The massive explosion that killed two people and damaged or destroyed up to 80 homes in the Richmond Hills subdivision in Indianapolis, Indiana Saturday night has been disruptive and devastating to the neighborhood?s pets along with its human residents.
Some residents clung to their animals as they evacuated, while others left their pets behind.? Neighborhood residents returning to pick up needed belongings are learning that their pets are missing or, in some cases, did not survive. Many houses were left open as residents fled, and many are now lacking windows and doors.
As in any disaster, especially one so sudden and frightening, the neighborhood?s cats and dogs were terrified and compelled to hide or flee. ?The animals instinctively try to get away from the situation,? said Care and Control Administrative Director Dan Shackle.
?The situation down there is unbelievable but we were happy to rescue some of the animals that were affected. I did go into some houses yesterday and the dog or cat was hiding under the bed and wouldn?t respond to its owner and the owner had to go look for it,? Shackle said.
Indianapolis Animal Care and Control is stepping in to help, offering to board displaced pets for up to 10 days at no charge. Animal care and Control was out in the neighborhood in a rescue effort on Sunday, and planned to return with IndyFeral.
Indyferal staff and volunteers planned to work with Animal Care and Control today, putting out humane traps in the neighborhood and surrounding areas? to try to capture some of the missing cats and dogs and reunite them with their families. They have been notified about several pets whose families have reported them as missing.
Animal Care and Control took in two cats and two dogs on Sunday. A traumatized miniature pinscher dog found by firefighters was dragging a security blanket everywhere she went. The dogs were reclaimed by their families. One cat, though safe at the shelter, was distressed and would not eat the food given to her.
The Crescent City Connection tolls will continue for another 20 years after Orleans Parish elections officials counted?military ballots?Tuesday from the highly contested Nov. 6 referendum. Approval of the initiative hung tenuously on a scant eight-vote margin until Tuesday, when the final difference rose to 16 votes after elections officials counted 32 military and overseas ballots.
More than 308,000 ballots were cast by voters in Orleans, Jefferson and Plaquemines, with Orleans the lone parish to affirm the measure.
Tuesday's votes bring the "yes'' total to 154,389, and the "no'' total to 154,373.
But the final results are likely to draw a challenge from grassroots groups opposed to the tolls, who questioned the veracity of the count in Orleans, where more than 25,000 early votes and thousands of ballots counted by hand were tallied last. The count in New Orleans pushed through election night last week and into the next morning, but not before the outcome swung in both directions.
Chris Granger, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune Bill Bryan, top, representing State Attorney General Buddy Caldwell's office stands over the shoulder of Sandra Wilson, with the Orleans Parish registrar of voters, as she and Orleans Parish Board of Supervisors of Elections President Jay Batt, far left, Orleans Parish Clerk of Court Arthur Morrell and others hand count votes at City Hall on Tuesday, November 13, 2012. They were counting the CCC bridge toll votes. (Photo by Chris Granger, Nola.com / The Times-Picayune)Mail-In Ballots counted gallery (5 photos)
The campaign was considerably emotional as both sides held dueling press conferences and took to social media and email blasts to get out their messages.
Bridging Progress, a political action committee comprised of business advocacy groups around the metro area, spent $200,000 on television, radio and direct mail. The group argued the tolls were key to maintaining the nation's fifth busiest bridge in a condition to support economic development and mitigate traffic and public safety issues. They also cited the need to have a dedicated funding source for the span, since the state currently has a $12 billion backlog of infrastructure needs.
Bridging Progress enlisted the help of elected and law enforcement officials, trumpeting their platform in three news conferences. They said they represented more than 3,000 businesses with memberships in the Jefferson Chamber, Jefferson Business Council, Greater New Orleans Inc., Algiers Economic Development Foundation, Harvey Canal Industrial Association and Plaquemines Association of Business and Industry.
The anti-toll movement, led by state Rep. Pat Connick, R-Harvey, comprised more than 200 businesses, mainly on the West Bank, who asserted the tolls are an unfair burden placed on West Bank residents who have little to show for it. Connick spent his first term in the Legislature scrutinizing Crescent City Connection operations and finances, uncovering a $4 million insurance policy that wasn't needed; contracts awarded without following state guidelines; and payments for enhanced services, such as grass cutting, that were woefully inadequate.
Connick also argued state officials promised the tolls would lapse in 2012 once the bridge is paid for. He said Highway Fund No. 2, generated by license tag fees paid by metro residents and is split between the CCC and Causeway Bridge, could pay for CCC operations. The CCC's share is more than $5 million for the CCC, and those dollars, Connick has said, have been doled out by transportation officials to other areas of the state.
The tolls, paid by east bank-bound motorists, bring in $21 million annually. Drivers pay either $1 cash or 40 cents with a toll tag.
Margaret Snopkowski, 51, of Michigan, missed the birth of her first grandchild Oct. 24. Instead, she was hospitalized 300 miles away as fungal meningitis from tainted back pain drugs ravaged her system. Congressional committees this week are probing the outbreak that has killed 32.
Juvenile justice reforms should incorporate science of adolescent developmentPublic release date: 13-Nov-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Lauren Rugani news@nas.edu 202-334-2138 National Academy of Sciences
WASHINGTON Legal responses to juvenile offending should be grounded in scientific knowledge about adolescent development and tailored to an individual offender's needs and social environment, says a new report from the National Research Council. Accountability practices should not be carried over from criminal courts to juvenile courts; in particular, confinement should be used only in rare circumstances such as when a youth poses a high risk of harming others.
The specific aims of the juvenile justice system are to hold youths accountable for wrongdoing, prevent further offending, and treat offenders fairly. "Many jurisdictions are still operating under harsh laws passed in the 1990s that rejected the relevance of the developmental differences between adolescents and adults to justice policy," said committee chair Robert Johnson, dean of the New Jersey Medical School in Newark. "But adolescents' brains, behavior, and needs are different from those of adults, and states should align their laws and policies with that evidence."
Research shows that an imbalance in developing brain systems is linked to adolescents' lack of mature capability for self-regulation, heightened sensitivity to external influences, and poorer ability to make decisions that require consideration of the future. Individual development and likelihood of offending are also strongly affected by youths' interactions with their environment, which includes parents, peers, schools, and communities, the report says. Much adolescent involvement in illegal activity is an extension of the kind of risk-taking that is part of the developmental process, and most adolescents mature out of these activities.
Three conditions that are critically important to adolescent development are active involvement by a parent figure, peer groups that value positive socialization and academic success, and activities that contribute to decision-making and critical-thinking abilities, says the report. Juvenile justice system practices that rely on containment, confinement, and control can deprive youth of these resources.
Well-designed, community-based programs are more likely than institutional confinement to reduce recidivism and facilitate healthy social and moral development for most young offenders, the report says. Even in the most serious cases of personal violence, criminal court sentences should avoid confining adolescents in adult prisons. The report adds that juvenile records should remain confidential to increase opportunities for an offender's successful transition into adulthood.
The juvenile justice system should eliminate interventions that research has found to be ineffective or harmful, while engaging an adolescent, his or her family, and the community to foster positive activities and law-abiding behavior. Many effective developmentally based interventions also result in substantial cost benefits, such as relatively low-cost programs that divert adolescents from the justice system by reducing risk factors or that intervene while an offender is confined or on probation. Conversely, programs such as wilderness challenges and bootcamps have large costs and have been shown to be ineffective.
Minorities are disproportionately represented in the juvenile justice system, especially during the arrest and detention stages and for certain crimes. The report notes that minorities are more likely to face harsh punishment for some crimes and remain in the system longer than white youths for the same crimes. While the juvenile justice system alone cannot alter the underlying causes of racial and ethnic disparities, practices within the system that impact disparities could be addressed, for example setting guidelines for handling adolescents as they enter the juvenile justice system to avoid further processing. The committee calls for increasing the accountability of national, state, and local governments for reducing racial and ethnic disparities.
Juvenile courts should ensure that young offenders are represented by properly trained counsel, that legal decisions are not made unless the youth is competent enough to understand the proceedings and assist counsel, and that youths have an opportunity to participate in the proceedings, the report says. Evidence suggests that juveniles are more likely to accept responsibility if they perceive the proceedings to be fair and the sanctions to be appropriate to their offenses.
"Adolescents have a heightened sensitivity to perceived injustice, so being fair to juveniles is developmentally important as well as constitutionally important," said committee vice chair Richard Bonnie, professor of law and public policy at the University of Virginia, Charlottesville.
The immediate momentum for systemwide change will need to come from state, local, and tribal governments, the report says, but policymakers at all levels need to be engaged in the process and be transparent regarding the effectiveness and costs of current programs and policies. Federal research agencies should support research to continue to advance the science of adolescent development, and new findings should be incorporated into policies and practice on a continuing basis.
###
The study was sponsored by U.S. Department of Justice. The National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, Institute of Medicine, and National Research Council make up the National Academies. They are private, independent nonprofit institutions that provide science, technology, and health policy advice under a congressional charter. The Research Council is the principal operating agency of the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering. For more information, visit http://national-academies.org. A committee roster follows.
Contacts:
Lauren Rugani, Media Relations Officer
Luwam Yeibio, Media Relations Assistant
Office of News and Public Information
202-334-2138; e-mail news@nas.edu
Additional resources:
Report in Brief
Pre-publication copies of Reforming Juvenile Justice: A Developmental Approach are available from the National Academies Press; tel. 202-334-3313 or 1-800-624-6242 or on the Internet at http://www.nap.edu. Reporters may obtain a copy from the Office of News and Public Information (contacts listed above).
NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL
Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education
Committee on Law and Justice
Committee on Assessing Juvenile Justice Reform
Robert L. Johnson (chair)
Dean and Director of Adolescent and Young Adult Medicine
New Jersey Medical School
Newark
Richard J. Bonnie1 (vice chair)
Harrison Foundation Professor of Medicine and Law;
Professor of Psychiatry and Neurobehavioral Sciences; and
Director of Psychiatry and Public Policy
Institute of Law
University of Virginia
Charlottesville
Carl C. Bell
President and CEO
Community Mental Health Council Inc.
Chicago
Lawrence D. Bobo2
W.E.B. Du Bois Professor of the Social Sciences
Department of Sociology
Harvard University
Cambridge, Mass.
Jeffrey A. Butts
Executive Director
Criminal Justice Research and Evaluation Center
John Jay College of Criminal Justice
City University of New York
New York City
Gladys Carrion
Commissioner
New York State Office of Children and Family Services
Rensselaer
B.J. Casey
Director
Sackler Institute, and
Sackler Professor of Developmental Psychobiology
Departments of Psychiatry, Neurology, and Neuroscience
Weill Medical College of Cornell University
New York City
Kenneth A. Dodge
William McDougall Professor of Public Policy, and
Director
Center for Child and Family Policy
Sanford School of Public Policy
Duke University
Durham, N.C.
Sandra A. Graham
Professor
Department of Education
Graduate School of Education
University of California
Los Angeles
Ernestine Gray
Chief Judge
Orleans Parish Juvenile Court
New Orleans
Edward P. Mulvey
Professor of Psychiatry, and
Director
Law and Psychiatry Research
School of Medicine
University of Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh
Robert D. Plotnick
Professor of Public Affairs and Social Work
University of Washington
Seattle
Elizabeth S. Scott
Harold R. Medina Professor in
Procedural Jurisprudence
Columbia Law School
Columbia University
New York City
Terence P. Thornberry
Professor of Criminology and Criminal Justice
University of Maryland
College Park
Cherie Townsend
Executive Director
Texas Juvenile Justice
Department
Austin
RESEARCH COUNCIL STAFF
Betty M. Chemers
Study Director
1 Member, Institute of Medicine
2 Member, National Academy of Sciences
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Juvenile justice reforms should incorporate science of adolescent developmentPublic release date: 13-Nov-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Lauren Rugani news@nas.edu 202-334-2138 National Academy of Sciences
WASHINGTON Legal responses to juvenile offending should be grounded in scientific knowledge about adolescent development and tailored to an individual offender's needs and social environment, says a new report from the National Research Council. Accountability practices should not be carried over from criminal courts to juvenile courts; in particular, confinement should be used only in rare circumstances such as when a youth poses a high risk of harming others.
The specific aims of the juvenile justice system are to hold youths accountable for wrongdoing, prevent further offending, and treat offenders fairly. "Many jurisdictions are still operating under harsh laws passed in the 1990s that rejected the relevance of the developmental differences between adolescents and adults to justice policy," said committee chair Robert Johnson, dean of the New Jersey Medical School in Newark. "But adolescents' brains, behavior, and needs are different from those of adults, and states should align their laws and policies with that evidence."
Research shows that an imbalance in developing brain systems is linked to adolescents' lack of mature capability for self-regulation, heightened sensitivity to external influences, and poorer ability to make decisions that require consideration of the future. Individual development and likelihood of offending are also strongly affected by youths' interactions with their environment, which includes parents, peers, schools, and communities, the report says. Much adolescent involvement in illegal activity is an extension of the kind of risk-taking that is part of the developmental process, and most adolescents mature out of these activities.
Three conditions that are critically important to adolescent development are active involvement by a parent figure, peer groups that value positive socialization and academic success, and activities that contribute to decision-making and critical-thinking abilities, says the report. Juvenile justice system practices that rely on containment, confinement, and control can deprive youth of these resources.
Well-designed, community-based programs are more likely than institutional confinement to reduce recidivism and facilitate healthy social and moral development for most young offenders, the report says. Even in the most serious cases of personal violence, criminal court sentences should avoid confining adolescents in adult prisons. The report adds that juvenile records should remain confidential to increase opportunities for an offender's successful transition into adulthood.
The juvenile justice system should eliminate interventions that research has found to be ineffective or harmful, while engaging an adolescent, his or her family, and the community to foster positive activities and law-abiding behavior. Many effective developmentally based interventions also result in substantial cost benefits, such as relatively low-cost programs that divert adolescents from the justice system by reducing risk factors or that intervene while an offender is confined or on probation. Conversely, programs such as wilderness challenges and bootcamps have large costs and have been shown to be ineffective.
Minorities are disproportionately represented in the juvenile justice system, especially during the arrest and detention stages and for certain crimes. The report notes that minorities are more likely to face harsh punishment for some crimes and remain in the system longer than white youths for the same crimes. While the juvenile justice system alone cannot alter the underlying causes of racial and ethnic disparities, practices within the system that impact disparities could be addressed, for example setting guidelines for handling adolescents as they enter the juvenile justice system to avoid further processing. The committee calls for increasing the accountability of national, state, and local governments for reducing racial and ethnic disparities.
Juvenile courts should ensure that young offenders are represented by properly trained counsel, that legal decisions are not made unless the youth is competent enough to understand the proceedings and assist counsel, and that youths have an opportunity to participate in the proceedings, the report says. Evidence suggests that juveniles are more likely to accept responsibility if they perceive the proceedings to be fair and the sanctions to be appropriate to their offenses.
"Adolescents have a heightened sensitivity to perceived injustice, so being fair to juveniles is developmentally important as well as constitutionally important," said committee vice chair Richard Bonnie, professor of law and public policy at the University of Virginia, Charlottesville.
The immediate momentum for systemwide change will need to come from state, local, and tribal governments, the report says, but policymakers at all levels need to be engaged in the process and be transparent regarding the effectiveness and costs of current programs and policies. Federal research agencies should support research to continue to advance the science of adolescent development, and new findings should be incorporated into policies and practice on a continuing basis.
###
The study was sponsored by U.S. Department of Justice. The National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, Institute of Medicine, and National Research Council make up the National Academies. They are private, independent nonprofit institutions that provide science, technology, and health policy advice under a congressional charter. The Research Council is the principal operating agency of the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering. For more information, visit http://national-academies.org. A committee roster follows.
Contacts:
Lauren Rugani, Media Relations Officer
Luwam Yeibio, Media Relations Assistant
Office of News and Public Information
202-334-2138; e-mail news@nas.edu
Additional resources:
Report in Brief
Pre-publication copies of Reforming Juvenile Justice: A Developmental Approach are available from the National Academies Press; tel. 202-334-3313 or 1-800-624-6242 or on the Internet at http://www.nap.edu. Reporters may obtain a copy from the Office of News and Public Information (contacts listed above).
NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL
Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education
Committee on Law and Justice
Committee on Assessing Juvenile Justice Reform
Robert L. Johnson (chair)
Dean and Director of Adolescent and Young Adult Medicine
New Jersey Medical School
Newark
Richard J. Bonnie1 (vice chair)
Harrison Foundation Professor of Medicine and Law;
Professor of Psychiatry and Neurobehavioral Sciences; and
Director of Psychiatry and Public Policy
Institute of Law
University of Virginia
Charlottesville
Carl C. Bell
President and CEO
Community Mental Health Council Inc.
Chicago
Lawrence D. Bobo2
W.E.B. Du Bois Professor of the Social Sciences
Department of Sociology
Harvard University
Cambridge, Mass.
Jeffrey A. Butts
Executive Director
Criminal Justice Research and Evaluation Center
John Jay College of Criminal Justice
City University of New York
New York City
Gladys Carrion
Commissioner
New York State Office of Children and Family Services
Rensselaer
B.J. Casey
Director
Sackler Institute, and
Sackler Professor of Developmental Psychobiology
Departments of Psychiatry, Neurology, and Neuroscience
Weill Medical College of Cornell University
New York City
Kenneth A. Dodge
William McDougall Professor of Public Policy, and
Director
Center for Child and Family Policy
Sanford School of Public Policy
Duke University
Durham, N.C.
Sandra A. Graham
Professor
Department of Education
Graduate School of Education
University of California
Los Angeles
Ernestine Gray
Chief Judge
Orleans Parish Juvenile Court
New Orleans
Edward P. Mulvey
Professor of Psychiatry, and
Director
Law and Psychiatry Research
School of Medicine
University of Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh
Robert D. Plotnick
Professor of Public Affairs and Social Work
University of Washington
Seattle
Elizabeth S. Scott
Harold R. Medina Professor in
Procedural Jurisprudence
Columbia Law School
Columbia University
New York City
Terence P. Thornberry
Professor of Criminology and Criminal Justice
University of Maryland
College Park
Cherie Townsend
Executive Director
Texas Juvenile Justice
Department
Austin
RESEARCH COUNCIL STAFF
Betty M. Chemers
Study Director
1 Member, Institute of Medicine
2 Member, National Academy of Sciences
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
WASHINGTON (AP) ? Bears and budgets top the list as Congress returns Tuesday from a seven-week election break to a long list of unfinished business.
Looming large in the lame-duck session is the urgent need for President Barack Obama and Congress to figure out how to avoid the double economic hit of tax increases and automatic spending cuts to defense and domestic programs that kick in after Jan. 1. Those high-stakes negotiations could take weeks and the issue may not be resolved by year's end.
In the interim, Democrats and Republicans are picking up where they left off on several bills while welcoming the newest members ? 12 in the Senate and some 70 in the House ? for Congress' version of freshmen orientation.
The Senate has scheduled an early evening procedural vote Tuesday for a sportsmen's bill that will decide the fate of 41 polar bear carcasses that hunters want to bring home from Canada as big-game trophies. Hunters killed the bears just before a 2008 ban on polar bear trophy imports took effect, but were not able to bring them home before the Fish and Wildlife Services listed them as a threatened species.
The House on Tuesday is expected to pass and send to the president legislation that would exclude U.S. airlines from the requirements on emissions that the European Union has sought to impose on all planes flying to and from the European continent.
The House vote comes a day after the EU proposed a one-year freeze on the carbon emissions charges for non-European airlines. The emissions program has met strong opposition from airlines and governments outside Europe, including the United States, China and India.
The Air Line Pilots Association said Monday that even with the temporary delay Congress needs to act to ensure that U.S. airlines are not liable in the future for the EU-imposed tax. It said the cap-and-trade program could cost U.S. carriers $3.1 billion over 10 years.
While the nation's voters endorsed the status quo of divided government ? a Democratic president and Senate, a Republican House ? Obama cruised to re-election and his emboldened party gained seats in both the House and Senate. In the new political order, Democrats will hold a 55-45 edge in the Senate if independent Angus King of Maine caucuses with them as expected. Republicans' advantage in the House narrowed and is likely to stand at 233-201.
Democrats were leading in the six undecided House races in Arizona, California, Florida, North Carolina and Utah.
The question over the next seven weeks is whether Obama and Congress can agree now or later on how to slash $1.2 trillion from the deficit, raise revenues with possible changes in the tax code and address the entitlement programs of Social Security and Medicare. They also have to figure out how to stop across-the-board cuts to defense and domestic programs totaling $110 billion next year.
Obama meets with congressional leaders at the White House on Friday. Democrats and Republicans recognize the urgency, but the demands remain unchanged.
"If our Republican counterparts can step forward with that revenue piece, we will be able to find a solution," Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., said Sunday on ABC's "This Week." ''We can't accept an unfair deal that piles on the middle class and tell them they have to support it. We have to make sure that the wealthiest Americans pay their fair share."
The GOP insists that tax rate increases are a non-starter.
"There's a right way to do this and there's a wrong way to do it," Sen. Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga., said Sunday.
House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, has signaled that a solution is imperative.
"2013 should be the year we begin to solve our debt through tax reform and entitlement reform," he told reporters last week.
Crucial in the House this week is passage of legislation that would end Cold War trade restrictions so U.S. exporters can take advantage of the lowered tariffs and greater market access that accompany Russia's entry into the World Trade Organization. Russia officially joined the WTO in August and the United States is alone among more than 150 WTO members in not being able to enjoy the more open Russian market.
The measure has been a top priority of U.S. business groups seeking to expand business in the growing Russian economy. To placate critics of Russia's poor human rights record, the trade bill is combined with legislation that would sanction Russian officials involved in human rights violations.
The sportsmen's bill combines 19 measures favorable to outdoorsmen, allowing more hunting and fishing on federal lands, letting bow hunters cross federal land where hunting isn't allowed and encouraging federal land agencies to cooperate with state and local authorities to maintain shooting ranges.
A five-year farm bill passed by the Senate and by a House committee last summer will either have to be extended into next year or passed in the remaining weeks of the session. The 2008 farm bill expired Sept. 30.
The bill's only real chance for passage is if lawmakers decide to use its savings as part of negotiations on the so-called "fiscal cliff." The Senate bill would save $23 billion over 10 years and the House Agriculture Committee bill would save $35 billion over 10 years.
Otherwise, the bill will be extended into next year. Some Republicans have suggested a yearlong extension, but farm-state members and farm groups have said they would prefer a shorter extension to keep the pressure on for passage.
Though much of the work was done on the bill this year, it stalled this fall because of disagreements over food stamp spending. House leaders refused to bring the bill to the floor before the election, saying it didn't have enough votes.
Republicans have internally disagreed over cuts to food stamps, which make up about 80 percent of the half-trillion-dollar bill's cost over five years. The Senate bill would cut about $400 million a year out of the program's almost $80 billion annual cost while the House bill would cut about $1.6 billion from food stamps annually. Conservatives have said neither version makes deep enough cuts.
Legislation setting defense budgets remains undone, and the House and Senate Armed Services committees were working informally in recent weeks on a bipartisan bill that both chambers could pass.
The House approved legislation months ago, but the Senate hasn't acted. The freestanding Senate bill has attracted more than 70 amendments and Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., is pressing for a time agreement that would limit amendments.
Republicans and Democrats will meet Wednesday morning in the Senate to decide leadership jobs, with Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, expected to move up to the GOP's No. 2 spot, replacing Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., who is retiring.
In the House, Reps. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., and Rep. Tom Price, R-Ga., are vying for the No. 4 job.
The biggest question in the House ranks is whether Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., remains in her leadership job.
___
Associated Press writers Jim Abrams and Mary Clare Jalonick contributed to this report.
One: what does a girl have to do to get a ticket to an event like this? have more than 10 readers probably.
Two: bloggers get paid? not paid to stop either, not that anyone has offered to pay me to stop. yet.
Apparently a Daily mail columnist named Liz Jones attended the Mumsnet blogfest event ( did I mention they have goody bags) and then proceeded to write a horrible article bashing mum bloggers. here are the highlights and my thoughts.
?The most revolutionary tool we have ? namely, free speech on the internet ? has been turned into a giant WI meeting, with women being PAID to sit at home, ignore the child about to toddle into the glass wall that makes kitchen and garden seamlessly as one, and to write about being mothers.?
Fay: Being a Mum is an overwhelming experience, it takes over your heart body and soul. Mums have always shared experiences to form a collective knowledge, a safety net to the sleep addled brain, a support network, a talisman against the haunting isolation that being a mum at home can bring.
Now mothers who are separated from family guidance because the mother lives away or is disinterested can turn to these resources online.
A blog is a wonderful way to connect with the world and share a part of yourself, Anyone with a fragment of human warmth would see its therapy, friendship, sharing, hopes, dreams and Human suffering all rolled into one. It?s the very essence of life. As is Motherhood.
Mum blogs are read by other mums who have earnt the hall pass by knowing, what it takes to be a mum. I am sure they would not appeal to someone who isn?t raising the next generation.
?
and this;
?Suddenly, rather than feeling I?m with a group of women who want to change the world, I am in a tangled teepee of virtual knitters, spinning yarns so they can remain inside their cupcake-scented world.?.
Fay: Doesn?t a cupcake scented world sound wonderful, As do yarns both virtual and real, knitting and tales.
Having lived long enough to mellow and not feel defensive about my choices which at times can be as blissful as Liz Jones suggests, this just sounds like Jealousy, who can blame her really?
As for changing the world. laughs, how old are you?
?
Finally this;
?Women have again been duped into thinking the world exists in their tiny, safe, fragrant homes, that life revolves around burps.
?They might just as well don a burka, and shuffle, so narrow is their vision.?
Fay: How lowly you rank your genders intellect, duped? Mum bloggers are anything but silly, they have merely made a choice, amid an embarrassment of riches including, The Love of a good man, babies, a home, an internet connection they choose to be mothers at home. Others work, mother and blog. generalizations don?t really work. we are each as unique as a cupcake scented snow flake. deal with it.
My closing thought is: Negativity never comes from a place of contentment or happiness.
To enter the world of mum bloggers and not be touched by the aching humanity is to not know what life is about.
Excerpts from Kate (Chapter Two: Backstory) ********************************************************* Eighteen. St. Louis was supposed to be ?what I did on my summer vacation,? not this. I called my parents and told them things weren?t working out and I wanted to come home. My car had stopped running and I didn?t have the money to replace it. They sent me money for a plane ticket and I packed my bags. My friend, Joan was sad and worried about me as we drove to the airport.
?Whatever happens, tell Woz the opposite of what happens, okay?? I said as we hugged goodbye. If I?m pregnant I don?t want him getting in the middle of it, I?ll deal with it by myself. Promise me.?
?Okay, I promise.? Joan looked like she was going to cry. We hugged hard.
?Don?t worry, it?ll all work out? she said as I turned to board the plane.
Our eyes met. ?I hope so? I said and walked away. **************************************************************** On the face of it, my parents teamed up and said they would support whatever I decided. They set up a time for me to talk with the pastor. Fr. Bill Sullivan had eaten many dinners at our house over the years and he was at home with our family.
My pregnancy was an awkward topic but I was open to some practical input. Fr. Sullivan told me about adoption services. He didn?t tell me not to have an abortion but he gave me the alternatives that he was familiar with and told me he knew people who longed for a child more than anything and couldn?t have one except through adoption.
As my dad drove me back to my apartment, I admitted that I didn?t want to be a mother from being with a man I barely knew, didn?t love or planned to ever see again. To begin a family from a beginning like this seemed stupid and disastrous. I didn?t want to have a child. Abortion seemed like the only way to deal with it.
?It?s really up to you, honey.?
It had always been easy for me to talk freely with my dad. He brought me home record albums of Joni Mitchell, Bob Dylan, The Weavers and Ian & Sylvia. He showed me how to play music, drove me to auditions and bought me my first guitar in New York City. He was interested in what I thought and didn?t pressure me to be anything but myself.
Life to me was magic. With my surname, I was teased with nicknames of ?flower power? who wrote songs of internal struggles with happy endings. Love was my code. I?d been to Woodstock. Was this a call to love a complete unknown? How far do I go with this? It?s in my body, not my head. What do I do with it? I was eighteen years old.
In a gentle voice, my father began to tell me what it was like for him when my mother became pregnant for the tenth time. Each of us was special in our own way but my mother?s news of one more pregnancy put my dad into a crisis. He didn?t know if he could love one more child. He had worked hard and loved us all but he felt like his plate was full. There wasn?t any more room in his heart for one more.
As my mother grew with my baby sister, my father?s anxiety grew, unconvinced. Then Gina was born, a cheerful baby girl with the face of an angel, bright and spirited. We all vied to take care of her because she was the littlest one, named for the Blessed Mother ? Regina Maria or Queen Mary. Our littlest sister became the apple of our father?s eye. He loved this little one so much.
?Now,? he said, ?I can?t imagine what it would have been like without her. She was the last piece in the puzzle of our family. If I had turned away from my last child being born, life would have been different in a way I wouldn?t have wanted to miss.?
His eyes crinkled into a half-grin made me half-think he believed that I could do this ? that it would be hard and not what I had planned for ? but it might turn out better than I ever expected and I?d never know unless I tried ? and that?s life, isn?t it?
I took in a breath and let it out. I guess I knew what I was going to do.
?Okay.?
I announced my decision to come to term and give up my baby for adoption. My parents accepted my decision and made plans with Sister Alice Faherty at Catholic Charities. Sister Alice was a pink-cheeked radical, peace-activist, post-Vatican II Sister of Mercy. She had handled five hundred adoptions and cared about every person she worked with.
I walked to the duck pond at the bottom of the hill in Morristown to meet her over deli sandwiches she brought with her. We sat in her car and as I unwrapped the white wax paper around my tuna sandwich, we began to get to know each other. Then she told me what I could expect.
A room would be reserved for me at the ?Home for Unwed Mothers? in a small community north of my family?s town. I would pick an alias (to protect my given name) and within weeks of labor, I would go the home to wait to deliver. Everything else would be taken care of.
?Twenty years from now? she said, ?a child may be able to see their records ? and you can update the agency with your whereabouts if you want to be found. I think the laws will have changed by then.?
That could be good, I thought to myself. Twenty years was more than I had been alive. It seemed like a long time. Still, my baby could have a good home to grow up in. Maybe by some miracle we would come back together when the time was right. I would be mature and have my life together. If I did this for the sake of love and made the sacrifice for God, anything could happen. If the baby was born, everything was possible.
My mother had conceded to a short visit on Christmas day so I could drop off gifts I had made for my brothers and sisters for Christmas. ?Keep your coat on? she whispered, as my brothers and sisters followed her into the foyer to greet me.
My nine year-old youngest sister, Gina, stepped right up and stood in front of me and with an inquisitive expression said ?What?s this?? She boldly ran her index finger down the front zipper of my cape from the neck to my waist.
I grabbed her hands with urgency and held them in mine as I smiled into her eyes, ?This is my new cape my friend made me for Christmas? Isn?t it beautiful??
She looked confused, unconvinced and dropped her hands.
?That?s nice? she said.
?I?ve missed you, Gina. Come on, let?s do presents!?
I took her hand and asked her to come sit with me in the living room and we?d hand out the gifts I had brought in my bag.
My mother paced nervously between the living room and the kitchen with tea and Christmas cookies and watched with a protective eye for her charges while I took out each present and handed it out; hand-crocheted hats, macram? beaded plant hangers, homemade jams and toys for the younger ones. A layer of worry underlined her motherly smile as she nodded to my siblings who showed her what they got. The gravity in her face told me to hurry.
Thirty minutes after my arrival I announced that I needed to deliver the rest of my Christmas presents and had better go. My cape draped around me as I stood with my empty canvas bag rolled up in my hands in front. After quick kisses goodbye, I backed out the driveway in my car. Tears broke hold as I shifted gears and pulled onto the road home where I would be a welcome sight, no matter what.
After Cathy?s birth, I shared my story with those closest to me ? mainly to ensure that if she ever came looking for me, my confidants would be able to tell her that I had been there and she would have a trail to follow. Little did I know that we would find each other the way we did!
The truth became public when we found each other. People were surprised by my openness but accepted it as part of my story ? and some had stories of their own. Shared or not, this was part of who I was. It had always been easier for me to tell the truth than to hide it. My privacy and reputation had been protected for the sake of my family and my future. Reunion has forged a live reconciliation that continues to be ongoing, authentic and a source of love and strength for all of us, young and old, in the extended family we have become. ~ Kate
********************************************************** To read my daughter?s counterblog, visit http://www.reunioneyes.blogspot.com **********************************************************
AMMAN, Jordan (AP) ? A Jordanian criminal court sentenced the kingdom's ex-intelligence chief on Sunday to 13 years and three months in jail for embezzlement of public funds, money laundering and abuse of office.
It was the harshest sentence in years against such a high-profile personality in Jordan.
Presiding judge Nashaat Akhras also demanded in court that defendant Mohammed al-Dahabi pay 21 million Jordanian dinars ($29.6 million) in fines to the state and return money he allegedly laundered and embezzled during his 2005-2008 tenure as head of Jordanian intelligence. The judge said the amount is estimated at 24 million dinars ($34 million).
"You deserve the harshest punishment for being a traitor to the people who trusted you with a government position and state funds," Akhras told the ex-official. An anxious-looking Al-Dahabi stood silently in the dock, wearing a dark blue suit, as the verdict was read out.
He was arrested in February, when inspectors from the Central Bank of Jordan suspected transactions worth millions of dollars had gone through his bank account.
The rare case against such a high profile official is meant to show Jordan's seriousness in efforts to tackle graft and corruption ? a demand voiced in recent street protests.
In 2003, Jordan sentenced another ex-intelligence chief to eight years in jail for forgery of state documents and abuse of office. Sameeh al-Batikhi was released after serving his prison term.
The following stories first appeared during the past week on Patch sites in Dakota, Rice and Scott counties. To read the full articles, click on the headline links.
Apple Valley-Rosemount
St. Paul Man Charged with Impregnating 14-Year-Old Rosemount Girl
James Lee Whitner III is charged with third-degree criminal sexual conduct after police say he had sex with the victim twice in August.
Man Charged with Brazen Theft of Trailer from Rosemount Man
Police say Dale Michael Bale drove onto the victim's property, hitched his trailer to a pickup truck and drove away with it.
2 Apple Valley Men Charged with Aggravated Robbery
Police say Jason Michael Milligan and Garrett Jackson Nash were involved in robbing an Apple Valley woman of a purse.
Burnsville
Burnsville Woman Charged with Swiping Grandmother's Jewelry, Cash
Police say Kristin Elyse Frame stole jewelry from her grandmother and pawned it, and also stole cash, replacing it with photocopies.
Eagan
Eagan Police Chief Troubled by Increase in Mental Health Calls
Two high-profile police standoffs involving Eagan officers earlier this year are part of a bigger problem, according to Jim McDonald.
Inver Grove Heights
IGH Man Given Probation After Admitting to Sexual Assault of 7-Year-Old Niece
Among the other conditions of his sentence, Max Alfonso Miranda-Rivera was ordered to comply with periodic ploygraph exams and random analyses of his computer and internet access.
Lakeville
Dumb Criminal: 7 Citations in Year Leads and Jail for Lakeville Man
A driver was given a citation for Driving after Suspension of Driving Privileges?his seventh in a year. Oh, and he went to jail.
Savage
Savage Man Charged with Smashing In Door, Assaulting Burnsville Woman
Police say Kevin Michael Slominski became enraged when his ex-girlfriend told him their relationship was over, broke down her door, assaulted her and fled with her cell phone.
Shakopee
Overnight Fire at Wine Styles Appears Incendiary In Nature
The Shakopee fire marshal is investigating the incident. No one was injured in the fire.
Shakopee Firefighters Respond to Early Morning Truck Fire at Koda Energy
A truck filled with wood chips destined for the facility caught on fire.
Follow Northfield Patch on?Twitter?| Like us on?Facebook?| Sign up for our free?newsletter
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Internet service providers (ISPs) are the conduits of free expression on the Internet. However, many international and national law and policy proposals, including trade agreements like the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement (TPP) and others, attempt to make Internet intermediaries the sole arbiter and enforcer of the law instead of courts and judges. ISPs should not be Internet cops. Not only are they not equipped to make such decisions, proposals to make them liable for Internet content end up promoting law enforcement methods that purposefully skirt due process rights.
Private ISP enforcement of copyright also poses a serious threat to free speech on the Internet, because it makes offering open platforms for user-generated content economically untenable. On an ad-supported site, for example, the costs of reviewing each post will generally exceed the pennies of revenue one might get from ads. Even obvious fair uses could become too risky to host, leading to a cautious, bland, and stagnant Internet. This week, Brazil has become poised to enact national regulations that suffer from these problems in the form of new language abruptly inserted into the pending Brazilian Internet Bill of Rights (?Marco Civil?). And while the Internet Bill?s protections for ISPs are at risk of being derailed, two cybercrime bills were approved by the House and are already awaiting the President?s signature.
Marco Civil Falls Short of its Initial Promises to Protect Users?
Brazil is now in the midst of rolling out an Internet bill of rights, called Marco Civil da Internet, which was intended to afford strong protections for freedom of online expression and Internet intermediaries. Unfortunately, last-minute changes have made it increasingly clear that it is falling short of its original promise, leaving users and Internet service providers in an ocean of legal uncertainty.
A concerning last-minute change has chipped away at the Bill?s safe harbor provisions regarding copyright infringement. Article 15 of Marco Civil originally provided that ISPs are not responsible for infringing content by Third Parties unless they disobey a specific judicial order to take down said content. However, following a visit by the Minister of Culture to the legislator serving as rapporteur of Marco Civil, the rapporteur introduced a new paragraph into Article 15, saying that the article would not apply in cases of ?copyright and neighborhood rights?.
Brazilian civil society has been pushing for this Bill since 2009, and activists say that a possible effect of this change could be that a judicial take down order would no longer be necessary for the removal of allegedly infringing copyrighted content. If this is the case, copyright owners could take intermediaries to court for their users? allegedly infringing content, and force ISPs to take their own measures to police users themselves. The impact of this new exclusionary paragraph may be even worse depending on how the language of the articles surrounding Article 15 ends up being written. It could mean that all legal certainty surrounding safe harbors for ISPs and the judicial copyright notice and take down process will be lost.
As expected, this change is an unenlightened?consequence of the content industry lobby. Guilherme Varella, lawyer for the?Brazilian Institute for Consumer Defense [IDEC], commented on the changes in this recent law article. He stated that this is the result of a clumsy intervention by the Ministry of Culture following constant pressure by the entertainment industry lobby, especially the Brazilian Association of Reprographic Rights (ABDR), the Brazilian Association of Phonographic Producers (ABPD) and the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA). Varella reports that the entertainment lobby has been camped outside the Ministry and the Congress for the past few weeks, pressuring the vote on the Bill to be postponed until they get what they want.
This is an unacceptable and careless move by the Brazilian government that does not take into consideration the significant chilling effects this would have on Brazilians? free expression, due process rights, and right to innovate freely. We urge that this new second paragraph be entirely deleted from Marco Civil. By inserting this language, the government is dismissing the years of participatory process and civil society consultations that occurred throughout the drafting of the Bill. Brazil is losing the opportunity to lead by example. ??
In regard to the previous official draft of Marco Civil, EFF, in a letter to the Brazilian Congress, congratulated the government:
?The adoption of this draft would be a significant victory for the protection of Brazilians' civil liberties on?line in almost all respects. With the exception of article 11,?the provisions of the draft Marco Civil are all comparably protective of free expression and user privacy and autonomy to current law in the United States, and in several cases the Marco Civil draft is even more protective of these values. As civil libertarians, we appreciate the numerous ways in which this proposal protects Internet users.?
Due to the new language in Article 15, the Bill now falls far short of its initial objective of protecting Brazilians? online civil liberties. EFF has worked in the US courts to defend the broad protections for intermediaries under US law because we know that when intermediaries face significant legal uncertainty, they will often react in ways to avoid controversy. What that unfortunately means is that the users are always the ones who suffer most in these situations. If the new language of Article 15 prevails, Marco Civil will fall short in regard to one of its main reasons for existence. From the perspective of Brazilian civil society, article 15?s second paragraph should be deleted from Marco Civil.
Two New Brazilian Cybercrime Bills
While postponing the vote on Marco Civil, the Brazilian legislature approved two cybercrime bills on November 7th, and they now move towards the executive branch for approval. Marco Civil was initially drafted to offer a balanced, positive approach in regard to these proposals on criminal enforcement and users? activities in the Internet.
One of the bills passed is the once infamous Azeredo Law, which was considered for over 10 years and was heavily criticized by civil society for?limiting user freedom on the Internet and threatening user privacy. The House passed a version of the bill; however, it is?much less severe than its original draft because many of its most controversial points were removed.? The final draft included criminal provisions on?credit card falsification and treason, and created a police infrastructure to combat cyber crimes.
The other bill approved by the House?criminalizes unauthorized access to emails and sensitive information online, punishable up to two years in prison. The bill is called the Carolina Dieckmann Law, in reference to an instance when?intimate photos of the Brazilian actress were released?on the Internet.?Both bills now go to President Dilma Rousseff for her signature?before they go into effect.
According to Professor Pablo Ortellado, from GPOPAI-USP, these bills now lie in the hands of the executive branch, to make sense of and patch together into a cybercrime framework for Brazil. Professor Ronaldo Lemos, who represents Creative Commons in Brazil, says that that this situation?in which two criminal bills are approved while Marco Civil is stagnated in Congress?has created a "political problem?. In his opinion, the priority should have been to move forward with the Bill of Rights first and then to enact specific criminal legislation next, in order to "build a foundation for the civil use of the web? that promotes and prioritizes innovation and predictability.
The vote on Marco Civil was once again postponed from November 7th to November 13th. Join Brazilian civil society in protesting this last-minute attack on users? rights.
LOS ANGELES (AP) ? Kobe Bryant scored 27 points, Pau Gasol added 14 points and 16 rebounds, and the Los Angeles Lakers responded to coach Mike Brown's firing earlier Friday with a 101-77 victory over the Golden State Warriors.
Jordan Hill scored 14 points for the Lakers, who had just a few hours to absorb Brown's dismissal after just 18 months on the job. Following a bumpy first half under interim coach Bernie Bickerstaff, they pulled away in the third quarter with a 25-9 run led by Bryant, who also had nine rebounds and seven assists.
Stephen Curry scored 18 points and Klay Thompson had 15 for the Warriors, who have lost five straight to the Lakers overall, and nine straight at Staples Center since March 2008.
The comfortable victory doubled the Lakers' victory total for the season and capped one of the most tumultuous days in recent history for a franchise that's never short on drama.
With the talented veteran club off to a Western Conference-worst 1-4 start after a winless preseason, Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak and owner Jim Buss abruptly dismissed Brown, informing the players during their morning shootaround.
Bickerstaff ran the Lakers as the interim coach, but the veteran NBA bench boss isn't likely to be a candidate for the full-time job. Kupchak is searching for a replacement, possibly making a selection before the Lakers' next game on Sunday against Sacramento.
The Lakers' crowd quickly made its choice known: A chant of "We want Phil!" rose out of the stands while Bryant shot a free throw in the third quarter.
Phil Jackson, the 11-time NBA champion coach who won five rings in two previous stints running the Lakers, is near the top of Kupchak's list again, the GM acknowledged. Mike D'Antoni, the former Knicks and Suns coach, also is thought to be a prime candidate.
Dwight Howard had six points and eight rebounds while playing just 24 minutes for the Lakers in his ongoing return from offseason back surgery. Steve Nash, the other major addition to the club, watched from behind the Lakers' bench, missing his fourth straight game with a small fracture in his leg.
Brown never got the chance to integrate the two stars into his new offense while they were dogged by health issues. Kupchak and Buss still needed to see more success than the Lakers managed in the past six weeks, particularly on defense ? and Los Angeles limited the Warriors to 33.7-percent shooting.
The Lakers' offensive struggles evaporated in the third quarter while they leaped to an 18-point lead over the undermanned Warriors, who struggled to contend inside without injured center Andrew Bogut.
Darius Morris had career highs of 10 points and five rebounds while playing the majority of the Lakers' minutes at point guard. Los Angeles' reserves have been largely ineffective during Brown's tenure, but Morris and Hill led a spirited effort against the Warriors, outscoring their counterparts with Golden State 37-17.
NOTES: Lakers F Devin Ebanks was inactive after getting arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs early Friday morning. Rookie Darius Johnson-Odom made his NBA debut in the final minutes. ... Warriors C Andris Biedrins came up roughly 2 feet short on an airballed free throw in the first half. The Latvian veteran has a career free-throw shooting percentage just over 50 percent. ... Brown went 42-29 with the Lakers, coaching them to the second round of the playoffs during the strike-shortened season before his abbreviated start to this fall.
Video: Nanocrystals and nickel catalyst substantially improve light-based hydrogen production
Friday, November 9, 2012
Hydrogen is an attractive fuel source because it can easily be converted into electric energy and gives off no greenhouse emissions. A group of chemists at the University of Rochester is adding to its appeal by increasing the output and lowering the cost of current light-driven hydrogen-production systems.
The work, funded by the U.S. Department of Energy, was led by chemistry professors Richard Eisenberg, Todd Krauss, and Patrick Holland, and included graduate students Zhiji Han and Fen Qiu. Their paper will be published later this month (Nov. 23) in the journalScience.
The chemists say their work advances what is sometimes considered the "holy grail" of energy science?efficiently using sunlight to provide clean, carbon-free energy for vehicles and anything that requires electricity.
One disadvantage of current methods of hydrogen production has been the lack of durability, but the Rochester scientists were able to overcome that problem by incorporating nanocrystals. "Organic molecules are typically used to capture light in photocatalytic systems," said Krauss, who has been working in the field of nanocrystals for over 20 years. "The problem is they only last hours, or, if you're lucky, a day. These nanocrystals performed without any sign of deterioration for at least two weeks."
Richard Eisenberg, the Tracy H. Harris Professor of Chemistry, has spent two decades working on solar energy systems. During that time, his systems have typically generated 10,000 instances?called turnovers?of hydrogen atoms being formed without having to replace any components. With the nanocrystals, Eisenberg and his colleagues witnessed turnovers in excess of 600,000.
The researchers managed to overcome other disadvantages of traditional photocatalytic systems. "People have typically used catalysts made from platinum and other expensive metals," Holland said. "It would be much more sustainable if we used metals that were more easily found on the Earth, more affordable, and lower in toxicity. That would include metals, such as nickel."
Nanocrystals and nickel catalyst substantially improve light-based hydrogen production. Credit: Matthew Mann/University of Rochester
Holland said their work is still in the "basic research stage," making it impossible to provide cost comparisons with other energy production systems. But he points out that nickel currently sells for about $8 per pound, while the cost of platinum is $24,000 per pound.
While all three researchers say the commercial implementation of their work is years off, Holland points out that an efficient, low-cost system would have uses beyond energy. "Any industry that requires large amounts of hydrogen would benefit, including pharmaceuticals and fertilizers," said Holland.
The process developed by Holland, Eisenberg, and Krauss is similar to other photocatalytic systems; they needed a chromophore (the light-absorbing material), a catalyst to combine protons and electrons, and a solution, which in this case is water. Krauss, an expert in nanocrystals, provided cadmium selenide (CdSe) quantum dots (nanocrystals) as the chromophore. Holland, whose expertise lies in catalysis and nickel research, supplied a nickel catalyst (nickel nitrate). The nanocrystals were capped with DHLA (dihydrolipoic acid) to make them soluble, and ascorbic acid was added to the water as an electron donor.
Photons from a light source excite electrons in the nanocrystals and transfer them to the nickel catalyst. When two electrons are available, they combine on the catalyst with protons from water, to form a hydrogen molecule (H2).
This system was so robust that it kept producing hydrogen until the source of electrons was removed after two weeks. "Presumably, it could continue even longer, but we ran out of patience!" said Holland.
One of the next steps will be to look at the nature of the nanocrystal. "Some nanocrystals are like M&Ms ? they have a core with a shell around it," said Eisenberg. "Ours is just like the core. So we need to consider if they would they work better if they were enclosed in shells."
###
University of Rochester: http://www.rochester.edu
Thanks to University of Rochester for this article.
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I?ve been making a variation of this recipe for years ? and just found a very similar version on Skinny Taste.? Great minds think alike!? This super easy and makes great left-overs too!
Ingredients: ? 1 onion, chopped ? 1 16-oz can black beans ? 1 16-oz can kidney beans ? 1 8-oz can tomato sauce ? 10 oz package frozen corn kernels ? 3 10 oz cans diced tomatoes w/chilies ? 1 packet taco seasoning ? 1 tbsp chili powder (I am a spice WUSS and leave this out. BUT? my husband would be mad if he new that, haha!) ? 24 oz (3-4) boneless skinless chicken breasts ? 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro (optional)
Directions:
Combine everything except chicken (and cilantro) in a slow cooker. Make sure to drain and rinse your beans to get rid of all that sodium!
Add chicken to the top. Just ?smoosh? it in there.
Cook on low for 10 hours or on high for 6 hours. Half hour before serving, remove chicken and shred.
Return chicken to slow cooker and stir in. Top with fresh cilantro. Also try it with low fat cheese tortilla chips, and fat free sour cream (not factored in the nutritional info).
Servings Per Recipe: 10 (1 serving = 1 1/4 cup) Amount Per Serving: Calories: 204; Total Fat: 1.4g; Total Carbs: 33g; Dietary Fiber: 10g; Protein: 17g WW Points Plus: 5
Every time I am making a recipe to blog, my family has a running joke about who gets the ?pretty plate?.. i.e. the one that I photograph to post as a final product. Not gonna lie, I usually call dibs. My dad won ?the plate? for the first time with this dish and was quite excited! (We are living with my parents while our new house is being built. Quite the adventure for all parties! haha) He justified that he was working from home all day and had to smell the deliciousness and ?suffered? through that torture so he should get it. Winner.
?
Skinny Taco Chicken Chili
Ingredients
Ingredients:
? 1 onion, chopped
? 1 16-oz can black beans
? 1 16-oz can kidney beans
? 1 8-oz can tomato sauce
? 10 oz package frozen corn kernels
? 3 10 oz cans diced tomatoes w/chilies
? 1 packet taco seasoning
? 1 tbsp chili powder (I am a spice WUSS and leave this out. BUT... my husband would be mad if he new that, haha!)
? 24 oz (3-4) boneless skinless chicken breasts
? 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro (optional)
Instructions
Directions:
Combine everything except chicken (and cilantro) in a slow cooker. Make sure to drain and rinse your beans to get rid of all that sodium!
Add chicken to the top. Just 'smoosh' it in there.
Cook on low for 10 hours or on high for 6 hours. Half hour before serving, remove chicken and shred.
Return chicken to slow cooker and stir in. Top with fresh cilantro. Also try it with low fat cheese tortilla chips, and fat free sour cream (not factored in the nutritional info).
Notes
Servings Per Recipe: 10 (1 serving = 1 1/4 cup)
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 204; Total Fat: 1.4g; Total Carbs: 33g; Dietary Fiber: 10g; Protein: 17g
WW Points Plus: 5
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Public release date: 13-Nov-2012
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