Rep. Roy Blunt: Unfit to Lead

Rep. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), who is vying to be House majority leader, is unfit for leadership because he represents more of the same corrupting, big-money politics that the American public has become disgusted with and that many reformers in Congress are trying to clean up, this Public Citizen report shows.The report details how much money Blunt has collected from lobbyists and corporate political action committees (PACs), the favors he has done for contributors, the trips he or candidates he has paid expenses for have taken on corporate jets, and how members of his staff have gone to work for major corporations that later donated thousands of dollars to Blunt's political committees. The report also delves into the unsettling nature of Blunts' ties to the fundraising apparatus of indicted former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Texas) and admitted felon and former super-lobbyist Jack Abramoff

Spending Millions to Save Billions: The Campaign of the Super Wealthy to Kill the Estate Tax

The multimillion-dollar lobbying effort to repeal the federal estate tax has been aggressively led by 18 super-wealthy families, according this report by Public Citizen and United for a Fair Economy. The report details for the first time the vast money, influence and deceptive marketing techniques behind the rhetoric in the campaign to repeal the tax.It reveals how 18 families worth a total of $185.5 billion have financed and coordinated a 10-year effort to repeal the estate tax, a move that would collectively net them a windfall of$71.6 billion.The report profiles the families and their businesses, which include the families behind Wal-Mart, Gallo wine, Campbell's soup, and Mars Inc., maker of M&Ms. Collectively, the list includes the first- and third-largest privately held companies in the United States, the richest family in Alabama and the world's largest retailer.These families have sought to keep their activities anonymous by using associations to represent them and by forming a massive coalition of business and trade associations dedicated to pushing for estate tax repeal. The report details the groups they have hidden behind -- the trade associations they have used, the lobbyists they have hired, and the anti-estate tax political action committees, 527s and organizations to which they have donated heavily.In a massive public relations campaign, the families have also misled the country by giving the mistaken impression that the estate tax affects most Americans. In particular, they have used small businesses and family farms as poster children for repeal, saying that the estate tax destroys both of these groups. But just more than one-fourth of one percent of all estates will owe any estate taxes in 2006. And the American Farm Bureau, a member of the anti-estate tax coalition, was unable when asked by The New York Times to cite a single example of a family being forced to sell its farm because of estate tax liability

Measurement of optical response of a detuned resonant sideband extraction gravitational wave detector

We report on the optical response of a suspended-mass detuned resonant sideband extraction (RSE) interferometer with power recycling. The purpose of the detuned RSE configuration is to manipulate and optimize the optical response of the interferometer to differential displacements (induced by gravitational waves) as a function of frequency, independently of other parameters of the interferometer. The design of our interferometer results in an optical gain with two peaks: an RSE optical resonance at around 4 kHz and a radiation pressure induced optical spring at around 41 Hz. We have developed a reliable procedure for acquiring lock and establishing the desired optical configuration. In this configuration, we have measured the optical response to differential displacement and found good agreement with predictions at both resonances and all other relevant frequencies. These results build confidence in both the theory and practical implementation of the more complex optical configuration being planned for Advanced LIGO

Measurement of Optical Response of a Detuned Resonant Sideband Extraction Interferometer

We report on the optical response of a suspended-mass detuned resonant sideband extraction (RSE) interferometer with power recycling. The purpose of the detuned RSE configuration is to manipulate and optimize the optical response of the interferometer to differential displacements (induced by gravitational waves) as a function of frequency, independently of other parameters of the interferometer. The design of our interferometer results in an optical gain with two peaks: an RSE optical resonance at around 4 kHz and a radiation pressure induced optical spring at around 41 Hz. We have developed a reliable procedure for acquiring lock and establishing the desired optical configuration. In this configuration, we have measured the optical response to differential displacement and found good agreement with predictions at both resonances and all other relevant frequencies. These results build confidence in both the theory and practical implementation of the more complex optical configuration being planned for Advanced LIGO.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures, for submission to Phys Rev Letter

Manipulating exercise and recovery to enhance adaptations to sprint interval training

Highly-trained athletes are accustomed to varied and high-volume based exercise stimuli and eliciting adaptation in individuals already possessing the necessary physiology to compete at the highest level is difficult. Therefore, identifying novel, potent and time efficient methods of achieving cumulative training stress is a continual quest for coaches and exercise scientists. This thesis examined the acute and chronic effects of manipulating exercise and recovery during brief all-out sprint cycling on adaptive responses favouring enhanced endurance capacity. Chapter 3 highlighted that low-volume non-work matched all-out sprint cycling, whether it be interval- (4 x 30 s bouts) or continuous based (1 x 2 min bout) provides a similarly potent stimulus for the acute induction of cell signalling pathways and key growth factors associated with mitochondrial biogenesis and angiogenesis in trained individuals. In line with manipulating recovery and in attempting to identify a novel and potent exercise intervention capable of giving athletes more return on their training investment, Chapters 4-6 investigated the efficacy of combining sprint interval training with post-exercise blood flow restriction (BFR). Firstly, it was demonstrated that BFR potentiates HIF-1α mRNA expression in response to SIT, tentatively suggesting an enhanced stimulus for hypoxia- and/or metabolic-mediated cell signalling associated with mitochondrial biogenesis and angiogenesis over SIT alone. Secondly, four weeks of SIT combined with post-exercise BFR provides a greater training stimulus over SIT alone in trained individuals to enhance VO2max (4.7 v 1.1 % change) and MAP (3.8 v 0.2 % change), but not 15-km TT performance. Finally, in response to four weeks of SIT combined with post-exercise BFR, an international female track sprint cyclist increased her CP and W by 7 and 2 % and VO2max and absolute MAP by 3 and 4 %, respectively. Through a combination of an acute in vivo molecular experiment, a training study and an athlete case study, this thesis has introduced a potentially potent and novel training concept that appears capable of augmenting aerobic capacity

Female coaches and female fitness in nineteenth century Britain and Ireland

In 1821 P.H. Clias travelled to England to take up a new job with the Royal Military and Maritime School teaching gymnastics to prospective soldiers. On arrival Clias also established a private gymnastics school for the public. Soon after Clias began training civilian instructors his branch of physical activity in the hope of establishing his system within the country. One such individual was Marian Mason, a woman who can arguably claim to be England’s first female fitness instructor. Mason held classes, wrote a book on physical culture, and taught other women Clias’ system. Ten years later Monsieur Beaujeu and his wife, Madame Beaujeu, established a training college in Dublin, Ireland. Under Monsieur’s supervision, his wife taught classes to women and assisted in the writing of a revolutionary fitness book for women. When Monsieur passed away in 1834, Madame travelled to the United States where she continued to teach. Mason and Beaujeu are two stories of many for the first generation of female fitness instructors in nineteenth century Britain and Ireland. The purpose of this paper is twofold. First it tracks the emergence of female fitness coaches in the first half of the nineteenth century with a specific focus on pathways into the profession. Second it explores the training systems these women promoted. In a field dominated by men, the emergence of female instructors was rare but, as the paper will make clear, it was possible. The paper thus sheds new light on histories of women’s coaching, sport and fitness

World Wrestling Entertainment, Becky Lynch and the Irish media

In 2013, Becky Lynch, an Irish professional wrestler, was signed by WWE, marking the beginning of her rise to superstardom. By 2020, Lynch had become a major WWE star, participating in the first women’s Wrestlemania main event with Charlotte Flair and Ronda Rousey. While not the first Irish wrestler in WWE, Lynch is the first to reach superstar status. This article focuses on her portrayal in Irish media, which often finds itself in a unique position between sport and entertainment. Despite her popularity, professional wrestling’s blend of sport and entertainment leads to its coverage primarily in entertainment sections, occasionally crossing into sports biographies. Through an analysis of Lynch’s media portrayal from 2013 to her 2020 maternity leave, this piece explores the tension between her self-presentation and media representation, arguing that the wrestling’s ambiguous status and traditional gender biases in sports reporting downplay Lynch’s athletic achievements by emphasizing her femininity

Gender and Creative Labour: Introduction

Inequalities within the cultural and creative industries (CCI) have been insufficiently explored. International research across a range of industries reveals gendered patterns of disadvantage and exclusion which are, unsurprisingly, further complicated by divisions of class, and also disability and race and ethnicity. These persistent inequalities are amplified by the precariousness, informality and requirements for flexibility which are widely noted features of contemporary creative employment. In addition, women in particular are disadvantaged by the boundary-crossing (for instance, between home and work, paid work and unpaid work) and new pressures around identity-making and self-presentation, as well as continuing difficulties related to sexism and the need to manage parenting responsibilities alongside earning. This article introduces a new collection which explores these issues, marking the significance of gender for an understanding of creative labour in the neoliberal economy

Unusual presentation of canine Mycobacterium avium infection

This short communication describes the clinical and morphological findings, diagnosis, and treatment of a case of Mycobacterium avium infection in a golden retriever that presented with a progressive nasal swelling and lymphadenopathy. Although well documented in cats, where cutaneous lesions are frequently recognised, canine M. avium infection is less commonly reported, and cutaneous lesions are rare. To the authors’ knowledge this is the first documented case of canine M. avium infection that presented with a cutaneous lesion but no systemic clinical signs. It occurred in a dog with nopreviously reported breed predisposition and highlights that in cases of cutaneous histiocytic infiltrate in dogs M. avium should remain a differential diagnosis, even in the absence of suggestive organisms on histopathological examination