Do you love yourself a little Too Easy fix it and forget it meal that you can sling in your slow cooker / crockpt, or shove on the stove top and do nothing else to?? Perhaps you have a hungry surfer boy or six in the house that you need to feed?
Well let me tell you, if there is one thing I can write about on this here blog, it?s throwing things in your slow cooker and coming out the other side looking very very good.
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This recipe has been with us for ages now ? it came about though through being faced with leftovers from a roast, a sad and lonely sausage, a few past their best carrots fading fast and more cans of pulses that one woman in an old cottage somewhere in a cottage Down Under could ever want or indeed, need.
I decided that the only thing for it was a dump & go in the old crock pot and hope for the best.
I have spent a lot of time learning this craft of slow cooking?from the early days when I pulled out that little lonesome crock pot from the back of the cupboard when Beach Cottage Baby number 3 was a few months old and we could not face another plate of pasta and found many a recipe calling for a can of mushroom soup, to nowadays where I have up my sleeve a plethora of things that I have dabbled and fiddled with until I have got it right.
I was, recently, on a cookery book reading marathon, there may or may not have been a bathtub and white subway wall tile involved.? While reading I was aghast to read one of the writers abhorring the use of one of these gadgets in his kitchen.? Dude?? Hello?!
Clearly, clearly, clearly, he had never sat on a tiled kitchen floor in the middle of an English village, about the month of August with a huge 10lb third baby and a husband out for 14 hours a day in floods of head-banging tears.? Clearly not.
But I dear Beach Cottage girls have and it is with this insight that I present you with another Too Easy Surfer Boy recipe.
Make this for the males in your house, or indeed when the girls want to snuggle up on the sofa with comfort food and watch Meryl Streep movies and all will be so very good in the world.
?
?
2 x cans chickpeas
1 x can tomatoes
2 cups cooked chicken
2 x tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 to 2 cups chicken stock/broth
1 x large chorizo sausage
2 medium onions
2 carrots
handful fresh garden herbs
3 cloves garlic
salt & pepper
cheese
bread
(serves 4-6)
1. add all to your crock pot / slow cooker
2. cook on high 4 ? 5 hours
3. serve topped with cheese & crusty bread
**Beach Cottage Recipe Notes
*adjust the chicken stock to your needs (ie how much time it will be cooking for) and your slow cooker hence why I have put 1-2 cups ? my new slow cooker cooks hotter than my old one and I find I am adding more liquid, best always to start with less then you can add more, but if it looks too liquidy (pls no grammar/spelling emails) just move the lid ajar and let some evaporate off?? *any vinegar will do but balsamic is good *you might want to lose a clove of garlic? *I often, especially if I feel like annoying my kiddos, add a teaspoon of dried chilli? *any old veggie sitting in the bottom of the fridge can go in here? * on the stove top / hob this works after an hour or so, which plausibly means that it can be hurried together when you get in, left while you do all the Arsenic Hour stuff and come back to it ready to go, but really a couple of hours is best *by large chorizo sausage I mean one that is about 6 inches long, let?s not get rude here *garden herbs to me mean anything that is thriving under the Aussie sun, here I threw in Oregano, Italian parsley, Thyme and a sniffle of Basil? *I mostly make this on Tuesdays with the leftovers and the bones from Sunday?s roast chicken, I throw the bones in a pot for the stock and use the chicken for the stew
There is not fancy schmancy here, the recipes I throw in my crock in the middle of the day when all in the world is good, will not, I don?t believe, win me any awards, indeed will not catapult me to the dizzy heights of tv reality fame on Masterchef or the like.
But, they will do many a thing.
They will mean my family think I am an awesome cook, which I am by far not, they will also think I slave over them, which I so do not (which in turn allows me some pretty good cards to present when needing to blackmail anyone for anything) and more importantly, in one big old fell swoop the recipes I pop in that little beauty, time and again, week in, week out, mean that all is done when we walk in the door from sport and that there is no clear up save throwing one big ole pot from one side of the kitchen counter to the dishwasher on the other.
Does a double whammy like that float my little Beach Cottage boat?
Oh yes, I do think so.
See you soon lovelies, I am back from a long walk by the sea with Barls, it?s pretty warm here today, there was talk of a swim too?
While brand managers and brand marketers don't necessarily need to dress like Abraham?Lincoln?- although the stovepipe hat may come back in fashion at some point?-?they would be wise to adhere to one of his most famous sayings: "Honesty is the best policy." (NOTE: I realize this saying has been attributed to Benjamin Franklin but I grew up believing it was Honest Abe so please don't spoil it for me.)
The context I bring this up comes in the form of online reviews and the writing thereof and the honesty, or lack thereof, within.
Online reviews, in case you didn't know, carry with them a lot of weight, influential weight I might add.
According to the Small?Business?Search Marketing Survey by?American Express?OPEN, U.S. small businesses can still count on word-of-mouth as a top way for shoppers to find them. Close behind, however, is the Internet. Local consumers now heavily rely on search engine power when shopping locally.
Earlier this year,?Milo, an online product locator, put together a very telling infographic re: the power of online reviews. (click?here?to see larger version of the infographic)
While word of mouth remains the most popular form of review (82%), over two-thirds (66%) of consumers look to the Internet for research and reviews
85% of consumers used the Internet at least once in the past year to find a local businesss
Over three-quarters (76%) of consumers say they either occasionally or regularly use online reviews to determine which business/brand to use
Over half (58%) of consumers trust a business that has a positive review
I Get By With A Little?Yelp?From My Friends
With more than 30 million (and growing) online reviews, Yelp is one of the more popular review sites. So one would imagine any?business?or brand would love to have positive reviews of their company on Yelp.
Ah but it's not that easy grasshopper. Alas there are some unscrupulous people in the world who try to circumvent the rules and create fictitious positive reviews with the intent of impressing the masses.
So Yelp did its best Redford & Newman impression and ran a sting to try and catch the alleged perpetrators.
From a recent?New York Times?article:
"A pest control company offered $5 to anyone who would post a review that the business itself had written. The moving company was willing to pay $50 but wanted original copy. An appliance repair shop provided a start: ?I really appreciate that the service tech was on time, the problem was solved, everything was cleaned up and he was very professional. Please add 50 or more words,? the shop suggested. It would pay $30.
The highest payment was offered by a jewelry store in?San Diego, which said it was forced to solicit reviews after others got away with doing it. ?We have noticed that some of our larger, corporate run competitors have been unfairly trying to get reviews written for them on Yelp, which puts us at a disadvantage,? wrote Bert Levi of Levi Family Jewelers. He said he would pay $200 for a review of a new custom-designed ring."
Here is the actual letter the Levi Family Jewelers dispatched to wannabe reviewers:
As a result of being ensnared in the sting, the following warning now appears on the Levi Family Jewelers review page and will remain for the next three months:
You'll notice the word "here" in blue in the last sentence, that is a link to the aforementioned letter Bert Levi sent out to prospective reviewers. In other words, Yelp is not playing around kids. They are dead serious and they will shame any and all brands in a public square (aka the Internet) as a punishment for trying to "game the system" as?Eric Singley, Yelp's?vice president for consumer products and mobile puts it.
Singley also said?that the group of businesses being outed now ?is just a sample? of businesses that are soliciting reviews. In other words, this is the proverbial tip of a huge iceberg.
A Diabolical Twist
Myle Ott, a doctoral candidate in computer science at Cornell who has researched the rates of deception across various review communities, including Yelp, told the?New York?Times that public notices were a warning that businesses might well heed.
?My intuition is that public shaming would increase the risk and therefore the cost of posting fake reviews, which could reduce the prevalence,? he said.
But he also had what he called a 'more sinister' thought:
?What?s to stop someone from going and soliciting fake positive reviews for a competitor?s restaurant, in order for them to be publicly shamed??
Wow. Now that would be diabolical to the nth degree to knowingly take the time to seek out fake positive reviews of a competitor's business then turn around and report them to Yelp or whatever review site in question. all for the sake of publicly humiliating them?
Yeah, that would be evil with a capital E.
Sources:?New York Times,?Search Engine Land,?Milo
Named one of the?Top 100 Influencers In Social Media?(#41) by Social Technology Review and a?Top 50 Social Media Blogger?by Kred,?Steve Olenski?is a?senior content strategist at?Responsys,?a leading global provider of on-demand email and cross-channel marketing solutions.?
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Steve Olenski
@steveolenski has worked on everything from a Super Bowl TV spot to a mom & pop radio spot & all points in between. He doesn't drink. He doesn't smoke. He doesn't use foul lang... well he doesn't drink or smoke... He is a naturally curious and opinionated person who's had to fight his way (sometimes literally) for everything he's achieved professionally. And if it were not for his Rock (AKA ...
Updated at 12:42 a.m. ET: BEIJING ? Released this past summer, Korean pop star Psy's "Gangnam Style" quickly became a global phenomenon. Within months, the infectious song has been watched over 530 million times and recently earned the distinction of being the most ?liked? video in YouTube history according to the Guinness Book of World Records.
It seems that everyone has tried to get in on the Gangnam rage, including Google's executive chairman Eric Schmidt, our very own TODAY team, and just this week, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon.?
Ai Weiwei, China?s dissident artist who was detained last year for nearly three months, on Wednesday became the latest to jump on the Gangnam bandwagon, uploading his own version of ?Gangnam Style? on YouTube. The video, which shows Ai dancing in handcuffs, is entitled "Grass Mud Horse Style." ?
"Grass Mud Horse," a homonym of a Chinese phrase that suggests a very lewd act with one?s mother, is popular among anti-censorship activists in China.
PSY, the South Korean pop singer whose "Gangnam Style" viral video sensation made him an international star, returns to his home country, where crowds are going wild. NBC's Ian Williams reports.
Ai told journalists that the idea to cover the dance craze came from one of the many donors who helped him out last year when Ai was ordered to pay back taxes that the government claimed that he owed. Donations to help pay Ai?s government fine flooded in online and supporters even visited his studio home in Beijing to toss money over the wall to him.
YouTube is banned in China and the video has not appeared on Chinese video sites.
The artist's tongue-in-cheek and at times hilarious -- at one point Ai can be seen swinging a pair of handcuffs around his head -- anti-censorship send-up may have been received with silence by Chinese state press, but it has been picked up by the New York Times,?the Washington Post?and?NPR.
Grass Mud Horse The Grass Mud Horse, which has its origins in a 2009 collection of hoax entries in a popular Chinese web-based encyclopedia called Baidu Baike, became a popular and irreverent way to poke fun at the heavy-handed censorship of China?s ruling Communist Party.
Special coverage of China: Behind the Wall on NBCNews.com
The fabled Grass Mud Horse soon found itself the inspiration of a slew of cute online animations, stories and web board chatter.? Stuffed animal versions of the alpaca-like animal were soon available online for sale and can still be seen periodically in shops and cafes across China.
Government censors though were left in the uncomfortable position of having to decide whether to let this pun-based challenge to their power go unchecked or to be seen?censoring a fuzzy cartoon character.
Complete Asia-Pacific coverage on NBCNews.com
In addition to Grass Mud Horse, the term ?River Crab? also became a popular way for internet users in China to challenge censors as it is a homonym for ?harmonious.? The principle of a ?Harmonious Society??has been a signature principle of current Chinese President, Hu Jintao?s ideology.
In China, then, when content runs afoul of censors, users often say it has been ?harmonized.? The term river crab became another way to jokingly get around online censorship in China.
Microsoft's big coming out day for Windows 8 is finally upon us. In celebration, Redmond's throwing a launch party for its newest OS update on New York City's Pier 57. You may not be able to join in on the fun in person, but we've got this handy stream beyond the break should you wish to play along virtually, and it's starting any minute.
Update: Some folks are having issues with the primary stream, and if you're one of those folks, you may wanna redirect your browser here for an alternative feed.
Update 2: The stream is back, this time with a focus on the Surface RT. Follow along below!
The EU is celebrating the 20th anniversary of the single market this week, in part to point out that despite the economic crisis wracking Europe, the union has brought positive changes too.
By Peter Teffer,?Contributor / October 15, 2012
A statue of a globe painted with the EU flag and a peace dove stands in the garden of a church near the EU Council in Brussels, on Oct. 12. The European Union won the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday for its efforts to promote peace and democracy in Europe, despite being in the midst of its biggest crisis since the bloc was created in the 1950s.
Geert Vanden Wijngaert/AP
Enlarge
News reports about the European Union nowadays do not give much reason for celebration. Greece is on the brink of economic collapse, other European countries are also in severe economic troubles, and shrinking solidarity is going hand-in-hand with reviving stereotypes. Yes, the European Union won the Nobel Peace Prize last week, but this news was quickly met with cynical comments.
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Nevertheless, the EU today kicked off a week of celebrations, commemorating the 20th anniversary of the single market, which allows Europeans and their goods to move around all 27 member states without borders or barriers. The Single Market Week encompasses events all around Europe, with various ?opportunities to discuss the main achievements of the Single Market.? Some of these include ?cheaper calls abroad,? ?safer toys,? and ?more rights for travelers,? according to documents handed out to attendees of the launch event of the Single Market Week at the European Parliament in Brussels.
The celebration comes at a time when citizens' trust in the European Union is at an all-time low, according to the most recent survey by Eurobarometer. Only 31 percent of EU citizens say they trust the European Union (mind you: they trust their national governments even less). Also, 28 percent have a flat-out negative view of the EU ? almost double the figure of six years ago.
According to some of the speakers today, the European Union doesn't always receive the credit it deserves. ?Citizens don't attribute their cheaper mobile phone bills to the single market,? said Malcolm Harbour, a member of the European Parliament for the British Conservative party, during a meeting with journalists. ?Sometimes we forget how much has been achieved. The free movement of people, students studying abroad ? citizens take that for granted.?
Mr. Harbour has a point. I arrived here in Brussels yesterday from the Netherlands, without realizing that my train didn't have to stop at the border. The only reason I brought my passport was to show it at the security check of the European Parliament. And it is not just free movement of journalists and other Europeans. If I want, I can buy as many Belgian waffles as I want without having to declare them at the border.
As European Commissioner Michel Barnier said: ?Our lives have been made easier.? But as with most advancements, we quickly take them for granted. So how to make the people more aware of these things? Mr. Barnier's answer was simple: ?We have to talk about it.? And that's what EU representatives will be doing this week.
Everyone likes a good deal ? and that?s what the Affordable Care Act is offering Minnesota. More than 140,000 Minnesotans can gain access to affordable and comprehensive health insurance ? if the 2013 Legislature does the right thing.
Here?s the deal. The Affordable Care Act?allows states to cover more people under Medicaid by expanding eligibility to nearly all non-elderly Minnesotans with incomes up to 138 percent of the federal poverty line (that?s $20,879 for a couple). In Minnesota, that would allow more than 140,000 people to access health insurance coverage that helps them lead healthy lives ? with the federal government picking up most of the cost.
Minnesota has a lot to gain from going forward with Medicaid expansion.
Minnesota will save money. The federal government will cover 100 percent of the cost for newly eligible participants for the first three years, saving the state an estimated?$1.0 billion from 2011 to 2015. Bringing?additional federal?dollars into Minnesota allows the state to focus its resources on other important needs.
While we pride ourselves on being ranked as one of the healthiest states in the nation, Minnesota also has some of the largest gaps in health outcomes between whites and communities of color. The inability to get affordable health insurance is a significant contributor to these health disparities. Roughly one out of every three Hispanic Minnesotans?and one out of four American Indians in Minnesota lack health insurance coverage. Expanding Medicaid?will significantly improve these communities? access to affordable coverage, contributing to better health outcomes for a growing proportion of our state?s population and improving the overall health of the state.
Everyone can benefit from increasing access to affordable health insurance for these Minnesotans. Many doctors and hospitals give care regardless of a patient?s ability to pay. Those unpaid?medical bills are often shifted into higher costs for?people with insurance. Allowing more low-income individuals to have health coverage through Medicaid will ensure that medical providers get paid for their services, keeping down costs for everyone.
Our new issue brief, Covering More Minnesotans through Medicaid Will Improve Health Outcomes?and Reduce State Costs, looks into the details of how we can help families, reduce costs in the health care system and save the state money.
With so much on the line, this should be an easy decision for Minnesota.
This post was written by Caitlin Biegler and originally published on Minnesota Budget Bites.
If you blog and would like your work considered for Minnesota Blog Cabin, please submit our registration form.?
The construction site is about to get a shade greener thanks to the introduction of a digger with hydraulic hybrid technology that can cut fuel use by up to 25 percent.
The digger is an upgrade to Caterpillar?s workhorse 336E, an excavator found filling dump trucks at construction sites all over the world.
The new 336E H uses a patented hydraulic hybrid system that stores and reuses energy over and over as the arm swings up and down during operation, such as digging a cellar for a new skyscraper and dumping dirt in the back of a truck.
The arm captures and stores swing-brake energy in accumulators and releases the energy during acceleration, Caterpillar explains in a news release.?
The technology makes for about a 25 percent less fuel consumption compared to the non-hybrid model. Payback for the added cost, Caterpillar noted, could come within a year assuming today?s fuel prices and heavy use.
Hybrid technology has been used in diggers since at least 2008, when Komatsu introduced its first hybrid excavator model. The company also has an electric-hybrid forklift.?
The addition of more players to the field is welcome news to both an industry that is heavily impacted by fuel costs and a planet facing continued disruption to its climate from increased greenhouse gas emissions.
The operation of excavators, graders, backhoes and other heavy machinery in the construction industry accounts for about 0.35 percent of total greenhouse gas emissions, according to Komatsu.?
The construction industry emitted 66.4 million metric tons of carbon dioxide in 2011, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. That figure is expected to dip slightly in 2012 and then rebound to 90 million metric tons by the end of this decade at stay in that elevated range through 2035.?
The dip is likely attributed to a slowdown in the global economy. In earnings released on Monday, Caterpillar slashed its 2012 forecast and warned the global economy was slowing faster than it expected.
A slowing economy means fewer construction projects and thus lower greenhouse gas emissions from the industry, regardless of how fuel-efficient their diggers are.
Caterpillar said it expects the global economy to turn around in the second half of 2013, just in time for the first shipments of the 336E H. If the economy grows as anticipated, more fuel efficient diggers can help curb the pace of rising greenhouse gas emissions.
?? via Earth Techling?
John Roach is a contributing writer for NBC News Digital. To learn more about him, check out his website. For more of our Future of Technology series, watch the featured video below.
There's no shortage of cloud storage sites and apps, but it looks like Sony might be trying to get a little more involved in ethereal storage. According to this European trademark filing spotted by Juggly, Sony Mobile has staked a claim to MyXperia, outlining that the service (or mobile app) involves itself in the "upload, storage, retrieval, download, transmission and delivery of digital content and media." In short, the kind of stuff you already do with your cloud service of choice. While Sony has no shortage of cloud-based services, MyXperia.com currently sends you to a bare-bones login page, underneath the Sony Mobile umbrella -- it looks like we'll have to wait for some account credentials before we get to take a look.
Biologists record increasing amounts of plastic litter in the Arctic deep seaPublic release date: 23-Oct-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Sina Lschke medien@awi.de 49-047-148-312-008 Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres
Studies confirm that twice as much marine debris is lying on the seabed today compared to 10 years ago
Biologists record increasing amounts of plastic litter in the Arctic deep sea: studies confirm that twice as much marine debris is lying on the seabed today compared to ten years ago
Bremerhaven, 22nd October 2012. The seabed in the Arctic deep sea is increasingly strewn with litter and plastic waste. As reported in the advance online publication of the scientific journal Marine Pollution Bulletin by Dr. Melanie Bergmann, biologist and deep-sea expert at the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research in the Helmholtz Association. The quantities of waste observed at the AWI deep-sea observatory HAUSGARTEN are even higher than those found in a deep-sea canyon near the Portuguese capital Lisbon.
For this study Dr. Melanie Bergmann examined some 2100 seafloor photographs taken near HAUSGARTEN, the deep-sea observatory of the Alfred Wegener Institute in the eastern Fram Strait. This is the sea route between Greenland and the Norwegian island Spitsbergen. "The study was prompted by a gut feeling. When looking through our images I got the impression that plastic bags and other litter on the seafloor were seen more frequently in photos from 2011 than in those dating back to earlier years. For this reason I decided to go systematically through all photos from 2002, 2004, 2007, 2008 and 2011," Melanie Bergmann explains.
The deep-sea scientists from the HGF-MPG Group for Deep-Sea Ecology and Technology of the Alfred Wegener Institute regularly deploy their towed camera system OFOS (Ocean Floor Observation System) during Polarstern expeditions to the HAUSGARTEN. At the central HAUSGARTEN station it is towed at a water depth of 2500 metres, 1.5 metres above the seabed, and takes a photograph every 30 seconds. Deep-sea biologists principally use these photographs to document changes in biodiversity with respect to larger inhabitants such as sea cucumbers, sea lilies, sponges, fish and shrimps. However, for Melanie Bergmann they also provided evidence of increasing deep-sea pollution: "Waste can be seen in around one percent of the images from 2002, primarily plastic. In the images from 2011 we made the same discovery on around two percent of the footage. The quantity of waste on the seabed has therefore doubled", the scientist says. If we consider the time span between 2007 and 2011 the amount has even risen by an order of magnitude.
At first sight, the "two percent" result may not cause much concern. However a comparison demonstrates the true extent of the pollution in the Arctic deep sea: "The Arctic Ocean and especially its deep-sea areas have long been considered to be the most remote and secluded regions of our planet. Unfortunately, our results refute this notion at least for our observatory. The quantities observed were higher than those recorded from a deep-sea canyon not far from the industrialised Portuguese capital Lisbon," Melanie Bergmann explains. It is also important to bear in mind that, according to recent research, more plastic waste will accumulate in deep-sea canyons than in open slope environments such as HAUSGARTEN.
Melanie Bergmann is unable to determine the origin of litter from photographs alone. However she suspects that the shrinking and thinning of the Arctic sea ice may play an important role. "The Arctic sea ice cover normally acts as a natural barrier, preventing wind blowing waste from land out onto the sea, and blocking the path of most ships. Ship traffic has increased enormously since the ice cover has been continuously shrinking and getting thinner. We are now seeing three times the number of private yachts and up to 36 times more fishing vessels in the waters surrounding Spitsbergen compared to pre-2007 times," Melanie Bergmann says. Furthermore, litter counts made during annual clean-ups of the beaches of Spitsbergen have shown that the litter washed up there originates primarily from fisheries.
The main victims of the increasing contamination of the seafloor are the deep-sea inhabitants. "Almost 70 percent of the plastic litter that we recorded had come into some kind of contact with deep-sea organisms. For example we found plastic bags entangled in sponges, sea anemones settling on pieces of plastic or rope, cardboard and a beer bottle colonised by sea lilies," Melanie Bergmann says.
When sponges or other suspension feeders come into contact with plastic, this may cause injuries to the surface of their body. The consequence: the inhabitants of the sea bed are able to absorb fewer food particles, grow more slowly as a result, and probably reproduce less often. Breathing could also be impaired. Furthermore, plastic always contains chemical additives, which have various toxic effects. "Other studies have also revealed that plastic bags that sink to the seafloor can alter the gas exchange processes in this area. The sediment below then becomes a low oxygen zone, in which only few organisms survive," Melanie Bergmann says. On the other hand, other animals use the waste as hard substratum to settle on. "This allows colonisation by species that previously would have found hardly any suitable substratum. This means that the waste could change the deep-sea composition of species and therefore biodiversity in the long-term," the researcher adds.
In view of the far-reaching climate changes in the Arctic, Melanie Bergmann and colleagues want to expand their research projects on "litter in the sea": "Until now our results from the Fram Strait merely constitute a snapshot, reflecting the observations that we were able to make with the naked eye," the scientist explains. For example, the focus is currently moving to the question of deep-sea pollution resulting from so-called micro-plastic particles. "We took samples for the first time during the last expedition with our research ice breaker POLARSTERN to the HAUSGARTEN observatory. Our AWI colleagues from Helgoland will analyse them for micro-plastics," says Melanie Bergmann. Micro-plastics can be ingested by marine animals including commercially harvested prawns and fish and enter the human food chain.
During this expedition Belgian mammal and bird observers also counted 32 pieces of litter floating at the water surface. The probability of researchers finding more litter on the deep ocean floor is therefore great. Melanie Bergmann: "Pieces of plastic on the deep seafloor are unlikely to degrade into micro-plastics as quickly as is the case on the North Sea coast, for example. This is due to the lack both of sunlight at a depth below 200 metres and of strong water movement. Instead it is dark and cold there. Under these conditions plastic waste can probably persist for centuries."
###
Glossary:
HAUSGARTEN: HAUSGARTEN is the deep-sea observatory of the Alfred Wegener Institute in the eastern Fram Strait. It consists of 16 stations covering water depths of between 1000 and 5500 metres. Since 1999 samples were taken annually at these stations every year during the summer months. The year-round deployment of moorings and free-falling systems that act as observation platforms on the sea bed enables seasonal measurements. A remotely controlled underwater vehicle (Remotely Operated Vehicle, ROV) takes targeted samples, positions and services automatic measuring instruments and conducts experiments in situ on a regular basis. HAUSGARTEN is one of the key regions in the European Network of Excellence ESONET (European Seas Observatory Network) and is a member of the German Long Term Ecological Research Network (LTER-D).
Microplastic particles: microplastic particles denote microscopically small plastic particles that are created when plastic waste breaks down into ever smaller fragments during the course of chemical and physical aging processes. Due to their size, microplastics pose a risk of being eaten by small shrimps, fish larvae and other organisms at the bottom of the food chain. For example microplastics have already been found in the stomachs of commercially fished Norwegian lobster. In addition to the pure physical damage, the absorption and concentration of pollutants from the microplastic particles is to be anticipated. No studies have so far looked into the effect of this on the individual organism and on other components of the food chain, however negative consequences are to be feared.
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Biologists record increasing amounts of plastic litter in the Arctic deep seaPublic release date: 23-Oct-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Sina Lschke medien@awi.de 49-047-148-312-008 Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres
Studies confirm that twice as much marine debris is lying on the seabed today compared to 10 years ago
Biologists record increasing amounts of plastic litter in the Arctic deep sea: studies confirm that twice as much marine debris is lying on the seabed today compared to ten years ago
Bremerhaven, 22nd October 2012. The seabed in the Arctic deep sea is increasingly strewn with litter and plastic waste. As reported in the advance online publication of the scientific journal Marine Pollution Bulletin by Dr. Melanie Bergmann, biologist and deep-sea expert at the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research in the Helmholtz Association. The quantities of waste observed at the AWI deep-sea observatory HAUSGARTEN are even higher than those found in a deep-sea canyon near the Portuguese capital Lisbon.
For this study Dr. Melanie Bergmann examined some 2100 seafloor photographs taken near HAUSGARTEN, the deep-sea observatory of the Alfred Wegener Institute in the eastern Fram Strait. This is the sea route between Greenland and the Norwegian island Spitsbergen. "The study was prompted by a gut feeling. When looking through our images I got the impression that plastic bags and other litter on the seafloor were seen more frequently in photos from 2011 than in those dating back to earlier years. For this reason I decided to go systematically through all photos from 2002, 2004, 2007, 2008 and 2011," Melanie Bergmann explains.
The deep-sea scientists from the HGF-MPG Group for Deep-Sea Ecology and Technology of the Alfred Wegener Institute regularly deploy their towed camera system OFOS (Ocean Floor Observation System) during Polarstern expeditions to the HAUSGARTEN. At the central HAUSGARTEN station it is towed at a water depth of 2500 metres, 1.5 metres above the seabed, and takes a photograph every 30 seconds. Deep-sea biologists principally use these photographs to document changes in biodiversity with respect to larger inhabitants such as sea cucumbers, sea lilies, sponges, fish and shrimps. However, for Melanie Bergmann they also provided evidence of increasing deep-sea pollution: "Waste can be seen in around one percent of the images from 2002, primarily plastic. In the images from 2011 we made the same discovery on around two percent of the footage. The quantity of waste on the seabed has therefore doubled", the scientist says. If we consider the time span between 2007 and 2011 the amount has even risen by an order of magnitude.
At first sight, the "two percent" result may not cause much concern. However a comparison demonstrates the true extent of the pollution in the Arctic deep sea: "The Arctic Ocean and especially its deep-sea areas have long been considered to be the most remote and secluded regions of our planet. Unfortunately, our results refute this notion at least for our observatory. The quantities observed were higher than those recorded from a deep-sea canyon not far from the industrialised Portuguese capital Lisbon," Melanie Bergmann explains. It is also important to bear in mind that, according to recent research, more plastic waste will accumulate in deep-sea canyons than in open slope environments such as HAUSGARTEN.
Melanie Bergmann is unable to determine the origin of litter from photographs alone. However she suspects that the shrinking and thinning of the Arctic sea ice may play an important role. "The Arctic sea ice cover normally acts as a natural barrier, preventing wind blowing waste from land out onto the sea, and blocking the path of most ships. Ship traffic has increased enormously since the ice cover has been continuously shrinking and getting thinner. We are now seeing three times the number of private yachts and up to 36 times more fishing vessels in the waters surrounding Spitsbergen compared to pre-2007 times," Melanie Bergmann says. Furthermore, litter counts made during annual clean-ups of the beaches of Spitsbergen have shown that the litter washed up there originates primarily from fisheries.
The main victims of the increasing contamination of the seafloor are the deep-sea inhabitants. "Almost 70 percent of the plastic litter that we recorded had come into some kind of contact with deep-sea organisms. For example we found plastic bags entangled in sponges, sea anemones settling on pieces of plastic or rope, cardboard and a beer bottle colonised by sea lilies," Melanie Bergmann says.
When sponges or other suspension feeders come into contact with plastic, this may cause injuries to the surface of their body. The consequence: the inhabitants of the sea bed are able to absorb fewer food particles, grow more slowly as a result, and probably reproduce less often. Breathing could also be impaired. Furthermore, plastic always contains chemical additives, which have various toxic effects. "Other studies have also revealed that plastic bags that sink to the seafloor can alter the gas exchange processes in this area. The sediment below then becomes a low oxygen zone, in which only few organisms survive," Melanie Bergmann says. On the other hand, other animals use the waste as hard substratum to settle on. "This allows colonisation by species that previously would have found hardly any suitable substratum. This means that the waste could change the deep-sea composition of species and therefore biodiversity in the long-term," the researcher adds.
In view of the far-reaching climate changes in the Arctic, Melanie Bergmann and colleagues want to expand their research projects on "litter in the sea": "Until now our results from the Fram Strait merely constitute a snapshot, reflecting the observations that we were able to make with the naked eye," the scientist explains. For example, the focus is currently moving to the question of deep-sea pollution resulting from so-called micro-plastic particles. "We took samples for the first time during the last expedition with our research ice breaker POLARSTERN to the HAUSGARTEN observatory. Our AWI colleagues from Helgoland will analyse them for micro-plastics," says Melanie Bergmann. Micro-plastics can be ingested by marine animals including commercially harvested prawns and fish and enter the human food chain.
During this expedition Belgian mammal and bird observers also counted 32 pieces of litter floating at the water surface. The probability of researchers finding more litter on the deep ocean floor is therefore great. Melanie Bergmann: "Pieces of plastic on the deep seafloor are unlikely to degrade into micro-plastics as quickly as is the case on the North Sea coast, for example. This is due to the lack both of sunlight at a depth below 200 metres and of strong water movement. Instead it is dark and cold there. Under these conditions plastic waste can probably persist for centuries."
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Glossary:
HAUSGARTEN: HAUSGARTEN is the deep-sea observatory of the Alfred Wegener Institute in the eastern Fram Strait. It consists of 16 stations covering water depths of between 1000 and 5500 metres. Since 1999 samples were taken annually at these stations every year during the summer months. The year-round deployment of moorings and free-falling systems that act as observation platforms on the sea bed enables seasonal measurements. A remotely controlled underwater vehicle (Remotely Operated Vehicle, ROV) takes targeted samples, positions and services automatic measuring instruments and conducts experiments in situ on a regular basis. HAUSGARTEN is one of the key regions in the European Network of Excellence ESONET (European Seas Observatory Network) and is a member of the German Long Term Ecological Research Network (LTER-D).
Microplastic particles: microplastic particles denote microscopically small plastic particles that are created when plastic waste breaks down into ever smaller fragments during the course of chemical and physical aging processes. Due to their size, microplastics pose a risk of being eaten by small shrimps, fish larvae and other organisms at the bottom of the food chain. For example microplastics have already been found in the stomachs of commercially fished Norwegian lobster. In addition to the pure physical damage, the absorption and concentration of pollutants from the microplastic particles is to be anticipated. No studies have so far looked into the effect of this on the individual organism and on other components of the food chain, however negative consequences are to be feared.
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'We actually had been trying to get together for a while,' Cassie tells MTV News about long-in-the-works collabo. By James Montgomery, with reporting by Chris Kim
The iPad mini was announced today as expected, and it is a super impressive piece of hardware, judging by my brief hands-on experience. The smaller iPad retains much of the charm of its larger sibling, thanks to design decisions that make the most out of a much smaller physical footprint, and you'll be amazed at how light and easy to hold it is.
For many years, the EU has pressed for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Indeed, European officials have said such an accord is a key strategic objective.?Here is a thought from one who spends time in European capitals, shares the goal of an enduring two-state deal, and values Europe?s potential role.
It is not enough to think about how to get from here to the day of an agreement. More focus must be given in Europe to ?day after? scenarios, especially regarding Israel?s security. Otherwise, potential progress only becomes more difficult.
In any conceivable deal, Israel would be asked to yield territory, making the small nation still harder to find on a world map. That creates additional risks. There are no two ways about it.
Israel is in a part of the world where violence remains endemic, regimes are fragile, and political Islam is ascending.
But sometimes I get the impression in Europe that invocations about Israel?s security are little more than rhetorical flourishes, part of the expected language when discussing the region, but not always thought through sufficiently.
In a telling display of cognitive dissonance, there can be anguished expressions of horror about what is taking place in Syria, but little thought given to the fact that Syria actually shares a border with Israel. Now imagine for a moment if Assad?s targets were Jews, not Arabs!
Meanwhile, Hezbollah controls Lebanon, a second neighbor of Israel, while maintaining a separate militia and arsenal. It is active in Syria and remains a client of Iran. Yet, Europe, undermining the credibility of its own voice, is still incapable of declaring Hezbollah what it has been from the start ? a terrorist group. That it may (or may not) also help ?widows and orphans,? or be a ?legitimate? political party, is quite irrelevant, given its genocidal world view and documented record of terror.
Hamas is entrenched in Gaza, a third neighbor of Israel, and, like Hezbollah, aspires to a world without Israel.
The picture is quite bleak wherever one looks, all the more so with the looming threat of a nuclear Iran.
Yet it is precisely into this vortex that the EU would wish to press Israel, as the ?stronger? party, to make one more, and then one more, ?gesture? for a two-state peace deal with the Palestinians.
The EU needs to obsess less about the next Israeli concessions, and devote more thought to what security for Israel would mean in a post-deal environment. No, under no imaginable circumstance would any Israeli government subcontract its national security to the EU, but that does not mean there is no role.
?The EU needs to obsess less about Israeli concessions.? EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton and Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman (photo credit: Gaby Farkas)
It does suggest, though, less lip service to, or solemn pledges about, Israel?s security, which might ring a bit hollow in Israeli ears.
After all, the European record on this score is spotty.
To be sure, certain countries have been extremely helpful at key moments, but not always and not all countries.
France was critical to Israel?s national defense until 1967, at which time Paris imposed a crippling arms embargo at a crucial moment in Israel?s life.
When the US decided to provide vital equipment to Israel during the protracted 1973 Yom Kippur War, no European country gave American transport planes permission to land and refuel, until the US managed to use one of the Azores Islands.
In 1991, when Saddam Hussein?s Scud missiles were landing in Israel, only two European countries offered direct assistance ? Germany and the Netherlands.
The experience of EU monitors at the Rafah border crossing in Gaza was not an encouraging one, however well-intentioned.
And the participation of European forces in UNIFIL in Lebanon is admirable, but has not resulted in any containment of Hezbollah, which today boasts a missile and drone arsenal reportedly capable of reaching all of Israel.
For its own stature in urging the peace process forward, Europe needs to do a better job of showing Israel, the party that will take the most tangible risks for a deal, that it truly understands the dangers.
It should also remember that if the Jewish people can at times be skeptical about promises, it may be because history casts a long shadow and memories of the consequences of abandonment are still fresh.
And, importantly, the EU should draw on its own remarkable experience in ending the prospect of war among member states. Notwithstanding the obvious differences between Europe and the Middle East, steps can be taken by the EU to help create a new security environment by focusing, among other things, on integrated development.
If Europe wants to help move Israelis and Palestinians to the ?day of,? then thinking more systematically about the ?day after? might well accelerate the process.
The opinions and facts here are presented solely by the author, and The Times of Israel assumes no responsibility for them. In case of abuse, click here to report this post.
Rich Dad?s Advisors: The Advanced Guide to Real Estate Investing: How to Identify the Hottest Markets and Secure the Best Deals
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If you?re interested in real estate investing, you may have noticed notice the lack of coverage it gets in mainstream financial media, while stocks, bonds, and mutual funds are consistently touted as the safest and most profitable ways to invest. According to real estate guru Ken McElroy, that?s because financial publications, tv and radio programs make the bulk of their money from advertising paid for by the very companies who provide such mainstream financial services. On the other hand, real estate investment is something you can do on your own?without a large amount of money up front! Picking up where left off in the bestselling The ABC?s of Real Estate Investing, McElroy reveals the next essential lessons and information that no serious investor can afford to miss. Building on the foundation of real estate investment 101, McElroy tells readers:
How to think?and operate?like a real estate mogul
?The Top Ten Real Estate Markets to Watch?
How to identify and close expert deals
Why multifamily housing is the best real estate investment out there
How to surround yourself with a team that will help maximize your money
How to avoid paying thousands in taxes by structuring property sales wisely
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I didn?t want to go to church this morning. ?I had a nagging feeling that I should not go. Like the feeling you have before something really bad happens. ?A premonition.
I got there, and something happened that was yucky. Something that ticked me off. ?I had no way of expressing this to anyone, so I kept my mouth shut. ?It had nothing to do with the content of today?s sermon, which I could barely think about, anyway.
There was a meeting afterward. I stayed for it, then I went home after quite a bit of socializing. ?I felt like a fake. ?I didn?t say anything in the meeting. ?While walking home, I felt like crying, but I didn?t. ?I don?t want to go back next week. ?Just don?t want to be there anymore. ?Never mind why.
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My name is Julie Greene. I am the author of the memoir, This Hunger Is Secret, My Journeys Through Mental Illness and Wellness. The book is out in paperback from Chipmunkapublishing and will be available from Amazon and other booksellers, and from me, signed, at readings. I have written two memoirs, two novels, and one collection of my own works. I earned my BFA from Emerson College in Writing, Literature, and Publishing in 2003 and my MFA in Creative Writing in 2009 from Goddard College. I am an an activist for people with eating disorders, and have had 32 years experience living with an eating disorder and other mental diseases. I believe that people with eating disorders are a neglected population faced with ignorance and discrimination by those in the medical and mental health field. Billions of dollars in research is being poured into "brain" illnesses--schizophrenia, bipolar, major depression--while eating disorders such as anorexia nervosa remain the most potentially fatal of all mental illnesses. As an activist, I believe eating disorders care should be accessible to all. This means that eating disorders practitioners and care centers need to STOP their discrimination NOW against people who are not female. This means they need to start accepting people who are on public assistance or are uninsured and start offering free care to many, and assistance to homeless people. This means they need to open their doors to people at any age, no matter how long they have suffered. This means care centers and practitioners' offices need to be fully ADA compliant. I intend to pursue the need for more research of populations considered minority, especially men and boys of all ages. I believe there need to be more treatment options for sufferers and their families. Right now, there are pathetically few choices as far as I can see, and most see the "team" approach as the only option, which is not even an option for someone who is impoverished, and sadly, hungry. I also believe that we, people with eating disorders, need to bring out our story, in detail and without censoring one word, to the world, and speak out on what it is like to struggle every day with eating and related issues. So much of our lives have been lived in secret and in silence. Our voices need to be heard. I hope to encourage and help people to write their stories. You start by writing the first word. I am available to do readings in the Boston area and to speak about eating disorders and mental illness. Please contact me at julie@juliegreene.net.
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What I love about today is it signals a brand new week and a clean slate! I love this day when we celebrate DIY. Thanks so much for being here today!
It?s been an awesome week at DIY Show Off! Here?s a quick round up. You don?t want to miss these:
For a limited time, DIY Show Off is curating a collection at Joss & Main! It?s such a fun dream-come-true event. You?ll find items that are in my home, similar to the accents in my home, things I love.
Did you have the opportunity to check out the awesome giveaway Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday? Nearly $5000 in prizes for each giveaway from our favorite DIY and decorating brands:
and I share a little more about when and how I started to blog in my BlogLight feature this week?
How was your week? Let?s see what you?ve been up to! Share your DIY!
"Oh, this is so good," said Greg Stroupe of Cottage Grove. He had just tried JoAnne Penny's sweet and sour sauce at the Isthmus Food & Wine Festival. Then Penny offered him a recipe for pork with her S.E. Asian Spicy sauce or her cherry ginger variety.
"I love cooking, and I love eating," said Penny, who drove from Door County to Madison on Friday morning. Some of the ingredients she uses come from her business Penny Lane Farm, and the cherries in the sauce are from Door County.
Penny Lane Farm is one of 80 vendors at the first Isthmus Food & Wine Festival, which opened Friday and concludes Saturday at the Alliant Energy Center Exhibition Hall.
The scene on Friday night was a feast for more than just the taste buds. Presenters shared recipes and cooking tips and guests took turns spinning a Ho-Chunk wheel for prizes. But local and artisanal food took center stage with strong representation from cheese, spirits, and charcuterie.
Like most food events in the Dairy State, the festival featured many cheeses. Noble View Creamery attracted a little extra attention with two skillets of sizzling cheese cubes.
"It gives a little table presence," said Jay Noble, a sixth-generation dairy farmer and first-generation cheese maker. "[The cheese] doesn?t melt, it just gets soft and a little squeaky."
Noble started making cheese in 2010 to stabilize the market for his milk, which he said experiences high highs and low lows. He will soon be adding 250 cows to his current herd of 300 in Union Grove, south of Milwaukee. "[Business is] picking up nice," said Noble, and is now "at the point where we can expand."
Although "wine" is in the title of the festival, several vendors featured beers and cocktails. Luctor International, a distributor based in Milwaukee, served a PB&J cocktail with grape juice and peanut butter and jelly flavored vodka from the Netherlands. It's only missing the bread, said Scott Hallatt, a sales representative.
The selection from Luctor International included flavored vodkas, aged Abuelo rums from Panama, and an unusual whiskey from Canada. Tap 357 produces whiskeys aged for three, five, and seven years, blended with Canadian maple syrup. "You could pour that on your pancakes," said Hallatt.
On the other side of the exhibition hall, Madison-based Quince & Apple offered tastes of a tart cherry grenadine and rhubarb hops to spruce up gin and tonics or other cocktails.
The variety of charcuterie on hand proves the popularity of the artisanal food and drink trend. Osteria Papavero, Bolzano Artisan Meats, Black Earth Meats, and Underground Meats featured locally butchered and cured (or uncured) salamis.
Alessandro Monachello stood behind a pile of salame, coppa, lonzino, pancetta, head cheese, and pork liver pate from Osteria Papavero. He noted that Papavero prepares its meats ?from the beginning, to the plate," that is, from the butchering of a whole pig to the serving platter.
"Now it's very trendy and so many other people started to do charcuterie in Madison," added Monachello, a native of Sicily who's been in Madison almost seven years.
Underground Meats, a part of the Underground Food Collective, featured the best batch of its Tuscan salami, the favorite of manager Jerry Traczyk. After fiddling with the casing and the balance of red wine, garlic, fennel, salt, and pepper, they finally got it just right.
"We're not messing with it anymore," said Underground Meats' Ben Jackson, "this is the best batch we've made yet."
Across the hall, Fifth Season Cooperative shared information about the network of farmers, businesses, consumers sharing local food in southern Wisconsin. And Community Action Coalition collected donations in exchange for souvenir photos. Its booth offered accessories for attendees to dress up and have their photos taken; donations go to the food and gardens division of Community Action Coalition.
Chris Brockel, food and gardens division manager at the Coalition, noticed an increase in participants as the night wore on. "It started off slow, but now, after a few drinks..." he said.
Most likely those eating at the festival enjoyed their dishes out of a traditional order. The Willy Street Co-op booth stood near the entrance, showcasing desserts: Smores cupcakes and French-style pastries with almond filling.
Indulgence Chocolatier shared broken bits of milk and dark chocolate, some with spices from Penzey's. The cherry almond bar from this Waukesha company also uses Door County cherries.
A few booths away, Loren Leoni and Bianca Singer dished up some of the 450 mini-cupcakes they brought from Gigi's Cupcakes at Hilldale. Flavors ranged from raspberry lemonade and strawberry champagne to a chocolate "Midnight Magic" flavor.
"It's not bad to try one of each," said Leoni.
The fest continues Saturday, October 20, from 2-6 p.m., with samples, cooking demonstrations, and more.
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Public release date: 23-Oct-2012
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