Disarmament DiplomacyIssue No. 48, July 2000
US Defense Secretary NMD Testimony'Statement of the Honorable William S. Cohen, Secretary of Defense, Before the Senate Armed Services Committee Hearing on National Missile Defense, July 25, 2000,' US Department of Defense transcript.
"I. The Threat
… The Intelligence Community estimates that over the next 15 years the United States most likely will face ICBM threats from North Korea, probably Iran, and possibly Iraq in addition to long-standing missile capabilities of Russia and China.
The arsenals these states are developing will be much smaller, less accurate and less reliable than those of the Russians and Chinese, but they will still pose a significant threat to the United States in the hands of the leaders of those countries. From my perspective, the utility of considering active defenses against missiles from states like North Korea, Iran and Iraq does not depend on a judgment that their leaders are utterly indifferent to the prospect of retaliation. Rather it is based on a recognition that leaders of these isolated states might be prepared to use WMD attacks - and risk retaliation - in circumstances where more traditional, or at least more cautious, leaders would not. Leaders such as Saddam Hussein and Kim Jong-il have established records of indifference to the suffering of their own populations and they value regime survival above all else.
The most troubling scenario would be a miscalculation by states that acquire a missile capable of reaching the United States taking action to start a regional conflict, in the mistaken belief that by threatening strikes at the US, their missiles would prevent us from meeting our commitments. Any nation using weapons of mass destruction against the United States, its forces, or its allies, would face a prompt and overwhelming response. This is a powerful deterrent - and one we will maintain, whatever we do about other defenses. However, far from undermining deterrence, missile defenses complement overall deterrence by enhancing the United States' ability to fulfill its global security commitments to allies and friends. They present a potential aggressor with the prospect that an attack will not only be fatal - because of retaliation - but also futile - because it will be blocked from striking its target.
II. The Technology
A. The NMD Development Effort
On the basis of a recognition of this potential threat, the Congress and the Administration have for five years now funded an ambitious program to devise a national defense against a limited missile attack. The program has been based on an objective of doing sufficient development work that a decision on deployment could be made as early as 2000. This is an ambitious program, but it is not excessively so. When I became Secretary of Defense, my hope was to give the President the option to field a missile defense by 2003. In 1998, after carefully reviewing the program it became clear to me that that target was unrealistic. Rather than rush to failure, I extended the target deployment date by two years, to 2005. That was identified by BMDO [Ballistic Missile Defense Organization] as the soonest it would be ready to deploy. We have always said that even this date is ambitious, but the threat is continuing to develop, and so there is a premium on being able to deploy a defense rapidly.
Accordingly, in designing the system, the engineers were given guidelines to develop a system that could be deployed quickly, and that implied using mature technology. The elements of the system therefore include an X-band radar at Shemya [in Alaska], upgrades to the five existing Early Warning Radars, the existing DSP launch detection system to be supplemented by SBIRS-High, and an interception system incorporating a hit-to-kill EKV - all linked by a command and control system. The key technological advance in this system is the exoatmospheric kill vehicle (EKV). This is the component that destroys the enemy missile in space by a direct collision.
B. The Test Results to Date
The program provides for an extensive and graduated set of tests, of increasing complexity, to help provide the basis for decisions on successive stages of development.
Last October, in the first test of the EKV, it successfully discerned the target from a decoy, positioned itself and obliterated the target warhead with a direct hit. A second test in January failed because of a problem with the cooling system that prevented the EKV's sensor from working properly in the final seconds of the test. Other elements of the system, including the integrated operation of sensors with the interceptor functioned as designed. As you know, the third test conducted on July 7, also did not succeed in testing the interceptor system, because the EKV did not separate from its final rocket booster stage. As the committee is well aware, booster failures are a fact of life when you are dealing with missiles; we know how to correct these problems and our R&D program, though ambitions, can accommodate such disappointments. The 7 July test, while not successful, was not without benefit - and does not show, as some have claimed, that the system is not technologically feasible. It demonstrated that the sensors and battle management systems could and did work together as an integrated system. Satellite sensors and upgraded early warning radars worked as specified, the X-band radar prototype worked better than anticipated, and the command and control system performed well. The last point is important because no interceptor could locate and destroy an enemy missile without a sound foundation of effective detection and tracking sensors, battle management, and reliable communications to cue and control system elements in an integrated manner. This was just the third intercept test in a series of 19 before a possible 2005 deployment date. Nevertheless, so far in our overall testing process, we have successfully demonstrated the bulk of the system's critical engagement functions.
C. The Stages of Decisions To Deployment
Because of the high risk of the program's compressed schedule, we have phased the major decisions over several years to help spread that risk. Some decisions are schedule-driven so that the initial NMD deployment can be completed by 2005. For example, if we are to have the X-band radar at Shemya in place and operational in time to support a 2005 IOC, a decision will have to be made by late this year to move forward with construction contracts for preparatory work beginning in the late spring of 2001. The timing on that is driven by the weather conditions on Shemya and the short construction season there.
Further important decisions points on the road to a 2005 IOC would be made in subsequent years, as more milestones are passed. In particular, our current plan calls for making a decision on the final configuration of the ground-based interceptor in 2003, after it has been successfully tested with its new booster and has undergone further flight tests that, among other objectives, will increasingly challenge its ability to discriminate among countermeasures. …
At the moment, we are reviewing the recent and earlier test results in detail, and I expect a report will be provided to me within the next several weeks on the feasibility of the NMD system design and the maturity of its engineering. This will be an important input for the Department's Deployment Readiness Review (DRR) in early August, and to me as I prepare my recommendation to the President.
D. The Deployment Readiness Review (DRR)
The DRR is an important step in a lengthy, staged set of decisions leading to ultimate deployment. This year's DRR will be the culmination of an ongoing multi-tiered process of evaluation of progress so far, as well as the first of at least three major acquisition decision milestones that will take place over the next five years to determine the system's technological status and operational readiness to move forward toward deployment. Other intermediate decision milestones include a decision in 2001 by the Defense Acquisition Board on initiation of the early warning radar upgrade, building the X-band radar, and integration of the battle management command and control into the Cheyenne Mountain complex. As noted above, another DAB review scheduled for 2003, will make a decision on the final configuration of the interceptor and on proceeding to series production of the interceptors. …
The DRR event will take place in August at the Defense Acquisition Executive level with full participation from all Department of Defense stakeholders… The review will result in a series of findings concerning the NMD system's technological readiness and cost, which then will be forwarded to me for review and evaluation. I will produce my own assessment regarding the technological feasibility and affordability of the NMD system and develop a recommendation to be forwarded to the President through the National Security Council (NSC). The NSC will review my findings and supporting assessments and weigh these factors along with assessments of the threat and implications of NMD deployment for national security policy. The NSC then will recommend to the President how to proceed with the NMD program.
E. Alternate NMD Architectures
Turning to alternative NMD architectures, the NMD system that we are planning was chosen based on the assessment of our best technical experts. The technical experts who designed the system were asked to devise a system that could be deployed rapidly, in time to meet the expected threat, which naturally focused the effort on mature technology.
Other systems were considered, including boost-phase interceptors and sea-based systems, but the technological challenges of those alternatives were judged to be greater than those posed by the system we have designed, making timely deployment impossible. In particular, the sea-based theater missile defense systems currently under development are not capable against intercontinental range missiles and would require fundamental - and time consuming - redesign to be effective against long-range threats.
Similarly, the United States remains interested in exploring the boost-phase intercept concept, but it too, like sea-based systems, cannot substitute for the limited NMD now under development, at least if we are to have the option of having an operational system on anything comparable to the 2005 timeline we have established. There are major technical, geographical and political challenges associated with the effort to intercept a very long-range ballistic missile in the boost phase. No US defense system currently under development has been designed to perform this task. Development of a boost-phase intercept system capable of defeating intercontinental strategic ballistic missiles, therefore, would take many years - well beyond the date by which we expect a strategic ballistic missile threat from North Korea and possibly from Iran will have emerged.
We continue, despite these problems, to study other systems, including sea-based and boost-phase. In response to Congressional guidance, BMDO and the Navy have been conducting an in-depth examination of how naval systems could potentially supplement or complement the land-based NMD system currently in development. They are completing work on a report that discusses various approaches that employ ship-based radar sensors and interceptor missiles that could contribute to the NMD mission, as well as notional concepts for carrying out these operations and first order costs of these systems. The report is focused heavily on ship-based concepts that - like the land-based system under development - intercept strategic missile RVs [re-entry vehicles] during the mid-course portion of their flight path. These sea-based adjuncts are largely dependent on the space-based and ground-based sensors and command and control systems that would be deployed with the ground-based limited NMD currently under development. The report will also briefly discuss the potential for boost-phase intercept of an adversary long-range missile from Navy ships.
There are both significant potential advantages and disadvantages to a sea-based system. A ship-based radar sensor, if deployed forward, near the missile launch site, would provide earlier detection, tracking, discrimination and, importantly, longer time for decisions against certain threats. Certainly, additional sea-based interceptors would provide the potential for layered intercepts at different closing angles and speeds, and increase our ability to handle larger attacks, thereby making it an attractive complement to a land-based NMD system. Some of the disadvantages of a sea-based system include limitations on operational range in some scenarios, and the current lack of any high performance interceptors and interceptor platforms that could be deployed to meet the near-term threat. This would require a significant R&D program. Additionally, any sea-based, mid-course intercept system would require full land-based sensor architecture to work effectively. As made clear in the 1998 report to the Congress, the Navy Theater Wide (NTW) Block 11 system - a theater missile defense system - alone would have no useful capability against ICBMs or SLBMs.
We have also examined concepts for boost-phase intercept NMD systems. An effective boost-phase intercept system would have the advantage of destroying an enemy missile before it could release multiple warheads or countermeasures. This feature makes it a very attractive concept. However, there are several significant challenges associated with this approach. It requires very quick reaction. Long-range missiles are in the boost phase for only a few minutes. This would put significant stress on an NMD system because it would require rapid detection and response. The flight path and speed of a missile during the boost phase are erratic, thus requiring continuous tracking of the missile and relaying that data to the interceptor in flight. In addition, this short time window would also require a highly maneuverable interceptor that could accelerate rapidly to high speed and carry sophisticated sensors able to home in on the missile rather than the hot exhaust plume. This would also require the interceptor to be deployed down-range from and within a few hundred kilometers from the launch site to reach intercept it in time. Such geographic limitations may make it difficult to find third countries willing to host these interceptors.
The most practical role for a sea-based and/or boost phase NMD systems would be as an adjunct to a land-based system, not as a replacement for it. Additionally, sea-based and boost-phase NMD systems would also require amending the ABM Treaty.
A number of critics have charged that our current NMD system design, by focusing on the mid-course intercept, when a missile is in space, leaves itself open to defeat by countermeasures. We understand the serious challenge posed by countermeasures. …
It is important to point out that the US has been working on countermeasure technology for decades, and it is far more difficult to make effective countermeasures than some critics seem willing to acknowledge, particularly if one takes into account the inherent capacity of the system to be adapted and upgraded against an evolving countermeasure challenge. Our own work also underscores the point that, unless a potential aggressor state tests its countermeasures - and we have seen nothing of that from states of concern so far - those countermeasures may well not work. Without adequate testing, potential aggressors cannot be confident that their missiles or countermeasures would be effective against our advanced discrimination and kill technologies.
Nevertheless, having the ability to overcome an adversary's countermeasures must be taken very seriously, and I would make the following points. First, our steadily improving computing power and sensor capabilities will assist us greatly in dealing with countermeasures. Furthermore, the NMD system that we are developing will be far more robust than many suggest. It will not rely solely on the kill vehicle's infrared and optical sensors. In addition to the EKV's organic sensors, the system will employ an integrated set of multi-spectral sensors, space-based and land-based to track incoming RVs and distinguish them from countermeasures. This allows the sensor complex to view the 'threat clusters' speeding through space from different angles over the much longer period of time that mid-course intercept affords, and provides the opportunity to reliably discriminate between RVs and various types of penetration aids. Additionally, multiple shot opportunities built into our limited NMD concept dramatically increase confidence of successful intercepts. Moreover, our NMD system is not designed to be static, but to incorporate increasingly advanced technologies over time to ensure we are able to deal effectively with more sophisticated threats. We will be adding new, capable software tools and technologies to the system, including the infrared sensor suite on the SBIRS-Low satellites, which will be used to help identify and discriminate between RVs and accompanying countermeasures.
My recommendation to the President will also include a current estimate of the cost of the system. Ballistic missile defense is not inexpensive, and we need to be sure every defense dollar is efficiently spent, but the cost of a limited national missile defense is not disproportionate in the context of the overall defense budget over the relevant period. Since 1991, we have spent some $5.7 billion on national missile defense. The current estimate for the full cost of developing and deploying the initial phase of a limited defense is approximately $20.3 billion. Funds sufficient to support the currently estimated cost of phase one are included in our five-year budget plan. The CBO [Congressional Budget Office] estimate is slightly higher because they estimate higher construction costs, a need for more test/spare interceptors, and more expensive interceptor production. … These are obviously large amounts of money, and there are always uncertainties about cost estimates at this stage of a program. As a part of my recommendation, I will advise the President on the impact of proceeding with NMD on our overall defense budget priorities, i.e., on the affordability of the program in the context of our total defense needs.
IV. Impact on International Security, Including Arms Control
A. Commitment to Arms Control
Our work on this subject is not simply a matter of technological development; it takes into account the broader political and strategic context. As I noted earlier, the basic reason for our consideration of this system is strategic - to supplement diplomacy and deterrence as instruments for preventing potential aggressors from mounting an attack. However, we recognize that our decisions on an NMD system have potential impacts on other aspects of international security - our relations with our allies and with Russia and China, and on arms control. We do not want in the course of dealing with these limited, but serious, threats from countries like North Korea or Iran, to create new problems with Russia and other nations that we can reasonably avoid. …
There is no reason we - and the world - should be faced with a choice between defending our population against the emerging threat of attack by limited missile capabilities of rogue states, on the one hand, and preserving arms control on the other. The ABM Treaty expressly provides for revisions to take account of changes in the strategic situation. The purpose of the ABM Treaty is not to ban defenses altogether. It does not do that - in fact, an ABM system is already deployed to defend Moscow. Rather, the purpose of the Treaty is to ensure that each party's strategic deterrent is not threatened by the missile defenses of the other party. The limited NMD system we are developing would not threaten Russia's strategic deterrent, even at START III warhead levels - or indeed even well below those levels.
B. Discussions with Russia
Over the last year, US, Russian and NATO officials have held intensive discussions on ballistic missile defense. We have stressed that the system we are considering would not threaten the Russian deterrent and is consistent with the purpose of the ABM Treaty. We have proposed modifications to the ABM Treaty that would permit the deployment of the initial system I have described. We have also indicated that, to meet the emerging threat we expect from the Middle East, we would need to deploy a larger system, and would expect to begin negotiations on modifications of the Treaty needed to permit such a system early in the next Administration. We have also emphasized that we are prepared to cooperate with Russia on insuring the transparency of our program - so they will be confident it is no threat to their strategic capabilities. …
We seek Russia's agreement to those changes to the ABM Treaty required to permit us to meet our initial goal and defend against these limited threats. An important element of our proposal includes measures of cooperation and transparency that would give Russia confidence that the system was not being expanded beyond its limited scale. We have already made progress on this effort. We have also proposed ways to move ahead to reduce further offensive nuclear weapons under START III.
In June, Presidents Clinton and Putin agreed to establish a joint warning center in Moscow, where Russian and US personnel will monitor global ballistic missile launches. This will reduce the possibility that either side would misinterpret an event as a hostile act. In Okinawa, the Presidents agreed to move forward with the joint warning center within the year; they also agreed on other concrete measures to cooperate on reducing proliferation threats.
One topic of discussion has been President Putin's recent proposal for cooperation between NATO and Russia in non-strategic (theater) missile defense and indications of Russian interest in the development of missile defense systems that intercept adversary missiles during their initial boost-phase of flight. In my discussions with President Putin and Marshal Sergeyev, I repeatedly stressed that the United States is interested in exploring - first with our NATO Allies and then with Russia - possibilities for cooperation between NATO and Russia on defenses against non-strategic ballistic missiles (missiles with a range less than 3,500 km). I also made clear that defenses against non-strategic ballistic missiles cannot substitute for defenses against the emerging threat of strategic ballistic missiles that could strike the United States. The NATO-Russia Permanent Joint Council held its first discussion of possible NATO-Russia TMD cooperation in late June, but it will take some time for Russia and NATO to develop specific proposals in this area.
President Putin, Marshal Sergeyev and I also discussed at some length the possibility for boost-phase intercept of ballistic missiles during my visit to Moscow in mid-June. We agreed that US and Russian experts would consider the concept at the US-Russian Defense Consultative Group meetings in late June. At that meeting US experts laid out the various technical and political challenges associated with boost phase intercepts of long-range missiles. The Russian side asked a few questions but indicated that it was not yet ready to discuss these matters in any detail. We will continue to explore this idea further in future meetings with the Russians. I would note, in this general context that, any system capable of defending against strategic ballistic missiles at any point in their flight would, by definition, be a strategic ballistic missile defense system falling within the limits of the ABM Treaty. Thus, development and deployment of boost-phase intercept systems for national missile defense would not obviate the need to amend the ABM Treaty.
C. Discussions with China
We have had extensive discussions of NMD with the government of China. Indeed, NMD was one of the chief topics of my recent meetings with the Chinese leadership in Beijing. The whole issue of missile defense, in all its aspects, is an issue between the US and China. The Chinese, as you know, oppose our NMD program, as they do our R&D cooperation on TMD with Japan. They are also strongly opposed to any sale of TMD capability to Taiwan. We have explained the reasons for our consideration of NMD, and made the point that neither the NMD system we have under consideration nor our TMD cooperation with Japan is designed against China, and that, in any event, we do not expect our relations with China to be such that the question of China using its nuclear capability against the US - or indeed Japan or any other US ally - would arise. The question of the impact of NMD as such on our relations with China needs to be considered in light of the fact that China has, for some years, been pursuing development of a more modem, more survivable, and more capable long-range missile capability.
D. Discussion with Allies
We have had extensive discussions about our NMD proposal with NATO allies and we will weigh allied views, and impact on alliance relationships in our decisions. It is important to do this because we want the NATO alliance to continue to be a strong and effective instrument of Atlantic security in the conditions we will face in the coming years, and that requires a high degree allied understanding of our major defense policies. Beyond that, two of the radars in our NMD proposal are located in NATO countries, and so their consent will be needed for us to use them.
Our basic message to our allies has been that the missile threat from states like North Korea and Iran is growing and presents a potentially significant problem. We have explained the strategic rationale for defenses, and why they would re-enforce, not undermine, deterrence. And we have explained that we are committed to seeking to preserve the ABM Treaty as a foundation of strategic stability and why the ABM Treaty can readily be modified to permit defenses against limited ballistic missile attacks while continuing to foster strategic stability. As to the allied reaction, I think it fair to say that the allies broadly accept our analysis of the threat and the strategic problem it poses. While they increasingly understand our reasons for considering deploying a defense, they are also very concerned about the Russian (and to some degree, the Chinese) reaction, and are eager to see the ABM Treaty preserved. None of our allies have formally asked to be included in our NMD system, but many recognize that the same missile programs that threaten us would also be a danger to them. Should any of our allies be interested in cooperating with us to build a defense for themselves against long-range missiles, the President has said we are open to working with them. We have informed the Russians that such measures of cooperation would have to be addressed in the context of further modifications of the Treaty to permit deployments beyond the initial phase.
In summary, the mission of our NMD program is clear: to develop and test in a timely manner a missile defense system that will be able to protect our nation from either the threat or limited use of ICBMs, and be able to deploy that system following a decision by the President. The technical challenges and technology development tasks involved in this mission are daunting. We are, however, in the process of meeting those challenges, and working hard - and carefully - to achieve the incremental success needed to produce a strong and effective NMD system. …"
Note: Speaking to reporters the day after his testimony to the Armed Services Committee, Cohen gave the clearest indication yet that the President's response to the DRR would not amount to a decision, positive or negative, on NMD deployment, but would rather concern initial, preparatory work - clearing ground, rather than beginning construction - at the Shemya Island radar site. If such preparatory work was approved, Cohen argued, it would keep alive for the President's successor, the possibility of moving toward NMD deployment by 2005:
"All the President would do on this occasion is to decide whether he would want to keep that option open to hit the initial operating capability [target date] of 2005. … If we want to keep that option open, the President could make a decision saying, 'let the contracts for the fall'… No construction would begin until next year, and at that point, his successor would be in a position to make a judgment… The decision that the President will make during the course of either August or early September would be a recommendation as to whether to continue the process so that his successor would be in a position to have the option to go forward with the actual deployment of the system, beginning with a radar construction in Alaska…" (Clinton to pass on anti-missile deployment - Cohen, Reuters, July 26.) See the next issue for details and reaction.
© 2000 The Acronym Institute.


text:
I'm seriously on a writing roll lately.
Everything around me seems to be buzzing busy again. I have a graphic designer who, although is quite arguably the most hyper-active woman on the planet (my girlfriend excluded) is so bloody fantastic when it comes to design I could just crush her. Seriously, she's so little I can't get over the urge to hug her so tightly and bite her little round cheeks (only after putting a thousand little peck kisses on them.) She's tragically cute and funny as hell and is doing my book cover for free.
Well not exactly for free, but in exchange for seats at the ARIA awards coming up in October, as I got a small stash of media tickets for the event and am now very fucking popular among the office crowd. I have also been given media room backstage passes for the event, 2 of them. But they have these restrictions on how they can be used, etc. Meaning I can't just bring my girlfriend.....which presents a bit of an awkward situation on who I'm bringing with me while my girl happily watches the show from the audience.
So the book is on the fast track to being complete now before the end of the year...AND will be available to purchase on all those flash online bookstores, etc. Kinda weird in a freakish sort of way, something so personal about Abby mass marketed in a commercial sort of way. She'd totally kick my ass if she could.

domain: artistic


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The Steelers finished the first quarter of the season with a dismal 1-2-1 record. A lackadaisical second half against Baltimore left the Steelers in last place in the division and in 12th place overall in the AFC. There is a lot of ground to make up over the next 13 weeks if the Steelers want to make the postseason for the 5th straight season. In 2017, the Steelers seemed to rediscover their defensive identity, finishing in the Top 10 in the league in Total Defense, Pass Defense, Run Defense, Scoring Defense, and Sacks. Unfortunately, since Ryan Shazier’s injury the team has not been the same. Despite signing two free agents to be defensive starters and using a first round draft pick on a safety, the Steelers defense has continued to struggle in 2018. In fact, their struggles through four games are so dire they are on an historically awful pace.
The Steelers have allowed 116 points through four games. They have not held a single team under 20 points and gave up 42 to Kansas City, the most given up in a home regular season game since 2000. This 116 points through four games equates to an average of 29.0 points per game. In franchise history, the two worst defensive seasons were in 1988 and 1969. In 1988 the Steelers allowed a team-record 421 points to be scored against them. This was a 16-game season and equates to an average of 26.3 points per game. In 1969, the Steelers allowed 404 points in a 14-game season, an average of 28.9 points per game. The 1969 season is memorable for the Steelers winning their opener against Detroit then dropping the next 13 games.
It is also worth noting that the 2018 Steelers have not allowed a defensive or special teams touchdown. The 1969 Steelers gave up 5 non-offensive touchdowns and the 1988 Steelers gave up 4 non-offensive touchdowns, which padded the total of “points against.” The 2018 Steelers are currently on a worse pace than both of those historically bad teams. If the current trend holds, the Steelers will obliterate their record of 421 points allowed by giving up 464 points. Since 1940, 40 teams in NFL history have allowed more than 450 points in a season. The 2000 St. Louis Rams are the only one of those 40 teams to finish with a winning record.
The past few seasons, the Steelers have relied on a “bend but don’t break” defense. This has meant that they have surrendered a lot of yards between the 20s, but were able to tighten up and get stops in the red zone. In the last five years, the Steelers have had four of their seven highest yardage totals allowed in franchise history. The team record was set in 2015 when they allowed 5809 yards. They allowed over 5000 yards in the 2013, 2014, and 2016 seasons, something that has happened just 10 times in team history. Part of this recent explosion of yards allowed follows a league-wide trend as rules changes have significantly benefited the proliferation of the passing game.
The 2015 team, which allowed the franchise record 5809 yards, topped the aforementioned 1988 squad by just 4 yards. In 2015, the Steelers opponents averaged 363 yards per game. On a per-game basis, the 1954 Steelers who allowed 364.2 yards per game in a 12-game season hold the high water mark. Through four games in 2018, the Steelers have allowed 1682 yards, an astounding 420.5 yards per game. This is not just a factor of the evolution of the NFL. The Steelers are well below the league-average pace, ranking 30th in total defense, allowing nearly 60 more yards than the average team. If the Steelers continue on this current pace, they will allow 6,728 yards. Only 3 teams in NFL history have allowed over 6,700 yards in a season – the 2012 Saints (7042 yards), the 1981 Colts (6793 yards), and the 2015 Giants (6725 yards).
A Problem With Volume
Through four games, the 2018 Steelers are on pace to allow more yards and more points than any other team in franchise history. The biggest reason for this is simply the amount of plays the Steelers are asking their players to defend. So far this season, the Steelers defense has been on the field for 56 drives and 286 plays. The 56 drives (14 drives per game) are the second-most in the league behind only the Browns. The 286 plays (71.5 plays per game) is the 6th highest in the league. From a percentage standpoint, the Steelers are right around the league average for scoring drives and turnovers per drive. However, the sheer volume of drives and plays they have had to defend has created the inflated numbers of points and yards against.
From an historical standpoint, the most plays a Steelers defense has been on the field for in a season is 1084 during the 1981 season. The 1981 Steelers defense played an average of 67.75 snaps per game, putting the 2018 Steelers current pace of 71.5 snaps per game well ahead of that pace. Through 4 games, the Steelers are allowing 5.96 yards per play, the second-highest mark since 1950. (The 1940, 1941, and 1945 Steelers all allowed over 13 yards per play.) The post-1950 record for most yards per play is held by the 2014 Steelers at 5.99 yards per play, only slightly ahead of the current team.
All told, the 2018 Steelers are on an historically bad pace. They have been on the field for more snaps per game than any previous Steelers team and are allowing nearly the most yards per play in modern franchise history. From a percentages standpoint, they are getting sacks, forcing turnovers and giving up points at about a league-average rate. Even their third-down defense has been around the league-average mark for success. The biggest issue right now is with defense on the early downs. The Steelers have faced 56 drives and only forced 49 third down attempts. They are one of just 4 teams in the league to have faced fewer third down attempts than drives (Tampa, Cleveland, and Minnesota are the others). One factor in this is penalties – the Steelers have committed 19 defensive penalties, 14 of which have given their opponents first downs. Both of those are the highest marks in the league. In total, the Steelers have given up 98 first downs, an average of 24.5 first downs per game. The high water mark in franchise history came in 2015 when the Steelers gave up 327 first downs, an average of 20.4 first downs per game.
The Steelers defense has been so bad on first and second downs that oftentimes (as we saw against Kansas City) they are not even getting to third down to give themselves a chance to get off the field. Poor early down defense has led to a record pace for first downs allowed and number of plays. This is not a defense built to play a high number of snaps in a game. Some onus here does fall on the offense to control the ball and be able to take time off the clock to keep the defense off the field. If the current pace keeps up for the rest of the season, the 2018 defense will go down as the worst unit in the storied history of the Steelers franchise.

domain: game


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Thursday, June 11, 2009
The World Health Organization today declared a Phase 6 swine flu pandemic, the first global flu epidemic in 41 years, as infections climbed in the United States, Europe, Australia, South America and elsewhere.
In a statement sent to member countries, WHO said it decided to raise the pandemic warning level from phase 5 to 6 — its highest alert, after holding an emergency meeting on swine flu with its experts.
The long-awaited pandemic decision is scientific confirmation that a new flu virus has emerged and is quickly circling the globe. It will trigger drugmakers to speed up production of a swine flu vaccine and prompt governments to devote more money toward efforts to contain the virus.
The last pandemic — the Hong Kong flu of 1968, killed about 1 million people.
In the United States, where there have been more than 13,000 cases and at least 27 deaths from swine flu, officials at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the move would not change how the U.S. tackled swine flu.

domain: medical


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We understand not everyone feels comfortable or confident jumping straight into group classes. We also understand you may have a specific goal you are aiming for.
Our personal training programs are built to help you develop the skills needed to be successful in group classes.
Your sessions would include skill development, mastering your form and technique, or focusing on development of a certain muscle group or area of the body. Whether you are brand new or a long-time member, you can level up your skills and progress with personal training.

domain: sports


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Patient demographic characteristics:
Table 1: Baseline clinical characteristics of study patients who completed 4-month follow-up
Figure 1: Cohort use of previous migraine prophylactics
Of 289 total patients, we report the outcomes of 182 patients who completed 3 injections and 4-month follow-up. Baseline characteristics of these patients and prior prophylactics used are summarised (Table 1, Figure 1).
a) Cohort fremanezumab efficacy outcomes:
Table 2a: Changes in monthly headache days, monthly migraine days, crystal-clear headache-free days, analgesia use and HIT-6 score post-fremanezumab treatment
Table 2b: Numbers and proportions of patients achieving ≥30%, >50% and >75% reductions from baseline monthly headache days and baseline monthly migraine days post-fremanezumab treatment
Table 2c: Numbers and proportions of patients achieving MHD <15 in any month, MMD <8 in any month, MHD <15 in any month and MMD <8 in any month, and number and proportion of patients with 0 baseline headache-free days achieving ≥1 headache-free days post-fremanezumab treatment
Figure 2: Cohort changes in monthly headache days, migraine days and crystal-clear headache-free days post-fremanezumab treatment
Figure 3: Changes in acute analgesia and triptan use and HIT-6 score post-fremanezumab treatment
At 4-month follow-up, median MHD reduction from baseline was 9 days, MMD reduction was 10 days and HFD increase was 9 days (all p<0.0001) (Table 2a, Figure 2a–c). 38 (45%) of 84 patients without baseline headache-freedom achieved ≥1 HFD post-fremanezumab (Table 2c, Figure 2d). These demonstrate significant MHD, MMD and HFD improvements after 3 fremanezumab doses.
We assessed correlation between baseline MHD and MMD and individual patient response magnitudes. Baseline MHD negatively correlated with % MHD reduction (r = -0.410, R2 = 17%, p<0.0001) and % MMD reduction (r = -0.155, R2 = 2%, p=0.0416) (Figure 2e, f). Baseline MMD demonstrated no correlation with % MMD reduction (r = -0.119, p=0.13, data not shown). Therefore, fewer baseline headache days statistically associated with superior % MHD and MMD reduction responses, with minimal clinical significance. Baseline MMD bore no correlation with % MMD reduction magnitude.
We next evaluated ≥30%, >50% and >75% MHD and MMD reduction from baseline to quantify the proportion of patients meeting UK continuation criteria and who experienced significant fremanezumab responses (Table 2b, Figure 2g). 105 (58%), 70 (39%) and 31 (17%) patients achieved ≥30%, >50% and >75% MHD reduction. 145 (80%) patients achieved ≥30% MMD reduction, thereby meeting UK fremanezumab continuation criteria. 124 (68%) and 76 (42%) achieved >50% and >75% MMD reduction. 46 (25%) achieved ≥30% MMD reduction without achieving ≥30% MHD reduction (not shown). Overall, sizeable proportions of patients experienced large-magnitude MHD and MMD improvements, with greater response for MMD reduction and 80% patients eligible for treatment continuation beyond 3 months.
To contextualise real-world fremanezumab utility, we evaluated the proportion of patients achieving MHD <15 days or MMD<8 days in any treatment month (Table 2c, Figure 2h). 82 (45%) patients achieved MHD <15 days in any treatment month, indicating reversion to headache frequency of EM for ≥1 months. 119 (65%) achieved MMD <8 days in any treatment month, indicating migraine frequency reduction to a level manageable with acute analgesia without risking MO. Moreover, 67 (37%) achieved both outcomes. Therefore, within 3 months of fremanezumab initiation, substantial proportions of our cohort demonstrate early headache improvement towards EM reversion and migraine frequency reduction to one safely manageable with abortive therapies.
Post-fremanezumab, median AMD reduction was 5 days, TD reduction was 0 days and HIT-6 reduction was 14.5 (all p<0.0001) (Table 2a, Figures 3a–c). These demonstrated significantly reduced acute analgesia and triptan use to a frequency below that which predisposes to MO, and significantly improved quality-of-life.
b) Fremanezumab efficacy in patients with and without baseline headache-freedom:
Table 3a: Baseline clinical characteristics of patients with and without baseline headache-freedom
Table 3b: Treatment outcomes post-fremanezumab in patients with and without baseline headache-freedom
Figure 4: Treatment outcomes in patients with and without baseline headache-freedom
We compared treatment outcomes between patients with and without baseline headache-freedom. Patients without baseline headache-freedom exhibited significantly greater baseline MHD, MMD and HFD but similar other baseline characteristics, including proportion with baseline medication-overuse and HIT-6 score (Table 3a). Both groups achieved significant post-fremanezumab MHD, MMD, HFD and HIT-6 improvements (all p<0.0001). Patients with baseline headache-freedom experienced significantly greater median MHD reduction and HFD gain compared to those without, with significantly greater percentages achieving ≥30%, >50% and >75% MHD reductions, MHD <15 days in any month, MMD <8 days in any month, and both outcomes, but no significant difference in median MMD reduction or percentages achieving significant MMD reductions. Similar percentages of patients stopped medication-overuse post-fremanezumab in both groups (Table 3b, Figure 4a–j). Therefore, those with baseline headache-freedom demonstrate greater headache improvement independent of medication-overuse reductions, suggesting baseline headache-freedom as a potential response prognosticator.
c) Fremanezumab efficacy in onabotulinumtoxinA-unresponsive patients:
Table 4a: Baseline clinical characteristics of onabotulinumtoxinA-unresponsive patients
Table 4b: Treatment outcomes in onabotulinumtoxinA-unresponsive patients
We evaluated treatment efficacy in 166 onabotulinumtoxinA-unresponsive patients (Table 4a). Overall, fremanezumab induced significant headache, migraine, headache-free days and HIT-6 improvements in onabotulinumtoxinA-refractory patients (Table 4b).
d) Fremanezumab efficacy in patients with and without baseline analgesia medication overuse:
Table 5a: Clinical characteristics of patients with and without baseline analgesia MO
Table 5b: Treatment outcomes in patients with baseline MO
Table 5c: Treatment outcomes in patients without baseline MO
Table 5d: Treatment outcome comparisons in patients with and without MO
We next compared treatment outcomes between patients with and without baseline MO. The two groups exhibited similar baseline characteristics including MHD, MMD, HFD and HIT-6 score (Table 5a). Post-fremanezumab, 58 (82%) with baseline MO reverted to non-MO with cessation of non-opioid and triptan overuse. Both groups achieved significant improvement in all outcomes, with no significant inter-group differences in median improvement for any outcomes (Tables 5b, c, d). Overall, fremanezumab demonstrated similar efficacy in patients with and without MO.
e) Factors associated with fremanezumab response:
Table 6a: Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analysis of patient factors associated with achieving ≥30% MMD reduction from baseline post-treatment and fremanezumab continuation
Table 6b: Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analysis of patient factors associated with achieving MHD <15 days/month in any treatment month post-fremanezumab
We investigated potential predictive factors for treatment responses, including ≥30% baseline MMD reduction (enabling fremanezumab continuation), and MHD<15 in any month (Table 6a, b). ≥30% baseline MMD reduction associated with baseline HFD (OR 2.789, p=0.0461) and HIT-6 score (OR 0.918, p=0.0282) in multivariate regression analysis, indicating baseline headache-freedom and lower HIT-6 scores independently associated with ≥30% MMD response. Achieving MHD <15 in any treatment month associated with baseline HFD ≥1 (OR 4.564, p=0.0003) and MMD (OR 0.923, p=0.008) in multivariate regression analysis, signifying baseline HFD ≥1 and lower baseline MMD independently associated with headache frequency reversion to that of EM in any treatment month. Other characteristics including migraine duration, medication-overuse, previous prophylactics or onabotulinumtoxinA were not associated with either outcome.
f) Safety and tolerability:
37 (20%) patients discontinued fremanezumab due to inefficacy. Injection site irritation and rash was the only AE reported in 5 (3%) patients. No patients discontinued fremanezumab due to AEs (data not shown).

domain: literature


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By Morris A. Davis, Jonas D. M. Fisher and Toni M. Whited
The authors construct a dynamic general equilibrium model of cities and use it to estimate the effect of local agglomeration on per capita consumption growth. Agglomeration affects growth through the density of economic activity: higher production per unit of land raises local productivity. Firms take productivity as given; produce using a technology that has constant returns in developed land, capital, and labor; and accumulate land and capital. If land prices are rising, as they are empirically, firms economize on land. This behavior increases density and contributes to growth. They use a panel of U.S. cities and our model’s predicted relationship among wages, output prices, housing rents, and labor quality to estimate the net effect of agglomeration on local wages. The impact of agglomeration on the level of wages is estimated to be 2 percent. Combined with their model and observed increases in land prices, this estimate implies that agglomeration raises per capita consumption growth by 10 percent.
This paper fits in a new line of research that tries to understand cities and agglomeration effects using dynamic general equilibrium models. The basis here is the good old Lucas-Prescott island model, the model is used to study the impact of agglomeration on prices (land, labor, goods). Would this explain why Tokyo and New York City are so expensive?


Remember, everything gets exaggerated at first
Keep that in mind as the market reacts to China.
It's what happens after they hammer the S&P 500 ($INX) futures that matters. Of course they all have to come down as we decide that China's slowdown is "destroying" everything and everyone in its path. We then get to listen to and read a plethora of bears saying, "I told you so" -- bears who will hate it as much at the end of the day as they did at the beginning of the day. That's because anyone who is bearish thinks the S&P should be back to where it had been before this gigantic advance, and they've been looking for a reason to make that happen.
Might as well be the Chinese.
But then the smoke clears and what do we see?
We see a windfall for the U.S. consumer. We see a windfall for the U.S. manufacturer. We see pressure on those companies that actually ship to China or depend on mining to advance themselves.
You see, this is not 2008. It is the opposite of 2008. We had terrible commodity inflation back then, and it collapsed, but it was almost immediately buttressed by a Chinese acceleration. Now it has already collapsed -- and, unless Europe gets some growth, prices will stay down. Europe is China's biggest trading partner, and I think it has more to do with this decline in China gross domestic product than anything else. China is still an export-driven country, and the goods seem to have nowhere to go.
But let's speak of America -- not that it will matter at 9:30 a.m. EDT, but it will matter for the numbers. For months now, we've seen magnificent performance in U.S. stocks involved in creating consumer products. We had presumed that a lot of that had been because they tend to offer safe, above-average dividends in a declining-yield world. Plus, they have favorable tax treatment over bonds, something that we thought would be taken away.
Now the move has been so nosebleed that a lot of people, including yours truly, had to say to be careful of the very stuff you don't need to be careful about -- bleach, detergent, candy, soft drinks. The stocks began to sell at super high multiples to earnings, and those earnings weren't growing very fast.
But let's see. If you keep your long-fought-for price point in the supermarket or drug store, and your principal raw ingredient -- petrol -- is going down, the margin expansion could be breathtaking. That's what General Mills (GIS) CEO Ken Powell meant when he came on Mad Money and said that he saw the end of runaway commodity inflation.
These companies are huge winners, and after the S&P futures destroy everything in their path, remember that. Their rally makes sense. Can it continue to make sense? Yes, if the numbers are too low, and if gasoline comes down a lot, then they are too low.
How about the U.S consumer? The government has been taking away purchase power at the same time that gasoline has been going higher. But gasoline is priced off of Brent crude, and that is getting hammered. For certain, we have seen peak prices at the pump. While most of the people who opine on these issues can only talk about things like the payroll tax holiday ending, a big decline in gas prices could explain why we are seeing such robust action in both retail, and, more important, restaurants. The latter is also going to profit from what will surely be a collapse in grain prices, because they have been trading as part of what had been a terrific bet on the whole commodity complex that has now turned into a disaster.
Yet you thought McDonald's (MCD), Darden (DRI), Chipotle (CMG) and Panera (PNRA) were done? All they are is a collection of raw foodstuffs whipped into concoctions that people in cars fueled by gasoline eat. The consumer spends more, and the restaurant spends less, and the gross margins go higher, and now we know why Panera hit a 52-week high and Chipotle and Darden keep going higher even as we didn't think they could do so without reporting better numbers.
While the drug companies shouldn't, per se, be winners, they will be. That includes the higher-growth names like Celgene (CELG) and Biogen (BIIB), simply because the threat of inflation to the outyears earnings is dramatically lessened. Of course, that's what the stocks have been saying already -- but I presume that, after a nasty opening hit, the buyers will come in to accumulate them again.
- Also see: Are you a tax procrastinator?
I know all of this seems obvious but, by nature, the S&P 500 futures crush everything even as most of the companies in the index are net beneficiaries of a commodity collapse.
OK, who will get hurt? Because that is all anyone's going to focus on anyway. The producers of energy will get walloped. Even though they still make a ton of money getting mostly Brent pricing, the oil companies will see margins squeezed. Some drilling should drop off because of worries that oil here won't be economic to find here; and you thought that only the Canadian tar sands companies would get hit. We don't know about natural gas -- the Street is wildly long the commodity, but nat gas surely doesn't trade like other commodities, or it wouldn't have advanced when they had all been contracting.
Coal? The stocks will trade as if they'll go bust.
The steels and coppers and miners, as horrendous as they have been, will keep going down. I am sure people will presume that gold will retrace its entire move for the last few years. It's been up for 12 years straight, so it is reasonable to presume that the 20% decline isn't finished. Silver actually has industrial uses, so it gets hammered more.
Can you buy it?
I think that, if you own no gold, you have to pick up some silver into the weakness. Otherwise, no.
Obviously all machinery stocks get hit, and it won't matter how they are doing. They are considered China plays, and something major will need to happen in China before they get moving. I am sure people will say that will China hurts the tech space, too, so they'll hammer the personal-computer makers. But does Google (GOOG) deserve to sell down on this, given the fact that it doesn't even sell into China? Or does Apple (AAPL), given that it can't sell as well as it would like into China. Take your pick, but tech isn't as dangerous as it would seem because of China, it's just dangerous because we are about to get earnings.
Finally we get to the winners -- and I am sorry to point out winners on a loser day but, in the end, the world is controlled by profits, not S&P futures. First are homebuilders, as their raw costs have been rising and it is hard to see that continuing. The banks should perform well, simply because they do well in a lower-inflation environment. Then, of course, there's the Federal Reserve, which now looks pretty darned smart with its bond buys, not that anyone would ever say that.
Finally, perhaps the biggest winners of all: the airlines. If they can control their pricing -- and it looks like they can, given that there is now a slap-happy oligopoly in the airlines -- then the lower fuel costs will flow right to the bottom line.
Remember, everything gets exaggerated at first and the recessionistas get conflated with the earnings fear mongers while the commodity-based hedge funds liquidate.
Then the bottoming process begins. I wish I could tell you give it berth, but this is a problem largely among China and Europe and much less us, even as we know that there are plenty of company stocks that trade as if all that matters is China.
It matters, but it matters in both a positive way -- as a huge marginal buyer of commodities that we consume and don't produce enough of -- as well as in a negative way. People only think of the latter in the morning. But, in the end, there are a lot more companies like General Mills than there are names like Joy Global (JOY) -- and a lot more service and financial companies than there are oil and coal miners.
Jim Cramer is a co-founder of TheStreet and contributes daily market commentary to the financial news network's sites. Follow his trades for Action Alerts PLUS, which Cramer co-manages as a charitable trust and is long AAPL.
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For once you hit upon the truth -- this is not 2008 -- ITS MUCH MUCH WORSE
Gee people wake up and smell the decay and rot going on in our economic system.
Japan is bankrupt they are printing yen to cover their bad debts by the trillions of dollars each year.
The USA is even more broker the Federal Reserve is pumping $85 billion a month into a totally dead economy each month. Over 100,000,000 Americans make less than $30,000 a year and the prices of goods and services are priced as if they made $120,000 four times what they really earn. Over 50,000,000 Americans are on food stamps or they would be starving to death.
Gee Cramer how much worse will the economy have to get 10,000,000 Americans dying of starvation each year before you realize that the economy is much much much worse now than in 2008.
The banks are still leveraged 50 to 1 THAT MEANS THEY LOANED OUT 50 bucks for each buck they had on deposit something that is suppose to be illegal. THEY HAVE ABOUT 20 percent of their loans go south on them which means the LOSSES are 10 TIMES THE AMOUNT OF MONEY ON DEPOSIT.
WHY DO YOU THINK THE FEDERAL RESERVE IS STILL loaning the banks money at zero percent interest???
IF THE FEDERAL RESERVE WAS NOT BUYING US T_BILLS nobody would be buying them.
OUR DEBT LOAD HAS INCREASED BY $6 trillion dollars in the past 4 years.
OUR REAL GDP is about $5 trillion a year. They include for instance $5 trillion in the GDP for the income you make renting out your house and living somewhere else for free. What crazies thought of that add to the GDP -- probably Nixon.
WE ARE FAST going to hit hyperinflation as people move away from the dollar as a trading currency and move to the yuan or RMB.
Europe is about ready to implode at any moment with massive bank runs the likes of which we have not seen since the Great Depression.
NTU... I'm just going to toss this out as validation for you. It's a work-in-progress. Chicago-land. You can't cover overhead on $28/hour. That is- food, housing, transportation and work-related costs. It seems outrageous, but the ancillary costs are what eats-up that pay yield. I have been studying it for sme time now. From 2000 to 2008, Chicago-land paychecks shrank 9% while costs rose more than 25% (ancillary included). From 2008 to-date, sub-wealth (that's everybody except the elitists on top) excluded, pay yield has dropped, wages are closer to $10/hour and full time employment is rarer. In short... nobody is actually making it. Uniquely, the basis for the research is 1905. Chicago proper- had 4 out of every 5 families indebted 125% or more (pay yield) to Loan Sharks. The City actually came to a stand-still economically,compromising both people and businesses together. The Loan Sharks caused the failure through irresponsible and corrupt lending (sharking) but THEY were funded by some of the same BANKS Ben is funding now. Wasn't BEN BERNANKE touted as an expert in the Great Depression Era? Isn't he PRECIDELY following what destroyed France in the 18th Century and America in the first decade of the 20th?
WHEN DO WE PULL THIS GUY OUT AND THROW HIM IN GITMO?
WHAT???? This 'isn't 2008'??? Well...you are right there Kramer; it isn't 2008. It's worse......way way worse than 2008. 2008 was only a precursor..only a tiny vision of the collapse that was to come and soon. What we are seeing now, and trying to avoid by all the 'can kicking' money printing old Benny Bucks Bernanks is doing, is pervasive and permanent compressive contraction.
your are totally outside reality Cramer
While most of the people who opine on these issues can only talk about things like the payroll tax holiday ending, a big decline in gas prices could explain why we are seeing such robust action in both retail, and, more important, restaurants.
You do not run the world's largest economy on what restaurants are doing or retail sales from Wal-mart.
A WORKING ECONOMY NEEDS TO BUILD THINGS TO WORK.
GOLD is just gold in the ground until someone mines it and someone else melts it down and someone else processes it into I-phones or I-pads or jewelery or idols.
IT'S THE ACT OF SOMEONE TAKING A RAW MATERIAL AND forming a new useful item from it that produces wealth.
RIGHT NOW most Americans work at jobs that are less useful than cave-men chewing cocaine leaves on the hill sides of what is called Columbia today.
Nobody down here is shocked at all about what we are seeing; markets have been doing very well lately and manipulators are having coronaries; we knew they would come out swinging this morning and they are selling anything and everything...Blame it on China; oil; a lousy weekend, irrelevant...They will do their thing as long as they can get away with it...Oh well, still very early, we will see what happens...More later.
We have had a bad economy since 2008.....we voted for Obama In 2008. The economy has been bad since he became president. WHAT RECOVERY? We then reward him AGAIN with FOUR MORE years! What? Our President, and his administration, has done NOTHING to turn this around. His policies and OBAMA CARE.....have and will make it much worse than today. When Obama Care fully kicks in....businesses will go down, down, down......This is OBAMA'S NEW NORM!
See everyone- Fat Cat does invest in companies- like mattel - complete with collectable barbie(Ms. Bambi) & Ken (Mr. Brucey) dolls. And don't forget the Hot Wheel collectables.
But you need to resist not play with them everyday- lowers the value of them.
Now put them back in their case and go get a chulupa lunch from across the street.
"VL:Too bad you missed the bull market.It`s been great.I`ve bought 2 nice cars, dined at nice restaurants and have been on great vacations.Is it fun being bitter?"
Here is your post from 4 days ago PUKE....... Just a caddy now not 2 cars. Liars always get found out because they can't keep their stories straight.
LOSER --- I bet you have a capital "L" tattooed to your forehead.
this hack got you in aapl at 700 and gold at 1900 etc etc etc
and now he has his fool partner link on CNBC ......she is absolutely a moron watch her blather and see she knows less than cramer
END THE FED.
END THE FED.
END THE FED.
END THE FED.
END THE FED.
END THE FED.
Said 6 times... it takes three to sink into the minds of normal people. Three more for psychopaths. End the Federal Reserve TODAY and begin the reconciliation of our national financial circumstance. Get GITMO ready... here come the nutcases who thought themselves above the rest of us.
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text:
Compared with the control group, the patients had elevated BMI (p<0.001), abdominal circumference
(p<0.001), carotid (IMT) (p=0.008), HbAlc (p=0.034), hsCRP (p=0.002), morning urine micro-albumin (p=0.049), and lower age (p=0.019).
Mother with abdominal circumference
(in cm) of <92 gave birth to male babies with a mean birth weight of 3.02 [+ or -] 0.27 or female babies with a mean birth weight of 2.51 [+ or -] 0.40.
The number of bowel movements increased 2 weeks after the injection, the symptoms of bloating were relieved, and the abdominal circumference
was reduced to 88 cm.
Abdominal obesity was also classified as an important risk factor for DM in the current study, due to the association between increased abdominal circumference
and higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes mellitus.
Evaluation of anthropometric parameters was made through the measurement of abdominal circumference
, body mass index (BMI), triceps skinfold, and arm circumference.
Obstetric ultrasound assessment showed severe fetal hydrops with increased abdominal circumference
due to ascites and elevated Middle Cerebral Artery Peak Systolic Velocity.
The increase observed in abdominal circumference
at the 12th ICS and 18th rib during the 9th to 11th months of gestation resulted from abdominal expansion to accommodate fetal growth.
WASHINGTON -- To predict macrosomia, fetal abdominal circumference
is the best single measure to obtain on ultrasound, John C.
The anthropometric measures (Body mass, height, abdominal circumference
, and triceps skinfold thickness) were collected at the Kinesis Laboratory located at Universidade Potiguar (UNP), Natal, RN, Brazil.
There was no significant change in her body mass (BM) following the exercise administration and no reduction in her abdominal circumference
Body dimension traits consist of abdominal circumference
(AC), body height (BH), body length (BL), cannon bone circumference (CBC), chest circumference (CC), chest depth (CD), chest width (CW), hip circumference (HC).


text:
Employee Pension Scheme – Types, Eligibility & How to Calculate EPS
Employee Pension Scheme came into force on 16th November 1995. This scheme applies to all the employees of factories and other establishments to which the 1952 Miscellaneous Provisions Act and Employees Provident funds applies.
Responsibilities of Employers
- From and out of the contributions payable by the employer in each month, a part of contribution representing 8.33% of the employees pay (Basic+ Dearness Allowance) shall be remitted by the employer with in 15 days of the close of every month to the Employees Pension Fund.
- Central Government also contributes at the rate of 1.16% of the pay of the members of the Employees Pension Scheme and credit the contribution to the Employees’ Pension Fund
- The principal employer must make the contributions for all employees working for him directly or under a contractor
- In case an employee becomes disabled totally or permanently during the service than employer must deposit funds in his basic EPS account for at least one month to be eligible for the pension.
- All administrative cost must be borne by the employer
- For availing the pension benefits under the EPS 95 Pension scheme the employee must serve a minimum of 10 years in service.
- The age of retirement is 58 years.
- Member can also withdraw his/her EPS at a reduced rate from the age of 50 years
- If an employee has completed less than 10 years of service. but more than 6 months’ service, then he/she can withdraw the EPS amount on being unemployed for more than two months
- If any employee becomes disabled totally and permanently, then he/she is entitled to a monthly pension irrespective of the fact that he has not served the pensionable service period and is payable for his lifetime. However, the member may have to undergo a medical examination to check whether he is unfit for the job that he was doing before becoming disabled.
- A member’s family also becomes eligible for Pension benefits in case of death of the member while in service.
How to Calculate Your Pension Under EPS
The pension amount in PF depends on the pensionable salary and the pensionable service of the member.
a) Pensionable Salary
The average monthly salary withdrawn by the member in the last 12 months before exiting the Employee Pension Scheme in India is the pensionable salary.
If there are non-contributory periods in the last 12 months of the employment, the non-contributory days in the month will not be considered and the benefit of those days would be given to the employee.
For ex-If the salary of the person is ₹ 15,000, and he joins the organization on 3rd of the month, then the salary for that month would be ₹ 14,000 for 28 days (₹ 500 per day less for two days). However, the consideration for monthly EPS salary would be for 30 days, i.e. ₹ 15,000. So, the amount which has to be deposited in the EPS account of the employee would be 8.33% of ₹ 15000 = ₹ 1250
The maximum pensionable salary has been increased from ₹ 6500 to ₹ 15,000 every month.
b) Pensionable Service
Pensionable Service is the actual service period of an employee or member.
The pensionable Service Period is calculated by adding all the service rendered by the member to different employers as well.
Every time an employee switching jobs needs to submit EPS Scheme certificate issued to him to new employer.
The employee has to get the EPS Scheme Certificate issued and submit it to the new employer every time he switches a job.
It is important to note that the employee gets a bonus of 2 years after completing 20 years of service.
Before completing the service period of 10 years If the member withdraws the EPS corpus and joins another company, he will have to start afresh for contributing to the basic EPS account
and he/she has to start fresh as the service period will also be set as zero at the start.
The consideration of pensionable service period is on a 6 months basis. The minimum pensionable service period is 6 months. The pensionable service period considered is 8 years,if the service period is 8 years 2 months, However, the pensionable service period is taken as 9 years,if the service duration is 8 years and 10 months,
Types of Pensions under the Employees’ Pension Scheme
There are different types of pensions under EPS 95 pension scheme such as pensions for widows, children, and orphans which supports the family members of the pension.
1) Widow Pension
Under Widow pension or Vridha pension the widow of the member eligible for a pension. The pension amount will be payable until the death of the widow or her remarriage. In case of more than one widow, the pension amount will be payable to the eldest widow.
2) Child Pension
The surviving children of the family in addition to monthly widow Pension is eligible for child pension in case of the members death.. The monthly pension will be paid till the child attains the age of 25 years. The payable amount is 25% of the widow pension and to a maximum of two children amount can be paid.
3) Orphan Pension
Children of the member will be entitled to get the monthly orphan pension of 75% of the value of monthly widow pension in case the member dies and has no surviving widow, his. From oldest to youngest two surviving children will be benefited under the orphan pension.
4) Reduced Pension
A member of the EPFO can withdraw an early pension if he has completed 10 years of service and has reached the age of 50 years but is less than 58 years. In this case, age is less than 58 years. at a rate of 4% for every year the pension amount is slashed.
In case the member decides to withdraw the monthly reduced pension at the age of 54 years, he will get the pension at a rate of 84% (100% – 4 x4) of the original pension amount.
Types of Pensions Forms under EPS in India
In order to avail the benefits of employee pension scheme the following form needs to be filled by the member. Or the survivors of EPFO Member.
|EPS Form||Applicant||Purpose of the Form|

domain: law


WEL Networks NZ have purchased Attune licenses for each of their prod, pre-prod and dev environments.
WEL Networks have taken full advantage of Attune, which manages all of their production environments linux and windows scheduled tasks from a single system.
Attunes scheduled tasks range from running the nightly ADMS application level backup, to cleaning out logs, and even updating high availability server settings.
Anyone in WEL Networks support team can refresh their dev environment in the time it takes them to get a cup of tea, simple, effortless, reliable.
Synerty has used Attune to build all of WEL Networks ADMS servers from start to end, and perform highly automated cutovers since 2014.


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Issue Date: June 14, 2010
BASF Polymer For Lighter Furniture
BASF scientists have designed a foamed styrenic polymer to reduce the weight of wood-based furniture chipboard by about one-third. The firm’s Kaurit Light foamed material replaces some of the finely chopped mixture of wood and glue used to make furniture panels.
- Chemical & Engineering News
- ISSN 0009-2347
- Copyright © American Chemical Society

domain: chemistry


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The cast and crew of Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse break down their complex web of Spideys
We spoke to the stars of Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse to discover the science behind their ambitious new animated interpretation.
Shameik Moore, Jake Johnson, Luna Lauren Velez, Hailee Steinfeld, Nicolas Cage, John Mulaney
Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsey, Rodney Rothman
December 14, 2018
Many actors have stepped into the iconic role of Spider-Man, but never before have so many people played him in the same movie. This new animated take brings us on an epic adventure where countless Spider-Verses collide.
Among the Spider-Heroes are the ones we know best, primarily Peter Parker (voiced by Jake Johnson) who meets Miles Morales (voiced by Shameik Moore), a prominent character in the comics who is making his big-screen debut in this film.
We learned more about Miles’ story and this complex universe from Johnson, Moore, writer Phil Lord and producer Christopher Miller. Check out the interview and see Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, in Cineplex theatres now!
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse is being called the best animated film of the year.
The reviews are in and Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse is unanimously beloved by audiences and critics alike. This is a film you need to see on the big screen, not just for the stunning animation, but to get in on the conversation. The name on everybody’s lips this holiday season is sure to be Spidey. Don’t forget to SHOW-off your SCENE card while you’re at the theatre for a chance to win instant prizes and a grand prize of 100,000 SCENE points. Click here for details.

domain: entertainment


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Two new reports produced by the World Health Organization have unearthed a startling statistic about pollution: According to the United Nations' health arm, pollution causes 1.7 million child deaths a year. That means that over one in every four deaths of children under the age of 5 is due to environmental risks, such as air pollution, unsafe water, secondhand smoke, or inadequate hygiene and sanitation. For both environmentalists and parents alike, it's troubling.
"A polluted environment is a deadly one — particularly for young children," WHO Director-General Margaret Chan said in a statement. "Their developing organs and immune systems, and smaller bodies and airways, make them especially vulnerable to dirty air and water."
The first World Health Organization report, Inheriting a Sustainable World: Atlas on Children’s Health and the Environment, found that most diseases that kill children under 5 years old can be prevented with suitable environmental risk interventions. For instance, the risk of contracting diarrhea (which is responsible for over 350,000 child deaths a year), malaria (which causes 200,000 child deaths a year), and pneumonia goes down significantly when families have access to clean water and safe cooking fuel.
A second report, Don't Pollute My Future!, linked child deaths to a number of different environmental challenges: Indoor and outdoor pollution has been linked to the respiratory infections that kill more than 570,000 children a year, and another 200,000 child deaths are due to accidental poisonings, falls, or drowning. 270,000 children die in their first month of life due to issues that could be prevented with access to clean water and sanitary conditions in health facilities.
According to the World Health Organization, pollution is now the greatest environmental risk to children's health, and that's visible in more than just death counts: 11 to 14 percent of children now have symptoms of asthma, a number that's increased worldwide. The unsafe use of pesticides is the largest cause of acute poisoning in children — and unintentional poisonings have caused more than 23,000 deaths a year.
Unfortunately, things are likely to get worse for children. As the World Health Organization wrote in a recent update, "Climate change is one of the greatest new threats to children's environmental health." Higher temperatures have been linked to pollen growth and higher rates of asthma, decreasing fresh water supplies, and altered food crop harvests. More heat waves will also mean increasing rates of heat stress, renal disease, and respiratory illness for children in vulnerable areas.
According to NASA, the world is heating up at a pace that we haven't seen in the past 1,000 years, meaning governments are unlikely to stay within agreed-upon climate change limits as the world warms, according to The Guardian. That means now, more than ever, society needs to take actionable steps to stop climate change and protect children's future — talk to your representatives, support green organizations, and make switches in your own life to cut down on waste. You can also donate to charities that help children affected by environmental risks, by helping them gain access to clean water and sanitation.
For now, numbers appear dire. But there's still time to make incremental changes where the world can — it'll just be one giant team effort.


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june 13, 2018 General meeting
Now That You’re Here
At the June AAWGT education program four panelists outlined the services available to help navigate language and cultural barriers for those seeking medical help, legal advice, child and family social services, and education. The emphasis was on the Hispanic community as that is the largest and fastest growing group in Anne Arundel County.
Marc Rodriguez, Alderman, City of Annapolis, moderated panel members Nancy Schrum, Gaston Gomez, Waleska Casiano-Matos, and Annapolis high school student, Ada Garcia Sosa.
Attendees were inspired by the stories of our speakers and left with an understanding that these efforts at language education, cultural assimilation, and general assistance requires greater attention from government and private sources.
May 9 voting meeting: AAWGT Hits the $1 million mark!
Thanks to the generosity and collaborative spirit of Anne Arundel Women Giving Together members, the organization will have distributed $1 million to local nonprofits after this year’s grants are awarded. That means $1 million to improve the quality of life for women and families in Anne Arundel County. Beginning with its founding in 2006, AAWGT has brought local women together, united in their commitment to fund programs that focus on health and welfare, education, and the prevention of and treatment for violence and abuse. AAWGT is a fund of the Community Foundation of Anne Arundel County.
Let’s celebrate the giving circle, the friends who have joined and supported its work, the non-profits large and small that do so much good, and the hope for a better future for all women and families in our county.
This year’s grantee nonprofits were selected at the May 9 voting meeting. Their awards of $105,136 pushed our total giving to just above the magic $1 million mark. Grants were awarded this year to STAIR-Annapolis: Start The Adventure In Reading
($20,00 Momentum 2-year grant totaling $40,000), Anne Arundel County Court-Appointed Special Advocates
($20,000), Arundel Child Care Connections: Mujeros Surgiendo-Women on the Rise
($20,000), Seeds 4 Success: Academic and Career Exploration Club
($20,000), Associated Catholic Charities: Sarah's House
($15,000), and Anne Arundel County Public Library Foundation: Laptop Lab and WiFi Bar at Brooklyn Park Branch
($10,136). Read about 2018 Grantees.
MARCH 8, 2018 General meeting
Women on the march, on International Women’s Day
On March 8, International Women’s Day, the Shakespeare Theatre Company was filled to capacity with almost 100 Anne Arundel Women Giving Together members and guests.
International Women’s Day is a time to reflect on progress made, to call for continued change and to celebrate acts of courage and determination by ordinary women who have played an extraordinary role in the history of their countries and communities. This year’s AAWGT event came on the heels of unprecedented national and global movement for women’s rights and was titled Women on the March. READ MORE

domain: library


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February 2, 2022
Weather update: Classes to move remote this afternoon, employees dismissed at 4 p.m.
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Purdue University announced Wednesday (Feb. 2) that all in-person class meetings on the West Lafayette campus should be moved online or canceled beginning at 4 p.m. on Wednesday, and all non-essential personnel currently working on campus today are dismissed at 4 p.m. Purdue administrators and public safety officials are working with city and county personnel to actively monitor the winter storm and ask everyone to remain aware of changing conditions. The campus operating status for Thursday (Feb. 3) will be communicated via email, social media and area media as soon as possible.
A significant amount of snow and deteriorating conditions may make travel unsafe for faculty, staff, and off-campus students, prompting the decision. Note that planned virtual meetings of online/hybrid courses should continue as scheduled.
Instructors of impacted courses should communicate plans and expectations (e.g., due dates, remote meeting methods, exams/quizzes) directly to students. Students should check their email and Brightspace frequently for updates from their instructors.
Predesignated essential personnel will be operating under their department procedures. Nonessential personnel should not report to campus for any shifts after 4 p.m. Wednesday (Feb. 2). All nonessential personnel currently working on campus today are dismissed at 4 p.m. The campus adverse weather procedures are available online (pdf). Plans for Thursday (Feb.) 3 will be announced as soon as possible.
University officials, in partnership with city and county personnel, continue to monitor area road conditions - and encourage employees to do the same - to be aware of any local travel restrictions that might remain in place. Those planning to travel on area roads should monitor their county travel status.
Cars parked on campus or West Lafayette snow routes must be moved or they will be towed at the owner’s expense.
To check on the status of CityBus operations, you can download the app or search for the MyCityBus app in the Google Play or Apple App Store, or check the CityBus website.
Purdue officials also are working in conjunction with local and state emergency responders to provide assistance locally.
About Purdue University
Purdue University is a top public research institution developing practical solutions to today’s toughest challenges. Ranked in each of the last four years as one of the 10 Most Innovative universities in the United States by U.S. News & World Report, Purdue delivers world-changing research and out-of-this-world discovery. Committed to hands-on and online, real-world learning, Purdue offers a transformative education to all. Committed to affordability and accessibility, Purdue has frozen tuition and most fees at 2012-13 levels, enabling more students than ever to graduate debt-free. See how Purdue never stops in the persistent pursuit of the next giant leap at https://purdue.edu/.

domain: news


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Mr Michael Pritchard specialises in joint replacement, arthroscopic surgery and sports injuries. He currently operates at Calvary, St Johns Hospital in Hobart, Tasmania.
Mr Pritchard graduated from the University of Tasmania obtaining his MBBS (Hons), in 1998 and completed his Orthopaedic Training at The Royal Melbourne and Royal Hobart Hospitals.
He gained an inaugural postgraduate fellowship in Hip and Shoulder arthroscopy in 2007 with Mr John O’Donnell, working closely with many elite athletes.
He regularly attends workshops in Europe on advances in Hip Arthroscopy, and Direct Anterior Approach Hip Replacement techniques; thus enabling him to provide state of the art technology for his patients.
Mr Pritchard has continued to improve advanced arthroscopic techniques to diagnose and treat disorders of the hip and has developed imaging techniques used in complex high performance revision situations. He has rapidly increased the number of elite athletes travelling to Hobart from around Australia and overseas for arthroscopic treatment of the hip.
In late 2013, he travelled overseas to further enhance the techniques of DAA Hip Replacement. He has since set up a Visiting Surgeons Program & Surgical Skills Lab in conjunction with Calvary Healthcare Hobart and the Menzies Institute for Medical Research in Hobart.
These courses allow surgeons to view Mr Pritchard in the operating suites and participate in the Skills Lab.
Mr Pritchard has presented nationally and internationally on these subjects and has published papers in peer reviewed journals.
Mr Pritchard has personal experience with elite sport, having played Hockey himself at national level. He relocated from Melbourne to Hobart with his wife and children to enjoy work and lifestyle.
He maintains a keen interest in many sporting endeavours and understands the goals of elite athletes. He enjoys motor sport, sailing, road cycling and fishing.


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Now showing items 1-2 of 2
Seasonal abundance and diversity of sorghum panicle-feeding Hemiptera in South Africa
(North-West University, 2006)
During the past two decades, panicle-feeding Hemiptera have become pests of sorghum in West and Central Africa, and particularly in Mali, where this is a staple food crop. Of the more than 100 sorghum insect pests reported ...
An investigation into the development and status of resistance of Busseola fusca (Lepidoptera : Noctuidae) to Bt maize
(North-West University, 2010)
Based on surface area, South Africa is currently ranked 8th in planting genetically modified (GM) crops in the world. The stem borer, Busseola fusca (Fuller) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) is of economic importance throughout ...

domain: geography


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- 1 can artichoke hearts, chopped
- 1 package frozen chopped spinach, thawed & drained
- 1 cup fat free Greek yogurt
- 1 cup fat free shredded Parmesan cheese
- 2.5 cups fat free shredded Monterey Jack Cheese
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a 1 quart baking dish.
- In a medium bowl, mix together artichoke hearts, spinach, Greek yogurt, Parmesan cheese and 2 cups Monterey Jack cheese. Transfer mixture to the prepared baking dish, and sprinkle with remaining 1/2 cup of Monterey Jack cheese.
- Bake in the center of the preheated oven until the cheese is melted, about 15 minutes.

domain: food


Fountains cleaned in Munich
As part of its cultural sponsorship, Kärcher freed the fountains in front of the Ludwig Maximilian University in Munich from accumulated dirt.
During the work the Kärcher experts used the so-called ultra-high pressure technology with up to 1,000 bar water pressure. Two employees were on duty for four weeks with one machine per fountain and carried out the cleaning with a 20-degree flat jet nozzle. "Our preliminary tests and sample surfaces have shown that the ultra-high pressure technology can be used to clean very gently and precisely despite the powerful designation on the metallic surface," explained Nick Heyden, who is a specialist at Kärcher for cleaning projects on historic buildings. "We have great respect for the task and an approach that preserves the historic appearance is our top priority."
The layers of lime and paint were removed except for the zinc adhesive primer, as this is still in very good condition and should be preserved as best as possible. After the removal, it was easier to see what condition the metallic parts of the foundation were in and what maintenance measures needed to be taken. Other specialist trades carry out extensive metal restoration after cleaning. In addition, the natural stone pool will also be restored and the water lines, pumps and lighting renewed. This work is planned for the following months and should be completed by October.
All facts at a glance
Type of dirt: thick layers of lime and paint
Cleaning technology: hot water high-pressure cleaners
Implementation: April 2023


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