Temperatures in the Third Pole region have increased by 1.5 degrees – more than double the global average. Image: REUTERS/David Gray
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When we think of the world’s polar regions, only two usually spring to mind – the North and South. However, there is a region to the south of China and the north of India that is known as the “Third Pole”.
That’s because it is the third largest area of frozen water on the planet. Although much smaller than its north and south counterparts, it is still enormous, covering 100,000 square kilometres with some 46,000 glaciers.
Scientists conducting research in the area have warned of disturbing global warming trends, and how, if they continue, they could affect the lives of 1.3 billion people.
The importance of the Third Pole
What happens to ice in the polar regions is taken as clear evidence of climate change. When the ice melts, we know that the planet is warming up.
The Earth’s north and south extremities are crucial for regulating the climate, and at the same time are particularly sensitive to global warming. The Third Pole, because it is high above sea level, is also sensitive to changes in temperatures.
It also powers life for many thousands of miles. It is estimated that the water that flows from the Third Pole supports 120 million people directly through irrigation systems, and a total of 1.3 billion indirectly through river basins in China, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan. That’s nearly one fifth of the world’s population.
It is remote – the region encompasses the Himalaya-Hindu Kush mountain ranges and the Tibetan Plateau – but 10 of Asia’s largest rivers begin here, including the Yellow river and Yangtze river in China, the Irrawaddy river in Myanmar, the Ganges, which flows through India and Bangladesh, and the trans-boundary Mekong river.
The impact of climate change
Australian TV company ABC was recently invited to visit one of the remote research stations in the Third Pole by lead researcher, Professor Qin Xiang. Scientists have been gathering data from this remote area for over 50 years, and recent findings are disturbing. Among them, the fact that temperatures there have increased by 1.5 degrees – more than double the global average.
Since 2005, the rate at which the Third Pole’s glaciers are melting has almost doubled. Research has also found that more than 500 small glaciers have disappeared altogether and the biggest ones are shrinking rapidly.
But global warming is not the only reason that the team found for the melting ice. Dust and pollution from car exhausts and coal burners is settling on the ice, causing it to absorb the rays of the sun, rather than reflect them away.
Studying this area is difficult – scientists are hampered by harsh weather conditions and political instability – but it is crucial for understanding the impact of global warming as a whole.
The Third Pole Environment (TPE) is an international research program that launched in 2009 and focuses on the Tibetan Plateau and surrounding mountain ranges.
Scientists who gathered at the most recent TPE Workshop heard how the most pressing issue was: “The continuity of…freshwater (both in terms of quantity and quality) in the future is the main concern.”
The effects will be felt much further than the area immediately surrounding the Third Pole. The continuous glacier melting will be catastrophic for the 1.3 billion people who depend on its water.
While initially more water is expected to pour into river basins, causing flooding, eventually that will dry up, resulting in drought and desertification.
In the end, only a reduction in black soot emissions, in addition to a reduction in greenhouse gases, will prevent the glaciers in this region from disappearing further.
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Exhibit Preview: Mario Martinez MARS 1
Toward A Distant Dawn
Coming up in Los Angeles is Mario Martinez’s new solo show at the Martha Otero Gallery. We’ve been entranced with Mario’s vision for years – it is a trip fantastic into mesmerizing outlandish realms. If your lights are on, you’ve probably been arrested by his work exploding out of alley walls or gallery windows, right here in San Francisco.
MARIO MARTINEZ (MARS-1), June 7 – July 19th, 2014
Viewing Mario’s work, you should allot quality time to immerse yourself into each new world an individual painting depicts. Suggestions of known and imagined shapes, scientific projections, geometric line works, and vortexes of color – float and collide in psychedelic tornadoes of orgasmic displays.
If there was a soundtrack for viewing his work, suggestions might be: Stereolab, Pink Floyd, Moby, Jimi Hendrix, Bonobo or Orb’s Little Fluffy Clouds. Each painting is like being under the influence of a mind expanding drug – layers of breakthroughs and realizations, distorted perspectives, full of beautiful hallucinations and experiences beyond the daily grind. Hinted inspirations of – space stations, galaxies and supernovas, streamlined roadsters, oceans and clouds, bulbous capsules, brilliant hues of supernatural lights, rainbow auras, and matrix crowns of optical designs.
Please “Like” and follow Eclectix, here on FaceBook.
#mariomartinez, #mars1, #marthaoterogallery, #surreal, #TowardADistantDawn, art
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domain: artistic


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Will Smith slapped Chris Rock in the face on stage at the Oscars after the comic made a joke about the actor’s wife Jada Pinkett Smith.
“Jada, can’t wait for GI Jane 2,” he said, in an apparent reference to her shaved hairdo – which is a result of the hair loss condition alopecia.
Smith walked on stage and struck Rock before returning to his seat and shouting: “Keep my wife’s name out of your [expletive] mouth.”
He later apologised on stage.
“I want to apologise to the Academy. I want to apologise to my all my fellow nominees,” he said during a tearful acceptance speech for best actor.
The star picked up the first Oscar of his career for playing the father of tennis legends Venus and Serena Williams in King Richard.
“Art imitates life. I look like the crazy father, just like they said about Richard Williams. But love will make you do crazy things.”
Rock’s joke referred to 1997 film GI Jane, in which Demi Moore played the title role with a severe buzzcut.
The comedian looked stunned in the immediate aftermath of the incident, but told the audience: “That was the greatest night in the history of television.”
The Los Angeles Police Department later told Variety that Rock had “declined to file a police report” following the event.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which organises the Oscars, tweeted that it “does not condone violence of any form”.
Pinkett Smith first talked about her hair loss struggle in an episode of her Facebook chat show, Red Table Talk, back in 2018.
She said: “I’ve been having issues with hair loss. And it was terrifying when it first started.”
The Girls Trip star said she first suspected she had alopecia after “handfuls of hair” came loose in the shower.
“I was just like, ‘Oh my God, am I going bald?’ It was one of those times in my life where I was literally shaking with fear,” she explained. “That’s why I cut my hair and continue to cut it.”
After the incident, Rock handed over the best documentary prize, which was the reason he was on stage.
According to The Hollywood Reporter’s Scott Feinberg, a tearful Smith needed to be “pulled aside and comforted” by Denzel Washington and Tyler Perry during an advert break.
Presenting the next section, Sean “Diddy” Combs said: “Will and Chris, we’re going to solve that like family. Right now we’re moving on with love.”
It was not the first time Rock has made a joke about Pinkett Smith at the Academy Awards. He hosted the 2016 event, when she was among the stars who boycotted the ceremony due to a lack of diversity in the nominations.
That year, he said: “Jada Pinkett Smith boycotting the Oscars is like me boycotting Rihanna’s panties – I wasn’t invited!”
Other winners at Sunday’s ceremony included Jessica Chastain, who picked up best actress for The Eyes of Tammy Faye; Jane Campion, who won best director for The Power of the Dog; and Apple TV film Coda, which was named best picture.
Best supporting actress went to Ariana DeBose for West Side Story, while Troy Kotsur won best supporting actor for Coda, which also picked up best adapted screenplay.
Sci-fi epic Dune won six awards in total including technical categories including best visual effects and best cinematography.

domain: celebrity


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Assemblyman Bill Reilich (R,C,I-Greece) is calling on constituents to sign a petition supporting a people’s convention to reform New York. The petition was introduced Wednesday afternoon by the Assembly minority in an effort to answer the call of 64% of New Yorkers who, according to the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute, support a reform movement in New York state.
“Over the past year, we have seen our state government fall deeper into debt, relying heavily on federal stimulus monies and ridiculous tax increases introduced by the governor; we have seen turmoil in our State Senate, and our economy is in a downward recession. Those of us who are fighting for what is right are being overshadowed by partisanship and backdoor political nonsense that is hurting the people of New York,” stated Reilich. “I didn’t run for office to leave this legacy and this is not the environment we want to leave future generations. It is time that we reform our system once and for all, putting the power back where it belongs, where our forefathers intended it be: in the hands of the people.”
The petition calls for a people’s convention that would reform issues regarding political term limits, backdoor borrowing, state spending and tax reform, the re-call of elected officials, non-partisan redistricting, establishing procedure vacancies, and enacting initiative and referendum; it also will require a 2/3 majority vote on any tax increases.
“It is my hope that none of my colleagues, other elected officials or registered lobbyists will run as delegates,” stated Reilich. “Our state government is broken; it is time that a non-partisan, apolitical group of citizens is formed as a watchdog over those in state government who are destroying the state we were once proud of. I stand behind this movement in full support of the possibilities it will bring and urge constituents from across New York state to get involved in making our state a place we are proud to call home, once again.”
Individuals interested in signing the petition for the people’s convention to reform New York may visit the Reform NY website. You also may contact Assemblyman Bill Reilich for more information at (585) 225-4190.

domain: news


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Nineteen-year-old Tomas Mondragon, one of three men suspected of breaking into several vehicles and stealing stereos in the 3500 block of Miramar Drive, was arrested early Tuesday.
Mondragon, of the 3700 block of Hollywood Avenue, gave officer Richard Hardy the names of two others, but Mondragon has been the only one arrested for the crimes. Witnesses who reported the thefts identified Mondragon as the man seen inside one of the victim's trucks.
He faces felony charges of criminal trespassing and theft was being held in county jail in lieu of $5,000 bail.
Turene Lombard told officer Cpl. Kathy Wilson that a couple who were renting a home she owns had moved out and left the house heavily damaged. Seven interior doors and two exterior doors were kicked in, a picture window was broken, the toilet was damaged and holes were punched in the walls of a shower stall. Estimated loss: $1,450.
Lillian Perez told deputy Michael Borders that someone forced their way into a modular home Perez is trying to sell and caused extensive damage. More than 22 holes were punched into the walls and obscene graffiti was painted on the walls. There was no damage estimate.
A house guest for the past month overstayed her welcome by stealing and pawning her host's property.
Antonia Delao told officer Franklyn Ortega that she returned home Tuesday and found the suspect had pawned a box of videotapes without her permission. Because she was afraid she'd lose the videos, she paid the pawn and got her property back.
When she returned home, Delao told Ortega, she found her TV was gone. The suspect, Virginia Gonzales, 45, admitted pawning the TV. In addition, a Mickey Mouse clock and a Cinderella clock were reported missing from the house.
Gonzales, who was listed as homeless in county jail records, faces felony charges of theft, forgery and giving false information to a pawn broker. She was being held in county jail in lieu of $7,500 bail.
Evan Rushhon-Carroll Andrews, 23, of the 2500 block of Second Avenue, was arrested early Tuesday on suspicion of felony vehicle eluding. In addition, Andrews faces misdemeanor charges of possession of drug paraphernalia, possession of marijuana, reckless driving and no proof of insurance. He was being held in county jail without bail pending a court appearance.
Kristei L. Burt, 26, no address given, was arrested early Tuesday on a warrant for theft, child abuse and two counts of reckless endangerment. Burt was being held in county jail in lieu of $26,500 bail.
Ricky Joe Perry, 22, no address given, was arrested in Laramie City, Wyo., on a local warrant for escape. Perry was returned to county jail on Monday and is being held without bail on a felony escape charge.
Pueblo Crime Stoppers 542-STOP. Remember, your call is anonymous.


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The NATPE exhibition floor, once famous as a site of dealmaking and debauchery in the heyday of the firstrun syndie biz, died Jan. 29 of natural causes. It was 28.
The Los Angeles Times is undergoing a major overhaul, downsizing as of March 2 into four main news sections and discontinuing the stand-alone California section. As a result, the Times will lay off…
The Marie Osmond yakker is a go for fall now that distrib Program Partners has sealed key clearance deals for the show in New York and Los Angeles.
The chiefs of 20th Century Fox TV rose early Wednesday for a wide-ranging discussion of the state of the TV biz and the state of their biz for the edification of NATPE-goers.
The TV advertising marketplace is facing a meltdown in the next few years that will be far more destructive than the wallop the biz is enduring in the present financial crisis and recession.
The gloomy economic outlook for 2009 is hanging over the NATPE confab heavier than the cigarette smoke in the Mandalay Bay Resort's casinos.
Tribune-owned stations including KTLA Los Angeles and WPHL-TV Philadelphia are among those that have recently picked MGM and Weigel Broadcasting's syndie movie service branded as "This TV."
Epix, the pay TV venture backed by Viacom, Lionsgate and MGM, will bow in May as an broadband on-demand service and in October as a full-blown channel.
Showbiz is going through a major period of upheaval, but there are plenty of opportunities out there for companies nimble and creative enough to find them.
Disney's experiment in reviving the firstrun syndie drama biz with the Sam Raimi-produced "Legend of the Seeker" has paid off with a second-season renewal on the Tribune Broadcasting stations.
The surest sign of the misery local TV stations are enduring amid the economic meltdown is the slim roster of daytime strips that will be hawked this week at the syndie biz's annual NATPE confab in…
2016-2017 Oscar Predictions


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Americans worried about an Ebola outbreak in the U.S. need to stay calm, lest they risk more errors like the ones made at the Texas hospital that treated a patient who died from the disease, a former White House health adviser said Monday.
“Panic is something we can’t afford in this, because that also can lead to a lot of mistakes of people, and we do have to keep people more rational about this,” said Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel, chairman of the University of Pennsylvania’s Department of Medical Ethics and Health Policy. “We’ve had two cases in this country. We have not had a big outbreak, and we need to be very clear about that.”
Emanuel spoke to TODAY’s Matt Lauer after news emerged about a Dallas nurse who tested positive for the Ebola virus after caring for Thomas Eric Duncan, who died last week following a battle with the disease. The nurse is the first known transmission of the virus within in the United States.
Emanuel also spoke about the influence that Ebola has had on:
- Crews disinfecting the sidewalk of the infected nurse’s home: Emanuel stressed he is not a decontamination expert, but that “the sidewalk does not seem to be the right place” to emphasize. "A lot of that is about fears. Checking temperatures when people come into the country is probably not going to be our best use, but it does reassure people.”
- The hospitals being used to treat patients: “It’s not the facility, it’s the training — and it’s not anything special about the rooms.”
- The training health care workers must receive before working with patients: “It’s really about how the health care workers gown, de-gown. It’s about the standard processes of care. “
- On whether there is a need to set up regional facilities to handle cases: “Given the fact that we’re not going to have a big outbreak here, that these are going to be isolated cases, the idea of specializing in a few places is right."
Follow TODAY.com writer Eun Kyung Kim on Twitter at @eunkim

domain: medical


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A long time ago, in a Wizarding School far, far in…the norths of Scotland(?), the heroes of our podcast joined together to bravely take on an entire world of magic – the Grim, the evil Dark Lord…and also some kind of gross jellybeans?
This week, we consider removing all T’s from our vocabulary, try to gauge Pettigrew’s level of intelligence, discuss freelance Grimin’, and trudge through another round of the Quizzich Cup (which, like Harry’s future, is looking more and more bleak).
Finally, beloved segment Assorted Personalities returns with a galactic twist (contentious choices that Star Wars fans will surely argue).
Grab a shirt or a print at the GeeklyInc shop.
Find us on Twitter at @potterpod, Tumblr at potterpod.tumblr.com, or shoot us an email at email@example.com.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Can’t agree with Sarah about Cassian Andor being a Hufflepuff though she did make some good arguments. But dude is definitely a Gryffindor. All that selfless courage and general blandness of personality screams Gryff.
But you really missed the most obvious recent Hufflepuff, Sarah. And a great one at that. Finn is Huffle to the core!

domain: entertainment


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- Shopping Bag ( 0 items )
From the PublisherStarred Review, Kirkus Reviews, August 15, 2009:
"The novel expertly captures the ever-hopeful ache of adolescents longing for love, stability, and certainty."
Starred Review, Booklist, October 1, 2009:
"This is a novel as brisk and refreshing as an ocean breeze."
Review, New York Times Books Review, January 17, 2010:
"In capturing the miscues of first love and shifting family dynamics, Rosie and Skate is as sharp as a splinter on the boardwalk."

domain: literature


Pluto Demoted as Planet A barrage of media stories, blogs, and buzz followed last week’s announcement that Pluto is no longer considered our Solar System’s ninth planet. At a meeting of its General Assembly in Prague, the International Astronomical Union (IAU) voted to adopt new guidelines defining what is—and isn’t—a planet. According to an Associated Press story, Pluto doesn't make the grade under the new rules for a planet: "a celestial body that is in orbit around the sun, has sufficient mass for its self-gravity to overcome rigid body forces so that it assumes a...nearly round shape, and has cleared the neighbourhood around its orbit." Pluto is disqualified because its oblong orbit overlaps with Neptune's and it will now be considered a “dwarf planet” in a new classification system. For now, membership is restricted to the eight "classical" planets in the Solar System: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. According to Gerry Wheeler, NSTA Executive Director, "Science is not a static set of facts. Our understanding of science is constantly changing as new evidence is added. This is a perfect teachable moment to show the dynamic nature of science.” To read news coverage in Scientific American Magazine about the IAU vote, visit http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?chanID=sa007&articleID=000 BAB90-0894-14EE-889483414B7F014C. To read a CNN story featuring comments from NSTA Executive Director, Gerry Wheeler; NSTA President-Elect, John Whitsett; and former NSTA Pre-school-Elementary Committee Chair, Rich Hogen, visit http://www.cnn.com/2006/EDUCATION/08/25/pluto.reaction.
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Quay Arts Spotify Playlist
Thursday 26 Mar, 2020
Quay Arts now has its own Spotify playlist for you to enjoy featuring a range of music from artists who have either recently played or are due to perform at at the venue sometime soon.
Enjoy – and please share, share, share!
💗Show your LOVE to the QUAY💗 With care and concern for our staff and visitors, we have temporarily closed to the public. As most of you will know, Quay Arts is a charity that can only exist with the active and generous support of people like you. Please help us continue to support the cultural life of our Island community through this difficult time and in the future by making a donation today


Building Permits & Inspections
The Building Permits and Inspections Department will strive to assist you with your construction project in an efficient and accountable manner. They are responsible for permitting all construction and conducting inspections of all construction-related permits as well as issuance of Certificates of Occupancy, Fire Prevention, and Special Events.
The Building Permits and Inspections Department is responsible for:
- Conducting building construction inspections
- Issuing building permits
- Issuing certificate of occupancy permits
- Reviewing building plans
- Working directly with the Planning and Zoning Commission
REQUIREMENTS FOR GENERAL BUILDING PERMIT
- Completed General Building Permit
- Plans drawn to scale, which must include setbacks, type of construction, designs, changes, alterations and/or remodeling to be completed
- Permit Fee’s paid to the City of Kamiah
Once all of the General Building Permit requirements are met the building inspector will inspect the plans and/or property for approval. After building inspector approves plans building can then be started. Permit must be hung at the site of construction in plain sight until construction process is completed.
REQUIREMENTS FOR REVITLIZATION ZONE BUILDING PERMIT
- Completed Revitalization Zone Building Permit
- Approval from the Planning and Zoning Commission
- Exterior must be of Western/Victorian theme
- Materials must be to specifications of Attachment C
- False fronts must be built according to specifications of Attachment C
- Completed set of plans, drawn to scale, to include definitions of roofing and siding materials used, exterior colors in Victorian hue and accurately portrayed on plans and estimated date of completion
Once Planning and Zoning have approved plans and Revitalization Zone Building Permit the building inspector will inspect the plans and/or property for approval. After building inspector approves plans and permit, building can then be started. Permit must be hung at the site of construction in plain sight until construction process is completed.
To obtain a permit for both residential and commercial uses, simply download the forms below or call (208) 935-2672 and we will be happy to provide you with the necessary forms.


WhatsApp has just been banned in mainland China once again after being blocked previously around September, the same year.
As per certain sources, this could be because of the upcoming elections to elect a new leader. In order to not allow political opponents to organise anti-government strategies, China is known to block certain or even fully popular social media forms like WhatsApp, even Google.
Yes, China can and has blocked Google, including all of its sub-products like Maps, Playstore, Gmail and more.
This is especially more of a concern due to the Canton Fair that barely started a few days ago and will last up until 4th Nov. The Canton Fair is one of the largest trade fair held in China since 1957, and this ban could affect it negatively.
The surprising part about this all is the fact that practically no news about it has gotten out, so far only 2 reports have come out regarding the latest ban on WhatsApp in China.
The only reason we have gotten wind of it is due to our blogger who is currently in China and informed us about this ban.
Interestingly, this is not the first time China has banned WhatsApp, apparently, as per news reports, WhatsApp has been banned a total of 3 times by now in this year itself.
Why Have They Banned It Now
The ban has been implemented, coincidently, just before the election of 19th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party that will be held on Wednesday. This election comes once every 5 years and is an extremely crucial and important election for Chinese government.
According to a few sources, this could be just to dissuade any opponents from making any kind of strategies or allegations against the present government.
The disruption to services offered by WhatsApp had started from sometime around July itself, when China put a stop to sharing of video, audio and image files, only allowing users to send and receive text messages.
This ban does not really come as a surprise since China has always been extremely strict about such kind of outside social media platforms.
Facebook, the biggest one that is being used by about billions of users has long since been banned in China. WhatsApp was the only Facebook-owned property that was still allowed access by the Chinese population, however, even that has been taken away now.
Apart from WhatsApp, China has even banned Google and its products like Gmail, Drive, YouTube, Chrome, Maps etc.
They have even gotten on a crackdown to eliminate VPN services that allow people access to things that are otherwise blocked or not allowed in China.
What I Believe Is The Reason Behind This Ban
One reason behind the ban could be to not allow opponents of current government a free reign and one that the government cannot monitor to the full extent.
In order to have more control during the election time and the eventual result, such a strategy seems to be the way to go.
Speaking of not being able to monitor, another reason for the current ban on WhatsApp could be because it does not entirely comply with the data regulation it requires. WhatsApp encryption is not something that the Chinese govt. is in favour of as it limits how much activity they can monitor on the platform.
Till now though, we do not truly know the exact reason behind this ban and how long it will last.
Timeline Of Previous WhatsApp Bans
Considering this is the third time in the same year that WhatsApp has been banned and we currently do not have major news about this latest banning, let us take a look at the timeline of the previous bans:
July 19th, 2017:
WhatsApp was partially blocked as reported by The Guardian. Except for text messages, photos, videos, and audio files were all blocked.
This block lasted for a few weeks before all services were once again reinstated.
September 25th, 2017:
Once again, a similar ban like the one applied in July was seen with everything apart from text messages not being allowed to be sent or received.
October 17th, 2017:
WhatsApp has been put on a total lockdown in mainland China. Before only a few services were blocked, however this time, WhatsApp entirely has been banned.
China has various other infamous bans apart from this too. Keeping aside Facebook, China recently banned even the lovable children’s character Winney The Pooh, because apparently official believed the character to resemble President Xi Jinping.
Hopefully, this ban too will be lifted in either a few days or weeks and will not stretch on for longer than necessary.
Image Credits: Google Images


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HI all! Just introducing myself as requested. I worked at a petstore over 25 years ago, and I had a 29 gallon for some years after that. I tried my hand at saltwater, but it didn't go well, so I kept the coral and switched to cichlids. THAT went great! But after a marriage, a couple of sons, and a couple of moves, I gave up the tank. My gerbils have been very happy with the 29.
Last year, I got a 5 gallon just to house a puffer, but a 5 gallon is ridiculously hard to take care of IMO
I will be purchasing something between a 29 to a 75 soon, since my husband and I refinished a room in our garage for a swim spa (our own vacation spot!
), and we've decided we'd like a tank in that room as well. (We swim, they swim.
) I'm very likely to go with cichlids again, since I had such great success with them in the past, but I know I need a refresher course on the whole shebang before I jump back into it.
So here I am! Hello!

domain: hobby


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The dismissal of a lawsuit brought against two ranking chief officers of the Houston Fire Department by a district chief over a social media post has been upheld by the US Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. District Chief Steven Dunbar filed the federal court action pro se after he was suspended and transferred for a social media post that discouraged certain members of the department from transferring to his district.
The facts as explained by the Fifth Circuit:
- In July 2019, Steven Dunbar, a District Chief for the Houston Fire Department, made a post in a private social media group for HFD firefighters.
- Discussing a transfer opportunity HFD had posted the month before, he wrote: “If you are thinking about putting in for a spot in District 64 on C-shift you better have your sh** together. Wanna play games like previously-assigned members? You will be miserable…promise.”
- Under HFD’s transfer guidelines, “No member will communicate with [a] member requesting [a] transfer, including the incoming oﬃcer, to promote or influence the candidacy of a member or to discourage a member from applying for a posted or anticipated vacancy. Any violation of this directive will result in disciplinary action.”
- A similar statement was included in the memorandum announcing the transfer opportunity.
- HFD Assistant Fire Chief Robert Garcia saw Dunbar’s post and expressed concern about it to HFD Fire Chief Samuel Peña, which ultimately led to Dunbar being transferred to an administrative position in another district.
- The transfer form filled out by Garcia explained that Dunbar was being transferred because his “[s]ocial media posts meant to discourage members from transferring to their district compromises the integrity of the HFD Transfer policy.”
- Soon after Dunbar was transferred, Garcia also asked the HFD Professional Standards Oﬃce to investigate Dunbar for creating a hostile work environment through his social media post.
- The investigation resulted in Dunbar being suspended for three days for violating the transfer guidelines, a suspension that was later reduced to one day.
- Dunbar has since been assigned to a post as District Chief in a diﬀerent district.
Chief Dunbar sued Chief Peña and Chief Garcia alleging a violation of his First Amendment rights. He also claimed that the department’s transfer policy was an unconstitutional infringement on member’s First Amendment rights. The US District Court for the Southern District of Texas dismissed the case, prompting Chief Dunbar to appeal.
- Public employees are entitled to circumscribed constitutional protections in connection with their governmental duties, but they “do not surrender all their First Amendment rights by reason of their employment.
- Rather, the First Amendment protects a public employee’s right, in certain circumstances, to speak as a citizen addressing matters of public concern.”
- Therefore, to be protected against adverse employment action in retaliation for speech, a public employee must speak in the employee’s “capacity as a citizen,” rather than pursuant to the employee’s “oﬃcial duties,” and the employee must address a matter of public concern.
- Otherwise, “the employee has no First Amendment cause of action based on his or her employer’s reaction to the speech.”
- A public employee speaks on a matter of public concern when the speech “can be fairly considered as relating to any matter of political, social, or other concern to the community, or when it is a subject of legitimate news interest; that is, a subject of general interest and of value and concern to the public.”
- For example, “a teacher’s letter to the editor of a local newspaper concerning a school budget constitute[s] speech on a matter of public concern.”
- In this case, Dunbar’s post did not address a matter of public concern. As evidenced by it being posted in a private group for HFD firefighters, Dunbar’s comment on potential transferees’ applications to a particular HFD district was relevant only to HFD employees who might have been considering such a transfer, not to the public generally.
- Accordingly, Dunbar cannot sustain a First Amendment claim against Garcia and Peña for their response to his post.
- For similar reasons, Dunbar’s broader challenge to the constitutionality of the HFD transfer guidelines also fails.
- A public employer like HFD can adopt policies restricting its employees from speaking on issues that are not of public concern so long as those policies do not unduly restrict other, protected speech.
Here is a copy of the decision:
For those who have questions about social media, the First Amendment, free speech, and how to draft an effective social media policy, please join us next week
September 23, 2020 – WEBINAR
$50 per person
1:00PM – 4:00PM Eastern

domain: politics


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“Let Food Be Thy Medicine”
That has never been truer than in recent times and especially for our pets. At McKenzie Veterinary Services, we stock all life stage diets and over 30 prescription diets for dogs and cats so that we can provide the best nutritional support for your pet, whether it’s for specific health problems or simply to maintain their health.
While there are dozens of pet food companies in North America, only a few such as Royal Canin and Hill’s, have the highest quality control on their ingredients or perform any real research into pet nutrition. Royal Canin and Hill’s have a wide selection of excellent diets for many conditions, including obesity, arthritis, kidney disease, diabetes, food allergies and gastrointestinal issues. Many disease conditions can be controlled through diets and reducing the need for many medications. It may surprise you to know that our prescription diets are generally no more costly than many of the “designer” pet foods sold in pet stores, and they include an informed recommendation based on your pet’s medical history and concerns.

domain: pet


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Interpretation's Date: May 12, 2006
by superintendent Steven L. Paine
Section: IV. Students
April 12, 2006
Dear Ms. Haden:
On behalf of the West Virginia Board of Education's High Schools for West Virginia's Future Task Force, you have asked that I reconsider previous Superintendent's Interpretations regarding county attendance incentives and the use of Saturday school.
Regarding attendance incentives, you have asked that I consider permitting counties to develop incentives wherein students who have not missed more than a set number of days per semester are exempted from taking semester exams. The rationale for allowing this type of incentive is that it has been shown to be one of the only effective means by which a county can actually improve its rate of student attendance.
It is widely recognized that school attendance plays an integral role in the education of a child. West Virginia Board of Education Policy 4110 emphasizes that "a direct relationship exists between students' daily school attendance and academic performance, graduation, and good work habits . . . Daily attendance is necessary for students to meet their schools' academic program standards as each day's learning builds on the work previously completed." Nonetheless, because attendance is dependent on factors outside of a school's control (e.g., parent involvement, etc.), there are limited measures the school can take to improve student attendance. The consensus of educators in West Virginia is that student attendance has generally shown improvements when the semester exam incentive has been allowed, and that no other incentive programs have proven to be as useful in increasing student attendance.
Accordingly, it is my opinion that county attendance incentives wherein students who
have not accumulated more than a set number of excused absences per semester are
exempted from taking semester exams are permissible under West Virginia law and West
Virginia Board of Education policy. Under such policies an award of credit is still based
upon demonstrated mastery of the instructional objectives. No grades shall be awarded
or reduced based upon attendance alone. Further, all such policies must clearly define the
number of absences after which the semester exams will be required, must clearly define
excused and unexcused absences, must not base an unduly large percentage of a final
grade on the semester exam, and must be applied uniformly to all students. Finally, it is
my recommendation that all students be encouraged to take semester exams, even if the
student opts not to have the exam grade factored into his or her final grade for a course.
Steven L. Paine

domain: law


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Great Falls Real Estate
Great Falls straddles the Missouri River and is known as the "Electric City" because of its numerous dams and power plants. Great Falls is a community with grand traditions, rich history and superb recreational and cultural amenities for the entire family. When you visit, take a moment and remember to reflect on the fact that you're walking in the footsteps of Lewis and Clark, the Blackfeet Indians, the buffalo and the grizzly bear. We are also proud to have both Malmstrom Air Force Base and Montana Air National Guard. Great Falls is centrally located between 2 beautiful national parks, Glacier and Yellowstone National Parks along with being approximately 2 1/2 hours from the Canadian Border.
Great Falls Real Estate Properties
About the Neighborhood
The property data on this web site comes in part from the Internet Data Exchange (IDX) program of the Montana Regional MLS® Multiple Listing Service, Inc. IDX information is provided exclusively for consumers' personal, non-commercial use, that it may not be used for any purpose other than to identify prospective properties consumers may be interested in purchasing, and that the data is deemed reliable but is not guaranteed accurate by the MLS. All properties are subject to prior sale, change, or withdrawal. Neither listing broker(s) nor Dustin Young and Company shall be responsible for any typographical errors, misinformation, or misprints, and shall be held totally harmless from any damages arising from reliance upon these data.

domain: geography


I was wondering if anything exists or anyone is working on something like this. Basically a DSP that can filter and cancel external noises with phase cancellation. With todays DSP units having the power to pull this off it would be amazing. It could map out the freq response of the cabin, like autotune, then perform a constant on the fly RTA of externally generated noises and run a cancellation algorithm through the signal chain, restoring the audio to how its supposed to sound in a dead environment. basically have a mic feeding it constantly and readjusting the signal on the fly. or am i just crazy.


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Kerala State Road Transport Corporation
LAST UPDATED : Jul 02, 2019, 07:04 AM IST
- Thonnakkal institute still not functional
The dream of having state’s own virology institute will take at least another two more years to take shape. Even though the first phase of the institute, coming up at the Life Science Park in Thonnakkal near Thiruvananthapuram, was inaugurated, it has not become fully operational till date.
- APSRTC not to reveal driver numbers for safety
To curb cell phone driving, the Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (APSRTC) has decided not to give drivers’ phone numbers to the passengers and consumers of cargo services. The decision is being implemented in the North East Coastal (NEC) region from Tuesday on pilot basis and it will be extended to all other regions based on the outcomes.
- RSRTC loses Rs 7.5 crore in past 5 days due to strike
The ongoing strike of the Rajasthan State Road Transport Corporation (RSRTC) has given an estimated burden of nearly Rs 1.5 crore per day to the corporation. The monthly loss incurred by RSRTC is around Rs 45 crore and that too when the buses are regularly operating. In the scenario of a strike, the corporation may not be shelling out Rs 1.5 to Rs two crore for fuelling the 4,700 buses on strike, yet it has to bear other expenses, even when there has been zero income in the past five days.
- Jodhpur bus station stays deserted
Employees of Rajasthan State Road Transport Corporation remained on strike for the fourth consecutive day on Thursday. Bus station of Jodhpur wore a deserted look because of this strike with no footfall of any passengers who have been hoping for the strike to be called off.


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Thank you, Reese, for awarding me the Versatile Blogger Award. Sorry it took me so long to respond. Here are the seven random pieces of info about me that you might not know:
1. I want to be an ornithologist when I grow up. That's a type of biologist who knows all about birds. I already spend a lot of time watching their behavior when they nest in our yard and I have a "life list." That's a list bird watchers keep to show all the birds they have ever seen. Whenever we go anywhere I keep my eyes open for new birds.
2. I love camping and the mountains, but I have never been to the ocean. Actually, I'm a little bit afraid of water. Not of water in pools, lakes and streams, but of giant waves! I guess I've seen too many disaster movies involving ships and waves. But the best way to overcome fear is face it, so I'll be going on a vacation at the ocean soon.
3. Everyone in my family is musical, except me! Maybe not everyone, but it seems that way. Between the piano, guitar, ukulele, flute and violin, and also singing, someone is always practicing their music. I do love it, but I play music best on my iPod. teehee! It doesn't bother me too much, but sometimes I feel left out when everyone jams.
4. This is kind of a secret, but you know those skateboard parks they have with all the cool ramps and pipes? I really want to get good enough to do all those kinds of tricks. I have asked for a skate board for my birthday. It's probably harder than it looks, but it sure looks fun! I've gotten pretty good on my snowboard, so I think that will help. I love rollerblading, too.
5. Sometimes the girls here talk about wanting to grow up so they can do stuff like drive a car and go wherever they want, whenever they want, but I actually LOVE being a kid. I think being a grownup looks like a lot of work and I'm not sure that it is as fun as my friends think it is. Just a random thought, haaahaaa!
6. My favorite kind of movies is anime. I am actually named after an anime called "Kiki's Delivery Service" that I recommend watching if you've never seen it. The first one I ever saw was "Totoro" and I still love that one.
7.My favorite animals are dogs (not including birds, of course!). I would really like to be a dog walker and maybe even a trainer. I think dogs are a doll's best friend!
I'm not going to tag anyone in particular, but if you want to join in consider yourself tagged!


Brownsville Weather In May
The highest recorded temperature in May for Brownsville Texas for the past 72 years was 102 degrees Fahrenheit, on May 4, 1999, while the mean high temperature is 87. The lowest documented temperature in May for Brownsville for the past 72 years was 50 measured on May 15, 1917, and the standard low recorded daily temperature is 72.
According to National Weather Service Brownsville May Weather data, on May 9, 1917, the recorded high temperature did not exceed 60 degrees Fahrenheit, the lowest high measured in Brownsville in the past 72 years. Weather Service records additionally indicate that on May 19, 1902, the low for the day was not measured below 82 degrees, the highest low temperature recorded in Brownsville in the last 72 years.
National Weather Service records indicate that the high temperature in Brownsville on May First averages 85 degrees and the high on the last day of the month averages 90 degrees. The average recorded low temperature in Brownsville on May First is 69 degrees Fahrenheit and the average low on the last day of May is 73 degrees.
Brownsville typically receives an average of 2.48 inches of precipitation during the month. The most precipitation recorded on a single day in May, according to May Brownsville Weather data, was 3.4 inches on May 12, 1969.


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Traveling can be an exciting and enriching experience, but it can also cause feelings of nervousness and anxiety. In this article, we will explore the reasons behind these feelings and provide practical tips on how to overcome them.
The uncertainty of travel: Fear of the unknown
One of the primary reasons people feel nervous about traveling is the fear of the unknown. Traveling to a new place can be unpredictable and filled with unexpected surprises. However, embracing this uncertainty can be a thrilling part of the adventure, offering opportunities for growth and self-discovery.
The importance of planning and preparation
Taking the time to plan and prepare for your trip can significantly reduce your anxiety. By doing so, you can anticipate potential issues and devise solutions before they arise.
Researching your destination
Understanding the local culture, customs, and laws of your destination can help alleviate fears and avoid potential misunderstandings. Additionally, familiarizing yourself with the local transportation system, currency, and emergency services will make your trip more enjoyable and less stressful.
Creating a packing list ensures you have everything you need, from essential documents to necessary medications. Being prepared with the right items will help you feel more confident and in control while traveling.
Safety concerns while traveling
Ensuring your safety during your travels is a valid concern, but taking necessary precautions can minimize risks.
Before embarking on your journey, consult with your doctor for any necessary vaccinations and medications. It’s also crucial to research the healthcare system in your destination and know the location of the nearest medical facilities.
Protecting your belongings
Invest in quality luggage locks, avoid flashy displays of wealth, and use hotel safes when available. Travel insurance can also offer peace of mind in case of theft or loss.
Navigating cultural differences
Experiencing new cultures is one of the most rewarding aspects of travel. However, it can also be challenging to adapt to unfamiliar customs and norms.
Overcoming language barriers
Learning a few basic phrases in the local language can go a long way in making your trip more enjoyable and less stressful. Additionally, using translation apps and carrying a small phrasebook can help bridge the communication gap.
Adapting to local customs
Being respectful of local customs and traditions is essential when traveling. Researching and observing local etiquette will not only make your trip more enjoyable but also show appreciation for the culture you are visiting.
Coping with homesickness and social anxiety
Being away from familiar surroundings and loved ones can trigger feelings of homesickness and social anxiety. Fortunately, there are ways to manage these emotions.
Staying connected with loved ones
Regularly communicating with friends and family back home can help alleviate feelings of homesickness. Utilizing video calls, social media, and instant messaging can help maintain a sense of connection while you’re away.
Making new friends on the road
Traveling provides a unique opportunity to meet new people and form lasting connections. Engaging in group activities, staying in hostels, and attending local events can help you build a social network while on the road.
Financial concerns and budgeting
Budgeting and managing finances can be a source of stress while traveling. Creating a budget before your trip and sticking to it can help you avoid financial strain and enjoy your journey without worrying about money.
Conquering travel anxiety: Tips and tricks
There are various techniques to help manage travel anxiety and embrace the excitement of your journey.
Mindfulness and relaxation techniques
Practicing mindfulness and relaxation techniques, such as deep breathing, meditation, and progressive muscle relaxation, can help you stay calm and focused during your travels.
Embracing the adventure
Remember that traveling is an opportunity to step out of your comfort zone, learn new things, and create unforgettable memories. Embracing this mindset will help you conquer your fears and make the most of your journey.
The journey ahead: Embracing the excitement of travel
In conclusion, nervousness about traveling is a common feeling that many people experience. By understanding the root causes, planning, and employing strategies to cope with travel anxiety, you can embrace the excitement of your journey and create lasting memories.
Frequently Asked Questions
- How can I overcome my fear of flying?
Techniques such as deep breathing, visualization, and progressive muscle relaxation can help manage flight anxiety. You might also consider seeking professional help, such as therapy or attending a fear-of-flying course.
- Is travel insurance worth it?
Travel insurance can provide valuable coverage for trip cancellations, medical emergencies, and lost or stolen belongings. Carefully evaluate your needs and potential risks to determine if travel insurance is right for you.
- How can I stay safe while traveling solo?
Research your destination, share your itinerary with loved ones, and stay aware of your surroundings. Additionally, trust your instincts and avoid situations that make you feel uncomfortable.
- What should I do if I get sick while traveling?
Seek medical attention, inform your travel insurance provider, and follow your doctor’s advice. Carry essential medications and a copy of your prescriptions to ensure you receive appropriate care.
- How can I make the most of my trip despite travel anxiety?
Focus on preparation, practice relaxation techniques, and maintain a positive mindset. Embrace the adventure and remember that traveling is an opportunity for personal growth and self-discovery.

domain: travel


Friday, April 17, 2009
New online health program in Georgia
American City & County recently wrote an article about how the CDC is using an online screening system with other items to help Georgia residents in eight counties to prevent heart disease. The CDC has posted a web page that allows users to identify current life habits that may be factors that could cause the disease. Along with that aspect, they're taking a holistic approach by combining onsite biomedical screenings and resources that are delivered to the work place with the online survey.


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Board games involve pieces that move on a surface or board. The rules are clear and need to be learned. The games have no hidden information. They require logical thinking and a lot of strategies. However, there are some games which do not require skillful thinking and are based purely on the element of chance. Just like with all the other games, the players need to achieve a certain goal. Usually there are two players fighting for victory, however, some board games involve more than two players. There are many types of board games. The most famous board game is chess. This is a very old two-player strategy board game. Many people enjoy playing chess and other board games similar to chess. If you are one of those people who love playing chess, you will enjoy reading the article because in the following paragraphs we will present to you three board games similar to chess.
Checkers is a board game similar to chess. It is played on a board that consists of 16 squares, 8 on each side. The game is played with disc-shaped pieces. Each player gets 12 pieces. The goal of the game is to make your opponent lose all the pieces on the board. The pieces are moved diagonally. Ordinary pieces are moved only forwards and king pieces have moved both forwards and backward. It is a game loved by many. It requires skillful and logical thinking.
Shogi was developed in the 16th century. It is known as Japanese chess. It is played on a board which consists of a nine-by-nine rectangular grid. The pieces differ from the opponent’s pieces in the direction they are pointing. The players start the game with one king, rook, bishop, and two gold and silver generals, two knights, lances and nine pawns. The objective of the game is the same as in chess, you need to capture the king of your opponent.
This is a game very similar to chess. Interestingly, in Thailand, it is more popular than chess, and it is known as Thai chess. Although it is very similar to chess, there are many differences. The main differences are in the way pieces move and in the starting positions. In Makruk there is an empty row between the pawns and other pieces. Additionally, queens move only one space and bishops move on space forward and diagonally.
There are many games which are similar to chess and which require skillful and logical thinking. These games are really interesting and the rules are similar to the rules of chess. If you love playing chess, we highly recommend you trying. So give it a try and tell us what you think!

domain: game


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Alcohol consumers’ attention to warning labels and brand information on alcohol packaging: Findings from cross-sectional and experimental studies
BMC Public Health volume 17, Article number: 123 (2017)
Alcohol warning labels have a limited effect on drinking behavior, potentially because people devote minimal attention to them. We report findings from two studies in which we measured the extent to which alcohol consumers attend to warning labels on alcohol packaging, and aimed to identify if increased attention to warning labels is associated with motivation to change drinking behavior.
Study 1 (N = 60) was an exploratory cross-sectional study in which we used eye-tracking to measure visual attention to brand and health information on alcohol and soda containers. In study 2 (N = 120) we manipulated motivation to reduce drinking using an alcohol brief intervention (vs control intervention) and measured heavy drinkers’ attention to branding and warning labels with the same eye-tracking paradigm as in study 1. Then, in a separate task we experimentally manipulated attention by drawing a brightly colored border around health (or brand) information before measuring participants’ self-reported drinking intentions for the subsequent week.
Study 1 showed that participants paid minimal attention to warning labels (7% of viewing time). Participants who were motivated to reduce drinking paid less attention to alcohol branding and alcohol warning labels. Results from study 2 showed that the alcohol brief intervention decreased attention to branding compared to the control condition, but it did not affect attention to warning labels. Furthermore, the experimental manipulation of attention to health or brand information did not influence drinking intentions for the subsequent week.
Alcohol consumers allocate minimal attention to warning labels on alcohol packaging and even if their attention is directed to these warning labels, this has no impact on their drinking intentions. The lack of attention to warning labels, even among people who actively want to cut down, suggests that there is room for improvement in the content of health warnings on alcohol packaging.
In March 2011, alcohol beverage companies in the UK pledged to put warning labels on 80% of alcoholic drink containers as part of the public health responsibility deal . These labels contain 1) the alcohol content (UK units), 2) the daily guidelines for maximum alcohol consumption, 3) a pregnancy warning, 4) a link to drinkaware.co.uk, the website of an industry sponsored charity (optional), and 5) a responsibility statement (optional; ).Footnote 1 Warning labels have a limited effect on drinking behaviour. Narrative reviews of the evidence on alcohol health warnings demonstrated that public awareness of the warning label typically increases after implementation, but this does not translate to increased alcohol-related risk perceptions or reduced alcohol consumption [3–5]. Similarly, a systematic review showed that information-based policies (such as warning labelling) are generally ineffective , and researchers have argued that the pledges included in the responsibility deal are therefore unlikely to affect behaviour .
It is possible that warning labels have a limited effect on drinking behaviour because people pay little attention to them. Indeed, participants spent on average 7% of total viewing time looking at warning messages in alcohol advertisements . However, there are likely to be individual differences in the amount of attention paid to health warning information, which may be important. Tobacco and food literature shows that consumption habits [9, 10] and goals  affect attention towards warning labels. In turn, attention to warning labels might also influence behaviour. For example, bar visitors drank less alcohol if their attention had been drawn to warning labels . Similarly, nutrition labels had a stronger influence on product choice when they were attended to longer . This raises the possibility that if warning labels on alcohol packaging are sufficiently ‘attention grabbing’, their impact on alcohol consumption at the population level could be substantial.
Unfortunately, nothing is known about the extent to which alcohol consumers attend to warning labels, how much their attention is related to individual differences in drinking behaviour and motivation to change it, and whether beneficial behaviour change is a likely consequence of increasing attention to warning labels on packaging. The purpose of the studies reported here was to investigate how much attention is paid to warning labels and branding on alcohol beverage containers, and how individual differences in this are associated with individual differences in drinking behaviour and motivation to change it. In both studies, we measured participants’ eye movements towards brand information and warning labels whilst they viewed alcohol beverage containers. Study 1 was an exploratory study that gathered descriptive information about how much attention alcohol consumers pay to health information and investigated correlations between attention and drinking habits. We hypothesized that heightened motivation to reduce drinking would be associated with increased attention to health warnings. In study 2, we experimentally manipulated motivation to reduce drinking and attention to health warnings in order to investigate the causal relationships between them.
Sixty participants (63% female) were recruited via online advertisements circulated among students and staff of the University of Liverpool. The sample size was based on previous research on attention to warning labels in alcohol print advertisements . Participants were eligible to take part if they were aged over 18 and did not wear glasses. The majority were alcohol consumers (n = 58). Their mean age was 21.27 (SD = 3.61). They had a mean Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) score of 10.67 (SD = 6.54) and drank on average 32.12 (SD = 29.15) UK units in the 14 days prior to the experiment (1 UK unit = 8 g of alcohol). The study received ethical approval from the University of Liverpool Research Ethics Committee.
We photographed 50 beverage containers (bottles or cans) of various brands and types of alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages that included health/warning labels (i.e., UK warning label on alcohol containers, nutrition information on soda containers). We photographed 25 alcohol containers (11 bottles/cans of beer, 6 cans of pre-mixed cocktails, 3 bottles/cans of cider, 3 bottles of alcopops and 2 bottles of wine) and 25 soda containers (23 bottles/cans of carbonated soft drinks and 2 bottles of fruit juice). We took four photographs of each container, two of the front and two of the back. One front and one back picture depicted the whole bottle or can, whereas a different picture depicted a close-up of the front label and the back label. The location of the alcohol warning labels varied between the containers. All aspects of the warning labels were visible and readable in the close-up during the viewing task. Most warning labels were in compliance with the guidelines specified in the responsibility deal and included the alcohol content, the daily guidelines for alcohol consumption, a pregnancy warning, an optional link to drinkaware.co.uk, and an optional responsibility statement. Two labels also included nutrition information. Three labels did not meet the minimum requirements: they did not include the daily recommended guidelines, and two of these also did not include a pregnancy warning. Nevertheless, we included these labels in our analyses as research has shown that 22.4% of alcohol warning labels did not comply with the responsibility deal guidelines . Therefore, our stimuli were representative of the warning labels used in the UK.
Participants were asked to view images of beverage containers (viewing phase) before their memory for the containers was tested (recognition phase; the latter was included to encourage participants to pay close attention during the viewing phase). In the viewing phase participants viewed 40 containers from the stimulus set (20 alcohol, 20 soda). They were instructed to use the arrow keys to manipulate the display of the containers. The left and right arrow keys were used to alternate between front and back. The up arrow was used to zoom in on the label and the down arrow was used to zoom out. Each container was presented for 15 s and participants were free to manipulate the presentation of the container in any way they liked. Whether the ‘zoomed out’ front or back of the container was presented first was randomized on a trial-by-trial basis. To ensure that all participants had the same starting position at image onset, participants were instructed to look at a fixation cross that was presented for 1 s before the trial started. Participants’ eye movements were measured using an ASL Eye-Trac D6 (Applied Science Laboratories, Bedford, MA) at a sampling rate of 120 Hz.
In the recognition phase, participants were shown a second set of 20 images (10 new and 10 of the 40 that had been presented during the viewing phase) and were asked to indicate whether or not each image had been present in the previous set by pressing a “yes” or “no” button. Recognition accuracy was defined as the percentage of correct trials. Participants correctly answered M = 95.83% (SD = 5.38) of the recognition trials.
Alcohol use disorders identification test (AUDIT )
The AUDIT is a 10-item screening instrument assessing hazardous patterns of alcohol use and dependence symptoms. An example of an item is “How often do you have six or more drinks on one occasion?”. Each item is answered in a multiple choice format (e.g. “never”, “less than monthly”, “monthly”, “weekly” or “daily or almost daily”). Scores range between 0 and 40. AUDIT scores of 8 or higher are indicative of hazardous or harmful drinking patterns . The AUDIT has good test-retest reliability, internal reliability and construct validity .
14-day retrospective timeline follow-back diary (TLFB )
Participants were required to sum up for every day of the past two weeks, how many alcoholic drinks they had consumed in UK units. The TLFB has high test-retest reliability and good concurrent validity [17, 18].
Temptation Restraint Inventory – Restrain subscale (TRI )
The TRI restraint subscale is a 3-item scale answered on a 9-point Likert scale with anchors “never” and “always”. An example of an item is “How often do you attempt to cut down the amount you drink?”. Scores on the TRI restrain subscale range between 3 and 21. The TRI has adequate internal reliability and concurrent validity .
Readiness to Change Questionnaire (RTCQ )
The RTCQ is a questionnaire with three subscales (Precontemplation, Contemplation, and Action). The subscales are 4-item scales answered on a 5-point Likert scale with anchors “strongly disagree” and “strongly agree”. Examples of items are “I don’t think I drink too much” (precontemplation subscale), “I enjoy my drinking, but sometimes I drink too much” (contemplation subscale), and “I am trying to drink less than I used to” (action subscale). Scores on each RTCQ subscale range between−8 and 8. The RTCQ has good internal reliability and concurrent validity .
Contemplation ladder
The contemplation ladder is an 11-point scale on which participants are required to indicate their readiness to reduce their drinking (ranging from 0 “No thought of reducing how much I drink per occasion” to 10 “Taking action to reduce the number of drinks I have per occasion”). The contemplation ladder has good concurrent validity .
Dutch Eating Behaviour Questionnaire – Restraint subscale (DEBQ; )
Dietary restraint was measured with the DEBQ Restraint subscale. This is a 10-item scale answered in a multiple choice format (“not relevant”, “never”, “seldom”, “sometimes”, “often”, “very often”). An example of an item is “Do you watch exactly what you eat?”. Scores on the DEBQ Restraint subscale range between 10 and 50. The DEBQ Restraint subscale has high internal reliability and test-rest reliability  and good construct validity .
After providing informed consent, participants completed the eye-tracker task. Then, they completed the questionnaire battery on a computer. A motivation to reduce drinking score was created by averaging the TRI restraint subscale, the RTCQ contemplation and action subscales and the contemplation ladder as these scales were strongly correlated (r = .53–.80, ps < .001). Finally, participants were thanked and debriefed. Participants received study credits or a £5 shopping voucher.
Data preparation and analysis
On each container, Areas of Interest (AOIs) were created by assigning the warning label and any calorie information to the category Health; any brand information, such as the logo and any brand messages to the category Brand; and everything else (e.g., barcode, recycling logo, blank packaging material) to the category Rest. The relative size of each AOI was calculated by dividing the number of pixels in the area by the total number of pixels of the container. The complexity of each AOI was calculated by dividing the compressed file size by the uncompressed file size . Brightness and contrast values for each AOI were obtained using GNU Imagine Manipulation Program 2.
The different containers varied considerably in their visual characteristics (see Table 1), and conventional multivariate statistics are unable to control for this within-stimulus variability. Therefore, we used multilevel modelling to analyse eye movements. Data were organised in three levels, with AOIs (Brand, Health, Rest; level 1) nested in individual containers (40 containers; level 2) nested in data from each individual participant (level 3). To eliminate noise due to inaccurate eye-tracking, trials in which participant spent less than 50% of the viewing time looking at the product (Health, Brand and Rest combined – the only stimuli on the screen) were excluded from the analyses (12%). This percentage is similar to previous research on visual attention to tobacco warning labels, in which 8%  to 14%  of participants were excluded from analyses due to inaccurate tracking.
We created multilevel models to analyse the effect of stimulus characteristics and drinking habits on fixation time. AOI (brand, health, rest (reference category, dummy coded)), order of presentation, size, complexity, brightness, and contrast were level 1 predictors; picture type (alcohol, soda (reference category)) was a level 2 predictor; and motivation to reduce drinking, alcohol consumption, AUDIT scores and dietary restraint were level 3 predictors. The models included random intercepts for all three levels.
In Model 1, we included all level 1 and level 2 predictors and their first and second order interactions with AOI and picture type. Model 1 showed that stimulus characteristics significantly influenced attention to the different AOIs on alcohol and soda packaging. In Model 2, we included all level 3 predictors and their first and second order interactions with AOI and picture type. A chi-squared test showed that Model 2 was a significantly better fit than Model 1 (χ 2(24) = 1015.93, p < .001), indicating that both participant characteristics and stimulus characteristics predicted fixation time.
Attention to branding and health warnings (Fig. 1)
Over the 15 s viewing period, participants looked at alcohol warning labels for 1.03 s (SD = 0.89, 7%). A drink type (alcohol, soda) × AOI (brand, health, rest) repeated measures ANOVA revealed significant main effects of drink type (F(1, 56) = 63.97, p < .001, η2 p = .53) and AOI (F(2, 112) = 84.47, p < .001, η2 p = .60) that were qualified by a significant interaction (F(2, 112) = 71.09, p < .001, η2 p = .56). Post-hoc comparisons showed that participants spent less time viewing health information than brand information (alcohol t(58) = 14.36, p < .001, d = 1.87; soda t(56) = 7.17, p < .001, d = 0.95) and the rest of the packaging (alcohol t(58) = 10.62, p < .001, d = 1.38; soda t(56) = 12.95, p < .001, d = 1.71). Participants also looked longer at alcohol branding than the rest of the packaging, t(58) = 6.73, p < .001, d = 0.88, but less long at soda branding than the rest of the packaging, t(56) = 2.21, p = .03, d = 0.29. Participants attended more to alcohol than soda branding, t(56) = 11.78, p < .001, d = 1.56, and less to the rest of alcohol than soda packaging, t(56) = 4.44, p < .001, d = 0.59, but spent similar amounts of time viewing health warnings on alcohol and soda products, t(56) = .91, p = .37, d = 0.12.
The multilevel models revealed that the visual characteristics of branding and warning labels significantly affected attention. Alcohol warning labels were attended to longer when they were larger in size and less complex (see Additional file 1 for discussion).
Model 2 revealed a significant motivation to reduce drinking × AOI brand (vs health and rest) × picture type interaction (see Table 2). Motivation to reduce drinking was negatively associated with attention to branding on alcohol packaging. There was also a significant motivation to reduce drinking × AOI health (vs brand and rest) × picture type interaction: motivation to reduce drinking was negatively associated with attention to health warnings on alcohol packaging. Taken together, these results indicate that participants high in motivation to reduce drinking paid less attention to alcohol branding and health warnings and more attention to the rest of the packaging. Recent alcohol consumption and AUDIT scores were not significant predictors of attention. There was a significant association between dietary restraint and attention to branding, which is discussed in Additional file 2.
In study 2, we investigated the causal relationship between motivation to reduce drinking and attention allocation to branding/health warnings. First, to manipulate motivation to reduce drinking participants received a brief intervention regarding their drinking, or a control intervention. As the brief intervention predominantly targets people who drink in excess of the UK drinking guidelines, we recruited heavy drinkers. After the intervention, we measured attention to alcohol packaging. We hypothesized that participants would pay more attention to warning labels (and less to branding) after the alcohol intervention than the control intervention. Second, we manipulated attention to alcohol packaging so that participants either had to attend to warning labels or brand information. We used drinking intentions as the outcome measure, because they predict consumption  and are affected by changes in motivation to reduce drinking . We hypothesized that participants who attended to health warnings would intend to drink less in the subsequent week than those who attended to branding.
120 participants (65% female) were recruited via online advertisements circulated among students and staff at the University of Liverpool (see Table 3). They were eligible for participation if they were aged over 18, did not wear glasses and consumed more alcohol than the recommended UK guidelines (14 units/week for females, 21 units/week for males).Footnote 2 There was no formal screening in place to check whether participants fulfilled these criteria prior to taking part, but the eligibility criteria were emphasized at multiple times prior to the start of the lab session. The study received ethical approval from the University of Liverpool Research Ethics Committee.
We used the same stimuli and questionnaires as in study 1. Because the contemplation ladder was administered after the manipulation, baseline motivation to reduce drinking was defined as the average of the TRI restraint scale and RTCQ contemplation and action subscales, which were strongly correlated (r = .52–.68, ps < .001).
To measure drinking intentions, participants were asked how many pints of cider/beer, large glasses of wine, and shots of hard liquor they intended to drink in the next week . Their responses were combined into a single measure of intended consumption in UK units. Binge drinking intentions were measured with three 9-point Likert scales (e.g., “Do you plan to binge-drink in the next week?” ). The scores were averaged into a single binge drinking measure (α = .97).
The eye-tracker task was the same as in study 1, with the exception that participants only viewed 30 containers during the viewing phase (15 alcohol, 15 soda) and 12 containers in the recognition phase.
Screening and intervention programme for sensible drinking (SIPS) brief advice tool  and control
Participants were informed about their AUDIT scores and alcohol consumption, and the associated health risks, before receiving advice about population norms and the benefits of cutting down, followed by individualised tips to reduce their drinking. For the control condition, participants received brief advice on study habits. The advice closely followed the SIPS procedure, providing participants with information about different ways to study and their associated benefits and tailored tips to improve their own study habits (see Additional file 3).
Manipulation of attention task
Participants were informed that important information for the subsequent memory test would be highlighted. They viewed the back and front labels of 15 alcoholic drinks containers with a bright yellow border around either the warning label or the brand information. To manipulate attention, in the health exposure condition, the majority of the labels had a border around the warning label (13 labels, 86%), whereas in the brand exposure condition, the border was around the brand information.
After giving consent, participants filled out the alcohol diary, AUDIT, TRI, and RTCQ. Then, half of the participants received brief advice on sensible alcohol consumption (alcohol advice condition), whilst the other half received brief advice about study habits (control condition). Then, participants did the viewing task. They were asked to indicate their motivation to reduce drinking on the contemplation ladder before and after the task. After this, participants received the manipulation of attention task. Half of the participants in the alcohol advice and control condition were allocated to the brand exposure condition and the other half were allocated to the health exposure condition. Allocation to the advice conditions and attention conditions was randomized. Then, participants completed the drinking intentions questionnaire and the DEBQ, followed by a bogus memory task to corroborate the stated aim of the manipulation of attention task. Finally, participants were thanked and debriefed. Participants received study credits or a £5 high street voucher.
Data preparation and analyses
We employed the same data preparation and analysis strategy for the viewing task as in study 1. Trials in which participants spent less than 50% of the viewing time looking at the stimuli were removed due to inaccurate tracking (9%). A model with the level 1 and level 2 predictors (Model 1) was compared with Model 2, which also included condition (alcohol advice vs control), and baseline motivation to reduce drinking as participant-level predictors (level 3). A chi-squared test showed that Model 2 was a significantly better fit than Model 1 (χ 2(12) = 31.72, p < .001), which indicates that the level 3 variables predicted fixation time above and beyond stimulus characteristics.
A 2 (advice condition: alcohol, control) × 2 (exposure condition: brand, health) MANOVA with age, recent alcohol consumption, AUDIT scores and the baseline measure of motivation to reduce drinking as dependent variables revealed significant baseline differences between conditions. There were significant group differences in motivation to reduce drinking for the advice conditions (F(1, 116) = 4.20, p = .04, η2 p = .04), which were qualified by a significant advice × exposure condition interaction on motivation to reduce drinking (F(1, 116) = 5.99, p = .02, η2 p = .05). Post-hoc t-tests showed that participants in the control condition had a stronger baseline motivation to reduce drinking than participants in the alcohol advice condition, t(118) = 2.02, p = .046, d = .37. This difference between advice conditions was only significant among participants in the brand exposure condition, t(58) = 3.39, p = .001, d = .88, and not among those in the health exposure condition, t(58) = .27, p = .79, d = .07, see Table 3. There were no significant baseline differences in age, recent alcohol consumption, and AUDIT scores (all ps > .23).
An independent samples t-test revealed no significant difference in contemplation ladder scores between the alcohol advice condition (M = 4.72, SD = 2.82) and the control condition (M = 3.95, SD = 2.94), t(118) = 1.46, p = .15, d = .27. Therefore, the SIPS manipulation did not increase motivation to reduce drinking.
Effects of advice condition on free viewing (Fig. 2)
Over a 15 s viewing period, participants looked at alcohol warning labels for 1.20s (SD = 0.81, 8%). There was a significant AOI brand × condition interaction, indicating that participants who received alcohol advice spent less time viewing brand information than those in the control condition (see Table 4). The non-significant AOI brand × picture type × condition interaction showed that the relation between condition and attention to branding did not depend on picture type (alcohol vs. soda). The AOI health × condition and the AOI health × picture type × condition interactions were non-significant. This indicates that participants who received alcohol advice did not compensate their reduced attention to branding by increasing attention to health warnings on alcohol or soda containers, but instead increased their attention to the rest of the packaging.
Participants in the brand attention condition fixated longer on brand (M = 2.41, SD = 1.21) than health information (M = 1.05, SD = 0.42) and participants in the health attention condition fixated longer on health (M = 2.13, SD = 1.05) than brand information (M = .86, SD = .53; F(1,116) = 133.24, p < .001, η2 p = .58). Therefore, the manipulation of attention was successful.
Effect of attention to brand and health information on drinking intentions
A 2 (exposure; brand, health) by 2 (condition; alcohol advice, control) MANOVA with binge drinking intentions and intended consumption as the DVs showed that exposure did not significantly affect drinking intentions (Multivariate F(2, 115) = .47, p = .62, η2 p = .01). Neither did condition (Multivariate F(2, 115) = 1.94, p = .15, η2 p = .03), or the interaction between exposure and condition (Multivariate F(2,115) = .64, p = .53, η2 p = .01).
In two studies, we investigated alcohol consumers’ attention to warning labels on alcohol packaging, and how this is associated with individual differences in motivation to reduce drinking. The results showed that people paid minimal attention to warning labels on alcohol packaging (7–8% of total viewing time). In study 1, we demonstrated that self-reported motivation to reduce drinking reduced attention to both branding and warning labels on alcohol packaging. Although we did not replicate this association in study 2, we did demonstrate that a brief alcohol intervention reduced attention to branding, although this effect was not specific for alcohol packaging and the brief alcohol intervention did not influence participants’ motivation to reduce drinking. Contrary to hypotheses, our experimental manipulation that encouraged participants to focus their attention on warning labels did not affect their drinking intentions for the subsequent week.
A possible explanation is that participants do not particularly notice warning labels, due to their current design [14, 32]. Our results show that alcohol warning labels on average take up less than 5% of the packaging and that attention to warning labels is roughly proportional to their size. Additionally, our results suggest that large alcohol warning labels attracted more attention, but we did not experimentally test this. Research regarding tobacco labels supports this: larger labels increased message recall compared to smaller labels . Another explanation is that participants do not see the current warning label as goal-relevant. This might be because it does not show the consequences of exceeding the recommended guidelines. Additionally, research suggests that “drink responsibly” messages (as included in the UK warning labels) are primarily used as a means to promote drinking [34–36] rather than raise awareness of the harmful consequences of alcohol consumption. Therefore, participants who are motivated to reduce drinking might view them as another part of the product branding, and subsequently avoid them. Indeed, some researchers argue that alcohol warning labels should be more like tobacco warnings and nutrition labels and provide clear information about alcohol-related risks and unambiguous behavioural recommendations in order to increase their effectiveness [37, 38].
Indeed, Al-hamdani and Smith  demonstrated that warning labels that provided unambiguous information about the effect of alcohol consumption on liver cancer made people perceive the product more negatively compared to non-labelled products. Similarly, warning labels about cancer also increased participants’ intentions to reduce drinking [40, 41] and reduced participants’ drinking speed , regardless of whether the warning label was text-only or included a picture of liver cancer. Another recent study showed that the inclusion of a self-affirming implementation intention in addition to the standard UK warning label reduced alcohol consumption at one month follow-up . Research on the effect of alcohol warning advertisements demonstrated that exposure to warnings affected urge to drink via increased negative affect in response to the warnings . This suggests that alcohol warning labels might need to elicit negative emotions in order to reduce consumption. Future research should explore the effect of label design and content on attention. Increasing the visual salience of warning labels by using plain packaging [9, 10], graphic warnings  and front-of-pack labelling  might be more effective in attracting and maintaining attention, as shown in tobacco and food research.
These studies have some limitations. The viewing task in both studies comprised a 15 s viewing period for each beverage container and it was framed as a memory task to ensure that participants would attend to the packaging. The length of exposure and the instructions might have increased attention to areas that participants would normally ignore. Additionally, the alcohol advice manipulation did not increase motivation to reduce drinking, which means that the significant effect of advice condition cannot be interpreted as an effect of motivation to reduce drinking. Finally, when viewing multiple products at the same time, people pay more attention to the product they prefer . We did not measure brand preferences in these studies, so it is possible that individual differences in brand preferences affected attention allocation to the branding/health warnings. However, we showed each product by itself, so there was no competition for attention between brands. Additionally, everyone had to view each product for exactly 15 s, so participants could not decide to view the product for a shorter amount of time if they did not prefer the brand. Therefore, it is unlikely that individual differences in brand preferences had a substantial effect on our results. Our study also had strengths. We used existing alcohol containers with current UK health warnings and used multilevel modelling to control for differences in packaging design. We also used a combination of correlational and experimental designs to investigate the relation between motivation to reduce drinking and attention. Additionally, we allowed participants to manipulate their view of the beverage containers (front/back, zoomed in/out) in any way they liked, which is more similar to real life viewing conditions. However, it should be noted that the manipulation of the containers was not the same as participants handling the container, which would have allowed them to tilt the container in order to better view vertical labels, for example.
To conclude, our studies show that people pay minimal attention to current UK warning labels on alcohol packaging. Motivation to reduce drinking decreases attention to branding, but does not increase attention to warning labels. Drinking intentions were not affected by attention to warning labels, even when participants had to attend to them. Changes in warning label design that make the label more visually salient and content are advised.
One might argue that these labels do not warn against any adverse outcomes and should therefore not be called warning labels. In previous literature, these types of “drink responsibly” labels have been referred to as “warning labels” or “health warnings” . For the sake of consistency, we will refer to the drinkaware labels as health warning labels in this manuscript.
Recruitment for this study took place from May 2014 – September 2015, before the UK guidelines were revised (January 2016).
Area of Interest
Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test
Dutch Eating Behaviour Questionnaire
Readiness to Change Questionnaire
Screening and intervention program for sensible drinking
Temptation Restraint Inventory
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The work was undertaken by the UK Centre for Tobacco and Alcohol Studies, a UKCRC Public Health Research Centre of Excellence. Funding from the Medical Research Council, British Heart Foundation, Cancer Research UK, Economic and Social Research Council and the National Institute for Health Research under the auspices of the UK Clinical Research Collaboration, is gratefully acknowledged. Funding bodies had no influence on the study design nor data collection, analysis and interpretation.
Availability of data and material
Data and materials will be made available upon request.
IK carried out the eye-tracking experiments, the analyses and drafted the manuscript. MF supervised the study conduct and helped draft the manuscript. Both authors were involved in the study design. Both authors read and approved the final manuscript.
The authors declare that they have no competing interests.
Consent for publication
Ethics approval and consent to participate
The study received ethical approval from the University of Liverpool Research Ethics Committee. Reference: IPHS-1213-LB-024. All participants gave informed consent prior to taking part.
Study 1 – visual characteristics. A discussion of the association between stimulus size and complexity and visual attention to warning labels. (DOCX 12 kb)
Study 1 – dietary restraint. A discussion of the association between dietary restraint and visual attention to branding. (DOCX 18 kb)
Control intervention. Stimulus material used as part of the control invention regarding study habits. (PDF 410 kb)
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Kersbergen, I., Field, M. Alcohol consumers’ attention to warning labels and brand information on alcohol packaging: Findings from cross-sectional and experimental studies. BMC Public Health 17, 123 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-017-4055-8
- Alcohol packaging
- Health warnings
- Motivation to reduce drinking
- Visual attention

domain: health