Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2013/04/seth-rogen-dances-with-the-backstreet-boys-watch-now/
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Monday, April 29, 2013
Mad Men, Season 6
I was pretty certain the MLK assassination would happen this season. I might have predicted it would occasion an episode about race. Instead, the show went small: A national tragedy became a platform for characters to ponder domestic themes. They turned inward to huddle with kin, fret over family.
Pete Campbell wants to go home when he hears the news, or he wants to utilize the news to strong-arm Trudy into taking him back. But Trudy won?t have it. And so Pete is driven to weirdly declare that the important thing to consider here is the fact that Dr. King had four children.?
Ginsberg hears the radio report while out on a date. And then flees home?though it seems he might soon ditch the odd-couple routine he?s been trapped in with his father. I think the love of a good woman might well soothe Ginsberg?s neuroses. And tidy up his wardrobe. Not the suavest first-date moves from the kid, but sometimes a fellow can evince so little game that it somehow turns into a weird form of game. (Meanwhile, this schoolteacher is fetching times four, and I am firmly in favor of her taking Ginsberg?s virginity.)
For Peggy, an attempt to purchase a house (her agent?s theory: when there?s blood on the streets, buy property) is paired with consternation over what kind of home it might be. When Abe abandons her to cover potential riots in Harlem, Peggy is left standing alone in the lobby of the Ad Club awards show?looking on enviously as Megan is comforted by Don. Later, she fears Abe?s checked out of the home-buying process entirely. But it turns out Abe not only cares, he has very specific requests: No to the UES. Yes to the UWS. Diverse neighborhood, please. And?putting a dazzle in Peggy?s eyes?Abe would like to have kids! I?ve never seen Peggy happier. I am eager to follow her quest to have it all (mom, breadwinner, supporter of starving journalist) as well as her real estate hunt. She?s already missed on a 2BR/1.5BA on York with outdoor space for under $30K. I?m seeing a brownstone in her future.
At the Francis abode, Henry is disenchanted with Mayor Lindsay and ready to strike out on his own as a state senator. Meanwhile, Betty is again bringing the dramz. Her response to a political assassination is to try on cute dresses and nurture her husband?s urge to up his public profile. When Bobby picks at his bedroom wallpaper, she launches into a???Why are you destroying this house?? rant. It can?t be easy for Bobby. People are burning down buildings all over the country, yet he?s the one accused of property destruction.
I?ve sensed brewing?Mad Men?backlash this season. Some whine that the plots are slow. Some argue that the advancing era doesn?t lend itself as well to stylish art direction. But the most common complaint I?ve heard is that Don Draper has failed to progress as a character and is congealing into a grim, awful man. I actually find that a fascinating development?I?m impressed by a show that, steadily over the course of several seasons, manages to turn a sexy pop culture heartthrob into a figure both reviled and pitied. And in this episode, I felt, we saw Don evolve in unexpected ways.
First, there was the remarkable,?Philip Larkin-esque?soliloquy in which Don alludes to his horrific childhood and, thanks to a double dose of?Planet of the Apes?(a movie which hinted at concerns over the kind of world 1960s adults would be handing to their kids), discovers that he actually loves his own son. Don?s feeling pretty good about himself?in a narcissistic way. Then he realizes the father figure in his boy?s life is in fact Henry Francis, a man who may not be important enough to get shot but sure is important to Bobby. We close on some Batman-level brooding, Don on his balcony in the dark night, sirens wailing. Thank goodness "Cat?s in the Cradle"?wasn?t released until 1974, or I fear it might have been our fadeout tune.
How do you two rate the handling of this major historical event we?d been anticipating? Still seemed to treat race rather obliquely. I thought it was interesting that Joan?so socially adept in the past?was given that cringemaking, white guilt moment in which she hugs Dawn, unsolicited.
And what was going on with the tweaked-out insurance guy? At first, I thought?Ethan fromLost?had shown up to make more cryptic pronouncements. But it seems even insurance guys are getting groovy these days, questioning the whole property thing, man.
You maniacs, you blew it up,
Source: http://feeds.slate.com/click.phdo?i=74dded62df3259f03835354e6dabb5f1
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Helen Mirren reigns at London's Olivier awards
LONDON (AP) ? Helen Mirren was crowned queen of the London stage at the Olivier Awards Sunday, while compelling, canine-titled teen drama "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time" emerged as best in show with seven trophies.
Mirren, 67, was a popular and expected best actress choice for her regal yet vulnerable Queen Elizabeth II in "The Audience," Peter Morgan's behind-palace-doors drama about the relationship between Britain's queen and its prime ministers.
The actress, who won an Academy Award in 2007 for playing Britain's monarch in "The Queen," quipped that it was 87-year-old Elizabeth who deserved an award, "for the most consistent and committed performance of the 20th century, and probably the 21st century."
Backstage, it turned out she wasn't kidding. Mirren, who has been Olivier-nominated three times before, said that finally winning "doesn't mean that I was the best actor. There were so many incredible performances out there."
"I was making a joke about the queen winning, but I think actually it is a reflection of the kind of respect the queen is held in," she said.
Her "Audience" co-star, Richard McCabe, who won the supporting actor trophy for playing 1960s and 70s Prime Minister Harold Wilson, said Mirren was a joy to work with.
"It's important as an actor to be absolutely fearless, and she is," he said.
While the queen herself hasn't been to see the Stephen Daldry-directed show ? rumored to be Broadway-bound ? McCabe said "a lot of people in the royal household have been coming in and watching incognito, and they must be reporting back."
The surprise of the awards ceremony at London's Royal Opera House was "Curious Incident," an adaptation of Mark Haddon's best-selling young-adult novel about a teenage math prodigy with Asperger's Syndrome who sets out to find the killer of his neighbor's dog, with destabilizing results.
The show, which premiered at the state-subsidized National Theatre last year before transferring to a commercial West End playhouse, has won praise for its creative use of movement and technology to make the leap from page to stage.
The Simon Stephens-scripted drama was named best new play, and 28-year-old Luke Treadaway was crowned best actor, beating a strong list of contenders including Rupert Everett, Mark Rylance and James McAvoy.
Treadaway said the "Curious" company knew they had created "something really special" with the show about a teenager "who sees the world differently to a lot of people."
"I think people could kind of see themselves in him," Treadaway said.
"This is not even necessary," he said, holding his trophy, a bust of the late actor Laurence Olivier. "I enjoy doing it so much anyway."
The play also won prizes for director Marianne Elliott and supporting actress Nicola Walker, as well as for set, lighting and sound.
Walker said the play had, through some "magic," succeeded in creating an onstage world as seen through the eyes of a teenage hero with autism.
"You start out thinking (it) is completely different to our world, and you end up thinking 'No, there are parts of this world I understand.'"
The Olivier awards honor achievements in London plays, musicals, dance and opera. Winners in most categories are chosen by a panel of stage professionals and theatergoers.
Founded in 1976, the Oliviers have been laying on the glitz in recent years, with glossy ceremonies modeled on Broadway's Tony Awards.
"Downton Abbey" actor Hugh Bonneville and West End star Sheridan Smith ? an Olivier winner in 2011 and 2012 ? hosted a sparky ceremony that included performances by "Glee" star Matthew Morrison, Tony-winning "Wicked" diva Idina Menzel and 60s songstress Petula Clark.
The best new musical category had a retro feel, with the trophy going to "Top Hat" ? a tap-dancing, tail-coated homage to Hollywood's Golden Age based on the 1935 Fred Astaire-Ginger Rogers movie. It also won awards for costume design and choreography.
Imelda Staunton and Michael Ball, co-stars of "Sweeney Todd," were named best actress and actor in a musical.
Royal Ballet principal dancer Marianela Nunez took the prize for outstanding achievement in dance, while the same company's "Aeternum" was named best new dance production.
An immersive staging of the Philip Glass opera "Einstein on the Beach" at London's Barbican Centre was named best new opera production. American tenor Bryan Hymel won the outstanding achievement in opera prize for performances at the Royal Opera House.
Special achievement awards went to choreographer Gillian Lynne ? best known for her work on Andrew Lloyd Webber musicals including "Cats" and "The Phantom of the Opera" ? and playwright Michael Frayn, whose classic backstage farce "Noises Off" is still going strong 30 years after its debut.
___
Jill Lawless can be reached at http://Twitter.com/JillLawless
Online: http://www.olivierawards.com
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/helen-mirren-reigns-londons-olivier-awards-204835864.html
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Max Clifford faces 11 counts of indecent assault
Max Clifford, British celebrity publicist, has been charged with child sex assault, including seven girls under age 19. Max Clifford says the allegations are 'completely false.'
Publicist Max Clifford outside his home in Hersham, England, after he was charged with 11 historic counts of indecent assault against teenage girls, Friday April 26, 2013.
(AP Photo/PA, Steve Parsons)
EnlargeProminent celebrity publicist Max?Clifford has been charged with 11 counts of indecent assault, British officials said Friday.
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The 70-year-old public relations guru, the second person to be charged as part of a broad investigation into child sex abuse spurred by the scandal involving the late BBC personality Jimmy Savile, professed his innocence, saying there was "absolutely no truth and substance" to the allegations.
Prosecutors said the charges against Clifford relate to assaults allegedly committed between 1966 and 1985. The charges involve seven female complainants who were between the ages of 14 and 19 at the times of the alleged assaults, they added in a statement.
Clifford, considered an affable and sage "go to" guy for celebrities embroiled in public relations fiascos, was arrested in December 2012. He said Friday he's been in a "24/7 nightmare" since then and vowed to clear his name.
"The allegations in respect of which I have been charged are completely false ? very upsetting, very distressing, but completely false," he told reporters outside of his home. "I have never indecently assaulted anyone in my life, and this will become clear during the course of the proceedings."
Clifford will appear at a London court on May 28.
Former BBC chauffeur David Smith, 55, is the only other person so far to be charged as a result of Operation Yewtree, an investigation launched after revelations that Savile may have targeted hundreds of young victims over five decades. Savile died in 2011 at age 84.
About a dozen people have been arrested as part of the Yewtree probe, including veteran entertainer Rolf Harris and former pop star Gary Glitter.
Clifford long has been a fixture on British television news programs and in newspapers, which frequently seek his thoughts on how celebrities can come up with novel marketing strategies to maximize their appeal ? and how celebrities dealing with marital breakdowns, drug problems, legal issues or fading popularity can rebound.
His clients have included entertainment mogul Simon Cowell, former Harrods owner Mohamed al-Fayed, and the late reality TV star Jade Goody. He also has represented dozens of ordinary people who found themselves at the vortex of the news and who sought to sell their stories to the press, which is a common, and lucrative, practice in Britain.
___
Cassandra Vinograd can be reached at http://twitter.com/CassVinograd
Copyright 2013 The Associated Press.
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FAA: Air traffic system soon at full operation
A United Airlines jet departs in view of the air traffic control tower at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport Tuesday, April 23, 2013, in Seattle. A day after flight delays plagued much of the U.S., air travel is smoother Tuesday. But the government is warning passengers that the situation can change by the hour as it runs the nation's air traffic control system with a smaller staff. Airlines and members of Congress urged the Federal Aviation Administration to find other ways to make mandatory budget cuts besides furloughing controllers. While delays haven't been terrible yet, the airlines are worried about the long-term impact late flights will have on their budgets and on fliers. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)
A United Airlines jet departs in view of the air traffic control tower at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport Tuesday, April 23, 2013, in Seattle. A day after flight delays plagued much of the U.S., air travel is smoother Tuesday. But the government is warning passengers that the situation can change by the hour as it runs the nation's air traffic control system with a smaller staff. Airlines and members of Congress urged the Federal Aviation Administration to find other ways to make mandatory budget cuts besides furloughing controllers. While delays haven't been terrible yet, the airlines are worried about the long-term impact late flights will have on their budgets and on fliers. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)
The control tower stands in the background as a passenger lays on the pavement outside the international terminal at Hartsfield-Jackson airport, Friday, April 26, 2013, in Atlanta. Congress easily approved legislation Friday ending furloughs of air traffic controllers that have delayed hundreds of flights daily, infuriating travelers and causing political headaches for lawmakers.(AP Photo/David Goldman)
A passenger sits at right in the international terminal at Hartsfield-Jackson airport, Friday, April 26, 2013, in Atlanta. Congress easily approved legislation Friday ending furloughs of air traffic controllers that have delayed hundreds of flights daily, infuriating travelers and causing political headaches for lawmakers.(AP Photo/David Goldman)
The control tower stands in the background as a passenger paces while on the phone outside the international terminal at Hartsfield-Jackson airport, Friday, April 26, 2013, in Atlanta. Congress easily approved legislation Friday ending furloughs of air traffic controllers that have delayed hundreds of flights daily, infuriating travelers and causing political headaches for lawmakers.(AP Photo/David Goldman)
NEW YORK (AP) ? The Federal Aviation Administration said that the U.S. air traffic system will resume normal operations by Sunday evening after lawmakers rushed a bill through Congress allowing the agency to withdraw furloughs of air traffic controllers and other workers.
The FAA said Saturday that it has suspended all employee furloughs and that traffic facilities will begin returning to regular staffing levels over the next 24 hours. The furloughs were fallout from the $85 billion in automatic-across-the-board spending cuts this spring. The bill, passed on Friday, allows the FAA to move as much as $253 million within its budget to areas that will allow it to prevent reduced operations and staffing.
The furloughs started to hit air traffic controllers this past week, causing flight delays that left thousands of travelers frustrated and furious. Planes were forced to take off and land less frequently, so as not to overload the remaining controllers on duty.
The FAA had no choice but to cut $637 million as its share of $85 billion in automatic, government-wide spending cuts that must be achieved by the end of the federal budget year on Sept. 30.
Flight delays piled up across the country Sunday and Monday of this week as the FAA kept planes on the ground because there weren't enough controllers to monitor busy air corridors. Cascading delays held up flights at some of nation's busiest airports, including New York, Baltimore and Washington. Delta Air Lines canceled about 90 flights Monday because of worries about delays. Just about every passenger was rebooked on another Delta flight within a couple of hours. Air travel was smoother Tuesday.
Things could have been worse. A lot of people who had planned to fly this week changed their plans when they heard that air travel might be difficult, according to longtime aviation consultant Daniel Kasper of Compass Lexicon.
"Essentially what happened from an airline's perspective is that people who were going to travel didn't travel," he said. But canceled flights likely led to lost revenue for airlines. Even if they didn't have to incur some of costs of fueling up planes and getting them off the ground, crews that were already scheduled to work still had to paid.
"One week isn't going to kill them, but had it gone on much longer, it would have been a significant hit on their revenues and profits," Kasper said.
It's also a toll on travelers. At New York's LaGuardia airport on Friday, traveler Roger Bentley said "getting on a flight and being delayed really puts people on the spot. It puts people on the edge and makes people edgy and that's not something I want."
The challenges this week probably cost airlines less than disruptions from a typical winter storm, said John F. Thomas, an aviation consultant with L.E.K. Consulting.
"I think the fact that it got resolved this week has minimized the cost as it was more the inconvenience factor," Thomas said.
The budget cuts at the FAA were required under a law enacted two years ago as the government was approaching its debt limit. Democrats were in favor of raising the debt limit without strings attached so as not to provoke an economic crisis, but Republicans insisted on substantial cuts in exchange. The compromise was to require that every government "program, project and activity" ? with some exceptions, like Medicare ? be cut equally.
The FAA had reduced the work schedules of nearly all of its 47,000 employees by one day every two weeks, including 15,000 air traffic controllers, as well as thousands of air traffic supervisors, managers and technicians who keep airport towers and radar facility equipment working. That amounted to a 10 percent cut in hours and pay.
Republicans accused the Obama administration of forcing the furloughs to raise public pressure on Congress to roll back the budget cuts. Critics of the FAA insist the agency could have reduce its budget in other ways that would not have inconvenience travelers including diverting money from other accounts, such as those devoted to research, commercial space transportation and modernization of the air traffic control computers.
President Barack Obama chided lawmakers Saturday over their fix for widespread flight delays, deeming it an irresponsible way to govern, dubbing it a "Band-Aid" and a quick fix, rather than a lasting solution to the spending cuts known as the sequester.
"Republicans claimed victory when the sequester first took effect, and now they've decided it was a bad idea all along," Obama said, singling out the GOP even though the bill passed with overwhelming Democratic support in both chambers.
He scolded lawmakers for helping the Federal Aviation Administration while doing nothing to replace other cuts that he said harm federal employees, unemployed workers and preschoolers in Head Start.
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Friday, April 26, 2013
Florida ordered to improve access to jobless benefits
By Tom Brown
MIAMI (Reuters) - The Department of Labor has ordered Florida to improve access to jobless benefits for people with disabilities or limited English proficiency in a ruling that could help make the state's unemployment insurance program more accessible to everyone, employment rights and legal advocacy groups said on Thursday.
"This is a huge victory," Valory Greenfield, an attorney for the non-profit Florida Legal Services, said of the Labor Department ruling.
"It's our expectation that this decision will have implications for the way Florida continues to implement its program with respect to all kinds of groups of people," Greenfield said.
Under revised procedures introduced in 2011, Florida requires everyone who applies for unemployment benefits to do so online and to complete a 45-question online exam that tests reading, math and research skills before they can receive a check.
The Labor Department's Civil Rights Center has been investigating the changes, based on a complaint filed by the National Employment Law Project and Florida Legal Services. In an initial determination, made public on Thursday, the department found that some of the more onerous online procedures may have opened the door to civil rights violations involving people with language and disability barriers.
"The way it's been operating does in fact violate certain federal discrimination laws," said George Wentworth, a senior staff attorney with the National Employment Law Project.
Florida's Department of Economic Opportunity, which administers the state's jobless benefits program, denied any legal violations. It said in a brief statement that the changes introduced in 2011 "conformed to federal law and regulations." Florida was working, however, to improve jobless aid, it said.
A Labor Department spokesperson said the federal government and Florida were now working together "to ensure that all persons who have limited English language proficiency or have disabilities, and who are eligible for unemployment compensation, have fair and meaningful access to those benefits."
Under a timeline laid out in its preliminary ruling, Florida was given 60 days beginning on April 5 to reach voluntary compliance with the ruling or face civil action by the U.S. Attorney General's Office and the potential loss of federal funding.
The ruling also provided a list of proposed remedies to fix some of the problems in Florida, which has a large population of people for whom English is not their primary language.
A separate, broader complaint filed with the Labor Department over the revisions to Florida's unemployment benefits program is still pending. Greenfield said the preliminary ruling was sure to set some precedent and influence other states considering online-only systems like Florida's.
"We think this signals a blueprint," she said. "It's telling these states, including Florida, that if you're going to do this you have to do it in a thoughtful way and protect people's rights."
She did not elaborate, but Florida ranks among the most tight-fisted states in the country when it comes to providing jobless benefits for the unemployed.
The average unemployment benefit paid to recipients in Florida was just $231 a week last year. Only Alabama and Mississippi paid out less in average weekly jobless aid.
Florida also ranks among the lowest in the nation when it comes to the number of eligible people receiving jobless benefits. In Florida these benefits are available for only 19 weeks compared with 26 weeks in most other states.
(Editing by Christopher Wilson)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/florida-ordered-improve-access-jobless-benefits-003241137--sector.html
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Editor's Letter: The new consoles are coming
In each issue of Distro, editor-in-chief Tim Stevens publishes a wrap-up of the week in news.
This week I'm writing from a special place: from the perspective of a Google Glass owner. Well, to be honest I'm not wearing them this exact moment -- I'm actually at 30,000 feet, making the most of a Gogo connection, and when your phone is in airplane mode there's not much point in wearing the headset. Unless, of course, you're looking for a conversation starter. In that role, the headset performs impeccably even when turned completely off.
It's been an interesting couple days wearing the headset around, days I'll continue to chronicle on the site because I know many of you are eager to know what Glass is like. I know this because I've had dozens of strangers come up to me and ask, "What's it like?" Suffice to say, Glass is very interesting and the potential is compelling, but right now the thing is somewhat frustrating in its limited functionality. That'll change real soon as more developers get to grips with the Mirror API.
Filed under: Apple, Samsung, Sony, Google, Sprint, AT&T, T-Mobile, Nintendo
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Boston victims face huge bills; donations pour in
FILE - Medical workers aid injured people at the finish line of the 2013 Boston Marathon following an explosion in Boston, Monday, April 15, 2013. More than 200 were injured in the bombings and no one knows yet what the total medical costs will be. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
FILE - Medical workers aid injured people at the finish line of the 2013 Boston Marathon following an explosion in Boston, Monday, April 15, 2013. More than 200 were injured in the bombings and no one knows yet what the total medical costs will be. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
FILE - From left, a microprocessor controlled ankle/foot prosthetic, a shock foot vertical loading pylon prosthetic and a flexible keel foot prosthetic, are displayed at the Orthotic Prosthetic Center in Fairfax, Va. on Wednesday, Feb. 8, 2012. More than 200 were injured in the Boston Marathon bombings and no one knows yet what the total medical costs will be. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
This 2011 photo provided by Rose Bissonnette shows her, the founder of the Lancaster, Mass.-based New England Amputee Association, in Manchester, N.H. Bissonnette said the moment she heard about the April 15, 2013, Boston Marathon bombings, she knew immediately that her organization?s services would be needed. The advocacy group helps amputees navigate things like insurance coverage for artificial limbs. More than 200 were injured in the bombings and no one knows yet what the total medical costs will be. (AP Photo/Rose Bissonnette)
Cost of amputating a leg? At least $20,000. Cost of an artificial leg? More than $50,000 for the most high-tech models. Cost of an amputee's rehab? Often tens of thousands of dollars more.
These are just a fraction of the medical expenses victims of the Boston Marathon bombing will face.
The mammoth price tag is probably not what patients are focusing on as they begin the long healing process. But friends and strangers are already setting up fundraisers and online crowd-funding sites, and a huge Boston city fund has already collected more than $23 million in individual and corporate donations.
No one knows yet if those donations ? plus health insurance, hospital charity funds and other sources ? will be enough to cover the bills. Few will even hazard a guess as to what the total medical bill will be for a tragedy that killed three people and wounded more than 270. At least 15 people lost limbs, and other wounds include head injuries and tissue torn apart by shrapnel.
Health insurance, as practically anyone who has ever gotten hurt or sick knows, does not always cover all costs. In the case of artificial limbs, for example, some insurance companies pay for a basic model but not a computerized one with sophisticated, lifelike joints.
Rose Bissonnette, founder of the New England Amputee Association, said that the moment she heard about the bombings, she knew immediately that her organization's services would be needed. The advocacy group helps amputees navigate things such as insurance coverage for artificial limbs.
Bissonnette shared one group member's struggle to get coverage for artificial arms as an example of the red tape some bombing victims could face. The woman "got a call from the insurance company and the person on the other end said, 'How long are you going to need the prosthetic hands?'" Bissonnette recalled.
Bissonnette herself was in a horrific car crash 16 years ago that left her with injuries similar to those facing the Boston victims. Her mangled lower left leg had to be amputated and her right ankle was partially severed. Her five-month hospital stay cost more than $250,000. Health insurance covered all her treatment, rehab and her prosthesis.
Health economist Ted Miller noted that treating just one traumatic brain injury can cost millions of dollars, and at least one survivor has that kind of injury. He also pointed out that the medical costs will include treating anxiety and post-traumatic stress ? "an issue for a whole lot more people than just people who suffered physical injuries," he said.
Adding to the tragedy's toll will be lost wages for those unable to work, including two Massachusetts brothers who each lost a leg, Miller said. They had been roofers but may have to find a new line of work.
Many survivors will also need help with expenses beyond immediate health care, including things like modifying cars for those who lost limbs or remodeling homes to accommodate wheelchairs.
Many survivors live in Massachusetts, a state that requires residents to have health insurance, "which should cover most of their required treatment," said Amie Breton, spokeswoman for Massachusetts' consumer affairs office. "The total cost of that treatment is impossible to calculate at this early stage."
Amputees may face the steepest costs, and artificial legs are the costliest. They range from about $7,200 for a basic below-the-knee model to as much as $90,000 for a high-tech microprocessor-controlled full leg, said Dr. Terrence Sheehan, chief medical officer for Adventist Rehabilitation Hospital in Rockville, Md., and medical director of the Amputee Coalition, a national advocacy group.
Legs need to be replaced every few years, or more often for very active users or those who gain or lose weight. Limb sockets need to be replaced even more often and also cost thousands of dollars each, Sheehan said.
Massachusetts is among about 20 states that require health insurers to pay for prosthetic limbs, but many plans don't cover 100 percent of those costs, Sheehan said. "Most are skimpy beyond basic prosthetics and they have not caught up with current available technology," he said.
"The insurer will use terminology such as 'not medically necessary'" to deny computerized feet or knees that can often make the patient better able to function and more comfortable and safe, Sheehan said.
Some insurers may be willing to make exceptions for the Boston blast survivors.
"We will work to ensure that financial issues/hardship will not pose a barrier to the care that affected members' need," said Sharon Torgerson, spokeswoman for Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Massachusetts, one of the state's largest health insurers.
Harvard Pilgrim Health Care, another big insurer, is changing its policy and will pay for some of the more expensive bionic limbs when there is a demonstrated need, said Dr. Michael Sherman, chief medical officer. He said that 15 blast survivors admitted to hospitals are Harvard Pilgrim customers and that the insurance company is discussing "whether we might absorb some of the copays and deductibles."
"This is a terrorist act, and our only thought here is about providing support," he said.
The 26 hospitals that have treated bombing victims have charity funds that will cover some of the costs, said Tim Gens, executive vice president of the Massachusetts Hospital Association. Some injured residents may be eligible for Massachusetts' public health funds for the uninsured or underinsured. People with huge medical bills they can't afford are eligible, regardless of income.
Gens said hospitals are still focused on treating survivors, not on costs.
"It's an extraordinary shock to so many individuals. The hospitals are working very hard to make sure that each family gets the support they need. Billing is not an issue they're addressing right now," Gens said.
At Massachusetts General Hospital, where 31 victims have gotten treatment, chief financial officer Sally Mason Boemer said bills "create a lot of stress. Our assumption is there will be sources we can tap through fundraising." Boemer added: "Now is not the time to add additional stress to patients."
Bombings survivor Heather Abbott said Thursday she has already gotten offers of help to pay for an artificial leg. The 38-year-old Newport, R.I., woman was waiting in line to get into a crowded bar when the bombs went off.
"I felt like my foot was on fire. I knew I couldn't stand up," she recalled from her hospital bed. Surgeons amputated her left leg below the knee.
A big chunk of charity money for survivors will come from One Fund Boston, established by Boston's mayor and Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick.
The fund has gotten more than $20 million in donations. Determining who gets what is still being worked out, but victims' insurance status and place of residence won't be a factor, said Kenneth Feinberg, the fund administrator. He oversaw the 9/11 compensation fund during its first three years, distributing more than $7 billion to 5,300 families and victims.
Grass-roots fundraising efforts include online funds set up by friends and relatives of the victims.
Those victims include Roseann Sdoia, a Boston woman who was near the marathon finish line when the blasts occurred. Sdoia was hit by shrapnel, fire and a tree that became a projectile and injured her left leg, the funding site says. Her right leg had to be amputated above the knee. After several operations, Sdoia has started rehab.
"She is a fighter and her attitude is phenomenal," said her friend and former sorority sister, Christine Hart, who set up the site. More than $270,000 has been raised for Sdoia so far, money that may help pay for an artificial leg, transportation to and from rehab, and modifications to her car or home, Hart said.
The donations will help make sure "that finances are not part of the burden" she has to bear, Hart said.
Other funds have been set up in communities like Stoneham, a Boston suburb that counts at least five current or former residents among the victims. A Stoneham Strong fundraising event is set for Friday evening, with participants asked to circle the high school track to show support for the marathon victims. Hundreds are expected, said organizer Shelly MacNeill.
"The outpouring has been unbelievable," she said.
___
AP Medical Writer Carla K. Johnson contributed to this report.
___
Donations: http://www.onefundboston.org; http://www.gofundme.com/BelieveinBoston
____
AP Medical Writer Lindsey Tanner can be reached at http://www.twitter.com/LindseyTanner
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New iPhone commercial focuses on Photos Every Day
Apple has aired a new iPhone commercial, Photos Every Day, which unlike previous, recent commercials, eschews cheery music, chanting, and a rapid fire parade of apps to focus on the camera and camera apps, and on capturing those special moments, at a variety of times, in a variety of places, under a variety of conditions.
It's an interesting change. At first glance, it might seem like a reaction to something like the Nokia Lumia 920 or the HTC One, both of which boast optical image stabilization (OIS), among other technologies, that help improve photos under low-light when subjects are relatively stationary.
However, neither of those phones will likely sell in any meaningful numbers compared to the iPhone. The just-launched Samsung Galaxy S4, on the other hands, is just as mass-market, and aimed just as much at "everyday" photography as the iPhone.
I spent much of the last week shooting photos with Alex Dobie as he prepared for his Galaxy S4 review, and while he called it the best all-around Android camera to date, to my eyes the iPhone 5 still out-shot it under a wider range of conditions, including and especially in low-light. Like the phone itself, it came off as spec-heavy but ultimately scattered and soul-less.
Opinions on that can and will vary, however, which is likely why we're getting this commercial now, and in this way. Apple's taking the competition seriously, and they're putting out a serious ad to address it.
And once again, they're doing it very, very well.
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Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheIphoneBlog/~3/rIoycP8riKU/story01.htm
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Working with cancer: A brave new professional world - Fortune ...
By Vickie Elmer
FORTUNE ? Not long ago, the word "cancer" was off-limits, among friends, at home, and certainly at the office. Whether it was out of superstition, fear, confusion, or respect, most talk about the disease was done in hushed tones.
Today, as the survival rate climbs, the decisions people make after diagnosis -- both personal and professional -- have evolved significantly. Suddenly, for many (but not all), the question is not, "How do I leave work for good?" Instead, it's "How long do I take off?" or "Do I have to take off at all?"
Working after a cancer diagnosis has become fairly common, according to a new survey conducted by the nonprofit group Cancer and Careers. One in four people with cancer who were surveyed said they continued working to keep their health insurance. Twice as many said they worked to keep things "as normal as possible." And two-thirds who were surveyed claimed they felt well enough to stay on the job. The Harris Interactive survey queried 400 adults diagnosed with cancer who were working.
"Work provides them a respite from cancer-land," said Kate Sweeney, executive director of Cancer and Careers, a nonprofit that offers resources to workers.
MORE: Apple and Tim Cook's next steps
Some 45% of workers said they took no time off after their diagnosis and kept working, while 31% said they took anywhere between a few weeks to five months off, according to Cancer and Careers' survey.
As more employees choose to continue working, more employers must grapple with relatively new territory. HR consultant Margaret Spence says she has seen all manner of responses from companies with workers diagnosed with cancer. Spence says it's easy for workers and firms to feel trapped. "Employers are caught between a rock and a hard place," especially since they don't always have a complete picture of the worker's health, she said.
A year ago, Spence's husband was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer -- and she got to experience the cancer-career conundrum up close. The couple considered relocating temporarily to New York or Texas to be closer to high-quality treatment but ruled that out because of the associated costs.
"He needed to keep working," Spence said. "It was the one thing that kept him connected" to the world amid rounds of radiation.
An estimated 13.7 million people have had cancer and were living in the U.S. in 2012, and that's expected to grow to 17.8 million by 2022, according to the American Cancer Society. About one-third of female cancer survivors and one-quarter of male survivors are under 60 years old, while another 25% are 60 to 69.
Cancer does take a toll on people's careers. Survivors are 4-5% less likely to hold jobs and work up to four hours less than similarly aged adults without a history of cancer, according to research from Penn State. And, perhaps without surprise, those who suffer from recurrences of cancer work less and take longer breaks from work.
Workers today are more willing to share the details of their disease with coworkers and bosses than they were 10 years ago, Sweeney said. A decade ago, many people kept their cancer a secret at work, she claims.
MORE: Employees with cancer take companies to task
Still, not everyone is comfortable discussing illness at the office. Spence told of a client of hers who was a hard-working senior manager at an agricultural company. One day, she left packages for Spence and a few others before leaving for what her colleagues thought was a week's vacation. She checked into hospice and died three days later. "I was in shock when I found out. I had no idea she was sick," Spence said.
Spence thinks employers fall into two main categories: those that follow sick leave or disability policy and laws rigidly and those that treat workers like individuals and work with them during their treatment. Many of the decisions are made one-by-one based on the employee's experience, value, and prognosis.
"It's very personal. If an employer really likes the employee, that's when they tend to be more flexible or more sympathetic," said Kate Brown, director of support and advocacy at Lungevity, a lung cancer support nonprofit.
Lungevity's Brown says that some workplaces organize "meal trains" where different people deliver a meal each week to a colleague with cancer. Another, she says, bought a special telephone with speakers so a worker whose voice was hoarse and dim could continue to field calls.
Most corporate policies are based on federal laws and requirements, including accommodations mandated by the Americans with Disabilities Act.? Cancer was added to the list of illnesses covered by the ADA on Jan. 1, 2009, and the EEOC issued guidelines for it a couple of years later.
Businesses with more than 50 workers are required to give Family and Medical Leave to employees who have cancer. Under the FMLA, workers are entitled to 12 weeks of unpaid time off to care for a child, spouse, or themselves. The employer is expected to continue health insurance and hold a comparable job open for these employees.
MORE: Why GE is betting on software
At Cancer and Careers, the staff is starting to hear more from employers looking to help workers through their cancer diagnosis and treatment. Sweeney urges firms to be flexible and to allow staff to work at home during chemotherapy or radiation. Some companies are creating "shared vacation pools" so that workers with extra days can donate them to colleagues battling cancer or other serious illnesses.
Employers want to hang onto experienced staff, so the percentage of U.S. firms that offer cancer insurance policies has inched up to 34% (from 28% in 2008), according to the Society of Human Resource Management.
"These employees are valuable," and employers often want to find ways to bring them back to work, said Tom Parry, president of the Integrated Benefits Institute, an independent research organization. Other workers are watching carefully how the employer treats them. "When employers do the right thing with someone with cancer, that is a very important message" that resonates with many workers, he said.
Source: http://management.fortune.cnn.com/2013/04/25/cancer-career-working/
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Thursday, April 25, 2013
Apple confirms WWDC 2013 will take place June 10th to 14th, tickets go on sale tomorrow
This is one Apple event that's fairly constant, but the company has confirmed today that the 2013 edition of its Worldwide Developers Conference -- otherwise known as WWDC -- will take place from June 10th to 14th at Moscone West in San Francisco. In a statement, Apple's Phil Schiller says that its "developers have had the most prolific and profitable year ever, and we're excited to show them the latest advances in software technologies and developer tools to help them create innovative new apps," adding, "we can't wait to get new versions of iOS and OS X into their hands at WWDC." Not exactly a huge surprise there, but you can rest assured we'll be there to cover that and anything else the company might have up its sleeve. Tickets are set to go on sale tomorrow.
Filed under: Apple
Via: The Next Web
Source: Apple
Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/SOUgxTFSMjk/
Wednesday, April 24, 2013
Impossible Night Skies: Artist Imagines Starscapes Over City Skylines
NEW YORK ? It's a common refrain among city dwellers: "I don't think I remember what the stars look like."
But an exhibition here at the Danzinger Gallery called "Darkened Cities" may help New Yorkers see what the truly dark night sky might look like in their own backyard. Artist Thierry Cohen takes city skylines and meticulously transforms them into something impossible to view today, yet still scientifically sound.
By combining two images, Cohen reveals the cosmic wonders hidden beneath the light pollution that masks the world's biggest cities. [See Photos of "Darkened Cities" by Thierry Cohen]
"He photographs the world?s major cities, seeking out views that resonate for him and noting the precise time, angle, and latitude and longitude of his exposure," Danziger Gallery officials wrote in a press release. "As the world rotates around its axis, the stars that would have been visible above a particular city move to deserts, plains and other places free of light pollution."
Over the course of three years, Cohen photographed cities and remote areas of the world by night.
He tracked the rotation of the Earth to seek out the same piece of sky he had shot above a city when it appeared over clear, light pollution-free places like Joshua Tree National Park, the Mojave Desert and Death Valley Desert in California, Black Rock Desert in Nevada and the Atacama Desert in Chile.
Cohen then combined the two photos to create a unique view of what the world could look like if free from human-made light.
"Compositing the two images, Cohen creates a single new image full of resonance and nuance," Danziger Gallery officials wrote. "The work is both political and spiritual, questioning not only what we are doing to the planet but drawing unexpected connections between disparate locations."
Cohen's photos vacillate between extremes. Some look almost post-apocalyptic, others are simply surreal and beautiful, while a few find the sweet spot in between.
The highways of Shanghai look spooky when empty at night, but there might not be anything more surprising than seeing starlight shine through the windows of the Empire State Building. In a photo of Los Angeles, some of the stars are blotted out by the Sierra Nevada Mountain range in the distance, but the clouds of the Milky Way still crowd above the city.
All of the photos, from a starscape prominently featuring the Milky Way over the Brooklyn Bridge to the southern sky over Sao Paulo, are evocative in their own ways.
"Cities that never sleep are made up of millions of individuals breaking natural cycles of work and repose," officials from the New York gallery wrote. "Cohen's photographs attempt to restore our vision, and in beautifully crafted prints and images offer the viewer a possibility ? to re-connect us to the infinite energy of the stars."
Cohen's photos will be on display at the Danziger Gallery until May 4.
Follow Miriam Kramer @mirikramer and Google+. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook?and Google+. Original article on SPACE.com.
Copyright 2013 SPACE.com, a TechMediaNetwork company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.Source: http://news.yahoo.com/impossible-night-skies-artist-imagines-starscapes-over-city-113758792.html
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Tips And Tricks For Successful Drupal Web Hosting | Content for ...
Word Count: 866 Date:
Copyright (c) 2013 Design Web Limited
It's easy to forget that there's more to running a website than just picking a name, making it look good, and getting it advertised. Those seem to be the three core pieces of the puzzle, yet it is proper web hosting that actually keeps them all together and functional. Read-on if you'd like to know how you can make better choices with your hosting future.
If possible, pay for your web hosting with a credit card. Every year, several web hosts go out of business and just disappear without a trace. When a host disappears, its customers are typically left out of pocket. The customers that paid for their hosting with a credit card, however, are able to get a full refund of their annual hosting costs from their credit card provider.
If you're just building your first website, opt for shared hosting. There are two main types of hosting on offer: shared, which is cheap, but has fewer options, and dedicated, in which you get the works and lots of customizability, but you pay for the privilege. Good shared hosting plans can be had for just a few dollars a month.
Make sure you, and not your web host, controls your domain name. If you let your host control your domain name, you may be stuck with that host if you don't want to change domains. Some unscrupulous hosts won't release the domain info if you leave on bad terms. If you control the domain, you can point it at another host's nameservers and start fresh.
Go for Linux hosting unless you need to use certain applications or server-side languages. Linux hosting has a better reputation for uptime, stability, and resource use. Shared hosting that runs on Linux tends to be somewhat cheaper, as well. There are, however, certain applications that need Windows hosting, including Plesk, Microsoft Access, Silverlight, MSSQL, and ASP.net.
Instead of finding a great web hosting company, start your own web hosting company to service your own needs. This can provide many benefits including secondary income and free web hosting if your business takes off. This is a great way to think like an entrepreneur, and make some money instead of paying for web hosting.
When searching for the right web hosting service, you need to remember the importance of a website running 24 hours a day, 7 days a week without constant technical interruptions. Do your research, and know which companies are not just available and cheap, but reliable enough to trust with keeping your website up and running.
When choosing a web hosting service, refrain from going with the recommendation of friends or family who are not professionals. Though they may have had a good experience themselves with a certain provider, realize that their needs may be very simple compared to yours. Read reviews and advice from those who have needs similar to your own.
After you have your site up and going, it is important that you gather statistics about your site. These statistics tell you many things including how many customers and their actions. Find a great web hosting service that provides these types of statistics for you to make business decisions about.
When choosing a web hosting service, always check their record for down time. If you are conducting business through your website, you will almost certainly lose customers if they cannot access your website at all times, day or night. Check not only how many times they have outages weekly, but what the duration of these outages are.
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If you are using your website primarily as a blog, choose a web host that will allow you to sync with popular blogging tools like Drupal. These tools are usually free and simple to use, but you will likely want to host them with a professional service. Choose one that allows you import the files directly into their platform.
Make sure that your web host provides regular software updates for the services they are providing you with. For example, if your website relies on Drupal, you should verify that Drupal updates are provided efficiently. This includes updates for plug-ins and themes as well. Many of these updates include new features and security fixes that are essential for your website.
If your site is a small, personal blog, consider using a free web hosting service like Drupal or a similar company. Sites like these are not adequate for large sites with a lots of traffic but can be ideal for smaller sites. Drupal, for example, offers a range of templates to give your site a unique, professional look and the company is constantly offering new services.
Now you understand why it is so very important, yet easily maintained. As long as you evaluate options and operate within your budget, there is no reason you can't obtain quality hosting that will be sufficient for quite a while. Once your business begins bringing in the huge-profits; you can investigate larger options.
Businesses go to so much trouble when there is one sure-fire, simple, very inexpensive way to attract new clients to a business: Teach a free class. That is what article marketing is like. Your articles are just like free classes. You teach your target readers something helpful in your article. Your resource box then says, "If you enjoyed this article you can visit my website and apply what you have learned."
Being an entrepreneur and earning multiple streams of income is a dream that many have, but in reality it does take some initial hard work to achieve this. Earning multiple streams of income is the wave of the future, and here are some tips and advice for you when you are looking for ways in which to do this for yourself.
Starting a home based business to earn income online takes a significant amount of time and energy upfront to get things going. Not seeing results immediately can be discouraging and cause people to give up too early. In this article, we look at the process of starting a home based business and working through the frustrations to be there when the sales come flowing in.
Cyber marketing has now become an indispensable segment of e-commerce as well as the internet and World Wide Web related topics. Cyber marketing simply refers to a technique of attracting potential customers by advertising your products or services through such means as websites, emails, and banners.
If you want your SEO to work you now need to concentrate on appeasing Google Panda, and to do this you need to know what Google Panda's spiders/bots will be looking for. Find out here how to search engine optimise your website for the latest Google Panda algorithm, and achieve the success you deserve.
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Tuesday, April 23, 2013
Foursquare Redesigns Its Venue Pages For The Web To Capitalize On Its 50M Monthly Unique Visitors
Foursquare recently raised another round of funding, with the announcement coming just a few days after it released its latest iOS app redesign. Today, the company has launched redesigned venue pages, to fit in with what they did last year on the web with its homepage, focusing on explore and discover functionality. The changes are to capitalize on the traffic that Foursquare gets from its now #1 referrer on the web, Google, which traffic has doubled from over the past year. This is an important play for Foursquare, as its competing with Google’s own Local product, Yelp….and it seems like Facebook too, after its redesign today for local business pages. Foursquare’s lead engineer for the web, Mike Singleton, told me that the site now gets over 50M unique visitors on the web, which is 17M more than actually use its app. That means that Foursquare is quietly breaking through as a place for information about venues, its most prized asset: People are coming from Google for different reasons, we needed to give them the information they needed at a glance, which was difficult. Since focusing on its Explore functionality, Singleton says that its usage has doubled, especially on the website. The new venue page has all of the information that people need in a quick glance, the pages are more visually appealing and owners of the venues should be proud to show them off, perhaps by linking to them on their website over competitors like Yelp. Here’s a look at what a venue page looked like before today’s launch: You’ll notice that some of the more attractive content, such as photos, are pushed way down, giving more focus to the map. Additionally, information like when the venue is open was shoved to the right-hand side, requiring a scroll, as well as the someone’s eyes actually finding them. This redesign solves that: The new design is cleaner, and brings all of the information that Google searchers would want to see immediately, such as photos of the venue and a way more attractive map. Since some of the people visiting from the web might not be app users, Foursquare wants to give them a better first impression of the service, by populating the page with the info that’s needed to make quick decisions, like whether to actually go to a place for dinner or not. By being able to search through tips,Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/eKHDLnZcK1o/
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Monday, April 22, 2013
Mother, boyfriend charged with killing Maywood toddler | WGN-TV
A judge denied bail for the Maywood mother accused of beating her baby to death on Saturday, but originally telling police she and her son were the victims of an abduction. Lakeshia Baker and her boyfriend, 21-year-old Michael Scott made their first appearance in court today. The details of the crime were so disturbing Cook County State?s Attorney Anita Alvarez attending today?s hearing.
Michael Scott and Lakeshia Baker
?This case strikes us as particularly heinous for a number of reasons,? said Alvarez.
In court, both defendants stood side by side, each charged with first degree murder in the alleged beating death of Baker?s one year old son, Bryeon Hunter.
?We don?t know how long the baby had been beaten but based on what we were told the child had been beaten continuously,?? said Alvarez.
Though first concocting an abduction story for police, which lead to an Amber Alert being issued on Tuesday, prosecutors say Baker later admitted to beating her son repeatedly with a belt, and making him sit for hours on the toilet as punishment. Scott told investigators that his girlfriend is the one who beat her son to death, leaving him to die on the bathroom floor.? Prosecutors say both admitted to stuffing the boy?s body into a backpack to dispose of it near the Des Plaines River in Maywood, then calling police to report a false kidnapping and beating by three men. Baker went so far as to tell her story to reporters, while the Amber Alert was still active.
?I think it?s horrific, we?re talking about a 20 month old child and to be continuously beaten and left on the toilet- you can just imagine what the child has gone through. As a mother, it really hits you, that a mother could do this to their own child and then getting the police involved in an Amber Alert, knowing full well that the child was already dead,? said Alvarez.
Maywood police chief Tim Curry said the story quickly unraveled as the truth came out, ?due to the description of the subjects that she decribed, they were not a part of this event and we had concern with that.?
Though neither family wanted to talk on camera, Lakeshia Baker?s attorney, Irv Frazin said his client was not guilty, ?she has been under the thumb of this fellow, this co-defendant for a long time, and this is a classic case of abuse.?? She has been abused regularly by this person, hospitalized and I think all of that will come out later,? said Frazin.
Meanwhile, crews continue to search the Maywood area for Bryeon?s body.
Both Baker and Scott are due back in court on Tuesday.
Source: http://wgntv.com/2013/04/21/mother-boyfriend-charged-with-killing-maywood-toddler/
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Saturday, April 20, 2013
Boeing 787 Dreamliner flights to resume
WASHINGTON (AP) ? Federal officials have accepted Boeing's revamped battery system for its beleaguered 787 Dreamliners and intend to lift a 3-month-old order grounding the planes.
The Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement Friday that next week it will send airlines instructions and publish a notice lifting the grounding order. The lifting of the grounding order will be effective the day the notice is published.
Lifting the grounding order gives Boeing the go-ahead to begin retrofitting planes with an enhanced lithium ion battery system. The root cause of battery failures that led to a fire on one of the planes and smoke on another remains unknown.
Flights could resume within a week.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/faa-approves-resumption-boeing-787-flights-192550397--finance.html
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Friday, April 19, 2013
Kenzo the Hovawart: The Hovawart Family Tree
During the mini-quest to track down Kenzo's ancestors on his father's and his mother's side, I discovered a lot that fascinated me. It all started for the fun of it in the Facebook group Hovawart's family, sharing "old photo's", and in my case, got a little out of hand. Here is what I observed and learned so far, in an attempt to write something down, before this exercise ends in me writing a multiple volume book about Hovawarts and genealogy.
It gives a good idea of how narrow the gene pool of the Hovawart actually is. I found out you could actually calculate that too with a so-called "mean kinship" indicator, which gives a numerical value to how closely related each dog is to the population. So far I haven't been able to find that value yet, neither do I have the tools or the data. And that makes it a good time to stop this mini-quest, can you see how this otherwise would keep growing and going on forever? I might come back and bore you with a post or two in the future though.
TIME STOOD STILL
First of all, and maybe quite obvious, the modern Hovawart still looks almost identical to his ancestors of old. And that is quite an accomplishment of all the breeders involved. Somehow the fashion to breed on extremes, like we have seen with so many other dog breeds, to an effect in which the modern generations and their ancestors almost seem to have little in common, has not affected nearly a century of breeding Hovawarts.
Of course the experts will now shake their heads, and point at all kinds of differences. So best is to have a look for yourself. This was a first breed display photo from around 1930:
And then a more recent breed display:
COLORS
The Hovawart is a breed created by man. I knew they used Newfoundland, German Shepherd Dogs, Kuvasz and a number of "farm dogs" from unknown origin. And during the mini-quest I could track Kenzo's roots to each of these breeds. To put an actual name on his Newfoundland roots, with Markus, and his Kuvasz roots with Herma K?nig I, was a great prize of this mini-quest. I couldn't find an actual name on a German Shepherd Dog, just a record for, that the breed was present in Kenzo's ancestry. And of course the "farm dogs", but it will always remain a mystery how they must have looked like, and were they came from.
I did hope to find a Leonberger as well as I was guessing Kenzo's blond color must come from somewhere, but was not successful. That opened again for the speculations in my mind, there is still a missing piece in the puzzle. As I wrote before, Kurt F. K?nig, the leader of the group of breeders trying to recreate the "Hofe wart", was the mastermind behind the blond colored Hovawart. As he worked on this during the years 1934-1945, and was later accused of "neo-darwinistic" views, we can make a good guess of where he found his inspiration for a blond Hovawart.
The reason why K?nig left the group and started new breeding attempts on his own, was his inability to keep good records of what dogs he used for breeding according to the other breeders like Alwin Busch. Maybe in his attempts to make a blond Hovawart for the "Reich", he tried to cover up some of the breeds he has used for the other breeders?
It is a speculation from my side completely. Although the origin around the "Blue" Hovawart could give an indication. K?nig and the other breeders supposedly wanted to cull any blue puppy, in an attempt to cover up the use of an actual wolf in breeding. The wolf was used in an attempt to give the breed some more "independent and wild" characteristics.
As K?nig kept little records, his secrets died with him in 1975, so we probably will never know. They were never able to eradicate the "blue" Hovawart by the way, and puppies still show up today. The photo on the right shows such a recent "Blue" - they have a blue-ish/gray-ish shine over their coat.
DATABASES
I was actually amazed I could track Kenzo's ancestry that far back. Some years ago I gave it a first try, in the online database of the Danish Kennel Club. A lot of data was missing and most lines were a dead end. Especially with the dogs that originated from abroad Denmark. Which most Hovawarts do.
It is up to the dedicated breeder and Hovawart enthusiasts to fill in the missing links, that tend to extend over the national database borders. And my luck was, people like Min Inches, Torunn Kollberg and many more, who are exactly in the business of closing that gap with private databases, came to the rescue. And even feed a lot of their information back into the working-dog.eu database, which is publicly accessible.
And of course my main luck was, that the breeders from the start in 1922, apart from K?nig, kept good records of their breeding activities. So next to keeping the breed mostly the same, another big kudos to all those Hovawart breeders through the years to keep such good records.
INBREEDING
Because the lack of depth in the Danish Kennel Club's database I never thought much of the shining "0% inbreed coefficient" listed behind Kenzo's name.
Going manually through all the pedigrees I found now, I could see that Kenzo's great-...x7-grandfather on his mother's side, Ajax vom Rosenberg, 1964, was also the son of Kenzo's great-...x8-grandfather on his father's side, S?ren vom Trollhof, 1957. This was the earliest sign of any inbreeding I could find. It doesn't have a lot effect on Kenzo's inbreeding coefficient though, which still ends up to be just 0,0001 %.
Up to the early fifties inbreeding was quite common though. And especially the first "re-creation" attempts involved a lot of it. One of Kenzo's ancestors, Castor Meyer-Busch, is sort of a bottleneck in the whole family tree of the Hovawart. He had 33 litters, unseen in Hovawart circles, and mated with daughters and grand-daughters, leading to a staggering high level of inbreeding. Add to that most Hovawart's died at the fronts during World War II, and only the already inbred dogs used for the re-creation attempts were given passes to avoid the military draft - see a copy of such a pass on the right.It made me wonder, how Kenzo could end up with an inbreeding coefficient of only 0,0001%. Somehow, what Castor achieved on all his escapades in the past should have its effect. I got this extended family tree of Kenzo's father from Min Inches, and it confirms that all lines originate to just a handful of individuals.
It gives a good idea of how narrow the gene pool of the Hovawart actually is. I found out you could actually calculate that too with a so-called "mean kinship" indicator, which gives a numerical value to how closely related each dog is to the population. So far I haven't been able to find that value yet, neither do I have the tools or the data. And that makes it a good time to stop this mini-quest, can you see how this otherwise would keep growing and going on forever? I might come back and bore you with a post or two in the future though.
Source: http://kenzothehovawart.blogspot.com/2013/04/the-hovawart-family-tree.html
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