If you?re looking for a cozy yet hip locale to grab some food and drink with your main squeeze, Molly?s in Soulard, St. Louis is pretty great. It?s both a bar and?restaurant (aka the ?bistro?)?within 2 separate buildings and also includes an outdoor patio area. My husband and I took the opportunity, while visiting St. Louis, to leave the kids with Nana and enjoy a night out. Molly?s in Soulard features a creole style menu inspired by?Louisiana, but not quite as overly spicy?as true Cajun food (that makes me happy!).
Mollys in Soulard Saint Louis
I loved the decor. The walls are a rich, dark red paint and the furniture is an antique black with a tin ceiling in the bistro ? gorgeous! There are accents of handmade class and days gone by throughout the place. Red velvet booth benches, period style posters and images, old brick with hints of signage from previous venues still painted right on the brick along with various chalkboards and pretty handwriting add a touch of style. Even the lighting is gorgeous.
Molly?s also regularly hosts a variety of live entertainment ? you can check out the schedule on their event calendar.
Molly?s front entrance
Molly?s restaurant bar
The food was delicious. Not your typical steak and potatoes or burgers, yet they do have both. We tried some new flavors and some classics we both really love?
Appetizer ? Shrimp and fried green tomatoes
French onion soup
Jambalaya
Eggplant?parmesan
?
I enjoyed the entire meal.?I enjoyed the appetizer the most. It was full of yummy unexpected flavors and seemed to be cooked just perfectly. There was a creole type sauce combined with a smoked BBQ flavor along with perfectly cooked shrimp and really big fried green tomatoes. It was so good!?I started my meal with a ceasar salad while my husband had the soup. The french onion soup was rich and thick and delightful. It?s one of his favs and he thoroughly enjoyed it with the real french bread cut nice and thick and the cheese perfectly melted on top.
For our main courses, I had the eggplant parmesan and hubs had the jambalaya. While the eggplant?parmesan?was beautiful to look at and I loved the addition of cherry tomatoes in this classic dish, there?was a bit too much of it? so much cheese and sauce the eggplant was lost.?My husband really liked the jambalya. It was full of flavor, the rice was cooked perfectly and there was a nice array and quantity of meat with onions and a variety of peppers.?I don?t do spicy much, so just tasted a bite of crawfish ? yum! The servings aren?t too big, but big enough that we were stuffed before we even got to dessert. However, dessert is my fav, so we had to stay and try a bit. Although I loved the sauce, the beignets were on the tough chewy side? not the ?New Orleans? doughnut I had expected although I don?t think I?ve had a beignet before, so I had nothing to compare to. It was all tasty enough that not only would I go back, I?d try these same dishes again.
Bananas foster and beignets
The Soulard neighborhood is pretty neat. It?s an older part of town, the streets are lined with old French style row houses that have been converted into townhomes and apartments. Over the past 10 years the area has slowly grown into a hip little community for the young professionals. You?ll find a variety of small restaurants and hangouts near Molly?s including the 1860 Game Room, right across the street.
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Molly?s in Soulard website
We asked our server if there was a ?Molly? representing the namesake of the restaurant, and he said? nope. The place was named after the original owner?s dog. Way to go Molly!
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Tagged as: date night, dinner, restaurants, st. louis
In analyzing the last EIA report of the year it is noteworthy that gasoline stocks really rose the last 5 weeks of the year. The takeaway isn`t so much that gasoline inventories rose 23 million barrels the last 5 weeks of the year, wow that is some build in inventories, but the fact that Oil inventories barely budged at all during the process. Seasonal issues regarding tax selling in order to move as much oil through the system to avoid higher tax liabilities is primarily responsible for the higher run rates of refineries, and thus the build in gasoline inventories, but that should result in large drawdowns of oil as there is a push and pull between products and the base commodity oil. Yet we end the year slightly above the 370 million barrel mark in US oil inventories. This is actually very bearish for oil because with these gasoline builds refineries are not going to want to keep adding more gas to storage as part of the reason refiners have done so much better with their margins is by keeping low inventory levels in the products so you have what appears to be a tight market. Well, we no longer have a tight market in gasoline, so no need to draw as much crude to produce the end product. We should start to experience some rather substantial builds over the next couple of months in crude oil as refiners request less base commodity, and lower their run rates. The Rise in Domestic Production This occurrence really points to the rise in US domestic production as imports were fairly light during the last two months of the year, and we normally have substantial drawdowns with refinery run rates in the 90s, so something definitely worth paying attention to going forward into 2013. Another point on imports and domestic production is that there is a very noticeable trend on the charts; imports have trended down after July, which is what one would expect after the summer driving season is coming to an end, but domestic production starts accelerating at a sharp right angle from July towards year-end. So these are domestic projects that are strongly trending regardless of summer driving season demand, and unlike imports that are managed according to seasonal demand dynamics, i.e., ?Saudi Arabia pumps more or less depending upon the season, the domestic projects are just going full bore and on a production path to increase performance each and every month if possible. This is something new to the market because we no longer have managed supply, just as Iraq is maximizing production right now because they need the revenue, well these domestic projects are just revenue based machines, and not being managed based upon supply and demand of the end market.? I will provide two charts to illustrate this interesting phenomenon.
The Demand Picture
Another point to be made is what is happening with gasoline demand, down in the wholesale sector 2.8 percent year-on-year. With GDP being better than expected, and most believing that the economy is stronger than it was last year, this could be related to better fuel efficient vehicles on average in the US consumer fleet as the car sales were pretty good the last two years, and maybe higher prices changing driving behaviors on a more permanent basis.?
The demand chart for 2012 can be explained by the run-up and actual summer driving season, with the inevitable falloff towards the end of the year. However, many analysts have forecast that the US being a mature country is going to trend down on a longer term basis from a demand standpoint, with most of the growth coming from emerging markets, but the year over year comparison is something worth paying attention to for 2013.
?If we have a repeat deceleration in demand at the end of 2013 year comparisons then further analysis will be needed to identify potential additional reasons for slowing demand in an economy that is seemingly strengthening with a stronger housing and employment market.? Fundamentals versus Price It would be great if Wall Street actually invested and traded based upon the fundamentals, but the oil markets have long since diverged from trading upon the fundamentals, especially in the short term, and are more ripe with ?managing? price swings either through sophisticated algorithms, and ?creative? fund flows than any notion of the fundamentals. To put it non-euphemistically, basically the oil market has been rigged for years, like most markets to some extent, and is about as corrupt as it comes. All any bystander has to do is pull up a price ladder of bids and asks, known as a trading Dom, and watch all the large fake orders and other assorted order flow shenanigans used to manipulate price up and down the chart each day. However, over the long term, the markets cannot stray too far from the fundamentals, for eventually the fundamentals take precedent over the trading shenanigans, especially if there is a definable, sustained trend in the fundamentals, and it appears that we are entering a new age where the world is going to have a five year period of abundant supply. A New Era: Growing Economy with Lower Energy Prices In fact, more supply than demand, even with a robust economy, because part of the reason the world economy will be doing so well is all the global enterprises out there producing oil. It?s a good business with very high margins when compared to many other industries with the past decade of higher prices. Consequently, even if the US economy really takes off in 2013 as some have forecasted, don`t look for demand to overtake supply in the equation. The domestic oil renaissance means that we could have a booming economy, and still have more supply than we can use each day. Thus it is actually possible to have an era with a great economy, and even lower oil prices due to the domestic oil boom.? Further Reading -?Cushing 50 Million, Boom & Bust Cycles, US Debt & Recession ? EconMatters All Rights Reserved | Facebook | Twitter | Post Alert | Kindle
The gunman who shot three officers after a "violent struggle" at a New Jersey police station early Friday is dead, officials said.
The suspected shooter had been brought into Gloucester Township Police station?for a domestic incident when he got into a confrontation with officers, reported?NBC's Philadelphia affiliate, NBC 10.
"A violent struggle occurred while the suspect was being processed," Deputy Chief David Harkins said. The man was able to grab a gun and then opened fire.
One of the injured officers was rushed to surgery after being shot below his bulletproof vest, and the other two were hospitalized with minor injuries.
The shooter was killed by police during the confrontation, according to Chief W. Harry Earle.?The investigation was ongoing.?
Gloucester is located in central New Jersey, about 15 miles outside Philadelphia.
Please check back for more as this story develops.
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A statue by Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan shows Adolf Hitler praying on his knees in Warsaw, Poland, on Friday Dec. 28, 2012. The work, ?HIM? has been drawing visitors since it was installed last month and even some anger. One Jewish group, the Simon Wiesenthal Center, this week condemned the work?s placement in the former ghetto as ?a senseless provocation which insults the memory of the Nazis' Jewish victims.?. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski)
A statue by Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan shows Adolf Hitler praying on his knees in Warsaw, Poland, on Friday Dec. 28, 2012. The work, ?HIM? has been drawing visitors since it was installed last month and even some anger. One Jewish group, the Simon Wiesenthal Center, this week condemned the work?s placement in the former ghetto as ?a senseless provocation which insults the memory of the Nazis' Jewish victims.?. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski)
A statue by Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan of Adolf Hitler praying on his knees in Warsaw, Poland, on Friday Dec. 28, 2012. The work, ?HIM? has been drawing visitors since it was installed last month and even some anger. One Jewish group, the Simon Wiesenthal Center, this week condemned the work?s placement in the former ghetto as ?a senseless provocation which insults the memory of the Nazis' Jewish victims.?. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski)
A statue by Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan of Adolf Hitler praying on his knees in Warsaw, Poland, on Friday Dec. 28, 2012. The work, ?HIM? has been drawing visitors since it was installed last month and even some anger. One Jewish group, the Simon Wiesenthal Center, this week condemned the work?s placement in the former ghetto as ?a senseless provocation which insults the memory of the Nazis' Jewish victims.?. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski)
WARSAW, Poland (AP) ? A statue of Adolf Hitler praying on his knees is on display in the former Warsaw Ghetto, the place where so many Jews were killed or sent to their deaths by Hitler's regime, and it is provoking mixed reactions.
The work, "HIM" by Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan, has drawn many visitors since it was installed last month. It is visible only from a distance, and the artist doesn't make explicit what Hitler is praying for, but the broader point, organizers say, is to make people reflect on the nature of evil.
In any case, some are angered by the statue's presence in such a sensitive site.
One Jewish advocacy group, the Simon Wiesenthal Center, this week called the statue's placement "a senseless provocation which insults the memory of the Nazis' Jewish victims."
"As far as the Jews were concerned, Hitler's only 'prayer' was that they be wiped off the face of the earth," the group's Israel director, Efraim Zuroff, said in a statement.
However, many others are praising the artwork, saying it has a strong emotional impact. And organizers defend putting it on display in the former ghetto.
Fabio Cavallucci, director of the Center for Contemporary Art, which oversaw the installation, said, "There is no intention from the side of the artist or the center to insult Jewish memory."
"It's an artwork that tries to speak about the situation of hidden evil everywhere," he said.
The Warsaw ghetto was an area of the city which the Nazis sealed off after they invaded Poland. They forced Jews to live in cramped, inhuman conditions there as they awaited deportation to death camps. Many died from hunger or disease or were shot by the Germans before they could be transported to the camps.
The Hitler installation is just one object in a retrospective of Cattelan's work titled "Amen," a show that explores life, death, good and evil. The other works are on display at the center itself, which is housed in the Ujazdowski Castle.
The Hitler representation is visible from a hole in a wooden gate across town on Prozna Street. Viewers only see the back of the small figure praying in a courtyard. Because of its small size, it appears to be a harmless schoolboy.
"Every criminal was once a tender, innocent and defenseless child," the center said in a commentary on the work.
Poland's chief rabbi, Michael Schudrich, said he was consulted on the installation's placement ahead of time and did not oppose it because he saw value in the artist's attempt to try to raise moral questions by provoking viewers.
He said he was reassured by curators who told him there was no intention of rehabilitating Hitler but rather of showing that evil can present itself in the guise of a "sweet praying child."
"I felt there could be educational value to it," said Schudrich, who also wrote an introduction to the exhibition's catalogue in which he says art can "force us to face the evil of the world."
On Friday, a stream of people walked by to view the work, and many praised it.
"It had a big emotional impact on me. It's provocative, but it's not offensive," said Zofia Jablonska, a 30-year-old lawyer. "Having him pray in the place where he would kill people ? this was the best place to put it."
Cattelan caused controversy in Warsaw in 2000 when another gallery showed his work "La Nona Ora" ? or "The Ninth Hour" ? which depicts the late Pope John Paul II being crushed by a meteorite. That offended many in Poland, which is both deeply Catholic and was John Paul's homeland.
The greatest way to help you develop personally is to educate yourself on the subject. There is a vast amount of information available on this subject, so it is in your best interests to take the knowledge you learn here and apply it towards being the best person you can possibly be.
Keep your focus on your inner self instead of your physical appearance. You don?t need to wear the newest fashions or be the hottest. However, the personality you cultivate will be the one thing you are ultimately judged on. Work on improving yourself as a whole person rather than superficial changes.
Leadership is the cornerstone of self improvement. Leadership can be defined in many ways, but most people like to define it as ?influence.? Examine how far you have grown as a leader. Which past events have had major, formative effects on your life? How did these people and events change you as a person? What are the things about you that make you a great fit for a team? Ask yourself these questions in order to see how you will be as a member of a team.
Stress and happiness do not go together. When the human mind is preoccupied with a state of stress, damage can be caused to both physical and mental aspects of the body. If we want to think clearly and strive for our goals with neat, calm purpose, we must eliminate the stress in our minds. Set a time each day to relax, to clear your mind, and be alone. Having this time every day can make you more peaceful and happy with yourself.
Try to read encouraging books. Everyone?s idea of a positive piece of writing is different. It may be a religious bible, or alternatively a book of inspirational quotes. By keeping something around that you can refer to for encouragement, you will be better able to handle all that life throws at you.
When you start your self improvement journey, always remember to focus on the fact that you are worthy of nothing less than the very best in life. Know that you owe it to yourself to do your best. Ultimately, you can be confident that you worked as hard as possible to achieve your goals.
Live according to your principles. Everyone has a set of beliefs that is integral to their identity. If you stay on top of your morals you will have a boost in self esteem and you will have a good base to defend them. Best of all, following your beliefs encourages consistency, and this is a much desired character trait.
Do away with unneeded aggravation in your life. To avoid stress, try to remain calm when something unexpected happens. Accept that there will be setbacks on the way to your goals, and focus on finding solutions to these problems rather than giving up.
Wherever you happen to be, when a great idea strikes your brain, write it down. Take notebook or journal with you, or even make notes on your cellular phone pad. If an idea grabs you while you are on the subway, write it down, then do something about it when inspiration strikes.
Overreacting to a situation will cause you unnecessary stress. Think about the situation, and try to find constructive ways to deal with it. You can usually fix any mistake, or find a way to work around it. Prioritize your achievements over your failures.
Not only is getting organized an achievement in itself, but it will help you to meet other goals faster. Take your major goals, and break them down into small, manageable components. You can then achieve each of these minor goals more quickly. A daily planner, online organizational software, or written journal can all provide great methods for tracking self improvement goals.
Each day should be an opportunity to top the previous day?s accomplishments. Strive for constant and unceasing improvement. In whatever you do, try to do it better than you ever have before.
Maximize your time for personal development to help you get more done. The simple trick is to take more breaks when you work. This may seem like it is counterproductive, but if you take a break you will reduce the amount of stress you have and get more done.
If you see yourself failing to reach goals, then you need to analyze the situation to figure out what the problem is. Find out how others have succeeded at the same thing. It is possible that you may be setting unrealistic expectations, missing an important element, or not devoting enough time or resources to your efforts.
The introduction makes it clear that you need to get educated in order to really develop yourself. You must also be able to apply that knowledge. There are many ways to begin personal growth. Once you start using these tips, you?ll start to feel better about yourself.
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ALMA CENTER, Wis. -- A Wisconsin couple says fire clucks, not fire trucks, helped them escape a blaze at their home.
Alma Center Fire Chief Jeff Gaede (GAY'-dee) says the couple's pet chicken woke them at about 6:15 a.m. Thursday. He says the smoke alarms didn't go off when the fire started in the attic of their attached garage.
He says the chicken and a cat also escaped, but another cat died.
Gaede says he's heard of dogs and cats alerting people to fires but he was amazed to hear about the chicken.
The fire destroyed the house. The cause is still being investigated.
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#1 ? kzimmer001?
Group:Members
Joined:01-August 08
Posted Yesterday, 12:30 PM
Despite the loss to Missouri, I like the direction of the program. I love the attacking style and I love watching them play. I even loved watching the Missouri game, despite living in St. Louis and dealing with a-hole Missouri fans. The upside and potential are there. Keep improving, build a little better depth, and I am still optimistic. For this season.
First ratings as of Dec 26:
#8 RPI
#23 in Sagarin
#34 in kenpom?
I know ratings don't mean much in late December, but at least teams have played enough games to evaluate them. This proves, at the very least, with steady improvement, Illinois is a tournament team and maybe a lot better.
Second, shout out to alioneye:
Christmas wishes
I especially liked this one:
Quote
Sam McLaurin ? 15,000 Thank-You Cards
We had around 15,000 at our last home game ? I should have put a thank-you card under every seat. Just let everyone write Sam a little note saying ?dude, if you hadn?t transferred here, this team would be in such huge trouble heading into Big Ten play?. Maybe something a little more eloquent than that.
But seriously, think about this roster without McLaurin. Mike Shaw isn?t there yet (I still hold out hope he will be by his junior year). Ibby Djimde just can?t find the rotation. So without McLaurin, we were in huge trouble in the frontcourt. I don?t think it?s stretching things at all to say that if McLaurin stayed at Coastal Carolina, we?d have three, maybe four losses at this point. He?s done so many of the little things. A glue guy, if you will.
A nice break out game for Egwu, now we keep going. In short, looking forward, I think depth (or lack of it) is the reason Illinois lost to Missouri. Anyone who says Illinois got out-hustled or whatever is full of crap or at least I would say it was not lack of effort. There were a lot of tired legs at the end of that game, otherwise a few of those threes go down and a few of those 50-50 balls go our way. Without specifically addressing Henry and Langford, I think that's what Groce has to be thinking as "improving every day", etc. If either or both of these guys can play 10+ solid minutes, provide some defense and/or scoring and/or rebounding, this team is in good shape for February and March.
0
#2 ? illiniphil85?
Group:Members
Joined:20-February 09
Posted Yesterday, 01:15 PM
Massey 19
Roundtable projecting 10-8 conference (T-5th). 7th seed in the dance. Projecting Bubbs working his NIT magic once again.
I saw the numbers someplace on our last 5. It weren't pretty. Toughness is keeping us afloat some right now. We need to start making shots again.
0
#3 ? FearlessFreep?
Group:Members
Joined:16-September 12
Posted Yesterday, 06:39 PM
I 2nd the motion that we start making shots again. I enjoyed that relaxed feeling of us coasting to a win.
As for our tourney prospects this year, we have a combined 7 games against Northwestern, Nebraska, Purdue and Penn St. (only get them once). Northwestern and Penn St. both have key injuries, Nebraska and Purdue just aren't very good. If we can take care of these games and win 4 out of the other 11 we'd be 23-9 heading into the BTT. Let's assume we split a pair there and finish 24-10, which would be a lock.
Barring a complete collapse like last year, it's hard to imagine that we won't be in the tourney.
MOSCOW (Reuters) - President Vladimir Putin supported a ban on Americans adopting Russian children on Thursday in a feud over a U.S. human rights law which he said was poisoning relations.
Putin, 60, struck a hawkish tone in his first annual news conference since he began a new six-year term in May but denied that tough measures against his opponents since his return to the Kremlin meant he was an authoritarian leader.
He used the marathon live broadcast to dismiss speculation about his health, underline the strength of the economy and portray himself as the guarantor of stability in a country that was under Soviet communist rule two decades ago.
"This is by no means the least successful period in Russia's history," he said, adding: "Because I love Russia."
"Without irony, I look forward to any future president being more successful."
Sitting behind a large desk in front of 1,200 journalists in a Moscow conference centre, Putin remained calm, rarely smiled and was still going after three hours. But he became particularly animated when asked about the spat with Washington.
He described as "unfriendly" the legislation signed by President Barack Obama last week that will punish Russians accused of violating human rights by refusing them visas and freezing their assets in the United States.
"This, of course, poisons our relationship," he said of the measures, drawn up because of concern over the death in a Russian prison of anti-corruption lawyer Sergei Magnitsky in 2009.
The dispute threatens efforts by Putin and Obama to improve ties between the former Cold War enemies following their presidential election victories this year.
But Putin signaled that he would sign into law a tit-for-tat move proposed by Russia's lower house of parliament to prevent Americans adopting Russian children as well as barring entry to U.S. citizens accused of abusing Russians' rights.
"It is an emotional response by the State Duma but it is an appropriate response," he said of the parliamentary measure.
The Kremlin says Obama is likely to visit Russia in the first half of 2013 but Western diplomats say the U.S. president will agree to a summit only if he feels progress can be made.
Asked about the conflict in Syria, another irritant in relations with Western powers which have backed President Bashar al-Assad's enemies, Putin said Moscow's main concern was the fate of the country and not that of its long-time ally Assad.
He said Moscow wanted to ensure that any solution to the conflict in Syria must prevent the opposition and government forces just swapping roles and continuing to fight indefinitely:
"We are not concerned about the fate of Assad's regime. We understand what is going on there," Putin said. "We are worried about a different thing - what next."
PUTIN DENIES HEALTH CONCERNS
During his first spell as president from 2000 until 2008, Putin began a tradition of giving long annual news conferences to show his grasp of policy detail. The last one, in 2008, ran for four hours and 40 minutes.
He appeared intent on Thursday on showing he is strong and healthy and has a firm grip despite the biggest protests against him since he began his 13-year domination of Russia, the world's largest energy exporter.
The Kremlin has dismissed suggestions that Putin has serious health problems since he was seen limping at a September summit and Russian government sources told Reuters he was suffering from back trouble.
"This is only beneficial for political opponents who are trying to question the legitimacy and the effectiveness of the authorities," Putin said. "I can give the traditional answer to the health question: there's no point in waiting."
Critics, including in the United States and Europe, accuse him of trying to smother dissent by pushing through laws that they say can be used to stifle opponents.
But Putin said: "I cannot call it authoritarian, I cannot agree ... I think that order, discipline and following the rule of law do not contradict democracy."
Addressing questions after question, Putin showed he still has a command over detail. But opponents dismissed his remarks on democracy and suggested he was out of touch.
"'Because I love Russia.' But if you respect it too, why do you treat it like cattle?" tweeted broadcaster and commentator Yevgenia Albats.
Another Twitter user, who identified himself as Sergei Neptun, wrote: "Mr President, how much longer do we have to put up with this lawlessness in the country?"
ECONOMY IN GOOD SHAPE
Putin began the news conference by reeling off economic data for the world's ninth-largest economy, forecasting that it would grow by 3.7 percent this year.
"This is a good result overall," he said, suggesting that Russia's economy was performing well, particularly if it was compared with the euro zone and the United States.
Putin said recession in the euro zone had acted as a drag on Russian growth and that a poor harvest had hit the economy in the third and fourth quarters, lifting inflation over 6 percent.
He expressed concern over a slowdown in industrial output growth. But he highlighted Russia's low unemployment rate of 5.3-5.4 percent, which he described as "good - one of the best in all the developed economies of the world".
(Additional reporting by Thomas Grove, Gabriela Baczynska and Nastassia Astrasheuskaya; Writing by Timothy Heritage; Editing by Douglas Busvine and Alastair Macdoonald)
Credibility. It's a precious commodity in the car business, something that's hard fought, easily lost and takes years to rebuild. And General Motors has just earned back a little bit more of its historic standing.
In sort of an early Christmas present to the U.S. government, GM said today it will buy back 200 million shares of its common stock for $5.5 billion, or $27.50 a share. Moreover, the Treasury will completely sell off its stake in GM in 12 to 15 months, spelling an end to any notion of Government Motors.
If perception is reality, then not having Uncle Sam's perceived influence hovering over the nation's largest automaker is the definition of a credibility boost.
From a financial standpoint, this is not a good deal. GM actually paid more than its own stock was worth on Tuesday before the agreement was announced, tacking on a 7.9-percent premium over the previous closing price. The stock remains well below its $33 price during the 2010 initial public offering, and it was trading around $27 a share on Dec. 19.
Regardless, GM should consider the arrangement a gift, since even with the slight sweetening, taxpayers will never recover their full investment in the automaker. The government sank $49.5 billion into GM to prevent the company from collapse and then rebound from its historic 2009 bankruptcy -- a monumental event that transformed the industry yet was more traumatic than perhaps anyone could have known at the time.
The scars remain, but a stronger company has emerged. And the feds have recovered $28.6 billion of their investment in GM, a figure that's actually pretty positive considering just how dire the state of the auto industry was in December 2008. The government will still own about 300 million shares of GM stock, or about 19 percent after the recent move, though that will be sold off by early 2014.
"This announcement is an important step in bringing closure to the successful auto industry rescue, it further removes the perception of government ownership of GM among customers, and it demonstrates confidence in GM's progress and our future," GM CEO Dan Akerson said in a statement.
If it's possible to believe, GM's bankruptcy and the final financial details still being ironed out years later were not actually about raw numbers. In a results-driven world, the recovery of GM has been about people -- to the tune of 20,000 jobs created or retained since the auto industry rescue. Take that a step further: what would not having those jobs have meant to the banks and housing sector? How about suppliers and related industries? Dealers? The list goes on.
And if the government cashed out the rest of its stake at the selling price as of this writing, it would still grab another $8.1 billion, allowing taxpayers to recoup a total of $36.8 billion, leaving "only" a $12.7 billion write-off.
Let's put it in a different perspective. If a presidential candidate had advocated spending about $13 billion (or roughly the cost of two of the Navy's future generation of guided-missile destroyers) to create 20,000 jobs in a rocky economy -- they probably would have gotten a lot of votes this fall.
Finally, none of this accounts for the intangibles -- can you put a price on saving one of the enduring symbols of U.S. industrial might? History aside, GM will still have $38 billion in liquidity at the end of 2012 and now has a viable business going forward.
In hindsight, perhaps the math did add up, regardless of how the finances shake out.
LG has just put a new commercial up on its official Youtube page showing off the design and features of the Nexus 4. In two minutes of gloriously edited and produced footage, LG shows the device being handed off between multiple people, each accomplishing something new. Photo Sphere, Google Maps Navigation, Google Now and Wifi display mirroring are all shown off here, along with several nice shots of the rear panel's crystal reflective process. The commercial spot definitely has some of LG's style in it, but that's not necessarily a bad thing.
Google has also just put up a new Nexus 4 commercial of its own, specifically highlighting the use of Android 4.2's Photo Sphere at a holiday family get-together. It's just a minute long rather than two like LG's, and you can check it out after the break.
What do you think about the commercials? Do they do the Nexus 4 justice? Let us know what you think in the comments.
When your PC is possessed by diabolical malware, you may feel the only hope for salvation is exorcism by a tough antivirus program. Thirtyseven4 Antivirus 2013 ($29.95 per year direct; $59.95 for three licenses) would seem a likely choice. After all, the company's mission is to "glorify God by using the gifts He has given us [and] ... provide the most secure product line available to our customers at fair and honest prices." Alas, my tests show that in this battle of Good against Evil, the wrong side wins.
It wasn't for lack of trying on Thirtyseven4's part. In addition to the basic antivirus scanner, the product includes separate scanners for rootkits and general malware, as well as a boot-time scanner that runs before Windows has fully started. The company's website also offers a number of free tools for wiping out rogue antivirus programs and other specific types of malware.
Preinstall Scan During the install process, Thirtyseven4 runs a scan for active malware. On ten of my 12 malware-infested test systems it found and neutralized malware. This allowed the installation to continue, although one system needed to reboot first.
One of my test systems is restricted to running in Safe Mode, because ransomware takes over regular Windows. Thirtyseven4 won't install in Safe Mode, so tech support advised me to download and run their Rogue Remover utility. Rogue Remover wiped out the ransomware and allowed for full installation.
The install process did seem to take rather longer than most, and the mandatory Quick Update after installation was anything but quick. However, the experience was much better than spending hours on phone and live chat with tech support, as I did with McAfee AntiVirus Plus 2013.
Collateral Damage The full scan wiped out a couple of important Windows files on one test system. That missing file disabled many programs including my browsers and Thirtyseven4 itself. Tech support recommended using System Restore to go back before the problem occurred, or recover from the original Windows disk. Like many real-world users, I don't have a Windows disk, though. And to save space my virtual machines have System Restore disabled. Fortunately their other suggestion, copying the missing file from another system with the exact same Windows version, saved the day.
Full cleanup on another system wiped out an infected keyboard driver, which made working with the system rather awkward. I solved that one by using Device Manager to uninstall and then "rediscover" the keyboard. While either of these problems might have vexed Joe User, solving them wasn't too difficult. I've had much bigger collateral damage problems with other antivirus products.
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Dec. 19, 2012 ? Over the last half decade, it has become increasingly clear that the normal gastrointestinal (GI) bacteria play a variety of very important roles in the biology of human and animals. Now Vic Norris of the University of Rouen, France, and coauthors propose yet another role for GI bacteria: that they exert some control over their hosts' appetites. Their review was published online ahead of print in the Journal of Bacteriology.
This hypothesis is based in large part on observations of the number of roles bacteria are already known to play in host biology, as well as their relationship to the host system. "Bacteria both recognize and synthesize neuroendocrine hormones," Norris et al. write. "This has led to the hypothesis that microbes within the gut comprise a community that forms a microbial organ interfacing with the mammalian nervous system that innervates the gastrointestinal tract." (That nervous system innervating the GI tract is called the "enteric nervous system." It contains roughly half a billion neurons, compared with 85 billion neurons in the central nervous system.)
"The gut microbiota respond both to both the nutrients consumed by their hosts and to the state of their hosts as signaled by various hormones," write Norris et al. That communication presumably goes both ways: they also generate compounds that are used for signaling within the human system, "including neurotransmitters such as GABA, amino acids such as tyrosine and tryptophan -- which can be converted into the mood-determining molecules, dopamine and serotonin" -- and much else, says Norris.
Furthermore, it is becoming increasingly clear that gut bacteria may play a role in diseases such as cancer, metabolic syndrome, and thyroid disease, through their influence on host signaling pathways. They may even influence mood disorders, according to recent, pioneering studies, via actions on dopamine and peptides involved in appetite. The gut bacterium, Campilobacter jejuni, has been implicated in the induction of anxiety in mice, says Norris.
But do the gut flora in fact use their abilities to influence choice of food? The investigators propose a variety of experiments that could help answer this question, including epidemiological studies, and "experiments correlating the presence of particular bacterial metabolites with images of the activity of regions of the brain associated with appetite and pleasure."
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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by American Society for Microbiology.
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Journal Reference:
V. Norris, F. Molina, A. T. Gewirtz. Hypothesis: bacteria control host appetites. Journal of Bacteriology, 2012; DOI: 10.1128/JB.01384-12
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Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.
Home > Press > Nano-Enabled Paper Detects Kidney Cancer Markers
Abstract: Using common laboratory filter paper coated with antibody-labeled gold nanorods, a team of investigators at Washington University in St. Louis has developed a rapid and inexpensive method for detecting biomarkers of kidney cancer in urine. Srikanth Singamaneni and his collaborators published their findings in the journal Analytical Chemistry.
Bethesda, MD | Posted on December 17th, 2012
Kidney cancer, which accounts for three percent of all adult cancers, is a silent killer. It presents with few symptoms until it has spread throughout the body, at which point the disease is largely fatal. In the few instances where a kidney tumor is discovered at an early stage, usually during an abdominal scan for other reasons, surgical removal of the tumor is nearly 100 percent effective at curing this disease.
In 2010, two of Dr. Singamaneni's colleagues at Washington University, Evan Kharasch and Jeremiah Morrissey, led a team that identified two candidate biomarkers for kidney cancer. These molecules, aquaporin-1 and adipophilin, are present in urine at elevated levels in patients with the most common forms of kidney cancer. In addition, the levels of these two proteins correlated with tumor size and fell by as much as 97 percent when tumors were removed surgically.
Urine-based tests have the potential to be used in routine screening efforts but only if they are inexpensive to perform. The technology now used clinically to detect specific proteins such as these two potential biomarkers, known as an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), is both expensive and time-consuming, and requires a relatively high level of laboratory expertise to produce accurate results.
To solve this problem, Dr. Singamaneni and his colleagues created what they are calling bioplasmonic paper - filter paper impregnated with gold nanorods linked to antibodies that would bind to aquaporin-1. Gold nanorods respond to light by producing what is known as a localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR), a specific type of light emission that involves waves of electrons moving across the surface of metal nanostructures. LSPR is very sensitive to molecular events that occur on or near the surface of the particles, including binding of biomolecules to attached antibodies.
Traditionally, LSPR detection devices are rigid, flat surfaces such as glass, but Dr. Singamaneni has shown that standard filter paper can also serve as an LSPR substrate. In fact, his team demonstrated that the sensitivity and limit of detection for their paper-based system is at least as good, if not better, than for conventional rigid substrates. In this case, the limit of detection matched that of the range of aquaporin-1 levels in patients with kidney cancer. Other advantages of using paper include its wicking properties, flexible surface for collection, compatibility with standard ink jet printing technology, low cost, and ease of disposal.
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About The National Cancer Institute (NCI) To help meet the goal of reducing the burden of cancer, the National Cancer Institute (NCI), part of the National Institutes of Health, is engaged in efforts to harness the power of nanotechnology to radically change the way we diagnose, treat and prevent cancer.
The NCI Alliance for Nanotechnology in Cancer is a comprehensive, systematized initiative encompassing the public and private sectors, designed to accelerate the application of the best capabilities of nanotechnology to cancer.
Currently, scientists are limited in their ability to turn promising molecular discoveries into benefits for cancer patients. Nanotechnology can provide the technical power and tools that will enable those developing new diagnostics, therapeutics, and preventives to keep pace with today?s explosion in knowledge.
For more information, please click here
Contacts: National Cancer Institute Office of Technology & Industrial Relations ATTN: NCI Alliance for Nanotechnology in Cancer Building 31, Room 10A49 31 Center Drive , MSC 2580 Bethesda , MD 20892-2580
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View abstract - This work, which was supported in part by the National Cancer Institute, is detailed in a paper titled, ?Bioplasmonic paper as a platform for detection of kidney cancer biomarkers.? An abstract of this paper is available at the journal's website:
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View abstract - This work, which was supported in part by the National Cancer Institute, is detailed in a paper titled, ?Bioplasmonic paper as a platform for detection of kidney cancer biomarkers.? An abstract of this paper is available at the journal's website: