What you eat affects your brain. Are you eating things that will energize you mentally?
October 29, 2010, 12:45 p.m.
Mental health disorders have become so common in the United States that according to the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), an estimated one in four Americans ages 18 and older suffers from a diagnosable mental disorder in any given year. One factor that mental health scientists agree on is the imbalance of the complex, interrelated chemical reactions of the brain. How this imbalance occurs continues to be a cause for study. Meanwhile research has produced a pharmacopoeia of prescription meds to ease our mental suffering. Rarely is quality of diet mentioned as a treatment plan for mental illness, yet the ancient Ayurvedic practitioners and yogis knew the affects food can have on the brain.
The human body requires essential nutrients on a daily basis to function properly. We know from medical research that a lack of these nutrients can cause chemical imbalance in organ and brain functions. Ancient practitioners of Ayurvedic medicine — the world’s oldest surviving healing system — created a lifestyle in which the body and mind maintain optimal health and mental well-being. By creating a harmonious chemical balance in the body, and practicing yoga and meditation, one can become more spiritually liberated.
The practice of Ayurveda distinguishes food as having particular energetic qualities, known as the three Gunas: sattvic (lightness, purity), rajasic (overactive, passionate), and tamasic (lethargy, inertia). These energies are universal in dimension and permeate all living and inanimate life. Eating too much of rajasic or tamasic foods will create a chemical imbalance in the brain. Instead eat these foods in moderation and aim for living a sattvic lifestyle. The Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Center incorporates this knowledge into its teachings and has compiled a list of foods for students of yoga to follow.
This story was written by Delia Quigley. It originally appeared on Care2.com and is used here with permission. Visit Care2.com to discover more than 5,000 ways to enhance your life — from holistic health and wellness to pets and family life, the experts at Care2.com share great tips for living a healthier, happier and more sustainable lifestyle.
What you eat affects your brain. Are you eating things to energize you mentally?


More people are leaving New Zealand, with the latest official figures showing that annual net migration was down 8,800 to 63,300 in the 12 months to August 2018, the lowest for the month since 2015.
Net migration is continuing to ease from the record high of 72,400 in the year ended July 2017 and August’s figures were the lowest annual rate for the month since 2015, according to the figures from Statistics New Zealand.
‘The number of migrant arrivals in August was only slightly lower than in August 2017, so it was the increase in the number of departures that led to the fall in net migration,’ said population insights senior manager Brooke Theyers.
‘This is consistent with what we’ve seen in previous months, with the fall in net migration being driven more by increases in migrant departures than decreases in migrant arrivals,’ she added.
Migrant departures for New Zealand citizens were up 600 for the year ended August 2018, to 34,200. Of these, 20,900 were to Australia. This increase in departures was accompanied by a fall in the number of citizens returning to New Zealand from Australia, which led to a net outflow of 1,200 migrants.
‘New Zealand’s net migration with Australia is typically negative so dropping below zero is not unusual. Historically, New Zealand citizen departures have been much higher. For example, in 2012 there were 48,700 New Zealand citizens who departed to Australia, which led to a net migrant loss of 40,000,’ Theyers explained.
Both 2016 and 2017 had small positive net migration gains with Australia, due to low numbers of New Zealand citizen departures and record numbers of New Zealand citizens arriving, that is expats returning home.
From November 2018, travellers leaving New Zealand will no longer need to complete a passenger departure card. This change means the outcomes based measure of migration, first released in May 2017, will be fully adopted.
A separate set of data from Statistics New Zealand shows that visitor numbers for August 2018 were up 5.4% year on year. There were 246,700 visitor arrivals in August 2018, some 12,700 more than for August 2017.
The biggest changes were visitors from Australia up 3,100 to 114,400, visitors from China up 2,300 to 31,500 and visitors from Malaysia up 1,200 to 5,600 and overall arrivals from the Asia region increased the most, up 5,100 or 7.6% from August 2017.
The data also shows that changes in other regions. Visitors from Oceania were up 5,000 or 4.1%, numbers from the Americas were up 1,700 or 9.7%, from Europe up 600 or 2.8% and from Africa and the Middle East up 200 or 6.7%.
For the year ended August 2018, visitor arrivals were up 133,100 or 3.6% to 3.8 million. Visitors arrive in New Zealand from all over the globe, but more come from Australia than anywhere else. Australia accounted for 39% of all visitor arrivals in the August 2018 year.


Candidate Richard Charbonneau has no visions of winning a seat on the Brevard County Commission this year.
Rather, Charbonneau says his entry Monday into the race as an official write-in candidate is a ploy to help Republican Trudie Infantini win an Aug. 28 GOP primary against incumbent Curt Smith.
"I'll do everything in my power to not have Curt elected," Charbonneau said. "I don't want Curt to win. He's got strong Democratic support."
While all three are Republicans, Charbonneau and Infantini are in a different faction of the party than Smith, who some Republicans perceive as too moderate for their tastes.
Charbonneau's strategy would come into play if no Democrat qualifies for the race.
With Democratic candidate Matthew Fleming's failure to collect the necessary number of valid signatures of registered voters by a May 21 deadline to get on the ballot, there is a chance the race could come down to a cast of Republicans.
According to his latest campaign financing reports, through May 31, Fleming has raised just $100 so far in his campaign — a check from himself.
Fleming said he plans to go to the Brevard County Supervisor of Elections Office on Thursday to challenge the petition review, in an effort to overturn the decision of elections officials who ruled on his petitions. But, if that doesn't work, Fleming said he plans to write a personal check to cover the qualifying fees.
If Fleming does not qualify for the ballot and there wereonly Republican candidates in the race, the Aug. 28 Republican primary would have become what's known as a "universal primary," with all registered voters eligible to cast ballots for either Infantini or Smith. This would include Democrats, members of minor political parties and "no party affiliation" voters who are registered to vote, but who are not within a political party.
But, with Charbonneau filing paperwork to qualify as a write-in candidate, that no longer is the case. The Aug. 28 primary between Infantini and Smith would remain a "closed primary" open only to registered Republicans, even if there is no Democrat in the race.
Charbonneau said he believes keeping Democrats and independents out of the primary will help Infantini, since he believes Smith has the support of many Democrats. Charbonneau noted, for example, that among the contributors to Smith's campaign is former Democratic District 1 County Commissioner Robin Fisher's Titusville insurance agency, which gave $1,000 to the campaign.
Nearly 53 percent of 91,627 registered voters in District 4 are not Republicans, according to the latest available data from the Brevard County Supervisor of Elections Office. There are 43,244 Republicans, 23,797 Democrats, 23,833 "no party affiliation" voters and 753 members of other political parties.
Brevard County Democratic Executive Committee Chair Stacey Patel said, while she believes Fleming will try to come up with the qualifying fee money, she is not happy about Charbonneau's tactics that would close the primary to Democrats and independents if there are no non-Republican candidates.
"I think it is a manipulation of the political system that shouldn't be allowed," Patel said.
Patel said there is little the local Democratic Party can do to financially help Fleming at this point because the party is supposed to stay neutral, at least until after the qualifying period ends. That's because a Democratic candidate other than Fleming theoretically could qualify to run for the District 4 seat by Friday's deadline.
Charbonneau ran for the same County Commission District 4 seat in 2014 as a Republican, and finished sixth out of seven Republican candidates in the GOP primary. Smith won that primary, getting 28.9 percent of the vote, and then won the general election against a Democrat and a Libertarian candidate, with 63.5 percent of the vote.
Charbonneau said he campaigned for Smith after the 2004 GOP primary, but has not been happy with Smith's voting record as a county commissioner since then.
Now, "I want Curt to lose" his seat, Charbonneau said. "I'm taking Curt down."
Charbonneau said he did not contact Infantini before he filed his paperwork to run as a write-in candidate. He added that he did not tell his wife, either.
Infantini said she was not aware that Charbonneau planned to sign up as a write-in candidate until someone told her about it after the fact.
She said, though, that if the Democrats want a say in the election, they need to come up with a candidate who can qualify for a spot on the ballot spot.
Republican John Tobia, a former member of the Florida House of Representative and an ally of Infantini, succeeded her in District 3 in 2016.
Tobia now is trying to secure a three-person voting bloc on the five-member County Commission consisting of himself, Infantini and Kristine Isnardi, who represents District 5. Isnardi and Tobia are in the second year of their first four-year terms, so they are not up for re-election this year.
Charbonneau has been a supporter of Infantini, and in September made a $420 "in-kind contribution" to Infantini's campaign in the form of paying for an ad, political dinner tickets and campaign T-shirts.
In all, Infantini has raised $39,399 in cash and in-kind contributions, and has spent $19,380 so far during the campaign, according to reports through May 31.
But Smith has raised much more, $104,828, while spending a little less, $16,611.
Brevard County Supervisor of Elections Lori Scott said Fleming needed 907 valid signatures of registered voters who live in District 4 to qualify for a ballot spot without paying the qualifying fees. That represents 1 percent of registered voters in District 4 in the last election.
Fleming submitted 1,175 signatures, but only 884 were ruled valid by Scott's office. Others were ruled invalid for a variety of reasons, including the signers not being registered to vote, not living in District 4, having an incomplete address or date in the petition, having the same person sign more than one petition, or having the signature that did not match the signature on file with Scott's office.
Scott said Fleming questioned the outcome of the petition review, but she said the rules are "cut and dried," and the only factor open to interpretation is the signature match. But that factor affected only 16 disqualified signatures — not enough for Fleming to reach the 907 signature threshold.
"I understand his frustration that he missed it," Scott said, adding that the same thing has happened to other candidates in the past.
Part of Fleming's issue may have been that he did not announce his candidacy until April 17, leaving him relatively little time to gather signatures. Both Infantini and Smith announced their candidacies last July, and both successfully met their petition requirements to qualify for the ballot.


Steve McClaren admitted Middlesbrough's luck finally ran out in the UEFA Cup final.
Boro staged two epic fightbacks from three goals down to make it to the final in Eindhoven. But they were torn apart by Sevilla, who scored three times in the last 12 minutes to win 4-0.
McClaren said: "I don't know if the occasion got to our players. We looked nervous. There was no freedom and we didn't perform as we can.
"We had three goalscoring chances for an equaliser and a stone-wall penalty.
"It could have changed the game but, as it was, our luck ran out."
Middlesbrough wanted a penalty when Javi Navarro barged into the back of Mark Viduka, two minutes before Sevilla's second, but their appeals were ignored.
Boro went behind midway through the first half to a header from Luis Fabiano.
Enzo Maresca added two more and former Spurs striker Frederic Kanoute grabbed the fourth in the dying minutes.
McClaren, who will become England manager after the World Cup, said: "It's the finale of my Middlesbrough career.
"It ends on a bad night but I will reflect on it. I have left them in good condition and go on.
"I have enjoyed my five years and am sad to go, but people move on in football. I will go with my head held high.
"I don't like losing football matches and I didn't think they were four goals better than us on the night. We didn't perform as we can but I am so proud of the run and our experiences in Europe have been fantastic."
The departing manager urged his players to build a bright new era for the club from the ashes of this defeat.
It is the heaviest loss suffered in the UEFA Cup final since it changed from two legs to a one-off game.
But Boro can look back on an incredible journey and the miraculous comebacks against Basel and Steaua Bucharest.
McClaren said: "This is the club's reward, getting to the final, but it doesn't stop there and that's what I've told the players.
"I've said this is just the beginning. It is a stepping-stone, a platform to achieve more.
"They have the backing of a tremendous chairman, the resources and the talent coming through to compete at this level.
"The club must take it forward. They must not let this be the end. It must be a new beginning."
Asked whether his move to England had distracted the team, McClaren said: "We've dealt with it in the past and dealt with it well. Sevilla were better than us on the night."


As the ongoing conflict between Israelis and Palestinians once again threatens to intensify, the international community has called on both sides to come together and engage in peace talks. On Wednesday, leaders from both sides will meet face-to-face in Jerusalem for the first time in five years, to discuss the terms of a Palestinian state alongside Israel, the drawing of a secure border between the two nations, and the fate of Palestinian refugees.
Ahead of these meetings, The Onion would like to firmly and categorically urge both Israelis and Palestinians to stand tall and steadfastly refuse to give up so much as a single inch during the negotiations.
Israelis and Palestinians, you must accept nothing short of total victory against those who threaten your religion and way of life. Sacrificing just one of your ideals would at this point be tantamount to complete and utter failure.
If a settlement is built, you must attack it. If a settlement is attacked, you must rebuild it. Rocks must be met with bullets; bullets must be met with rocket fire; rocket fire must be met with helicopter assaults. This is the only noble way forward for either side.
Having tirelessly waged this war for over six decades, will you, Palestinian forces and Israeli soldiers, simply give up? Will you crawl to the negotiating table like gutless cowards and compromise with your enemy, undermining all that your compatriots fought for over the past century? Will you spit on the graves of those countless men, women, and children who have spilled their blood and given their lives for your cause? Do you, Israelis and Palestinians, have any backbone whatsoever?
The Onion knows that compromise is for the weak. True bravery means never giving in, never backing down, and never, ever shying away from your principles. Mere words will not end this war. We call on Jews and Arabs alike to stand your ground and show you are willing to die for your cause. Only then will your enemy back down. The Onion can guarantee you that.
Many global leaders have called on Prime Minister Netanyahu and President Abbas to make concessions. The Onion insists that you ignore such pressure no matter the cost, unless of course you welcome the prospect of forsaking your own people and surrendering in shame. And with regards to this pathetic “Two-State Solution,” consider this question: Do those brutish, lowly pigs on the opposing side truly have a right to occupy your land? The answer is, and always has been, no. Why defy God’s will and allow them to take land that is not rightfully theirs? Rather than agree to this so-called compromise, you may as well just wave a white flag, give up, and let your proud people be trampled under the dirty, savage feet of your bitter rivals.
Instead, both sides must continue building arsenals of weapons and artillery, and must not under any circumstances hesitate to use them. The Onion implores you to attack their military bases, assassinate their leaders, and bomb their cities. And always remember that civilian casualties are merely collateral damage in your mission to seize land that—through the very decree of God Himself—belongs to your people and your people alone.
The Onion would now like to address the leaders of these two warring factions individually.
Prime Minister Netanyahu, we ask that you continue your brave resistance to the threats against your people. Every time your homeland falls under attack from Gaza, not only must you exercise your right to defend your countrymen, you must respond tenfold. For every rocket that is fired and for every stone that is thrown, send an army of your best soldiers to kill 100 Palestinians in their homes. Rip a father away from his children, drag him into the street, and execute him in front of his entire family. The Onion assures you that such action is the only way the Palestinians will come to understand that every act of violence against your people will have devastating consequences. Meanwhile, forge ahead with plans to open new Jewish settlements in the West Bank and east Jerusalem. And once those are complete, build more settlements. Expand until the entire region is back in the rightful hands of God’s chosen people. Keep in mind that you have the might of one of the world’s greatest and most disciplined militaries at your disposal, not to mention the backing of some of the most powerful nations on earth, so do not let those advantages go to waste. You cannot sacrifice your religious morals and principles in order to negotiate with terrorists. Every time the thought of compromise even crosses your mind for a second, remember that your people have suffered for thousands of years, struggled against the most brutal forms of oppression, and fought tirelessly so that Jews today can have a unified national state to call their home.
And President Abbas, The Onion would like to remind you of the sick and reprehensible crimes that these Zionist murderers have inflicted upon your people. These are the same savages who starve your families, who deny them clean water, who send combat drones into your skies, who murder unarmed women and children and drop bombs onto neighborhood streets. You cannot negotiate with such heartless animals—your only option is to relentlessly attack them until they cower in submission. So embrace the brave freedom fighters of Hamas, and continue waging your holy war against the oppressive Israeli government. Every time Israel builds on your lands, bring their buildings to the ground. Flood east Jerusalem with rockets and do not rest until every settlement is reduced to rubble. This is your home, and you cannot give it up without a fight. Do not let the bloodthirsty Zionists who stole your homeland from under your very nose like common thieves tell you that Palestine is not a rightful nation. And most importantly, do not let anyone tell you that you have to share it with them.
And to both of you: As direct talks commence tomorrow, The Onion only hopes that you hold on firmly to your convictions and maintain your unflinching resolve to protect the interests of your people, regardless of the cost in money and blood.
Remain steadfast. Remain strong. And never give up your noble fight, even if it takes several more generations.


Organizers of the San Francisco Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Pride Parade throw a party where everyone is welcome.
Now, for the first time, military recruiters are joining the crowd.
The California National Guard will set up two recruiting booths at this weekend’s event, which organizers predict will draw 1 million people to the city.
The arrival of the uniformed recruiters marks the first time the U.S. military has officially participated in the city’s largest gay-rights celebration, and since the Obama administration repealed the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy in 2011.
Mario Garcia, 48, a 29-year veteran of the Guard.
“I want people to see that you can be out and you can be a member of the gay community in the military today,” Garcia said.
Garcia didn’t always feel that way: For years he was in the closet, and sometimes feared for his safety. His story is here.


How Do Crime Alert Rewards Work?
When a crime happens and leads go dry police look to the public for help. One of the best motivations to get people to help is money.
However, not all crime tip rewards are created equal.
Some rewards come from groups or non-profit organizations that are closely linked to the crime; like businesses that have been robbed or family of the victim. The amount of the reward can vary and so does the criteria for receiving it.
Then there are national non-profits like “Crime Stoppers,” which has regional chapters. Sacramento’s chapter is called “Crime Alert” and is run by retired Sacramento Police Sgt. Marty Mamuyac. He said their rewards are pretty straight forward.
“All we’re looking for is an arrest. If we can prove (the tip lead to) an arrest or solved the case, as per the detectives, you’re eligible for a reward,” Mamuyac said.
The minimum reward amount is about $100; the maximum is $1000. The money comes from fundraising and the occasional private donation.
Mamuyac added the thousand dollars is only for the most heinous crimes.
While not everyone will get top-dollar the money is a valuable tool that does get a response.
The Crime Alert website shows there are a few success stories each month.
Mamuyac said there is a lot of work to make those success stories happen; this calendar year Crime Alert has gotten about 1,200 tips. Out of all those tips, Mamuyac said about seven turn out to be worthwhile.
From the time Crime Alert started 32 years ago, over 2,600 arrests have happened and over $375,000 in reward money has been paid. But in the last three years, Mamuyac said there’s been an interesting trend when it comes to tipsters claiming reward money.
“To date this year we’ve authorized about $8,000 in rewards; less than half of that has been picked up,” Mamuyac said.
Here’s how that can happen – because tipsters can be anonymous Crime Alert has no way of contacting them to let them know their tip was successful.
So how do tipsters get paid? At the time they give their tip, they get a tip number and a code name. After that it becomes their responsibility to check back and see if the tip led to an arrest. Once it’s confirmed they’re sent to a financial institution to pick up the money.
It can be time consuming, but that’s the price of anonymity. While the process may not be perfect; it does work.
Crime Alert has one major fundraiser to get money for rewards, a crab feed that will be taking place on February 1, 2014.


London, Apr 20(ANI): Former England footballer Gary Lineker has said David Beckham doesn't deserve to be in the Great Britain squad for the London Olympics.
"If you are going to pick the best three over-age players, then you would say no [to Beckham]," The BBC quoted Lineker, as saying.
Beckham is among 80 players in contention for a place in the squad and has spoken about his wish to be captain in London.
Lineker suggested that while Beckham, who currently plays for LA Galaxy in the United States, was not worth a place on purely playing grounds, there might be another reason that could see him make the cut.
"If it is a 'thank you' for all the work that Beckham has done for the Olympics and getting it to London, then it is a different matter. I would pick my best three players if I was in charge. That is who I would want, but who knows? It might be a done deal," he said.


What does the proposed Brexit Withdrawal Deal mean for the tech industry?
What does the proposed Brexit Withdrawal Deal mean for the tech industry? U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May announced November 14, 2018, that the U.K. Government has reached an agreement with the European Union on the initial stages of how the U.K. will exit the EU.
It is not a done deal, however, until the U.K. Parliament and the EU Parliaments have ratified it. If this proposed Withdrawal Agreement does get the go ahead—and this is very uncertain as there is huge opposition to it among U.K. members of parliament—it essentially gives U.K. business and, therefore, by default the U.K. tech industry, a bit of breathing space.
The tech industry in the U.K. is quite reliant on EU workers. If the U.K. leaves the EU without a deal, then many of these workers would no longer have leave to remain in the U.K. and there would be a brain drain. The Draft Withdrawal Agreement will allow EU tech workers already working in the U.K. leave to remain in the country, so that would help to avoid this. But, already, many EU workers, worried about their future in the U.K., have left for more secure jobs elsewhere. Their skills are highly in demand, so these are easy to find.
The Draft Withdrawal Agreement also allows free trade to continue between the EU and the U.K. at least until the end of the transition period, currently scheduled to end at the end of 2020, but with the possibility of an extension. This gives tech companies the ability to continue to trade within the EU without facing tariffs and additional regulations. Tech companies bring in component parts from all over the EU, and in the event of a No-Deal Brexit each of these parts could require different tariffs. There is no guarantee that this has been avoided for the long term, but for the very short term at least, if this Agreement is ratified, tech companies have been given some respite.
And respite is really what this Agreement is all about, not just for tech companies, but for every faction of U.K. business.


The Louisville football team will count on a handful of former track stars to add some playmaking ability this fall.
Before Bobby Petrino walked into the Cardinal Stadium press box for his news conference on media day Saturday, he was on the field, participating in team photo exercises.
They brought in the seniors first, and there were not many. Then came the juniors, and there were a few more. But the classes that struck Petrino were the freshmen and sophomores, more than usual.
They will be tasked with important roles as the Louisville football team replaces a decorated outgoing class, retools and prepares for 2018.
On Aug. 3, the first day of practice, Louisville held split-squad workouts with mostly newcomers in the morning and veterans in the afternoon.
But there were exceptions: The coaches bumped a handful of true freshmen to the later session to work with the first team. Three of the five freshmen who arrived last winter, plus wide receiver Marcus Riley, practiced in the afternoon. The program mantra “Speed City” has brought an influx of fast athletes to contribute early.
“This is the fastest class, this 2018 class is ridiculous,” junior wide receiver Seth Dawkins said.
Tutu Atwell is a receiver Louisville will try to involve in its offense right away. He led Miami Northwestern to the Florida state championship as a quarterback.
Redshirt sophomore wide receiver Dez Fitzpatrick said Atwell might be Louisville’s smartest wide receiver, because of his background as a quarterback.
Riley, teammates say, can match Atwell stride-for-stride. He just arrived on campus this summer. Both he and Atwell took reps as punt returners at the beginning of the first practice.
Dawkins, Fitzpatrick and senior Jaylen Smith were on the cover of the media guide in front of 2018 Triple Crown winner Justify. They’ve spoken highly of the track stars who have entered the program behind them.
Asked to choose a 4x100-meter relay team out of the offensive players, Dawkins named Javian Hawkins, Jatavious Harris, Atwell and Tyler Harrell as the anchor. On defense, he went for Rodjay Burns, Jairus Brents, Marlon Character and Cornelius Sturghill. Six of those eight (though Brents will redshirt this season) are new recruits. Burns is eligible for the first time this fall.
On defense, Petrino named freshman linebacker Yasir Abdullah as a standout competitor. At Miami Carol City, Abdullah finished 11th in the long jump at the Florida state track meet last spring. He’s another sprinter but is also over 220 pounds now, Petrino said.


Player-coach Michal Dobron has “high expectations” for his Edinburgh Capitals side – but only if they continue to play smart following their convincing recent wins over Coventry Blaze and Dundee Stars.
Caps travel to a sold-out Cardiff Devils tomorrow before facing-off against Manchester Storm on Sunday, an away double header that will surely prove the Murrayfield men’s toughest test of the season to date.
Looking back over Wednesday night’s 5-1 home win over Dundee, Dobron said: “Everybody played the game our way and the way we wanted to. We researched all the players we signed in the summer and the style we play is a good fit for them so I’m not surprised at how we are doing.
Dobron was delighted to see Edinburgh cut out their slow starts – a trait evident in their last defeat, a 4-2 loss away to Sunday’s opponents Manchester. Edinburgh conceded twice in the first 70 seconds before losing a third in the first minute of the second period.
Although disappointed with his team’s early efforts in that match, had what appeared a good goal from Capitals defenceman Mike Oratorio been allowed to stand, the result could have been different.
Dobron said: “Last time in Manchester we had a bad start to both the first and second periods and conceded three goals, which made it such a hard game. In the second period, we scored but the ref said ‘no goal’. I think if that had stood it could have been a different result, But there’s no point in feeling sorry for ourselves, we need to start periods strong, that was our big problem.
Edinburgh can expect a red-hot reception from tomorrow’s opponents Cardiff, who in a pre-game ceremony will be retiring the No.26 shirt of former Devils fans’ favourite Brad Voth, who played for the club between 2005-2012. Caps will hope history does not repeat itself after the Welsh outfit retired Jason Stone’s jersey two years ago, also in a match against Caps, before going on to win 10-0.
History is of no concern to Canadian summer signing Mike D’Orazio who, although aware of the tough task ahead, believes Edinburgh can go into their first match at Cardiff’s new home, Ice Arena Wales, in confident mood.
D’Orazio said: “It’s going to be a tough road trip, but that’s two good wins in a row from the boys. We can be confident and we’re looking forward to it.
Caps are no stranger to a win away from Murrayfield this season, having picked up Challenge Cup victories at Braehead Clan and Fife Flyers. However, D’Orazio admits home comforts are missed, especially on long bus trips south of the Border.
“There’s a big difference” said D’Orazio: “But as a professional hockey player after a long bus ride you know what you have to do to get ready for the game.


Kings are the second-largest species of penguins, growing to be about 3 feet tall and weighing 30-45 pounds.
Zookeepers have been checking the chick periodically to make sure it is gaining weight.
The Helzberg Penguin Plaza is an indoor exhibit allowing visitors to observe the birds through glass.
A Kansas City Zoo giraffe has given birth to a healthy baby boy, the zoo announced this week. The baby giraffe was born at 11:29 p.m. Sept. 30, the zoo said in a statement.
Did you know that Kansas City Zoo has a secret rhino?


As in Alice's Wonderland, so too in the labyrinth-land of income tax, things are often not what they appear to be. 'Yes' may not always mean yes, and 'no' may not necessarily mean what we generally take it to mean.
So, it pays to be tax-smart; you can get to keep more of your hard-earned money for yourself rather than having to cough it up to the taxman . . .
1. Exemption on soft furnishing expenses Sec. 10(14) [of the Income Tax Act] offers exemption for expenses (and not allowances) incurred wholly, necessarily and exclusively in the performance of the duties. There are two distinct arguments to render soft-furnishing non-taxable.
The first one is to claim that the employee needs to entertain guests at his residence for official purpose. The second one is that the expense is incurred to protect the furniture belonging to the office at the residence of the employee from deterioration.
Most employment conditions require an employee who desires to change his job, to give his employer a notice of his intentions and serve him for certain pre-fixed months.
In case an employee desires to leave the services immediately, or before the notice period, he should pay the employer an amount equivalent to the salary he would have earned during the notice period or shortfall thereof. Is this amount deductible from the salary income of the employee?
What the employee is paying to the employer cannot come under the head 'Salaries' since he is not the employer's employer. This amount represents application of his income and therefore, it is not deductible. He has merely applied this income to discharge a liability and therefore, it is not tax deductible.
This is the view generally accepted by all accountants and the income tax department.
These days many employees are re-employed by their ex-employers on retainership or contractual basis after their retirement. The fact that the person happens also to be the ex-employee is immaterial and inconsequential.
Such a person enjoys better concessions than a normal employee. He can claim deductions for expenses incurred for earning his consultancy fee. Moreover, the TDS applied by the principal would be only 10% of the fee paid.
Here, two points are of great interest: · Circular 122, dated 19.10.73, clarified that if the employer employs a gardener for a building belonging to the employer, it would not be treated as a perk. This principle continues to be applicable even now with the possibility of it being extrapolated to other servants. · This is more interesting. A helper engaged for the performance of the duties of an office or employment of profit; is not considered as a perk under Rule 2BB, read with Sec. 10(14). Many employees, particularly at the top level, and especially in view of communication handshakes available through e-mail, do not necessarily work only in the office. Some part of the work is done at residence. We will go to the extent of stating that the employee can directly engage the services of a helper and claim reimbursement from the employer without it being considered as a perk.
Top management category employees usually get rent-free residential house as a perk. Sometimes, the flat belongs to the employee, taken on lease by the company from the employee and the employee is allowed to reside in it.
In other words, the landlord of the residential flat used by the employee is the employee himself and simultaneously he is also a tenant.
Under such a situation, the employee will have to pay tax on the lease rent received as income from house property and also as perk. Is this double taxation? Definitely not. The employee is enjoying double benefit and will have to pay tax on each benefit separately.
Is this flat self-occupied or let-out? Of course it is let-out. No one can pay rent to himself.
The Sec. 80C deduction is possible both on self-occupied and let out flats. The interest is deductible in full since the flat is let out. If the employee pays some rent to his employer, this rent cannot be deducted from the lease rent for tax purpose. This rent will be taken cognisance of while computing the perk value.
Before the revision in perk values, many of the employees used to give their flats or the flats of their wives on lease to the employers and benefit immensely. Now, after the large-scale amendments to perk values, the advantage has been watered down.
Nevertheless, normally the lessor takes an interest-free deposit from the lessee. This is a deposit and not a loan. Consequently, it does not have any perk value. We do not think the Department will question the size of the deposit in such cases.
The ITO cannot treat the difference between the market rate of interest and the actual interest paid by the landlord to his tenant on deposits placed by the tenant in custody of the landlord, as further rent received. [CIT v Satya Co. Ltd., (1994) 75Taxman193 (Cal.)].
You should be on leave.
During such travel you may have your family with you. Family includes spouse, children as well as dependent parents, brothers and sisters. In respect of children born on or after 1.10.98, the exemption will be restricted only to two surviving children unless the birth after one child has resulted in multiple births.
The expense incurred by you is exempt up to the LTA received.
Obviously, if your wife and other family members travel, without you accompanying them, no LTA can be claimed.
Take the case of a working couple. Both the husband and wife can claim the exemption on LTA from their employers and claim benefit for 4 journeys in one block. There is no need for them to take the precaution of not travelling twice during the same year.
Moreover, they can take the same family members or different ones as long as they stick to the definition of the members for this purpose.
Aditya Cement Staff Club v Union of India & Others is an interesting case which states that where an employee has resigned and is allowed to occupy company quarters free of rent or at concessional rent, it is not to be taken as perk value, unless it is a contractual obligation to that effect according to the terms of employment.
In order that any benefit, amenity or payment may be termed as perquisite, it must be in pursuance of a right conferred on or option given to the employee to receive such benefit or advantage from his employer.
Unless such advantage or benefit flows from the status of the person working as an employee it cannot be termed as perquisite. The employee must have a vested right to claim advantage or benefit whether in cash or in kind, in order to fall within the purview of perquisite as part of salaries taxable under the ITA.
Interest on Registered Provident Fund (RPF) of an employee is tax-free. Does it still remain tax-free after the employee retires and does not claim his Provident Fund for say 2 to 3 years?
If one goes strictly according to the drafted provisions, it appears that this interest is tax-free since the amount becomes payable only when the ex-employee asks for it. However, we are told that many ITOs take the stand that the balance in Co-PF gets the colour and character of company fixed deposits when the employee retires. This stand is challengeable.
Rule 9 puts a different responsibility on the Assessing Officer. He shall calculate the total of the various sums of tax which would have been payable by the employee in the respect of the total income for each of the related years to arrive at the amount by which such total exceeds the total of taxes paid by the employee for such years.
This excess amount is payable by the employee in addition to tax on the income during the year in which the accumulated balance of PF becomes payable.
According to Rule 8 of Part A of the Fourth Schedule, this requirement of 5 years shall not be applicable where the service has been terminated by reason of the employee's ill-health, or by the contraction or discontinuance of the employer's business or other causes beyond the control of the employee.
All the same, it is not clear if the employer's contribution becomes taxable if the employee has to retire on attaining superannuation age after a continuous service of less than 5 years. It is our considered opinion that since the retirement is beyond the control of the employee, the amount does not become taxable.
It is erroneous to feel that the employee's contribution to PF is not taxed during the year of contribution. It is fully taxed in any case. All he gets is the deduction which stands withdrawn if the employee withdraws the PF before 5 years. To tax the contribution once again in the year of withdrawal is tantamount to double taxation.
In the case of unrecognised provident fund, there is a triple taxation if the employee withdraws within 5 years. Not only he is not allowed any deduction on his own contribution but also the employer's contribution is taxed during the year of contribution and also during the year of withdrawal.
(C ) All rights reserved.


HARTFORD -- When you average 30 goals a year and the meter hasn't started to click in the first six games, no doubt even center Cory Larose had to be wondering a bit when the first one might find the net.
Larose, who has generated points with regularity the past two seasons in the AHL including 75 last winter, had managed just one assist in five games this year.
His numbers changed after Sunday's 2-2 tie with the Lowell Lock Monsters.
Not only did Larose finally get on the board -- his power-play goal at 16:11 put Hartford into the lead -- but he got involved throughout and did his best to create scoring chances as well as make a determined effort to play smart without the puck.
"I've been a notorious slow starter going back to youth hockey but I don't really know why," Larose said. "It's not like I've played poorly or anything in the first four games, but I got involved more in games on Saturday and Sunday. That's the way I can and have to play.
"I need to be a little more physical, get in the corners and work hard for the puck," Larose said. "When I don't do that, I'm not playing to my potential."
Maximizing effort is what Pack coach Ryan McGill has sought this season from newcomers and veterans on Hartford. Maybe there was a reason why Larose didn't dress for Friday's game in Bridgeport.
"When Cory's involved like the last two games," McGill said, "he plays well. He was good on the power play, got involved, was dead tired at the end of the game and looked sore from getting hit, but that's how he needs to play.
"Like a lot of young players, Cory gets himself in trouble when he stays on the perimeter," McGill said. "He needs to get involved out there, maintain that consistently and on a regular basis. If he can maintain that, he won't be here very long."
Playing with grit and taking away passing lanes isn't really a radical change from the tail end of last year when Larose joined the Wolf Pack in a swap from Houston or with the Aeros in 2001-02 when he notched a career-best 32 goals.
It's been a defensive-first approach thus far and it's tough to argue with the early results: a 4-0-2-1 start and 11 points in seven games, the top perch in the Atlantic Division and among the league's top clubs in fewest goals allowed (11).
"It's early, but everyone here has bought into the system and it can be successful," Larose said.
Hartford's power-play unit hasn't been that successful this season (3-for-28) but Larose's goal -- during a 4-on-3 situation -- put the Pack into the lead. It was a one-timer from the left point that cleanly beat Lowell goalie Patrick DesRochers.
The Wolf Pack pushed their lead to 2-0 at 4:09 of the second period when captain Ken Gernander used his speed to get free and finished a nice series of passes from Jed Ortmeyer and Lucas Lawson.
Goalie Jason LaBarbera (22 saves) turned in another strong game. He's off to a 3-1-2 start, a 1.77 GAA and a sharp .926 save percentage by denying 139 of 150 shots.
LaBarbera and the Pack carried a 2-0 lead into the final three minutes of the game only to have Lowell rally to earn a point.
Matt Davidson, with 2:23 to play, got behind the Hartford defense to make it 2-1 and with DesRochers (29 saves) pulled for the extra attacker, one-time Ranger top pick Pavel Brendl nailed the equalizer with 26 seconds left in regulation.
Still, the result capped a strong weekend for the Wolf Pack that began with a 3-2 OT win over Bridgeport on Friday and followed a 2-0 shutout of Manchester on Saturday when Phil Osaer, in his Pack debut, stopped 18 shots.
"We're a little frustrated to be tied," Larose said. "But we did get five of six (possible) points."
As for closing out games, what worked in Saturday's 2-0 win over Manchester didn't against Lowell (4-2-1) which snapped a two-game losing streak.
"Games like this can only help us," Larose said. "The more games we play that are close, the better we'll be."


First City-Wide Deployment of Broadband-Over-Powerline (BPL) Technology in the U.S. Now Complete in Manassas, Va.
COMTek and the City of Manassas will hold a news conference tomorrow, Oct. 5, 2005, in Manassas. The conference will also be available via streaming media at the COMTek Web site.
I couldn't find any good visuals about BPL on COMTek's Web site, but here is an interesting diagram on the Plexeon Web site showing how BPL might be deployed in a neighborhood.
BPL is somewhat controversial. Amateur radio operators object to unbridled rollout of the technology, as it might interfere with shortwave radio signals. BPL is cited as one of the technologies that can compete with cable and telco broadband rollouts, but some observers are skeptical whether BPL can become useful broadly in the marketplace.
Please follow this link to visit Al Bredenberg's VoIP and CRM Blog.


Not just in America, or Chicago, where with grateful tears in his eyes he carried home the gleaming gold championship trophy, but in places one might never expect, Michael Jordan is a hero.
Ted Ewanchiw of ProServ, the management group that handles Jordan's endorsements, said he had been receiving calls from Japan. "They want him for commercials," he said.
Dan Peterson, the voice on telecasts of National Basketball Association games in Italy, said Jordan's basketball video was second only to an Italian soccer video in sales there.
"I was just speaking to a broadcaster in Yugoslavia," someone said to Jordan a few days ago, "and he told me you're the biggest star there. They see the games on tape delays."
"Bigger than Divac? Bigger than Kukoc?" asked Jordan, mentioning two of the country's best basketball players.
"Bigger than anyone," he was told. "What does that mean to you?"
"It means," Jordan said, "relaxation."
"Sure. For a couple of hours they can sit back and enjoy a game. I know that they've got more problems there than just who's going to win or lose a basketball game. But for a few hours, it's relaxation."
There is more than pure entertainment, though, that can be taken from the experience that is Michael Jordan, the aerobatic basketball player, who seems to come through regardless of the defense, the pressure, a high ceiling or low, the head winds, air pockets or, as against the Pistons, when the atmosphere is as dense as soup.
Yet with just his pure, colossal physical ability, Michael Jordan still wasn't a member of an N.B.A. championship team. It took him seven years to get the title ring, which he won on Wednesday when the Bulls beat the Lakers, 108-101, to take the final playoff series, four games to one.
"It's been a struggle, a long, long seven years," Jordan said. "When I came, it was a sad situation. We started from scratch, the bottom. A lot of bad teams. A lot of improvement. Step by step, inch by inch."
The day before Game 5, someone asked him if he was anxious for the title. "I'm patient," he said. He didn't add that he had learned patience for seven years.
There was frustration early on, and toil. But along with that there was also the education of Michael Jordan that had to be enhanced. He discovered the trick that Magic Johnson had discovered, and Larry Bird, and Isiah Thomas, all contemporaries and stars of teams with multiple titles. "You can't do it by yourself," Jordan said. In the final minutes of the final game, for example, Jordan looked for the open man, who happened to be Paxson, Paxson, Paxson, Paxson and Paxson, and hit that deft jump shooter with what might be known as very good paxes.
Jordan has also found that there was more to basketball than just offense (though with practice in the pros he became an excellent outside shooter rather than just a fair one). He has developed into one of the best defensive players in the game. Defense takes heart and will. "Most of the people sitting up in the stands won't appreciate your effort on defense," Honey Russell, the late coach of Seton Hall, said, "but your teammates and coach will, and the opposing team."
Many times, the star offensive player does not want to exert himself on defense, so to be fresh for the crowd-pleasing shooting. Not Jordan. He defended against Magic Johnson, and took him for much of the games, and for much of the 94-foot court. Jordan committed five fouls doing this in Game 1 of the series, but wised up and was more careful, though no less dogged, in the following games. This was leadership, demonstrating to the other players his sublimation of ego for the perceived goal.
Beyond that, his nose-diving, looping, taxiing on defense to flick at a ball, or deflect a pass, or interrupt a dribble, or box out for rebounds, things that never are seen in a box score, were observed and often duplicated by teammates.
It was also instructive how he played one-on-one defense, as much with his feet and his head as with his hands. "When I was young," he said, "I had to learn the fundamentals of basketball. You can have all the physical ability in the world, but you still have to know the fundamentals."
Is there more to Jordan than entertainment? "Without heroes," said a character in Bernard Malumad's novel "The Natural, "we're all plain people and don't know how far we can go."
Jordan has a lot of plain people in him. But Jordan is a hero because, exercising traits open to most of the rest of us -- patience, doggedness, thoughtfulness and desire -- he gave wings to his physical gifts.


As I revisit some songs and voices that caught my attention when I was first learning about gospel music, I’m going to try to do something a little different from simply talking about why I liked them. I will describe as best I can my initial thought process in reaction to these clips, but then I’ll draw some conclusions from my impressions that might be of promotional use to artists who want to draw in “newbies” like I was at the time.
I can vividly remember being in my mid-teens and listening to a cassette tape of Steve Green’s For God and God Alone. I’d listen to one side, then flip it over, then start at the beginning again when it was finished, and just keep that up for hours because I simply couldn’t get enough of that voice. But through the years that followed I didn’t get much more exposure to Steve’s music than that one album. It was only around a year and a half ago that I realized just how extensive his repertoire was and began finding more of his stuff. In the process, I found out that he had sung with the Gaither Vocal Band, which surprised me because I had always thought of him as a soloist.
Something else that really impressed me here was Wes’s presence and demeanor—not merely his voice, but his presence. From the moment he came on to the moment he stepped off stage, there was not even the faintest trace of arrogance or over-confidence. He was sharp and clean-cut. He was humble and classy. He didn’t try to push himself forward in any way. He sang clearly and powerfully, but not so as to “outdo” Steve. In fact, he even went out of his way to say, “If there’s a mistake, it’s my fault.” Everything about him said, “I can’t believe I’m singing with Steve Green—what an honor!” At the same time, Steve was genuinely excited to share the stage with Wes, and he treated him like an equal. Wes in turn proved that he had the talent to meet the challenge. A young singer with that much talent could have allowed it to go to his head and behaved like a little twerp. But Wes didn’t.
Conclusions: First, it’s a very good thing for established artists to recognize and include young up-and-comers. But not only is it good for the industry, it catches the attention of the younger demographic. Second, personal appearance matters. It’s the first thing people notice about you. If you walk out on stage put-together, modest, and classy, don’t think the audience won’t take note and appreciate it. They will.
Wes is a special individual, and I guess you’d have to be to replace David Phelps as the tenor for the GVB. I remember liking him right off the bat. “Little is much” from the south Africa video comes to mind. The criticism people had for him when he started seemed basically to be “he’s not David”. It was unfair. The fact that he has had the success he has is very pleasing. We will hear more, hopefully for a long time from Wes. Also I would encourage anyone who hasn’t given “Jesus saves” from Wes’ solo cd a listen, to do so. It’s worth the price of admission, so to speak.
When I first saw this clip I was speechless. Not only because it is superb singing, but because I realized Steve Green was still singing! I remember hearing him in my teenage years and loving his voice but for some reason I lost track of him. I suddenly realized that the voice I remembered was real and not my imagination. I was thrilled!
The second reason was that I absolutely love Wes’ voice and personality. He is the real deal and I’m thrilled again to see and hear him not only singing with Steve (it’s wonderful to hear this duet also on Wes’ solo album!) but with David Phelps as well. Two vocal giants in one group … it could have been a battle but it looks like (and I’m pretty sure it is) two friends singing together. Awesome and inspiring!
Living in the Netherlands we have not been exposed too much to this music. Only these last couple of years is it becoming a bit more known … and only in small circles yet. But what a blessing it is! And how wonderful to see people writing about it and giving at least me a change to delve deeper into this amazing music.


Martin McGuinness threatened to hold a dead IRA man's body for a week amid tensions over paramilitary shows of strength at funerals, State papers have revealed.
He personally delivered the chilling message to Bishop Cahal Daly's secretary as a stand-off ensued over the burial of Larry Marley in Belfast in April 1987.
Marley, the mastermind of the 1983 Maze escape, was shot dead by the UVF in front of his wife and newborn son at their home in Ardoyne.
His funeral was delayed for three days and there were two failed attempts to bury him as a heavily armed police cordon stepped in each time. Documents released from the Department of Foreign Affairs reveal Mr McGuinness issued the warning to the bishop's emissary, Fr Hugh Starkey.
He said the Sinn Féin chief told Cahal Daly's secretary: "We have the body and will keep it for a week, if necessary, until the Bishop speaks."
The papers claimed Mr McGuinness was smarting over comments made by Bishop of Derry Edward Daly about restricting IRA funerals.


Whatever the outcome of this weekend’s PN leadership election, one result is already in. On Friday, Simon Busuttil addressed the PN council for the last time as party leader. This brought to a close a short but eventful chapter in the Nationalist Party’s recent history.
It is probably too early to make a thorough assessment of the Simon Busuttil era. Judged only on the basis of electoral results, the immediate verdict is unlikely to be positive. Busuttil inherited a party reeling from a massive knock-out blow delivered in March 2013. He led the party to a bigger defeat in June 2017... losing all other elections in between.
But this is only a partial assessment. It must also be remembered that Busuttil took over the Nationalist Party at its most difficult hour: also facing insurmountable debt, as well as an existentialist crisis that was not of Busuttil’s making.
Besides, some of the issues brought up in the last election campaign remain unresolved to this day. Though unsuccessful in political terms, Busuttil championed issues of good governance and built a campaign on the basis of a fight against corruption. He may yet be vindicated on those grounds.
Either way, he tried holding up the party to standards that it had never been held up to before. Perhaps his efforts failed because they were premature. The PN couldn’t so easily jettison the complex baggage of almost 25 uninterrupted years in government. It would, however, be unfair not to credit Busuttil with trying. And in some areas, he can claim to have registered successes.
Paradoxically, the ongoing PN leadership election is one example. It was thanks to a reform undertaken by Busuttil that the voter base for this election was extended to over 15,000 paid-up party members. This was a courageous direction to steer the party in... as evidenced by the fact that the first round was won by an ‘outsider’ candidate who is in many ways the antithesis of Busuttil.
This is perhaps the price one must pay for democratisation: you can give people more rights, but it doesn’t follow that they will use those rights in a way you yourself will approve.
Nonetheless, the outcome is bound to be more democratic, and therefore more representative. From the outset, Busuttil vowed he would bring the PN ‘closer to the people’. In this respect, he has clearly succeeded... even if at a cost to himself. Naturally, as a party leader he was not without his flaws.
Simon Busuttil could be difficult with the press, displaying little patience for probing questions about his own policies and standards. There were certain inconsistencies in his methods, too. He could pick honourable fights, for example that on the citizenship scheme; yet he failed to enforce the same line later on when the IIP became popular with promoters with close PN links.
Similarly, his drive for good governance was at times belied or undermined by his own party’s practices. The clearest example was the revelation that the PN had accepted donations by the DB group to fund its own officials’ salaries. That incident alone swept the carpet from under the PN’s feet, when it came to presenting itself as a serious (and much needed) alternative to Labour.
On the subject of Labour, Busuttil demonstrated the same tendency to underestimate Joseph Muscat that had previously proved fatal to Lawrence Gonzi. He disregarded or belittled many of the positive achievements of the Labour administration, which had brought material benefits to ordinary people: even going so far as claiming that the reduction in utility bills was a figment of the imagination.
On a more positive note, however, Simon Busuttil did much to change the country’s standard political vocabulary. He spearheaded the campaign on Panamagate, and it was partly because of his tireless campaigning that this important issue was not allowed to fall off the radar completely. Without Busuttil’s efforts – strident though they sometimes were – perhaps the offshore saga could have been subsumed by Labour’s propaganda machine. Busuttil, however, made sure it remained on top of the agenda... even after the disastrous election result.
As things stand, perhaps his only fault in this area was a touch of carelessness. It was an oversight on his part not to instantly ask for a police investigation, or in genere magisterial inquiry, back in March 2016: leaving it late in the day to file his own request for investigation.
Ultimately, however, Simon Busuttil the MEP – who, in that capacity, had broken all previous electoral records – proved not to be the PN’s aspiring prime minister: the role for which he had been groomed. His stellar career – from EU poster boy in the days of ‘MiC’, to MEP and later deputy leader – had its limits.
In Brussels, Simon was a soaring jet airliner; but in Malta, his high-flying career crashlanded: outmanoeuvred by a formidable adversary and masterful chess player with stronger rhetorical skills.
His legacy will not however be completely overlooked. The standards to which he tried to hold the PN in place are still there, and still in demand. It now falls to others to turn Busuttil’s worthy aspirations for the PN into reality.


NO-COST ADOPTIONS AT SEATTLE HUMANE!
Fees waived on all pets Oct. 2-4 at Adoption Blitz!
Seattle Humane’s annual Adoption Blitz means hundreds of families can adopt a dog, cat, puppy, kitten, rabbit or other furry critter without the typical adoption fee. Fees are waived for all pets in the care of Seattle Humane in Bellevue for three days only, Friday, October 2nd through Sunday, October 4th.
Each year, hundreds of pets are adopted during Adoption Blitz. Adoption Manager Nicolette Voigt points out that Seattle Humane’s Adoption Advisors carefully vet each adopter by conducting one-on-one interviews and reviewing questionnaires. “The animals are always our first priority and we want to make sure each one of them is going to a loving family that can care well for them. We pride ourselves on our ability to make successful matches,” continues Voigt.
All dogs and cats ar e vaccinated, microchipped, health-checked and spay/neutered. Dogs are temperament-tested and most dog adoptions come with a six-week obedience training course. All dogs and cats 13 years of age and under will receive one month of free pet insurance. Potential adopters can preview adoptable animals at seattlehumane.org and download a pre-adoption questionnaire. Seattle Humane is located at 13212 SE Eastgate Way in Bellevue (near the junction of I-90 and I-405), and is open from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Fri.-Sat. and 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Sun.
**Please note that collars, leashes and pet carriers are not provided. You can bring your own or purchase these items at Seattle Huma ne, with proceeds benefiting the animals in our care.


Houston Terror Dome is the most terrifying of all Houston haunted houses. They will have improved rooms, new effects, and new characters. The Houston Terror Dome will grab you by the guts and won't let you go, till you run screaming out the other end - if you make it that far.


Chess Club Open Play Every Thursday at Burger King in Rockland. Play from 6:00 PM-8:00 PM . Free.
Join us for Chess Fun and Play at Burger King in Rockland. Bring your board or use one of ours. New players welcome. We meet every Thursday from 6:00 PM-8:00 PM. FREE.


Net revenue rose 31%, to $106.8 million from $81.6 million.
Revenue before expenses for the transactional sector rose 35%, to $502.8 million from $371.4 million. The managed transportation sector’s revenue before expenses was $132 million, up 34% from $98.7 million. Transportation costs for the two sectors totaled $528 million, a rise of 36% from $388.5 million.
In July, Echo purchased virtually all the assets of Freight Management Plus Inc., an Allison Park, Pa.,-based 3PL firm that specialized in less-than-truckload managed transportation solutions. Echo reported that Freight Management generates about $15 million in annual revenue.


DeSantis’ campaign released its internal numbers along with a lengthy statement Sunday ripping CNN for releasing what it called “a questionable and misleading poll attempting to portray DeSantis as trailing Gillum by double digits.” Spokesman Stephen Lawson alleged that CNN hoped to give Gillum an advantage.
DeSantis’ campaign criticized the methodology of the poll, which was based off of answers from 1,012 adults who were asked how they identify their politics as opposed to their actual registration (a strategy used by some pollsters). The resulting breakdown was 32 percent Democrat, 29 percent Republican and 39 percent Independent – figures that are out-of-whack with historical midterm election turnouts for Florida.
“This poll is as amusing as it is suspicious in that it was released hours before a debate between the two candidates – clearly meant to give the advantage to Andrew Gillum,” Lawson said.
Democratic candidate Andrew Gillum predicted victory in the Florida governor’s race Saturday night during the Miami-Dade Democratic Party Blue Gala at The Biltmore Hotel in Coral Gables.


This paper models the global financial crisis as a combination of shocks to global housing markets and sharp increases in risk premia of firms, households and international investors in an intertemporal (or DSGE) global model. The model has six sectors of production and trade in 15 major economies and regions. The paper shows that the shocks observed in financial markets can be used to generate the severe economic contraction in global trade and production experienced in 2009. In particular the distinction between the production and trade of durable and non durable goods plays a key role in explaining the much larger contraction in trade than GDP experienced by most economies. The paper explores the implications of the large increase in fiscal deficits and the implications of a global trade war in response to the financial crisis.


Nice lot with added privacy thanks to the small drainage canal in the back, Conveniently located close to the new Heritage Parkway, Heritage High School and Palm Bay Regional Park. All nice paved streets around and many homes recently built and many still under construction. Fantastic location. Build your dream home today!


BRANDENBURG — A Kentucky-based Ku Klux Klan group was ordered Friday to pay $2.5 million in damages in a judgment that civil rights attorneys hope will bankrupt the chapter.
The Southern Poverty Law Center sued the nation's second-largest Klan outfit on behalf of a Latino teen severely beaten in 2006 by two Klan members. The Klansmen were convicted and served two years in prison.


Threat hunting likely ranks second after artificial intelligence as a leading cybersecurity marketing buzzword and top airport advertising theme. Why not hunt for threats when dwell time between attack infections and detections can take months? Hiring threat hunters could change the playing field dynamics so if attackers make a mistake, they risk being detected. Sounds good, however, the real answer is more complex.
Threat detection leverages multiple detection techniques from signatures, rules and patterns to anomaly detection, machine learning and behavioral analysis to find known threats, query or model. Matching indicators of compromise to various data sources is a form of threat detection and so is searching a security data lake. It is all too common for security and service vendors to incorrectly market threat detection as threat hunting.
Threat modeling is a proactive process to improve applications, systems and network security by assessing potential risks, threats and vulnerabilities often from an attacker’s perspective, and then prioritize countermeasures to address the effects. This practice is maturing and will be increasingly important for cloud, internet of things, and autonomous solutions for converged information technology/operation technology networks.
Threat hunting is a proactive, analyst-centric, iterative and interactive ad hoc process driven by expert intuitive hypotheses assuming a breach. The practice combines security expertise, data analyst skills and creative thinking upon a knowledgebase across applications, systems and networks. This is usually implemented by only the most mature security organizations.
Why Is Threat Hunting So Hard to Do?
The traditional security approach has been signature-based and identifying malware and threats that are known to be bad. Adversaries know this model and work to bypass it with a wide range of techniques. In order to find attackers, you need to look as deep into your network as they’re hiding. Unfortunately, most “advanced” threat solutions don’t go that deep and are narrowly focused on finding malware coming in and command and control traffic beaconing out. If you’re only looking for malware and the attacker isn’t using it, you won’t find them. This is where advanced detection and the ability to hunt for threats come into play.
We sponsored research this year which found fewer than a fifth of organizations have a dedicated threat hunting team. Most threat hunters are senior-level security professionals with years of operational or threat-related experience—think of them as the Navy Seals of the security team. These folks have unique expertise and capabilities in the hunt for “unknown” threats. While an incident responder goes into action when they are notified of a potential attack, a threat hunter flips that model on its head to proactively looks for trouble and indicators of compromise before an attack occurs. Like the best criminal investigators, a threat hunter must have techniques, tactics and procedures, known as TTPs, on the adversary to start the hunting process.
Additionally, organizations need to support threat hunting with the right tools and data. Rich metadata collected from networks, endpoints and cloud environments allows for cross-session analysis, multifaceted and behavior analysis, and is critical for post-breach investigations of the unknown. The alternatives to metadata are SIEM or log data often not providing the necessary content and context.
When it comes to threat hunting, you have an unknown—an alert, anomaly, some data, or hypothesis. Even with emerging technology, the deception alert requires analysis to find out how and where the attack entered, what TTPs were used, and determine what other systems were impacted.
More Organizations Want to Hunt for Threats But How Do They Get from A to B?
Companies are advised to have mature threat detection and alert triage skills before considering threat hunting. Hypotheses for threat hunting mainly come from the expert intuition of security analysts and include past incident data, threat actor capabilities, red team and threat simulation artifacts, threat intelligence, and anomalies. For example, traffic to dynamic DNS sites indicating exfiltration or command and control, unusual child processes may indicate exploitation, known file names with uncommon paths masquerading as Windows processes, or the presence of RAR files for attack staging.
The most popular tools for threat hunting are endpoint detection and response (EDR) and network traffic analysis (NTA) with automated duties to help gain direct visibility of unknown advanced attacks. Hidden behind these tools is metadata for real-time and retrospective analysis by content and context not possible with NetFlow data, logs and events. While threat hunting is a human hypothesis-driven iterative process, automation can be applied to data collection, investigation and response. Network sensors and endpoints can automatically collect vital metadata, plus trigger automated recordings of forensic evidence. Automation can be applied to investigation steps often performed manually by security analysts. Once a threat is detected, automated response can isolate a system, terminate a process, wipe a file, or create and use restore points.
Outsourcing threat hunting is one option; however, many service vendors lack in-depth knowledge of your environment for applications, systems and networks, putting them at a disadvantage. Given preventive defenses are in order and IT staffing has limits, enterprises should consider outsourcing managed detection and response (MDR) services to augment security operations. Look to MDR providers with a rich toolset and visibility model beyond services built around Netflow data, SIEMs or just endpoints/EDR managed services, along with that Navy Seal-like team who has fought in the cyber trenches.
Tim Roddy is the vice president of cybersecurity product strategy for Fidelis.


This piece is the second in a multi-part series, telling stories about employees of Ada's Cafe -- the 501c3 nonprofit cafe in the Mitchell Park community center, which employs individuals with disabilities. To learn more about Ada's, read the November 2017 PA Online article, or visit www.adascafe.org.
When I first learned of John Collins, I was intrigued. When I first spoke to the man, I was spellbound.
What makes this man, you might ask, so unique? There are many answers to that question – his simple charm, his constantly-churning brain, his humble compassion. Yet for everything which makes Collins distinct, the man’s greatest idiosyncrasy is a sincere and familiar heart.
Collins, 54, has an interesting way of telling stories – one wholly contextualized by memories of the world outside. “Proposition 13 was about to pass,” he says perfunctorily, recalling his 1977 childhood move to Palo Alto. “The six-day war had just finished,” he remembers, of a family vacation to Israel. Defunct airlines are his synaptic filing cabinets, presidential terms his recollective secretaries. Yet for all his outward-facing stories, all his minutiae of memory, Collins centers himself squarely within.
“I like my privacy, keeping things to myself,” he notes, while sipping a Coke. “I’ll share some things with people, but… I mean, I wouldn’t give you my social security number.” This intimate mindset perfuses Collins’ entire life – his relationships, his work, and yes, his finances. When asked where he feels most comfortable, Collins simply chuckles, “My apartment” – referring to his Palo Alto residence, where he has lived on his own since 2003. The man may exude a certain worldliness, but his serenity is found in the inward mind.
Though that mind faces inward, however, it rarely sits idle. Since his youth – when the Collins family bounced quantumly from the East to the West coast – Collins has boasted a joyful and creative wit. “My dad built this TV, a Heathkit, from scratch,” he recalls, describing his inspiration for a lifelong ingenuity. “Then my brother and I made this little Heathkit-junior thing; we built custom HAM radios,” and in the stirring crackles of a child-produced radio set, John Collins declared himself to the world.
This passion for creating – especially electronic devices – was, at the time, only a nescient intuition. But after a half-century of life, Collins’ avocation glows with diverse fervor: the Gunn High School graduate owns three video game consoles, builds model planes in his spare time, and holds a self-endorsed knack for “figuring out cables.” His mind spins swiftly on the wheels of creative disposition, keeping life fresh and full of potential for the Palo Alto resident.
Officially classified as Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), autism encompasses a wide breadth of presentations. The condition is labeled a “communication and behavior disorder,” recognized nationally and internationally through deviance from certain interpersonal norms. Often considered a developmental disorder – because signs of autism usually begin during childhood – its wide-ranging indications carry on through life.
On the one hand, people with autism can experience difficulties in back-and-forth conversation, such as restrictive or repetitive behaviors, and sparse maintenance of eye contact. On the other, these individuals can sometimes excel in math or science, retain detailed facts and recollections, and flourish through creative expression. The extent and combination of these traits, as one might expect, are multitudinous. But in any case, autism has continued to garner worldwide attention in the past decades, as prevalence in the U.S. has climbed steadily since 2000 – from 1 in 150 children then, to 1 in 68 children now.
But for Collins, who claims to be “a little slow at some points, but not that slow,” spectrum of behavior is simply another term for human nature. Collins is different, yes, but much in the same way as all people. His independence, his work ethic, his gentleness, all point towards a humble unity with the world around him. His indiscriminate acceptance of others, evident the moment we met, beams forth with instant familiarity.
When asked to describe himself, then, Collins remains deliberately general: “I’m funny, easygoing, creative,” he says, shrugging his shoulders in humility, “and intelligent.” His modest warmth melts even the coldest of strangers – shaping them, inevitably, into steadfast friends.
The cardinal characteristics which define Collins – gentleness and creativity – find perfect unison today, as he continues his work at Ada’s. In the café, invariably, Collins’ tender introversion turns to friendly and meaningful comradery. Colleagues find him joking, relaxing, and working diligently through seamless interchange.
“Everyone here is easy to talk to,” he says of his coworkers, with a shy yet joyful grin. Indeed, throughout my own conversation with the Ada’s employee, one insight has become abundantly clear: To be with Collins is to feel at home. The man himself might find truest comfort in his apartment, but for those fortunate enough to hold his company, Collins’ humble heart is an open door. As conversation flows, the man may look up, or down, or all over, at the beautiful scenes around him; but inattentive he is not. Collins, always the creator, is simply blending that first defining trait of his – humility – with a wandering love for creation. Spending time with Collins involves no grand declaration, no self-serving delusion on his part. There is only a familiar, unadorned sincerity and wonder.
That, after all, is why I adore John Collins: I have never felt more at home while interviewing another person. A conversation with John entails no fear – none of judgement, nor of selfishness, nor malevolence. Questions are returned with neither stale glances, nor long treatises. They are pondered, if only for a moment, and answered with meekness and honesty. There are no lies with Collins, because the man feels only truth; there is no pretense, because presumptions are pleasantly absent. To know this person is, quite simply, to be intrigued. To know John Collins is to be at home.
What a great article. So happy that John was willing to share a bit about himself in this lovely piece. Look forward to learning more about the many talented and unique individuals that work at Cafe Ada!


Some rare good news as we emerge from an intense and exhausting political season: In 2017, investment in broadband rose by $1.5 billion to $76.3 billion. This reversed a decline of approximately $3.2 billion in 2015-16.
What made the difference? Regulation. Specifically, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) repealed the rules it unwisely imposed in 2015 that treated broadband as a monopoly and restored the rules that had been in place for nearly 20 years beforehand, under which the Internet first grew and flourished thanks to billions of dollars in investment and a bipartisan consensus.
This seems like common sense, but for the past several years, the political and tech communities have been mired in a bitter debate over “net neutrality” that obscures the real facts. Broadband is not a monopoly, and policies from the 1930s are inappropriate for the rapidly converging technologies and platforms of today.
The basic point is simple: Higher investment in broadband correlates both with the certainty of light-touch regulation and — this is the really important part — with the growth of the Internet itself. By starting the process of getting the rules right (and taking a lot of flak in the process), the FCC was able to help attract increased private sector investment to broadband.
In short, what the proponents of the FCC’s new/old rules on broadband said would happen has started to happen.
Some, though, might object that this is basically just a drop in the bucket or a rounding error. That argument is seriously misplaced.
Second, these figures are for all of 2017. During the entire year, the old rules were still in place (they didn’t fully take effect until June 11, 2018). Given the intense debate over this issue last year, some investors were understandably cautious. The stock market also grew robustly last year, so there was competition for investment dollars. That broadband increased at all is a good sign.
Third, even with the new rules (that returned markets to the old rules), significant regulatory underbrush still exists. But the FCC is addressing this, with recent reforms on pole attachment rules and other charges for deployment of broadband. This matters because it’s far better to have investment in broadband actually going to broadband rather than to unnecessary fees and regulatory costs.
Finally, one might also expect a relative slowdown of increase in short-term investment given imminent massive investments in next-generation networks — the hundreds of billions of dollars that will be necessary to deploy 5G broadband that will have exponentially faster speeds and power the Internet of Things. With the first 5G launches coming this year, it’s even more critical to get the policies right that will enable fast and widespread deployment of high-speed broadband.
That’s more likely to the degree that policymakers understand how broadband benefits the economy and, more specifically, that politicians understand how broadband is boosting local economies and bettering their constituents’ lives. No one wants to be the member of Congress who watches as a neighboring district wins a new business in part because of better broadband elsewhere.
Thus, it’s important to get policies in place that will encourage broadband deployment everywhere as fast as possible — and this will be even more vital with 5G. Connected cars, after all, only work if they’re always connected.
With an election recently held and these new data showing how even the promise of restoring light-touch regulation raises investment in broadband, it’s time to move past a tired, binary debate over “net neutrality” and recognize that only very high levels of private sector investment, combined with rules that encourage this investment across multiple platforms, will move us forward into the broadband future.
• Bruce Mehlman is a founding co-chairman of the Internet Innovation Alliance and previously served as assistant secretary of Commerce for technology policy.


He has undergone surgeries on his wrist, elbow and hip, each costing him countless games and untold momentum. So the sport can be as painful as it can be pleasurable, and it can make a 21-year-old feel a great deal older.
The worst injury was fixing a hip ailment in late 2016. His back hurt, his legs, too, all tied to that hip and overcompensating. It was painful getting up in the morning, or climbing out of a car. Normal tasks became a challenge and a chore.
“It was some weird stuff, painful,” Green said. “Here I was 20, 21 years old, and I couldn’t move. I thought, ‘What’s going on?’ There were times I’d text the manager (of the team) and tell him I’d be a complete liability out there today.
Green has looked the part of a healthy prospect at 6-foot-3 and 210 pounds, one eager for his first call-up to the big leagues. He had two home runs in a 10-3 win over Tacoma at Raley Field on Sunday. He’s batting .389 entering Tuesday’s game in Las Vegas.
Green was hitting .500 after four games, then was reminded of the stark reality of the game, striking out three times Monday in an 11-10 win, 10-inning over Tacoma that gave Sacramento a 4-1 record after the season-opening series.
But Green isn’t complaining. Strikeouts are as much a part of this game as home runs.
First-year River Cats manager Dave Brundage has history with Green from their time in the Phillies organization. Brundage and many baseball people understand that, when healthy, Green can boost an offense. He has clubbed 66 home runs and driven in 281 runs in 503 minor-league games.
Green elected for free agency in November and was signed by the Giants in January.
“Zach was a big signing for San Francisco,” Brundage said. “I like how athletic he is, his size, his versatility in being able to play first or third. Now it’s refining things. His bat will do the talking. He has tremendous power.
Green is ecstatic to play at Raley Field, a venue he grew up admiring. He attended River Cats games as a lad, and he played there twice while at Jesuit. His parents, Kim and Jesse, are now regulars at River Cats games, eyes set on No. 12, as are scores of friends and former youth and high school coaches.
Patience is another part of this game, and that’s not always easy for the uber-competitive.
“This game doesn’t owe you anything,” Green said of the baseball business in general. “It’s so hard to break through (to the big leagues). I’ve never been up there. A lot of guys in this clubhouse have been. It’s a big year for a lot of us. We’re all here to show what we can do. It’s important not to lose site of that.


Universal Credit is hardly out of the news. The suffering and anxiety it has caused is immeasurable - so much so that even some Tory MPs have been forced to highlight problems with its implementation.
This month votes take place to decide the PCS Left Unity candidates for the union's 2019 elections.
PCS civil service union Assistant General Secretary (AGS) Chris Baugh, elected three times since 2004, has won at least eight nomination meetings in his campaign to be the Left Unity AGS candidate for a fourth term.
The Socialist Party rejects the view of the new group 'Socialist View', that all that is required for success in 2019 is to do the same as 2018 but be better organised.
The dispute within the left of Britain's largest civil service union raises key issues for the whole labour movement. Above all, the need for democratic, lay-member control of fighting trade unions.
Break the pay cap - the fight continues!
Do you have something to say? Letters to the Socialist's editors. Thatcher's Militant blacklist, capitalism wants slums, World Cup nationalism?
The PCS strike ballot returned a massive majority for action but fell short of the 50% turnout required by the Tory anti-union laws.


Latest plaintiff alleges the actor abused her while she was a theater student in the 1980s.
Another lawsuit has been filed against Twin Cities actor-turned-entrepreneur Jason McLean and the Children's Theatre Company (CTC), alleging sexual abuse of a minor and institutional negligence.
The complaint follows a suit filed Dec. 1 alleging sexual abuse by McLean and CTC co-founder John Clark Donahue, as well as negligence in hiring and supervision by the theater.
McLean, 61, who owns the Loring Pasta Bar and the Varsity Theater in Minneapolis, did not respond to requests for comment.
Last week, his attorney, Jon Hopeman, noted that the state Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) investigated allegations against McLean in 1984 but that no charges resulted, and said his client "intends to defend against this lawsuit with all his might and to clear his name."
The Children's Theatre released a statement Thursday, saying "our guiding principles are to have the truth be known and to see justice done for anyone who may have been the victim of sexual abuse. … We welcome any information that may come forward as a result of this process."
The suits revisit a scandal that engulfed CTC three decades ago, when then-artistic director Donahue pleaded guilty to sexual misconduct with three teenage boys. In October 1984, he was sentenced to a year in jail and 15 years' probation. He served 10 months.
McLean went on leave from the theater while he was being investigated by the BCA. The allegations cited in Wednesday's suit occurred after he returned to work, according to the complaint. It says he and the plaintiff acted together in at least four productions.
The complaint also alleges that McLean abused at least five female students from 1981 to 1985, and "coerced" one of them to lie about the abuse to a grand jury investigating CTC.
St. Paul attorney Jeff Anderson represents the latest plaintiff and two others who filed suit Dec. 1. Laura Stearns Adams, an actor and artisan who now works as wigmaster at the Guthrie Theater, alleges that McLean sexually assaulted her in 1983 when she was 15. And an unnamed John Doe accuses Donahue of "multiple instances" of sexual battery in 1977 when the litigant was 15.
Donahue has not responded to requests for comment.
The suits are being brought under the Minnesota Child Victims Act, which extended the statute of limitations in seeking redress for past crimes. The law expires in May.


The Thomases Family Endowment of the Youngstown Area Jewish Federation has funded the purchase of 4 new 3-D printers from AST2 a local Youngstown startup.
This equipment will help the Oak Hill Collaborative to support its innovative MakerSpace and grassroots neighborhood initiatives on Youngstown's South Side.
Pat Kerrigan, Executive Director of Oak Hill Collaborative, is honored by the award and the partnership with the Thomases Family Endowment and the Jewish Federation.
The Oak Hill Collaborative's mission is "to promote economic development and community revitalization through small business development, neighborhood improvement and beautification, and an innovative Makerspace, that serves the Oak Hill corridor, the South Side, and the City of Youngstown as a whole."
Oak Hill Collaborative's small business incubator has assisted more than 20 small businesses with services including: office space, office equipment and supplies, grant writing, networking, legal assistance, accounting, business planning, marketing and technical assistance.


The photo of Pronger’s wide smile towering over Justin Bieber’s pained look went viral immediately.
In his job as part of the NHL’s player safety department Pronger joked that he fined himself $5 for the hit.
“You don't want anybody to get hurt out there or to do anything too crazy," Pronger told NHL.com afterward.
He later told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch the hit wasn’t as bad as the photo made it out to be.
“I gave him a little back massage with my stick, pinned him up against the boards, rubbed his face in the glass and just gave him a little welcome to the NHL,” Pronger said.
Yes, the tale of the tape decidedly went to Pronger.
Even at 42, Pronger rolls up at 6-6 and 220 pounds.
Approximately 5-9 and 145 pounds.
“A player of his caliber, you've got to take away his time and space,” Pronger told the Post-Dispatch.
Pronger was officially named to the Florida Panthers front office on Thursday morning and will advise general manager Dale Tallon while working with former Florida captain Bryan McCabe.
Former Florida GM Mike Keenan tried to acquire Pronger from St. Louis at the 2005 NHL Draft in Ottawa — the Sidney Crosby draft held at a Westin hotel ballroom — but the Blues sent him to Edmonton instead.
In 2007, Pronger won his only Stanley Cup with the Anaheim Ducks where he was a teammate of retired Florida forward Shawn Thornton.


A Stanford scholar found that talking about social class helped first-generation college students reduce the social-class achievement gap by as much as 63 percent. Using a "difference-education" approach, these students had higher grade-point averages and took better advantage of college resources than peers who didn't participate in the discussion.
Research has shown that first-generation college students – those who do not have a parent with a college degree – often lag behind other students in grades and graduation rates. They also often struggle socially, finding it hard to fit in and sometimes feeling like they don't belong in college.
But the study, "Closing the Social-Class Achievement Gap," offers a new approach to help them advance in college: discuss class differences rather than ignore them.
"The research showed that when incoming first-generation students saw and heard stories from junior and senior students with different social-class backgrounds tell stories about their struggles and successes in college, they gained a framework to understand how their backgrounds shaped their own experiences and how to see this as an asset," said MarYam Hamedani, a co-author on the paper, psychologist and associate director of Stanford's Center for Comparative Studies in Race and Ethnicity.
Continuing-generation students – those with at least one parent with a four-year college degree – don't experience similar gaps in opportunity and achievement. Coming from families with more experience with the world of higher education helps them navigate college and the norms, rules and expectations that are often implicit or unspoken, Hamedani added.
While many colleges and universities have aggressively recruited more first-generation students, she said, the schools have not yet figured out how to get these students through college successfully. This has created "a paradox" that fuels, rather than mitigates, the growing inequality gap in society.
In their study, which took place at a private Midwestern university, the researchers invited first-generation and continuing-generation students at the beginning of the school year to attend a one-hour program designed to help them transition to college. Half of the students attended a "difference-education" program while the other half attended a "standard" program. They were not aware of the separate programs or their content.
In both settings, the freshman students listened to a diverse panel of junior and senior students talk about their transition to college, challenges they faced, and how they found success. In the difference-education program, however, panelists' stories also included a subtle discussion of how their social-class backgrounds mattered in college. The panels included both first-generation and continuing-generation students.
For example, panelists in the difference-education group were asked, "Can you provide an example of an obstacle that you faced when you came to (university name) and how you resolved it?"
One first-generation panelist responded, "Because my parents didn't go to college, they weren't able to provide me the advice I needed. So it was sometimes hard to figure out which classes to take … I learned I needed to rely on my adviser more than other students."
In the standard program, however, the panelists did not reveal their social class. Their stories consisted of a general discussion about college that was not linked to their social-class backgrounds. For instance, one panelist was asked, "What do you do to be successful in your classes?" He answered, "Go to class and pay attention. If you don't understand something or have a hard time with the material, meet with your teaching assistant or professor during office hours."
The researchers wrote, "Using the personal stories of senior college students, a one-hour difference-education intervention at the beginning of college reduced the social-class achievement gap among first-generation and continuing-generation college students by 63 percent at the end of the first year and also improved first-generation students' college transition on numerous psychosocial outcomes (e.g. psychological adjustment and academic and social engagement)."
An added bonus was that both first- and continuing-generation students who participated in the difference-education program gained a deeper understanding of how students' diverse backgrounds and perspectives mattered in college than did their peers in the standard program, according to the study. Continuing-generation students in the difference-education program also experienced a smoother transition to college compared with their peers in the standard program.
"Both first and continuing-generation students experienced a more positive college transition," Hamedani said. "They were less stressed, felt like they fit in socially, and were more connected to their families, friends and school."
Hamedani said the traditional approach in higher education is to help first-generation students with "bridge" programs that teach academic tips, tools and strategies, such as how to choose a major or study for exams. While providing academic resources can help, they are not sufficient – students also need psychological resources to support them on their path to success.
"In American society," she said, "we try not to talk about our class differences. We found, however, that college students can learn a lot about themselves and one another when they do so. Engaging students about differences, when done in the right way, can be extremely beneficial and empowering."
Hamedani noted, "Higher education institutions have a responsibility to support and prepare students for success in our increasingly diverse and multicultural society."
Co-authors on the research paper included management professor Nicole Stephens and psychology professor Mesmin Destin, both from Northwestern University.
For more Stanford experts on higher education and other topics, visit Stanford Experts.


A hit British play touring the world will make its only Canadian stop at London’s Grand Theatre.
Barber Shop Chronicles from the National Theatre in Great Britain’s will be on the Grand’s Spriet Stage next season running from Nov. 15-24.
It’s one of the highlights of the Grand’s 2018-2019 season announced Thursday that includes a couple of blockbuster musicals – Cabaret and Mamma Mia! – a return of Vigilante, the hit rock musical about the Donnelly family massacre in Lucan in 1880 which sold out in 2017, and The Wars, adapted by Grand artistic director Dennis Garnhum from the award winning Canadian book by the late Timothy Findley to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the end of the First World War.
We live at a time when our freedom is so cherished because of the men and women who served in those wars and protected it for us.
It’s an ambitious season, featuring 12 plays – eight on the main Spriet Stage and four on the smaller McManus Stage in the basement – and involving 130 artists including actors and musicians.
“Diversity,” said Garnhum when asked for words to describe the season.
Garnhum said bringing Barber Shop Chronicles to London is one of the biggest coups of his career.
Another highlight of the season is the staging of Margaret Atwood’s The Penelopiad to be directed by Canadian acting star, Megan Follows, of Anne Of Green Gables fame.
“It’s a very contemporary, Greek spectacle,” said Garnhum, who approached Follows, who has acted in the play, to direct.
Mamma Mia! the musical based on the music of the Swedish pop group, ABBA, will be a co-production with the Charlottetown Festival that will run at the Grand April 23-May 11 before returning to Prince Edward Island for the summer.
Garnhum also is excited about staging The Wars, which he adapted from Findley’s book.
“It’s going to be a very Canadian moment,” Garnhum said.