defending the gospel. It is important to note the background for defending the gospel and knowing what it is. Before Peter tells Christians to be ready to defend their faith he says, "Have no fear." The background is fear! Are you ever afraid? There is a gnawing fear that silences people that tears people away from their public witness. The time has come to be honest about our fear. What does fear keep us from doing?
There is no limit to what God can do in and through a man who trusts him and who relies on his Spirit. It is important to note that even men of great intellect can be infants when it comes to Scripture. They haven't a clue to the riches of Scripture because they've never given themselves to it.
At that heart of the battles is confidence in God's Word. "Has God really said..." God blinds the minds of those who do not believe. We have to take up the weapons God gives us--the one weapon, really. It is the sword, the sword of the Word of God. What is the biggest battle in your life and my life? It is to get us insecure in our confidence as to the reliability and sufficiency and effectiveness of that sword. The best way to keep a sword sharp is to keep using it (and not on your fellow Christians). A lack of knowledge of Scripture keeps people paralyzed by fear.
He asked this question: When was the last time you were asked to offer a reason for the hope that is within you? And he offered this encouragement: It is sometimes valuable to ask unbelievers about the hope that is (or isn't!) in them. This may be a great bridge to discuss where hope can be found.
With just a few moments left, he passed quickly over a couple of topics. The one that most jumped out at me was this one: Paul used reason and intellectual abilities, but he didn't trust them. It is too easy to trust intellect and use God. Paul used every ability God gave him to the full but he trusted God. We must not find a theological reason to be intellectually lazy. God has no more patience for intellectual slackers than he does for any other slacker.
And that is about my best effort in trying to give you a sense of what Lennox was teaching this afternoon. Again, I'll let you know when the audio file is available. I think you'd benefit if you took the time to listen to it.Sponsor:

Kanye West Plays Surprise Set At KROQ Show In Los Angeles

Ye popped up during a Common show in New York on Thursday, sang on 'SNL' Saturday and flew to L.A. concert on Sunday.By Gil Kaufman, with additional reporting by Matt Elias and Steven Roberts Kanye West performs at KROQ's Almost Acoustic Christmas on Sunday Photo: Dave Harrison/ MTV News If Kanye West really does chuck it all to become a fashion intern in London, rapping only outside of business hours, his schedule might start looking like it did over the past few days. In addition to popping up at Common's secret New York show on Thursday and playing a stripped-down two-song set on "Saturday Night Live," the rapper jetted across the country on Sunday to make a surprise appearance at KROQ's Almost Acoustic Christmas show at Gibson Amphitheatre in Los Angeles, surprising and delighting the crowd with an unannounced mini set, accompanied by a full band and a quartet of Taiko drummers. On Saturday night the rapper-turned-crooner took the "SNL" stage alone (with a band in the shadows above him atop a giant video screen) to sing the first two singles off his 808s & Heartbreak album, mostly without the assist of the album's Auto-Tune-enhanced effects. During "Love Lockdown," West mostly stood still at the microphone as images of stormy weather rolled by on the two giant screens behind him. But he danced and skipped excitedly across the stage for "Heartless," which was illustrated on the screens by some of the Rotoscoped pop-art style images from the song's video, including a cameo from boy genius Elroy Jetson. It was a different look in Los Angeles on Sunday night, when West slipped into the lineup between sets by Franz Ferdinand and the Killers for the second night of the annual radio station event. Those expecting to see the Killers were completely shocked when the turntable stage spun around to reveal a sole figure with his arm raised in the air. It was tough to actually tell who it was at first, because he was masked by white strobe lights, but once the strains of "Stronger" began pumping out, the crowd exploded into a sea cameras and cell phones waving in the air. (Check out photos from the show right here.) West and his band rounded out the set with versions of "Homecoming," "Heartless" and "Love Lockdown." Before taking the "SNL" stage, he dropped in on Thursday night at a secret show by his Chicago homie Common, who was performing for a select crowd of 200 at the Angel Orensanz Foundation in New York's Lower East Side. The concert was part of a series of secret Common shows celebrating the launch of NBC's Locals Only community-focused Web sites. Backed by a band and a DJ, Common performed songs off of his electro-funk new album, Universal Mind Control, including "Punch Drunk Love," "Gladiator" and the title-track. Since it's the season of giving, the Windy City MC was in a charitable mood, handing out the tickets for the free show, making his album available at ThinkCommon.com for only 99 cents and giving the crowd a pre-Christmas musical surprise they won't soon forget: letting his pal Kanye take over the stage for two songs. Related Photos Paramore, Kanye West, More Come Out For KROQ's Almost Acoustic Christmas 2008 Related Artists Kanye West

This Day in Baseball History: June 13th (Ruth Bids Adieu To Yankee Stadium)

In 1905, Giants hurler Christy Mathewson pitched his second career no-hitter. In 1913, Christy Mathewson recorded his 300th career victory& Big Six would eventually compile a career record of 373-188. In 1948, before a crowd of 49,641  who sang Auld Lang Syne to The Babe, the Yankees celebrated the silver anniversary of Yankee Stadium by holding Babe Ruth Day. With members of the 1923 team (the first team to play in the stadium) looking on, Ruths #3 was retired and sent to Cooperstown. It was The Babes last appearance at Yankee Stadium& he would succumb to throat cancer two months later (August 16th) at Memorial Hospital in NYC at the age of 53. In 1957, Red Sox outfielder Ted Williams became the first American Leaguer to have two three-homer games in one season& the Splendid Splinter drives in five runs helping Boston to defeat the Indians, 9-3. In 1973, the Dodgers infield which would set a major league record for longevity (8 1/2 years), play together the first time& first baseman Steve Garvey, second baseman Davey Lopes, third baseman Ron Cey and shortstop Bill Russell were all in the line up in the 16-3 win over the Phillies. In 1983, Pete Rose doubled off Phillies hurler Jerry Koosman for his 4,000th career hit. In 2003, Roger Clemens became the 21st pitcher (the first since 1990) to record 300 career wins& the Rocket also joined Nolan Ryan (5,714) and Steve Carlton (4,136) as the third hurler to record 4000 career strikeouts. Born Today: Mel Parnell (1922), Billy Williams (1933), Ernie Whitt (1952)

Tuesday Tidbits: This and That

Has it really been two weeks?Really, it has been a lot longer than that. I've done a post here and there this year, but for the most part blogging has taken second place to other things happening in my life:The New Year started with my annual training class I run concerning smoke and air quality. It's a pretty intensive 4 days of presentations followed by an exam. For the past two years I've run two concurrent classes with an average of around 75 students total. It literally consumes about 6 weeks of my professional life, but it is one of my favorite things to do. Unfortunately, this year a snafu caused most of the students to arrive a day early. And it went downhill from there...What a way to start the new year!And then there's the Obama Administration. A change in administration strikes fear into any Federal employee, and this one is no different. So many changes in not enough time keeps one's head spinning!Speaking of things spinning there is illness. I had a bad stomach virus that sidelined me for a number of days back in January. Then, last week, it came back with a vengeance. Not me, fortunately, and not Julia. But everyone else in the house traded it back and forth for over a week. A lot of sleepless nights, among other unmentionable things.What else? Oh yeah, how can I forget the taxes! This year, for some reason, it's taken a lot longer than usual.But things are looking up! The taxes are done, the house is healthy, and the smoke training class is not until December. The Obama administration is still there, but that will be a constant source of change for at least the next four years.The bottom line is that time is turning back to my side, and I will hopefully be a more frequent blogger. And even more importantly, a more frequent reader. For if there is one thing that has been sorely lacking this year, it has been time to read your fine posts. And for that, I apologize. I am planning on a LOT more reading in the future.So, on to some Tuesday Tidbits!Where Am I?Coming to you from Ft. Collins, Colorado, where I have a week's worth of meetings to attend. This is my first time visiting Ft. Collins, which is about an hour or so north of Denver and home to Colorado State University.Have you ever flown into Denver? Denver International Airport must have the longest runways known to mankind, and flying into Denver from the west over the Rocky Mountains is quite a turbulent ride. The terminals are long too - must be something about this being the Mile High City, with emphasis on "mile." Getting a rental car is a chore too, as you have to go off site where all the rental car dealers are. And in previous trips here, I have had a really difficult time getting a car.But this trip was vastly different. It's as if everything fell into place. I even timed it.Off the plane at 3:00 at the farthest possible gate in Terminal B.10 minutes to walk (and this is using people movers) to where you catch the train to the terminal (told you those terminals are long!). 3:10Five minute train ride to the terminal. 3:15Walked to the baggage claim, and my bag was coming around right to me! 3:17Wait 5 minutes for rental car shuttle. 3:22Another five minute ride to Enterprise in a full van. 3:27Get off the van last, but somehow get waited on immediately. Five minutes later, clerk is leading me out to the lot to get a car. 3:32Yes, the Federal Government requires us to get economy cars, but this clerk gives me the pick of the lot! My "economy" car is a Chevy Impala sedan! Eight minutes later, I am on my way. 3:4040 minutes from deplaning to rental car in Denver. That has to be a record!Gluten Free on TwitterDo you Twitter? Myself and a lot of other GF and GFCF bloggers do, and on April 4, there is going to be a Gluten Free Twitter Party! Bonnie Sayers (@autismfamily on Twitter), who blogs at Autism Family Adventures, is the host and organizer for the event, which will feature panel

Outdoor cooker - Alfresco VersaPower

The new versatile VersaPower outdoor cooker from Alfresco offers from 400 to 65,000 BTU of power for total heat control. The specially designed super heavy-duty spider grate can handle the smallest of saucepans and up to a 100 quart stock pot. A perfect compliment to your Alfresco grill, this outdoor cooker is ideal for a turkey fryer.
On of the main advantages over other cookers is that VersaPower burner is uniquely close to the top grate and directs heat exactly to the bottom of a pan, whereas, with other burners, heat expands well beyond cookware surface for a rather inefficient cooking and heat loss, and sometimes dangerous flame exposure.
Made of commercial stainless steel with heliarc welded seams, this exclusive dual burner system offers independent control, removable 3/8" diameter polished stainless steel spider grate, removable center trivet, 9 volt push button ignition system and recessed sealed top for wind protection and to contain spillage. Suited for all types of outdoor

CDC Pulls in Audiences on Swine Flu [Framing Science]

Pew has a detailed run down on the surge in motivation for information about swine flu. The brief analysis goes on to discuss strategies CDC had put in place to be ready to "pull" audiences in when an infectious disease outbreak occurred:
The prominent position of the CDC on these lists may be owing in substantial part to the government's earlier recognition of the usefulness of Google search tools in tracking the actual spread of diseases. Google's Flu Trends tracks certain search terms to estimate possible flu activity at a state level - and it does this far more quickly than the CDC's standard surveillance system can. Google shared its data with the CDC during the 2007-2008 flu season and analysis has shown that the near real-time search data were remarkably accurate in tracking the actual outbreak of cases across the country over the last five years. The website iHealthBeat reports that Google hopes to map other diseases worldwide in the future.
This year, as reported recently in the Washington Post and National Public Radio, the federal government made explicit use of the internet to disseminate information about the flu virus. According to the Post, CDC's YouTube video, "Swine Flu," had been viewed nearly 170,000 times by the end of April. CDC has also posted regular alerts on its Twitter account, CDCemergency, which currently has more than 106,000 followers.
CDC and the Department of Health and Human Services also hosted an hour-long town hall meeting on their respective websites while staff members tracked public reactions on various social networking sites. And Google itself prominently displays an advisory telling users to consult CDC for the most recent official updates on swine flu, while CDC itself has an informational flu prevention posting in the margin of the Google Flu Trends page. Read the comments on this post...

Prospective evaluation of PF4/heparin immunoassays for the diagnosis of heparin-induced thrombocytopenia.

Related Articles Prospective evaluation of PF4/heparin immunoassays for the diagnosis of heparin-induced thrombocytopenia. J Thromb Haemost. 2009 Apr 30; Authors: Bakchoul T, Giptner A, Najaoui A, Bein G, Santoso S, Sachs UJ Summary Background: Heparin-induced thrombocytopenia (HIT) is an adverse complication of heparin caused by HIT antibodies that recognize platelet factor 4-heparin (PF4/hep) complexes leading to platelet activation. Several methods are available for the identification of HIT antibodies. Objectives: To evaluate the clinical usefulness of different antigen binding assays for detection of antibodies against PF4/hep complexes in a prospective study. Patients/Methods: A prospective cohort of 500 surgical and medical patients suspected of having HIT was evaluated. The laboratory assessment included particle gel immunoassay (PaGIA), polyspecific ELISA recognizing IgG, IgM and IgA antibodies (Poly-ELISA), IgG-specific ELISA (IgG-ELISA) and the HIPA test. The pretest probability of HIT was determined using the 4T's model. Positive and negative predictive values (PPV, NPV) of each immunoassay were determined depending upon the HIPA results and the clinical scoring. The operating characteristics of each immunoassay were determined using the receiver-operation characteristic (ROC) curve. Results: Platelet-activating antibodies were identified in 35/500 patients, all of whom had intermediate to high clinical probability. PF4/hep antibodies were detected in 124, 86 and 90 sera using Poly-ELISA (PPV = 28), IgG-ELISA (PPV = 40.6) and PaGIA (PPV = 36.6). NPV was 100% for Poly- and IgG-ELISA, but only 99.5% for PaGIA. ROC analysis revealed that PaGIA is less informative than ELISA. The IgG-ELISA provides better diagnostic information than the other assays. In addition, there is a clear correlation between OD value and the probability of having HIT. Conclusion: Our observation indicates that an IgG-ELISA provides the best diagnostic information of all antigen binding assays. PMID: 19422442 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

Endless Ocean and endless learning in Stirling

Endless Ocean for the Nintendo Wii was one of those games that immediately caught my eye. A wonderful world in which the player can become immersed in a rich, vibrant and somewhat hypnotically therapeutic underwater world. Ive written about how I thought it might be used to drive learning before but my initial ideas have been put into place and extended beyond recognition by some really creative teachers. Last week I went with Margaret Cassidy from Stirling Council to Cowie PS to see a teacher that was using Endless Ocean with her class: Mrs Bullivant and her class of P.6 children treated me to an afternoon of sheer joy. I walked in to a class that had been turned into an underwater world that was awash with a tide of enthusiastic and industrious learnning. Streamers of various shades of blue were hung from two lines that criss-crossed the class.From these lines also hung starfish, sharks and other underwater creatures that the children had made. The Wii was hooked up to the whiteboard and the gameplay was integral to the learning. The children were divided into dive teams and their dive leader had to manage certain aspects of how the children worked together. Children were engaged with a teacher led leson that investigated buoyancy. Children were searching the web to find out more about some of the creatures that they discovered in the game. A spreadsheet activity detailing the range of creatures that they had discovered was in place. A shipwreck (created by the janitor) was sitting in the class. This helped drive much of the creative writing work. The children created treasure maps and were using these to look at grid references. Mermaids were created in art and design and very lifelike they were too! Reference books were in great demand when I was in the class and the initial stimulus of the game appeared to drive a real interest for what could be found in the complementary resource that was the book. Children actively encouraged to measure exactly how long 7 metres is as a result of finding out that that was how long a Great White Shark was. This was just a wonderful visit and an example of what learning in class can be. Yes we need creative teachers to lead this but isnt that what we are meant to be. The work that was in evidence in this class was delightful to witness and further cemented my ideas of the possibilities of sandbox games such as Endless Ocean.

Thank You, Ms. Berry

It is Teacher Appreciation Week at my son's school and I am saying a big "whew!" that Carolyn's Nurse Feelgood set came out this month! I'll be sharing more teacher's cards i had fun making. here is one I created for his 1st grade teacher, Tiffany Berry. This "teacher" is such a fun image to alter and customize! Here I removed the hat and made her hair longer and drew in a pair of glasses. I paper pieced her shirt with some of the Black Market Let it Bloom textured paper and used the rest of the print and its reverse (these are double-sided papers if you've never ordered!) for the layers on my card (base is Gina K Black Onyx). I tried really hard to pick colors and a large print I thought she would "wear" (this purple floral is one of my favorite prints in the pack). Ms Berry is pretty well known around school for her fly wardrobe ;) When I picked my son up , she seemed pretty EDITED TO ADD: "tickled" by it that she could recognize herself (thank you , Donna! I hate spellcheck, doesn't catch typos that ARE words!!), had been showing it off ot the other teachers! :) Image is colored with Copics. I layered some white paper flowers and punched out a circle of the DP for the middle topped with a page pebble.TIP: My favorite detail: click on the pic above for a closeup is the loose-leaf notebook paper she's holding! So glad Cammie left this stack of somethin' in her arms blank, because it can be whatever you need! Here I drew horizontal lines with my Bashful Blue marker, a Pretty in Pink vertical line to mark the margin and tiny black dots for the holes.Hug a teacher today!

$4,995, 1999 toyota sienna VIN:4T3ZF19C4XU144519

Kasper Chevrolet Buick 1999 Toyota Sienna Price: $ 4,995.00 Engine: 3L 6-CylinderBody type: 5dr CECondition: UsedStock No: KCBU2471Transmission: AutomaticVIN: 4T3ZF19C4XU144519Price: $ 4,995.00Make: ToyotaYear: 1999Interior Color: OakExterior Color: Denim Blue MicaMileage: 145614Model: Sienna Have any questions about this vehicle? Call us at 866-727-0751 Features & Options Cruise Control Front Wheel Drive Cloth Seats Wheel Covers 4-Wheel ABS Rear Seat Heat Ducts Passenger Vanity Mirror Bucket Seats Cassette Air Conditioning AM/FM Stereo Daytime Running Lights Rear Defrost Power Steering Power Door Locks Variable Speed Intermittent Wipers Intermittent Wipers Rear Air Conditioning Privacy Glass Fourth Passenger Door Power Windows Power Driver Mirror Steering Wheel Controls Driver Air Bag Child Safety Locks Adjustable Steering Wheel Auxiliary Power Outlet Third Passenger Door Power Passenger Mirror Passenger Air Bag Pass-Through Rear Seat Front Disc/Rear Drum Brakes Driver Vanity Mirror Phone: 866-727-0751 www.kaspercar.com Click here to inquire about this vehicle 300 Milan Rd.Norwalk, Ohio 44857 ~~7f1396e8-840d-4a5e-aa15-6024c8a07f7c

What's The Big Deal About Vitamin D?

Last month I shared this blog post outlining the importance of getting adequate Vitamin D levels in your body since a deficiency in this essential supplement is leading to a whole host of health complications. Don't believe me? Check out the blog of Dr. Michael F. Holick who is arguably THE leading expert on Vitamin D health research today. I'm working hard to get him on my podcast show to talk about why people need to be paying more attention to Vitamin D and the consequences of remaining deficient.In Episode 65 of "Livin' La Vida Low-Carb On YouTube", Christine and I talk about this subject of Vitamin D continuing with our own personal stories of being Vitamin D deficient. You'll recall when I had my Vitamin D3 checked in July 2008, they measured in on the low end of normal at just 42 ng/mL. After interviewing Dr. William Davis from "The Heart Scan Blog" in September 2008, I began an aggressive 10,000 I.U. Vitamin D3 gel cap supplementation schedule for the next six months to see what would happen to my levels.Watch today's video to find out the results of my Vitamin D experiment and more:Of course, Christine found out about her miserably low 9 ng/mL in January 2009 and we've been working hard supplementing her daily with 10,000 I.U. to get her levels up as well. By August, she should be well into normal range with this dosage schedule and I'm anxious to share the results with you when we get her retested. There's much more to this Vitamin D discussion than I think any of us really know at this point and I'm working hard to stay ahead of the curve with all the latest updates and developments as they arise (at the recent ASBP/Nutrition & Metabolism conference in Charleston earlier this month, one well-known low-carb expert said that there was a noticeable increase in cholesterol levels since they started taking Vitamin D supplementation. Nothing else changed in the diet or supplements, so this could be an emerging concern regarding Vitamin D...or not! I'm working on finding an expert who can answer this question and more!).Incidentally, if you want to get your Vitamin D levels checked rather inexpensively, then do yourself a favor and join in on the DAction project from GrassrootsHealth. This is how I got my test results and it was a quick and easy process. They mail you a kit where you share blood samples, mail it in, and they will e-mail you the results in less than two weeks. It's that easy and you test for your Vitamin D levels twice a year. For $40 per test, that ain't half bad. And if knowing your D3 number is as easy as a simple blood test, then why wouldn't you do it, hmmm? I'm looking forward to sharing an interview on my podcast coming up this Fall with a representative from GrassrootsHealth to discuss this ambitious project.We're striving to reach 100 YouTube videos by the end of the year, so be sure to catch up on all our previous YouTube videos where we've covered a wide variety of topics. My wife Christine and I are honored to have over 1,000 subscribers to our YouTube video series now (HOLY COW!), so be sure to visit our YouTube channel and subscribe so you'll receive all the new "Livin' La Vida Low-Carb On YouTube" episodes when they are posted. Christine and I appreciate hearing from our "peeps" on YouTube, so feel free to e-mail us anytime at livinlowcarbman@charter.net.

Reporting massively large numbersFelix Salmon

What are we meant to do when we read a story like this one, full to bursting with unimaginably large numbers? The 2009 deficit is now $1.84 trillion, up $89 billion from $1.75 trillion! That's 12.9% of GDP! The spending plan for 2010 isn't $3.55 trillion any more, it's now $3.59 trillion! And so on and so forth. I'm not picking on Reuters here at all — the team has actually done a spectacularly good job of trying to present these numbers in as many different ways as possible in order to give an idea of how big they are. But the problem is that the job is basically impossible because the overwhelming majority of human brains simply can't comprehend the sheer magnitude of something like $1 trillion. One thing which might help would be a cost-per-household measure. (As well as a hyperlink to the primary source.) In 2009, the figures now have total tax revenues of $2.157 trillion and total expenditures of $3,998 trillion, for a total deficit of $1.841 trillion. In real money, assuming 114 million households in the US, that means the average household will pay about $19,000 in taxes this year, but that the government will spend about $35,000 per household; the difference of $16,000 per household will have to be put on the national credit card. Obviously averages conceal as much as they reveal, but at least this kind of exercise brings the numbers into the realms of the comprehensible. Once numbers go over $100 million or so, they pretty much cease to have any meaning for most of us, except as numerical exercises. It's often helpful to bring them down to the kind of dollar figures that people can relate to.

Allen Standord was a DEA informant

This is beginning to sound like a soap opera story. We'll see if this plays out but it could explain why Stanford avoided SEC problems during previous investigations. I'm guessing that most would probably prefer to have drug kingpins running around over financial crooks any day of the week. It's the financial crooks who are impacting the lives of everyone much more than drugs. The Independent:An investigation into the financier has found that just $500m (£331m) of the claimed $7.2bn of deposits held by his Stanford International Bank, based in Antigua, has been traced by a UK-based receiver who was called in by authorities when fraud allegations were laid against Stanford in February.The resulting $6.7bn hole in the bank's balance sheet, which leaves 28,000 depositors – including 200 Britons – with near-worthless investment certificates, raises serious concerns about the extent to which officials in America and Britain were aware of Stanford's personal finance issues and the activities of his banks long before the current economic crisis. A BBC Panorama programme, to be screened tonight, alleges that the 6ft 4in-tall businessman may have been allowed to run his banking business unfettered for up to a decade because he was passing information on to America's Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) about the money-laundering activities of drug baron clients from Colombia, Mexico and Venezuela.