TSA pays mom $3.99 for seized peanut butter

By Bob Sullivan

When Stephanie Lambert packed peanut butter and jelly to keep her two small children happy on a cross-country flight in June, she didn't mean to pick a fight with the Transportation Security Administration. But after a long security line argument, and the confiscation of the peanut butter (but not the jelly), she felt she had no choice.??

Courtesy Stephanie Lambert

Stephanie Lambert got $3.99 from the U.S. Treasury after TSA agents seized her child's peanut butter at an airport checkpoint.

Then, after churning through the four-page ?SF-95 Tort Claim Package forms,? she got something else she never expected: a $3.99 refund from the U.S. Treasury Department.

Lambert was traveling with her husband, a 6-month-old and a 2-year-old on an ungodly early flight in June, and arrived at the airport about 5 a.m. She was flying from Los Angeles to Pittsburgh, and she needed the usual bag of distractions and food to keep her kids -- and other passengers -- sane during the trip. But, she says, her efforts to ensure a smooth flight were foiled when a TSA agent with a bad attitude singled out her family for additional screening. After the usual pat-downs and questions, discussion centered on the jar of peanut butter.?

"He just really fixated on the peanut butter and a jar of apple sauce I had," she said.? "I keep saying, 'It's not a liquid; it's pureed apples,' but we go went around and around.? He also screened my husband multiple times. I asked to speak to the terminal manager, but he never arrived. ... We were there 30 minutes."

---

Eventually, the screener let the apple sauce (and the jelly) go, but he drew the line on the peanut butter.

"I said, ?Fine.? I left the peanut butter, but I took down names," she said. "The screener was asking for my all my details, so I figured I'd ask for his."

When the family arrived in Pittsburgh, Lambert asked a TSA screener on her way out about peanut butter -- Was it considered a liquid or not? -- and got a vague answer. So when she got home, she turned to the Internet and the found the SF-95 Tort Claim Package forms. Generally, they're filled out by fliers who think the TSA lost something valuable while screening bags, such as laptop computers. But Lambert was after satisfaction, and she didn't see why she couldn't make a claim for the cost of her seized peanut butter.

"At the airport, my husband kept saying, 'Would you just let go of the peanut butter? We're going to miss the plane.' But these things really fire me up," Lambert said. "So when I said, 'Honey, I'm going to file a claim,' he wasn't surprised."

Lambert is a rare consumer who was in a perfect position to file such a claim. For starters, she had the original receipt from Whole Foods showing the price she paid for the spread.?

Who keeps receipts for peanut butter?? Lambert explained that she started her family during the recession, and from the start has carefully watched her money. She saves receipts from every purchase, enters everything into a spreadsheet and tracks every expense. She also has a binder, where she records refunds, returns, rebates and any other correspondence that involves money.

"I fill out forms and keep track of them all the time, so this was easy for me," she said. "I'm responsible for the family finances. If it takes me months, it takes me months. I'm very firm when companies owe me money."

She had another motivation behind her ferocity regarding the confiscated peanut butter, however.

"When they first put in the liquid (security) rules on flights, a screening agent took a $7 lip gloss I had just purchased. Then, the very next day, they changed the rules and lip gloss was allowed. I was furious," she said. "I remember the TSA agent actually took a basketball shot with my lip gloss into the trash bins as I went through security. I'm still mad about that, and I was thinking, 'This is not happening again.'"

On her complaint form, Lambert said TSA agents unnecessarily screened her husband twice, and removed everything from her carry-on bags during the 30-minute ordeal.

"At the time I was carrying my 6-month-old and trying to keep my 2-year-old calm," she wrote. "(The agent's) behavior was completely unwarranted."

She submitted the claim on June 19.? To her surprise, she received a letter dated Aug. 24 from TSA that read: "Your claim against the United States in the amount of $3.99 has been granted in full." On Sept. 14, the "refund" was electronically deposited into her bank account.

Naturally, Lambert wasn't really after the money. She says she was trying to make a point.

"I think people really do need to fight for themselves," she said. "In this case, the peanut butter was important to me. I was thinking, 'Hey, I need that. If I have a crisis with a child on a five-hour flight this peanut butter may help me.? I wasn?t hopping to Phoenix, I was flying across country and there?s no food on the flight for children."

As it turns out, the TSA website does list peanut butter as a banned liquid/gel, if carried onto a plane in containers exceeding 3.4 ounces. Jellies, jams and "creamy dips and spreads" are also banned in bigger portions. There are some exceptions for mothers traveling with infants, however, involving breast milk, juice, baby food and other liquids and gels, which muddies the discussion considerably.

Part of the problem, Lambert says, is that the rules seem to vary from airport to airport, and even from agent to agent.

"I think it depends on how well the information goes down the chain," she said.?

Lambert said she spoke via telephone with a TSA representative as she was filling out her tort claim and thought the agent was very pleasant and competent. The agent even promised to review security tape to see if the incident required follow up. That conversation, and her refund, actually leaves her with more good than bad feelings about the TSA. The problem, she said, is that most of the trouble for passengers occurs on the front lines, in the chaos of someone rushing to make a flight with agents who sometimes are too eager to exert their power.

TSA spokesman David A. Castelveter told NBC News that peanut butter jars in excess of 3.4 ounces are generally not permissable as carry-on items, but that screeners can exercise "common-sense discretion." Exceptions generally involve medical needs, he said.?

He also pointed to a press release about TSA agents in Los Angeles who stopped suspects allegedly trying to sneak marijuana onto an airplane?in a modified jar of peanut butter last year.

The agency has no readily available statistics on tort claims, Castelveter said, but added that Lambert's peanut butter refund claim was "the first time I'd ever heard of something like that."

The Los Angeles Times investigated tort claims against TSA last year, and found that 1,702 claims were made against the agency by passengers traveling through Los Angeles International Airport from 2007 through 2010.? Most claims involved items that were damaged or disappeared from checked baggage. The average damage claim was $1,437, but most were denied.? Roughly 13 percent of those who claimed the loss of a laptop computer were granted relief, but less than 1 percent of those saying they lost or damaged digital camera were reimbursed.

RED TAPE WRESTLING TIPS

One key to having successful dialogs with TSA agents at checkpoints is time; passengers rushing to make a flight have no time to make their case. In Lambert's situation, she had time to put up a fight because, ironically, her husband is a frequent traveler and the family qualified for express screening.??

If you feel like the TSA has wrongly confiscated an item from you at a checkpoint, you can obtain the necessary forms at this page.

Note that if the TSA denies a claim, it can only be appealed by filing a lawsuit in federal court. By law, small claims courts have no jurisdiction over TSA cases.

?* Follow Bob Sullivan on Facebook.
* Follow Bob Sullivan on Twitter.

More from Red Tape Chronicles:

?

?

?

Source: http://redtape.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/09/28/14127532-recovering-the-spread-mom-forces-tsa-to-shell-out-399-for-seized-peanut-butter?lite

Rajesh Khanna friday the 13th paulina gretzky paulina gretzky toy story 4 toy story 4 steam

Uranium-contaminated site yields wealth of information on microbes 10 feet under

ScienceDaily (Sep. 27, 2012) ? University of California, Berkeley, scientists have sequenced nearly all the genes in an underground community of microbes at a contaminated uranium mill site in Rifle, Colo., providing information that could help scientists better manipulate the microbes that remediate heavy metal contamination or those that take up and store carbon from the atmosphere.

Each of the 150,000 genes from the sample was assigned to one of 80 different microbes in the soil, an unprecedented computational feat made possible by new genomic tools developed at UC Berkeley.

The findings could help improve clean-up at hundreds of sites around the United States where microbes are nurtured to convert toxic metals, including arsenic and mercury, into chemical forms that will not leech into aquifers and streams, the scientists said. It may be possible, for example, to add nutrients that would create the ideal mix of microbes to immobilize the metals, instead of just feeding all the microbes already present.

"In order to make this goal a reality, it is critical not to just detect the relevant genes in subsurface microorganisms, but to know enough about the lifestyles of the organisms with genes of interest so that manipulation of the system enriches specifically for that organism," said study leader Jill Banfield, UC Berkeley professor of earth and planetary science and of environmental science, policy and management.

The information in the genomes of the 80 microbes located 10 feet or more beneath the surface could also lead to improved methods for stimulating the uptake of carbon from the atmosphere by soil bacteria to reduce greenhouse gases.

"Our study turned upside down what we thought was happening at the bioremediation site," said lead author Kelly C. Wrighton, a UC Berkeley post-doctoral fellow who specializes in the physiology of microbes. "What these genomes have given us is amazing in terms of being able to look under the hood at the machine of these organisms that we never really knew anything about, except that we saw them in certain types of environments."

Wrighton, Banfield and colleagues at UC Berkeley, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), report their metagenomic analysis in the Sept. 28 issue of the journal Science. Banfield is also a member of the Earth Sciences Division at LBNL.

The metagenomic analysis proves that methods developed by Banfield at UC Berkeley to take a jumble of sequenced genes and assign them to specific microbes works even when there are nearly 100 bacteria and Archaea in the sample. Most metagenome analyses generally leave the genes unassigned to organisms, which gives scientists little idea of the role specific microbes play.

"The techniques developed in Jill's lab for doing metagenomics of very complex microbial communities is giving us a much more accurate look at what the microbes are doing and how we can modify them to get them to do more effectively what we want them to do, which is reduce uranium to form a solid," said Philip E. Long, an LBNL geologist who manages research at the Rifle study site. "We are finding out from these studies that the subsurface microbial economy is different from what we thought."

The "dark matter" of biology

The microbes came from groundwater samples taken at a site once used to process vanadium and, during and after World War II, uranium. The site borders the Colorado River, which means that rain can carry dissolved metals into the groundwater and eventually into the river. Some microbes "breathe" the metals like we breathe oxygen, chemically altering them so they become insoluble and remain in the sediment, Wrighton said.

Banfield refers to microbe communities like these as the "dark matter" of biology, an analogy to the missing mass in the universe that has stumped astronomers for decades. The bacterial tree of life can be divided into about 60 phylum-level branches, but essentially nothing is known about half of them, she said.

"This new study provides new knowledge about the ecology as well as the evolution of a significant chunk of what could be considered the dark matter of the microbial world," she said.

Before now, Banfield had performed metagenomic analyses of eight microbes coexisting in highly acidic underground streams in a former California mine and current Superfund clean-up site. Such an analysis involves grinding up all organisms in a sample, sequencing all the genes and then matching each with a unique microbial species.

The new study involved the genomes of 10 times more organisms. All are anaerobic -- they don't breathe oxygen like most organisms on Earth -- and most, while not new to science, are totally unstudied because they cannot be cultured in the laboratory. Many are only a few hundred nanometers across, making them among the smallest known microbes.

Scientists at the Rifle site spread acetate -- essentially dilute vinegar -- in the subsurface to feed the underground bacteria that convert soluble metals to insoluble metals. They had assumed that they were culturing a colony comprised mostly of Geobacter bemidjiensis, a well-known metal-reducing bacterium.

Instead, Wrighton said, analysis of three samples obtained within 10 days of acetate application showed a healthy population of Geobacter, but a throng of other bacteria presumably feeding on dead Geobacter and other carbon in the soil from previous additions of acetate. These organisms use or ferment complex carbon, such as dead plants and dead microbes, and produce hydrogen, small organic carbon compounds and carbon dioxide.

"The fermenters producing hydrogen after multiple additions of acetate may be more important to the underlying microbial community than we once thought," Long said.

"What we found was like a microbial zoo," Wrighton said. "We thought that the respiring organisms -- those breathing metals and making carbon dioxide -- were our heavy lifters, but we found that fermentative organisms probably underpin their metabolism. These organisms produce as a bi-product acetate, lactate and ethanol as well as hydrogen and those are all components that these respiring organisms can use."

Wrighton, Banfield and their team are continuing metagenomic analyses of samples from the Rifle site, including some obtained before nutrients are added to determine what the natural population looks like. This will provide a comprehensive view of the metabolic potential of the subsurface that ultimately can be harnessed for bioremediation, Banfield said.

"Our research has lifted a veil on a large portion of bacterial life and enabled us to probe in great depth and detail these unknown and uncultured bacteria," said Wrighton, who hopes to use this information to raise the microbes in the laboratory. "We now have information, which is encoded in their genomic DNA, pertaining to what they look like, how they make their living in the environment, and the interactions they have with other organisms."

The work was funded by the U.S. Department of Energy's Biological and Environmental Research program. Coauthors of the paper include Brian C. Thomas, Itai Sharon and Christopher S. Miller of UC Berkeley; Long, Cindy J. Castelle and Kenneth H. Williams of LBNL; Nathan C. VerBerkmoes and Robert L. Hettich of ORNL; and Michael J. Wilkins and Mary S. Lipton of PNNL.

Share this story on Facebook, Twitter, and Google:

Other social bookmarking and sharing tools:

---

Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of California - Berkeley. The original article was written by Robert Sanders.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

---

Journal Reference:

1. Kelly C. Wrighton, Brian C. Thomas, Itai Sharon, Christopher S. Miller, Cindy J. Castelle, Nathan C. VerBerkmoes, Michael J. Wilkins, Robert L. Hettich, Mary S. Lipton, Kenneth H. Williams, Philip E. Long, and Jillian F. Banfield. Fermentation, Hydrogen, and Sulfur Metabolism in Multiple Uncultivated Bacterial Phyla. Science, 2012; 337 (6102): 1661-1665 DOI: 10.1126/science.1224041

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_environment/~3/QOreq2RnlU8/120927141533.htm

the legend of korra three stooges the three stooges the bee gees woodward keratosis pilaris rock and roll hall of fame 2012

Video: Romney: Obama campaign engages in character assassination (cbsnews)

Share With Friends: | | Politics - Top Stories Stories, RSS Feeds and Widgets via Feedzilla.

Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/251345700?client_source=feed&format=rss

randy travis arrested dickens greg kelly cujo karen handel hangout todd haley

Wigan manager Martinez charged over ref criticism

Associated Press Sports

updated 9:55 a.m. ET Sept. 26, 2012

LONDON (AP) -The English Football Association has charged Wigan manager Roberto Martinez for publicly criticizing a referee.

Martinez was unhappy about a penalty being awarded to Manchester United, and about Danny Welbeck avoiding a red card in Wigan's 4-0 loss on Sept. 15.

The FA says Martinez was charged over "media comments which implied that the match referee and/or match officials in general are motivated by bias and/or brought the game into disrepute."

Martinez described Welbeck's challenge on Wigan forward Franco di Santo as "completely reckless," claiming there were tackles "if they had been the other way round ... would have been a couple of red cards."

Martinez said that at Old Trafford, Wigan "don't seem to be measured in the same manner as the team at home."

? 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

advertisement

More newsChristian Hartmann / Reuters

Zidane head-butt now a statue

??The historic head-butt that marked the end of France great Zinedine Zidane's international football career is now more than just a memory.

Rooney returns from injury as United wins in cup

LONDON (AP) - Wayne Rooney returned from a monthlong injury absence, helping Manchester United to a 2-1 victory Wednesday that eliminated Newcastle from the League Cup. Arsenal and Tottenham advanced with ease on Wednesday.

Source: http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/49176338/ns/sports-soccer/

ufc on fox 2 supercross christina aguilera etta james funeral sundance film festival victoria azarenka the flintstones etta james

Mummy Knows Reviews: Katie is back in

Hey all, so I am back from my trip to AZ. We had a lot of fun and I am so glad that Aiden slept on the airplane on the way over. We had fun hanging out with family and friends at the baby shower. But I do have to say Aiden has learned a lot about cause and effect. He has been kind of a brat the last few weeks. Well lets face it he is almost 2, I am sure a lot of you other moms know how that is. Well he was mad about something, so he hit the rocking glider and it rocked back at him. So of course it hit him in the face/mouth and so he got his gum cut a little. It bleed really had at first but he was fine. Poor baby. Then the night before we went home he got into the kitchen. Well I guess he wanted to look at the cans and one fell on his toe. His "big" toe swelled up so bad and it even chipped the nail a little.

(could not get a good pic cause he was moving)

Because of his factor 5 we decided to take him to the ER (that and we wanted to make sure it was not broken). They ended up burning a hole into his nail so some of the pressure would come down. Then they took him for an X-ray. I was so?glad?to have April there to take him back. (I would not take him because I'm pregnant)?Luckily?he had no broken bones so we when home a few hours later.

Needless to say it was midnight by the time we got home. Then and we had to be up and out of the house before 8am to get on the airport But we where able to get on the airplane first because my poor little boy could not walk very well. And of course he did not sleep on the plane this time! He did ok at first, he played with the Ipad and colored. But when we where about about 20 from landing he wanted down so he could run around. So after him crying (no throwinig a huge fit) for a few mins he fell asleep.

When we got off the airplane and got our bags he was SOOOOO happy to see his daddy.

Source: http://www.mummyknowsreviews.com/2012/09/katie-is-back-in.html

Spain Vs Italy Euro 2012 tiger woods pirate bay erin andrews erin andrews Pepco tour de france

How is a Kindle like a cuttlefish? Parallels between e-Paper technology and biological organisms that change color

ScienceDaily (Sep. 26, 2012) ? Over millions of years, biological organisms -- from the chameleon and cuttlefish to the octopus and squid -- have developed color-changing abilities for adaptive concealment (e.g., camouflage) and communication signaling (e.g., warning or mating cues).

Over the past two decades, humans have begun to develop sophisticated e-Paper technology in electronic devices that reflect and draw upon the ambient light around you to create multiple colors, contrast and diffusion to communicate text and images.

And given the more than 100 million years head start that evolution has provided to these animals and their cellular systems, it's not surprising that e-Paper devices lag behind in optical performance, especially color generation.

In an effort to close that gap, a multidisciplinary team led by University of Cincinnati researchers came out Sept. 26 with a paper that aims to help biologists who work with these color-changing creatures and engineers who work with e-Paper technology.

Authors are Eric Kreit, a recent doctoral graduate in UC's College of Engineering and Applied Science (CEAS); Lydia M. M?thger and Roger T. Hanlon, research scientists at the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, Mass.; Patrick B. Dennis and Rajesh R. Naik, scientists at the Materials and Manufacturing Directorate, Air Force Research Laboratory, Wright Patterson Air Force Base; Eric Forsythe, scientist at the Army Research Laboratory; and Jason Heikenfeld, associate professor of electronic and computing systems, also in the University of Cincinnati's College of Engineering and Applied Science (CEAS).

According to UC's Kreit, "Our main goals were threefold: To allow display engineers to learn from millions of years of natural selection and evolution. To teach biologists the most advanced mechanisms and performance measurements used in human-made reflective e-Paper and to give all scientists a clearer picture of the long-term prospects for capabilities such as adaptive concealment and what can be learned from now you see me, now you don't mechanisms."

Ways in Which Animals and Electronics Are Alike

One of the researchers' key findings is that there are numerous approaches to change the reflective color of a surface and that the highest-performance approaches developed by both humans and nature share some powerful common features. Both use pigment, and both change or achieve color expression by either spreading or compacting that pigment. Animals use muscle fiber to spread or compact pigment, and electronics make use of an electric field to do so.

However, even if the basic approach for color change is similar, humanity has never developed anything as complex or sophisticated as the biology and physics of cephalopod skin. (Cephalopods are a diverse ocean group and include 700 species of cuttlefish, squid and octopus -- and are the acknowledged masters of color change on the planet).

According to Heikenfeld, "The highest performance human-made approaches have been only recently developed, well after numerous other approaches were tried. Perhaps in the past, if we had more closely trusted nature's ability to find the best solution, we would be further along today in creating better display technology."

Animals Are Efficient Users of Available Light

Biological organisms that change color are very efficient at using available light. The animal's skin either reflects light to achieve a bright-color effect or absorbs light to achieve stunning, multi-colored effects.

In their use of available light, the biological organisms are more efficient than electronic devices, which generally require large amounts of electric power to generate an internal/emissive light to generate bright color.

Said Roger Hanlon, "Cephalopod skin is exquisitely beautiful and radiant, and can be changed in milliseconds, all without generating any intrinsic light from within the skin; there are elegant solutions from biology waiting to be translated to our consumer and industrial world."

In fact, overall, animals "outscore" synthetic devices when it comes to sophistication and integrated systems; required energy use for color change; size scalability (cephalopods' adaptive coloration works over a wide range of sizes in the organisms' class -- from small-size cuttlefish to large-size octopus and squid); and surface texture (cephalopods can selectively adapt or "crinkle" their skins to match a variety of three-dimensional textures, which provides additional light scattering and shadowing).

Electronic Devices Achieve Colors Faster and Achieve More Colors

Human-developed technology is far superior to cephalopods or other color-adapting animals when it comes to speed. In other words, human-made electronics can achieve color and a color change faster than the response time of a biological organism.

In addition, synthetic devices can provide a greater range of colors and more efficient dark or black state. In other words, a device can achieve a black screen, but most biological organisms cannot achieve such darkened coloring. This is, in part, due to the fact that an organism like a marine animal generally has no reason, in terms of survival adaptation or signaling, to go to a dark or black state. Such an adaptation would actually make them more visible, not less, to predators.

This research was funded by the Air Force Research Laboratory, National Science Foundation, Air Force Office of Scientific Research, Army Research Laboratory, Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and the Office of Naval Research.

Share this story on Facebook, Twitter, and Google:

Other social bookmarking and sharing tools:

---

Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of Cincinnati. The original article was written by M.B. Reilly.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

---

Journal Reference:

1. Eric Kreit, Lydia M. M?thger, Roger T. Hanlon, Patrick B. Dennis, Rajesh R. Naik, Eric Forsythe And Jason Heikenfeld. Biological vs. Electronic Adaptive Coloration: How Can One Inform the Other? The Journal of The Royal Society Interface, 2012 DOI: 10.1098/rsif.2012.0601

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_technology/~3/2F6jqihqhnc/120926110114.htm

boxing news Coptic Christian saturday night live julio cesar chavez jr Topless Kate university of texas UT Austin

FALL 2012 DINING GUIDE: Beyond Restaurants | Food and More ...

Jesus and Dannia Balestena of Dough in the Box (credit: Becky Stein)

(Introduction by Jenny Turknett)

I remember the first time I stepped into Pine Street Market. Bacon. I stood rooted to my spot in the doorway, flooded with the heady scent. After I collected my white-paper-wrapped purchases and headed to the car ? with a glance behind for hounds attracted to the meaty perfume clinging to my clothes ? I reflected on this shop, so dedicated to perfecting its craft.

John Kessler, AJC chief dining critic and head of our Dining Team, writes about all cuisines.

AJC Dining Team member Jenny Turknett writes about Southern and neighborhood fare.

It?s the local producers like Pine Street that we feature in this, our Fall Dining Guide. In this year?s Spring Dining Guide, AJC chief dining critic John Kessler presented ?The Atlanta 50,? a guide to the top 50 restaurants defining metro Atlanta?s dining scene. In it, he noted white-linened dining no longer sets the standard, with many casual eateries stepping in to claim spots in the top 50.

We now spend a portion of our valuable dining dollars in places other than restaurants. We purchase handcrafted products sold in boutique shops, specialty grocers and at our local farmers markets. We seek out food trucks at their various weekly events throughout the city.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution?s Dining Team has put together a collection of where we spend our dollars picking up a batch of granola, a box of truffles, an espresso and more. We share our favorite food trucks to chase and our favorite shops to explore.

Tough choices were made. We weren?t able to include every specialty producer worthy of a mention. And that?s a good thing. For metro Atlanta.

We hope you enjoy this guide, where we answer the question we receive daily: ?Where?s your favorite place to get???

SWEET BAKED GOODS

The Bakery at Cakes & Ale (Becky Stein)

Alon?s

Everyone has a favorite item at this robust, ambitious bakery cafe. Perhaps the country French bread, the bite-sized cookies or the ginger-cinnamon scones. We think it makes the definitive chocolate cake. The Midnight Chocolate Cake combines dark layers of devil?s food with white chocolate mousse in lieu of icing. It?s the cake you want to buy for a birthday, then keep snacking on in the corner of the kitchen for the next three days. If no one is looking, try it for breakfast. ?John Kessler

1394 N. Highland Ave., Atlanta, 404-872-6000, and 4505 Ashford Dunwoody Road, Atlanta, 678-397-1781

Alpine Bakery

Look for the silos. That?s how you know you?ve found Alpine Bakery in the Crabapple area of Alpharetta. Scan the rows upon rows of layer cakes, pies and pastries until you zero in on the tall red-crumb-dusted mammoth of a red velvet cake. If you like a cheesecake, you?ll strike red gold with the red velvet cake. Moist and perfectly smushy layers of cake alternate with smooth cheesecake-like layers of cream cheese frosting. The portions are fantastically large, yet you won?t wish to share a single morsel. ?Jenny Turknett

12315 Crabapple Road, Alpharetta, 770-410-9883

Atlanta Cupcake Factory (AJC Staff)

Atlanta Cupcake Factory

As a self-confessed cupcake snob, I have one Atlanta spot I can recommend: Atlanta Cupcake Factory. While many cupcakes are either dry and crumbly or have grainy, overabundant frosting, the ones here avoid those common pitfalls. Chocolate- and cream cheese-based frostings swirled with flavorings dress the cakes in a range of flavors. Get your Girl Scout on with the minty chocolate grasshopper cupcake, spice it up with the diablo cupcake that packs a bit of heat, or go sweet and savory with the caramel cupcake complete with the crunch bits of salt. ?JT

624 N. Highland Ave. N.E., Atlanta, 678-358-9195

The Bakery at Cakes & Ale

When he assumed his post at The Bakery at Cakes & Ale last spring, pastry chef Eric Wolitzky set out to capture metro Atlanta?s sweet tooth with his no-fuss homey baking style. He?s succeeded with items like his zesty Chocolate Mandarin cookie and Banana S?more Nut Bar. Yet, you?ll also find more refined options like pistachio macarons that melt into a luscious filling or the croissants with a feathery crust concealing a soft interior with a buttery tang. ?JT

151 Sycamore St., Decatur, 404-377-7960

The Cake Hag

Everyone always wants to know where to get a great cheesecake. If I?m not going to make it myself, I?ll get it from The Cake Hag. Cheesecakes come in regular, low-carb, gluten-free and sugar-free versions. My favorite is a thick wedge of the perfectly simple New York cheesecake, speckled with crunchy vanilla bean seeds and bright specks of lemon zest. Another popular seller, the sweet potato cr?me br?l?e, is a fluffier and more decadent cheesecake with hints of orange and coconut, laced with caramel on top. The Cake Hag also prepares layer cakes (try the carrot!), pies and other treats, all by order only. ?JT

501 Grant Street S.E., Atlanta, 678-760-6300

The Cookie Studio

The fact that Barbara O?Neill donates proceeds from this bakery to support the Atlanta Day Shelter for Women and Children doesn?t make her cookies taste any better. The fact is, these huge, flat cookies stand on their own merits, with an irresistible chewy-crisp texture. The chocolate chippers are definitive, but we go nuts for the butterscotch oatmeal and cherry-ginger explosion varieties, as well as the dark chocolate walnut.?JK

747-C East College Ave., Decatur, 404-373-8527

Dough in the Box

Jesus Balestena spends his nights making the 29 flavors of doughnuts for Marietta?s Dough in the Box, while his wife Dannia manages the store by day. The shop?s yeast dough contains no sugar and is fried in soybean oil, resulting in a doughnut with a big yeasty flavor without the cloying sweetness. The light and exceedingly tender doughnuts come in traditional flavors, with old-fashioned sour cream, apple fritters and simple glazed among the top sellers. ?JT

3184 Austell Road, S.W., Marietta, 770-436-5155 (no website)

Pie Shop

Owner Mims Bledsoe left her graduate studies in philosophy to reinvigorate the craft of pie baking. She scours old cookbooks for inspiration and swears by all-butter crusts for the perfectly tender and flaky specimen. Pie Shop offers a weekly menu of both sweet and savory pies.In addition to traditional favorites like apple, key lime and Derby pie, look for playful flavors like watermelon chiffon (summer) and cherry chile. I?ve always been partial to the German chocolate pie and recently discovered a gooey banana-split-like banoffee (banana toffee) pie that could have you snarfing more than a single slice in one sitting. ?JT

3210 Roswell Road, Atlanta, 404-841-4512

Piece of Cake (Becky Stein)

Piece of Cake

This local chain understands something fundamental about layer cakes. No matter how professionally they?re assembled, iced and boxed, they have to feel homemade at some level. We love them all, but wait each Valentine?s Day for the annual appearance of strawberry cake with strawberry icing. ?JK

Five area stores (Buckhead, Roswell, Decatur, Dunwoody and Vinings)

BREAD

Pure Knead Bakery (Becky Stein)

H&F Bread Co.

This wholesale bakery makes the city?s best European-style crusty bread, including a fine baguette that really stands apart in this city. While the bread has long been available in restaurants and at select farmers markets, it is now available daily at the small retail outlet fronting the bakery. Take a chance with the daily offerings or call a day in advance for your pick of the product line. ?JK

1401 Ellsworth Industrial Blvd., Atlanta, 404-350-8877 (Also available at area farmers markets and specialty shops.)

Nazifa?s Bakery

Nazifa Garib makes the large, floppy flatbreads called nan throughout the Middle East and the Indian subcontinent. Her version is Iraqi, and it?s delectable. Large as a manhole cover and pocked with dark blisters, it has become a standard feature at Middle Eastern and Afghani restaurants around metro Atlanta and in local farmers markets, where it headlines her menu of sandwiches and dips. But to try this bread at its best, visit her small storefront and sample it fresh from the oven. ?JK

3711 N. Decatur Road, Decatur, 678-698-8871. (Also available at area farmers markets.)

Pure Knead

Pure Knead is an ?allergy-friendly? bakery with products free of gluten, dairy, soy, nuts and shellfish. These include breads, crackers, buns, cookies, bread pudding and cupcakes. The bakery hand-blends flours ? including millet, brown-rice flour, sorghum and tapioca ? which results in a remarkably elastic texture mimicking traditional wheat-flour breads in baked goods like the boule. The sliced sandwich bread and the olive boule, studded with Kalamata olives, are two of our household staples. ?JT

186 Rio Circle, Decatur, 404-377-5567. (Available at several locations, including Peachtree Road Farmers Market, many Kroger stores, Piece of Cake and The Cookie Studio.)

MEATS

Spotted Trotter owner Kevin Ouzts (Becky Stein)

Pine Street Market

Soprasseta from Pine Street Market

Some suggest the bacon fad is done. They haven?t tasted Pine Street?s thick-cut and smoky molasses-and-maple-rubbed version that reignited my bacon lust. And while I am a hopeless bacon fan-girl, I love Pine Street?s emulsified sausages as much or more. It?s the texture of the sausages that win my praise ? not too fine and free of gristle. My favorite flavors include roasted poblano with ancho chiles, traditional Italian and yeasty Wild Heaven, none overwhelming the natural porky goodness. ?JT

4A Pine Street, Avondale Estates, 404-296-9672. (Also available at several locations, including Dunwoody Green Market and Peachtree Road and Marietta Square farmers markets.)

The Spotted Trotter

The Spotted Trotter, which refers to itself as a boutique charcuterie house, offers a range of salumi, cured and smoked meats, p?t?s and terrines prepared with humanely raised, hormone-free meats. Local and organic spices are toasted and ground, chiles dried and spice packs created, all in-house. Owner Kevin Ouzts says he pays homage to Old World-style charcuterie while pushing the envelope to develop his own new American style. The Spotted Trotter is one of my first stops when entertaining. I pick up wet-brined coppa, nutty dried chorizo, beef bresaola smooth chicken liver p?t? and maybe a little veal mortadella. The shop also sells southern cheeses and H&F breads to complement charcuterie platters. ?JT

1610 Hosea L. Williams Drive N.E., Atlanta, 404-254-4958. (Also available at Peachtree Road, Grant Park and East Atlanta Village farmers markets.)

CHOCOLATE

La Chocolaterie (Becky Stein)

The Chocolaterie

Way up in Cumming there?s a little gem of a chocolate boutique owned by husband-and-wife team Michael and Elizabeth Ashworth. Michael shelved his doctorate in computer science in favor of crafting more than 150 flavors of truffles for The Chocolaterie that run the gamut from red velvet to habanero (youch!). Each gorgeous truffle is hand-painted with chocolate (no candy coatings or confectioner?s glaze) and will have you transfixed, paralyzed by indecision. Does your apple pie truffle taste just like apple pie? That?s because it is. The Chocolaterie makes all of its own fillings, including the pies, cakes and candies contained within each glossy bite. While you?re at it, add a little fudge to your ever-expanding take-home box. One of the 30-40 varieties available daily will surely test your willpower. ?JT

410 Peachtree Pkwy, Cumming, 678-513-2700

Cacao Atlanta Chocolate Co.

Cacao now has three Atlanta locations, each with its own character but all looking like a stunning (but interactive) chocolate museum. You?ll feel compelled to speak quietly so as not to disturb the chocolate gods, who must grin widely at the quality of the bean-to-bar chocolate produced here. The boutique menu includes a slew of truffles, chocolate bark, chocolate covered salted caramels and sipping chocolate (don?t even get me started on the sipping chocolate with Aztec spices). But it?s in the Love bars that you can truly taste the nuances of the chocolate ? and the love. My favorite is the single-estate, single-varietal 75 percent cacao Pantanemo Love bar with the characteristic dark chocolate bite and smooth notes of caramel. ?JT

Three locations (Buckhead, Inman Park and Virginia Highland)

DAIRY

High Road Craft Ice Cream (courtesy of High Road)

Atlanta Fresh Artisan Creamery

If you like Greek yogurt but find some of the commercial brands seem too much like sour cream ? pasty and chalky ? then search out this hometown treasure. This yogurt (both full- and reduced-fat varieties) offers a caressing creaminess that?s truly unique. The Tropical Sweet Heat, with pineapple, mango and a hint of chile pepper, is a standout. ?JK

(Available at several retail outlets, including Whole Foods.)

Decimal Place Farm

Some of our favorite goat?s milk cheese is produced on an 18-acre urban farm near Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. Farmer Mary Rigdon, a self-taught cheesemaker who pursued animal sciences at the University of Georgia, raises Saanen dairy goats and makes a range of goat?s milk cheeses. The chevre masters the delicate balance of tangy to creamy flavor and chalky to smooth texture. It also comes in a party-dip style garlic and dill or a lavender-fennel version. Look for flavored cheddars, one of which won the 2011 Goat Milk Cheese Competition last fall. ?JT

4314 Almach Ave., Conley, 404-363-0356. (Available at Peachtree Road, East Atlanta Village and Grant Park farmers markets.)

High Road Craft Ice Cream

In this day of increasingly ?inventive? ice cream flavors, the ice cream itself can be an afterthought. Create a quality product without any gimmicks, and you can distinguish yourself from the crowd. That?s High Road?s Valrhona chocolate ice cream. Concentrated chocolate and creaminess. Yet, that?s not to say High Road?s other small-batch-made ice creams like coffee and cream (my favorite) and peanut butter brittle won?t linger in your memory for lengthy stretches. Oh, did I mention the Aztec chocolate and caramel? And then there?s? ?JT

2241 Perimeter Park Drive, Chamblee, 678-701-7623. (Also available at several locations, including The Sweet Auburn Curb Market, Whole Foods and The Fresh Market.)

Izzy?s Cheese

Here?s a match made in stretchy cheese heaven. Mozzarella maker Antonio Lo Russo has teamed with Newborn dairy farmer Russell Johnston to turn fresh local milk into the city?s best mozzarella. The fior di latte cheese is gorgeous ? soft, with that gentle springiness that gives way to buttery waves of flavor. The creamery also makes an aged scamorza and a burrata. Look for wider distribution in coming months. ?JK

Johnston Family Farm, 2471 Broughton St., Newborn, 404-229-3086. (Also available at Peachtree Road and Decatur farmers markets.)

Orobianco

This artisanal mozzarella maker has just started to gear up. But if you can get your hands on its burrata, you?re in for bliss. This mozzarella filled with a tender stracciatella of cheese and cream is superlative. Cut it open and serve with nothing more than a drop or two of good olive oil or balsamic. Make sure to let it come to room temperature first to fully appreciate its buttery finish. ?JK

2296 Henry Clower Blvd., Snellville. (Available at the Snellville Farmers Market and some gourmet markets.)

COFFEE

Octane Coffee/Little Tart Bakery (Becky Stein)

Batdorf & Bronson Coffee Roasters

Batdorf & Bronson, our own local coffee roaster, sources certified organic, fair-trade-certified and shade-grown coffees from farms around the world. The coffee is roasted in small batches at the company?s facility on Atlanta?s westside. Beans are roasted to each bean?s individual ?sweet spot,? highlighting its optimum flavor profile. The coffee is served at many of Atlanta?s upscale restaurants, including Miller Union, where I first discovered the intensely rich and chocolatey coffee. You can also find it at one of Batdorf & Bronson?s Dancing Goats Coffee Bar locations. ?JT

1530 Carroll Drive N.W., Atlanta, 404-351-0071. (Also available at several locations, including Peachtree Road Farmers Market, Alon?s Bakery and Artisan Foods.)

Steady Hand Pour House (courtesy of business)

Steady Hand Pour House

The owners of this little spot in Emory Village have mastered the art of the pour over. Starting with beans from primo roaster Intelligensia, they prepare each cup by hand in a cone filter ? first letting the grounds bloom in a thin drizzle of hot water, then increasing the pour with a measured hand to get the desired extraction. If Ethiopian Debello is on the daily menu of bean varieties, don?t think about ordering anything else. ?JK

1593 North Decatur Road, Atlanta, 404-687-5177

Octane Coffee

There are a lot of milky, frothy, cinnamon-dusted coffee drinks that call themselves cappuccino. But if you want a cappuccino done right ? 1/3 coffee, 1/3 steamed milk, 1/3 froth ? then go to Octane. It?s a drink to savor, one that coats your tongue in soft milkiness before the bitter insistence of the espresso cuts through. The Grant Park location offers the added bonus of great sweets and savories from the attached Little Tart Bakery. ?JK

437 Memorial Drive, Atlanta, and 1009-B Marietta St., Atlanta; 404-815-9886

DRY GOODS AND PASTA

Storico Fresco Pasta (courtesy of Storico Fresco)

Storico Fresco Pasta

Mike Patrick apprenticed all across Italy to assemble his most idiosyncratic collection of fresh pasta recipes. He has a special interest in the stuffed pastas of Lombardy, such as Pi Fasacc, an intricately folded dumpling filled with herbed taleggio and other cheeses, and Casonsei, a half-moon stuffed with a hot pink paste of beets and smoked cheese. He also makes a full line of fresh dried pastas, including memorable nutmeg-scented garganelli that will best any factory penne in your cupboard. He plans to open a Buckhead storefront where you can buy the pastas and snack on Roman street food. Can?t wait. ?JK

3210 Roswell Road, Atlanta, 678-701-7537. (Available at the Peachtree Road Farmers Market and from the Farm Mobile delivery truck.)

Sweet Georgia Grains

This small-batch granola company, based in Carrollton, sources organic ingredients locally when possible. It prepares seven different varieties of granola, including the Good Morning, Granola, which it calls ?the original hippie granola from the 1960s.? Our family favorite is the Heirloom Oatmeal Cookie granola. Based on a family oatmeal cookie recipe, this variety mixes it up with organic rolled oats, sunflower seeds, cinnamon, maple and Georgia pecans. Hey, kids, here?s your best chance at eating cookies for breakfast. ?JT

477 Rome St., Carollton, 770-301-0616. (Also available at The Boxcar Grocer, Urban Cannibals and East Atlanta Village and Grant Park farmers markets.)

BOTTLED AND JARRED GOODS

Hope's Gardens Pesto (AJC staff)

Atlanta Bee Company

Beekeepers from throughout northeast Georgia supply this packager with all-natural honey, free of additives and artificial preservatives. Varieties include Wildflower, Orange Blossom and Tupelo, but what we really love is the Sourwood honey. Its rich flavor and perfume are unlike any other honey we?ve tried. ?JK

(Available at local markets, farmers markets and festivals.)

Hope?s Gardens Pesto

The freshly made basil pesto from Atlanta-based Hope?s Gardens is one of my ultimate comfort foods. It?s a simple harmony of ingredients: rich olive oil, nutty Parmigiano-Reggiano, sharp raw garlic, earthy pine nuts and sweet licorice-scented basil. Hope?s Gardens also prepares pestos like the tangy (and nut-free) sun-dried tomato (great on baked fish), jalape?o-cilantro and the mint, green pea and almond pesto (vegan). What a great way to celebrate the season?s bounty. ?JT

(Available at several locations, including Whole Foods and Peachtree Road Farmers Market.)

Fairywood Thicket

Fairywood Thicket, local producer of jellies, jams and chutneys, took inspiration for its name from the wild elderberry bushes growing on its Fairburn farm. Eclectic jars hold products containing only fruit, pectin, sugar and spices. Nothing artificial, no corn syrup here. The product list began with elderberry jelly and has grown to include a number of savory jellies and chutneys like the scorching hot inferno jelly to a mild cranberry and serrano pepper jelly. Images of fairies frolicking in the thicket will dance in your head as you sample the vanilla blackberry, strawberry lavender and the white peach fruit jellies. ?JT

4545 Cochran Mill Road, Fairburn, 678-278-5460. (Also available at several locations, including Peachtree Road Farmers Market.)

Phickles Pickles

Want a pickle with some pop? Try Phickles Pickles, an Athens-based pickled veggie company. Each jar of pickled local produce is hand-packed with vinegar, garlic, dill and peppers by owner Angie Tillman and company. Pickled snap beans will pucker you up, carrots pack some heat and the okra plays it just right ? smooth and crisp with a slow burn. Also look for pickled green tomatoes, jalape?os and asparagus. Anything can be crafted into a pickle, right? ?JT

100 Athens Town Blvd, Athens. 706-338-6957. (Also available at several locations, including Peachtree Road Farmers Market and Pine Street Market.)

FRESH PRODUCE

Crystal Organics farmer Nicholas Donck (AJC staff)

Crystal Organic Farm

So many great local farms now supply Atlanta restaurants and farmers markets with game-changing farm produce. But you can?t help but award special recognition to this Newborn farm headed by Nicholas Donck. Donck?s weekly stand at the year-round Morningside Farmers Market tells you all you need to know about the growing seasons, the trends in fresh produce and the state of the good food movement. Here?s where you go to try your first padron peppers, new varieties of endive, sweet baby roma tomatoes and torpedo onions. If you get there early enough to snag a dozen eggs from his mom?s chickens, you?re living large. ?JK

(Available at the Morningside Farmers Market, the Local Farmstead at Star Provisions and at Whole Foods throughout metro Atlanta.)

WINE AND SPIRITS

Wild Heaven Craft Beers (AJC staff)

H&F Bottleshop

You might find some of the bottles of wine and spirits on the shelves here cheaper by a dollar or three at your local liquor store. But you won?t find a better introduction to the contemporary cocktail scene. If you?re planning to build a home bar, this should be your first stop for bumping barware, bitters, mixers and craft spirits. We?re particularly smitten with the do-it-yourself cocktail kits for sale on the counter. ?JK

2357 Peachtree Road, Atlanta, 404-841-4070

Hop City

Kraig Torres?s store is a veritable beer wonderland. Craft brews from around the country and the globe come by the bottle or the case, and the staff are all too willing to go into full-tilt beer-geek mode as you explore the different styles. Every trip is an education. ?JK

1000 Marietta St., Atlanta, 404-350-9998

Le Caveau Fine Wines

If your wine taste skews Old World, then get thee to this small shop in Chamblee. The owners focus on wines from Burgundy, the Rhone Valley and the Loire Valley in France, as well as Tuscany, Austria and Germany. Here?s where you can find that $12 Rhone red with real character, that $30 Burgundy that tastes like one that could fetch three times the price, and that really weird chardonnay from the Jura region of France. ?JK

5256 Peachtree Road, Atlanta, 770-837-0710

Wild Heaven Craft Beers

After Paste publisher Nick Purdy found himself without a magazine to publish, he turned his attention from music to his other love ? beer. His microbrewery has caught on quickly, thanks to the distinctive character of his brews. His Ode To Mercy imperial brown ale, with its high alcohol content and touch of locally brewed coffee, is a hit with serious beer drinkers. But his home run may be Let There Be Light ? a hoppy, citrusy beef that goes down by the pint. ?JK

(Available at local craft beer shops and in many area pubs and restaurants.)

SPECIALTY GROCERS

Star Provision Cheese Counter (Becky Stein)

Buford Highway Farmers Market

If you need an unusual ingredient for a recipe, look no further. This outstanding international market arranges its department by global geography, so whether you?re cooking from a Nepalese, Czech, Peruvian, British or Filipino cookbook, all you could hope to find is right here. This place is a marvel. ?JK

5600 Buford Highway, Atlanta, 770-455-0770

Oli & Ve

Oli & Ve, the new olive oil and vinegar boutique and tasting room, is Roswell?s newest specialty shop. The shop works with a respected supplier who imports extra virgin olive oil from around the world and balsamic vinegars from Modena, Italy. All oils are tested both chemically and by professional tasters to ensure quality and claims of origin. The shop?s oils range in intensity from mild to robust and each are available for tasting. Owners Suzanne Davidson and Deborah Hardee train customers on proper tasting methods, much like wine. Look for a second location to open in Buckhead this October. ?JT

1003 Canton St., Roswell, 770-587-4244

Star Provisions Cheese Counter

There?s a lot to love at this west Atlanta market, from the bakery to the house-made sausages and p?t?s to the well-curated selection of dry goods. But there?s something world-class about the cheese department, where Tim Gaddis offers a mouthwatering selection. Gaddis smartly features farmstead cheeses from around the world, around the country and around the South. The latter seems his real love; he knows and supports the farmers, bringing them recognition. ?JK

1198 Howell Mill Road, Atlanta, 404-365-0410

Also in our FALL 2012 DINING GUIDE: The Atlanta 50: Beyond Restaurants

? Great Eats ? A Visual Sampler

? A Dozen Top Food Trucks | Map: Where you?ll find them

Our most recent previous dining guides:

? Spring 2012: THE ATLANTA 50: Where To Eat

? Fall 2011: Distinctive Culinary Voices | Spring 2011: Where To Splurge!

? For the AJC Food and More blog

Source: http://blogs.ajc.com/food-and-more/2012/09/27/fall-2012-dining-guide-beyond-restaurants/?cxntfid=blogs_food_and_more

zooey deschanel and joseph gordon levitt debra messing ayaan hirsi ali rachel uchitel strait of hormuz new years eve party ideas mars needs moms

Trade unions still fail to lure women leaders, study finds

Public release date: 14-Sep-2012
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Emma Lowry
e.lowry@qmul.ac.uk
020-788-25378
Queen Mary, University of London

Lift as you rise: Union women's leadership talk

There is little doubt that Frances O'Grady has made history as the first woman to be elected General Secretary of the Trades Union Congress in September 2012. A recent study from Queen Mary, University of London casts some light on the level of O'Grady's achievement in the wider union landscape.

This cross-national study found that in both the UK and the US, women still have fewer top positions in trade unions despite growth in overall female membership.

The paper, Lift as You Rise: Union Women's Leadership Talk, discusses the lack of women at union leadership level, and the management styles adopted by those women who do climb to the top.

Unlike corporate organisations, unions are generally democratic, but their leadership structures in both America and Britain are historically dominated by white men. While more women have joined unions in the last decades, the proportion of female leaders in either country remains low.

Some 130 women, including the most senior union officials from the UK and North Eastern USA, were interviewed for the study, which was carried out by Professor Geraldine Healy and Professor Gill Kirton of the School of Business and Management at Queen Mary.

Among the UK's 10 larger unions, there are now four women general secretaries; however only two unions have achieved proportionality on the National Executive.

In the US, women's representation has increased dramatically since the 1970s, but men continue to take the top and most powerful positions. In nine major US unions with significant female membership, women comprise 24 per cent of top leaders, but in none of these unions does the female proportion of leaders reflect membership rates.

Women who were interviewed often had greater expectations of their female leaders than their male leaders; typically they expected other women leaders to be less hierarchical and more supportive and encouraging of other women. Those who failed to exhibit these feminist leadership practices were often condemned by other women.

Professor Kirton explains: "Prejudice against female leaders stems from the widely held beliefs about how women ought to behave. Popular media representations of women leaders are often as either mother figures or bitches.

"When a woman shows that she is prepared to be ruthless or dictatorial or when she has an aggressive personal style, this can meet the severe disapproval of other women and was heavily criticised for failing other women."

The researchers found that in many cases American and British women union leaders did express a strong sense of accountability, not just to members generally, but specifically to other union women they want to lift other women as they climbed.

However, certain cases were documented where women asserted their readiness to adopt the more masculine 'traditional' models of leadership because they found them "efficient and effective".

"Inequalities may have become more subtle, but in some cases, they have become more difficult to challenge," says Professor Kirton. "Women can and do lead in ways that marginalise and exclude other women, resulting in women feeling more let down that when it is men doing the excluding.

"Masculine leadership, whether exercised by men or women, is failing women, so it is the type of leadership that matters, not simply the leaders' gender."

###

The full paper, Lift as You Rise: Union Women's Leadership Talk, is free to download from SAGE Publications: http://hum.sagepub.com/content/65/8/979.full.pdf+html

---

[ | 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.

Public release date: 14-Sep-2012
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Emma Lowry
e.lowry@qmul.ac.uk
020-788-25378
Queen Mary, University of London

Lift as you rise: Union women's leadership talk

There is little doubt that Frances O'Grady has made history as the first woman to be elected General Secretary of the Trades Union Congress in September 2012. A recent study from Queen Mary, University of London casts some light on the level of O'Grady's achievement in the wider union landscape.

This cross-national study found that in both the UK and the US, women still have fewer top positions in trade unions despite growth in overall female membership.

The paper, Lift as You Rise: Union Women's Leadership Talk, discusses the lack of women at union leadership level, and the management styles adopted by those women who do climb to the top.

Unlike corporate organisations, unions are generally democratic, but their leadership structures in both America and Britain are historically dominated by white men. While more women have joined unions in the last decades, the proportion of female leaders in either country remains low.

Some 130 women, including the most senior union officials from the UK and North Eastern USA, were interviewed for the study, which was carried out by Professor Geraldine Healy and Professor Gill Kirton of the School of Business and Management at Queen Mary.

Among the UK's 10 larger unions, there are now four women general secretaries; however only two unions have achieved proportionality on the National Executive.

In the US, women's representation has increased dramatically since the 1970s, but men continue to take the top and most powerful positions. In nine major US unions with significant female membership, women comprise 24 per cent of top leaders, but in none of these unions does the female proportion of leaders reflect membership rates.

Women who were interviewed often had greater expectations of their female leaders than their male leaders; typically they expected other women leaders to be less hierarchical and more supportive and encouraging of other women. Those who failed to exhibit these feminist leadership practices were often condemned by other women.

Professor Kirton explains: "Prejudice against female leaders stems from the widely held beliefs about how women ought to behave. Popular media representations of women leaders are often as either mother figures or bitches.

"When a woman shows that she is prepared to be ruthless or dictatorial or when she has an aggressive personal style, this can meet the severe disapproval of other women and was heavily criticised for failing other women."

The researchers found that in many cases American and British women union leaders did express a strong sense of accountability, not just to members generally, but specifically to other union women they want to lift other women as they climbed.

However, certain cases were documented where women asserted their readiness to adopt the more masculine 'traditional' models of leadership because they found them "efficient and effective".

"Inequalities may have become more subtle, but in some cases, they have become more difficult to challenge," says Professor Kirton. "Women can and do lead in ways that marginalise and exclude other women, resulting in women feeling more let down that when it is men doing the excluding.

"Masculine leadership, whether exercised by men or women, is failing women, so it is the type of leadership that matters, not simply the leaders' gender."

###

The full paper, Lift as You Rise: Union Women's Leadership Talk, is free to download from SAGE Publications: http://hum.sagepub.com/content/65/8/979.full.pdf+html

---

[ | 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.

Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2012-09/qmuo-tus091412.php

ufc on fox 2 weigh ins brandi glanville convulsions john tyler chuck elisabeth hasselbeck fran drescher

THE RACE: Fed move lifts its political profile

President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama are presented with the U.S. Olympic flag by Navy Veteran Brad Snyder, during a ceremony on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, Friday, Sept. 14, 2012, welcoming the 2012 U.S. Olympic and Paralympic teams. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama are presented with the U.S. Olympic flag by Navy Veteran Brad Snyder, during a ceremony on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, Friday, Sept. 14, 2012, welcoming the 2012 U.S. Olympic and Paralympic teams. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney puts on his jacket before boarding his campaign charter plane in Newark, N.J., Friday, Sept. 14, 2012. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke speaks during a news conference in Washington, Thursday, Sept. 13, 2012, following the Federal Open Market Committee meeting to present the FOMC's current economic projections and to provide additional context for the FOMC's policy decision. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

The Federal Reserve under Chairman Ben Bernanke is trying to help the economy by doing something President Barack Obama and Congress can't and which Mitt Romney opposes: electronically creating money, mostly out of thin air.

The Fed says it will "buy" $40 billion a month in mortgage bonds until stubbornly high unemployment eases substantially. The Fed's new move is on top of its $85 billion-a-month purchases of Treasury securities under an existing program.

It hopes to hold down long-term interest rates long enough to stimulate more private-sector borrowing and hiring.

Democrats generally welcomed the step, although Obama's camp won't comment on Fed actions. Republicans called it further confirmation that Obama's policies are failing.

"The president's saying the economy's making progress, coming back. Bernanke's saying, 'No, it's not. I've got to print more money,'" Romney told ABC.

If elected, the Republican says he won't reappoint Bernanke when his chairman's term expires in January 2014.

The Fed has kept a key short-term rate ? on loans between banks ? near zero for over three years and pumped hundreds of billions of dollars into the financial system.

Fed chairmen risk being accused of playing politics so close to a presidential election. "We make our decision based entirely on the state of the economy," Bernanke insisted.

Democrats still blame Fed Chairman Arthur Burns for over-stimulating the economy in 1972 to help President Richard Nixon. President George H. W. Bush partly blames his 1992 defeat on tight policies of Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan.

Greenspan's later more market-friendly policies likely helped President Bill Clinton's 1996 re-election.

Bernanke's move carries big risks. Many economists doubt it will have the desired effect ? and could trigger high inflation down the road.

Romney campaigned Friday in Ohio, while Obama traveled to Andrews Air Force Base to pay respects at the return of the remains of U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans killed in an attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya.

___

Follow Tom Raum on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/tomraum. For more AP political coverage, look for the 2012 Presidential Race in AP Mobile's Big Stories section. Also follow https://twitter.com/APcampaign and AP journalists covering the campaign: https://twitter.com/AP/ap-campaign-2012

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2012-09-14-The%20Race/id-25cb8b39c90d43f1aae0beeab8005556

taio cruz Winter Olympics 2014 powerball numbers freddie mercury Horshack florida lotto Beady Eye

Nikon D600 DSLR: Full-frame at its lowest price

Featured

2 days

Wilson Rothman

Apple CEO Tim Cook took to the stage along with SVP of Worldwide?Marketing?Phil Schiller?Wednesday at the Moscone Center in San Francisco,?t... Read more

21 hrs.

Devin Coldewey

Nikon has?announced the D600, a full-frame DSLR camera for professional and enthusiast photographers that, while expensive, is far cheaper than its competition.

At $2,100, it's no impulse buy, but it has perhaps the most coveted feature in digital photography: a full-frame sensor. This means that the image sensor in the camera is roughly the same size as a frame of 35mm film, as compared with the much smaller sensors in consumer DSLRs, mirrorless cameras, and point-and-shoots.

A full-frame sensor allows more light to be captured, lets lenses show the full range of angles they are billed to show (on the popular APS-C sensors, a lens labeled 35mm is more like 50mm), and generally provide a photography experience that's closer to the film cameras of yesteryear.

The D600 has 24 megapixels, a 3.2" 640-by-480 LCD, a moisture-sealed magnesium-reinforced body, and generally all the features photographers expect in a high-end DSLR. In a pleasant surprise, its viewfinder offers 100 percent coverage, meaning what you see through it is exactly what will be captured; less expensive cameras often have less than 90 percentcoverage, making framing shots with precision more?difficult.

Its nearest relatives are Canon's new and popular 5D Mark III and Nikon's own D800, but the 5D goes for at least $1,000 more (its MSRP is $3,499) and the D800 for a bit less than that. The D600 doesn't have all of their features, and includes a few questionable ones (a "Scene" mode on the dial that is extremely unlikely to be used by people buying $2,100 camera bodies), but it will likely be popular nevertheless?? as a second camera for a photographer used to working in full-frame, the price can't be beat.

The camera should be available on Sept. 18 worldwide, and will come with a?24-85mm f/3.5-4.5 VR zoom for an extra $600.

Devin Coldewey is a contributing writer for NBC News Digital. His personal website is?coldewey.cc.

Source: http://www.nbcnews.com/technology/gadgetbox/nikons-d600-dslr-brings-full-frame-its-lowest-price-yet-997459

lehigh walking dead season finale matt flynn denver news frozen planet creighton new smyrna beach

From brand new laptop to infected by pressing 'on'

WASHINGTON (AP) ? A customer in Shenzhen, China, took a brand new laptop out of its box and booted it up for the first time. But as the screen lit up, the computer began taking on a life of its own. The machine, triggered by a virus hidden in its hard drive, began searching across the Internet for another computer.

The laptop, supposedly in pristine, super-fast, direct-from-the-factory condition, had instantly become part of an illegal, global network capable of attacking websites, looting bank accounts and stealing personal data.

For years, online investigators have warned consumers about the dangers of opening or downloading files emailed to them from unknown or suspicious sources. Now, they say malicious software and computer code could be lurking on computers before the bubble wrap even comes off.

The shopper in this case was part of a team of Microsoft researchers in China investigating the sale of counterfeit software. They suddenly had been introduced to a malware called Nitol. The incident was revealed in court documents unsealed Thursday in a federal court in Virginia. The records describe a new front in a legal campaign against cybercrime being waged by the maker of the Windows operating system, which is the biggest target for viruses.

The documents are part of a computer fraud lawsuit filed by Microsoft against a web domain registered to a Chinese businessman named Peng Yong. The company says it is a major hub for illicit Internet activity. The domain is home base for Nitol and more than 500 other types of malware, making it the largest single repository of infected software that Microsoft officials have ever encountered.

Peng, the owner of an Internet services firm, said he was not aware of the Microsoft lawsuit but he denied the allegations and said his company does not tolerate improper conduct on the domain, 3322.org. Three other unidentified individuals accused by Microsoft of establishing and operating the Nitol network are also named in the suit.

What emerges most vividly from the court records and interviews with Microsoft officials is a disturbing picture of how vulnerable Internet users have become, in part because of weaknesses in computer supply chains. To increase their profit margins, less reputable computer manufacturers and retailers may use counterfeit copies of popular software products to build machines more cheaply. Plugging the holes is nearly impossible, especially in less regulated markets like China, and that leaves openings for cybercriminals.

"They're really changing the ways they try to attack you," said Richard Boscovich, a former federal prosecutor and a senior attorney in Microsoft's digital crimes unit.

And distance doesn't equal safety. Nitol, for example, is an aggressive virus found on computers in China, the United States, Russia, Australia and Germany. Microsoft has even identified servers in the Cayman Islands controlling Nitol-infected machines. All these compromised computers become part of a botnet ? a collection of compromised computers ? one of the most invasive and persistent forms of cybercrime.

Nitol, meanwhile, appears poised to strike. Infection rates have peaked, according to Patrick Stratton, a senior manager in Microsoft's digital crimes unit who filed a document in the court case explaining Nitol and its connection to the 3322.org domain.

For Microsoft, pursuing cybercriminals is a smart business. Its Windows operating system runs most of the computers connected to the Internet. Victims of malware are likely to believe their problems stem from Windows instead of a virus they are unaware of, and that damages the company's brand and reputation.

But more than Microsoft's image is stake when counterfeit products are tainted by malware that spreads so rapidly, Boscovich said. "It's more than simply a traditional intellectual property issue," Boscovich said. "It's now become a security issue."

The investigation by Microsoft's digital crimes unit began in August 2011 as a study into the sale and distribution of counterfeit versions of Windows. Microsoft employees in China bought 20 new computers from retailers and took them back to a home with an Internet connection.

They found forged versions of Windows on all the machines and malware pre-installed on four. The one with Nitol, however, was the most alarming because the malware was active.

"As soon as we powered on this particular computer, of its own accord without any instruction from us, it began reaching out across the Internet, attempting to contact a computer unfamiliar to us," Stratton said in the document filed with the court.

Stratton and his colleagues also found Nitol to be highly contagious. They inserted a thumb drive into the computer and the virus immediately copied itself onto it. When the drive was inserted into a separate machine, Nitol quickly copied itself on to it.

Microsoft examined thousands of samples of Nitol, which has several variants, and all of them connected to command-and-control servers associated with the 3322.org domain, according to the court records.

"In short, 3322.org is a major hub of illegal Internet activity, used by criminals every minute of every day to pump malware and instructions to the computers of innocent people worldwide," Microsoft said in its lawsuit.

Peng, the registered owner of 3322.org, said he has "zero tolerance" for the misuse of domain names and works with Chinese law enforcement whenever there are complaints. Still, he said, his huge customer base makes policing difficult.

"Our policy unequivocally opposes the use of any of our domain names for malicious purposes," Peng said in a private chat via Sina Weibo, a service like Twitter that's very popular in China. "We currently have 2.85 million domain names and cannot exclude that individual users might be using domain names for malicious purposes."

But past warnings by other online security firms have been ignored by Peng, Boscovich said. 3322.org accounted for more than 17 percent of the world's malicious web transactions in 2009, according to Zscaler, a computer security firm in San Jose, Calif. In 2008, Russian security company Kaspersky Lab reported that 40 percent of all malware programs, at one point or another, connected to 3322.org.

U.S. District Judge Gerald Bruce Lee, who is presiding in the case, granted a request from Microsoft to begin steering Internet traffic from 3322.org that has been infected by Nitol and other malwares to a special site called a sinkhole. From there, Microsoft can alert affected computer users to update their anti-virus protection and remove Nitol from their machines.

Since Lee issued the order, more than 37 million malware connections have been blocked from 3322.org, according to Microsoft.

___

Associated Press researcher Fu Ting in Shanghai contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2012-09-13-US-Cybersecurity-Digital-Crimes/id-b704da40f1c24093b7c7b6e376f8d844

own stacy francis tournament brackets 2012 ncaa basketball tournament walt what time is it current time