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Poppy is the common name for any of the plants comprising the Papaver genus in the flowering plant family Papaveraceae, characterized by large, showy, terminal flowers growing on long, hairy stalks, and flower buds that are nodding or bent downwards, turning upwards as they are opening. While members of this genus are known as "true poppies," the term poppy also is used to refer to numerous similar plants with showy flowers in other genera of Papaveraceae (the poppy family), with members of the family characterized by nodding buds, production of a milky latex juice, and flowers typically found one per stem.
The flower color of poppy species include: white, pink, yellow, orange, red, and blue; some have dark center markings. The species that have been cultivated for many years also include many other colors ranging from dark solid colors to soft pastel shades. Poppies include a number of attractive wildflower species with showy flowers found growing singularly or in large groups; many species are also grown in gardens. Those that are grown in gardens include large plants used in a mixed herbaceous border and small plants that are grown in rock or alpine gardens.
Poppies are well-loved for their striking flowers, with several species grown as ornamental plants, such as the California poppy (Eschscholtzia californica. The common poppy or corn poppy (Papaver rhoeas) is still worn in remembrance of World War I. Ecologically, many are important as pollen sources for bees in exchange for pollination of the plants. However, the reputation of poppies is not all positive as one species is the opium poppy (Papaver somniferum), which is the source of opium and other opiates, which have a history of abuse as illegal drugs. However, the opium poppy also provides most of the poppy seeds used in cooking and baking, and various opiates used medicinally.
Poppy is the common name for plants with showy flowers belonging the Papaver genus and related genera in the poppy family, Papaveraceae. Papaveraceae is a family of flowering plants occurring in temperate and subtropical climates. Most are herbaceous plants, but a few are shrubs and small trees.
Members of Papaveraceae are laticiferous. All parts contain a well developed duct system (these ducts are called "laticifers"), producing a milky latex, a watery white, yellow or red juice.
The simple leaves are alternate or sometimes whorled. They have petioles and are not enclosed by a sheath. The leaves are usually lobed or pinnatifid (i.e., consisting of several not-entirely separate leaflets), or much-divided. There are no stipules.
Papaveraceae plants are hermaphroditic and are pollinated mostly by insects (= entomophilous), while a few are pollinated by wind ( = anemophilous). There is a distinct calyx and corolla, except in Macleaya where the corolla is lacking. The flowers are medium-sized or large and they generally look spectacular. The terminal flowers are solitary in most species. In others, the terminal inflorescence is cymose or racemose. The flowers are odorless and regular.
There are many stamens, mostly 16 to 60, arranged in two separate whorls, the outer one with stamens alternate with the petals, the inner one opposite. The gynoecium consists of a compound pistil with 2 to 100 carpels. The ovary is superior and 1-locular. The ovary is without a footstalk (sessile) or on a short stem (stipitate).
The whorl of stamens in the center of the flower is surrounded by a cup- or bowl-shaped collection of four to six petals. Prior to blooming, the petals are crumpled in bud, and as blooming finishes, the petals often lie flat before falling away.
The non-fleshy fruit is usually a capsule, breaking open at maturity to release the seeds through pores (poricidal), or through the partitions between the cells (septicidal), or by means of valves (valvular). The numerous seeds are small. Their nutritive tissue (endosperm) is oily and farinose. The fruit of Platystemon is a schizocarp.
Members of Papaveraceae almost all contain alkaloids. Many are poisonous. The Mexican prickly poppy is poisonous if taken internally and may cause edema and glaucoma. Even if an animal, such as a goat, should persist in grazing on this plant, not only will the animal suffer but so will those who drink its milk, because the poisons are passed along in the milk.
Plants known as poppies may be found in the following genera:
The "true poppies" in the genus Papaver include around 120 species, including the opium poppy and corn poppy. These are annual, biennial, and perennial hardy, frost-tolerant plants growing natively in the temperate climates of Eurasia, Africa, and North America (Canada, Alaska, Rocky Mountains). One section of the genus (Section Meconella) has an alpine and circumpolar arctic distribution and includes some of the most northerly-growing vascular land plants.
Papaver grows in disturbed soil. Its seeds may lay dormant for years until the soil is disturbed. Then they bloom in great numbers under cool growing conditions.
The large, showy terminal flowers grow on long, hairy stalks to a height of even one meter or more as in the oriental poppy (Papaver orientale). Their colors vary from the deepest crimson, lilac, or white, or violet, to bright yellow or soft pink. The tissue-paper-like flowers may be single, double, or semi-double. The size of these flowers can be amazing, as the Iceland poppy (Papaver nudicaule) grows to 15-20 centimeters across.
The flower buds are nodding or bent downwards, turning upwards as they are opening. There are two layers. The outer layer of two sepals drops off as the bud opens. The inner layer consists of four (but sometimes five or six) petals. There are many stamens in several whorls around a single pistil.
The ovary later develops in a poricidal capsular fruit, capped by the dried stigma. The numerous, tiny seeds escape with the slightest breeze through the pores of the capsule.
Poppies have a long history in human civilization. They were already grown as ornamental plants since 5,000 B.C.E. in Mesopotamia. They were found in Egyptian tombs. In Greek mythology, the poppy was associated with Demeter, goddess of fertility and agriculture. People believed they would get a bountiful crop if poppies grew in their field, hence the name "corn poppy." In this case, the name 'corn' was derived from korn, the Greek word for "grain."
Poppies today are sold as cut flowers in flower arrangements, especially the Iceland poppy, and commonly have a prominent place in gardens, borders, or in meadow plantings. They are probably one of the most popular wildflowers.
Poppy is widely consumed as food in many parts of Central and Eastern Europe. The sugared, milled mature seeds are eaten with pasta, or they are boiled with milk and used as filling or topping on various kinds of sweet pastry. Poppy seeds are widely used in Bengali cuisine.
In the course of history, poppies have always been attributed as having important medicinal properties. The alkaloid rhoeadine is derived from the flowers of the corn poppy (Papaver rhoeas). This is used as mild sedative. The milky sap present in the opium poppy (Papaver somniferum) contains several narcotic alkaloids.
Opium is a narcotic formed from the latex released by lacerating (or "scoring") the immature seed pods of opium poppies (Papaver somniferum). It contains up to 16 percent morphine, an opiate alkaloid, which is most frequently processed chemically to produce heroin for the illegal drug trade. The resin also includes non-narcotic alkaloids, such as papaverine and noscapine. Cultivation of opium poppies for food, anesthesia, and ritual purposes dates back to at least the Neolithic Age. The Sumerian, Assyrian, Egyptian, Minoan, Greek, Roman, Persian and Arab Empires each made widespread use of opium, which was the most potent form of pain relief then available, allowing ancient surgeons to perform prolonged surgical procedures.
Poppies have long been used as a symbol of both sleep and death: sleep because of the opium extracted from them, and death because of their (commonly) blood-red color. In Greco-Roman myths, poppies were used as offerings to the dead (Baum and Hearn 1973). Poppies are used as emblems on tombstones to symbolize eternal sleep. This aspect was used, fictionally, in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz to create magical poppy fields, dangerous because they caused those who passed through them to sleep forever (Baum and Hearn, 1973).
A second meaning for the depiction and use of poppies in Greco-Roman myths is the symbolism of the bright scarlet color as signifying the promise of resurrection after death (Graves 1990).
The poppy of wartime remembrance is the red corn poppy, Papaver rhoeas. This poppy is a common weed in Europe and is found in many locations, including Flanders Fields. This is because the corn poppy was one of the only plants that grew on the battlefield. It thrives in disturbed soil, which was abundant on the battlefield due to intensive bombing. During the few weeks the plant blossomed, the battlefield was colored blood red, not just from the red flower that grew in great numbers but also from the actual blood of the dead soldiers and civilians that lay scattered and unattended on the otherwise barren battlegrounds. Thus the red poppy became a symbol for the deceased World War I soldiers. In many Commonwealth countries, artificial, paper versions of this poppy are worn to commemorate the sacrifice of veterans and civilians in World War I and other wars, during the weeks preceding Remembrance Day on November 11.
Although the drug opium is produced by "milking" latex from the unripe fruits ("seed pods") rather than from the seeds, all parts of the plant can contain or carry the opium alkaloids, especially morphine and codeine. This means that eating foods (e.g., muffins) that contain poppy seeds can result in a false positive for opiates in a drug test.
While popularized in an episode of the television comedy series Seinfeld, this was considered "confirmed" by the presenters of the television program MythBusters. One participant, Adam Savage, who ate an entire loaf of poppy seed cake, tested positive for opiates 30 minutes later. A second participant, Jamie Hyneman, who ate three poppy seed bagels, first tested positive two hours after eating. Both tested positive for the remainder of the day, but were clean 18 hours later. The show Brainiac: Science Abuse also did experiments where a priest ate several poppy seed bagels and gave a sample, which also resulted in a false positive.
The results of this experiment are inconclusive, because a test was used with an opiate cutoff level of 300 ng/mL instead of the current SAMHSA recommended cutoff level used in the NIDA 5 test, which was raised from 300 ng/mL to 2,000 ng/mL in 1998 in order to avoid false positives from poppy seeds (Erowid 2007). However, according to an article published in the Medical Science Law Journal, after ingesting "a curry meal or two containing various amounts of washed seeds" where total morphine levels were in the range 58.4 to 62.2 µg/g seeds, the urinary morphine levels were found to range as high as 1.27 µg/mL (1,270 ng/mL) urine (Lo and Chua 1992).
Another article in the Journal of Forensic Science reports that concentration of morphine in some batches of seeds may be as high as 251 µg/g (Pelders and Ros 1996). In both studies codeine was also present in the seeds in smaller concentrations. Therefore it is possible to cross the current standard 2,000 ng/mL limit of detection, depending on seed potency and quantity ingested. Some toxicology labs still continue to use a cutoff level of 300 ng/mL.
The sale of poppy seeds from Papaver somniferum is banned in Singapore due to the morphine content. Poppy seeds are also banned in Saudi Arabia due to various religious and drug control reasons (Faisal 2006).
A poppy bud and plant.
Closeup of a poppy flower at the Monastery of Lorch, Baden-Württemberg, Germany.
A wild field of poppies, above the Wye Valley, UK.
Poppies near Kelling, North Norfolk, UK.
|Herbs and spices|
|Herbs||Angelica • Basil • Basil, holy • Basil, Thai • Bay leaf • Boldo • Borage • Cannabis • Chervil • Chives • Coriander leaf (cilantro) • Curry leaf • Dill • Epazote • Eryngium foetidum (long coriander) • Hoja santa • Houttuynia cordata (giấp cá) • Hyssop • Lavender • Lemon balm • Lemon grass • Lemon verbena • Limnophila aromatica (rice paddy herb) • Lovage • Marjoram • Mint • Mitsuba • Oregano • Parsley • Perilla (shiso) • Rosemary • Rue • Sage • Savory • Sorrel • Stevia • Tarragon • Thyme • Vietnamese coriander (rau răm) • Woodruff|
|Spices||African pepper • Ajwain (bishop's weed) • Aleppo pepper • Allspice • Amchur (mango powder) • Anise • Aromatic ginger • Asafoetida • Camphor • Caraway • Cardamom • Cardamom, black • Cassia • Cayenne pepper • Celery seed • Chili • Cinnamon • Clove • Coriander seed • Cubeb • Cumin • Cumin, black • Dill seed • Fennel • Fenugreek • Fingerroot (krachai) • Galangal, greater • Galangal, lesser • Garlic • Ginger • Grains of Paradise • Horseradish • Juniper berry • Liquorice • Mace • Mahlab • Malabathrum (tejpat) • Mustard, black • Mustard, brown • Mustard, white • Nasturtium • Nigella (kalonji) • Nutmeg • Paprika • Pepper, black • Pepper, green • Pepper, long • Pepper, pink, Brazilian • Pepper, pink, Peruvian • Pepper, white • Pomegranate seed (anardana) • Poppy seed • Saffron • Sarsaparilla • Sassafras • Sesame • Sichuan pepper (huājiāo, sansho) • Star anise • Sumac • Tasmanian pepper • Tamarind • Turmeric • Wasabi • Zedoary|
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The yellow watermelon has a canary yellow flesh, often seedless, with occasional black seeds. Tasting no different from the common red watermelon, when ripe, yellow watermelons have the same signature two-toned green skin.
Yellow corn is a variety of sweet corn. Its ears are wrapped in tightly bound lime hued husks with silks and a tassel that extend out from the tip. The yellow kernels are packed in tight almost uniform rows.
Inventory, 100 lbs : 0
This item was last sold on : 10/07/15
The beautiful and stately banana "tree" grows about one hundred pounds of bananas. Bananas are cut and left in large clusters just as they grew. Cut while still green and unripe, the flesh of the banana is very dense and starchy. As the banana ripens, the flesh becomes somewhat sticky and deliciously sweet. A very popular fruit, a ripe banana offers a satisfying soothing flavor and a wonderful creamy texture.
Banana trees are available year-round.
Popular Asian cuisine has introduced an increased variety of edible banana products to the marketplace. The banana heart, the tender core of the trunk, is a delicious addition to dishes when peeled and sliced, but does require a saltwater soak for a few hours before use. A note of caution, however, as the sap from the banana trunk seriously stains clothes and hands and resists removal. Gloves and coveralls are recommended when cutting into the trunk. The banana shoot is also an edible morsel. Sprouting near the base of the plant and treated much like white asparagus, thick long white spikes result when allowed to grow without sunlight. However, the sprouts are covered with a pot, not dirt. Indonesia cuisine roasts banana shoots in hot ashes. Exotic banana leaves, although inedible, make ideal wraps for boiled, grilled, steamed or baked foods. Festive banana leaves deliciously give a delicate flavor to foods.
Bananas are one of the FDA's top twenty fruits. An excellent source of vitamin A, vitamin C, vitamin B-6, and potassium, they provide fiber, are low in fat, cholesterol-free and low in sodium. A regular sized banana has about 95 calories. Some medications for controlling blood pressure deplete the body's storage of potassium. One banana eaten each day restores the balance of potassium. Recognized as an important part of the diet and to lower the chances of cancer, at least five servings daily of either fruits or vegetables are recommended. A recent study found that eating nine or ten daily servings of fruits and vegetables, combined with three servings of low-fat dairy products, were effective in lowering blood pressure.
The banana tree, rather banana plant, adds a festive touch and dresses up a tropical party or a special occasion. The fruit of the banana plant is easy to peel and is delicious simply eaten out of hand. Not only superb fresh, bananas can be broiled, fried, baked, sautéed, grilled or pureed. Slices make an attractive edible garnish. Overripe bananas make yummy cakes, muffins, cookies and quick breads. Make luscious pies, desserts, sauces, custards, puddings and curries. To delay ripening, bananas may be refrigerated. The flesh will stay firm but the skin will darken. To speed ripening, place in paper bag; keep at room temperature. Conveniently packaged, the banana comes in its very own biodegradable container.
Prized during the period of slavery, roasted green bananas were believed to provide "almost the sustenance of bread", according to the culinary historian, Luis de Camara Cascudo. Buddha named the banana to be the symbol of the futility of earthly possessions. The fruit from this tree is especially popular in Hawaiian cuisine. Brazilian cuisine enjoys this versatile popular fruit blended into beverages, roasted and ground into flour, boiled and mashed into purees, fried, baked or simply eaten raw out of hand.
Originally wild and native to Southeast Asia, banana "trees" are now cultivated in most humid tropical regions. Not really a tree by true definition, the banana actually grows on an herbaceous plant. Neither a tree nor a palm, the banana plant is actually a giant clumping tropical herb. Even more confusing, bananas are botanically a berry making them a fruit and an herb. An underground stem called a rhizome forms the banana plant's false "trunk" that produces large leaves. A flower spike emerges with several individual flowers that eventually produce the edible banana fruits. When Africa introduced Brazil to the banana plant, a local variety of banana called "pacova" had been growing in that part of the world. Even Ancient Egyptians enjoyed the culinary attributes of the Abyssinian banana, species Musa ensete, but more palatable bananas were discovered by early Europeans. By 1516, a small Chinese banana was taken to the Canary Islands from the East Indies and soon was cultivated for consumption. Popular for their sweet and wonderful flavor, many banana varieties flourished in tropical countries by the nineteenth century. Sadly, most of these early varieties are now extinct and just high-yielding commercial cultivars exist today. Ideal temperatures for growing bananas are between eighty degrees and ninety-six degrees Fahrenheit during the day and seventy-two degrees and eighty-four degrees Fahrenheit during the night.
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Three-fourths of the world’s flowering plants and about 35 percent of the world’s food crops depend on animal pollinators to reproduce. More than 3,500 species of native bees help increase crop yields. Some scientists estimate that one out of every three bites of food we eat exists because of animal pollinators like bees, butterflies and moths, birds and bats, and beetles and other insects.
Pollinating animals are vital to our delicate ecosystem, supporting terrestrial wildlife, providing healthy watershed, and assuring farm fresh food on the table.
On Friday and Saturday, June 20 and 21, Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill will be providing a new green tour at 7pm each evening. Their Sustainability Specialist will conduct the tour and participants will learn about the pollinators and plants in this section of the Bluegrass Region. They will also learn about the Shakers' relationship with the natural environment and how the Village staff are striving to uphold the Shaker spirit of sustainability.
The cost is $5 (includes all $5 after 5 Programming and Tours)
Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill is America's largest restored Shaker community, located on over 3000 acres of rolling hills of Kentucky’s famed Bluegrass Region. Stay in historically restored rooms with views of the gently rolling countryside.
The Shaker Village Nature Preserve actively manages, protects and shares original Shaker countryside covered by restored native prairies, woodlands, fields, canebreaks, shear cliffs and diverse plants and wildlife – all perfectly framed by miles of hand-laid rock walls. There are numerous walking and horseback riding trails to be enjoyed by adventurers of all kinds.
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2011 Virginia quake triggered landslides at extraordinary distances
The 2011 Mineral, Virginia M-5.8 earthquake was felt over an extraordinarily large area. A new study details landslides triggered by the earthquake at distances four times greater and over an area 20 times larger than previously documented for M-5.8 earthquakes worldwide. The study, to be published in the December issue of the Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America (BSSA), describes physical confirmation of previous observations that ground shaking from earthquakes in the eastern U.S. travels farther than in the western U.S, a plate-boundary region.
U.S. Geological Survey scientists Randall W. Jibson, who is scheduled to present his findings on Nov. 6 at the annual meeting of the Geological Society of America, and co-author Edwin L. Harp painstakingly mapped rock falls to determine the distance limits from the epicenter to compare with previously documented earthquakes.
The 2011 Virginia earthquake was the largest earthquake in the eastern U.S. since 1897. Although it did not produce large, damaging landslides, it did trigger small landslides of rock and soil from steep slopes.
Because landslides can occur without earthquake shaking, Jibson and Harp looked for evidence of recent physical disruption that could be attributed to the quake. From August 25 though September 3, Jibson and Harp made detailed observations by driving outward from the epicentral area in transects; they stopped frequently to get on their hands and knees to overturn rocks to see whether there was green grass underneath -- a sign that the rock could have fallen during the quake. As they drove, they inspected highly susceptible slopes until they had reached an apparent limit for a particular area.
"We've been doing this for more than 30 years and have developed a consistent observational standard that isn't dependent on the observers," Jibson said. "We are confident we can accurately compare limits for different earthquakes."
The authors noted that Hurricane Irene passed near the area a few days after the quake, and they identified small rainfall-triggered debris flows that were quite distinct from rock falls triggered by the quake.
Landslide limits were documented along the Blue Ridge Parkway from near Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, southwestward to within 30 km of the Virginia-North Carolina border as well as on transects northwestward through the Appalachian Mountains into West Virginia. The limits to the east and south of the Blue Ridge are less well constrained owing to a lack of susceptible slopes. The authors propose an estimated elliptical area had there been equally susceptible landscape yielding evidence in all areas.
There is sufficient documented evidence, say Jibson and Harp, to suggest the need to revise the established distance limits for the occurrence of landslides in different tectonic environments.
For the eastern U.S., the documented landslides from the 2011 Virginia earthquake suggest that ground motion is stronger and travels farther parallel to the Appalachian Mountains than perpendicular to them, which is consistent with other sources of intensity information such as the U.S. Geological Survey's Did You Feel It? map.
Not all historical post-earthquake landslide investigations have been conducted at the same level of detail, and so they might not be directly comparable with the current study. Also, very few earthquakes in stable continental interiors, where ground motion is known to travel farther than in plate-boundary regions, have had thorough documentations of triggered landslides, noted the authors.
"Even taking differential landslide reporting into account," wrote the authors, "the landslide limits from the 2011 Virginia earthquake are extraordinary."
The study is titled, "Extraordinary Distance Limits of Landslides Triggered by the 2011 Mineral, Virginia Earthquake."
Source: Seismological Society of America
- Seismic Risk in Eastern U.S. May Be Higher Than Previously Thoughtfrom Scientific AmericanWed, 7 Nov 2012, 18:00:44 EST
- Virginia earthquake wins by a landslidefrom News @ NatureWed, 7 Nov 2012, 13:30:44 EST
- 2011 Virginia earthquake triggered landslides at extraordinary distancesfrom Science DailyTue, 6 Nov 2012, 10:13:53 EST
- 2011 Virginia quake triggered landslides at extraordinary distancesfrom PhysorgTue, 6 Nov 2012, 9:01:32 EST
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Library Home || Full Table of Contents || Suggest a Link || Library Help
|SmartTutor.com offers online K-5th grade reading and math lessons. Math instruction includes number sense and operations, measurement, and geometry. The program begins with an evaluation of the child's skills followed by an individualized curriculum developed specifically for that student. Free assessment, games, activities, and lessons available. Smart Tutor has won several Best Educational Software (BESSIE) and EDDIE Awards.|
|Resource Types:||Lesson Plans and Activities, Educational Vendors, Instructional Packages/Games|
|Math Topics:||Arithmetic/Early Math, Euclidean Plane Geometry|
© 1994- The Math Forum at NCTM. All rights reserved.
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How LEDs affect energy codes
ASHRAE Section 18.104.22.168 mandates the inclusion of a control device accessible to occupants so they can turn lighting on, off, or adjust light levels when desired. The device must be capable of reducing light levels with at least one control step between 30% and 70% (inclusive) of full lighting power in addition to all off. Again, the flexibility of LEDs for multi-level control would be a significant factor in the design process.
California has taken this multi-level control requirement even further. In Title 24-2013 (Section 130.1(b)), for rooms over 100 sq ft with greater than 0.5 W/sq ft LPD (some other exemptions apply), this multilevel requirement now mandates different lighting power levels based on the type of lighting installed. For fluorescent lamps greater than 13 W, in addition to “full on” and “full off,” three other levels are required: a low level (20% to 40%), a medium level (50% to 70%), and a high level (80% to 85%). While this can be done with other methods, many recognize that the most logical way to meet this requirement is to use continuous dimming ballasts. Interestingly, Title 24-2013 does not require multiple levels when LEDs are used for general lighting in rooms over a certain size and lighting power density. In this situation, the fixtures must be capable of continuous dimming from at least 10% to 100% power level.
Daylighting is another area where LEDs come into play. ASHRAE 90.1 (Section 22.214.171.124) has extensive requirements for automatic daylighting control in side-lit and top-lit areas; one key requirement is the capability of multiple light level reductions (at least one control step between 50% and 70% full output and another step no greater than 35% of design power). In Title 24-2013 (Section 130.1(d)), mandatory daylighting requirements will be required when the total lighting power in primary side-lit and sky-lit daylight zones is greater than 120 W.
Using lower-power LED fixtures could eliminate the need for daylighting controls if the LEDs prevent this wattage threshold from being crossed. As noted already, since LEDs offer the benefit of being easily dimmed, this may well drive the use of LED lighting sources in new construction that must comply with all the code requirements. Continuous dimming is a much less obtrusive interaction for the occupant in the space than having lighting turn completely on and off when daylight levels change in the space.
Another new requirement is that of commissioning the lighting and control system. ASHRAE Section 9.4.4 requires lighting control devices and systems be tested to ensure that control hardware and software are calibrated, adjusted, programmed, and in proper working condition in accordance with construction documents and the manufacturer’s installation instructions. This includes confirming correct placement, sensitivity, and time-out adjustments for occupancy sensors; correct programming for programmable switches or panels; and correct light level reductions by photosensors.
This functional testing and certification must be performed by a party identified in the construction documents that is not directly involved in either project design or construction. While LED fixtures currently are designed to connect to the same power circuits as other fixtures, the new technology can lead to surprises for anyone commissioning the systems—for instance, every dimmer that controls an LED fixture must be verified to be the correct type (e.g., 0 to 10 V, forward phase, reverse phase, etc.) because there is no single standard for dimming LEDs. Questions may also arise because a dimmer capable of handling a small incandescent load may not be able to handle the same load when controlling LEDs due to the LEDs’ driver circuitry.
LEDs will also find application in some of the most innovative requirements. For instance, California Title 24 introduced demand response requirements in the 2008 revision (Section 131(g)) that applied to retailers over 50,000 sq ft. This is expanded in the 2013 version to apply to any building or tenant improvement of over 10,000 sq ft (Section 130.1(e)). For applicable buildings, total lighting power shall be capable of being automatically reduced by a demand response (DR) signal by at least 15%. While the DR requirement has not yet been included in ASHRAE, it’s likely to be included in some future revision.
Energy codes continue to evolve toward driving more energy-efficient lighting performance, both by encouraging selection of more efficient lighting sources and by mandating the use of controls to minimize or eliminate unnecessary lighting energy consumption. As LEDs capture a greater percentage of the general lighting fixture market, energy codes will no doubt continue to adopt lower lighting power densities and mandatory control requirements that take into account the beneficial properties of LEDs, which in turn will help further increase their adoption.
Charles Knuffke is the Western vice president at WattStopper and is a member of the Illuminating Engineering Society. With more than 25 years of experience in lighting controls, he has extensive experience in code development, particularly with the California Energy Commission on California Title 24, and has given many educational presentations on energy code topics.
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Part I, Chapter III
The Principle of Comparative Advantage
The doctrine of comparative advantage,—or, in the phrase more commonly used by the older school, of comparative cost,—has underlain almost the entire discussion of international trade at the hands of the British school. It has received singularly little attention from the economists of the Continent, and sometimes has been discussed by them as one of those subtleties that have little bearing on the facts of industry. I believe that it has not only theoretical consistency, but direct application to the facts; and that in particular it is indispensable for explaining the international trade of the United States and the working of our tariff policy. Neither the familiar arguments heard in our controversy nor the course of our industrial history can be understood unless the principle of comparative advantage is clearly understood and kept steadily in view.
Briefly stated, the doctrine is that a country tends under conditions of freedom to devote its labor and capital to those industries in which they work to greatest effect. It will be found unprofitable to turn to industries in which, though labor and capital may be employed with effect, they are applied with less effect than in the more advantageous industries. The principle is simple enough, nor is it applicable solely to international trade. The conversant reader does not need to be told that it bears on the division of labor between individuals as well as on that between nations. The lawyer finds it advantageous to turn over to his clerk that work which he could do as well as the clerk, or even better, confining himself to the tasks in the profession for which he has by training or inborn gift still greater capacity. The able business leader delegates to foremen and superintendents routine work of administration that he could doubtless do better than they; he reserves himself for the larger problems of business management for which he has special aptitude. The skilled mechanic often has a helper to whom he delegates the simpler parts of his trade, giving his own attention to those more difficult parts in which he has marked superiority.
In international trade, however, the principle, if not most important, needs most attention; because it is obscured by the extraordinary persistence of prejudice and of shallow reasoning in this part of economics. Simple as it is in its statement and in its more obvious applications, it extends to some complex and difficult problems, and more particularly to those concerning the varying ranges of prices and wages in different countries. There is perhaps no topic in economics on which there is more of popular confusion than on this; nor can it be said that there is always careful and consistent thinking on it among economists who contemn the popular superficialities. Though fallacies of much the same sort are prevalent in all countries, the United States is above all that for which the principle is most important and for which there is most need of explaining the connection between prices, wages, and the currents of international trade.
Whatever the differences of opinion among economists on the theory of wages,—and those differences are less in reality than in appearance,—there is agreement that a high general rate of wages rests upon general high product, on high effectiveness of industry. It is not necessary here to enter on the question whether, in speaking of the effectiveness of industry, we should consider precisely in what way it can be said to be based on the several factors in production, or caused by them. Some economists regard capital and natural resources (land) as distinct factors, contributing each its specific share to the total product of industry. Others regard them simply as means or conditions for enabling labor to work with effect and so to turn out a large product. The latter seems to me the better way of stating the case,—that labor is the fundamental agent in production; but for the present purpose it is not material which form of statement is preferred. It is agreed among the careful thinkers on economics that high general wages and a high degree of material prosperity can result only from the productive application of labor; good tools or good natural resources, or both, being indispensable to high productivity. And when "labor" is spoken of, it must be remembered that not only manual labor is meant, but the equally important labor of organizing and directing the rank and file. In the United States more particularly, the general effectiveness of labor depends in great degree on the work of the industrial leaders.
Now when there prevails a general high range of wages, due to generally productive application of labor, this high rate comes to be considered a difficulty,—an obstacle. The business point of view is commonly taken in these matters not only by the business men themselves, but by the rest of the community. To have to pay high wages is a discouraging thing in business; does it not obviously make expenses high, and competition difficult? People do not reflect that wages are not high as a matter of course. If they are in general high, there must be some general cause. Once established, they are taken in a country like the United States as part of the inevitable order of things. The ordinary man does not stop to consider why they should exist at all. He regards them as something he must face, and too often as something that constitutes a drawback in industry.
When speaking of wages as high, we may have in mind either money wages or commodity wages ("real" wages, in the older phrase). It is familiar to all that money wages are higher in the United States than in Europe; and it is almost as familiar that the greater money wages are by no means completely offset by higher prices, and that there remains a large advantage in real or commodity wages. Let us center attention for the moment on this latter and more substantial advantage,—the higher commodity wages.
It is obvious that higher commodity wages cannot be handed over to workmen by employers unless the workmen (as guided by the employers and aided by tools and machines) turn out a large product,—unless there is greater effectiveness of industry. I say effectiveness, not efficiency, because the latter word has come to be used so often to denote one particular factor that bears on the quantity of product,—the immediate efficiency of the manual workers; by no means the sole or even the commanding factor. In current discussions on the tariff and wages, it has often been alleged that in one industry or another the efficiency or skill of the workmen is no greater in the United States than in England or Germany; that the tools and machines are no better, the raw materials no cheaper. How then, it is asked, can the Americans get higher wages unless protected against the competition of the Europeans? But, it may be asked in turn: suppose all the Americans were not a whit more skilful and productive than the Europeans,—perhaps quite as skilful, but not more so; suppose the plane of effectiveness to be precisely the same throughout the realm of industry in the countries compared; how could wages be higher in the United States? The source of all the income of a community obviously is in the output of its industry. If its industry is no more effective, if its labor produces no more, than in another community, how can its material prosperity be greater and how can wages be higher? A high general rate of real wages could not possibly be maintained unless there were in its industries at large a high general productiveness.
But when once these two concomitant phenomena have come to exist,—a high effectiveness of industry and a high general rate of wages,—it follows that any industry in which labor is not effective, in which the plane of effectiveness is below that in most industries, finds itself from the business point of view at a disadvantage. It must meet the general scale of wages in order to attract workmen; yet the workmen do not produce enough to enable that general scale to be met and a profit still secured. Such an industry, in the terms of the principle now under discussion, is ipso facto working at a comparative disadvantage. In other industries, product is high; that is, labor cost per unit is low. In this industry, product is low; labor cost is high. The industry does not measure up to the country's standard, and finds in that standard an obstacle to its prosecution.
Consider the same problem,—the relation between wages, costs, prices,—from the point of view of money wages. Here again we are beset by everyday fallacies and superficialities. High money wages, it is commonly alleged, cannot be paid unless there be high prices for the goods made. A dear man is supposed to mean a dear coat, and a cheap man a cheap coat. Yet it is beyond dispute that in the United States, while money wages are higher than in European countries, the prices of things bought are on the whole not higher. Though some things cost more, and higher money wages therefore do not mean commodity wages higher in the same degree, real wages remain higher by a substantial amount. The dear man may perhaps mean a dear coat,—of this we shall learn more when we come to consider the domestic conditions of production for clothing; but the dear man certainly does not mean dear food, and probably does not mean a dear house. The explanation is simple: though wages in money are high, the effectiveness of the dear man's labor on the whole is also high, and therefore goods on the whole are not dear. Where a man who is paid high wages turns out a larger number of pieces, each piece can be sold at a low price, and the employer still can afford to pay the high wages. With reference to individuals, the business world is constantly accepting this principle. A good man, we are told, is cheap, even at high wages. To use the same phrase, a good industry is cheap even though high wages are paid in it. Where labor is effective, high wages and low prices go together.
None the less, an established high rate of wages always presents itself to the individual employer as a difficulty that has to be overcome. And to the employee it presents itself as a thing in danger,—something that must always be jealously guarded. Yet it is a real difficulty for the employer only where the effectiveness of labor is not great; and for the employees also it needs no protection, so far as the competition of foreign products is concerned, where this same essential condition is found. If, indeed, such effectiveness does not exist, then the American employer cannot pay the prevailing high rate of wages, and hold his own in free competition with producers in countries of lower wages. In other words, he cannot hold his own unless there is the comparative advantage in his particular industry. The prevalence of a general high rate of wages is due to the fact that in the dominating parts of the country's industrial activity the comparative advantage exists. These dominating industries set the pace; in them we find the basis of the high scale of remuneration; it is they which establish a standard which others must meet, and which to the others presents itself as an obstacle.
Some further explanation of these general statements is necessary before they can be made to fit all the facts. What has just been said of dominating industries holds only as regards those industries and those commodities which play a part in international trade.
For sundry reasons, many articles do not come within the range of international dealings. It is out of the question that they should be exported or imported. Such are bulky articles, not readily transportable for any distance, like bricks; these are necessarily produced near the spot where they are used. Such again are articles greatly affected by national habit, like furniture or household utensils; and,—to mention a highly important class,—such are houses and house-room, which must be provided once for all by domestic labor. Things of this sort may or may not be higher in price than they are in foreign countries. They are made by labor which is paid the current high rates of money wages. If that labor is more effective than in foreign countries, the commodities will yet be lower in price than abroad. But if that labor is not effective as compared with similar labor in foreign countries, the commodities will be higher in price. Domestic commodities, therefore,—meaning by that phrase the commodities which are necessarily produced within the country, may be higher in price than they are in foreign countries, or the same in price, or even lower in price, according to the effectiveness of the labor engaged in producing them. If by some change in the underlying conditions,—say, an extraordinary cheapening of transportation,—their importation were to become feasible, the employer would find it impossible to compete with foreigners unless there was the same effectiveness of industry in producing them as there was in the dominant industries.
As regards commodities potentially within the range of international trade,—and with these alone the tariff controversy is concerned,—the principle of comparative advantage applies more fully and unequivocally to the United States than to any country whose conditions are known to me. The difference in money wages between the United States and European countries is marked; the difference in commodity wages, though not so great, none the less is also marked. Notwithstanding these high wages, constituting an apparent obstacle or handicap for the domestic producer, the United States steadily exports all sorts of commodities; not only agricultural products, but manufactures of various kinds. Evidently they could not be exported unless they were sold abroad as cheaply as foreign goods of the same sort are there sold. That these products of highly paid labor are exported and are sold cheap, is proof that American industry has in them a comparative advantage. There are other goods which, though not exported, are also not imported; goods where the balance of advantage is even, so to speak. They are not such as are ruled out of the sphere of international trade once for all, because of great bulk or necessity of production in situ; they might conceivably be imported; yet in fact they are not imported. These are the products of industries in which American labor is effective, yet not effective to the highest pitch; effective in proportion to the higher range of money wages in the country, but barely in that proportion. And finally there are the goods whose importation continues, even though there is no obvious obstacle to their domestic production from soil or climate. These are things which, it would seem, could be produced to as good advantage at home as abroad. They could be produced to as good advantage; but they lack the comparative advantage. They do not measure up to the standard set by the dominant industries. The obstacle to their successful prosecution within the country is not physical but economic. It is they which find in high wages an insuperable difficulty. In this class belong the industries which are protected, and which would not hold their own without protection. They are in a position analogous to that of the strictly domestic industries in which labor is not effective, but which, being carried on of necessity within the country, have high prices made necessary by high money wages. The obvious difference between the two cases is that the force which causes the strictly domestic industries to be carried on is an unalterable one, such as the difficulty or impossibility of transportation; while that which causes the protected industry to become domesticated is the artificial one of a legislative barrier.
What, now, are the causes of industrial effectiveness and comparative advantage? To put the question in other words, what are the industries in which a comparative advantage is likely to appear? and, more particularly, in what directions is the labor of the people of the United States likely to be applied with special effectiveness?
The more common answer has been, in agriculture. A new country, with abundance of fertile land, finds its labor most effective in the extractive industries. Hence the United States long were steady exporters of wheat, meat products, cotton. Hence Canada is now a heavy exporter of wheat. Wheat is specially adapted to extensive culture, and is easily transportable; it is the commodity for which nature gives to a new country in the temperate zone a clear comparative advantage. The international trade of the United States was long determined chiefly by the country's special advantages for the production of wheat and similar agricultural staples.
It should be noted, however, that not only the natural resources told, but the manner in which they were used. From the first, inventiveness and ingenuity were shown. The United States early became the great country of agricultural machinery. Especially during the second half of the nineteenth century, the skill of the makers of agricultural implements and the intelligence of the farmers who used the implements were factors not less important than the great stretches of new land. Still another factor of importance was the cheapening of transportation. From the very beginning, the Americans have been energetic and successful in overcoming the vast distances of their country. Our railroads have cheapened long hauls as nowhere else. The most striking improvements of this sort were made in the last third of the nineteenth century; then new lands were opened, and agricultural products exported, on a scale not before thought possible. When the effectiveness of labor is spoken of, the effectiveness of all the labor needed to bring an article to market is meant; not merely that of the labor immediately and obviously applied (like that of the farmer), but that of the inventor and maker of threshing-machines and gangplows, and that of the manager and worker on the railways and ships. In other industries even more markedly than in agriculture, the labor of the directing heads, of the planners and designers, tells in high degree for the final effectiveness of the labor which is applied through all the successive stages.
That the situation began to change with the opening of the twentieth century does not need to be explained at length. The period of limitless free land was then passed, and with it the possibility of increasing agricultural production under the specially advantageous conditions of new countries. For one great agricultural article—cotton—the comparative advantage of the country indeed maintained itself, and its exports continued to play a great part in international trade. The exports of other agricultural products,—wheat, corn, barley, meat products,—have by no means ceased, nor will they cease for some time. But they tend to decline, absolutely and even more relatively. Other articles grow in importance, such as copper, petroleum, iron and steel products, various manufactures. For some of these,—copper, for example,—the richness of our natural resources is doubtless of controlling importance. But the manner in which those natural resources are turned to account is in all cases important; and in many cases the comparative advantage of which the exports are proof rests not on the favor of nature at all, but solely on the better application of labor under conditions inherently no more promising than those of other countries. What are the causes of advantage under these less simple conditions?
The same question may be asked regarding a closely-allied phenomenon, referred to a moment ago. A considerable range of manufactured articles, though not exported, are yet not imported. The domestic manufacturer holds the domestic market with ease, while paying higher wages than his foreign competitor. The range of such industries is wider than is commonly supposed. It is obscured by the fact that our tariff system imposes needless and inoperative duties on a quantity of things which would not be imported even in the absence of duties. On the other hand there is a considerable range of articles on which the duties do have substantial effect,—articles which would be imported but for the tariff. Some of these continue to be imported notwithstanding high duties; they pour in over the tariff wall. Why the difference between the two sets of cases: those in which the domestic manufacturer holds his own irrespective of duties, and those in which he needs the duties or even is beaten notwithstanding the tariff support?
The answer commonly given is that American producers can hold their own more easily when much machinery is used. Then, it is said, the wages bill forms a smaller proportion of the expenses of production, and the higher wages of the United States are a less serious obstacle. But it requires no great economic insight to see that this only pushes the question back a step. Why is not the machinery itself more expensive? The machinery was made by labor. It is a commonplace that a commodity made with much use of machinery is the combined product of two sets of laborers,—those who make the instruments and those who operate them. If all those whose labor is combined for producing the final result are paid higher wages than in foreign countries, why cannot the foreigners undersell where much machinery is used as well as where little is used?
The real reason why Americans are more likely to hold their own where machinery is much used, and where hand labor plays a comparatively small part in the expenses of production, is that Americans make and use machinery better. They turn to labor-saving devices more quickly, and they use devices that save more labor. Where Americans can apply machinery, they do so; and not only do so, but do so better, on the whole, than their foreign competitors. The question remains one of comparative effectiveness. Their machinery is not necessarily cheaper; absolutely often it is dearer; but it is cheap relatively to its effectiveness. It is better machinery, and the labor that operates it turns out in the end a product that costs not more, but less, than the same product costs in countries using no such devices, or using devices not so good.
In general, it may be laid down that this sort of comparative advantage is most likely to appear in the United States in two classes of industries,—those that turn out large quantities of staple homogeneous commodities and those that themselves make tools and machinery. Only where many identical things are turned out, does it pay to construct an elaborate and expensive plant. A machine-using people directs its energies to best advantage where thousands of goods of the same pattern are to be produced. Hence the repeated experience that, notwithstanding high duties, there is a tendency to import specialties and goods salable in small quantities only. Goods used by the masses in large quantities, as distinguished from luxuries bought by the comparatively few who are rich, are likely to be produced at home, without danger of being pushed by competing imports. If specialties, such as goods made to order, must be supplied by domestic producers, they are likely to be what the customer thinks inordinately dear; because they are made preponderantly, or at least in greater degree, by hand labor which is paid high wages and which by the very conditions of the case cannot use labor-saving machinery. Again, implements themselves, big and little, are likely to be well made in a country where people are constantly turning to machinery; from kitchen utensils and household hardware to machine tools, electric apparatus, and huge printing presses. These are things in which the success of American industry is familiar; which are exported, not imported; in which it is proverbial that the Yankee has a peculiar knack,—another way of saying that he has a comparative advantage.
The relation between high wages and the use of machinery calls for a word more of explanation. It is usually said that high wages are a cause of the adoption of machinery, and that we find here the explanation of the greater use of machinery in the United States. I believe that the relation is the reverse; high wages are the effect, not the cause. To the individual manufacturer it may seem a cause; he schemes to save in the wages bill by adopting a labor-saving device. But the reason why he is induced to scheme is that labor-saving devices are in common use and that the effectiveness of industry at large is therefore great,—hence high wages. No doubt the general situation has its reflex influence on the individual. Every one is put to his trumps; every one feels the need of playing the industrial game at its best. The abundant resources which so long contributed greatly, and indeed still contribute, to making labor productive and wages high, thereby stimulated the introduction of labor-saving methods in industries not so directly affected by the favor of nature. But the fundamental cause of the prevalent use of machinery was in the intelligence and inventiveness of the people; these being promoted again by the breath of freedom and competition in all their affairs. What are the ultimate causes of industrial progress and industrial effectiveness is not easily stated; complex historical, political, perhaps ethnographic forces must be reckoned with. But these causes work out their results in modern times largely by prompting men to improve their implements and to use unhesitatingly new and better implements. Thence flows a high rate of return for their labor; it is not the high rate of return that leads them to use the better tools.
In creating and maintaining the comparative advantage which comes from the better application of the machine processes, the business man—the industrial leader—has become in recent times a more and more important factor. The efficiency of the individual workman has been much dwelt on in discussion of the rivalries of different countries: aptitude, skill, intelligence, alertness, perhaps inherited traits. No doubt qualities of this sort have counted in the international trade of the United States, and still count. The American mechanic is a handy fellow,—it is from his ranks that the inventors and business leaders have been largely recruited,—and he can run a machine so as to make it work at its best. But there is a steady tendency to make machinery automatic, and largely independent of the skill of the operative who runs it. The mechanics who construct the machines and keep them in repair must indeed be highly skilled. Once, however, the elaborate machine is constructed and kept in perfect running order, the operative simply needs to be assiduous. Under such circumstances the essential basis of a comparative advantage in the machine-using industries is found in management,—in invention, rapid adoption of the best devices, organization.
The business leader has been throughout a person of greater consequence in the United States than elsewhere. He has loomed up large in social consequence because he has been of the first economic consequence. He has constructed the railway, and opened up the country; he has contributed immensely to the utilization of the great agricultural resources; he has led and guided the inventor and mechanic. I am far from being disposed to sing his praises; there are sins enough to be laid to his account. But he has played an enormously effective part in giving American industry its special characteristics. His part is no less decisive now than it was in former times,—nay, more so. The labor conditions brought about by the enormous immigration of recent decades have put at his disposal a vast supply of docile, assiduous, untrained workmen. He has adapted his methods of production to the new situation. His own energy, and the ingenuity and attention of his engineers and inventors and mechanics, have been directed to devising machinery that will almost run itself. Here the newly-arrived immigrant can be used. So far as the American can do this sort of machinery making to peculiar advantage, so far can he pay wages to the immigrants on the higher American scale and yet hold his own against the European competitor who pays lower wages to the immigrant's stay-at-home fellow. But it is on this condition only that he can afford to pay the green hand wages on the American scale, or on some approach to it: he must make the total labor more effective. The main cause of greater effectiveness in the dominating industries is to be found, under the economic conditions of recent times, not so much in the industrial quality of the rank and file as in that of the technical and business leaders.
Similar reasoning is applicable to another cause of effectiveness in industry which has been much discussed of late,—"scientific management." Some persons believe that here is a panacea of universal application; any and every industry can be made more effective by systematic observation and experiment on each of its steps and management based thereon. With reference to the protective system it was maintained, for example, after the reduction of duties in the tariff act of 1913, that scientific management, if generally adopted, would enable all American industries to meet the new and sharp competition of foreigners. The truth is that here also the question is one of comparative advantage. Scientific management is likely to tell more in some industries than in others. Apparently it tells most in industries of the standardized type,—precisely those in which industrial leadership already has proved of cardinal importance and in which Americans have already shown the greatest aptitude for leadership. It implies large-scale operation; since the heavy expense of preliminary investigation and the enlarged supervisory staff are worth while only if the expense is spread over a large output. It is adapted not to industries which produce specialties or small lots of numerous and varied articles, but to those in which the steady repetition of the same operations makes it profitable to work out an elaborate system. The indications are that it will not radically change the character of American manufacturing industry or modify the division between domestic and foreign sources of supply. Rather is it likely to accentuate existing relations; to strengthen American industry where it is already strong. Not all industries equally will feel its influence, but those in which this special form of industrial leadership tells with special effectiveness.
Returning now to the invention and operation of machinery, we have to consider a further possibility,—one which has played a considerable part in recent tariff discussions. The more machinery becomes automatic, the more readily can it be transplanted. Is there not a likelihood that apparatus which is almost self-acting will be carried off to countries of low wages, and there used for producing articles at lower price than is possible in the country of high wages where the apparatus has originated? In hearings before our congressional committees a fear is often expressed that American inventors and toolmakers will find themselves in such a plight. An American firm, it is said, will devise a new machine, and an export of the machine itself or of its products will set in. Then some German will buy a specimen and reproduce the machine in his own country (the Germans have been usually complained of as the arch plagiarists; very recently, the Japanese also are held up in terrorem). Soon not only will the exports cease, but the machine itself will be operated in Germany by low-paid labor, and the articles made by its aid will be sent back to the United States. Shoe machinery and knitting machinery have been cited in illustration. The identical apparatus which has been brought in the United States to extraordinary perfection is sent to Europe (perhaps even made in Europe by the American manufacturer), and is there worked by cheaper labor. The automatic looms, again, which have so strikingly influenced the textile industry of the United States, and so much increased its effectiveness, are making their way to Europe,—here again being pushed into use by the American loom makers themselves. Is it not to be expected that they will be operated by cheaper English and German and French labor, and that their products will be shipped back to the United States, to the destruction of the very American industry which they had first made strong and independent?
This possibility is subject to exaggeration. It is not so easy as might be supposed to transplant an improved system of production and all that hangs thereby. However automatic a machine may be, intelligence and knack in operating it are always called for; though less, perhaps, among the ordinary hands than among the machine tenders and foremen. It is a common experience that the same machinery will produce in the country of its invention and manufacture better results than when transplanted. Those very automatic looms, just referred to, are making their way very slowly into Europe. They do not fit into the traditional industrial practices, and do not accomplish what they accomplish in the United States. The difficulties which impede the transfer of machinery and methods, however perfected and however available for every applicant, are most strikingly illustrated in the rivalry of the Orient. We hear frequently of the menace of the cheap labor of China, India, Japan. Will not these countries deluge us with the products of cheap factory labor, when once they have equipped themselves with the latest machinery? The truth is that they will in all probability never thus equip themselves. To do so, would require more than the mere shipment of the machinery and the directions for working it. A completely different industrial environment would need to be transplanted. The yellow peril has been as much exaggerated in its economic possibilities as in its military.
None the less, some possibility of this sort does exist, especially in the rivalry between those countries of advanced civilization which are more nearly on the same industrial level. It is by no means out of the question that shoe machinery or automatic looms shall be worked as well in Germany as in the United States. Supposing this to be done, cannot the German employer who gets his operatives at low wages undersell the American employer who must pay high wages? Is not the comparative advantage which the United States possesses in its ingenious machinery necessarily an elusive one, sure to slip away in time? An advantage may indeed be retained indefinitely where skill or intelligence on the part of the individual workmen are necessary. Even here there is a doubt whether it will persist, in view of the spread of education and technical training the world over. At all events, in the widening range of industries where the workman merely tends semi-automatic machinery, the manufacturing industries of the country having high wages would seem to be in a perilous situation.
The only answer which can be given to questioning of this sort is that the leading country must retain its lead. As fast as other countries adopt the known and tried improvements, it must introduce new improvements. Unrelaxed progress is essential to sustained superiority; he who stands still inevitably loses first place. Such was in the main the relation between England and the other western countries during the first three-quarters of the nineteenth century. English machinery was exported and English methods were copied throughout the world, but the lead of the British was none the less maintained. As fast as the other countries adopted the devices which originated in England, that country advanced with new inventions or with goods of new grades. A similar relation seems to exist at the present time between Germany and the other countries which follow her lead in some of the chemical industries. It appears also in the position of the United States in those manufacturing industries which contribute to our exports. As fast as the American devices are copied elsewhere, still other improvements must be introduced.
This will seem to the American manufacturer a harsh sentence, and a heartless or unpatriotic one to the ordinary protectionist. What? To be deprived of the fruits of our own enterprise and ingenuity, without protection from a paternal government against the interlopers? Yet I see no other answer consistent with the general reasoning of economics on international trade and the geographical division of labor. The gain which a country secures from its labor is largest when that labor is applied in the most effective way; and labor is applied with the greatest effectiveness only when it proves this effectiveness by sustained ability to hold the field constantly against all rivals.
This train of reasoning, however, can be carried further. It is conceivable that improvements and inventions will be so completely adopted by all the advanced countries as to bring about an equalization in their industrial conditions; which of necessity would lessen the volume and the importance of trade between them. Where an invention is introduced in a single country, it gives that country at the outset a comparative advantage, leads to exports, and swells the volume of international trade. When the invention comes into international use, however, the industry which it serves may drift toward the countries of low wages; and these then may export the products. May export them, be it observed; for this tendency is greatly checked by those obstacles to imitation and transplanting which have just been referred to. But suppose the tendency not to be checked: suppose that each and every new device comes to be adopted in all countries, and used in all with equal effectiveness. Then the ultimate consequences will be different from those that nowadays follow the introduction of improvements. No one country will then possess advantages in manufactures over others; no one will be able to export to another; trade between them in manufactured goods,—if the assumed conditions hold absolutely,—will cease. All countries will secure in the same degree the benefit of the universalized inventions.
Such would be the inevitable outcome of complete equalization of the effectiveness of labor. The total income of a community is the product of its industry,—in the last analysis, of its labor. If labor is equally productive everywhere, differences in prosperity will cease. Then there will be no room for comparative advantages based on invention, peculiar effectiveness, better machinery, more skilful organization. The only trade between countries will be that based on unalterable climatic or physical advantages; such trade, for instance, as arises between tropical and temperate regions and between temperate regions having markedly different natural resources.
This consummation will not be reached for an indefinite period; nay, probably it will never be reached. Certainly it is beyond the range of possibility in any future which we can now foresee. But some approach to it is likely to come in the relations between the more advanced countries. There is a tendency toward equalization in their use of machinery, and so in their general industrial conditions. For the United States especially, the twentieth century will be different from the nineteenth. The period of free land has been virtually passed. That great basis of high material prosperity and of high general wages no longer exists as broadly and strongly as it did during the first century of our national life. The continued maintenance of a prosperity greater than that of England and Germany and France must rest on other causes. Now that fresh land can no longer be resorted to by the expanding population, a higher effectiveness of labor must depend almost exclusively on better implements and higher skill,—on labor better led and better applied. It may be reasonably hoped that the United States will long remain the land of promise, in the van of material progress; but the degree of difference may be less than it was. This lessening difference will come about, probably, not because the United States will fall back but because other countries will gain on her. Such has been the nature of the changed relation between England and the countries of the Continent during the last generation; and such,—to go back earlier,—was the change in the relative positions of Holland and England in the course of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. England no longer retains the unmistakable leadership which she had over the Continent during the greater part of the nineteenth century. But she has not retrograded; the countries of the Continent have progressed. Such is likely to be the nature of the coming race between the United States and other advanced countries. And the outcome is one which every friend of humanity must welcome. It means diffused prosperity, economic and social progress.
For an indefinite time, however, differences in general industrial effectiveness will remain. They will obviously remain, so far as they rest upon natural causes,—differences in soil, in mineral wealth, in climate. They will remain also in many manufacturing industries in which physical causes are not decisive. Some countries,—the United States among them, we may hope and expect,—will use machinery better, will apply labor-saving appliances more freely. The people of the United States will direct their labor with greatest advantage to those industries in which their abilities tell to the utmost. The development of the different industries will unquestionably continue to be affected by the accidents of invention and of progress, by dominant personalities in this country and in that, by the historical development of aptitudes and tastes, by some causes of variations in industrial leadership that seem inscrutable. But a general trend is likely to persist; in the United States labor-saving devices will be adopted more quickly and more widely. It will be shown in the following pages how this tendency has appeared in the great development that has taken place since the civil war, and how the effects of tariff legislation have been themselves influenced by the general tendency. In the industries where machinery can be used to most effect, this country will continue to have a comparative advantage.
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Technology advances rapidly in nearly every industry. Yet, many tools and resources do not provide easy access or interpreted meaningful benefit to the general public. Some have said Accuracy&Aesthetics is developing a “building code” for semantic space based on building in the real world.
For example, Building Information Modeling could have innumerable uses for museums and their audiences. Museum buildings are constructed and live in a place. Objects are interpreted and displayed in physical space with geospatial locations. If BIM software could truly interoperate with GIS and collection management software – it would be possible to document not only object dimensions, properties, and images – but exhibit spaces as well. Programmed instructional walkthroughs could be created in a relative size and appropriate pace for clear understanding of the objects and stories they tell. A variety of human perspectives could be generated and compared over time. By tracking enough curators interpretations and viewer preferences over time, could it also be possible to capture the reasons objects move from museum to museum, exhibit to exhibit, audience to audience?
How can large scale online museum collections, BIM, information and data visualization, social networks, open source service architectures, and countless other emergent and developing technologies be merged into one simple system designed to serve the general public?
What interface would be most compelling and true to the subject matters?
How can the thrill of discovery and most essential examples from entire areas of expertise be conveyed to audiences that cannot share the same physical space or time period with the digital materials they are experiencing?
What are the performance requirements for the construction, operation and maintenance of shared semantic space?
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Only 3 percent of low-income and African-American high school students in Michigan are enrolled in Advanced Placement (AP) classes that help them get a toehold in college. That’s one of the lowest rates in the nation, according to a study conducted by Education Trust.
The AP gap puts an estimated 12,000 poor and minority kids a step behind as they enter college -- and could prevent some from getting admitted to more prestigious universities.
“Access to these college-level courses in high school is an important part of preparing students for higher education,” said Amber Arellano, executive director of Education Trust-Midwest, the Michigan-based affiliate of Education Trust in Washington. “We must work to ensure that students of color and low-income students are participating equitably.
“These students are our future,” Arellano said, “and we can’t leave them behind.”
Advanced Placement classes are college-level courses that offer high school students the potential of earning college credits if they perform well enough on AP tests given at the end of the course.
Those college credits can lessen the cost of earning a degre -- some students enter college with a semester’s worth of credits or more.
Also, students who don’t take AP classes offered in their high schools could be at a disadvantage when applying for admission to elite universities, many of which examine whether applicants took the most rigorous courses available to them
According to the study, about 8 percent of Michigan’s high school students were enrolled in AP classes in 2010, compared to 12 percent nationally.
About 3 percent of low-income students in Michigan were enrolled, compared to 13 percent of their richer peers. Overall, 10 percent of white students were enrolled, compared to 3 percent of African Americans. The national rate of AP enrollment is twice as high as Michigan’s rate.
Those figures are both a symbol of the achievement gap with which Michigan schools are struggling, and an exacerbating factor, said John Austin, the Democratic president of the State Board of Education.
“We need to up the numbers of all students participating in these advanced courses,” Austin said. “All forms of early college credit-taking improve the chances of college completion.”
Two potential ways to narrow the gap are to eliminate the financial burden of the classes (some AP tests have a student fee attached in Michigan schools), and to make AP classes an opt-out option rather than an opt-in.
Minnesota has not only closed the gap, but reversed it, with 18 percent of low-income students taking AP classes and 14 percent of non-low-income students participating.
“Some states made it part of a strategy to focus on early college credit, through AP classes or early college,” Austin said. “We (in Michigan) haven’t figured out how to fund early post-secondary credit.”
Senior Writer Ron French joined Bridge in 2011 after having won more than 40 national and state journalism awards since he joined the Detroit News in 1995. French has a long track record of uncovering emerging issues and changing the public policy debate through his work. In 2006, he foretold the coming crisis in the auto industry in a special report detailing how worker health-care costs threatened to bankrupt General Motors.
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Category : Sample Proposals
I. GENERAL BACKGROUND
The criminal justice system is the method by which the police, prosecutor, court and the correctional institution enforce the basic rules of any society as expressed in its criminal law. The various components discharge a vital responsibility for the government. Without it, anarchy will prevail and no one would be secure in his person and property.
Law enforcement is the forefront of the criminal justice system since it initiates the criminal justice through the gathering of evidences, arresting offenders and investigating them and filing appropriate charges before the prosecution of court concerned.
The law enforcement function is spearheaded by the Philippine National Police (PNP). It is the centralized agency of the government mandated by law to exercise the following functions: enforce all laws and ordinances relative to the protection of lives and properties, maintain the peace and order and take all the necessary steps to ensure public safety, investigate and prevent crime, effect the arrest of criminal offenders, bring offenders to justice and assist in their prosecution, exercise the general powers to make arrest, search and seizure in accordance with the Constitution and pertinent laws, detain arrested persons for a period not beyond what is prescribed by law, informing the person detained of all his rights under the Constitution, issue licenses for the possession of firearms and explosives in accordance with law, supervise and control the training and operation of security agencies, issue licenses to operate such security agencies, security guards, and private detectives for the practice of their professions, perform such other duties and exercises all other functions as may be provided by law.
B. Profile of the Project Area
The Philippine National Police (PNP) under the administrative control and supervision of the National Police Commission (NAPOLCOM) in the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) and the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) under the Department of Justice (DOJ). In addition, there are the multitudes of other agencies tasked with enforcing special laws.
The Philippine National Police Crime Information System (PNPCIS) is envisioned to be the main Crime Information System for the PNP. The main objective of the creation is to provide a comprehensive database of all crime-related information from the operative units down to the police stations PNP-wide.
The PNPCIS will encompass a number of salient features and attributes. On of which is the development of effective and efficient data entry for the users in order to lessen and minimize the time consumed in encoding crime data, especially from the National Crime Reporting System (NCRS) Form. The system concept covers the establishment and maintenance of comprehensive databases harmonized file structures of the different crime information system. Moreover, the PNPCIS intends to eliminate the coded features of the existing National Police Crime Information System (NCIS) that leads to minimal output. The system shall generate reliable, accurate and timely required statistical reports for decision-making, operative planning and crime control.
The proposed PNPCIS shall continue using the Databases of those existing crime information systems – such as the Firearms Information Management System (FIMS), Vehicle Information Management System (VIMS), Security Agencies and Guards Information System (SAGIS), and Wanted person Information System (WPIS) – so as not to rebuild it. This will also be the realization of the database integration and reconciliation of the above-mentioned crime information systems.
II. PROFILE OF THE PROPONENT
- Brief Historical Background
The Philippine National Police traces its beginnings on August 8, 1901 when the
Philippine Constabulary (PC) was inaugurated as an insular police force under
the American regime. On August 8, 1975, Presidential Decree No. 765 was issued
establishing the Philippine Constabulary/Integrated National Police as the
country's national police force. After the "People's Revolution of 1986", a new
Constitution was promulgated providing for a police force which is "national in
scope and civilian in character". Thus, on December 13, 1990, the President of
the Republic signed into law Republic Act 6975 entitled: "An Act Establishing
the Philippine National Police under a Reorganized Department of the Interior
and Local Government, and for other purposes." The PNP is initially composed of
the members of the former Philippine Constabulary (PC) and Integrated National
Police (INP) who opted to join the PNP. Selected members from the different
major services of the Armed Forces of the Philippines such as the Philippine Air
Force Security Command and the Philippine Coast Guard were
- Legal Mandate
The PNP is the centralized agency of the government mandated by law to exercise the following functions:
· Enforce all laws and ordinances relative to the protection of lives and properties.
· Maintains peace and order and takes all necessary steps to ensure public safety.
· Investigates and prevents crime, effects the arrest of criminal offenders, brings offenders to justice and assist in their prosecution.
· Exercises the general powers to make arrest, search and seizure in accordance with the Constitution and pertinent laws.
· Detains arrested persons for a period not beyond what is prescribed by law, informing the person so detained of all his rights under the Constitution.
· Issues licenses for the possession of firearms and explosives in accordance with the law.
· Supervises and controls the training and operation of security agencies and issues licenses to operate security agencies, and to security guards and private detectives for the practice of their profession.
· Performs such other duties and exercises all other functions as may be provided by law.
C. Services Offered
To be able to accomplish its plans/targets for CY 2000, the PNP received from the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) allotments in the amount of P25,408,516,681.00, in addition to its continuing appropriation of P298,670,004.00. The amount of P23,048,356.00 was transferred to different regional offices, P25,669,842,569.00 was obligated, and the amount of P4,295,760.00 was reverted, thereby leaving an unexpended balance of P10,000,000.00 at year-end.
F. Status of Existing Services
III. PROJECT DEVELOPMENT
A. Rationale of the Development Project
There are just too many hassles in the present set-up of getting the warrant of arrest. This is due primarily to the inadequate storage system and the lack of storage space in the CIDG and the EDP-MIS. There have been many cases wherein the warrant of arrest was misplaced and could not be found. This adds more hassles to the investigator who again has to get the warrant of arrest from the judge. Moreover, the retrieval system is too cumbersome, and there have been many incidences of lost warrants of arrest, due mainly to the poor system.
The number and reach of the warrants of arrest is nationwide and could easily reach the hundreds in any given day. These warrants of arrest arrive randomly from different regions in the country. If a warrant of arrest is lost, it is hard to get a new one from the judge. Even if the warrant of arrest is not lost, the current system demands that the warrant of arrest be printed, and certified by the court. The biggest danger is that, due to the immense number of warrants of arrest, there is a possibility that the inadequate and minimal storage space in the EDP-MIS is not enough to keep all of them. In the current system, the investigator gets a summary of information regarding the person the warrant is being served to.
The current system of filing and storing the warrant of arrest has to be revolutionized since the technology is already available. This would immensely improve the service of the Warrants Branch and cause more ease in the retrieval of such document.
- Objectives of the Project
This project aims to achieve the following:
- Easy retrieval of the WOA copy
- Easy serving of WOA
- Speedy investigation and arrest of suspects
- Easy maintenance and organization of WOA filing
- Ease in usage
- Ease in reproduction and printing
- Scope of the Project
This project has a nationwide scope. Phase 1 of the project involves the Headquarters of the CIDG where there is a substantial backlog in WOA, not to mention the incoming WOA everyday. The current backlog in WOA processing runs to about 300,000 WOAs, including an average of 300 WOA per day. This shows the urgency of the project.
Phase 2 of the project is regional in scope. WOA backlogs from CIDG Offices from Regions 1 –16 form part of this scope.
Phase 3 involves the current incoming WOA, assuming all the backlogs have been taken cared of.
- Proposed Implementation Schedule
This proposal is scheduled for implementation as soon as its mechanism is approved and a budget is allocated and approved. It is targeted to be implemented first quarter of 2003.
- Project Benefits and Impact
The biggest benefit of this project is the speedy and efficiency brought to the investigation of crimes, especially in the arrest of the suspects. Corollary to that, the incidences of losing a WOA along the processing chain are minimized to a great deal. Moreover, investigators who may need a WOA can easily locate the WOA requested and have a copy printed.
- Sustainability Plan
The most immediate concern of the project is to cover the backlog of WOAs which now stands at around 300,000. After that, the next concern is the daily incoming WOA. The project promises to have low operating and maintenance cost and its usage will be continuous and not seasonal. Moreover, its coverage is nationwide, benefiting different organizations in law enforcement.
- Institutional Arrangements
The CIDG, under its EDP-MIS office will handle the processing of the WOA. Within the CIDG, the main headquarters, the regional offices up to the provincial offices will be the project’s beneficiaries. Aside from the CIDG, national support units engaged in similar law enforcement activities can avail of the services of this project, like the NBI. This project also requires close coordination with the regular and special courts.
IV. PROJECT COST AND FINANCING
- Project Cost
The project will involve archival services of paper documents into a fully searchable database. The system will include a built-in search engine, an optical character recognition, two index fields, and CDRs (with CD case and front panel print).
The breakdown of the charges is as follows:
< 100,000 - P2.35 / page
100,000 – 299,000 - 2.10 / page
300,000 – 499,000 - 1.85 / page
500,000 – 799,000 - 1.60 / page
800,000 – 999,000 - 1.35 / page
> 1,000,000 - 1.10 / page
Additional Index Fields - 0.15 / index field / page
- Sources of Financing
The Philippine National Police, along with the CIDG, has a yearly budget from the national government. The funding for this project will come from the budget allocated to the CIDG.
- Terms of Financing
For this project, the payment of the service offered by the Company will only be given when the WOAs have been processed already. Any initial costs required by the Company should be coursed through the CIDG and explained thoroughly.
V. EVALUATION OF ECONOMIC FEASIBILITY
- Investment Cost
The PNP will not buy any hardware or software for this project, except for the Network Attached Storage. No quotation has been given yet for the aforementioned device.
The only initial cost will be the processing fee for the backlogged WOAs, with the following computation:
300,00 backlog WOA * P 1.85 = P555,000.00
This initial cost will only be paid upon completion of the processing of all backlogged WOAs.
B. Operating and Maintenance Cost
Average Daily WOAs processed – 300
300 WOA/day * 240 working days = 72,000 WOA / year
WOA Processing = 72,000 WOA * P2.35 = P169,200 / year
Projected Additional Index Fields (2/WOA) = 72,000 * 0.30 = P21,600/year
This puts the yearly cost at P190,800.00. The Company has not yet submitted any quotation for the Storage Fee.
C. Basic Assumptions Used
For the purposes of this proposal, the firm that will handle the processing of the WOAs of the PNP will be designated henceforth as the Company.
1. The Company which will be asked to provide the set-up for this project will not sell to the PNP the hardware and software to be used in the project.
2. The Company will render the use of the following required hardware and software:
- Service Bureau Software
- Scanners for Data Conversion
- Workstation for scanning and indexing with CD Writer
- Storage Server
- Office and Grooming Supplies
3. The Company will provide the needed recordable CDs for free as part of the package.
4. The PNP will not shoulder the cost for the maintenance of any of the equipments or software used in the processing of the WOA.
5. The PNP will only pay for the number of WOA processed, following the agreed price set by the Company.
6. The only hardware device the PNP will pay for is the Network Attached Storage which will contain all the WOAs already processed.
- Quantification of Project Benefit
The cost of the project is projected to be at P745,800.00, translating to P2.00 / WOA. At that cost, law enforcement agencies could perform their duties better resulting in a lower crime rate and efficient storage and processing of WOAs, an integral requirement in crime detection.
- Summary of Project Indicators
Backlog Processing Cost = P555,000.00
Yearly Processing Cost = 190,800.00
Storage Fee (not yet provided)
VI. EVALUATION OF FINANCIAL FEASIBILITY
- Sources of Funds
The source of the funds for this project will come from the national budget for the CIDG.
- Summary of Financial Feasibility Indicators
Since this project does not require any major purchase of hardware equipment or software, the PNP will not be shouldered by any additional personnel or maintenance costs. The PNP will not have to hire new people anymore to man the processing of the WOA. Moreover, the PNP will not have to pay consultants for expensive maintenance costs just in case the hardware bogs down.
Instead, the PNP will just pay the services of the Company, and the expenses will be pegged on a per piece (WOA) basis. This is a better arrangement for the PNP since costs are brought down to the minimum.
VII. MONITORING AND EVALUATION PLAN
To ensure a smooth flow of the project, the PNP will be responsible for the following:
a. Document Preparation
The PNP shall organize all the documents in sequential filing order onto its respective document boxes properly labeled for Company to pickup. With the scheduled pick-up, the PNP shall prepare the corresponding Transmittal form beforehand so as not to cause undue delay during the actual pick-up of the documents.
b. Delegation of PNP’s Representative
The PNP should inform their concerned personnel of the activities of the Company and shall see to it that the Company extend due courtesy. The PNP shall designate in writings personnel responsible for the conversion service project. That authorized personnel will represent the PNP in executing, signing, authenticating, distributing and transacting to the Company. The Company will not pick-up nor transmit documents to other unassigned personnel.
c. ID Passes
The PNP will provide temporary Identification Passes (Ids) for the staff of the Company for the duration of the project, or otherwise acknowledge the Ids issued by the Company.
The Company will also bill the PNP for the processing of the WOAs only when the process is already done. No initial downpayments will be entertained. The billing procedure will follow the standard procedures required by the Budget Department.
Search Our Library. Search by Keyword, Author or Title
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CHICAGO Being overweight as a child could lead to early degeneration in the spine, according to a study presented today at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA).
"This is the first study to show an association between increased body mass index (BMI) and disc abnormalities in children," said the study's lead author, Judah G. Burns, M.D., fellow in diagnostic neuroradiology at The Children's Hospital at Montefiore in New York City.
In this retrospective study, Dr. Burns and colleagues reviewed MR images of the spines of 188 adolescents between the ages of 12 and 20 who complained of back pain and were imaged at the hospital over a four-year period. Trauma and other conditions that would predispose children to back pain were eliminated from the study.
The images revealed that 98 (52.1 percent) of the patients had some abnormality in the lower, or lumbar, spine. Most of those abnormalities occurred within the discs, which are sponge-like cushions in between the bones of the spine. Disc disease occurs when a bulging or ruptured disc presses on nerves, causing pain or weakness.
"In children, back pain is usually attributed to muscle spasm or sprain," Dr. Burns said. "It is assumed that disc disease does not occur in children, but my experience says otherwise."
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 15 percent of U.S. children (age 6 11) and 18 percent of U.S. adolescents (age 12 -19) are overweight. BMI, a mathematical ratio of body weight and height, is a widely used measurement for obesity. Lower BMI is associated with being underweight or a healthy body size; higher BMI scores are associated with being overweight or obese. Children above the 85th percentile are generally classified as overweight or at risk of being overweight.
The researchers were able to determine an age-adjusted BMI for 106 of the total 188 patients. Fifty-four had BMI greater than the 75th percentile for age. Thirty-seven (68.5 percent) of these children showed abnormal findings on their spine MRI. Fifty-two patients fell into the lowest three quartiles. Only 18 (34.6 percent) of the children at or below a healthy weight had an abnormal MRI of the spine.
"We observed a trend toward increased spine abnormality with higher BMI," Dr. Burns said. "These results demonstrate a strong relationship between increased BMI in the pediatric population and the incidence of lumbar disc disease."
According to Dr. Burns, data revealed in the study could signal a significant public health problem given the health costs of back pain in the U.S.
"Back pain causes significant morbidity in adults, affecting quality of life and the ability to be productive," he said.
|Contact: Linda Brooks|
Radiological Society of North America
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|By Arow (Arow) on Thursday, April 22, 2004 - 06:55 pm: Edit|
I'm desperate for help on Ap Euro. I just took a practice test and did terrible on the MC. I also did the DBQs. Please read what I wrote and tell me if it is correct (And give comments or grades if you're nice). I spent a lot of time copying it onto here, so please help !
- Question: Discuss the way in which the French Revolution sparked a debate on the issue on human rights
The French Revolution began as an attack against the current government initiated by the Third Estates. Peasants suffered from high taxes and poor living conditions while the rising upper middle class strove to gain more rights. Every class in the Third Estat had grievances with the current French government, The french revolution, althought started as an act against the monarch, ended up promoting the rights of women, religion, and citizens, as wekk as right against racism.
The idea that the citizens deserve more rights originated from the Enlightenment. The idea was that man had a "natural right of humanity"(Document 1). These rihts were first proposed in France in the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen. In the declaraion, such natural righs were freedom and equalness all have and the preservation of liberty, property, security, and resistance to oppression. After the monarchy was overthrown, these rights became incorporated into the French republic.
The creation of the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen led to the creation of the Declaration o the Rights of Women by Olumpe de Gouges, who advocated the same ideas of the Declaration ofthe Rights of Man and Citizen in an attempt to increase women's rights and to bring awareness to the issue. As women witnessed the changes that were taking place during the French Revolution, namely the overthrowing of an existing government due to widespead dissatisfaction among a group and the establishment of extended rights, the women decided to do the same. They wanted to ovethrow an established order, the suppression of women's rights, and set up new rights for their benefit. Thus the French Revolution did not only extended the rights of all the citizens but also the rights of women.
As the rights of citizens and women were being established, so too were the rights of religion. As the Royal Edict of Toleration declares, "[the] non-Catholic subjects, deprived of all influnece on the etbalished order of the state. . . will only get from the law what natural right does not permit us to refuse them."(Document2) The belief in man's natural rights led to the establishedment of relgious rights and toleration. The strve to gain rights was no longer just political; it was also for religious reasons as well. This idea was reflected by Adrien Jean Francoise Duport when he delcared "that the freedom of worship on longer permits the distinctions be made between the polical rights of citzens on the basis of their beliefs." (Document7)
The principle of the natural rights of man lso led to the "abolition of Begro slavery in all the colonies." (Document 8). The decree also states that "all me, without distinction of color, residing in the colonies, are French citizens and will enjor the rights" (Document 8). This idea branched out from the Declaration of the Rights of Man. The French Revolution le to the abolition of racial discrimination later on.
In effect, the French Revolution was initally a struggle aginast the existing govenrment by the Third Estates. However, it led to the establishment of the rights of women, citizen, and religion, as well as the abolitionof discrimination and slavery. These ideas would later be expressed in the Napoleonic Code.
Please help! When I incorporate an idea from the DBQ, do I need to quote it in order to qualify as using the documents? What am I missing? Please help!! I just wasted an hour typing this.. and i got tons of homeworks. Help is appreciated God Bless
|By Just_Forget_Me (Just_Forget_Me) on Thursday, April 22, 2004 - 07:43 pm: Edit|
I'm really sorry, but I have too much Euro of my own to really go through and analyze your essay. Make sure you know how to get points on the DBQ http://thecaveonline.com/APEH/corescoringdbqapeh.html - is the course rubric.
|By Arow (Arow) on Thursday, April 22, 2004 - 09:43 pm: Edit|
ITs ok, thanks for your advice
Common people. Is any else kind enough to contribute?? I spent an hour out of my study time to type it up.
|By Pianoman (Pianoman) on Thursday, April 22, 2004 - 10:02 pm: Edit|
If I were grading this essay, based on the rubric, I would give it a (5) out of a possible (9). You do a lot of things well, but unforunately to get full core points and some of the extended core points (which you have in your essay) you have to analyze bias and point of view in at least three documents. Even though you talked about some of the sources and authors, you did not go into detail how this affected the validity and content of the documents. Thus, you could not fulfill the basic core requirement and not gain any extended.
If you had remember to analyze bias and point of view, I'm sure you'll do fine on the DBQ. Memorize the rubric and remember to follow it, and you'll be on the path to a 9.
|By Arow (Arow) on Thursday, April 22, 2004 - 10:48 pm: Edit|
Thats my problem, huh?
How should I show bias in my DBQ essay with this topic? I thought we were only suppose to answer the question, "Discuss the way in which the French Revolution sparked a debate on the issue on human rights "
Please give me an example .
|By Apg (Apg) on Friday, April 23, 2004 - 02:50 pm: Edit|
the best way to get points for POV is to say WHY an author or artist has a certain position. POV will become especially clear if you work through this exercise.
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Here is my understanding: Android uses the Linux kernel as its low-level operating system, providing a machine-independent model for application development. However, what is exposed to the user and developer is a Java-based system so that you cannot use an Android-based device as a general-purpose computer. In contrast, a GNU/Linux distribution provides compilers and object code libraries so that you can do anything you want with your computer, including rewriting the kernel and any open-source applications.
Android is very similar to an iPhone (and I imagine iPad as well) which has a version of Mac OS X hidden inside, but you do not have full access to that layer when writing applications. It is exactly like when I got started in computer technology running FOCAL on a PDP-8 or BASIC on an HP 2100. The FOCAL or BASIC interpreter controlled very strictly what I could do, but did protect me from crashing the computer. However, when I got my hands on a PDP-11 that I could program in assembly language, the feeling of absolute freedom created a life-long thrill.
Android and iPhone OS are OK if you want a stable consumer device with limited capabilities and strict corporate control over what you can use it for (ditto for Kindle). But if what you are seeking is freedom to make the device do whatever you want it to do, they are not what you want.
I believe Android is based on the Linux kernel 2.6.x. On top of that kernel, it has some core OS services (libraries) and its Dalvik virtual machine (similar to JavaVM) and application frameworks. So at its core, Android is Linux, but it is one of many variants of Linux distributions as the article points out.
I invite any savvy developers to weigh in on the fine points of how Android differs from standard Linux. I understand it also varies from standard Java.
According to Wikipedia:
Android uses a version of Linux as its kernel (albeit tweaked by Google to fit Android needs and separated from the main Linux kernel tree), but it is not a conventional Linux distribution; it does not have a native X Window System, nor does it support the full set of standard GNU libraries like its system libraries (GNU C Library). This makes it difficult to reuse existing Linux applications or libraries on Android.
Google no longer maintains the Android code they previously contributed to the Linux kernel, effectively branching kernel code in their own tree, separating their code from Linux. The code which is no longer maintained was deleted in January 2010 from the Linux codebase.
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Editor's Note: This multi-part are on parallel algorithm design is based on the book Designing and Building Parallel Programs by Ian Foster. Designing and Building Parallel Programs promotes a view of parallel programming as an engineering discipline, in which programs are developed in a methodical fashion and both cost and performance are considered in a design. Part 1 focuses on the topics of Methodical Design and Partitioning. Subsequent installments will focus on Communication, Agglomeration, and Mapping, before finally examining case studies of parallel algorithms in action. A special thanks to Ian Foster.
VLSI is a process used to build electronic components such as microprocessors and memory chips comprising millions of transistors. The design of VLSI components is a computationally demanding process. Computers are used extensively to verify the correctness of a circuit design, to lay out a circuit in a two-dimensional area, and to generate the patterns used to test circuits once they have been fabricated. Many of these problems involve either an exhaustive or a heuristically guided search of a large space of possible solutions. Here, we consider a layout problem. The first stage of the VLSI design process typically produces a set of indivisible rectangular blocks called "cells". In a second stage, interconnection information is used to determine the relative placements of these cells. In a third stage, implementations are selected for the various cells with the goal of optimizing the total area. It is the third stage, floorplan optimization, for which we shall develop a parallel algorithm. This is an important part of the design process, since the cost of a chip is usually dominated by its area.
VLSI floorplan optimization can be explained by analogy with the problem of designing a kitchen. Assume that we have decided on the components the kitchen is to contain (this action is stage 1 of the VLSI design process) and how these components are to be arranged (stage 2). For example, we may wish to have a stove, refrigerator, table, and sink and may require that the stove be next to the refrigerator and the table next to the sink. Assume also that we can choose among several possible models for each of these components, with different models having different shapes but occupying the same floor area. In the floorplan optimization phase of our kitchen design, we select models so as make the best use of available floorspace.
In VLSI, a floorplan is represented as a pair of polar graphs, conventionally called the and G and H graphs. (A polar graph is a directed acyclic graph with a single source and a single sink. The term directed means that edges have a direction, and acyclic means that there are no cycles.) These graphs specify which cells are adjacent in the vertical and horizontal directions, respectively. Each arc denotes a cell, and nodes (other than the source and sink) link cells that must have touching edges.
Although a cell has a fixed area, it may have several possible implementations with different aspect ratios. If we have N cells, and if cell c(i)has implementations, then the total number of possible floorplan configurations is
For example, Figure 27 shows a floorplan optimization problem with three cells and six possible configurations:
The problem then is to identify the configuration with the lowest area, where area is defined as the product of the maximum horizontal and vertical extents. This identification can be achieved by using a search algorithm to explore a search tree representing all possible configurations. As shown in Figure 28, level i of this tree corresponds to the situation in which implementations have been chosen for i cells. We can explore this search tree by using Algorithm 1.1. An initial call search(root) causes the entire tree to be visited, with the path used to get to each leaf node reported as a solution.
Algorithm 1.1 implements an exhaustive search that visits all nodes of the search tree. Unfortunately, this strategy is computationally infeasible for any but the smallest problems. For example, a problem with just 20 cells and 6 implementations per cell has a search space of 620≈ 4x1015 nodes. Fortunately, the number of nodes explored can be reduced considerably by using a technique called branch-and-bound search. The basic idea is to keep track of the best (lowest area) solution found so far. Before "expanding'' a node (that is, looking at its subtrees), we check whether the area of the partial configuration represented by that node is already greater than that of the best known solution. If so, we know that this node cannot yield a better solution, and the subtree rooted at that node can be abandoned, or pruned (Figure 29). This approach is specified as Algorithm 2.2, with the global variable Amin used to maintain a record of the best solution.
On a sequential computer, the foreach in Algorithm 2.2 can examine each subtree in turn, thereby giving a depth-first search algorithm that explores the tree depth-first and left-to-right. In this case, pruning can reduce the number of nodes explored enormously. In one experiment reported in the literature, the number of nodes explored in a typical 20-cell problem was reduced from 4x1015 to 6x106. As we shall see, efficient pruning is a difficult problem in a parallel environment and, to a large extent, determines the structure of our parallel algorithm.
In summary, the fundamental operation to be performed in the floorplan optimization problem is branch-and-bound search. This is an interesting algorithm from a parallel computing perspective because of its irregular computational structure: the size and shape of the search tree that must be explored are not known ahead of time. Also, the need for pruning introduces a need both to manage the order in which the tree is explored and to acquire and propagate global knowledge of computation state. In these respects this problem is typical of many algorithms in symbolic (nonnumeric) computing.
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When you meet someone with HIV today, he may look much different than those who were infected with the virus 20 or 30 years ago. New medications and inroads to understanding the disease have made it possible for people to live longer and healthier lives, despite their HIV-positive status.
And though the final stage of HIV infection is AIDS, if people who are infected take medications as directed, work with their doctor, and take care to protect themselves against illness and infection, they can push that final stage off for years — even decades — while they keep living with HIV.
Does Progression From HIV to AIDS Always Happen?
Without treatment, around 50 percent of all HIV-positive individuals typically develop AIDS within 10 years. About 75 percent of people with HIV develop AIDS within 15 years. But about 10 percent of HIV-positive individuals are considered "long survivors," which means that their infection is stable and that their immune function hasn't steadily declined.
Antiretroviral drugs, which are prescribed to manage HIV, can slow the replication of the virus and significantly delay the progression to AIDS. But antiretrovirals are not a cure for HIV, and they can't completely prevent the virus from copying itself and weakening the immune system.
Even more importantly, these antiretrovirals must be taken exactly as a doctor prescribes. And that means a patient must take them every single day for the rest of his life to suppress the virus as much as possible. If taken improperly, particularly if doses are missed, the virus will strengthen and become resistant to the medications — then, the drugs become ineffective and the virus reproduces itself faster.
Tips for Taking Your Medications
Taking these antiretroviral drugs properly is the best hope people living with HIV have for preventing AIDS symptoms and preserving their health for many years. It's important to take medications correctly at least 95 percent of the time, to continue to suppress the virus and delay the onset of AIDS symptoms.
Here's what you can do to take your medicines the right way every day to help your body fight to prevent AIDS:
- Start at the right time for you. Once you start taking antiretrovirals, there's no going back — so make sure you're ready to make the commitment. Your doctor will discuss the pros and cons of starting antiretrovirals when your level of a particular type of blood cell — called a CD4 lymphocyte — has declined. Practice by taking a piece of candy every day on the same schedule as you will be taking your antiretrovirals. If you have trouble remembering the candy doses, you'll likely have trouble with the medication, too — so you will need a reminder system.
- Decide on your reminder. Whether you mark it off on a calendar, set an alarm or timer, or check it off of your to-do list, create a daily reminder to take your medications.
- Store your meds in a visible spot. Keep your medications in the same spot all the time. Choose somewhere where you'll see them easily — next to the kitchen or bathroom sink, or near your bed with a glass of water. Have a travel medicine container that you pre-fill with the dose for each day for use while you're at work or traveling. Have extra doses with you in case something unexpected comes up.
- Stay organized. That means staying on top of your prescriptions. You must never run out, because running out can have serious consequences. Make sure you have an ample supply on hand at all times, and extras in case there's a holiday coming up when the pharmacy may be closed. Pay attention to weather forecasts: If a blizzard is forecast, get your refill early.
How to Stay Healthy While Living With HIV
Working closely with your doctor and adhering to your medication regimen are critical to delaying the progression to AIDS. Controlling HIV with a healthy lifestyle and safe practices are certainly possible.
If you're HIV positive, here's what you can do to keep yourself healthy and suppress the virus:
- Spare your body from stress. Stress can weaken your immune system and make you more vulnerable to illness and infection. Combat stress by getting plenty of sleep each night and practicing stress-relieving methods like meditation or yoga.
- Get vaccinated. Infections like pneumonia and the flu can be devastating to someone with HIV. Get regular vaccinations for these and any other infections that your doctor recommends.
- Always practice safe sex. Safe sex is always important, even when you're already infected with HIV. Not only do you want to prevent the spread to others, but you also want to continue protecting yourself from other sexually transmitted infections, such as hepatitis. Protecting yourself during sex can also spare you from contracting another strain of HIV, which is a possibility.
- Practice a healthier lifestyle. That means quitting smoking, getting regular exercise, avoiding alcohol, and sticking to a healthy diet. All of these lifestyle changes will help your body get stronger, healthier, and better able to defend itself from the virus that's invaded your body.
Making a commitment to staying healthy can protect you against AIDS — even if you already have HIV.
Last Updated: 9/23/2010
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related to classroom discussion and student collaboration
from the National Research Center on English Learning and
School Instructional Resources:
MiddleWeb is a Web site devoted to middle school education
and includes resources for middle school teachers and parents.
A comprehensive index allows teachers and parents to search
for useful documents and resources by topic.
This Web site is an online journal of K-12 practice and
research published by the International Reading Association.
It includes helpful links to book reviews, peer-reviewed
articles, discussions about literacy, and ideas and information
about applying technology in literacy instruction.
Literature Web Guide
This Web site categorizes the growing number of Internet
resources related to books for children and young adults.
Much of the information found on this Web site is provided
by schools, libraries, teachers, parents, and book professionals
(such as authors, editors, and booksellers). It includes
quick references to lists of award-winning and bestseller
children's books, teaching resources, links to parent resources,
and journal and book reviews.
The Doucette Index provides access to books and Web sites
that contain useful teaching suggestions related to books
for children and young adults, and the creators of those
books. The searchable database enables teachers to search
by author and/or title of the book, leading to lesson plans
and curriculum ideas.
Adult Literature: Online booklists and resources
on Literature for Adolescents of the NCTE
Public Library: Youth Division
Adult Literature Library from the University of Iowa
of Tennessee's Center for Children's & Young Adult Literature
Adult Library Services Association
Literary Link for Researching Children's/Young Adult Literature
Raps: Online book discussions
Review: Dedicated to teaching and discussing young adult
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1. At the beginning of the Introduction, Horace Gregory quotes William Carlos Williams as saying "History, history! We fools, what do we know or care?" What does Gregory think Williams means by this?
It is dangerous to get involved in history.
2. Which statement shows that Gregory believes that most people revere history without understanding it?
"History, like poetry, is an ancient trap laid for the credulous and narrow-minded."
3. What would Gregory be most likely to describe history as?
A tapestry of culture and stories.
This section contains 7,302 words
(approx. 25 pages at 300 words per page)
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Archived — Canada in the 21st Century Series
Information identified as archived on the Web is for reference, research or recordkeeping purposes. It has not been altered or updated after the date of archiving. Web pages that are archived on the Web are not subject to the Government of Canada Web Standards. As per the Communications Policy of the Government of Canada, you can request alternate formats on the "Contact Us" page.
No. 8: Economics and the Environment: The Recent Canadian Experience and Prospects for the Future
by Brian R. Copeland, University of California, under contract with Industry Canada, 1998
Canada faces two major environmental challenges in the immediate future. The first is to translate the rather vague concept of sustainable development into a consistent set of policies that can address the need to move the economy in a direction consistent with ecological constraints. The second and perhaps more serious challenge is that there is a looming global environmental crisis that Canada, on its own, can do little about.
Canadian environmental and conservation policy has had significant successes during the past 25 years. Emissions of toxic substances such as lead and mercury have been dramatically reduced. Air and water quality have improved in some areas, despite growth in income and population. And large tracts of wilderness have been set aside for preservation. But there have also been notable failures. Fish populations off the east coast have collapsed. Air quality is still poor in some of our larger cities. And in spite of reductions in emissions of sulfur dioxide, Canada remains one of the highest emitters of sulfur dioxide per capita in the world. Because of its sheer volume of production and consumption, Canada remains a big polluter.
In the past, environmental and conservation policy in Canada has suffered from two problems. First, policy has essentially been remedial — a piecemeal response to various problems of over-exploitation of natural systems. This has led to inconsistencies in government policy — one arm of government may provide subsidies to the fishing industry while another arm of government tries to reduce fishing effort to preserve the stock. The concept of sustainable development may potentially emerge as a unifying framework that forces a more integrated approach to policy, one that takes into account ecological constraints. However, we are still a long way from that point.
The second problem affecting policy has been a lack of commitment. One of the key problems in environmental policy is that short term re-election horizons combined with uneven distributional effects of environmental policies can expose governments to considerable political pressure to deal with short term income and employment concerns at the expense of long run sustainability issues. This means that it is important to develop an institutional framework in which it is difficult to back away from attaining policy objectives — that is, increased attention should be given to the role of commitment devices in environmental policy.
Such a perspective has a number of implications for future policy. Among these are: (1) clear environmental quality targets should be set, and a review process should be put in place to ensure that they are met; (2) good information about environmental quality should be provided by the government to the public so that failure to meet targets cannot be hidden; (3) voluntary or negotiated agreements to attain environmental standards must be backed up by strong enforcement; (4) national standards for ambient environmental quality can act as commitment devices for provinces; (5) international agreements may be useful to help commit to environmental goals, particularly if there is a linkage to trade access or aid, and (6) economic instruments that increase the degree of commitment to an environmental goal should be considered — a pollution tax applied as a matter of course may be more effective than a standard backed up by the threat of a fine that is rarely carried out.
Although command and control methods have dominated environmental policy in most western economies, the time may be ripe for a gradual introduction of more incentive-based policies for the following reasons:
- Revenue — There is considerable pressure not to raise general tax rates, and so environmentally friendly taxes and user fees may be, politically, a more palatable way of raising revenue to finance investments in the infrastructure needed to maintain or improve environmental quality.
- Increasing abatement costs — Pollution control costs will likely rise in the future because (1) growth will put more pressure on the environment; and (2) the easier environmental problems were solved first in part because the other problems were more costly to deal with. This will increase the need for cost-effective policies. New taxes on business will not, however, be popular in a context of rising costs. Rather, policies which are revenue-neutral from an industry perspective (such as allowing limited transferability of pollution permits) are likely to be more feasible.
- Increasing relative importance of non-point sources of pollution — The use of economic instruments may be useful to deal with complex problems involving large numbers of polluters who are difficult to monitor. For example, taxes can target inputs highly correlated with pollution (such as fuel and pesticides).
- Tax reform and the double dividend — Canada's tax system contains many undesirable disincentive effects. Revenue raised from environmental taxes may be used to finance reductions in distortionary taxes, such as payroll taxes.
One problem with policies that attempt to recover the full costs of environmental services from users is that they may be regressive — there is some evidence that the cost of environmental policies as a fraction of income has been greater for lower income groups than for higher income groups. An expansion of the use of environmental taxes and user fees could be regressive. But the regressiveness of any individual instruments does not mean that the underlying policy is undesirable. Rather it means that environmental policy must be integrated and coordinated with other activities of government. Some European countries have introduced environmental taxes as part of a major tax reform.
Although individual tax changes may be regressive, the overall package of reforms need not be.top of page
At the global level, two crises are looming in the near future. The first is that some very poor countries may be unable to sustain their current consumption of their own environmental services and may not be able to generate enough income from other activities (such as manufacturing) to import environmental services (especially food) from other countries. Canada will be confronted with a serious ethical dilemma about how to reconcile its wealth with significant human suffering in other parts of the world.
The second crisis looming arises from countries with relatively large populations that are also currently undergoing rapid rates of economic growth. This will affect Canada directly. The net international demand for Canada's environmental services will likely increase as the need for food, minerals, and forest products rises with income and population, and with the depletion of the resource base in some countries. However, this trend will yield benefits only if resource stocks and environmental services are properly managed. Many environmental services are based on common property resources (such as air and water). Canada has only partially succeeded in controlling access to these resources. Growing international trade can be harmful for an economy that exports the services of open access resources. Therefore, Canada's trade policy must be coordinated with its conservation policy. More liberalized trade requires increased conservation efforts in order to ensure sustainability. If Canada is unable to ensure that proper conservation measures are put in place, it should not commit to open foreign access to its resources.
As consumption levels increase, particularly in the rapidly growing economies of Asia, severe pressure will be placed on the global environment. Even if one accepts the optimistic scenario that higher income eventually leads to improved environmental quality, projections suggest that global environmental quality will get much worse before it gets better. Carbon emissions will increase, biodiversity will be threatened, the health of the oceans will be placed in jeopardy, and there will be further pressure on the ozone layer. Although Canada's consumption of environmental services may well be sustainable if the consumption of the rest of the world stays low, it is extremely unlikely that the world could sustain the spread of North American levels of consumption to a significant fraction of the earth's population. Therein lies the dilemma. Global sustainability will require some coordination among countries to reduce the emissions of key pollutants.
The distribution of the right to pollute among countries will be one of the key international policy issues in the next few years. An equitable approach to this problem would involve equal access to environmental resources per capita across the globe. But such a principle would involve significant reductions in the consumption of environmental services by richer countries. A more likely scenario is that power and wealth will continue to determine access to environmental services. This in itself can exacerbate global problems, because the incentive for countries to increase their wealth and power to stake a claim on global environmental services will add to the strains exerted on the earth's life-supporting resources. Even in a power-driven scenario, however, it will be in the interest of richer countries to help poorer countries reduce and control environmental damage.
Canada should continue to play an active role towards the development of a multilateral approach to dealing with global pollution problems. At the same time, it should also ensure that defensive measures are taken at home. It should resort to commitment devices to ensure that long run environmental goals are achieved. It should set clear goals for ambient environmental quality and move to put in place a review process to ensure that these targets are met. And it should diversify its environmental risks. In a world increasingly committed to free trade, Canada should adopt a conservative and cautious approach to allowing access to common property resources.
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For various reasons I've been researching, off and on, various features of what might be called Greater Scandinavian and Fennoscandian cultural sphere. It's somewhat difficult to pin down the bounds of it, so I'm trying to think through its boundaries, and I thought I'd do so 'out loud' here on the blog, in case anyone had any thoughts.
Scandinavia as such, Scandinavia Proper, we might call it, is pretty clearly established as the following countries:
Sweden and Norway are both on the Scandinavian Peninsula, which they share with Finland; Denmark is across the way on the Jutland Peninsula and the Danish Islands. It's not normal to think of them as such because of their significant differences, but they can be said to share a language, broadly speaking -- Danish, Swedish, and Norwegian, while in many ways very different, nonetheless share enough that they are, with a little work, mutually intelligible. They are, so to speak, clearly dialects of the Scandinavian superlanguage. There are ethnic and historical links, all of them quite close.
Nonetheless, there are complicating factors. Take, for instance, Denmark. Denmark is itself part of a Commonwealth of nations, the Danish Realm, which includes the following nations:
In effect, they constitute one nation with three autonomous jurisdictions, all under the Danish Crown. All three were at one time part of the Kingdom of Norway. Danish is certainly spoken in both Greenland and the Faroe Islands. The only official language of Greenland is Kalaallisut, which is an Inuit language, but this is a relatively recent thing (2009), as it used to share the honors with Danish, and Danish is still widely spoken. The Scandinavian links with Greenland are extensive and go back a thousand years; allowing for a few centuries of interruption, Greenland has been linked with Scandinavia in one way or another. The Faroe Islands, which are north of Britain, are a similar story, except that the Faroese are ethnically Scottish as well as Scandinavian, and that Faroese is itself a descendant of Old Norse, and so is itself a Scandinavian language. So if we include the Danish Realm in Greater Scandinavia, we've added an Inuit nation in North America, and while one would technically include the Faroe Islands in Europe, it's notable that while Denmark is part of the European Union, the Faroe Islands are not.
If, however, we take the entire Danish Realm into Greater Scandinavia, it makes sense to count in Iceland, too. Iceland is not part of the Danish Realm, but it used to be, until 1944. Icelandic, like Faroese, is an Old Norse derivative and thus related to Norwegian. And Denmark and Norway at one time formed two relatively autonomous parts of one kingdom, which had Greenland, the Faroe Islands, and Iceland as its dependencies.
It would in any case be a candidate for other reasons. When we are talking about Greater Scandinavia, we are usually talking about the nations of the Nordic Council, or Nordic Nations:
Thus Iceland gets on the list as a full member. The following are associate members of the Nordic Council:
The Åland Islands are an autonomous Swedish-speaking jurisdiction associated with Finland. And the following have observer status:
Should one include these? Well, if you are including Finland there's very little reason not to include Estonia, which is a Baltic nation just across the way from Finland, has an ethnically Finnic population, and has a language that is very closely related to Finnish. And Estonia spent time both as Danish territory and as Swedish territory.
Finland, in turn, is an odd nation. It is on the Scandinavian Peninsula and one of its official languages is Swedish, but its other official, and certainly primary, language, Finnish, is a radically different language from any of the Scandinavian languages. The Scandinavian languages are all Indo-European languages of North Germanic type, all deriving from Old Norse. Finnish, on the other hand, is not even Indo-European; it is a Uralic language. There are a lot of cultural similarities, and a lot of cultural differences.
Sweden is in a sense the culprit here. It's difficult for us to remember it, since Sweden comes across now as an unassuming nation, but this is a modern thing. Sweden, of course, was a Viking nation. And in the seventeenth century it was one of the greatest powers in Europe. There's an argument that can be made that for at least a short time it was the most powerful European nation. Swedish military reforms had made the Swedish army an almost unstoppable juggernaut. At its height the Swedish Empire included not only Sweden but also Finland, modern-day Estonia, much of modern-day Latvia and Lithuania (hence, I suppose, their observer status), Russian Karelia, and bits and pieces of north Germany (Pomerania, in particular). Finland was Swedish for about five and a half centuries, and an important part of the Swedish Empire at its height. Then it was seized by Russia, and was a Russian Grand Duchy for quite some time. It broke away in 1917, and after a civil war, managed to stabilize for a while. (Estonia was also seized by Russia, also broke away in 1917, managed to avoid civil war, but had to extricate itself from a short German occupation.)
There is another designation, Fennoscandia, which includes the following:
(in Russia) Karelian areas and the Kola Peninsula
And this does seem to identify some significant cultural commonality.
So, of the Scandinavian countries we've noted imperial reach. But how far should one really take it? Northern Scotland was Norwegian territory for centuries; the Danes had kingdoms in England once long ago; and so forth. Some of this reach dried up, of course. And, of course, there are various immigration cultures linked to it, as well -- Norwegian by way of Minnesota, and the like. While Greater Scandinavia is generally taken to be the Scandinavian Peninsula plus Denmark, the full sphere of Scandinavian influence is quite extensive.
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CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Outbreaks of measles and mumps in central Ohio have continued to spread this summer, resulting in record numbers of the vaccine-preventable illnesses in the state and nationwide.
A mumps outbreak that began on the Ohio State University campus in January has now infected 447 people, the largest outbreak the state has seen since 1979, when there were 930 cases of the disease, according to Columbus Public Health (CPH). A total of 155 students, 31 OSU staff members and 54 community members with an OSU link have fallen ill. The campus outbreak has also spread to Indiana and North Carolina, where one OSU student from each state became sick shortly after returning home for the summer, CPH spokesman Jose Rodriguez said.
The most recent Ohio mumps case was reported on June 23, according to the Ohio Department of Health, and the people affected have ranged in age from 6 months to 80 years old. CPH is reporting that among those who have fallen ill there have been cases of hearing loss, and inflammation of the testes and ovaries, which are rare complications of the disease. There have also been 14 hospitalizations.
Mumps is a highly contagious respiratory disease caused by a virus. Fortunately, most people with mumps recover completely after a few weeks. The most common symptoms are similar to those of the flu: high fever, aches and fatigue. The virus can also cause a tell-tale swelling of the parotid glands in the jaw, called parotitis, which can be painful and make swallowing and eating difficult.
The disease is easily spread when unvaccinated people, or those without full protection from vaccines, are within close quarters.
A central Ohio measles outbreak that began in late March in the Amish community in Knox County has now spread to 368 people, and Ohio accounts for more than two-thirds of the nation's 539 cases this year. Since the disease's official elimination in the U.S. in 2000, the highest number of annual cases of measles was 220 in 2011, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Measles (also called rubeola) causes fever, runny nose, cough and a distinctive rash all over the body. While most people who contract measles will recover on their own, some do not fare as well. About one out of 1,000 children with measles gets encephalitis, and one or two out of 1,000 die, according to the CDC. There have been 10 hospitalizations in Ohio associated with the measles outbreak.
The Ohio outbreak began after two unvaccinated people from the Knox County Amish community traveling with a missionary aid group in the Philippines were infected. The Philippines is in the midst of a large, ongoing measles outbreak with more than 26,000 cases reported this year, according to the CDC.
The Knox County Health Department has administered more than 1,800 doses of the MMR (measles, mumps, rubella) vaccine at special clinics since the outbreak began. The majority of the state's cases-- 195-- are in Knox County. The remainder are in eight surrounding counties.
Both diseases are preventable. Two doses of the MMR vaccine are about 88 percent effective against infection with mumps, while one dose is about 78 percent effective. Two doses of MMR are 99 percent effectiveness against infection with measles.
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http://www.cleveland.com/healthfit/index.ssf/2014/07/ohio_mumps_cases_at_35-year_hi.html
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A cross-cultural study of parents' estimates of their own and their children's intelligence in a sample of Black and Indian South Africans.
This study investigated Black and Indian South African's estimates of their own intelligence and that of their first two children. Parents gave estimates for seven types of intelligence (Gardner's theory of multiple intelligences) and overall intelligence. The purpose of this study was to establish if gender and/or cultural differences existed in the estimates of intelligence. The participants were asked to complete a brief one-page questionnaire, the 'estimates of intelligence' questionnaire, which has been used in previous studies in this field (Furnham et al, 2004; Furnham et al, 2002a; Furnham & Mkhize, 2002; Furnham, 2000; Furnham et al, 1999; Furnham & Baguma, 1999, Furnham & Gasson, 1998). The results indicated that Indian South Africans gave higher estimates of intelligence than Black South Africans for their own intelligence and that of their children (first and secondborn children). In addition, mothers were found to give higher self-estimates for musical intelligence than their male counterparts. No gender differences were found for parents' estimates of their first and second-born children. In comparing parents' estimates of their own intelligence as compared to their children, parents gave higher estimates of their own intelligence. The predictors of overall intelligence were also explored. Parents were also asked to answer six close-ended questions, which investigated their views of intelligence and intelligence tests.
Showing items related by title, author, creator and subject.
The development and evaluation of a community-based programme offering psychosocial support to vulnerable children affected by HIV/AIDS, poverty and violence. Killian, Beverley Janet. (2004)This research programme endeavours to develop, implement and evaluate an effective method of offering psychosocial support to vulnerable children. Vulnerability is defined by trained community members as including children ...
Worth, Steven Hugh. (2008)This thesis is about agricultural extension education. The context is agricultural extension in South Africa. It addresses the following questions: To what extent does current agricultural extension education in South ...
Loan products to manage liquidity stress when broad-based black economic empowerment (BEE) enterprises invest in productive assets. Finnemore, Gareth Robert Lionel. (2005)Investments in productive assets by broad-based black economic empowerment (BEE) enterprises in South Africa (SA) during the 1990s have been constrained, in part, by a lack of access to capital. Even if capital can be ...
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http://researchspace.ukzn.ac.za/xmlui/handle/10413/1690
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The folks at Trusteer got their hands on the logs from some phishing sites and found that people using iPhones are more likely to fall for phishing attacks than users of other devices, including PCs.
Some of the findings included:
Mobile users get to the phishing site sooner than PC users.
Mobile users are 3 times more likely to submit their credentials to a phishing site than desktop users
8 times as many iPhone users accessed these phishing sites than did BlackBerry users.
It should come as no surprise that mobile users get to the phishing sites first. Many of these users are PC users who happen to get the phishing emails on their mobile devices before they check email on their desktop or laptop computers.
It also makes sense that mobile users would be more likely to submit credentials. The mobile screen does not show as much information as a full sized computer. Much of this information helps provide context and visual clues that make phishing sites easier to recognize. Mobile users who don’t have much experience with computers are probably also more likely to fall for phishing attacks.
The demographics of iPhone users are a bit different than the demographics of Blackberry users. Additionally many Blackberries are managed through BES, which allows IT administrators to more strictly control the devices. A Blackberry user potentially has better anti-spam protection than most iPhone users and antispam can filter out many phishing attacks.
What is not clear is why there is such a huge difference between iPhone and Android users. Nearly seven times as many iPhone users were reported to have fallen for phishing attacks as Android users. Possible explanations? Android users can download porn apps (iPhone users can’t) so they don’t have time to visit phishing sites? Perhaps the phishing sites that Trusteer got the logs from tended to target iPhone users? Without details it is impossible to know if the sample set was larger enough and diverse enough to have statistical relevance.
What we do know about phishing attacks is that it is the user and not the device that makes the decision to click on a link in a phishing email and to then enter their credentials. If you have an iPhone and then switch to an Android or other smartphone your personal risk of falling for a phishing attack is precisely the same. Phishing attacks are user dependant and device independent.
Director of Technical Education
Cyber Threat Analysis Center – ESET LLC
Author ESET Research, ESET
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http://www.welivesecurity.com/2011/01/06/is-it-the-iphone-or-the-user/
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mast, large metal or timber pole secured vertically or nearly vertically in a ship, used primarily for supporting sails and rigging. The mast is as old as sailing vessels, and the oldest sailboats depicted (those of ancient Egypt) had a small mast placed forward and carrying a single sail. The Phoenician bireme had one mast, the Greek trireme had two. Viking ships had one central mast. In the Middle Ages, a topmast was added, fixed to the single mast, to carry more sail; after the 16th cent., topmasts were generally demountable. By that time the building of larger vessels and the desire for greater speed on longer journeys had already brought increase in sails and in the masts—a process that continued until the clipper ships of the middle of the 19th cent. were rushed forward by clouds of sails. Above the topmast was added the topgallant mast and above that the topgallant mast royal. In vessels having more than one mast, a small forward mast is called the foremast and a small mast abaft the mainmast is called the mizzenmast. A platform for lookout on a mast is called a crow's nest. The modern merchant ship often has a mast made of hollow steel tubes, which is used mainly for signaling and for supporting radio antennas and lifts or derricks for cargo. In some modern warships the mast has a steel platform on which are mounted instruments for controlling gunfire.
The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2012, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.
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http://www.factmonster.com/encyclopedia/history/mast.html
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Free Write: 10 minutes
Students will write nonstop for a period of 10 minutes without stopping to make corrections, cross anything out, or judge their thoughts. This type of "stream of consciousness" writing allows for a flow of ideas and uncovers new ideas.
Mini-Focus Skill: 5-10 minutes (Will usually be taught during reading time and then reminded at the beginning of writing in order to point out what other good authors do and due to our limited time.)
We will focus on one skill a week to work on with the class. I will model the skill, then guide students, and finally, students will be required to apply the skill.
Bouncers: 10 minutes
If a student is starting a new writing project, students will find someone to bounce ideas off of to collectively discuss how the ideas are formed, supported, and argued.
Writing Process: 20 minutes (10 minutes for those coming from bouncing)
Students will plan, write, edit, revise, and publish their writing projects. I will meet with students individually to discuss what they want to look for in their writing and document what was discussed.
Students will share finished work with the class or small groups.
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<urn:uuid:0734f5c7-d721-4129-a201-96af3ea8cc11>
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https://sites.google.com/a/rock.k12.nc.us/mrs-monroe-s-class-website/our-writing-process
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Run "generate_synthetic_microstructures.m" to execute program! This tool generates a binary image with non-overlapping elliptical particles of varying aspect ratio, area fraction, and orientation. This zip file contains scripts that generate, place, and check for overlap in large numbers of ellipses in a computationally-efficient manner.
This tool was originally developed to examine the influence of particle aspect ratio, area fraction, and orientation on representative length scales in two-phase microstructures. This tool also includes the ability to generate particles with various distributions of particle sizes and orientations. Please cite reference #2 (Tschopp, Wilks, Spowart, “Multi-Scale Characterization of Orthotropic Microstructures,” MSMSE 16 (2008) 065009, http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/0965-0393/16/6/065009 ) if you use this program in your research. Our previous MATLAB submission, where these synthetic microstructures were used, explains the application of these microstructures…
“When assessing structure-property relationships for various materials, it is often necessary to define a representative length scale or volume element for characterization or simulation. The Multi-Scale Analysis of Area Fractions (MSAAF) technique characterizes the representative length scale of a two-phase composite microstructure (1). A previous MATLAB submission shows how to apply this technique in an isotropic form and a directional form; the directional form is used to assess the directional dependence of the length scale of the underlying microstructure. The directional form of the MSAAF technique has recently been applied to synthetic composite microstructures with second phase particles of varying area fraction, aspect ratio, and alignment (2). Additionally, the directional form has been modified such that it can be applied to any vector within the 2D microstructure image, i.e., the vector MSAAF technique (3). A visual representation of the vector MSAAF results has been used to show the change in the directional length scale as a function of the orientation of the vector.”
This MATLAB GUI script was developed as a computationally-efficient tool for researchers to design synthetic two-phase microstructures with elliptical particles in a voxelated image. This tool can be used to generate synthetic two-phase microstructures with little knowledge of the MATLAB programming required to obtain the results. For further information on the techniques or if you have comments, please contact Mark Tschopp at email@example.com.
(1) Spowart, Maruyama, Miracle, “Multi-Scale characterization of spatially heterogeneous systems: Implications for discontinuously reinforced metal matrix composite microstructures,” Materials Science & Engineering A 307 (2001) 51-66.
(2) Tschopp, Wilks, Spowart, “Multi-Scale Characterization of Orthotropic Microstructures,” MSMSE 16 (2008) 065009, http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/0965-0393/16/6/065009
(3) Wilks, Tschopp, Spowart, “Multi-Scale Characterization of Inhomogeneous Morphologically Textured Microstructures” (2009), in press, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.msea.2009.09.003
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CC-MAIN-2016-26
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http://www.mathworks.com/matlabcentral/fileexchange/25389-synthetic-microstructure-generator
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Happy Earth Awareness Month! Many people observe Earth Day (or Earth Week or Month) and participate in environmental activities during April. So I thought that this month I would write about conservation and preservation. Many people often use the terms conservation and preservation interchangeably, however, they slightly differ in meaning.
Conservation is the protection and management of the environment, natural habitats, wildlife species, or ecosystems. Conservation emphasizes wise human use of resources: the areas, plants, or animals are protected and maintained for current and future human use and benefit. Conservation may include restoring damaged ecosystems, preventing further degradation of resources, reversing habitat loss, and preventing further population declines of threatened and endangered species.
Preservation is the protection of nature with little to no human disturbance. The ecosystems, habitats, or wildlife species are protected for their own benefit. You may sometimes hear the saying that preservation is ‘the protection of nature for nature’s sake’. It is the goal of preservation to keep the plants, animals, ecosystems, or habitats in their original state or ‘pristine condition’, and to protect nature from human development. In preservation, there is restricted to little to no management, and little human disturbance of the ecosystem or species. The areas, plants, and animals are generally protected in the current state they are in.
How to help protect, conserve, and preserve the environment:
There are many ways to help protect the environment, plants, and animals. You can help by making changes in your day-to-day living to reduce your impact on the environment. This can be as simple as reducing the amount you consume, using eco-friendly alternatives, or doing more green activities and practices. An added plus is that many eco-friendly alternatives and practices are budget friendly or save you money in the long run. They are also healthier for you and your family.
You can also help conserve the environment by getting involved in your local community: many local groups, non-profit organizations, parks, and schools have Earth Day, Week, or Month activities, or regular green programs during the rest of the year. Check your local newspapers, contact schools, or your favorite local non-profits to see what activities are being held! And if you don’t have much time to participate in environmental activities then donate to your favorite green organization.
http://www.wilderness.net/ is an excellent educational website that discusses the U.S.’s wilderness areas, that are part of the National Wilderness Preservation System.
IUCN’s (International Union for Conservation of Nature) red list of threatened species is a great resource to look up a plant or animal’s conservation status. http://www.iucnredlist.org/
List of a few conservation, environmental, and preservation non-profits:
Society of Conservation Biology: http://www.conbio.org/
The Nature Conservancy: http://www.nature.org/
World Wildlife Fund: http://www.worldwildlife.org/home-full.html
The Wilderness Society: http://wilderness.org/
Marine Conservation Biology Institute: http://www.mcbi.org/
Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute: http://nationalzoo.si.edu/SCBI/default.cfm
Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society: http://www.wdcs.org/
Excellent list of environmental organizations:
Check your local government website for lists of nearby parks and local environmental groups!
List of some of my favorite plant and environmental online resources:
See my previous eco living articles for many great tips on green living (you may need to do a search in the search box, since not every article is listed and linked on the eco living article main page). http://www.allnaturalbeauty.com/articles/eco-living
Link to my eco blog (which has a couple hundred posts on all things green):
About The Author:
Li Wong is the owner of Earth Alkemie, an all natural, vegetarian skin care and mineral makeup company. She has a B.A. in Environmental Studies (Biology) and a M.S. in Environmental Science and Policy. Li has been crafting natural cosmetics and studying aromatherapy and herbalism since 2001. Environmental interests include conservation, botany, ethnobotany (uses of plants by indigenous peoples), mammals, organic standards in cosmetics, urban wildlife issues, environmental education and awareness, and public perception. For more information on environmental issues, Eco Living, natural cosmetics, aromatherapy, and herbalism check out: Solarkat’s Eco Blog: http://solarkateco.blogspot.com/
For information on Earth Alkemie's products (skin care, hair care, diy raw ingredients, and containers), properties of natural ingredients, the benefits of natural cosmetics, and green business practices, please visit Earth Alkemie’s blog: http://www.earthalkemie.com/blog
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CC-MAIN-2016-26
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http://allnaturalbeauty.com/articles/eco-living/68-environmental-issues/733-eco-living-conservation-and-preservation
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|Coconut palm (Cocos nucifera)|
The coconut palm is a palm tree in the family Arecaceae (palm family). It is a large palm, growing to 30 m tall. It has long leaves that are 4–6 m long. The term coconut refers to the fruit of the coconut palm. The coconut tree is a monocot.
There are many coconut palms on the coasts of India and Bangladesh. People of this area use coconut milk in cooking. Women use coconut oil as oil for their hair. The coconut's shell is relatively hard, but can be broken. Because its shell is hard, it can be used as an ingredient to make craftworks.
A coconut is a large nut. Coconuts grow in tropical countries. The flesh of a coconut is white and can be eaten raw or used in cooking. It is used in many of the foods we eat for flavour. It is native to tropical areas.
Seed dispersal[change | change source]
Coconuts floats on water and can float to another island and germinate there. It has often been noted that coconuts can travel 110 days, or 3000 miles, by sea and still be able to germinate.
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<urn:uuid:2b350cc4-997e-42b1-93bf-864b2c99d939>
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https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coconut_palm
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The bureaucracy consists of a group of people who are trained and dedicated to serving the country without fear or prejudice regarding the ruling political dispensation. A bureaucrat’s primary loyalty is not to his political master but to the Constitution of the country and to the service to which he belongs. In India, bureaucrats coming out of the various administrative services report through a calibrated chain of command to the cabinet secretary. The cabinet secretary serves as the head of the bureaucracy and is responsible for postings and transfers; from him this power and responsibility devolve to the chief secretaries in the provinces. This is how the system should work and has worked. There are glaring violations, of course, of the principles on which the bureaucratic system functions. In some states — Uttar Pradesh comes to mind — postings and transfers of bureaucrats have often become extensions of political patronage and punishment. A bureaucrat is rewarded or punished for his loyalty (or the absence of it) to the ruling party and not for doing his duty. In West Bengal, under the rule of the Left Front, officials were accustomed to taking orders from party bosses.
There are many aspects of the working of the bureaucracy that are not written down as law but have developed as protocol through practice and convention. These conventions are based on one common assumption: bureaucrats will remain true to their calling, their conscience and to the service. This assumption is often honoured only in the breach. Officers obey their political masters expecting rewards or to avoid being transferred to remote districts. Such fears do not apply in the case of those occupying the higher rungs of the bureaucracy — the chief secretary of a state, for example. It is therefore not too difficult for a chief secretary to politely but firmly turn down a request/order from even the chief minister if/when he feels that such an order is unjust, violative of the Constitution and the law, and/or goes against his conscience. When a chief secretary is strong enough to take such a position, the message filters down the service and provides a fillip to junior officers. This demonstration effect is important for the morale of the service. It is imperative that bureaucrats realize that in doing their duties much more is involved than the furthering of their careers.
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<urn:uuid:2312d338-3058-4cf0-a83f-9d39136cb6d4>
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CC-MAIN-2016-26
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http://www.telegraphindia.com/1140429/jsp/opinion/story_18286953.jsp
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Apollo 8 was a watershed mission in the Apollo Project not just for NASA and the United States, but it also had a profound impact on how humanity viewed the Earth. Though the concept of the Earth as a spaceship hurtling through the cosmos had been around for a while, notably in Buckminster Fuller's quote: "...we're all astronauts aboard a little spaceship called Earth", the Christmas broadcast of the beautiful blue Earth floating in the blackness of space instantly and irrevocably changed how we looked at our only home.
On the evening of December 24th, 1968, having entered lunar orbit earlier that day, the crew closed their televised message back to Earth by reading the following passages from the Book of Genesis as they beamed back the iconic image of Earthrise over the moon:
"For all the people on Earth the crew of Apollo 8 has a message we would like to send you".
"In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep.
And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.
And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.
And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness."
"And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night.
And the evening and the morning were the first day.
And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters,
and let it divide the waters from the waters.
And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament
from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so.
And God called the firmament Heaven.
And the evening and the morning were the second day."
"And God said, Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together unto one place,
and let the dry land appear: and it was so.
And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas:
and God saw that it was good."
Borman signed off with:
"And from the crew of Apollo 8, we close with good night, good luck,
a Merry Christmas, and God bless all of you - all of you on the good Earth."
The emotional impact of this broadcast, the feeling of the times during the Apollo project and the "race to the moon", specially as experienced from a child's point of view, i.e., free of the overtones of geopolitics and the Cold War, is hard to convey. It was a moment in the 1960s that was pregnant with possibility and the belief that people could be perfectly altruistic. It gave us hope that we were not going to blow the Earth to smithereens. It also was one of the first truly international broadcasts and in some ways the birth of the global village.
The mission was in fact, a purely political move. As originally scheduled in the Apollo project plan, Apollo 8, which was only the second manned Apollo shot, was to be an Earth orbit mission to test the lunar lander systems. NASA suspected that the Soviet Union was going to attempt to beat the United States to a circumlunar mission and decided to change the mission profile.
Jim Lovell would go on to fly as commander of the ill-fated Apollo 13 mission. Interestingly enough, if the accident had happened to Apollo 8, they would have died. In their haste to beat the Russians Apollo 8 had not carried a lunar module which Apollo 13 used as a lifeboat.
Apollo 8 Christmas Broadcast, http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/lunar/apollo8_xmas.html, 7/24/2004
Fuller Projection Map, http://www.bfi.org/map.htm, 7/24/2004
Apollo 8, http://www-pao.ksc.nasa.gov/history/apollo/apollo-8/apollo-8.htm, 7/24/2004
Apollo 8-wikipedeia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_8, 7/24/2004
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A Safer Bean
'Healthy' soybeans can replace oils with unsafe trans fats.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced Nov. 7 that they were ruling trans fats as unsafe in food. This determination could ultimately lead to a ban of trans fats in baked goods and many other foods, such as icings and fried foods. Trans fats have been linked to increased risks for heart attacks and strokes. Researchers at the University of Missouri have been working for years to create healthy alternatives to trans fats and say they have found a way to create soybean oil that has no trans fats.
Currently, in order to preserve soybean oil for cooking, manufacturers use a process called hydrogenation, which is what creates the trans fats. Oils with high levels of oleic acid, like olive oil, are able to be preserved for much longer without having to add trans fats. Grover Shannon, a professor of plant sciences in the MU College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources, along with Kristin Bilyeu, an MU plant sciences adjunct assistant professor and USDA molecular biologist, has found a naturally occurring gene in soybeans that, when combined with another natural gene, increases the amount of oleic acid in the oil from 20 percent to 80 percent.
“By raising the levels of oleic acid in soybean oil, we can effectively create a healthy alternative to foods with trans fats,” Shannon said. “We are working with researchers around the country to begin growing these healthier soybeans and get the soybean oil into the market as soon as we can.”Posted on Nov 14, 2013.
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The world has 8.7 million species
The estimate is based on how species are
classed together, using a system developed by Linnaeus in the 18th
Noah’s Ark could never have contained them: there are probably about
8.7 million species of living things, the vast majority of them
undiscovered, according to what is believed to be the most authoritative
estimate ever carried out of the scale of life on earth.
So far, about 1.2 million species, ranging from microscopic insects
to the blue whale, the largest living creature, have been described, but
it has always been recognised that the true total is very much higher.
Previous estimates have ranged from three million, right up to 100
million, but the new figure, based on an innovative analytical
technique, dramatically narrows the range of possibilities.
The assessment, by scientists from the Census of Marine Life, a
10-year international study of life in the oceans which reported last
year, indicates there are 6.5 million species living on the land and 2.2
million about a quarter of the total in the oceans.
Yet 86 per cent of the terrestrial species and 91 per cent of the
marine species have yet to be discovered, described and catalogued, with
many of them likely to be small creatures in inaccessible locations,
such as beetles in the rainforest canopy or marine animals in the deep
ocean (although large animals are still being found in countries such as
Vietnam and Papua New Guinea).
“The question of how many species exist has intrigued scientists for
centuries and the answer... is particularly important now because a host
of human activities and influences are accelerating the rate of
extinctions,” said Camilo Mora of the University of Hawaii and Dalhousie
University in Halifax, Canada, one of the lead authors of the study.
“Many species may vanish before we even know of their existence, of
their unique niche and function in ecosystems, and of their potential
contribution to improved human well-being,” he added.
The estimate is based on the way species are classed together, using
the taxonomic classification system developed by the Swedish biologist
Linnaeus in the 18th century, which is still in use today.
This groups forms of life in a pyramid-like hierarchy, ranked upwards
from species to genus, family, order, class, phylum, kingdom and domain.
Analysing data on ocean species, the scientists spotted a numerical
pattern linking the higher taxonomic levels to species numbers, which
allows the latter to be predicted.
- The Independent
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Many animal species display facial expressions, but expressions are particularly developed in primates. In fact, some primates, such as chimpanzees, have complex facial expressions with many physical and functional similarities to humans. These are “critically important for coordinating social interaction, facilitating group cohesion and maintaining individual social relationships,” according to researchers at Emory University’s Yerkes National Primate Research Center.
Here’s a look at some of our favorite photos of expressive primates — from grumpy gorillas to spooked spider monkeys. (Text: Laura Moss)
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What's Behind The Stark Rise In Children's Disabilities
AUDIE CORNISH, HOST:
Six million - that's how many children are considered disabled in the U.S. today, a nearly 16 percent increase from a decade ago. And what accounts for that rise is explained in a new study out this week in the Journal of Pediatrics. The research shows that while physical disabilities are down, neurodevelopmental or mental health conditions are up, especially among children from more affluent families.
The lead author of the report is Dr. Amy Houtrow. She's associate professor at Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh. Welcome to the program.
AMY HOUTROW: Thank you very much for having me.
CORNISH: So you mine this data from the National Health Interview Survey, and I understand this is a survey where parents are reporting, right, the disabilities of their kids? How do they define disability?
HOUTROW: In this study, disability is defined as activity limitations. So that's relatively broad. It can be anything that the parent identified that their child isn't able to do in the same way other children are able to do. So for example, being able to take care of themselves, walk around without a device to help them, needing special education services or early intervention, or anything else that the parent could pinpoint where their child was limited in their activities compared to other children.
CORNISH: So help us understand the most recent data here. What disabilities are we seeing less of, and what disabilities are we seeing more of?
HOUTROW: In this study over the ten-year period, we actually saw a decrease in disability related to physical health conditions, such as asthma or having an injury. We saw an increase in disability related to neurodevelopmental and mental health conditions. Those conditions are things like ADHD or learning disabilities or any developmental problem that could be a cause of neurodevelopmental disabilities.
CORNISH: Now here's the thing, you note in the research that it's more affluent families who account for a greater increase in the cases of those disorders in particular. Talk a little bit about what those numbers actually looked like. Where did you see it? Where did it stand out?
HOUTROW: Well, the first point is that we know the experience of disability, it's just much more common among children in less-advantaged households. But the children who lived in more advantaged households had a greater relative increase of 28 percent compared to children who live in poverty, for example. They had a rate increase of 10.7 percent. But still, the absolute numbers of children who have disabilities is much higher among those who live in poverty.
CORNISH: Now what are some of the factors that might account for this?
HOUTROW: This study can't tell us exactly why these trends are occurring. We hypothesize that perhaps the rates of autism are increasing and the rates of other neurodevelopmental and mental health conditions are rising, and therefore disability related to those conditions is also on the rise. I also think there might be some shifts in terms of how society feels about talking about disability, being more open and seeking out a diagnosis.
And this brings to light something else - something about health care access. So we know children who live in poverty have less ability to access the health care system, and so therefore maybe children who are in more affluent families have better access to getting a diagnosis and therefore getting treatment.
CORNISH: You also write that doctors may be contributing to this as a result of undetected bias. In what way and what's your basis for that assessment?
HOUTROW: There's quite a bit of literature that supports the idea that the way physicians and health care providers approach families differs in terms of what the family brings to the table and the encounter. So a family from a more affluent background is able to articulate their concerns and their needs in a different way. That might raise the suspicion of the doctor to look for the condition, to make a diagnosis and recommend treatment. On the flipside, a family who is less affluent might not bring to the attention of the provider in the same way, nor may the provider ask the questions that would lead them down the path of making a diagnosis of a developmental problem or mental health problem.
CORNISH: Dr. Amy Houtrow, she's associate professor at Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh. Thanks so much for speaking with us.
HOUTROW: Thank you for having me on the show. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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G, or the test statistic, can be determined for a specific point by taking the deviation of that test value from the mean of all the values, and then divided by the standard deviation of all the values (s), including the test value. The specific entry to be tested should be the one that has the greatest distance from the average of all the values (indicated by the "max" in the equation above). Obviously, the first point we want to test as an outlier is the point furthest away from the rest of the points. Once we have calculated G, or our test statistic, we can compare it to the critical region to determine if the point being tested is an outlier.
The equation for the critical region relies on the number of points in the data sample (N) and an upper critical value of the t-distribution denoted by 't' (go ahead and ignore the subscript following the letter, it basically marks that the t-value is considered with N-2 degrees of freedom). We determine t by looking up its value on a t-distribution table for normal distribution, in respect to the degree of confidence we wish to have that a value above a calculated threshold is outside of normal distribution. If you wish to learn more about how exactly this works, please feel free to visit Wikipedia's article on t-distribution. But now we must press forward.
We calculate the critical region by plugging in the number of entries in our sample of data (N) and the t-distribution value (t) appropriate to the number of entries and degree of certainty of choosing (such as 95%). If our test statistic, G, is greater than the critical region, the value in question is an outlier (with 95% certainty in this case). Higher percentages of certainty used in determining the t-value will identify less points as outliers, and vice versa.
But enough math. Time to program.
(If you really are interested in the math, the Wikipedia articles on Grubbs' test and outliersare very informative.)
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It’s oh so easy to overlook what’s happening online—and if librarians, educators, and parents don’t notice it, why on Earth should kids?
What’s the mysterious it I’m referring to? Quite simply, every day young people are being bombarded by subtly manipulative forms of marketing on their favorite websites. Hang on a minute, you may be thinking, my students only visit sites that are safe, filtered, and free—what’s not to like?
Well, the problem is that more often than not these free kid-friendly sites are also extremely brand-friendly and advertising-friendly. Take, for instance, “advergames,” popular digital destinations for members of Gen Z. As the name suggests, an advergame is a hybrid of two different types of media, and it’s that dual nature that makes advergames (which often include harmless diversions like mazes, memory challenges, puzzles, and cute racing circuits) so sneaky: kids recognize the “game” part readily enough. The “adver” part? Not so much.
The goal of media literacy is, in part, to help students perceive those distinctions—and that’s where librarians and other educators can play a vital role. Advergames and their new media equivalents, such as Web and mobile ads, are far subtler than a massive roadside billboard or a banner draped across a classroom chalkboard that proclaims, “Sponsored by General Motors.” In fact, Web marketing often represents a kind of sleight-of-hand that’s connected to a much more scrutinized advertising platform: TV.
According to Emma Alder, who studied TV ads in children’s and teen programming at the Center for Research on the Effects of Television (CRETv) in 2008 and 2009, roughly 56 percent of all on-air commercials encourage kids to visit a specific website. That’s a substantial percentage, but it’s not overwhelming, right? But just take a look at the data presented in “Children and Advertising: Content, Comprehension, and Consequences,” an article which appeared in Dorothy G. Singer and Jerome L. Singer’s Handbook of Children and the Media (Sage, 2011). In the report, the University of Arizona’s Dale Kunkel (who was part of the American Psychological Association’s influential Task Force on Advertising and Children) and Jessica Castonguay cite research that shows that 87 percent of “children’s most popular websites [include] some form of advertising.” Their report also draws on additional research from the past decade that demonstrates that these “websites not only contain traditional billboard or banner-style advertising but also include advergames that engage children in entertaining activities while immersing them in a product-related environment” and that “advergames [are] included in 63 percent of children’s websites.”
Aye, and there’s the rub. Websites associated with children’s television, including the Cartoon Network, Nickelodeon, and even PBS Kids, offer advergames as one of their main draws. No, these games aren’t hawking junk food or toys that promote gender stereotypes (although on a recent visit to the Disney Channel’s home page, I was treated to a Barbie ad that automatically began playing as soon as I arrived). Instead, these activities feature a form of advertising that’s akin to TV’s on-air promo in which the “product” being promoted is simply television programming itself. This blurring of online content’s entertainment and commercial functions is troubling, especially since kids may not be aware of the latter. Like others who study this phenomenon, CRETv’s director, Cyndy Scheibe, calls it “advertising bleed”— in which the line between commercial and noncommercial content has been muddied, perhaps intentionally.
Does the attempt to create stronger brand loyalty for shows like SpongeBob really constitute a public health menace that must be stamped out immediately? What harm can possibly come of it? Here’s how Erin McNeill, the founder of the website “Marketing, Media and Childhood,” sees it: “Among the philosophical reasons why the overwhelming amount of advertising that is directed at children today is a particular problem is that it sets them up early with materialistic values that can lead to a lifetime of unhappiness.”
Does that sound too abstract, not sufficiently hard-nosed for you? If so, McNeill is quick to point out that, in the United States at least, there’s a prohibition against “unfair and deceptive acts or practices in commerce,” which the Federal Trade Commission is charged with enforcing. Of course, this begs the question of whether advergames are always deceptive. When they’re aimed at children, I personally feel that they are, but don’t just take my word for it: according to the American Academy of Pediatrics, directing any form of advertising at kids younger than eight years old is inherently deceptive and, therefore, exploitative. Why? Because children of that age simply lack the analytical tools to react responsibly to those ads. And as far as I’m concerned, kids older than that don’t necessarily have those tools either, by virtue of their age alone—indeed, it’s up to us to ensure that they do.
It may seem that the best thing for librarians to do is simply to ban the presence of most websites that target kids with their ads. But the concept of censoring content isn’t one that fans of libraries and free speech are fond of, and with good reason. Moreover, for educators there’s also a key media literacy lesson to be learned here. As Scheibe, coauthor of The Teacher’s Guide to Media Literacy: Critical Thinking in a Multimedia World (Corwin, 2011), puts it, “I think that trying to steer children—especially younger children—away from websites that contain commercial messages is one way to go, but if we only do that, there is a missed opportunity for the teachable moment. We want them to get into the habit of asking questions about the content they’re seeing, whether it’s websites or news or advertising.”
How can we help kids become more media literate? Well, as it turns out, there’s plenty we can do. Here are some teaching strategies that can be used with kids in a wide range of grades:
• Start by asking students some basic questions, including, “Why might these sites provide free games when others require payment?” I’ve asked fourth and fifth graders that question, and it’s sparked some great “Aha!” moments—especially when kids connect the concept to free TV programs and how, in essence, the viewers are the “products” whose eyeballs are “sold” to the advertisers.
• Help kids decode individual Web pages and identify popular advertising practices. For example, point out that banner ads typically appear at the top of a page and smaller ads are often in the margins.
• Teach struggling readers how to spot crucial “ad breaks.” Since the word “advertisement” may appear perpendicular to the main text, it may be difficult for some students to notice it.
• Point out how games commonly include distinctive logos that are designed to make a lasting impression on viewers. Patricia A. Russac and Mercer Hall, a library director and classroom teacher, respectively, at New York’s Buckley Country Day School, use this strategy as early as second grade, when they begin teaching kids about branding and logo design. “We use cereal boxes which hang in the library to identify the different aspects used to sell to adults vs. children,” says Russac. “The kids love it and really learn to decode them, especially when they can compare three different brands of the same product such as Cheerios or Chex. They learn to look at color, cartoon characters, fonts, placement, and nutrition. They notice things such as the letters in ‘Go Lean’ cereal get thinner as it’s spelled.”
• Encourage self-reflection by asking students how frequent exposure to TV shows’ logos, characters, and other aspects of their “brand” may eventually lead to a preference for them.
• Explain that sneak previews and exclusive video clips, regardless of how much fun or informative they might be, are actually ads, much like movie trailers and the behind-the-scenes “news” segments that one sees in theaters.
• Here’s a great one, suggested by Scheibe that turns the notion of games on its head: “We can empower children—rather than simply protect them—by playing a game of ‘guess what they’re selling?’ and teaching them to spot ads and product placements in a wide range of content,” she says.
At the beginning of the school year, Jane Koestler, a teacher at South Hill Elementary School, in Ithaca, NY, teaches children about product placement in the broader world—and in school. One particularly instructive moment occurred when she was screening a film about puberty and noticed that the makers of Always sanitary napkins sponsored it. When the inevitable product placement arrived, Koestler focused the discussion on media literacy, rather than on the lesson’s initial curricular purpose.
• Explain how free goodies such as desktop “wallpapers” also constitute a form of promotion. Ask your kids, “Who’s really getting something for free here—you or the company that now has a free ad via your property?”
• Encourage critical thinking about online tools that are used for media production or remixing. While these resources can provide important learning experiences, point out that the elements being remixed or repurposed usually involve proprietary characters, rather than students’ own creations.
• Most importantly, encourage kids to monitor their own online usage patterns. How, for example, did they find out about a particular website, and what are its subtle influencers that prompt them to watch yet more television… in effect forging a symbiotic relationship between the two media?
To be sure, research findings are still emerging on the effects of online ads and the pedagogical approaches that might best address them. Still, we now know that the goal is, yes, to have kids enjoy all that engaging free online content, but in a way that both exercises and strengthens their media and information literacies.
So, yes, it’s easy not to do anything about all the e-marketing that’s aimed at kids—but it’s also not that difficult to help students develop the critical thinking skills that they desperately need.
Peter Gutiérrez (email@example.com) explores the world of pop culture, media literacy, and critical thinking on his SLJ blog, “Connect the Pop.”
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DOCUMENTARY LINK: http://youtu.be/zyIb8dUmOyM
Fao.org. Spotlight: Livestock impacts on the environment.
Goodland, R Anhang, J. “Livestock and Climate Change: What if the key actors in climate change were pigs, chickens and cows?”
WorldWatch, November/December 2009. Worldwatch Institute, Washington, DC, USA. Pp. 10–19.
NASA. “Methane: Its Role as a Greenhouse Gas.” Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
IPCC. "Climate Change 2013: The Physical Science Basis." Working Group I.
Please note the following PDF is very large and may take a while to load:
“Livestock’s Long Shadow: Environmental Issues and Options.” Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. 2006.
“USDA ERS – Irrigation & Water Use.” United States Department of Agriculture Economic Research Service. 2013.
Robbins, John. “2,500 Gallons, All Wet?” EarthSave
* SOURCE : http://www.cowspiracy.com/facts/
This is an interesting information on the livestock industry. I think people should be aware of this and if it deemed to be true about the water consumption then perhaps there will be another way of resolving this issue.
If you want to read an article about expat schools or American school in Singapore then you should check out Singapore International School by going to this website http://www.sas.edu.sg/page.cfm?p=350.
Climate Pollution - How Ireland stacks up
Among rich countries Ireland is the 6th most generous overseas aid donor per person. But, Ireland is the 5th most climate polluting country per person.
If everybody lived like the Irish we would need the resources of more than three planet Earths to survive. But we have just one Earth. And if it is to be a just one, we will all have to do our fair share to prevent climate chaos.
Ireland is emitting 17 tonnes of greenhouse gases per person per year (2003, 2004, 2005). This makes us the second worst polluter in the European Union after Luxembourg and compares to an EU average of 11 tonnes.
At a recent show on small-scale power, I saw an interesting display of a domestic biogas generator, ideal for installing in suburban household. It's a good deal: garden waste in, three plate-hours of gas per day out, and it couples to the sewerage system so there's no maintenance. Good so far.
But then I asked the question, "what happens when you're not using the three hours of gas?" The answer is that excess gas simply vents into the sewers.
Now this is not a good solution. Biogas/sewer gas is methane, and although this methane gas in not a fossil fuel, it is still methane, with 25 times the global warming capacity of carbon dioxide. It is not something that is responsible to vent into the atmosphere. So on the one hand one can displace a fossil fuel with a biofuel, but the spillage of that biofuel leads to increased global warming.
Biogas is used, in places, to generate electricity. One can make money out of this, by capturing methane, say from a landfill, and burning it in an engine that spins a generator and sell the electricity and the carbon credits.
But the engine one uses to spin the generator is a heat engine, and immediately two thirds of the energy is lost as heat. Some methane now will not be vented into the atmosphere, which is good, but it does represent a lost opportunity: more fossil electricity could have been displaced by the biogas. Additionally, generators are expensive, require a lot of maintenance and are more inefficient the smaller they are. It would hardly be worth anyone's while to run one at home.
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Happy birthday, snow buoys!
Since January 2014 two snow depth buoys deliver continuously information about the snow depth on Antarctic sea ice. During this time they traveled 5200 kilometers and each took more than 17500 measurements along the route.
During the Polarstern expedition 2014 sea ice physicists of the Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research brought both snow buoys out on the sea ice in the Weddell Sea. It was expected that the batteries would run 12 to 18 months.
But so far the buoys don’t show any signal of weakness. Regardless of how long they will persevere the measurements are already the longest autonomous time series to observe snow depth on Antarctic sea ice.
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A liberal's legacy
He stayed true to his liberal ideals throughout the post-war era and fought against the anti-communist demagogy of the 1950s, battled for workers rights and racial justice and opposed the Vietnam War. Lawyer Joseph L. Rauh left his stamp on the nation’s law and politics, as Michael E. Parrish describes in “Citizen Rauh,” published this month by the University of Michigan Press. Here, Parrish, a professor of history at the University of California, San Diego, outlines Rauh’s progressive vision and its continuing legacy.
By Michael E. Parrish
Justice Louis Brandeis once described his protégé, Felix Frankfurter, as “the most useful lawyer in America” during the 1920’s in reference to the latter’s broad impact on the nation’s legal institutions and politics. Frankfurter had been a federal prosecutor, a defender of despised radicals like Tom Mooney and Sacco and Vanzetti, an adviser to presidents, a Harvard law professor, a government administrator, a constitutional litigator, and a legal scholar-public intellectual.
In the years from World War II until his death in 1992 at the age of 81, that same title of the nation’s “most useful lawyer” could have been bestowed upon Frankfurter’s former law clerk, Washington attorney Joseph L. Rauh.
Given the large and diverse universe of celebrated lawyers who shared all or a portion of that era with Joe Rauh, the title will no doubt be disputed. One thinks of Thurgood Marshall and Jack Greenburg in the arena of civil rights; criminal defense specialists such as F. Lee Bailey, Edward Bennett Williams and Alan Dershowitz; the king of torts, Melvin Belli; constitutional litigators, David Boies and Lawrence Tribe; governmental insiders,Clark Clifford and Lloyd Cutler; and the defenders of outsiders, William Kunstler, Leonard Weinglass, and Arthur Kinoy.
But Rauh’s stature, like that of Frankfurter’s, arose not from a single specialty, but from the sheer breadth of his impact in diverse legal arenas that included courtrooms, legislative committee hearings, administrative agencies, the executive branch, political conventions, and advocacy groups and that touched virtually every aspect of public law from civil liberties and civil rights to labor-management relations.
Few American lawyers fought Majority Leader Lyndon Johnson over civil rights and the filibuster, then later helped President Johnson pass the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and finally battled LBJ again over the Mississippi Freedom Party and the war in Vietnam.
Fewer worked with Walter Reuther to create the powerful United Auto Workers and later backed labor rebels like Jock Yablonski and Ed Sadlowski when the unions became sclerotic and corrupt. No lawyer did more to shape the civil rights platform of the Democratic Party from Truman to Kennedy and how that party allocated convention delegates. And no lawyer waged a more relentless or successful campaign against governmental repression from Truman’s loyalty-security program and Congressional witch hunts of the McCarthy-HUAC era to the CIA’s brainwashing experiments on Canadians.
As a founder of Americans for Democratic Action and the liberal conscience of the Democratic Party, Rauh backed more losers than winners: Harriman, Humphrey, McCarthy, McGovern, Ted Kennedy, Moe Udall, Tom Harkin. He would have cheered Obama’s victory in 2008, but have been among the first to criticize him, too, as he did with John Kennedy, Jimmy Carter, and candidate Bill Clinton in 1992 when they strayed too far from liberal positions on civil rights and the economy.
Russell Feingold, often in dissent against party orthodoxy, would be today his ideal of a United States senator, not Charles Schumer or Harry Reid.
Joe Rauh loved old-fashioned, bare-knuckled political scraps and would have relished the prospect of joining David Boies and those who argued for Al Gore’s electoral victory in 2000. A man of deep and abiding principles with respect to equality, he would have praised Ted Olson’s legal advocacy in the California gay marriage litigation, although disagreeing with Olson on virtually every other issue.
He would have reserved his highest accolades, however, for those lawyers like Michael Ratner and David Cynamon, who led the charge to overturn the government’s misguided and dangerous policies with respect to the detainees at Guantanamo. Following his victory in the Boumediene case that reaffirmed detainees’ right to habeas corpus and struck down trial by military commissions, Ratner observed, “my whole life has been spent jousting with government.” Joe Rauh would have said, “Amen” to that. We need lawyers like Joe Rauh today, more than ever.
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The novel H7N9 avian flu appears to be less severe than the highly pathogenic H5N1 avian flu but more severe than the 2009 pandemic H1N1 flu, researchers reported.
The first estimate of the severity profile of the novel flu suggests that it kills 36% of those who are admitted to a hospital, according to Chinese researchers led by Yu Wang, PhD, of the Chinese equivalent of the CDC in Beijing.
That's lower than the 60% observed worldwide with H5N1, but higher than the 21% seen in China with the pandemic H1N1 strain, the researchers reported online in The Lancet.
In a separate paper in the journal, the same group of researchers found epidemiological similarities and differences between the two avian influenza strains and warned that -- if they follow similar temporal patterns -- the H7N9 flu could recur this fall.
The severity estimates are the best that can be done "in view of the available information," commented Cécile Viboud, PhD, of the NIH in Bethesda, Md., and Lone Simonsen, PhD, of George Washington University in Washington, D.C.
But the uncertainty surrounding them means "public health experts will have to make policy decisions on the basis of uncomfortably broad confidence limits" when and if the flu returns, they argued in an accompanying commentary.
On the other hand, they noted, it is "reassuring" that the data suggest a substantially less severe disease course for the H7N9 flu than has been seen for H5N1.
According to the World Health Organization, there have been 630 laboratory-confirmed human cases of H5N1 infection since 2003, of which 375 resulted in death.
The agency is also reporting 132 laboratory-confirmed cases of H7N9 flu, including 37 deaths.
For their analysis, Wang and colleagues estimated the risk of fatality, mechanical ventilation, and admission to intensive care for the 123 patients who required hospital admission for medical reasons.
They used data from sentinel influenza-like illness (ILI) surveillance to develop an estimate of the case-fatality risk among patients who had symptoms, but who may or may not have needed hospital care.
Among the 123 hospital patients, 37 had died and 69 had recovered by May 28, the date the last lab-confirmed case was reported. After adjusting for incomplete results on the 17 patients still hospitalized, Wang and colleagues estimated the following risks:
- Fatality: 36% (on admission for all ages)
- Mechanical ventilation or death: 69% (the comparator was recovery without needing ventilation)
- Admission to intensive care, mechanical ventilation, or fatality: 83% (where the comparator was recovery without needing intensive care or ventilation)
Interestingly, they reported, the fatality risk estimate varied significantly by age (at P=0.0019) -- 18% for those younger than 60 and 49% for those 60 and older.
For the people who died, the median time to death was -- 11 days, while for those who recovered the median time to recovery was 18 days.
Depending on assumptions about the coverage of the sentinel surveillance network and how patients with ILI sought healthcare, the case-fatality rate among patients with symptoms ranged between 0.16% and 2.8%, Wang and colleagues reported.
They cautioned that the estimates are based on several simplifying assumptions -- such as no change in healthcare-seeking behavior despite the reports of the flu -- that could lead to bias if there were more or fewer symptomatic cases.
Nevertheless, the results "support continued vigilance and sustained intensive control efforts against the virus to minimize risk of human infection, which is greater than previously recognized," they argued.
In the second paper, the researchers found that in urban areas -- for both H7N9 and H5N2 flu -- men were more likely to be infected, suggesting that one of the main risk factors is handling infected poultry.
In the countryside, where most Chinese cases of H5N1 since 2003 have occurred, most victims have been women, possibly because they would have had greater exposure to "rearing, slaughtering, and cooking of backyard poultry" than men.
In the cities, however, men would be involved in obtaining poultry from live markets and would thus be more likely to be exposed, the researchers suggested.
The average incubation periods of the two viruses are similar, they reported -- 3.1 days for H7N9 (shorter than previous estimates) and 3.3 days for H5N1.
They also found that the median age of people with confirmed H7N9 infection was 62, compared with 26 for H5N1.
In urban areas, 74% of patients with both viruses were men, but in rural areas the proportions of the viruses in men were 62% for H7N9 and 33% for H5N1.
And 75% of patients with H7N9 and 71% of those with H5N1 reported recent exposure to poultry.
The researchers also noted that the onset of warmer weather appears to have led to a retreat by the H7N9 flu, with only one new confirmed case since May 8.
But "if H7N9 follows a similar pattern to H5N1, the epidemic could reappear in the autumn," they warned.
They added that the lull provides an opportunity to fine-tune preventive public health measures and clinical management, as well as to build up regional capacity to cope with the possibility that H7N9 could spread beyond China.
The analyses had support from the Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology, the Research Fund for the Control of Infectious Disease, the Hong Kong University Grants Committee, the China–US Collaborative Program on Emerging and Re-emerging Infectious Diseases, the Harvard Center for Communicable Disease Dynamics, the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease, and the NIH. Authors Benjamin Cowling, PhD, and Gabriel Leung, MD, reported financial links with industry; the remaining authors made no disclosures, according to the journal.
The comment authors did not report any financial links wth industry.
- Reviewed by Robert Jasmer, MD Associate Clinical Professor of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco and Dorothy Caputo, MA, BSN, RN, Nurse Planner
The LancetSource Reference: Yu H, et al "Human infection with avian influenza A H7N9 virus: an assessment of clinical severity" Lancet 2013; DOI: 10.1016/S0140-6736(13)61207-6.
The LancetSource Reference: Cowling BJ, et al "Comparative epidemiology of human infections with avian influenza A H7N9 and H5N1 viruses in China: a population-based study of laboratory-confirmed cases" Lancet 2013; DOI: 10.1016/S0140-6736(13)61171-X.
The LancetSource Reference: Viboud C, Simonsen L "Timely estimates of influenza A H7N9 infection severity" Lancet 2013; DOI: 10.1016/S0140-6736(13)61447-6.
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Zebras spend up to 60% of their day eating, but the question is what are they eating? Are they eating a smaller animal? No, zebras are not carnivores, not even omnivores. The zebra is a herbivore, a grazer, and spends most of it’s day eating grass. Their teeth and lips allow them to bite the grass off and grind it up with their molars. The have a digestive system and metabolism that can thrive on a low-nutrition diet. When grass may not be as abundant, they will eat shrubs, twigs, bark, and leaves. However they much prefer grass, every dry grass, grass stems, and sheath. Zebras in zoos are fed hay, oats, and alfalfa, much like horses. In the wild though they tend to stay near a water hole in grasslands, savannas, coastal, hill, or mountainous regions. Since they spend so much of their time eating, they have to migrate after they have depleted an area of it’s grass.
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Skip to Content
Home > Patients & Visitors > Health Library > Interactive Tool: When Are You Most Fertile?
This interactive tool estimates your peak
fertility period, also known as your "fertile window." This is when you are
most likely to get pregnant. Do not use this tool to prevent pregnancy.
the tool, you will enter the typical length of your menstrual cycle, and you
will click on the first day of your last menstrual period.
Your "fertile window"
is up to 6 days long, once a month. It includes:
If you want to become pregnant, try to have sex every day or every other day from your first fertile day to your last fertile day.
If your periods are irregular, this
calculator is not a good way to predict your ovulation dates. Do not use this
tool to prevent pregnancy.
For more information, see the topics
Fertility Problems. If you are looking for information
on birth control, see the topic
Other Works Consulted
Fritz MA, Speroff L (2011). Clinical Gynecologic Endocrinology and Infertility, 8th ed., Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams and Wilkins.
ByHealthwise StaffPrimary Medical ReviewerAdam Husney, MD - Family MedicineSpecialist Medical ReviewerKirtly Jones, MD - Obstetrics and Gynecology
Current as ofMay 22, 2015
Current as of:
May 22, 2015
Adam Husney, MD - Family Medicine & Kirtly Jones, MD - Obstetrics and Gynecology
To learn more about Healthwise, visit Healthwise.org.
© 1995-2015 Healthwise, Incorporated. Healthwise, Healthwise for every health decision, and the Healthwise logo are trademarks of Healthwise, Incorporated.
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North Kansas City Hospital
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Z, Contributing Writer
There is nothing more difficult to take in hand, more perilous to conduct, or more uncertain in its success, than to take the lead in the introduction of a new order of things. –Machiavelli
History will have to record that the greatest tragedy in this period of social transition was not the strident clamor of the bad people, but the appalling silence of the good people. -Martin Luther King
Every human culture, to remain healthy, sustainable, and vibrant, requires a constant renewal of ceremonies, crafts, cultural practices, and the arts. Each society must generate new knowledge, skills, self-understanding, and modes of self-transcendence. To evolve, a human community must have available a diverse set of authentic and viable social forms that enables it to respond to shifting times, long-term weather patterns, food sources, spiritual needs, cultural longings, and relations with other human groups. –Bill Plotkin
Tribalism is an inescapable fact of the human condition. It is a type of social system that has worked for human beings for millions of years, and has a very adaptive effect in human evolution. In recent years anthropologists and sociologists have greatly revolutionized the concept of the tribe. Such philosophers as Daniel Quinn and John Zerzan have brought to the forefront a kind of tribal revolution, where tribalism, as an open-ended, cooperative community, is seen as the natural state of humanity, as proven by two million years of evolution. As it stands Eco-moral tribalism is the natural progression of this tribal revolution, a revolution that will potentially take us from a monetary-objective-based economy to a resource-relationship-based economy.
The solution is not to return to nature regressively, but to find a way to get everything back into connection with everything else. What’s needed is a radical restructuring of culture based upon the rejection of alienation and an embracing of nature. This requires a balance between our conscious innovation and our unconscious primordial foundation. What we have attained through our modern individual consciousness can be enriched by the re-awakening of our connection with community and nature, and by curing rampant nature deprivation. Like Jung said, “Civilized man is in danger of losing all contact with the world of instinct –a danger that is still further increased by his living an urban existence in what seems to be a purely manmade environment. This loss of instinct is largely responsible for the pathological condition of our contemporary culture.” As it stands we are the spoiled children of human history. Our inheritance is a fundamentally unsustainable civilization–complete with security, luxury, and convenience. But we are too spoiled to realize that we are also the heirs of atrophy- complete with insecurities, pathologies, and dissociative anxieties. Lest we remain pathological, we must bridge the gap between nature and the human soul, a gap that grows wider and wider by the day. Eco-moral tribalism seeks to bridge this gap through a relationship-based system of governance.
Eco-moral tribalism is a form of post-modern tribalism with emphasis on moderation, flexibility, open-endedness, and harmonious balance with the ecosystem as a whole; where diversity, not uniformity, is what is known to work. It is directed toward getting more of what people need (social connection, meaningful “work”, more leisure, and balance with nature), as opposed to more of what people have been conditioned and brainwashed to think they need (power, status, amenities, and luxuries). In this “system” the economy is as much a local affair as ecology is, working in small cells, that benefit the tribe in a natural, fluid way, functioning harmoniously in between the two poles of altruism and selfishness. This “way” is a way of life that has proven itself through thousands of years of evolution. Tribalism is far from perfect, but it is the only “way” that has been proven, over and over again, to work for human beings. For the same reason that a pride of lions works, or a flock of geese works, or a troop of baboons works, is the same reason that a tribe of humans works.
A truly stable social system expects vicissitude, is open to being overthrown, and waits for its inevitable transformation. In this sense eco-moral tribalism is a social system that subsumes change. It adapts, absorbs, and overcomes any amount of insurrection or civil instability; understanding that it is a natural, healthy process of a people becoming a people. It’s about the open-ended creative expression of a people, where truth-as-value trumps truth-as-certitude, where value is based upon eco-centric fallibilism as opposed to certainty based upon mere diplomacy. In eco-moral tribalism the concept of “community” is uttered with genuine self-expression, indeed, as an impression of self-as-world and world-as-self, holding no illusions that there is any permanence.
Sadly, due to the hyper-individualism of our culture, we have lost the ability to form healthy communities. The old cultural model is grossly outdated, and the world of man is damagingly artificial. People see each other through myopic lenses of self-as-object and object-as-self. This is psychosocial egoism at its most dissociative and narcissistic. Ours is an abnormal form of democratic government imposed by plutocratic circumstances, crass materialism, cultural imperialism, and obsessive utilitarianism. Its activities are reduced to dodging the current crisis, and instead of solving them, escapes them “for the time being” by employing any ducking methods whatsoever to remain comfortable, even at the cost of accumulating far greater crises. As it stands the current monetary-based system is obsolete, non-progressive and inevitably harmful to human beings.
We don’t need one-track-minded workers slaving away their lives to dog-eat-dog corporations; we need inventive individuals creating values with love and purpose. We don’t need sheep baying blindly beneath the wolves who govern them, we need an educational revolution. Like Thomas Jefferson said, “Democracy is two wolves and a lamb deciding on what to eat. Liberty is a well-armed lamb contesting the vote.” Eco-moral tribalism is a social system meant to be comprised of well-armed lambs, and a well-armed lamb is nothing less than an educated person. But in order to achieve such a state we need an educational revolution. We need a system that prepares children for life, not for work. It is a mockery to use the majority of a child’s life to prepare them to be a worker. We are not workers, we are creators. Eco-moral tribalism is a social system meant to be comprised of inventive free creators. But in order for this to be achieved, purpose must replace money as the supreme human motivator.
It may not seem like it but money is the poorest human motivator, purpose is the best. Autonomy, mastery and prestige trump money. Scientific experimentation has proven this over and over again. What motivates human beings is not money but purpose. To place money as a prime motivator for people is to put an unstable cart before a crippled horse. Lest we evolve as “an individual” instead of as a species, we must get power over power, that is, we must get power over the monetary system that has thus far enslaved and blinded us as a species.
Where the current monetary system highlights the power of the individual; eco-moral tribalism highlights the power of relationships and bonds. Where the current monetary system has us hungering for money, status, and jobs; eco-moral tribalism has us hungering for harmony and connection. You cannot buy safety. You cannot buy security. Safety and security have only ever come as the human species becoming a people. A healthy culture is a people that shares and borrows within its system of cohabitation. The reward is less poverty, where wealth is based upon the resources available and employed more for use than for show; more as a tool to bring people together, than as a weapon used in a vicious game of one-upmanship.
A resource-relationship-based system is a social system based upon Natural Capital and ecosystem valuation on the one hand, and the dynamic of human relationships and other-than-human relationships on the other hand. This includes eco-technology, and giving doubtful beneficence to the shape that technology will take within the biosphere while improving both the means and the ends of evolution. This type of system also replaces the outdated concept of “good/evil” with the updated concept of “healthy/unhealthy” in order to clearly determine “right/wrong”. These, combined with Capital Munificence and the Sumak Kawsay method discussed in Commitalism, should yield a system of governance that can bring tonality to an otherwise atonal world, and imagine a bridge that can one day join up with the Zeitgeist Movement, the Venus Project and other similar movements. The Occupy movement, for example, is a festival of true democracy where individuals form communities that are eco-moral and tribal in nature. Who knows where such movements could lead to in the future.
In eco-moral tribalism it is understood that people don’t make decisions, they arrive at them. They arrive at them through fallibilism and careful democratic discussion. The first thing that must be done is groups of people have to work on problem solving. Problem solving is the key, and fallibilism is the hand that turns that key. Our current social system is a problem, a problem of resource shortages and poor distribution. Until we resolve the problem of resource shortages we cannot move forward as a species. If we learn to solve problems, we will have healthy progress and we will survive, if we cannot learn to solve problems, we will have neither progress nor survival and we will destroy ourselves. Eco-moral fallibilism is a platform for the healthy democratic discussion of human problems.
An eco-moral tribe is powerful in the sense that it is vulnerable and fallible, and not in the sense that it is secured and perfect. A member of an eco-moral tribe understands that security and perfection are only ever illusions. The tribe functions because it is imperfect, and thus it is able to renovate, adapt, and overcome; therein discovering true power/value. The tribe functions because it is vulnerable, and thus it is able to connect, to rehabilitate, to cultivate, and to love; therein discovering true power/value. A people being and becoming a people is only ever a locally holistic concept. It is in this sense that eco-moral tribalism embraces the “eco” of economy and ecology as a local affair that benefits the tribe and the environment in a natural, fluid way; functioning harmoniously in between the two poles of eco-consciousness and selfishness. The difference between ecology and economy is a matter of attention and intent. Ecology is to attention as economy is to intention. An eco-moral people are both attentive and intent regarding ecology and economy, and therein arises the cultural ethic of eco-morality. As long as the people can respect the ecology/economy, there will be harmony. As long as the people can be honest with each other regarding moral and ethical principles, there will be harmony. As long as the people can communicate democratically using fallibilism as their platform for discussion, there will be harmony.
The spirit of revolution is so valuable on certain occasions that I wish it to be always kept alive. –Thomas Jefferson
It begins with education. And so it begins with an educational revolution. And so it begins with insurgency. Is it as simple as this? No, it is not. But we must begin somewhere, lest we end everywhere. Like Camus said, “Heroic lucidity in the face of the absurd is all we have.” Healthy global change is no walk in the park. You have to disturb homeostasis in order to achieve a new healthier homeostasis. This means experiencing a temporary state of discomfort. It will hurt, and then it will hurt worse. And then the real pain will begin. But it is only after the pain that it becomes clear a band-aide was needed in the first place. So it comes to this: What is the responsibility of an eco-moral person on a dying planet? Eco-moral person, heal thyself! Strive for healthy change. When you begin to change, the entire system begins to change, and then a true Eco-moral globalism can be socially actualized.
About the Author
Z, a former Navy Intelligence Specialist turned philosopher, is the author of Birthday Suit of God and The Looking Glass Man. His works are inspired by the great philosophers of the ages and his wide awake view of the modern world. His recent works can also be found at Z’s Hub.
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|The Library of Congress > American Memory|
USING THE COLLECTIONS
SELECTED AREAS FOR RESEARCH
LAW LIBRARY EXTERNAL SITES
The Law Library of Congress contains the largest body of United States federal and state law, foreign law, international law, and comparative law and legislation in the world. The breadth and depth of the Law Library's collections are extraordinary. Federal and state laws and court decisions from the colonial period to the present shed light on U.S. history. Laws of Massachusetts that date from the late seventeenth century and Virginia Court Reports dating from the early eighteenth century are available both in printed editions, housed with the Law Library's Rare Book Collection, and in microform.
Besides these primary source materials, legal treatises—for instance, Blackstone's Commentaries (see bibliography after section on Married Women's Property Laws)—form a strong component of the Law Library collections. Many early editions of common law treatises—from which numerous modern laws are derived—are among the holdings, as are legislative histories. For example, a collection of bound federal bills dating back to the 16th Congress is available for consultation. Through all these varieties of resources, the Law Library of Congress presents a wealth of legal information to support the study of women's issues.
Historically, the legal rights of women have been determined by men. Some legal historians even argue that women in the United States had no “legal rights” until 1920 when the Nineteenth Amendment was ratified. Although the lives of women had been affected by laws, women themselves had played no direct role in legislating or enforcing these laws. They could not vote to elect legislators and thus had no direct leverage in the electoral process. It seems ironic that Justice, the symbol of the United States court system, is female, yet for years women were not able to participate in the judicial system except as defendants or third parties. For the most part, women did not enter the courtroom as lawyers until the late nineteenth century, and they could not serve as jurors until the twentieth century.
Nevertheless, there were a number of laws from as early as the seventeenth century that specifically addressed women. Protective legislation limiting the number of hours women and children could work and court decisions addressing a woman's guilt or innocence in criminal proceedings or whether or not she could keep or devise her inherited property are examples.
Despite this wealth of legal information to support the study of women in diverse academic areas, court decisions and statutory language have been underused by scholars in disciplines other than legal history. The reasons for this vary, but most law librarians will agree that the challenges of legal research and a lack of knowledge about law may discourage historians and others from doing research in this area. The vast array of materials in the Law Library can be overwhelming to the researcher, especially if the methodology of legal research is unfamiliar. Because there are few guides, indexing sources, or treatises specifically addressing women's issues, using legal resources can be challenging—but can also result in rewarding discoveries.
*Authored the original chapter in American Women: A Library of Congress Guide for the Study of Women's History and Culture in the United States (Library of Congress, 2001), from which this online version is derived. Others who contributed to this effort are identified in the Acknowledgments.[Top]
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Ever wonder how many places in America have Liberty in their names or Independence? Did you know that Thomas Jefferson refused to sign the U.S. Constitution? Here are some freedom facts for you to digest:
George Washington wanted the states on the American Flag to be represented by six-pointed stars resembling the Star of David. Betsy Ross, however, recommended a five-pointed star. The committee that approved the final flag design thought Betsy's five-pointed stars would be too difficult to make, but she proved them wrong. She folded a piece of paper and with a single snip of her scissors, produced a perfect five-pointed star. She won over the committee and her design went down in history.
click photo to enlarge
Click on the image above for a fireworks guide.
Thomas Jefferson may have written the Declaration of Independence, but he refused to sign the U.S. Constitution. Jefferson felt the Constitution, as it was drafted, gave too much power to the federal government.
There are 30 places nationwide with Liberty in their names. According to Census 2000, the most populous one was Liberty, Mo. (26,232). Iowa has more of these places than any other state: four (Libertyville, New Liberty, North Liberty, and West Liberty).
Eleven places have Independence in their names. The most populous of these is Independence, Mo., where Census 2000 counted 113,288 residents.
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Five places nationwide adopted the name Freedom; Freedom, Calif., with 6,000 residents on Census Day 2000, had the largest population among these.
There is one place named Patriot -- Patriot, Ind., with a population of 202 in 2000.
There are five places across the nation with America in their names, the most populous being American Fork, Utah, with 21,941 residents on Census Day 2000.
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As rewarding as it can be to help our preschoolers learn their ABCs, parents sometimes need a break — and thanks to technology, we can take one. There are dozens of apps and websites designed to help build preschool reading skills, and many of the best are so much fun that children won't even realize they're learning. A few of the best include:
1. The Reading Rainbow App
The television show was canceled in 2009 after 26 years on the air, but producers are hoping to reach a new generation of readers with the recently released Reading Rainbow app. The app, which is geared toward ages 3-9, engages preschoolers through storytelling and virtual "field trips," and helps to build not only the skills essential for reading success, but also an appreciation for classic children's literature.
2. The PlayTales App
With the PlayTales Bookstore app, you can create your preschooler's very own virtual bookstore by downloading interactive titles from the comprehensive PlayTales library. An autoplay option is available for children who aren't yet reading, and the illustrations and games that accompany the stories will delight readers of all ages and abilities.
Starfall.com is a free website designed to teach preschool and early elementary children to read through phonics. According to the National Right to Read Foundation, "nothing develops the quick and accurate (automatic) recognition of written words better than does proper phonics instruction" — and what better way to provide this instruction than through fun online games and activities?
4. The abc PocketPhonics App
Prefer your phonics lesson on an app? Then check out the highly praised abc PocketPhonics app. The "Lite" version (which only includes 6 letters) is free, or pay $2.99 for the complete alphabet.
ABCmouse.com is a subscription-based website that offers a full learning curriculum for toddler, preschool, pre-K, and Kindergarten. Each child gets to create his own individual character and follow a "step-by-step learning path" that includes puzzles, maps, coloring, songs, reading, math, and more.
6. The PBSKids SuperWhy App
If your preschoolers watch PBS, then you're probably familiar with the show SuperWhy. With the app by the same name, your child can play games with their favorite characters, all while practicing sound and letter recognition.
7. The Letter Writer Oceans App
With the Letter Writer Oceans app, preschoolers "swim" through the ocean to find the floating letters they want to trace. The app only includes capital letters, but is still a fun introduction to basic letter formation.
Disclosure: I received a complimentary subscription to ABCmouse.com for the purpose of review. My 4-year-old and I struggled to navigate the website a bit at first — mostly because he's never used a mouse before, and because we had to figure out which level he belonged at through trial and error. But now that we've worked through the confusion, he's enjoying it immensely, and is quite proud to get computer time like his older sister.
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Reconciliation between Muslims and Hindus in Indian-controlled Kashmir
Hindus who fled conflict in the 1990s consider a move home. Still, distrust runs deep as key questions of Kashmir's past – and future – remain disputed.
Srinagar, Indian-controlled Kashmir — His elderly mother by his side, O.P. Kichloo walked up to their former house for the first time since they fled Kashmir in 1990.
The house – well-preserved – "struck my heart because it was built by my father," says Mr. Kichloo. "Tears rolled down from my eyes."
A Muslim woman emerged. She learned who they were, and soon the three Kashmiris were chatting on the lawn over cups of tea. Fifteen minutes later, they snapped photos and said their goodbyes, and the Kichloos got on with the remainder of their vacation.
As the era of armed uprising against India fades here, tourists are flocking to Kashmir and emboldening some Hindu natives who fled the fighting to also visit and consider moving back to the mostly-Muslim valley, where many feel they were once targeted for being a minority.
The visits offer glimmers of rapprochement between Hindu and Muslim Kashmiris.
While the trips are rekindling old friendships and recalling shared customs, distrust still runs deep as key questions of Kashmir's past – and future – remain disputed.
"Things are much better and people are very receptive this time, and people want us eagerly back in this place," Kichloo said in Kashmir in the presence of a Muslim.
But reached later by phone at his current home outside the region, his assessment runs darker: "I think in their heart of hearts, [Kashmiri Muslims] don't want us to settle back there.... Most who are coming are getting the same feeling when they go there."
Two sides of the story
The contradiction does not surprise Ankur Datta, an anthropologist studying the Hindu Kashmiri community known as pandits. "There's this kind of double-speak constantly, and it's really symptomatic of a certain kind of fear."
It's too early to say whether these trips will bring much reconciliation, says Dr. Datta. But any changes of heart are more likely with multiple trips.
He tells of one pandit couple who went back for two visits. They initially went quietly to the husband's village. The reception was so warm that the husband mentioned rebuilding a home there, and the neighbors enthusiastically said they would help. His wife was not convinced. But after the second visit, she said she saw that both sides had suffered.
Fundamental disputes remain over history and politics, such as how many pandits fled (350,000 by one estimate, 100,000 by another), why they fled (fear of violence versus government orchestration), and what role India should play in Kashmir. Neither community is monolithic in its views, but competing communal narratives have significant followings.
One pandit group, Panun Kashmir, favors the creation of a separate pandit homeland inside the Kashmir Valley within India. Meanwhile, many Kashmiri Muslims today say they wish the pandits would return and, in fact, never wanted them to leave.
"In the early '90s, some of the Kashmiri pandits definitely were targeted, but there might have been reasons other than being a pandit associated with that," says Sheikh Showkat Hussain, a professor of international law and human rights at Kashmir University. But "many Muslims were also targeted."
He labels the few cases of group killings of pandits as "mysterious" and possibly a plot to blacken the name of the separatist movement. He says it's widely suspected in Kashmir that the exodus may have been orchestrated by the government "to portray before the world that it is a communal frenzy rather than a genuine freedom movement."
The thaw begins with contact
A few pandits have stayed in Kashmir since 1989. One of their leaders, Sanjay Tickoo, says 651 pandit families remain in the valley. He advises pandits not to migrate home in the absence of a political settlement.
If they come back, says Mr. Tickoo, they should integrate with the majority population. Over the past year, the Indian government has given jobs to more than 1,000 young pandits who agreed to permanently relocate to Kashmir – but they are mostly housed in walled-off compounds. "We know when there were crises in the past, our cordial relationships with our neighbors [helped]," says Tickoo.
Many pandits cannot simply return to their former houses. Kichloo, like many pandits, sold his home after fleeing. He needed the money to pay school fees so he sold cheaply. Housing prices have since soared and his old home is now unaffordable. He supports the idea of a pandit homeland.
The controversial idea of a homeland would ensure that if pandits returned they would never again have to flee, argues Ramesh Manvati, the vice president of Panun Kashmir. He talks of mental scars. In the days before he fled, there was a move to set clocks to Pakistani time. He grew so afraid of being asked for the time by troublemakers that he stopped wearing watches; he still cannot.
Young people are starting to visit and build relationships. Earlier this year, young pandits and Muslims formed a Facebook group to start interactions. So far the group has led 13 pandit youths to Kashmir for week-long "home stays" with Muslim families. Vivek Raina, one of the cofounders, says another 100 youths have made their own trips to visit Muslim friends.
"There's a huge number of pandits and Muslims also in Kashmir who have grown up in isolation from each other," says Mr. Raina, a pandit.
"What has taken [root] in their mind," he says, "is the dominant narrative that's prevalent in the society [that is] driven by vested interests and filled with hatred and bitterness."
Raina says the group wanted to find a space beyond politics where Kashmiris could recognize their commonality.
"You can resolve differences only if you start to meet with each other," he says. "You start looking at them as human beings; and as soon as that happens, most of the thaw happens there."
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Australia pulled chapters about the Great Barrier Reef and a handful of other famous sites from a UNESCO report on World Heritage sites because of concerns about the report's potential to impact tourism.
Analysis of more than 6,000 fossils in the Antarctic Peninsula suggests that a cataclysmic event wiped out the dinosaurs, and had an equally severe impact on life at the poles, rebutting previous theories.
One of the fundamental factors used in climate models – the reflectivity of clouds – has been investigated by three concurrent papers, and the findings have complex implications for our understanding of global warming.
Someone built mysterious structures using hundreds of stalagmites in an underground cave in southern France some 176,500 years ago. Scientists say it had to have been Neanderthals, which suggests they weren't the simple brutes as previously thought.
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Bacteria are life forms, which, like all other life forms, struggle for the best living conditions for themselves. Therefore they will try to avoid getting attacked by the human immune system, and therefore they have developed various ways to protect themselves from the human immune system. When safe from the immune system, they can focus on breeding and multiplying, and if they become numerous enough, the human body will experience their presence as an infection. Some bacteria are relatively harmless, while others are fatal. The bacteria avoid being attacked by the human immune system by forming a biofilm - a surface to protect them against the immune system.
"The biofilm contributes to bacterial resistance, and that can cause severe, persistent infections around heart valve implants and in lungs and the urinary tract," explains postdoc. Mikkel Girke Jørgensen from the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the University of Southern Denmark. Together with professor Poul Valentin-Hansen from the same institution and scientists from American Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, Bethesda, and Georgetown University Medical Center, Washington DC, he stands behind the new discovery.
The researchers now understand the underlying regulatory mechanisms behind the formation of biofilms. The mechanism involves small RNA molecules, which can affect bacterial gene expression and thus the decision of whether to form biofilm or not.
Bacteria can move by using their so-called flagella to swim with. When they need to form biofilms, they "turn off" the flagella, stop moving and start to form a biofilm.
"We have now established what decides whether they swim or not - and that determines whether they form biofilms or not," explains Mikkel Girke Jørgensen and continues:
"Prospects for the pharmaceutical industry are huge. This increased understanding of biofilm formation may be the first step in creating new ways to treat complicated infections in the future. "
The researchers' work is published in the prestigious journal Genes and Development, 15 May 2013, Vol 27, No. 10.
The work is funded by the Villum Foundation and the Lundbeck Foundation. Lundbeck Foundation has just awarded a new two-year grant of DKK 1,153,646 to go ahead with the work.
Mikkel Girke Jorgensen, Ph.D. Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology.
Tel: 6550 2334
This press release is written by press officer Birgitte Svennevig.
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Note: This article is about polish custom of saluting with two-fingers. For information about offensive meaning of two-finger salute see article about it's close cousin: one-finger salute.
The salute is performed with extended middle and index finger touching each other, while ring and pinky fingers are bended and touched by the thumb. The tips of the middle and index fingers are touching the visor of the hat. The salute is performed only when covered.
Two-finger salute appeared in polish military forces propably before or during Napoleonic wars, or Kościuszko's uprising in 1794. Legends attributing creation of the salute to the Battle of Olszynka Grochowska during November's insurrection 1830-1831, are apparently wrong since Tsar's Viceroy in Poland, Grand-Duke Constantine was reported to say earlier that Poles salute him with two fingers because in the other three they are holding a stone ready to throw at him. All legends however attribute two-finger salute to the accident when some soldier saluted his superior (usually general) with wounded hand, from which ring and pinky fingers were detached as a result of a shrapnel explosion. As a remembrance all Poles are saluting using only two fingers.
The two-finger salute is said to cause problems for polish units serving with the Allies on the western front during World War II. Allied officers tought that polish soldiers saluting with two fingers are making fun of them or are deliberately trying to offend them. As a result many soldiers were arrested, and later explained by their polish superiors. This led to temporary using full hand salute when saluting foreign officers.
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Polygonum amphibium L.
Water knotweed, Water Smartweed
Polygonaceae (Buckwheat Family)
USDA Symbol: POAM8
This aquatic or wetland plant is rather showy when growing in colonies. The genus name is from the Greek poly (many) and gona (knee or joint), as is the family name, and refers to the thickened joints of the stem where a sheath often surrounds the stem at the leaf axil. The genus includes the smartweeds, with tiny flowers in terminal spikes, and the knotweeds, with flower clusters in the leaf axils. This species also occurs in Eurasia. Its seeds provide food for waterfowl. Some authorities recognize two intergrading, environmentally variable varieties in the West. The variety stipulaceum has short oval flower clusters and is not especially aggressive; the pink flower masses of this variety are very attractive, but since the plants grow quickly, they can become an unwelcome weed in decorative ponds. The variety emersum has lanceolate leaves with narrowly tapering tips and slender flower clusters at least 1 1/2 (4 cm) long; once called P. coccineum, a separate species, this variety is aggressive to the point of being classified as a noxious weed.
From the Image Gallery
Bloom InformationBloom Color: Yellow
Bloom Time: Jun , Jul , Aug , Sep
DistributionUSA: AK , AR , AZ , CA , CO , CT , DC , DE , IA , ID , IL , IN , KS , KY , LA , MA , MD , ME , MI , MN , MO , MS , MT , NC , ND , NE , NH , NJ , NM , NV , NY , OH , OK , OR , PA , RI , SC , SD , TN , TX , UT , VA , VT , WA , WI , WV , WY
Canada: NB , NS , PE
Native Distribution: Throughout North America, except Georgia, Alabama, Florida, and the Arctic.
Native Habitat: Shorelines, wet prairies, swamps, ponds, and quiet streams, in mud or floating on still fresh water.
Growing ConditionsWater Use: High
Light Requirement: Sun
CaCO3 Tolerance: Medium
Additional resourcesUSDA: Find Polygonum amphibium in USDA Plants
FNA: Find Polygonum amphibium in the Flora of North America (if available)
Google: Search Google for Polygonum amphibium
MetadataRecord Modified: 2010-12-17
Research By: TWC Staff
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This Name Tag craftivity is a great way to get to know your students during the first week of school, as well as have a lasting, unique nameplate for the rest of the year.
Items to Gather:
- plain white paper
Step 1: Cut a piece of plain white paper to 3 inches by 8.5 inches.
Step 2: Pass out one white paper strip to each student. They also will need the glue, scissors, and one magazine.
Step 3: Instruct students to cut out words from the magazine(s) that represent themselves or things that they like. The students should ONLY cut out words.
Step 4: Arrange the words collage style on the strip of paper.
Step 5: When the strips are complete, place a small piece of paper with the name of the student in the center of the strip (over top of the words they cut out).
Step 6: Laminate and cut out. Then place on the student's box or desk.
I like to use the hard lamination. This ensures that the name tags last all year. These do take a while to complete. I usually set aside about an hour for two days to get these done. I really like the students to be reflective about these and giving them time allows for that.
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SINTEF Coordinating EU Rare Earth Metal Recycling Project
Rare metals such as neodymium and dysprosium are key materials in many green technologies such as generators that store power in wind turbines, and the electric motors that propel electric and hybrid cars. Currently China supplies the entire world with the products and demand is currently increasing much faster than production. Forecasts show that as early as next year, these metals will be hard to come by, SINTEF says.
The project’s aim is to extract valuable materials from the waste streams. The challenges lie in the fact that the material must be sufficiently clean in order to be recycled, and recyclers have to be sure that it is not contaminated by other harmful materials, according to project coordinator SINTEF.
Researchers are therefore focusing much of their work on finding out which products could contain pollutants, which methods are best for analyzing and measuring the content of the polluted materials, and when such products can be expected to be found in waste.
The program is using two groups of material technologies in the race to find good analytical and extraction methods. The approach chosen by the researchers involves a technology well-known from the aluminium and smelting industry.
On the basis of tests, SINTEF researchers believe that the electrolysis technology used in aluminium plants can be used to recycle magnetic alloys from discarded magnets and scrap material from magnet manufacturers. It will take some time before there are enough scrap eco-cars to be able to recycle their motors, which is why they are turning to the magnet manufacturers for the magnetic alloys.
However, the process is still slow, and there is a lot of work still to be done before the researchers will know whether they will be able to achieve their goal. If they are successful, they will have found a method that is much simpler than alternative processes based on the use of strong acids, SINTEF says.
The 7 research institutes included in the project are Fraunhofer, CEA, TNO, VTT, SINTEF, Tecnalia and SP.
Researchers may have already found a way to recycle rare earth elements from wastewater. Scientists described the process in the Oct. 9 issue of the journal ACSApplied Materials & Interfaces.
Energy Manager News
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- Lunera Intros Pathway and Entryway LED
- FPL to Buy and Phase Out Coal-Powered Plant, Saving Customers $129M
- Environmental, Health and Safety Software Moves Forward
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- First-Ever Statewide Endorsement of Retail Supplier, by Delaware, Goes to Direct Energy
- Oberlin, Ohio, Ratepayers to Receive $2.2M in Rebates for Sale of RECs
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Benzodiazepines Sleeping Pills and Antidepressant Recovery Experts
Brain Zaps, Electrical Shocks, Brain Shivers...
Brain Zaps, Brain Shivers, Brain Shocks. Head Shocks or Electrical shocks are a common side effect and withdrawal symptom from Antidepressants, but they can also occur with Benzodiazepines and Sleeping Pills. The symptoms are described as brief but repeated electric shock-like sensations in the brain and head, or originating in the brain but extending to other parts of the body. Moving one's eyes quickly from side to side has also been shown to trigger Brain Zaps in more rapid frequency. Brain Zaps are often accompanied by disorientation, tinnitus, vertigo and lightheadedness.
In withdrawal from antidepressants, sleeping pills or anxiety medications, these jolts of electricity can worsen and become debilitating, although there is no current evidence that the zaps present any danger to the individual. Currently they are not recognized as a physiological syndrome. So what causes brain zaps?
UNDERSTANDING THE BRAIN
In the late 1700s, an Italian anatomist named Luigi Galvani discovered evidence of a bioelectric force within living tissues. Since his discovery, other scientists have proposed theories about how electricity is conducted in the human body. One prevailing theory states that electrical impulses in the central and peripheral nervous system are transmitted from one nerve to another with the help of electrically charged salts passing through ion channels. And nowhere in the body are nerve cells as prevalent as in the brain.
Grasping the brain's complexity isn't easy. This organ gives us the capacity for art, language, rational thought and moral judgments. It is responsible for our memories, movements, personality and the way we sense the world. Basically it governs everything that comprises the human experience.
The brain is a 3-pound (1.4 kilogram) mass of fat and protein that has the appearance of a small cauliflower. As one of the body's biggest organs, it consists of 100 billion nerve cells that regulate our conscious and unconscious body processes, including digestion and breathing. To put this into perspective, consider the fact that there are as many nerve cells in the human brain as there are stars in our galaxy.
To compound the intricacy, each of these 100 billion nerve cells make 10,000 connections with other nerve cells, so ensuring these nerves remain in balance is critical.
Each brain cell depends on a regulated stability to function properly. Excess sugar, salt, fat, and caffeine can cause imbalances in the brain's normal chemistry. This is especially true with medications that target specific neurotransmitters. Fifty neurotransmitters have been discovered to date, with about six associated with addiction by causing feelings of euphoria. Medications that target Serotonin (antidepressants) appear to be linked to Brain Zaps, as do anxiety medications and sleeping pills that target GABA.
SSRIs (Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors) work by forcing the level of Serotonin higher in the brain by blocking the natural recycling process to other nerves. But Serotonin is both a hormone and a neurotransmitter that is required to have communication between nerve cells. Serotonin can either excite or restrain. So pushing the levels artificially high in the brain also starves other areas. This could account for the extensive list of side effects related to antidepressants and also the mysterious side effect of Brain Zaps.
The average adult human possesses only 5 to 10 mg of serotonin, 90% of which is in the gut region, with only 2% reaching the central nervous system. The remainder is in the blood platelets and the brain. No physiological substance known possesses such diverse actions in the body as serotonin.
The small amount of Serotonin in the CNS attaches to receptors that lie along the brain stem from the midbrain to the medulla (lower half of the brainstem). Most antidepressant medications work by holding serotonin for longer periods in the synaptic spaces of the nervous system, and it is this space between nerve cells that has an electrical current. Since Serotonin transmits currents, it is highly possible that holding the Serotonin longer than nature intended could cause a misfiring of electrical current resulting in a Brain Zap.
Benzodiazepines and Sleeping pills work on GABA (Gamma-Aminobutric Acid), which is the neurotransmitter that prevents over-stimulation of the central nervous system. Continual use of anxiety medications and sleeping pills 'down regulate' the GABA receptors and reduce their ability to ease an over-excited state. This could explain the Brain Zaps that occur while on medications or in the withdrawal process for drugs that affect GABA. Rather than inhibiting the electrical activity in the brain, tolerance and withdrawal symptoms over-stimulate, allowing more electrical impulses to go unchecked.
OXIDATIVE STRESS AND THE BRAIN
Free radicals are highly reactive molecules that modify, disrupt and impair the stable structure within our brain and body. Excitotoxicity is the process by which nerve cells are damaged by toxins. Both an inflammatory response and excitotoxicty are known to play important roles in all neurodegenerative diseases, and may also play a significant role in Brain Zaps.
The brain makes up only 2% of the total body weight but consumes 25% of the energy for the entire body. The oxygen we breathe helps to burn sugar and fat inside our body cells to produce energy. But about 2% of the converted oxygen remains as free radicals. Oxidative Stress in the brain can result from poor diet, the extended use of medications or environmental toxins. If these reactive elements are not neutralized, oxidative stress on the brain occurs.
According to Dr. Jimmy Gutman, the brain is particularly susceptible to free radical attack because it generates more oxidative by-products per gram of tissue than any other organ. It could be this increase in oxidative stress that worsens Brain Zaps.
A study in The Journal of Neuroscience in December 2000 indicated that Tricyclic antidepressants and SSRIs (Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors) were shown to cause oxidative stress in a nerve cell line due to a reduction of intracellular Glutathione (master antioxidant of the body) levels.
*These statements on this website have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The products mentioned / sold are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease or illness. MORE...
*While great care has been taken in organizing and presenting the material throughout this website, please note that it is provided for informational purposes only and should not be taken as Medical Advice. More...
Antioxidants for the Brain
Glutathione is the brain's master antioxidant and plays a critical protective role to the brain and nervous system. Chemicals that cause toxicity to certain brain cells are known to decrease cerebral glutathione, making the cells more vulnerable to reactive oxygen molecules.
Increasing the intake of antioxidants in your diet reduces inflammation and free radical damage. Antioxidants also increase brain energy, brain blood flow, and work to repair the damaged brain cells. Glutathione is the master antioxidant of the brain that recycles all other antioxidants. Glutathione acts to prevent and protect the brain from the damage of free radicals. For a complete explanation of Glutathione, click here.
OMEGA-3 FATTY ACIDS
Few realize how important fats are to a healthy brain - but the fats must be the right kind. In fact, our brains are primarily fat, 60% by weight, with the DHA component of Omega 3 the most plentiful fat in the human brain. DHA is crucial to brain health, from infancy to old age, and absolutely essential to healthy electrical conduction of nerve circuits.
DHA is short for docosahexaenoic acid. This omega-3 long chain fatty acid is the primary building block of the brain, but also an integral component of all membranes with electrical activity. The cells of the brain, retina and the central nervous system have a complex network of connecting arms that transport electrical messages throughout the body. The presence of DHA in the nerve cell membranes are critical to ensure the cells can perform their unique function of correctly generating electrical impulses. It is at the membrane that nerve cells perform their unique function of generating the electrical impulses. Without the necessary fatty acids, this communication system can breakdown.
The body’s ability to make DHA is limited and declines with age. If brain cells become dry, they become less pliable and a decrease in brain function ensues. According to Dr. Bill Code, “High levels of Omega 3 can assist the brain in creating cell membranes that are more elastic, thus enabling normal electrical impulses to enter the cell."
Your source for helpful tools and valuable information. MORE...
How the brain works and what it needs to be healthy. MORE...
Health & Wellness Articles:
A collection of easy-to-read articles that provide information in many categories affecting our health. MORE...
- Good Fats, Bad Fats:
To Eat or Not to Eat. Over the course of human evolution a dramatic shift has occurred in our consumption of Omega 3 versus Omega 6 and this trend is contributing, more than any other dietary factor, to an epidemic of modern diseases. MORE...
Download our brochure to learn more about our tapering programs. MORE...
Serotonin (5-hydroxytrptamine, 5-HT) is a chemical and neurotransmitter found in the human body that carries signals between nerves. More...
Most of us have been brought up to believe that grains are healthy foods. However, an increasing body of evidence indicates that grains that contain gluten might actually be harmful to our bodies and overall health. Approximately 1 in 133 people have celiac disease, an autoimmune disease that allows gluten to attack the small intestine. MORE...
- How Sugar Affects The Body:
As soon as something sweet hits the tongue, the taste buds ignite the brain’s reward system and dopamine is unleashed. Then the sugar hits the stomach where it is diluted by digestive juices and sent to the small intestine where enzymes break it down into two molecules: glucose and fructose. MORE...
What is GABA:
GABA is an amino acid that acts as the principal calming neurotransmitter in the human central nervous system. MORE..
- Nutritional Support:
More information on the nutraceuticals we offer for our programs as well as for general health. MORE...
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- Brain Rewiring
- Toxicity - Journal of Neurochemistry, Vol. 88, No. 3, 2004 513-531
- The Journal of Neuroscience, December 2000
Alterations of Tubulin Function Caused by Chronic Antidepressant Treatment in Rat Brain
Peripheral benzodiazepine receptor imaging in CNS demyelination: functional implications of anatomical and cellular localization
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Paul Croce: The Way I Teach
I believe students learn best when they can think about the material for themselves; of course this requires enough information to be able to interpret and find more. So my class times include a mixture of background presentations to inform and suggest themes, and active-learning approaches, including evaluating images, films, and music, small-group discussion, listening to student views with elaboration on current understanding, role playing, debates, student presentations, field trips, guest speakers, required talking points, and essay writing to prepare for class discussion and for longer writing. This is a mixture of traditional and contemporary pedagogy, of information learning and active learning; the combination is a little like the standard practice of many science classes, which have laboratory days to complement and apply the material learned in lecture and reading. The difference is that the lab experiences are almost every day in my classes, and we need very little equipment–American Studies and History courses are laboratories of the mind and of applied experience. I find that this "hybrid" pedagogy to be effective because it addresses the simultaneous need that students have for learning the material, for appreciation of the lived experience of the ideas at hand, and for finding a way to evaluate the learning experiences for assessing their emerging values.
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January 24, 2012
Therapeutically Useful Stem Cell Derivatives In Need Of Stability
Human stem cells capable of giving rise to any fetal or adult cell type are known as pluripotent stem cells. It is hoped that such cells, the most well known being human embryonic stem cells (hESCs), can be used to generate cell populations with therapeutic utility. In this context, neural derivatives of hESCs are being tested in clinical trials. However, Natalie Lefort and colleagues, at the Institute for Stem cell Therapy and Exploration of Monogenic diseases, France, have now generated cautionary data that suggest that additional quality controls need to be put in place to ensure that neural derivatives of human pluripotent stem cells are not genomically unstable, a common characteristic of cancer cells.
The key observation of Lefort and colleagues was that neural derivatives of human pluripotent stem cells frequently acquire extra material from chromosome 1q. Worryingly, this chromosomal defect has been associated with some blood cell cancers and pediatric brain tumors with poor clinical outcome, although Lefort and colleagues found that the abnormal neural cells they detected were unable to form tumors in mice.As noted by Neil Harrison, at the University of Sheffield, United Kingdom, in an accompanying commentary, while the data raise safety issues relevant for the therapeutic use of these cells, the fact that the same chromosome was affected in all cases suggests that it should be possible to design screening strategies to detect and remove these cells.
On the Net:
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Order of the Bath
The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry. It was founded by George I, on 18 May 1725. The name comes from an old ceremony, first mentioned in 1128. In the ceremony, men participated in a vigil of fasting, prayer, and taking a bath. They did this on the day before they were made a knight. The ceremony was abolished in 1815.
- Knight or Dame Grand Cross (GCB)
- Knight or Dame Commander (KCB or DCB)
- Companion (CB)
Originally founded as a military order of chivalry, the star (or pip) is worn as army officers' rank insignia. The insignia is that of the Order of the Bath. Members of the order now belong to either the Civil or the Military Division. The Order's motto is Tria juncta in uno (Latin for "Three joined in one"). This is a reference to either the union of England, Scotland and Ireland, or to the Holy Trinity. A symbol of the Order that is seen over and over has three crowns in it. Another motto, Ich dien (German for "I serve") is used occasionally, but only by members of the Order who serve in the military.
The Order is the fourth oldest of the British Orders of Chivalry, after The Most Noble Order of the Garter, The Most Ancient and Most Noble Order of the Thistle, and The Most Illustrious Order of St Patrick. The last of those Orders–which relates to Ireland, no longer a part of the United Kingdom–still exists, but is no longer active; no appointments have been made to it since 1934.
|Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Order of the Bath|
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For roughly 2,000 years, Chinese herbalists have treated malaria using a root extract, commonly known as chang shan, from a type of hydrangea that grows in Tibet and Nepal. More recent studies suggest that halofuginone, a compound derived from this extract’s bioactive ingredient, could be used to treat many autoimmune disorders as well. Now, researchers from the Harvard School of Dental Medicine have discovered the molecular secrets behind this herbal extract’s power.
It turns out that halofuginone (HF) triggers a stress-response pathway that blocks the development of a harmful class of immune cells, called Th17 cells, which have been implicated in many autoimmune disorders.
“HF prevents the autoimmune response without dampening immunity altogether,” said Malcolm Whitman, a professor of developmental biology at Harvard School of Dental Medicine and senior author on the new study. “This compound could inspire novel therapeutic approaches to a variety of autoimmune disorders.”
“This study is an exciting example of how solving the molecular mechanism of traditional herbal medicine can lead both to new insights into physiological regulation and to novel approaches to the treatment of disease,” said Tracy Keller, an instructor in Whitman’s lab and the first author on the paper.
Prior research had shown that HF reduced scarring in tissue, scleroderma (a tightening of the skin), multiple sclerosis, scar formation, and even cancer progression. “We thought HF must work on a signaling pathway that had many downstream effects,” said Keller.
In 2009, Keller and colleagues reported that HF protects against harmful Th17 immune cells without affecting other beneficial immune cells. Recognized only since 2006, Th17 cells are “bad actors,” implicated in many autoimmune diseases such as inflammatory bowel disease, rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis, and psoriasis. The researchers found that minute doses of HF reduced multiple sclerosis in a mouse model. As such, it was one of a new arsenal of drugs that selectively inhibits autoimmune pathology without suppressing the immune system globally. Further analysis showed that HF was somehow turning on genes involved in a newly discovered pathway called the amino acid response pathway, or AAR.
Scientists have only recently appreciated the role of the nutrient sensing-AAR pathway in immune regulation and metabolic signaling. There is also evidence that it extends life span and delays age-related inflammatory diseases in animal studies on caloric restriction. A conservationist of sorts, AAR lets cells know when they need to preserve resources. For example, when a cell senses a limited supply of amino acids for building proteins, AAR will block signals that promote inflammation because inflamed tissues require lots of protein.
“Think about how during a power outage we conserve what little juice we have left on our devices, foregoing chats in favor of emergency calls,” said Whitman. “Cells use similar logic.”
For the current study, the researchers investigated how HF activates the AAR pathway, looking at the most basic process that cells use to translate a gene’s DNA code into the amino acid chain that makes up a protein.
The researchers were able to home in on a single amino acid, called proline, and discovered that HF targeted and inhibited a particular enzyme (tRNA synthetase EPRS) responsible for incorporating proline into proteins that normally contain it. When this occurred, the AAR response kicked in and produced the therapeutic effects of HF treatment.
Providing supplemental proline reversed the effects of HF on Th17 cell differentiation, while adding back other amino acids did not, establishing the specificity of HF for proline incorporation. Added proline also reversed other therapeutic effects of HF, inhibiting its effectiveness against the malaria parasite as well as certain cellular processes linked to tissue scarring. Again, supplementation with other amino acids had no such effect. Such mounting evidence clearly demonstrated that HF acts specifically to restrict proline.
The researchers think that HF treatment mimics cellular proline deprivation, which activates the AAR response and subsequently impacts immune regulation. Researchers do not yet fully understand the role that amino acid limitation plays in disease response or why restricting proline inhibits Th17 cell production.
Nevertheless, “[the] AAR pathway is clearly an interesting drug target, and halofuginone, in addition to its potential therapeutic uses, is a powerful tool for studying the AAR pathway,” said Whitman.
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What makes a daisy a daisy? And what does a daisy do? Students learn techniques for observing, collecting, identifying, and preserving plants. Hands-on activities help them hone their observation skills and learn how to identify and classify specimens. Students can put these skills to work in the field, observing plants and collecting specimens to press and preserve.
People often assume that drawing skills are something you're born with. But the truth is, like any other skill, drawing is something you can learn. Start sketching with these helpful hints.
Without your eyes to guide—and possibly distract—you, what would you notice that you otherwise might not have? Enlist the help of a few friends, and find out.
A twig is just a twig—or is it? You can identify a plant, tree, or shrub just by closely observing one small part of it. After this activity, you'll never again dismiss a twig.
Test your classification skills with this leafy challenge. Examine drawings of 12 oak leaves, and see if you can determine the common and scientific name for each one of the dozen.
Long and narrow like a feather or small and symmetrical like a rose petal—the variety of oak leaves runs the gamut. See if your leaves match any of the 12 varieties featured in this sheet of hand drawings.
When it comes to identifying plant species, making mistakes is part of the process. That's why this botanist and curator recommends, "Never erase anything!"
There are 10 divisions in the plant kingdom. The largest order, flowering plants, has 235,000 species. The smallest, gingkoes, has a single species. Learn more about the orders in the kingdom Plantae.
Collecting specimens is necessary for studying and documenting new species—making responsible collecting all the more important. Find out how you can practice it.
The New York Botanical Garden has plant specimens that date back to the Lewis and Clark expedition of 1804-1806. What better place to learn how to protect and store your botanical treasures?
Autumn leaves, flawless fronds, prickly grasses, and perfect petals—all are great specimens to be noted and preserved. Find out how to press like a pro.
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It’s becoming more common for school-age children to take packed lunches to school. With this shift in dietary trends, it’s important for parents to know which foods can serve as healthy fuel for growing bodies and minds. While school cafeterias are now offering healthy options, children who bring their lunches may choose to pack unhealthy snacks with sugars and fats.
In 2011, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) released a new food icon to serve as a guideline for making healthy food choices. The new MyPlate icon is designed to illustrate what a healthy meal should be made of. By following the guidelines below, you can provide your children with the energy they need to grow and learn.
Fruits and Veggies
With each meal, half of your child’s plate should consist of fruits and vegetables. Any canned, dried, fresh, or frozen fruit, or 100% fruit juice, can be counted toward your child’s daily serving. Any canned, cooked, dried or dehydrated, fresh, or frozen vegetable also counts. Raw veggies, such as carrots, celery, broccoli, and cucumbers, and sliced fruit cups are convenient options for lunch boxes. Try packing fresh fruit without syrup to cut back on added sugars.
Foods made from barley, cornmeal, oats, rice, wheat, or another cereal grain can be included in the grains serving. Grains are then divided into two subgroups: refined grains and whole grains. White bread and white rice are considered refined grains. Whole grains include foods such as oatmeal, brown rice, or whole wheat breads. With each meal, half of the grains your child eats should be whole grains. Make sandwiches on whole grain tortillas, and pack pretzels, which can contribute to your child’s daily serving as a source of refined grains.
Protein options should include lean or low-fat meat, poultry, seafood, beans and peas, nuts and seeds, eggs, and processed soy products. As an alternative to meats, which are often difficult for children to keep at the ideal temperatures throughout the school day, trail mix with a variety of nuts can serve as a good source of protein. Look for a mix with small chocolate chunks or candies that can double as dessert!
Milk, cheeses, milk-based desserts, soy milk, and yogurt can all be counted toward your child’s dairy requirement. Squeezable yogurt pouches can be frozen – keeping the rest of your child’s lunch chilled, if necessary – and they typically thaw out by lunch time.
Although oils are not a food group, they can provide essential nutrients, so it is recommended that children eat about four to five teaspoons of oil daily. Some foods naturally contain high amounts of oils and oils can be used in cooking. Mayonnaise, some salad dressings, and margarine without trans fats are additional dietary options that are made up mostly of oil.
In addition to following the dietary guidelines to provide your kids with balanced lunches, it’s important for parents to set a good example by also choosing healthy options for themselves, says Silva Arslanian, MD, chief, Weight Management and Wellness Center at Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC.
“Children should be taking healthy options for lunch, and eating healthy is a behavior that they learn from their parents,” Dr. Arslanian says.
For more information on healthy eating, including advice and recipes, please visit the Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC Kids Nutrition & Fitness Center webpage. To search healthy recipes, educational games and activities for your kids, and to find an extended listing of foods in each group, visit the USDA’s ChooseMyPlate.gov.
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As the global population grows, so does the need for water. The Worldwatch Institute says increased demands for food, energy and industry, along with climate change, could lead to water scarcity in some places. The warning comes on World Water Day, March 22.
Worldwatch says billions of people are already facing some kind of water scarcity or shortage. Spokesperson Supriya Kumar said that it’s only expected to get worse as the population increases.
“Over 1.2 billion are basically living in areas of physical water scarcity. And almost 1.6 billion face economic water shortage. And these are really extreme numbers. And as our population continues to grow there’s just going to be more problems. And we’re going to really have to face drastic measures in order to make sure the people have access to water.”
There are several types of water scarcity. The first is called “physical.”
“Physical water scarcity really just means that there’s not enough actual water to meet all demands. Water is not distributed evenly. Areas in the Middle East, in northern China, in northwestern India – very arid regions – where there’s just not enough water. And so there’s just not physical availability,” said Kumar.
And then there’s economic water scarcity.
“Economic water scarcity refers to just the lack of investment in water programs and water capacity. And that’s something seen in large parts of Africa, where there’s actually physical water available, but just not enough investment made to make sure that water is available and accessible to the people that live in that region,” she said.
Kumar said that action to relieve these problems can be taken on the local, national and regional levels.
“In terms of the local level,” she said, “we could put more investment into water harvesting – into better methods of reusing water that’s wasted -- treating it to be reused for agriculture or for other industries.”
On the national level, the Worldwatch Institute recommends that governments develop better water policies, which could include fewer or revised agricultural subsidies.
“For example, in India, a lot of farmers have subsidies that provide them with the use of electricity for 24 hours without any fees. And so, that leads them to pump water constantly, which is really depleting the ground water,” she said.
Worldwatch says, globally, 70 percent of what’s called “water withdrawals” is for agriculture; 19 percent for industry and 11 percent for municipal demands. Some of the countries with very high withdrawals include India, China and the United States.
Many water sources are not confined within a particular country’s borders. Rivers and lakes are often used by several nations and therefore regional agreements would be needed on water use.
Climate change – with its rising global temperatures – has a direct effect on water scarcity, said Kumar, especially when it comes to rainfall.
“The changes in the rainfall patterns seriously affect some of the sectors, especially agriculture, for example. In India, a lot of farmers are unable to prepare for what crops they’re going to grow because they’re just not sure of the amount of rainfall they’re going to receive and when they’re going to receive that rainfall. And that’s the large effect that climate change is having.”
Kumar said that uncertainty about rainfall can directly affect food security.
What’s more, the Worldwatch Institute expects that in the Mediterranean basin and the semi-arid areas of the Americas, Australia and southern Africa, there will be reductions in river runoff. It also expects aquifers – underground water saturated rock – to take much longer to recharge. In Asia, large areas of irrigated land could be adversely affected by changes in water runoff patterns.
Also, highly populated delta regions could be affected by reduced fresh water runoff, rising sea levels and greater salinity.
The Worldwatch Institute’s concerns about water scarcity can found in its online Vital Signs reports.
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Dashboard Warning Lights
Most modern cars have onboard computers called engine management systems.
The engine management system or electronic control unit (ECU) also helps to reduce emissions and increase fuel economy. A cars ECU is also linked to other components around the car such as airbag sensors and brakes depending on the make and model of the car. Components can become broken or worn, and when they do dashboard warning lights will illuminate on the dashboard.
Some dashboard warning lights can be specific to a certain make or model of car and others can be universally recognised. Your car’s handbook will explain what all the various dashboard warning lights mean and how severe the problem could be.
Dashboard warning light meanings
Below are the most recognised and typical dashboard warning lights on vehicles along with their meanings. The menu below provides dashboard warning lights and their meanings for specific car makes and models.
Engine warning light
The engine warning light, or malfunction indicator lamp (MIL) on some vehicles may be red in colour and will illuminate when the ignition is turned on and should extinguish once the engine has started. If once the engine has started the engine warning light remains illuminated, it will suggest a problem with the engine. If the engine warning light begins flashing, ease off the accelerator and seek assistance immediately.
Oil pressure dashboard warning light
The oil pressure warning light will illuminate upon switching the cars ignition on and will extinguish once the engine has started. If the light remains on when the engine has started or illuminates whilst driving, stop the car and turn the engine off as soon as possible. Check engine oil levels are sufficient (see Show Me Tell Me for assistance). Driving with insufficient oil in the engine can cause fatal engine damage. If engine oil is correct, do not start engine and seek assistance. See how to check engine oil for a complete in-depth guide on checking your car’s engine oil and topping up.
Battery charge warning light
The battery charge dashboard warning light will illuminate when the ignition is switched on and will extinguish once the engine has started if working correctly. If light does not illuminate when ignition is switched on, illuminates after engine is started or whilst driving, the battery is not charging. The possible causes could be a dead battery, faulty alternator or lose or corroded connection on the battery terminals.
Brake system dashboard warning light
The brake system warning light will illuminate when the handbrake / parking brake is applied and should extinguish once the handbrake is released. If the light remains on and the handbrake is released it indicates a problem with the braking system of the car. Check brake fluid levels are at correct levels and if light remains on, mechanical assistance should be sought immediately.
ABS warning light
The Anti-Lock Braking System or ABS warning light will illuminate during normal driving if there is a problem with the anti-lock braking system. The ABS warning light will illuminate briefly when the ignition is switched on when the car is started to confirm the ABS system is functional. If light is illuminated, normal braking is maintained although the anti-lock system will be defective.
Parking brake warning light
This is the dashboard parking brake warning light or handbrake warning light. These lights can be either red or orange depending on the make of the vehicle. The symbol is illuminated to warn the driver that the parking brake or emergency brake is engaged and must be released before driving off. A parking brake warning light may also have a wrench or spanner illuminated underneath which suggests electronic parking brakes need servicing. If the light is illuminated along with a spanner or wrench, the vehicle can be driven safely but requires maintenance.
Engine overheating dashboard symbol
The engine overheating symbol will illuminate if your car engine becomes dangerously hot. An overheating engine can seize causing fatal damage. If light illuminates whilst driving, pull over and turn engine off as soon as possible. Wait for the engine to cool down before checking coolant. Possible reasons could be blocked or leaking within the engine coolant system, or simply insufficient coolant. See what is engine coolant for a run-down on how engine coolant works, how it benefits the engine and how to check engine coolant levels.
Airbag warning light
The airbag warning light or SRS (Supplemental Restraint Systems) light will illuminate if one or all of the cars airbags have been deactivated. Check vehicle manual for any checks that can be performed. Vehicle can still be driven. If light remains on, specialist diagnostic equipment will need to be used to diagnose faults and to extinguish the warning light.
Seat belt dashboard warning light
Seat belt reminder dashboard warning light will remain active if the vehicle ignition is on and may flash when the vehicle begins to move if the seat belt remains unfastened. An audible alarm may sound if the vehicle is moving and the seat belt is unfastened. Fastening the seat belt will extinguish the light and cease an audible alarm (if applicable).
Catalytic converter warning symbol
Some vehicles may have a catalytic converter warning symbol on the dashboard. If the light remains illuminated it could suggest a problem with a damaged, overheated or malfunctioning catalytic converter. Some other vehicles may illuminate the engine warning light id there is a problem with the catalytic converter. The engine management system may reduce power to the engine if there is a problem with the catalytic converter.
Tyre pressure warning light
The tyre pressure warning light will become illuminated when the tyre pressure monitoring system detects a tyres pressure is reduced by 25% or more. This dashboard warning light is more frequently illuminated during cold winter months when outdoor temperatures are reduced and lowering the tyre pressures.
Full beam dashboard indicator
The full beam symbol lets you know when your cars headlights are turned to full beam.
Fog lights dashboard symbol
The fog lights dashboard symbol illuminate to tell you that your fog lights are on. It is a legal requirement that rear fog lights are illuminated and should be illuminated when visibility is less than around 100 metres. It is an offence to illuminate fog lights when conditions do not call for their use.
Rear window demister / defogger/ defrost dashboard light
The rear windscreen demister light may illuminate on the dashboard or on the demister button itself. Light symbol only illuminates when button is manually activated. The window demister system can consume a large proportion of the batteries energy if activated for long periods. Turn off once window is clear to save battery energy, which in turn saves fuel.
Power steering dashboard warning light
The power steering warning light will illuminate if your fluid levels are low or if there is a fault within the system. Check power steering fluid levels and top-up if necessary. If fluid levels continuously fall, there may be a leak in the system. Steering is possible without the aid of power steering although may become difficult at low speeds. If power steering dashboard warning light remains illuminated after replenishing levels, contact your dealer.
Diesel glow plus light symbol
Diesel engines require glow plug to heat the engine cylinders before starting. By turning on the ignition, the glow plug symbol will illuminate and extinguish once enough heat has been applied. Trying to start the engine, especially in cold weather will be problematic if either you do not wait for the light to extinguish or there’s a fault with the system. If the glow plus light does not come on at all or it flashes, it will indicate there is a fault with the glow plug itself, wiring or fuse.
Dashboard warning light colours
Red dashboard warning light: A red dashboard light suggests a potential serious problem to either the vehicle or to your safety. A red warning light may also be used to remind you of an important issue.
Orange or yellow dashboard warning light: A orange or yellow dashboard warning light is intended to provide the driver information that the engine or a component of the vehicle needs repairing or servicing.
Flashing dashboard warning light: A flashing dashboard warning light is used to inform the driver of a state of urgency that the engine or component of the vehicle needs repair or replacing.
Green or blue dashboard lights: Green or blue dashboard lights are for informational purposes to inform the driver that a system or utility is in operation.
Dashboard warning lights and MOT
An MOT needs to be conducted on a every car that is driven on public roads that is 3 years or more in age. The full details of what is covered in an MOT can be found in the what is an MOT section. Dashboard warning lights if illuminated may affect the outcome of an MOT and result in a failure. A car will fail an MOT test if a dashboard warning light shows a problem such as:
- Electric Power Steering
- Electronic stability control
- Electronic parking brake
- Brake fluid level
- Headlight main beam
- Tyre pressure monitoring system
- Additional restraint systems
DASHBOARD WARNING LIGHTS on Specific Vehicles
Dashboard warning lights found on a particular make and model of vehicle to include:
- Audi Dashboard Warning Lights
- BMW Dashboard Warning Lights
- Fiat Dashboard Warning Lights
- Ford Dashboard Warning Lights
- Nissan Dashboard Warning Lights
- Renault Dashboard Warning Lights
- Vauxhall Dashboard Warning Lights
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- Special Sections
- Public Notices
Keith “Little Bear” Brown transformed clay into works of art in just minutes.
Using his hands and a few tools, Brown, a member of the Catawba Indian tribe, creates pipes, bowls and pots that can be used for daily functions, while others creations are kept primarily for display.
Brown brought his pottery skills to town April 9 for the fourth annual Native American Studies Week at the University of South Carolina at Lancaster.
The week featured several presenters and lecturers whose aim was to highlight Native American history and culture.
Brown, who set up shop in Hubbard Hall, brought in raw clay from a local river bank.
He demonstrated how clay is rolled into coil and then shaped into a design. His main creations were a miniature bowl and a turtle pipe.
Brown used such tools as a melon scooper and a stone to smooth the edges. After the sculpting is finalized, the piece is burnished and heated, which allows it to harden.
The entire process takes about two weeks to finish, Brown said.
Brown didn’t have that much time, so he brought some of his finished works to display, including pots, cups and a pitcher.
Importance of pottery
Brown said Catawba pottery is the oldest art form in South Carolina. It had once served as many Native Americans’ primary trade item, as they exchanged pottery for food or other goods.
“This has been a very important part of our culture and our life at Catawba,” said Brown, who has been doing pottery for more than 30 years.
His work has traveled abroad to countries such as Germany, Spain, France and Japan.
Narmina Tyger, one of the USCL students on hand, watched intently as Brown molded clay.
She was impressed with his demonstration.
“It was a learning experience for me,” Tyger said. “This is definitely good because there are people who don’t even know there are Native American’s here anymore.”
Other events during Native American Studies Week included a Catawba drum and dance presentation, two other pottery demonstrations and a panel discussion featuring various Indian tribe members that touched on the need for more Native American studies in public schools.
Dr. Stephen Criswell, one of the organizers, was pleased to see strong participation from the local community as well as visitors from other areas.
“Each year we have better and better programs,” Criswell said.
“Hopefully, people will get a sense of the diversity in the area. We’ve sort of ignored this group that’s played such an important role. We’re opening some eyes.”
Contact reporter Jesef Williams at email@example.com or at (803) 283-1152
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By Alex Nussbaum
Oil fields are spinning off thousands of tons of low-level radioactive trash as the U.S. drilling boom leads to a surge in illegal dumping and states debate how much landfills can safely take.
State regulators are caught between environmental and public health groups demanding more regulation and the industry, which says it’s already taking proper precautions. As scientists debate the impact of small amounts of radiation on cancer risks, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says there’s not enough evidence to say what level is safe.
Left to police the waste, state governments are increasing their scrutiny of well operators. Pennsylvania and West Virginia are revising limits for acceptable radiation levels and strengthening disposal rules. North Dakota’s doing the same after finding piles of garbage bags filled with radioactive debris in an abandoned building this year.
“We have many more wells, producing at an accelerating rate and for each of them, there’s a higher volume of waste,” said Avner Vengosh, a Duke University geochemistry professor who’s studied the issue. Without proper handling, “we are actually building up a legacy of radioactivity in hundreds of points where people have had leaks or spills around the country.”
The waste is a byproduct of the drilling renaissance that’s brought U.S. oil and gas production to its highest levels in three decades — while also unlocking naturally occurring radium from rock formations far underground.
It’s the latest environmental challenge for an industry that’s pushed the U.S closer to energy independence while facing questions about the effects on water supplies and air pollution — and even a surge in earthquakes.
“There’s all kinds of regulations about how to deal with waste and how to transport waste and we follow them all,” said Andrew Paterson, a vice-president at the Marcellus Shale Coalition, a trade group that represents companies active in Pennsylvania drilling including Range Resources (RRC) Corp. and Noble Energy Inc. “It’s very safe and the levels that we’re talking about are really low-level.”
Questions to Fort Worth, Texas-based Range, a pioneer of Marcellus drilling, were referred to the Shale Coalition. A call to Noble, based in Houston, wasn’t returned.
Studies have found higher radiation levels at oil wells since the 1970s, said Vengosh at Duke in Durham, North Carolina. What’s new is the volume of material being produced. “It’s just become much more abundant right now with the intensity” of drilling, he said.
The issue is shale rock, the dense formations found to hold immense reserves of natural gas and oil. Shale often contains higher levels of radium — a chemical element used in industrial X-ray diagnostics and cancer treatments — than traditional oil fields, Vengosh said.
The technique to free gas and oil is a water-intensive process called hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, in which drill bits cut thousands of feet horizontally through shale fields, making way for high-pressure water streams that pulverize the rock. The process displaces radium-tinged subterranean water that comes up through the wells, where it can taint soil and surface equipment. Radiation levels can build up in sludges at the bottom of tanks, pipeline scale and other material that comes in extended contact with wastewater.
Some states allow the contaminated material to be buried at the drill site. Some is hauled away, with varying requirements for tracking the waste. Some ends up in roadside ditches, garbage dumpsters or is taken to landfills in violation of local rules, said Scott Radig, director of the North Dakota Health Department’s Division of Waste Management.
In that state’s Bakken oil fields, “it’s a wink-and-a-nod situation,” said Darrell Dorgan, a spokesman for the North Dakota Energy Industry Waste Coalition, a group lobbying for stricter rules. “There’s hundreds of thousands of square miles in northwestern North Dakota and a lot of it is isolated. Nobody’s looking at where all of it is going.”
That’s one of the problems the state is trying to fix with rules announced last week requiring well operators to use licensed waste haulers and landfills. The No. 2 oil-producer after Texas, North Dakota has commissioned a study of radiation risks that may spur further changes, Radig said.
In the meantime, North Dakota landfills have installed radiation detectors to try to catch loads exceeding the state’s current radiation limits. Anything higher must be trucked hundreds of miles to dumps in neighboring states that have less restrictive limits.
On Feb. 28, North Dakota officials found hundreds of radioactive “filter socks” — used to strain wastewater from wells — dumped in an abandoned building in Noonan, just south of the Canadian border. The filters registered about 40 microrems an hour of radiation, about five times the naturally occurring “background level” in the area, Radig said.
That’s well below the 1,500 microrems delivered from a typical dental X-ray. Still, it could be a danger if people got close enough to inhale or ingest radioactive dust, Radig said. Radiation levels also can increase if material accumulates in the environment.
“Just mention the word ‘radioactive’ and it scares a lot of people,” Radig said. “They’re angry about what’s going on.” His agency has received more than a dozen reports this year of oil field debris rejected by landfills because of radiation concerns.
North Dakota wells may produce 27 tons a day of filter socks alone, Radig said, citing a private hauler’s estimate. While most material is handled properly, it’s “clearly not enough. There is definitely some illegal dumping going on.”
Oil and gas companies have been dealing with radioactive waste for decades, said Kari Cutting, vice-president of the North Dakota Petroleum Council, an industry trade group in Bismarck. “The majority of companies that have been active in other shale plays know how to deal with it,” she said. “We do not condone illegal dumping or improper management in any form.”
In West Virginia, on the edge of the gas-rich Marcellus formation, lawmakers voted last month to require landfills to install radiation monitors and to build separate, lined cells designed to contain drilling debris. The law, signed by Governor Earl Ray Tomblin March 31, also expanded the amount of oil and gas waste landfills can accept.
With proper precautions, landfills are the safest place for the debris, said Thomas Aluise, a spokesman for the state Department of Environmental Protection. “A lot of operators were just burying them onsite, unchecked, all over the state,” he said.
While it’s unclear how much drilling waste is produced nationally, state totals are rising. West Virginia landfills accepted 721,000 tons of drilling debris in 2013, a figure that doesn’t include loads rejected because they topped radiation limits. The per-month tonnage more than tripled from July 2012, when records were first kept, through last December.
In Pennsylvania, epicenter of the Marcellus boom, the oil and gas industry sent 1.3 million tons to landfills last year. That included 16,000 tons of radioactive material, according to Lisa Kasianowitz, a spokeswoman for that state’s Department of Environmental Protection.
Pennsylvania allows producers to bury some waste onsite in lined pits. It’s drafting rules to discourage that as a permanent option, Kasianowitz said in a telephone interview. Further changes could come after Pennsylvania completes a study of radiation risks that’s looking at everything from worker safety at the wellhead to allowable levels in landfills. Results are due later this year, the spokeswoman said.
Texas, the biggest oil and gas producing state, last revised its rules on radioactive material in 2003 and currently has no plans to change them, said Ramona Nye, a spokeswoman for the State Railroad Commission, which oversees drilling. The state allows the waste to be taken to a landfill, buried onsite or mixed into the soil near a well as long as it’s treated to reduce radiation below set levels.
The rules are “more than adequate” to handle oil and gas waste safely, Nye said in an e-mail.
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As with most building stones, use of Salem started locally with workers hauling blocks eight miles for the foundation and window sills of a county courthouse in 1819. The first quarry opened eight years later but little stone made it outside Indiana until the railroad reached Bedford and Bloomington in 1853.
The big break for Salem quarriers came in 1871 when Chicago burned to the ground. Within a few years, Indiana quarrymen had set up shop to promote their stone. One promoter wrote, “This purity insures absolute integrity on exposures to the fumes of coal, while the perfect elasticity and flexibility of the mass render it invulnerable to the forces of cold and heat, air and moisture.” Others claimed that the stone cleaned itself and that it had withstood the ice age “scarcely changed in any part.”
The Salem soon became the stone of Chicago. In 1889 William Vanderbilt ordered 25 carloads for a mansion on Fifth Avenue and his august imprimatur spurred others to follow. Within a decade Salem dominated markets in Philadelphia, New York City, Boston, Cincinnati, Kansas City, and Cedar Rapids.
Several aspects of Salem Limestone combined to make everyone from Odd Fellows to opera fans incorporate the stone in their structures. Stone masons can cut, plane, flute, and carve the Salem easily and in all directions and once shaped, Salem hardens over time. It splits evenly, and in any direction. When rock had to bear the weight of a building, Salem excelled because of its low compressibility. When stone became a skin hanging on a steel skeleton, Salem remained popular because of its ease in cutting.
Changes in architectural fashions also helped sell Salem Limestone. In the last quarter of the 19th century, architects turned away from the dark, somber stones, such as brownstone, that dominated cities in the eastern United States. Salem Limestone also benefited from the growth of coal-fired plants, because Salem stones did not disintegrate under attack by coal-generated pollution like other limestones. (As geologist David Dale Owen wrote in 1838, Salem Limestone “would imbibe less water.”) By 1928, the peak year of production, Indiana quarries provided 70% of all exterior building stone used in the United States.
Salem Limestone quarries are still active, shipping rock as far as Japan and Turkey. In the United States, Salem-clad buildings occur in all 50 states, and include 27 state capitols, 750 post offices, and 200-plus courthouses. It is the most commonly used building stone in the country.
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Is Martin Luther King Jr.'s 'Dream' Still Alive?
- Jim Denison Denison Forum on Truth and Culture
- 2013 28 Aug
The "March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom" was held 50 years ago today. It gathered more than 250,000 people in the National Mall — the largest public demonstration in American history to date. From the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered his "I Have A Dream" speech (audio/video/text).
According to Jon Meacham, writing in the current Time magazine, the speech "lifted King above the tumult of history and made him a figure of history." Meacham calls him an American "founding father" in the ranks of Lincoln and Jefferson. But the dream is not yet reality. According to Meacham, "The march, he said that day in Washington, was not an end; it was but a beginning. We live in a world King helped create. We do not yet live in the world he helped all of us dream of."
Fifty years after the March on Washington, America still faces a dilemma: do we measure success by changed laws or changed hearts?
Clearly, the civil rights laws of 1964 and 1965 have made a difference for African-Americans. According to Meacham's article, the high school completion gap has closed by 57 points; the number of African-Americans in college has tripled; there are five college graduates for every one in 1963; and the percentage of African-Americans living in poverty has fallen 23 points.
However, prejudice clearly remains. The racial unemployment ratio is unchanged since 1963, at two-to-one. Segregation in America's cities is still a tragic fact. And 11:00 Sunday morning remains "the most segregated hour in America," according to Billy Graham.
The Hebrew prophets Martin Luther King, Jr. quoted 50 years ago resolved our dilemma simply: do what is right and you will become what is right. Human words cannot change human hearts; racial bigotry, like all other sin, must be forgiven by God's grace and transformed by his Spirit. But obedience to his word positions us to experience his blessing. When we act against prejudice, over time — by God's help, depending on his Spirit — we become less prejudiced.
Dr. King was right: "Love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy into a friend." But love is a "fruit" or work of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22). If America would turn to Dr. King's God, we would see Dr. King's dream fulfilled — beginning in this life and consummated in the next.
Jim Denison, Ph.D., is a subject matter expert on cultural and contemporary issues. He founded the Denison Forum on Truth and Culture, a nonsectarian "think tank" designed to engage contemporary issues with biblical truth in 2009 and is the author of seven books, including Radical Islam: What You Need to Know. For more information on the Denison Forum, visit www.denisonforum.org. To connect with Dr. Denison in social media, visit www.twitter.com/jimdenison or www.facebook.com/denisonforum.
Publication date: August 28, 2013
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According to a new survey of more than 8,000 Consumer Reports subscribers, an awful lot of adults are getting an awful lot of heart tests that aren’t likely to benefit them and might cause harm.
The survey found that 44% of 40-to-60-year-olds with no risk factors for heart disease reported getting a cardiovascular screening test beyond blood-pressure monitoring and routine blood work. Tests such as EKGs, exercise stress tests and ultrasounds of the carotid artery aren’t recommended for healthy people, CR says.
Screening tests aren’t a risk-free proposition. They can lead to further testing and procedures that cost a lot and may lead to injury or harm — without actually helping a person live longer.
The magazine has rated nine cardiovascular screening tests with its familiar circular symbols on the question of whether the benefits of the test outweigh the risks. Ratings range from “very likely” to “very unlikely,” and vary by age, gender and heart-disease risk factors.
The ratings were calculated using a point system, with higher scores going to tests that received a better grade from the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, that had additional evidence supporting them beyond what the USPSTF considered, affected a large chunk of the population, were assessed positively on measures of value and offered health benefits beyond the cardiovascular system. Here’s a complete description of the evaluation system.
John Santa, director of the Consumer Reports Health Ratings Center, tells the Health Blog the ratings ended up being a bit more positive about the value of C-reactive protein than the USPSTF’s, and the recommendations for diabetes screening a bit broader, encompassing adults who are obese or who have high cholesterol.
Santa says the CR team was surprised at the low number of people who talked about the possible risks of tests with their physician. Just 11% asked about the follow-up that might come on the heels of an abnormal result, 9% asked about the test’s accuracy, 4% found out about possible complications and 1% asked about research showing the test could save lives.
“People are buying into [the notion] that all prevention has got to be good,” he says.
Bonus: Read this Q&A with H. Gilbert Welch, author of “Overdiagnosed.”
Photo by CarbonNYC via Flickr
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|Scientific Name:||Gorilla beringei|
|Species Authority:||Matschie, 1903|
|Infra-specific Taxa Assessed:|
|Taxonomic Source(s):||Mittermeier, R.A., Rylands, A.B. and Wilson D.E. 2013. Handbook of the Mammals of the World: Volume 3 Primates. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona.|
|Taxonomic Notes:||The eastern species of gorilla (Gorilla beringei) consists of two subspecies, Gorilla beringei beringei (Mountain Gorilla) and Gorilla beringei graueri (Eastern Lowland Gorilla or Grauer’s Gorilla). Gorilla beringei beringei is found in two isolated subpopulations, Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, Uganda, and the Virunga Volcanoes region of Rwanda, Uganda, and Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). While there has been some debate as to whether Bwindi gorillas should be considered as a separate subspecies (Sarmiento et al. 1996, Stanford 2001, Grubb 2003), they are considered here as one subspecies following Caldecott and Miles (2005) and Groves (2006).|
|Red List Category & Criteria:||Endangered A4abcd ver 3.1|
|Assessor(s):||Robbins, M. & Williamson, L.|
|Reviewer(s):||Mittermeier, R.A., Butynski, T.M. & Tutin, C. (Primate Red List Authority)|
Eastern Gorillas have been and are still severely affected by human activity. They are hunted, more now than before in war-torn eastern DRC; and their habitat is being destroyed and degraded by mining and agriculture. They are estimated to have experienced a significant population reduction in the past 20-30 years (one generation is ~ 20 years: Werikhe et al. 1997; Robbins and Robbins 2004) and it is suspected that this reduction will continue for the next 30-40 years. The maximum population reduction over a three-generation (i.e. 60 year) period from the 1970s to 2030 is suspected to exceed 50%, hence qualifying this species for Endangered under criterion A4. The causes of the reduction, although largely understood, have certainly not ceased and are not easily reversible. The suspected future continuation of the population reduction is based on a precautionary approach taking into account the rapidly increasing human population density in the region and the high degree of political instability in the range states.
|Previously published Red List assessments:|
|Range Description:||Eastern Gorillas are found in Rwanda, Uganda, and eastern DR Congo. There are two subspecies.|
G. b. beringei (Matschie, 1903) is found in the Virunga Volcanoes region, an area of 440 km² straddling the border between Uganda (Mgahinga Gorilla National Park), Rwanda (Volcanoes National Park), and DRC (Virunga National Park), and also in the 330 km² Bwindi Impenetrable National Park in southwestern Uganda (Schaller 1963; Butynski 2001).
G. b. graueri (Matschie, 1914) is endemic to eastern DRC, and is found from the lowlands east of the Lualaba River and the Mitumba Range from Mount Tshiaberimu in the north of Virunga National Park, south to the Itombwe Massif, and formerly even further south in the area west of Fizi on the escarpment west of Lake Tanganyika (Schaller 1963; Butynski 2001; Mehlman 2008). The southern limit of the current Grauer’s Gorilla range has been extended by the discovery in late 2007 of a hitherto unreported population in the Hewa Bora region east of Kilembwe in Fizi District (J. Hart, pers comm.).
Native:Congo, The Democratic Republic of the; Rwanda; Uganda
|Range Map:||Click here to open the map viewer and explore range.|
|Population:||G. b beringei|
The Mountain Gorilla subspecies is found in only two isolated subpopulations in Rwanda, Uganda, and the DRC. The Virunga subpopulation was estimated at 380 individuals in 2003, an increase from 320 in 1989 (Gray et al. 2006). Approximately half of the subpopulation is mature individuals (Kalpers et al. 2003; Gray et al. 2006). However, all population growth in the Virungas between 1989 and 2003 has been limited to one sector of the population, the four gorilla groups in perhaps ecologically the richest area, which is also relatively well protected (Kalpers et al. 2003; Gray et al. 2006). Not only do unhabituated (and therefore less well-protected) groups have a lower ratio of juveniles to adults, but the current rate of growth of the whole population is lower than that during the 1980s (Kalpers et al. 2003). Additionally, a resurgence in poaching and killing of gorillas (approximately 3% of the entire Virunga subpopulation in 2007: see below) directly limits population growth and emphasizes the fragile nature of this small population.
While the G. b. beringei subpopulation in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park was believed to have increased from about 300 gorillas in 1997 to 320 individuals in 2003 (McNeilage et al. 2006), a census in 2006 that combined genetic analysis of the entire population with traditional census methods revealed that there are only approximately 300 individuals in Bwindi (Guschanski et al. in review). These new results do not lead to the conclusion that the population has declined in size; instead, due to the ‘sweep census’ method used, it is not possible to put error estimates around the population estimates and therefore it is difficult to assess how the population size has been changing over time.
In total, the subspecies G. b. beringei has only approximately 680 individuals remaining in two isolated populations.
G. b. graueri
In 1995, the population of G. b. graueri was estimated at 16,900 animals (Hall, Saltonstall et al. 1998; Hall, White et al. 1998). In the last decade, it is believed that the total population has declined dramatically, as the lowland populations have been progressively fragmented and reduced (Hart and Liengola 2005; Hart et al. 2007). Many populations have disappeared in the last 30 years (comparing Schaller 1963 and Hall, Saltonstall et al. 1998); for example, Itombwe lost about half of its subpopulations between 1960 and 1996 (Omari et al. 1999). Their habitat continues to become fragmented and discontinuous; the current occupancy range for Grauer’s Gorilla is estimated at 21,600 km², a decline of 25% from surveys completed in 1959 (Mehlman 2008). However, data are lacking to determine the extent of decline, apart from in the uplands of Kahuzi-Biega National Park, where the population dropped from an estimated 270 in 1996 to only 170 animals in 2000 (WCS 2000).
|Current Population Trend:||Decreasing|
|Habitat and Ecology:||The Mountain Gorillas of the Virunga Volcanoes are confined by surrounding cultivation to altitudes above 1,500 m, extending up perhaps to 4,000 m. That range of altitude covers many Afromontane habitat types, from bamboo forest to subalpine zones, typically with dense ground vegetation and relatively little canopy cover (Schaller 1963; Vedder 1984; Watts 1984). The Mountain Gorillas of Bwindi live at altitudes of 1,100-2,400 m, in a forest characterized by steep hills of predominantly mixed forest habitat with a dense understorey. While both subpopulations feed mainly on herbaceous vegetation, diet composition varies greatly with altitude, and the Bwindi gorillas incorporate a considerable amount of fruit into their diet (Ganas et al. 2004; Robbins et al. 2006). |
G. b. graueri is distributed from lowland tropical rainforest habitat through transitional forests to Afromontane habitat (500–2800 m). G. b. graueri has a different diet from that of G. b. beringei, largely due to differences in what plant species are present, but they also feed predominantly on herbaceous vegetation, as well as on fruit from many species (Ferriss et al. 2005; Yamagiwa et al. 2005).
Detailed information on the threats to the Eastern Gorilla and its two subspecies can be found in chapters 8, 13 and 16 of Caldecott and Miles (2005).
G. b. beringei
For the Mountain Gorilla, G. b. beringei, the Virunga Volcanoes region and Bwindi Impenetrable NP are surrounded by some of the highest human densities in Africa (Plumptre and Williamson 2001; CIESIN and CIAT 2005) in countries with some of the fastest increasing human populations in Africa (World Resources Institute 2007). So many people with so much need for land pose significant threats to both subpopulations of Mountain Gorilla. While a key conservation strategy for both subpopulations of Mountain Gorillas is tourism, there is concern about the risk of disease transmission and disturbance to the gorillas, both of which could jeopardize these conservation programmes (e.g. Butynski and Kalina 1998; Homsy 1999). Transmission of infectious disease agents has been proven among habituated wild gorillas, people, domestic animals and other wild animals. Although not yet documented in gorillas, human-origin viral respiratory disease has recently been shown to cause high mortality among habituated chimpanzees (Köndgen et al. 2008). However, overall, Mountain Gorillas visited by researchers and tourists have consistently done better than those not visited, due to the level of protection afforded to areas and groups that are monitored daily (Harcourt 1986; Weber 1993). For instance, in both the 1981 census and 2003 census of the Virunga gorillas, the ratio of immatures to adults were higher in gorilla groups visited by researchers or tourists than in groups not visited (Harcourt et al. 1983; Gray et al. 2006), at 0.4 vs. 0.6 juveniles per non-silverback adult in 2001 (Gray et al. 2006, Table 3). Nevertheless, the threats remain considerable, and intensive conservation activities must continue.
The Virunga subpopulation of G. b. beringei suffered numerous impacts from more than a decade of war and instability in the region (Plumptre and Williamson 2001). Threats included incursions by militia, habitat destruction for firewood and farmland, illegal cattle grazing, illegal timber extraction, and illegal hunting, including snares set for other mammals such as antelope that can injure or kill gorillas. In 2004, 15 km² was deforested for conversion to farmland (NASA 2005) and recently there has been a sharp increase in timber extraction for the illegal production of charcoal. There has also been a resurgence of poaching for the illegal pet trade and bushmeat (Kalpers et al. 2003) and since 2003, 12 orphans (both Grauer’s and Mountain Gorillas) have been confiscated and taken into the care of veterinarians. In 2007, at least eight gorillas were shot dead in three incidents in Virunga NP (Williamson and Fawcett 2008). These losses amount to about 3% of the Virunga subpopulation. Since September, the Mikeno sector, where DRC’s Mountain Gorillas are found, has been under rebel control and park authorities have been prevented from monitoring the gorillas. The failure of the 2008 Peace Conference means that the region remains volatile and the gorillas vulnerable, despite the efforts of international NGOs and UN observers.
Threats to the Bwindi subpopulation of G. b. beringei include illegal use of forest resources (poaching, pit-sawing, firewood collection, etc.), encroachment and demand for land, human-induced fires, invasive exotic species and human-wildlife disease transmission (McNeilage et al. 2006). The forest is also recovering from high levels of timber extraction, gold-mining, encroachment and poaching that occurred prior to designation of National Park status in 1991.
G. b. graueri
In eastern DRC, Grauer’s Gorillas face substantial threats to their survival: agriculture and pastoral activities are leading to massive loss and fragmentation of forest habitat (as noted already, the current occupancy range for Grauer’s Gorilla is approximately 21,600 km², a decline of 25% since 1959; Mehlman 2008); widespread illegal mining activities in the forests increase demand for bushmeat, including consumption of gorillas; and illegal capture of infants (and concomitant killing of group members), which has increased substantially since 2002. Ongoing political unrest and military activity, including occupation of national parks, and killing of gorillas for food, have compounded the problems (Hall, Saltonstall et al. 1998; Plumptre et al. 2003; Yamagiwa 1999, 2003). At present, there is no commercial logging in the Grauer’s range, but there are continuous low-level extractive activities (charcoal production, bamboo harvesting and wood cutting), which put further stress on the habitat (J. Hart pers. comm. 2007). As some of the country emerges from civil war, new concessions for timber, minerals, and possibly petroleum will pose conservation challenges for the future (Caldecott and Miles 2005, Ch. 16).
Detailed information on conservation measures to protect the Eastern Gorilla and its two subspecies can be found in chapters 8, 13 and 16 of Caldecott and Miles (2005).
The Eastern Gorilla is listed under Class A of the African Convention and Appendix I of CITES. The subspecies is found only within National Parks. These protected areas all have active national programmes for conservation management, assisted by international NGOs. Although the protected areas are relatively well monitored, measures of the impacts of illegal activities on the gorillas should continue.
Most subpopulations of G. b. graueri are found in protected areas, where international NGOs are supporting rehabilitation and conservation programmes, such as in Kahuzi-Biega NP, Maïko NP, Tayna Nature Reserve and Kisimba-Ikobo Nature Reserve. However, due to the presence of armed militia groups in some areas, conservation activities sometimes require assistance from the United Nations Mission in the Congo (MONUC). Efforts are underway to establish up-to-date distribution, abundance, and threats to improve conservation management. It is important to identify key populations of G. b. graueri and continue to provide active protection. Work must continue to document the post-conflict distribution, abundance and conservation status of Grauer’s Gorilla throughout its range. Efforts must also be made to support and maintain active protection for Grauer’s Gorilla where it is already established, while simultaneously developing and mobilizing conservation activities in the more remote and inaccessible sectors of its range.
|Citation:||Robbins, M. & Williamson, L. 2008. Gorilla beringei. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2008: e.T39994A10289921.Downloaded on 30 June 2016.|
|Feedback:||If you see any errors or have any questions or suggestions on what is shown on this page, please provide us with feedback so that we can correct or extend the information provided|
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IQ tests have received a very large number of criticisms since their inception. One of the main arguments made against the use of IQ tests is that they don't measure creativity. But is this true? Surely creativity involves thoughtful reasoning, divergent production, pattern detection, learning, and other skills tapped into by IQ tests. Indeed, recent research shows that on-the-spot novel problem solving (fluid intelligence) and task switching are related to the ability to come up with unusual uses for an object. So perhaps throwing away IQ tests entirely would be throwing the baby away with the bathwater. Properly administered and interpreted, IQ test scores may shed some light on a person's creative potential.
There are lots of reasons why a student may be referred to a school psychologist. Perhaps the student is demonstrating a particular learning disability. Perhaps the student appears right for gifted education. When a student is referred to a school psychologist, the clinician may decide to administer an IQ test to determine the student's pattern of strengths and weaknesses. Whatever the reason for the referral, there is good reason to assess creativity. Creativity is a crucial skill for success and greatness in life, and is often missed just by looking at an individual's global IQ score (which takes the average performance across different subtests).
When administering an IQ test, it's crucial that the psychologist adopt the intelligent testing approach. Coined by Alan S. Kaufman, intelligent testing involves a focus on the person being tested, and how that individual responds, or why that individual responds in a certain manner, in addition to how well they respond. The psychologist can help the child or adult being evaluated by observing and interpreting a wide range of behaviors, making inferences about observed problem-solving strategies, and interpreting the test profile within the context of pertinent background information about the person, clinical behaviors observed during the evaluation, and the latest theories and research in the field of cognitive science and learning theory. The entire assessment process should be viewed as an experiment conducted with a sample size of one person. Such testing requires a knowledgeable researcher, and test results are meaningless until the individual's scores are put into context by the examiner.
The test administrator should look way beyond global IQ scores. Many aspects of psychology are brought to bear in the analysis and interpretation of a cluster of scores, and all of this information is added to what is already known about the client before the testing session even begins. The accumulated background information and reasons for referral are all part of what is included in forming conclusions and preparing treatment and remedial suggestions that attempt to answer the referral questions. In sum, during the test selection, administration, and interpretation process, one should use the following: knowledge of intelligence-creativity research, the latest theories of intelligence and creativity, and clinical skills or experience in working with creative individuals.
In extracting information about creativity from performance on an IQ test, these principles are of the utmost of importance. So what can clinicians do when a referral question requires them to find evidence of a person's creative potential from a comprehensive assessment? I teamed up with Alan Kaufman's son James C. Kaufman (who is a superstar in the creativity field) and Elizabeth O. Lichtenberger (a leading assessment specialist) to explore just this question (download full paper here). We believe that a test administrator can use the intelligent testing philosophy to find evidence of creativity within the administered IQ subtests. In particular, we make a few recommendations of how to make use of the already existing individually administered cognitive and achievement batteries to extract information about an individual's creative potential.
Test selection. A number of different cognitive and achievement tests exist. The test administrator should pick and choose subtests from different batteries to come up with the best collection of tests related to creativity. Tests already exist that measure creativity-related processes, including measures of associational fluency (the ability to name as many words as possible that start with a certain sound or category), writing fluency (the ability to write down sentences in response to different demands), written expression (the ability to write a story related to a picture), and more. In our paper, we include a Table that shows tests that already exist along these lines. Some tasks may be able to provide information about other referral questions as well as creativity. Also, creativity can be present in more than one domain (e.g., visual and verbal modalities), so it's important to produce a collection of tests that tap a wide range of ways one can express their creativity.
Background information/history. It's important for the test administrator to collect as much information as possible about the client from the client's parents and teachers. In doing so, the psychologist should ask people who know the client questions about his or her creative thinking. Does he or she come up with multiple solutions to problems at home/school/work? Does the client get answers wrong because they have their own unique way of understanding questions? Does the client struggle on multiple choice tests because he or she deems none of the answers to be good enough (or he or she comes up with alternative responses)? Does the client have trouble focusing at times because he or she is deep in thought or daydreaming?
Behavioral observations. The test administrator should be an astute observer of an individual's problem-solving styles and strategies during assessment. The psychologist should gather information about how and why the person responds in a particular way to items. Does an individual try out many different strategies when solving the same type of problem? Does the individual use a trial-and-error problem solving approach? Does the individual use an organized, systematic problem-solving approach? Does the individual elaborate on responses without prompting? Does the individual get frustrated when a task has a forced response that doesn't allow the individual a chance to be original? Does the individual show signs that he or she prefers less structured tasks? Does the individual respond impulsively? It's important for the test administrator to pay attention to the individual.
Test interpretation. High scores don't necessarily mean high creativity. Each of the subtest scores must be interpreted in the context of the examinee's referral question, background, observed behaviors, and other test results. It must also be kept in mind that actual creative achievement requires not only the ability to produce divergent ideas but also the ability to discern which of the ideas are appropriate to a relevant goal. Knowledge of an individual's unique pattern of strengths and weaknesses can be combined with other information about the person, including their global scores, to make a sensible recommendation that has a focus on improving one's performance, not holding them back.
This is just an excerpt from our paper. If you are interested in exploring this issue further, I highly recommend you read the full paper (here). For more on other issues in the field of intelligence and intelligence testing, check out the following recent resources:
© 2011 by Scott Barry Kaufman
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- Discuss and define the term "scientific theory."
- Watch segments fromDiscovery Science Library: The Basics: Earth Science.
- Work in small groups to draft an overview of one theory explored in the program, which includes details about the theory’s evidence and significance.
Discovery Science Library: The Basics: Earth Science
- Computer with Internet access
- Newsprint and markers
- Begin the lesson by asking students if they know what a "scientific theory" is. Write their ideas on a sheet of newsprint. Before continuing with the lesson, help students understand the following:
- A scientific theory is an idea that is grounded in scientific evidence and explains a wide range of observations.
- Over time, a scientific theory holds up. Many scientists working in different locations can corroborate the evidence for the theory.
- Scientists continue to find evidence to support a scientific theory.
- A scientific theory adds to our growing understanding of the world and how it works.
- Explain that students are going to watch the four segments inDiscovery Science Library: The Basics: Earth Sciencethat explore scientific theories ? Extinction, Earth's Magnetic Field, Blue Hole, and Plate Tectonics.
- After students have viewed the segments, divide them into small groups of three or four. Ask each group to select a theory. (Try to make sure that all four theories are covered.) Have the groups draft an overview of their theory that includes the following information:
- A brief summary of the theory
- Evidence for the theory
- The significance of the theory
- Give students time in class to work on their projects. Most of the information students need is in the segments, but they can visit the following Web sites for additional facts:
- During the next class, give students a few minutes to meet with their groups and finish the overviews. Then ask for volunteers to present group overviews. Make sure that each theory is covered in the presentations.
- Conclude the lesson by asking students: What did you learn about scientific theories that you didn't know before? Why are scientific theories important? What can they teach us about the world?
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Use the following three-point rubric to evaluate students' work during this lesson.
3 points: Students were highly engaged in class and small-group discussions; produced a clear and accurate overview describing a scientific theory, with all the requested components.
2 points: Students participated in class and small-group discussions; produced an adequate overview describing a scientific theory, with most of the requested components.
1 point: Students participated minimally in class and small-group discussions; produced an incomplete overview describing a scientific theory, with little or none of the requested components.
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Definition:A large, underwater cave in the Caribbean Sea, off Grand Bahama Island
Context:The presence of fossilized bat droppings and red dust, which probably blew in from the Sahara Desert when the cave was above sea level, are two pieces of evidence supporting the theory that this blue hole was once dry.
continental drift theory
dinosaur extinction theory
Definition:States that Earth was once a single giant landmass that separated and drifted apart over millions of years
Context:Alfred Wegener was the first scientist to propose the theory of continental drift, but it took more than 50 years before this idea was widely accepted.
Definition:States that a giant meteor struck Earth, changing the climate and bringing about the extinction of the dinosaurs
Context:Although not all scientists agree with the prevalent dinosaur extinction theory, it is clear that the extinction of the dinosaurs made it possible for mammals to dominate and diversify.
Earth's magnetic field
plate tectonics theory
Definition:The area between Earth's magnetic north and south poles; Earth's magnetic field is huge and extends into space.
Context:By studying lava flows, scientists have learned that the orientation of Earth's magnetic field changes; the last shift took place about 700,000 years ago.
Definition:States that Earth is divided into plates that are constantly moving
Context:The theory of plate tectonics states that earthquakes and volcanoes tend to occur in weak spots along the boundaries of plates.
Definition:An idea that is based on scientific evidence, can explain a wide range of observations, and holds up over time
Context:Many scientific theories, such a the theory of continental drift and the theory of plate tectonics, are important because they help explain what our planet once looked like and how it continues to change.
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Mid-continent Research for Education and Learning (McREL)
McREL’s Content Knowledge: A Compendium of Standards and Benchmarks for K–12 Education addresses 14 content areas. To view the standards and benchmarks, visitwww.mcrel.org/compendium/browse.asp.
This lesson plan addresses the following national standards:
National Academy of Sciences
- Science: Earth and Space Sciences ? Understands Earth's composition and structure
- Language Arts: Viewing ? Uses viewing skills and strategies to understand and interpret visual media
The National Academy of Sciences provides guidelines for teaching science in grades K–12 to promote scientific literacy. To view the standards, visitbooks.nap.edu/html/nses/html/overview.html#content.
This discussion guide addresses the following Grades 5-8 science standards:
- Earth and Space Science: Structure of the earth system; Earth's history
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Students will be afforded a tool to learn and understand the meanings of SAT/ACT/TESTING Vocabulary Words in a method that makes sense and allows them to extend beyond the basic words and journey into the world of effective vocabulary.
The Concept Behind Interactive Word Walls:
The concept of tying morphemic analysis and secondary word walls together began about four years ago. As a Language
Arts Veteran for twenty six years, we have always believed in teaching word parts as the basis for a classroom vocabulary
instruction. When students break words apart they not only learn the vocabulary list for the lesson but in fact are afforded a
tool to decipher thousands of words. Since students at the secondary level are so visual, teachers should extend the word
wall concept into secondary education. The Word Station believes that taking the two concepts of morphemic analysis and the use of
word walls, and combining them into a living breathing part of the classroom, constant vocabulary instruction takes place. The
Word Station Program allows students to journey on Expeditions from the sixth grade through the twelfth grade, learning
the meanings of three hundred stems, used in eighteen hundred SAT/ACT/Testing vocabulary words. While they learn the
vocabulary words, students are in fact learning thousands of words using the knowledge of the prefixes, suffixes, roots, and
bases in the system—The Word Station Word Strips.
The Word Station System is reinforced each week by incorporating suggested lessons.
THE ITENERARY: State the objective being taught… The World Of Vocabulary Awaits You!
Begin each class with an activity that introduces or reinforces a STEM or vocabulary word. Use brief activities in a variety of tasks tailored to the proficiency of your students. Modifications can be made to meet the needs of all your students.
BUY YOUR TICKET: State the objective being taught... You Are On The Road To Discovery!
Each lesson will embrace new STEM’s or vocabulary words, as well as review previously discovered words and STEM’s. Since the Word Station Word Wall is totally flexible, teachers can customize the presentation on a daily basis to meet the goals and objectives of their individual lesson plans.
BOARD THE TRAIN: Guided Practice… You Are The Guide To The World Of Vocabulary!
Through class participation, students will learn to navigate the world of new vocabulary words by learning the STEM’s and using them to discover the new words in the lesson. By learning the STEM’s, roots, suffixes and prefixes, students will begin to understand the origins of words and how to break down new words and unravel their meaning.
TAKE THE RIDE: Independent Practice… The Student Becomes the Explorer!
Through independent practice using the Word Station Workbook, and other tools, the daily lessons are reinforced, and the student builds understanding and competence. As new words are added, and lessons reviewed, the student becomes more confident and excited about learning.
LASTING MEMORIES: Measuring understanding with Quick Quiz… Bring Them Home With A New Outlook!
Teachers can measure the progress of the student through the use of Quick Quizes, providing a solid platform for future lessons and effective review of previously covered material.
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William Williams Keen Biography (1837-1932)
William Williams Keen was internationally known as an innovative surgeon, prolific writer, and outstanding teacher of surgery and anatomy. He was class valedictorian at Brown University and earned his MD at Jefferson Medical College in 1862.
Soon after graduation from medical school, he served as acting surgeon in theUS Army during the Civil War. He served near the front before being called to Turner's Lane Hospital in Philadelphia. The military was organizing hospitals that offered specialized treatment and in 1863, Union soldiers with neurological injuries and illnesses were sent to Turner's Lane Hospital. PhysiciansS. Weir Mitchell and George R. Morehouse had requested Keen's transfer and the three doctors observed the neurological patients closely, keeping detailednotes. They were the first to document and name causalgia, a severe burningsensation which can follow partial injury of the nerves. The doctors also studied the exaggeration of symptoms in malingering patients, primary and secondary shock, and reflex paralysis. They noted that when an important nerve is severed, there can be a paradoxical reaction where the patient suffers increased sensitivity to pain and touch. In 1864, the three physicians published a monograph on injuries to the nerves from gunshot wounds and other causes. Theyhad gathered other materials in the expectation of publishing much more on nerve injuries, but the papers were ruined in a fire.
Keen pursued additional studies in Paris, Berlin, and Vienna between 1864 and1866, when he returned to Philadelphia to begin private practice. In 1866, Keen began lecturing at the Philadelphia School of Anatomy and at Jefferson Medical College, his alma mater. In addition, he held academic appointments atthe Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts and Women's Medical College.
Keen was one of the first physicians in the world to adopt antiseptic surgical technique, which probably accounted for some of his success as a surgeon. The prompt adoption of antiseptic practice was unusual because there had beenvery little understanding of infection. During the Civil War, the appearanceof pus in a wound was interpreted as a sign of healing. In his account of hiswork as a military surgeon during the second battle of Bull Run, Keen mentioned pus being a positive sign. However, as soon as antisepsis was scientifically proven, Keen taught his students to maintain a sterile environment duringevery step of medical care. During his career, Keen estimated that he taught6,000 to 7,000 medical students.
In 1886, after the death of his wife Emma, Keen revised the American editionof Gray's Anatomy and expanded the section on the nervous system. He was interested in the surgical treatment of disorders such as epilepsyand trigeminal neuralgia, a severe pain that often begins in the area of themouth. One of Keen's triumphs in the newly recognized field of neurosurgery involved removing a brain tumor in a patient who went on to live another 30 years.
Keen participated in a clandestine surgery in 1893, performed on the presidential yacht in Long Island Sound. The patient was President Grover Cleveland,who suffered from a malignant tumor of the upper jaw. Keen assisted Joseph Bryant in the operation, which was carried out through the mouth and involved no external incisions. Cleveland lived another 15 years with no recurrence ofthe tumor, and the surgery was not made public until 1917.
Keen published more than 650 articles, books and editorials. He wrote about the first clinical use of X-rays in 1896. In 1892, he published An AmericanText-book of Surgery with J. W. White, which went to four editions and developed an international audience. His eight-volume Principles and Practice of Surgery was released between 1906 and 1921.
Keen was 80 years old when the United States entered World War I. He rejoinedthe service, this time as a major in the US Army Medical Corps, and edited Principles and Practice of Surgery.
Keen's achievements were widely recognized by the international medical community. He received honorary degrees from 12 universities in six countries andwas an honorary fellow of three royal colleges of surgeons. He was presidentof the American Surgical Association in 1899 and president of the AmericanMedical Association in 1900.
In addition to his significant role as surgeon and neurosurgeon, Keen was recognized for his many contributions to medical education. Over and above his writing and lecturing, he was active in numerous medical organizations and corresponded with surgeons and physicians around the world. On his ninetieth birthday, Keen announced that his only regret was having so little time to accomplish everything he still wanted to do. He died at home five years later.
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It was one of the darkest periods in Latin American history. From 1976-1983, a brutal military junta ruled Argentina in what was called “the Dirty War,” when some 10,000 persons were “disappeared” and human rights abuses were rampant. Many of the disappeared were believed to have been abducted by agents of the Argentine government during these years; the disappeared were often tortured and killed before their bodies were disposed of in rural areas or unmarked graves. In response the movement called “Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo” arose, wearing signs with photos and names of their children who had vanished, standing in silent protest.
The junta remained in power until Argentina’s cratering economy and woefully unsuccessful attempt to seize the Falklands/Malvinas Islands from the United Kingdom further undermined any remaining shred of credibility. The military leaders, with some convincing from the U.S. and others, stepped down; the general election on October 30, 1983 — and the surprising defeat of the Peronist party — marked the return of constitutional rule. Over 85% of eligible voters participated.
With the return to democracy, Argentina and the United States developed a very close bilateral relationship, which was highlighted by President Clinton’s visit to Argentina in October 1997. In July 1998, the United States Government recognized Argentina as a major non-NATO ally. In March 2016 President Barack Obama honored the victims of the Dirty War and ordered the declassification of thousands of military and intelligence documents related to the period. Martin Andersen, an ADST associate, wrote an op-ed for CNN in response.
John Bushnell served as Deputy Assistant Secretary for the State Department’s Bureau of Inter-American Affairs, ARA, now called WHA (1977-1982) and Deputy Chief of Mission in Buenos Aires (1982-1987). He was interviewed by John Harter in 1997 and explains the situation leading up to the dirty war and the brutal tactics of the violent Montonero radicals. He later discusses the transition to democracy and describes his conversations with several generals and his attempts to support the newly elected government, whatever it may be. Robert S. Steven served as Political Officer in Embassy Buenos Aires (1976-1977) and contends that Argentina was “just another banana republic,” despite its ties to Europe; he was interviewed by Charles Stuart Kennedy in 2001.
Gary S. Urey served as Consular Officer in Embassy Buenos Aires (1976-1978) and discusses how Argentina was only a “transit country” to the Argentines who lived there; he was interviewed by Kennedy beginning March 2002. Anthony Freeman was assigned to Buenos Aires as Assistant Labor Attaché (1976-1980). He was interviewed by Don R. Kienzle in 1995. Robert B. Morley was ARA Policy Planning Coordinator from 1979-1982 and discusses the ill-conceived Falklands/Malvinas invasion; he was interviewed by Kennedy beginning July 1997. Nicolas Robertson was assigned to USIS in Buenos Aires as an Assistant Public Affairs Officer (1984-1988) and was interviewed by Kennedy in 2009.
Prelude to a Tragedy
ARA, 1977-82; DCM Buenos Aires, 1982-87
BUSHNELL: In the early and mid-1970s the Argentine situation deteriorated in almost every way. In 1973 General Juan Peron (at left), who had ruled Argentina from 1943 to 1955, returned from a long exile in Spain and was elected president. His third wife, who had been a bar dancer in Panama, ran as his vice president. Peron died in July 1974, and his wife became president although she had no political or leadership experience.
The economy continued to deteriorate, and the political and economic problems opened the door to the Montonero guerrillas led by Mario Firmenich. The motives and objectives of the Montoneros were complex; they professed to be Trotskyists or guerrillas of the people.
But many of their supporters were from the Moscow-leaning communist party, and some of their members seemed mainly interested in the money. They sent much of their money to Havana for safekeeping — although Havana of course was not known as a banking center. Eventually most of the surviving leadership fled to Cuba and from there eventually went to Nicaragua to help the Sandinistas. The Montoneros were allied with a more rural and even more radical, but smaller, group called the ERP, the Revolutionary People’s Army.
The Montoneros had led violent demonstrations in favor of Peron’s return. But, when he came back, there was no pause in their violence and kidnapping.…Several American executives were kidnapped for ransom. They kidnapped the head of the giant Argentine grain and food products company, Bunge & Born, and collected some $10 or $12 million dollars. Executives had body guards; in shoot-outs executives, guards, Montoneros, and bystanders were killed. Although they organized some rural guerrilla activities and training camps, the Montoneros acted primarily in the cities.
By 1975 they were engaged in gun battles with the police most nights in Buenos Aires with many innocent bystanders killed as well as many military/police and Montoneros. Buenos Aires became the Wild West at its worst. They shot a rocket into the dining room of the American Ambassador’s residence on a night he was giving a dinner for some 70 or 80 people. Fortunately, some of the guests were late and the party had not yet gone into the dining room when the rocket hit; no one was killed, but apparently the intent was to kill many.
The 1976 military coup was supported by 95 percent of the people. The military then intensified the dirty war with primary focus on the Montonero infrastructure. HA [Humanitarian Affairs, the State Department’s Bureau on Human Rights, now called DRL] would always quote the figures for disappeared and tortured supposedly by the military.
However, certainly the Montoneros fought at least as dirty and with less regard for bystanders. Let me illustrate with a couple of incidents I know from personal connections.
One Army general living in a Buenos Aires apartment had a daughter, maybe 14, who invited a school friend of the same age for a sleep-over, since people couldn’t go out at night because of the violence. This girl came over, put her suitcase under the bed, and in the middle of the night the suitcase blew up and killed the girls, the general, his wife, and the rest of his family — a guerrilla success. This sort of thing got the attention of the military. And this wasn’t an isolated instance.
While I was in ARA [State Department’s Bureau of Inter-American Affairs, now called WHA] in 1978, the Montoneros attacked Walter Kline, who was the Secretary of Finance who had worked with me in Treasury launching our economic relationship with Argentina after the coup. The military took over the country, but they put in a civilian team to run the economy.
Walter Kline’s house was bombed with him and his family in it; the walls, roof and everything came down. Martinez De Hoz, who was the economy minister, heard about this attack almost immediately and went to the area. He saw the damage and confiscated cranes from nearby construction sites to pull the big cement pieces off to rescue the family. Walter was not seriously hurt. One child was quite severely hurt and is still suffering from that attack. And the Klein family was lucky!…
The military operatives would pick up people they thought were in the guerrilla infrastructure, most of whom were in the infrastructure but some of whom weren’t, and these people would never be seen again. They would be tortured to find what other people were in the infrastructure. Some were dropped out of planes into the ocean; most were killed and buried.
Arrested pregnant women would be held in prison until the baby was born. Then they might disappear, and the baby would be taken by a military family or someone associated with the intelligence service who wished to adopt a baby.…
“They found a number of bodies piled in a field and literally blown up”
Political Officer, Embassy Buenos Aires, 1976-1977
STEVEN: It was basically…a breakdown in the political situation. Argentina had had the same sort of turnovers of government and economic disasters that were typical for so long of places like Italy.
The very well-known comment is such a cliché but it’s true, that Argentina has resources. It’s one of the wealthiest countries in the world, and up until about the 1920s Argentina was thought of as one of the richest and most promising countries in the world. And because it’s inhabited by Argentines, it’s been a disaster. Again, even today they are having problems with the IMF [International Monetary Fund].…
Nothing ever changes in Argentina, and the Peron experience, of course, had exposed them to dictatorial government there. I think at the time the Argentine military decided to move, they felt that the country was again in this disastrous situation and something had to be done.
I have a private view, which I’ve never seen expressed by any scholar or anybody better qualified, that perhaps the Argentine military were inspired by what they’d seen happen in Chile, that they saw their colleagues across the hills take over and were making a success of the economy, at least in classic terms of product and foreign exchange reserves, and that perhaps they could do the same for Argentina.
Well, they weren’t the same people and it didn’t work in Argentina. To me, the culture is a large part of it. You’re talking about Mediterranean culture, which has a different outlook on life and efficiency in government than, say, the Teutonic or Anglo-Saxon culture, just a very different thing.
Whereas Chile today is stable and economically in pretty good shape, Argentina is not. I think the Argentina military may have deluded themselves into the idea that they could do the same thing the Chilean military had done. Of course, there was also the terrorist factor, the fact that people were being assassinated in Argentina.…
We had considerable security precautions as Americans moving around in Argentina than we had ever had in Chile. The Argentine military were much more brutal, openly so. One of the worst examples we saw of that was – I forget the exact circumstances – they found a number of bodies of people who had been apparently killed by the Argentina military police piled in a field with a large charge under them and literally blown up. There were body parts all over the field.
And everyone said, “What on earth! What are they trying to signal to their people and to the world?” And the basic signal, we all agreed, was very clear: “We’re in charge. We can do any damn thing we want, and if you don’t behave yourself, this is what’s going to happen to you.”
The business of tossing people out of aircraft: we all like to think at least that they were heavily drugged or dead before they were thrown out, but who knows? But bodies started washing up in the River Plate estuary in Uruguay, and the Uruguayans complained, “What in the hell is going on here? We don’t want these bodies washing up on our shores.”
This was a government that didn’t even care enough to fly coroners out to the bodies to bring them back in. That resulted, of course, later – a different subject entirely — in the Falklands War when the Argentine military, losing popularity, seeing that the opposition was increasingly gathered its strength, desperately reached for the old classic idea: find an external enemy, and thought “If we invade the Falklands, we will get our people united behind us.”
It was the disaster that brought them down and ended them all in jail with trials and so on….
“Chile was ideological, like Spain, but Argentina was just another banana republic”
I think my own impression of it was that we were less involved [in Argentina]. We had been deeply involved in what was happening in Chile because of the Allende government and so on.
In Argentina it was more sort of a normal distance. We were interested, but I don’t think we were as much involved. My impression has always been, both from what I’ve read since and what I knew then, that we were not really involved in the coup. I have no idea whether we even knew it was coming.
But it was just sort of a little bit more laid back, watching what they were doing and scratching our heads trying to figure it out at times. Yes, protesting the human rights abuses when we could. Americans were not as directly affected. I don’t think that any Americans were killed over there. Very few Americans gave a damn what went on in Argentina. The government didn’t focus on it, the press didn’t focus much on it….
Chile was ideological, like Spain, but Argentina was just another banana republic. Who’s in, who’s out, so what? They’d had the military in before. The governments changed. It just didn’t excite people as much as what happened over in Chile.
Chile in a sense to me – I probably would get thrown out if I talked about this among certain circles — Chile was a serious country, and what happened in Chile made a difference to people. It was important, I think, that Chile be restored to democracy. In Argentina, what happened, so what? In a year or two it would change anyway, and they never had been able to govern themselves very well, so what did we really expect?
In Chile we had seen the loss of a long democratic tradition of good self-government. In Argentina we didn’t see that at all; we just saw another example of a takeover or misuse of power and the country stumbling from crisis to crisis. It was a different atmosphere.…In Chile I had had three sort of assigned portfolios and I knew them specifically. In Argentina, as I recall, we reacted more ad hoc, whoever happened to have the time to write the latest report or follow something….
Even when the military were in, the political parties were still important. They were never formally dissolved. I remember going to receptions where the politicians all talked who was up and who was down and who was involved with the military and who was not, again quite different from the situation in Chile, where the politicians were literally for the first year or two out of sight. They kept very carefully out of sight. In Argentina, no — life continued on much more normally.
The people who had changes in their lives were largely on the left, those the military had identified as dissident or problem makers. The embassy was not as polarized, as I recall. The embassy in Chile was quite polarized, the military and some of the [Central Intelligence] Agency people and some of the others. That didn’t happen in Argentina, partly because the passions were so much less….
Did the Argentineans look to Europe more than to the United States? I think so, yes. The connections were very much there. There were very few Americans other than some businesspeople there. They looked back to Spain, to Italy, to other countries.…
It was interesting to me to see in Argentina, also in Chile and other countries but emphasized in Argentina, the communities that were there, the country club which is the one for the British community, and there’s another one that was specialized for the Italians and there was another for the Spanish, and there was a Jewish club. They were not exclusive but clearly it was a community’s center, and Argentina was very much a collection of communities rather than an integrated nation, which I think is one of their problems…
My impression has been though that labor was extremely politicized in that country. It is in many Latin American countries, but there particularly labor tends to be an arm of a political party, the labor union will be an arm of a political party rather than a real, what we call, independent labor union. There are some in this country would say the AFL-CIO is an arm of the Democratic Party, but down there it really is. The labor union would be integrated pretty much. …It affected those who were affected, in the sense that if your son was taken or your family was involved in the political activity and they were targeted, yes, you were affected.
But I don’t think that it was something that affected the majority of Argentines. The man in the street wasn’t being beaten up by the police, and these were the students or the young people who were in trouble and there weren’t that many of them. Many of them had lost, I think, a great deal of sympathy because of assassinations and kidnappings and things.
There was some attitude I remember hearing once from someone I thought was a very liberal-minded Argentine when somebody had just been found assassinated and disappeared, “Well, he had it coming. They were troublemakers.” It wasn’t that it affected such wide numbers of people. They were more worried about their economic, I think, than their political situation.
They didn’t like the publicity, of course. Let’s face it. Many of them were humane people after all, and they didn’t like to see people being killed or tortured. I don’t think the majority of Argentines would have overthrown their arms because of that type of thing. The thing which the Argentine military did which forced them out of power was the stupid war in the Falklands. The dumbest thing they ever did.…
“These were people who never had Argentine passports, who had resided for generations and still had these European passports”
Gary S. Urey
Consular Officer, Embassy Buenos Aires, 1976-1978
USREY: Only until quite late in my tour did we become fully aware of the dirty war that had been going on almost this whole period. That they had been putting away their own people. I got involved in that.…
The junta, after getting much bad international press, had decided to give this much talked about derecho de opcion, right of option, which effectively meant that if you were a political prisoner, and you didn’t have outrageous charges against you, if you would give up your Argentine nationality, and agree to exile yourself permanently from the country, the right of option, you could leave, if another country would take you.
I found myself going into jails interviewing people, to see if they would be eligible to come to the U.S. So, I got some great reporting and stories to end on. The present conditions, and so on. That began to cloud the whole experience.…
Oddly enough, you had a lot of Argentines, itself a target of immigration from Europe, doing secondary immigration to the U.S. It was very, very interesting. I always thought that was the big difference between Argentina and the U.S. in many ways. You had many, many people in Argentina with Spanish passports, or Italian passports, or German passports, who had lived there several generations, whereas in the U.S., there was always an urge to become an American. Argentines were always going back to the madre pais [“mother country”].
Argentina was never really home. It was a sort of transit place.…These were people who never had Argentine passports, who had resided for generations and still had these European passports. I always felt it was greatly to the discredit of Argentina. You had to feel that this was a bad blot on their part. This was supposed to have been one of the great American republics, and it was falling apart. But, the living was so good, the weather was good, the buildings and the architecture were magnificent. The food was superb. The people, like you say, you never saw so many clear eyes and white skin. It’s the biggest white city I have ever been in, including Europe. When you go to Paris, you see people of all colors. This is 12 million white people, with only an occasional dark Brazilian on the street. It was an astonishing big pool of human resources, not doing particularly well.
Human rights policy
Assistant Labor Attaché, Embassy Buenos Aires, 1976-1980
FREEMAN: By now, the human rights policy of the Carter Administration was in full swing and there were strong denunciations out of Washington concerning the violations of human rights in Argentina.
The first signs of a human rights policy actually had surfaced a bit earlier in the Nixon Administration when I was in Sao Paulo, and I had gained some experience as political officer cultivating middle-class liberal opponents of the military regime in Brazil, expressing U.S. concern about the heavy-handed military repression there.
But the Carter Administration’s strong emphasis on human rights policy was not the only U.S. interest in Argentina. We didn’t want to see the leftist guerrillas tortured to death and then “disappeared” in secret operations, let alone innocent civilians labeled as terrorists, arbitrarily detained and then disposed of in the same way, but I believe we recognized it was in the U.S. interest to see the guerrilla threat eliminated. We wanted the guerrillas dealt with by rule of law and some semblance of due process. When I say “we” I mean the U.S. government.
It’s conceivable there may have been some people in the Administration in Washington who harbored a more benign view of Argentina’s rebellious youth, but professionals in the State Department (and certainly the Pentagon) saw the guerrillas as a threat to U.S. interests in Latin America. The political model they appeared to vaguely espouse was some kind of collectivist or totalitarian society, whether of the radical left or right or some hybrid thereof, and they used terrorist methods.
They were the enemies not only of the current military dictators of Argentina, but also of the liberal democratic tradition in Argentine political history, represented by the civilian governments Argentina had known in the past. They were clearly anti-American. If they ever succeeded in attaining power, there was no doubt they would take Argentina on an anti- American, “anti-imperialist” path, whether directly into the Cuban-Soviet orbit outright or into the “non-aligned” camp. And so it was in our interest to see them defeated, but we preferred this done by civilized rules and not the way the Argentine military and police were doing it.
As far as I can remember, however, U.S. concern over the latent threat represented by the insurgency was not articulated publicly. This may have been signaled or intimated in informal (and possibly even unauthorized) conversations between Embassy staff and Argentine government and military officials, but I don’t think publicly. I would need to research this to be sure my reflections on this point are accurate but, officially, I think, the U.S. took a hands-off posture as to this internal rebellion in Argentina and the government’s decision to defeat it militarily, except to express concern over the human rights aspects.
The Argentine counterinsurgency was carried out in good, Machiavellian fashion. I had the notion of a great deal of deception going on and imagined there were operations where Army units pretended to be from the Navy, or vice versa, just to hide their unit’s identity and defend themselves from any future acts of retribution (or justice). The intelligence services would hire thugs, who did a lot of the underground killing that went on. “The Dirty War” as they called it.
The French had started this kind of thing in Algeria, I think, and I suspect the Argentines had learned from the French how to do it. This was their operating style, and there were trade union elements right in the middle, either on one side or the other. Some of the labor leaders were suspected of harboring sympathy toward the guerrillas and some were with the government, or at least they were against the guerrillas.
The Malvinas/Falkland Crisis – The Beginning of the End
ARA Policy Planning Coordinator, 1979-1982
MORLEY: Let me say that we understood and for some time had followed closely the dispute between Britain and Argentina over the Malvinas/Falklands issue. Negotiations had reached a dead end.
But no one really expected that the Argentines would actually invade and occupy the islands. It was a total surprise. When it happened, few believed that the Brits had the will or the capability to take the islands back….
It was viewed as a gambit by the government of Argentina. The government of Argentina had lost a lot of its credibility and a lot of its influence, a lot of its support among the Argentine people. We felt at the time that the seizure of the islands by the Argentine military was an attempt to restore the popularity of the Argentine government, to give it a new lease on life.
I think that this assumption was correct. I remember reading reports from our embassy in Buenos Aires that the people of Argentina apparently supported very strongly the invasion. There were big demonstrations in front of the presidential palace and elsewhere in favor of this decision by the military government.…
Britain had laid its prestige on the line, while an Argentine withdrawal would mean the demise of the military regime in Buenos Aires….
The British invaded and took the [islands] back. The Argentines seemed ill-prepared to resist the British. Reportedly, after their successful seizure of the islands, the Argentine Government had decided to withdraw their invasion force and replace it with units of lesser quality. Less capable garrison type troops were sent to the islands to maintain control. So, I don’t really think Buenos Aires expected a serious military response on the part of the British.
A lot of Latins viewed the government of Argentina as undesirable. On the other hand, a number of the governments of South America at least were military at the time. So the responses, the reactions of the various governments of South America, which were the key to the whole thing, ranged all over the place. I think it can be said that the Chileans and probably the Uruguayans tended to lean toward the British, although not actively supporting the British. The Peruvians, if I remember correctly, actively supported the Argentines, providing military equipment. The Brazilians stayed studiously neutral. So, there was a wide range of responses from the South American governments for whom the crisis was most germane.
In many cases, it was for reasons perhaps unrelated to the Malvinas/Falklands crisis itself. Argentina and Chile were traditional enemies. So, if Argentina was in trouble, at least diplomatically, the Chileans were going to lean toward whoever was giving Argentina problems.
There are a lot of historical ties between Uruguay and Great Britain that probably influenced that government to take at least a benign view toward British activities in the area.…
It became evident to the Argentine public that the military not only couldn’t handle economics and politics and didn’t have a decent human rights record, it couldn’t even do what they were supposed to be experts at — that is, conduct an effective military campaign. So, they lost all credibility as a result of their adventurism.
As the outcome of the conflict became clearer, our assumption was that it would strengthen our hand in terms of restoring democracy to Argentina. This is what we were saying to the seventh floor [of the State Department, where the Secretary and other senior officials have their offices] and to the White House in position papers, that there was some good coming out of this. It probably hastened the demise of the Argentine government and a return to democracy. That’s what happened.
Free Elections and the Transition to Democracy
DCM Buenos Aires, 1982-87
BUSHNELL: Although the military government greatly increased its prestige and mandate with the invasion – thousands were dancing in the streets of Buenos Aires – all that gain and much more was lost with the military’s defeat. The military not only had to change its leaders, but it had to call for elections and begin the process of turning the country back to the civilian politicians.
Q: And Galtieri [Leopoldo Fortunato Galtieri, Argentine general and President of Argentina from December 1981 to June 1982, during the last military dictatorship known officially as the National Reorganization Process] was out on his ear pretty soon, succeeded by Bignone?
BUSHNELL: Yes, the military was defeated and in trouble domestically. The tradition in Argentina was that the military would take over, rule for two or three years, and then turn the government back to the civilians. This scenario had happened in a repetitive cycle for nearly a hundred years since the emergence of middle-class political parties. Before that the military just ruled most of the time. General Reynaldo Bignone was appointed essentially as a caretaker to prepare for and hold elections.
Q: There was an election on October 30th of 1983, and his job was to prepare for the election?
BUSHNELL: He announced, almost as soon as he came in, they were going to have elections and then set the time and opened up the political process. It was a free and open campaign and election.…
The main issue was: Would the military allow a free and open election and would they allow the person elected to take over even if it were the candidate less sympathetic to the military? There are two major parties in Argentina: Peronists, the party established by Juan Peron in the 1940’s and supported by most labor organizations; and Radicals, largely a party of the urban middle-class. The Peronists are often authoritarian, and the military were more comfortable with them.
[Peronist] Italo Luder was the candidate, a moderate lawyer. The Radical ticket was headed by Raul Alfonsin. The election was free, and there was plenty of debate. Various groups tried to get the U.S. involved or present us as favoring one candidate or the other. My challenge was to support the return to democracy but to be absolutely neutral between the candidates. We had to be careful about even visiting candidates to avoid speculation on a possible U.S. role.
The opinion polls leading up to the election indicated that it would be close, but most polls showed Luder winning. There were no significant problems on election day. I drove around the city and saw several polling places. At some there were long lines in late morning and early afternoon….
Luder was favored but there were some pundits who thought the Radicals could win. In a country team meeting not long before the election, I did an informal poll of what officers guessed the outcome would be. Of course, political officers did not count any more than consular and administrative officers. The majority thought that Luder would win, which is where I put my hand up, but a significant minority, maybe a third of the country team thought Alfonsin would win.…
One of the challenges for the Foreign Service is to use all the tools of quiet diplomacy effectively to attain our objectives when there is not a crisis and there is not much if any guidance from Washington. The U.S. objective in Argentina for years had been a return to democracy. We didn’t really care who won, but we wanted the election to happen, and we wanted the elected person to take over.
The threat was that the military would either stop the election or, more likely in my view, not allow Alfonsin to take over if he won.
Thus I tried to mobilize all the resources of the country team to encourage compliance with the electoral process. For example, our military officers, both the attachés and the military group personnel, stressed to their counterparts how essential moving to an elected government was to normalizing our military relationships and restoring the supply line of spare parts for the American equipment which was the backbone of the Argentine navy and air force.…
I used my contacts with the Radicals to suggest that they make contact with military leaders to give them confidence that a Radical government would not try to eliminate the military as an institution. Many Argentines did not consider us a friendly country at that time, but we at least had a lot contacts through whom we could get our message across and plant seeds that might strengthen the democratic process.
I went out of my way in my first year in Buenos Aires to meet most of the senior military officers, including some who had retired. I mentioned [photo at right (Corbis), President of Argentina from March to December, General Roberto] Viola, whom I’d seen with Haig in Washington, who was then retired. He would come to my house for lunch, just the two of us, and he would tell me what the senior military were thinking. He could also plant ideas with the active-duty military, because, after all, they all worked for him at one time.
By the end of 1982 the attachés could attract middle-to- senior level officers to their parties. I often went to these parties to meet these officers and advance my own understanding of what they were thinking. I developed a number of examples of how civilian control of the military in the U.S. benefitted the military, and I repeated these, it seemed endlessly. I also cultivated several civilians who, although they held no official position, were close to the most senior military.
“The general was mulling whether the military could live with an Alfonsin government”
About a week before the election, a businessman Peronist, who had been to my house several times, called me and said the First Corps commander really needed to meet with me. Argentina is divided into four corps, which are regional army headquarters, and virtually all fighting forces are directly under the control of one of the corps commanders. The First Corps is the most powerful for two reasons.
First, the corps is headquartered in the Buenos Aires suburbs and is responsible for the capital of the country, the site of government and the richest area. Second, the armored division which had most of the tanks was part of the First Corp; traditionally any coup would be led by the armored division and the elite troops stationed in and around Buenos Aires.
I had not met the First Corps commander, who had a reputation of being hardline and not moving outside his immediate military circle. I agreed to meet him at his headquarters at his convenience. I knew he had something serious to discuss when the intermediary came back with an invitation for me to have dinner alone with the general in his personal quarters. This dinner a week before the election was the only time in my five years in Argentina that I dined alone with an active-duty general in his personal quarters. It was a difficult moment, a real test of quiet diplomacy.
It was clear, once we quickly got over the formalities, that the general was mulling in his mind whether or not the military could live with an Alfonsin government. I could tell that he was under a lot of pressure from other military officers who thought a Radical government would be a disaster.
He wanted me, first of all, to assure him that Luder was going to win. Of course, there was no way I could. I said Luder was my guess, but elections are tricky things and you can’t tell.
He went through all the problems a Radical government might create for most of dinner. I mildly countered some of these, but it was clear the concern was more emotional than analytical.
Finally, I said to him I really didn’t understand, although I’d been listening carefully and was sympathetic, why he was so concerned.
He said, “Why is that?”
I said, “It is my observation that Alfonsin and the Radicals don’t have any guns and that you, the army, have all the guns, and after the inauguration Alfonsin still would not have any guns. You will have all the guns. So Alfonsin’s options vis-à-vis the Army are limited. If he is elected, he’s got a popular mandate; you can’t just disregard him; officers will have to leave civilian positions; the Army budget may be cut some, but you have a strong position, and you should have confidence in the Army’s position.”
He explained that the military had had to throw out every Radical government in the history of Argentina, and he said he did not think the Radicals had changed; they hate the military. I said I was quite sure the Radicals had changed in one respect. The Radicals were at least as aware as the military how all previous Radical governments had ended, and they would work hard to complete their five years.
I was able to tell him that I had discussed this issue with several Radical leaders, but not Alfonsin himself, and they knew they would have to work with the military to strengthen the institution in the light of recent events.…
Quickly after he was elected in October 1983, Alfonsin named his cabinet or at least much of his cabinet, and he named his main political operative, who really won the close election for him by organizing supporting groups in the provinces, as Defense Minister.…Borras was his name.
As soon as he was named, I invited him to a private lunch at the DCM residence (I seldom used the Ambassador’s residence to entertain when I was chargé except for the largest functions). He started right off by saying he knew nothing about what a Defense Minister does. He was a politician, and a good one I might add, a builder of compromise and coalition.
Alfonsin had said to him, “Our biggest problem is the military, so I’m going to put my best man in the Defense Ministry.” We talked extensively about how to organize the Ministry, how civilians might relate to the military command structure, and how gradually to take control, recognizing that the military has the guns. He came to lunch several times because he said our discussions gave him ideas. I noticed that he smoked one cigarette after another although he did not otherwise appear to be a nervous man.
The new government had major economic problems; the military issues were very difficult, especially the question of punishing the military for past human rights abuses. Moreover, the Radicals had been out of power for a long time; lots of Radicals wanted jobs, and not all of them were honest. The U.S. had major interests riding on the way they solved these problems.
This type of situation is where an embassy, through what we might call traditional non-crisis diplomacy – by what people on the ground can do that people from a distance can’t do – can make a big difference. That’s why I wanted to develop relationships to promote civilian control of the military.…
“Argentina really had institutional and political problems”
Embassy Buenos Aires, Assistant Public Affairs Officer, 1984-1988
ROBERTSON: All this democratization in Latin America is sort of old hat now; everybody assumes that you will have elected transitions. Before 1982, though, the Argentine military government was really, really awful. And not only did it look awful you didn’t see any hope, nothing that could get them out of there. Then all of a sudden Argentina had a transition, the Peronists didn’t win, the Argentines became briefly reflective and self-critical. There was really serious discussion about how they came to this path of economic collapse and political stasis.…
The government dealt with the disappeared and the stolen children, but it was only one of many issues. I remember that the Madres de la Plaza de Mayo were in President Alfonsin’s office harassing him about something and they said he should devote all his time to resolving the cases of the disappeared.
He replied that there was a country to run, and there were other issues to deal with as well. And it was painful — even at that time, there were people who didn’t believe that their children had died. They charged that they were being kept in a camp by Alfonsin for some reason, a camp hidden in Patagonia. It ceased to be a rational legal issue for a certain number of people. And, of course, one of the sad things about the Kirchner government is their attempts to re-vindicate the Montoneros.
Argentina really had institutional and political problems. I mean, they had to sort out how you actually run a democratic system, what can you do, what you can’t do. And there are two elements of our focus down there and one was economics, the second was developing democratic institutions.
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Fairhaven is a town in Bristol County, Massachusetts, United States. It is located on the south coast of Massachusetts where the Acushnet River flows into Buzzards Bay, an arm of the Atlantic Ocean. The town shares a harbor with the city of New Bedford, a place well known for its whaling and fishing heritage; consequently, Fairhaven's history, economy, and culture are closely aligned with those of its larger neighbor. The population of Fairhaven was 15,873 at the time of the 2010 census.
The original land purchase
Fairhaven was first settled in 1659 as "Cushnea", the easternmost part of the town of Dartmouth. It was founded on land purchased by English settlers at the Plymouth Colony from the Wampanoag sachem Massasoit, and his son, Wamsutta.
Dartmouth, divided and redivided
In 1787, the eastern portion of Dartmouth seceded and formed a new settlement called New Bedford. This new town included areas that are the present-day towns of Fairhaven, Acushnet, and New Bedford itself. Fairhaven eventually separated from New Bedford, and it was officially incorporated in 1812. At that time, Fairhaven included all of the land on the east bank of the Acushnet River. The northern portion of Fairhaven, upriver from Buzzards Bay, formed another independent town, called Acushnet, in 1860. Thus, what had once been a single town, Dartmouth, with a substantial land area, became, in less than 75 years, four separate municipalities. (The western portion of the original Dartmouth land-purchase eventually became a fifth town, Westport.)
Fort Phoenix (now the Fort Phoenix State Reservation) is located in Fairhaven at the mouth of the Acushnet River, and it served, during colonial and revolutionary times, as the primary defense against seaborne attacks on New Bedford harbor.
Within sight of the fort, the first naval battle of the American Revolution took place on 14 May 1775. Under the command of Nathaniel Pope and Daniel Egery, a group of 25 Fairhaven minutemen (including Noah Stoddard) aboard the sloop Success captured two British vessels in Buzzards Bay.
On 5 and 6 September 1778, the British landed four thousand soldiers on the west side of the Acushnet River. They burned ships and warehouses in New Bedford, skirmished at the Head-of-the-River bridge (approximately where the Main Street bridge in Acushnet is presently situated), and marched through Fairhaven to Sconticut Neck, burning homes along the way. In deference to the overwhelming force approaching from the landward side, the fort was abandoned, and it was destroyed by the enemy. An attack on Fairhaven village itself was repelled by militia under the command of Major Israel Fearing, who had marched from Wareham, some away, with additional militiamen. Fearing's heroic action saved Fairhaven from further molestation.
The fort was enlarged before the War of 1812, and it helped repel an attack on the harbor by British forces. In the early morning hours of 13 June 1814, landing boats were launched from the British raider, HMS Nimrod. Alerted by the firing of the guns at Fort Phoenix, the militia gathered, and the British did not come ashore.
The fort was decommissioned in 1876, and in 1926 the site was donated to the town by (a daughter of Henry Huttleston Rogers). Today, the area surrounding the fort includes a park and a bathing beach. The fort lies just to the seaward side of the harbor's hurricane barrier.
Prior to the second half of the nineteenth century, whale oil was the primary source of fuel for lighting in the United States. The whaling industry was an economic mainstay for many New England coastal communities for over two hundred years. The famous whaling port of New Bedford is located across the Acushnet River from Fairhaven. Fairhaven was also a whaling port; in fact, in the year 1838, Fairhaven was the second-largest whaling port in the United States, with 24 vessels sailing for the whaling grounds. The author of Moby-Dick, Herman Melville, departed from the port of Fairhaven aboard the whaleship Acushnet in 1841.
However, once New Bedford's predominance in the whaling industry became apparent, Fairhaven's economy evolved into one that supplemented the New Bedford economy rather than competing directly with it. Fairhaven became a town of shipwrights, ship chandlers, ropemakers, coopers, and sailmakers. It also became a popular location for ship-owners and ship-captains to build their homes and raise their children.
Henry Huttleston Rogers
Among Fairhaven's natives was Henry Huttleston Rogers (1840–1909), who was a businessman and philanthropist. Rogers was one of the key men in John D. Rockefeller’s Standard Oil trust. He later developed the Virginian Railway. Rogers and his wife, Abbie Gifford Rogers, another Fairhaven native (who was the daughter of the whaling captain Peleg Gifford), donated many community improvements in the late-nineteenth- and early-twentieth-century, including a grammar school, an extraordinarily luxurious high school, the Town Hall, the George H. Taber Masonic Building, the Unitarian Memorial Church, the Tabitha Inn, the Millicent Library, and a modern water-and-sewer system. These structures were erected to top-quality construction standards, a trademark philosophy of Henry H. Rogers; most are still in regular use more than one hundred years later
Fairhaven's great benefactor, Henry H. Rogers, befriended a number of the high and mighty; he also became a friend, advisor, and patron to a number of the less-well-off. Among his friends were Booker T. Washington, Anne Sullivan, Helen Keller, and Mark Twain, all of whom came to visit Rogers in Fairhaven, sometimes for protracted periods.
Late in Twain's life, he had, through imprudent investments and more than a little bad luck, managed to impoverish himself. Rogers lent him a helping hand, and Twain did whatever he could to return the favors.
On 22 February 1894, the third of Rogers's great bequests to his hometown, the Fairhaven Town Hall (pictured above), was dedicated. Earlier, in 1885, Rogers had built a huge and modern (for the times) elementary school and, in 1893, a memorial to his beloved daughter, Millicent, in the form of an Italian-Renaissance palazzo that serves as the town's free public library to this day. When the Fairhaven Town Hall, a gift of Abbie Palmer (Gifford) Rogers, was dedicated, Mark Twain delivered a humorous speech to mark the occasion. Less than three months later, on 21 May 1894, Abbie Rogers died in New York following surgery for stomach cancer.
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Tammuz (täˈməz) [key], ancient nature deity worshiped in Babylonia. A god of agriculture and flocks, he personified the creative powers of spring. He was loved by the fertility goddess Ishtar, who, according to one legend, was so grief-stricken at his death that she contrived to enter the underworld to get him back. According to another legend, she killed him and later restored him to life. These legends and his festival, commemorating the yearly death and rebirth of vegetation, corresponded to the festivals of the Phoenician and Greek Adonis and of the Phrygian Attis. The Sumerian name of Tammuz was Dumuzi. In the Bible his disappearance is mourned by the women of Jerusalem (Ezek. 8.14).
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03.11.13 - NASA unveiled an Exploration Design Challenge on Monday to give students from kindergarten through 12th grade the opportunity to play a unique role in the future of human spaceflight. The innovative educational opportunity was announced in a special event at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston.
03.07.13 - NASA and Lockheed Martin Corp. of Bethesda, Md., will involve students in the flight test of NASA's Orion spacecraft through an Exploration Design Challenge to be unveiled in Houston on Monday, March 11.
02.12.13 - NASA engineers have demonstrated the agency's Orion spacecraft can land safely if one of its three main parachutes fails to inflate during deployment.
01.16.13 - NASA signed an agreement for the European Space Agency to provide a service module for the Orion spacecraft’s Exploration Mission-1 in 2017.
12.20.12 - Space can be a potentially hazardous environment to live and work in, especially when it comes to radiation.
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The Java platform is extremely preferable to write an application program require to communicate with the resources on network. Java, mainly focuses on the networking relating the description of the networking capabilities of the Java platform and second one is describes a brief summary of networking in a very simple manner that how to use URLs, sockets, and datagrams.
In Java, there is a java.net package provides the network support. All the classes for making a network program are define in the java.net package. Through TCP we can communicate over the network.
Getting Hands-on Java Networking example
Find Your Host Name/IP Address
In this section you will learn about the getLocalHost() method to print the Host name as well as the IP Address of the local system. For do for the same we have to call InetAddress class then we need to create a object, in which we store the local host information.
Find Your Host Name
Here we are going to explore a method to retrieve the host name of the local system in a very simple example. Here we are just call the InetAddress class and after made a object of that class we call a getLocalHost() method and pass it in the object.
Getting list of Local Interfaces on a machine
Here we are going to explain the method to find out the total no of list of local interfaces available on a machine. Here we are give a complete example named URLDemo.java.
Getting the Local port
In this section you will learn that how a user can access the Local port. Here we are going to make it easier to understand the step be step process by the complete example on this topic.
Find the Host name in reverse of given IP address
In this section you will learn to retrieve the information about the local host name using the getHostName() method. Here is an example that provides the usage of the getHostName() method in more detail.
How to retrieve URL information
Here we are going to explain a method for retrieve all the network information for a given URL. In the given below example we use the URL class and make a object.
Convert URI to URL
Here we are going to explain the method to change Uniform Resource Identifier (URI) reference to uniform resource locator (URL). Here we are give a complete example named "ConvertURItoURL.java".
To retrieve the IP address from Host Name, vice-versa
Here we are going to explain the method to find out the IP address from host name and to vice verse. Here we are give a complete example named HostLookup.java. In which we call a InetAddress and make a object and pass the input value in it.
Construct a DatagramPacket to receive data
In this section we provide a complete code of a example based on the method DatagramPacket(buffer, buffer.length) for constructs a DatagramPacket for receiving packets of length length in more generic way.
Construct a DatagramSocket on an unspecified port
In this section we are going to explain the process to construct a DatagramPacket object in more generic way. Here we provide a complete example based on the method for creating the DatagramSocket object via DatagramSocket().
Return the MIME Header
In this section you will learn about the method to retrieve the MIME header. MIME is stands for Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions which is an Internet Standard that extends the format of e-mail to support. A container for MimeHeader objects, which represent the MIME headers that is present in a MIME part of data.
Open a URLConnection to specific website address
Here we are going to establish a connection to a specific web address via a complete example. In the example we create a class getURLConnection and initialize a variable of url to URL and ucon of URLConnection.
Print the URL of a URLConnection
In this section we are going to describe, how to retrieve the value of the URL assign to the url object. Here is the complete code of the program in which first of all we establish a connection then display it.
Posted on: April 17, 2011 If you enjoyed this post then why not add us on Google+? Add us to your Circles
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Twelve-year old Lucia's dream is to be able to graduate to secondary school, and stay there - to finish the 12th grade and go on to train as a pilot. Her older sister Barita wants to do computer studies. And Portia, the youngest in the family, wants to be a dressmaker.
But tragically for these three sisters from one of Zimbabwe's large scale commercial farms, in tobacco country 50 miles outside Harare, they're more likely to end up -- as their mothers before them -- with no formal education, working as seasonal laborers on the farm. The three sisters are AIDS orphans being brought up by their grandmother. She can only afford school fees for one girl, Lucia, to attend primary school.
Across Africa, the odds are dramatically against girls getting an education. And even if they do attend primary school, they're often withdrawn before they finish -- to work as unpaid laborers for their extended family, to be married off or to have children. Only one in four school age girls in Burkina Faso ever attends school.
Across the continent only 24 percent of girls actually complete primary school, compared to 65-70% for boys. As Harry Sawyer, Minister for Education in Ghana, wrote in a recent UNICEF report, the obstacles to girls' education are the same as those that undermine economic and social development everywhere "but in the end, all the reasons add up to one: insufficient will."
The producer of this program has collected extensive resources at www.tve.org/life/archive/life25main.html
The other titles in the series are:
1. Life: The Story So Far - How the globalized world economy affects ordinary people.
2. Geraldo Off-Line - Globalized economy affects Brazilian factory worker.
3. From Docklands to Dhaka - English MD travels to Bangladesh to improve community health.
4. An Act of Faith: The Phelophepa Health Train - A group of health professionals tours the most deprived regions of South Africa providing care.
5. The Philadelphia Story - Globalized economy affects American jobs.
6. The Boxer - Young male looks to escape Mexican poverty by becoming a boxer in the United States.
7. The Seattle Syndrome - Were the WTO protesters right in their effort to protect workers and the environment from exploitation?
8. The Right to Choose - Women are denied human rights in Ethiopia and northern Nigeria.
9. At the End of a Gun: Women and War - The devastating effect that the civil war in Sri Lanka is having on women.
10. The Summit - The UN General Assembly meets to review progress on social justice worldwide.
11. All Different, All Equal - Examines progress in women's rights globally.
12. India Inhales - Activists combat tobacco companies that target India.
13. The Silver Age - Growing population of elderly worldwide seeks purpose and care.
14. The Cost of Living - AIDS drugs unaffordable in developing countries.
15. The Posse - Rap group in Sao Paulo, Brazil, expresses social problems.
16. Credit Where Credit is Due - Micro-credit organization in Bangladesh provides loans to village poor.
17. Regopstaan's Dream - Bushmen fight to live on ancestral land in South Africa.
18. Untouchable? - The caste system and bonded labor are still alive and well in India.
19. Because They're Worth It - Micro-credit, education, health information, and hope provided to impoverished Chinese.
20. For a Few Pennies More - Iodine deficiency causes health problems in Indonesia.
21. In the Name of Honour - Kurdish women fight for their rights in Northern Iraq.
22. God Among the Children - Community organization works with at-risk youth in Boston.
23. Without Rights - Palestinians are denied human rights.
24. Lost Generations - Poor health and poverty condemn people in India to sub-standard lives.
26. A-OK? - Examines prospects for Vitamin A distribution programs in Guatemala and Ghana necessary for children's health.
27. Bolivian Blues - Explores the success of new initiative to reduce widespread poverty.
28. The Outsiders - Explores the moral and economic dilemmas that adolescents face in the Ukraine today.
29. The Debt Police - Uganda seeks external debt relief and fights internal corruption.
30. The On-going Story - Final episode examines the international community's commitment to linking social and economic development with human rights.
NOTE: A second series called City Life is now available.
Grade Level: 7-12, College, Adult
US Release Date: 2000
Copyright Date: 2000
DVD ISBN: 1-59458-489-3
VHS ISBN: 1-56029-874-X
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Preliminary Results: Iceland B96 Project
William Menke, Mike West, Bryndis Brandsdottir and Dave Sparks
Fig. 1. Godafos, a waterfall in Bardardalur (valley), Iceland.
Draft Research Notes
- Introduction and description of experiment.
- Part 1: The shallow compressional velocity structure along Bardardalur, determined
from traveltimes of shots to the north and south.
- Part 2: The regional crustal thickness, compressional and
shear velocity structure, determined from traveltimes of microearthquakes.
- Part 3: Compressional velocity anomalies in the mid crust beneath the
northern neovolcanic zone determined from a fan shot in
- Part 4: Summary of crustal measurements in Iceland.
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Olga, 18, and her friend Misha, 20, belong to the second generation of ethnic Russians born and bred in Latvia after the country was incorporated into the Soviet Union in 1940.
Like all Russians here, they have heard of Putin's proposed repatriation scheme. But they are not interested.
"Who is waiting for us there?" Olga says.
"Yes, who needs us there?" Misha agrees.
"They won't treat us like Russians, who needs us there?" Olga adds. "After all, Latvia is our motherland."
Ready To Go Home
Not all ethnic Russians living in Latvia, who make up some 30 percent of the population, have the same notion of motherland, however. Many, regardless of where they were born, regard Russia as their country of origin.
And like Yevgeny, an elderly man who gave only his first name, many are showing keen interest in Russia's proposal.
"In connection with the collapse of our country, the former Soviet Union, we consider it Russia's duty to provide for a return to our motherland, to help repatriates with employment, housing, legal, and social issues," Yevgeny says. "For us, this presidential program is a salvation. But if it falls through, it will be a real tragedy for the many thousands of Russians who have found themselves abroad, including in Latvia."
"I had to pledge loyalty to this government, and if I protest against unjust laws that to a large extent aim at discriminating against Latvia's Russian-speaking population, I'm declared disloyal."
Under the program, those who agree to come back would receive cash, social benefits, and assistance in applying for Russian citizenship.
Russia hopes an influx of repatriates will help stem the country's alarming population decline. There are about 30 million ethnic Russians living in the former Soviet Union.
Yevgeny heads an organization that aims to help ethnic Russians return to Russia. Over the past few years, he says, the group has repeatedly asked the Russian authorities to facilitate the return of ethnic Russians.
Discrimination In Latvia?
So what makes people like Yevgeny so eager to trade Latvia for Russia, a country with a standard of lower living and an uncertain future?
Ethnic Russians abroad tend to retain strong emotional ties to Russia.
But the situation in Latvia is specific. Ethnic Russians say they are being discriminated against and stigmatized by Latvians.
"I have the honor of introducing myself: Vladislavs Rafalskis, enemy of the people, according to the Latvian press and authorities. Enemy of the Latvian people," says Vladislavs Rafalskis, a Russian deputy on Riga's city council and a teacher in a local Russian school.
Rafalskis has angered local authorities with his campaign to block an education reform that now requires Russian schools to teach at least 60 percent of their curriculum in Latvian.
In 2004, Rafalskis was accused of public disorder and fined for helping stage a massive protest rally in Riga.
The reform, he says angrily, is just one of the many discriminatory laws that Latvian deputies have pushed through over the past 15 years.
The party he represents, For Human Rights in United Latvia, defends the rights of Russian speakers, who make up as much as 40 percent of Latvia's population.
An Alien's Passport
Another chief grievance is the procedure that all ethnic Russians -- including those born in Latvia -- have to undergo to obtain Latvian citizenship:
"We have to go through a very humiliating procedure," Rafalskis says. "We have to take a Latvian-language test, a test on Latvian history, a test on Latvian culture. I've lived all my life in this country and of course I know its history, culture, and language. I had to pledge loyalty to this government, and if I protest against unjust laws that to a large extent aim at discriminating against Latvia's Russian-speaking population, I'm declared disloyal."
Rafalskis says nationalist deputies are now preparing new legislation that would allow authorities to strip foreigners deemed disloyal to Latvia of their Latvian citizenship.
A Russian Orthodox church in Riga (RFE/RL)
Hundreds of thousands of ethnic Russians, including Olga and Misha, have refused to apply for a Latvian passport out of principle.
As a result, they have no citizenship -- only a Latvian document called an "alien's passport." This document bars them from voting in Latvia and from traveling freely to either Russia or the European Union, which Latvia joined in 2004.
Only four countries in the world accept holders of "alien's passports" without a visa: the three Baltic states and Denmark.
These difficulties are likely to induce a number of ethnic Russians in Latvia to take up Putin's repatriation offer.
But for many, also, a return to Russia is a capitulation of sorts.
"We will stay in Latvia," says Olga. "We will stay here and fight for our rights."
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How to Recycle PVC (Plastic #3)
An Overview on Recycling Plastic #3
Polyvinyl chloride or PVC plastics are everywhere, and you’re not likely to be happy about how they can harm your health and the planet. Given their widespread use and relative toxicity, they are often termed the “poison plastic” in the world of plastic products. Read on to learn more and find out how to protect yourself from this harmful type of plastic.
Environmental facts about plastic #3
Perhaps the most toxic plastic around, PVC plastics have a big impact on the environment and your health. These are the PVC facts:
- Aliases: Other than the “poison plastic,” this type goes by several names including polyvinyl chloride, PVC, vinyl, plastic #3.
- Consumption rates: PVC plastic is the third most common type used in the US and the UK bottle market with a 0.8% market share (behind PET plastic and polypropylene). More than 7 billion pounds of the stuff is throw away every year in America, and only 0.1% to 3% of it is recycled. Worldwide there is over 300 billion pounds of PVC in use (having been installed 30 or 40 years ago in buildings) which will soon reach the end of its life and requiring disposal.
- Human health: Dioxins are the biggest problem with PVC. Dioxins are created as a byproduct of the manufacturing of PVC which is composed partly of chlorine. Dioxins, which are now ubiquitous in our food supply, are highly toxic, leading to developmental and reproductive disease, immune system damage, and cancer.
- Pollution: Making PVC requires toxic chemicals such as vinyl chloride monomer (VCM), ethylene dichloride (EDC), and other pollutants that poison surface water, ground water, and air.
- Disposal: Because it is difficult to recycle, PVC is often burned in incinerators, but because it contains chlorine, this process creates more dioxin, which then is emitted into the atmosphere and waterways. Medical waste incinerators, backyard burn barrels, secondary copper smelters, and municipal solid waste incinerators account for 80% of all dioxin emissions to air. Disposing of PVC into landfills results in dioxin poisoning of landfills and groundwater.
Where you’ll find plastic #3 in your home
By and large, any flexible, durable plastics products are likely to be made with PVC. Vinyl takes on many forms, and can be found in a wide range of consumer goods, including:
- Baby dishes and utensils
- Bags for textiles (bedding)
- Blister packs and clamshells containers
- Faux leather products - shoes, handbags, briefcases
- Food shrink wrap
- Medical equipment - tubes, blood bags
- Vinyl flooring
- Vinyl siding
- Window frames
- Wire insulation
Is recycling PVC plastic possible?
PVC is very difficult to recycle, and as a result very little of it is actually collected and processed in recycling facilities. Made from many different formulations composed of various additives, PVC products cannot easily be separated for recycling, which makes breaking vinyl products down into their original components nearly impossible. When it is recycled, it is made into inferior, lower quality products, such as the following:
- Carpet backing
- Decking and fencing
- Film plastic
- Flooring - mats, tiles, resilient flooring
- Park benches
- Speed bumps and traffic cones
To further complicate matters, when a single PVC bottle is combined with a batch of 100,000 recycled non-chlorinated bottles, the entire batch is contaminated and unusable.
Nevertheless, there is now a new system called Vinyloop® which is able to separate PVC compounds from other materials in order to reprocess it into new products. Collection facilities for this process have yet to emerge, however.
Tips for PVC recycling
Because the risk of contaminating a good batch of recyclable plastics (like PETE or HDPE) with PVC is very high, you definitely need to check with your curbside recycling collection office or recycling drop-off center to confirm whether or not they accept PVC for recycling before you include with your other plastics. If it is not recyclable in your area, then follow these steps to reduce the amount of PVC you consume and send to the landfill:
- Precycle PVC by limiting your consumption of it. Avoid flexible plastics, stay away from products with plastic #3 symbols on them, and look for home renovation products that are vinyl-free.
- Reuse any PVC products you may have - whether it’s an old faux leather handbag or vinyl flooring. Keep it in use as long as possible, and when you no longer have use for it, find someone else to sell it to or donate it to.
1 2008 United State National Post-Consumer Plastics Bottle Recycling Report. (2008). Retrieved July 6, 2010, from Association of Postconsumer Plastic Recyclers: http://www.americanchemistry.com/s_plastics/sec_content.asp?CID=1593&DID=10383
2 Waste Watch information sheet - Plastics. (n.d.). Retrieved July 7, 2010, from Wste Watch: http://www.wasteonline.org.uk/resources/InformationSheets/Plastics.pdf
3 About PVC - PVC Reports - Executive Summary. (n.d.). Retrieved July 7, 2010, from PVC: The Poison Plastic - The Campaign for Safe, Healthy Consumer Products: http://www.chej.org/BESAFE/pvc/documents/bad_news_exec_sum.htm
4 Connecticut Ranks First in Nation in Percentage of PVC Incinerated; Estimated 17,858 Tons of PVC Burned Annually - National Report on PVC, The Poison Plastic, Describes Looming Waste Crisis and Pervasive Hazards.(2004, December 7). Retrieved July 7, 2010, from Connecticut Coalition for Environmental Justice Concerned About Health Impacts from Incinerators in Connecticut: http://www.environmental-justice.org/PVC_Press_Release.htm
5 Dioxins and their effects on human health. (2010, May). Retrieved July 7, 2010, from World Health Organization: http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs225/en/index.html
6 (About PVC - PVC Reports - Executive Summary)
7 So durable, it's hard to get rid of. (2008, March 17). Retrieved July 7, 2010, from The Christian Scient Monitor: http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/0317/p13s02-sten.html
8 (About PVC - PVC Reports - Executive Summary)
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The 100th anniversary of the Titanic sinking is a good time to look back at how the cruise industry has changed in the past century. With modern technological advances and innovation, it's easy to see that the industry has made improvements -- at least on the outside. But a deeper look at the state of cruising today points to an industry that has slowly spiraled out of control.
In many respects, it's remarkable how little has changed in 100 years. The Costa Concordia disaster was proof of that. In both cases, the ship took on water, passengers fled their cabins, and there was widespread panic over the best way to evacuate the vessel. In 1912, the ship hit an iceberg; in 2012, it struck a rocky reef.
While major nautical disasters are still a reality, the fatality rate has gone down considerably: More than 1,500 people died when the Titanic sank in the North Atlantic. A hundred years later, just 32 were killed on the modern luxury liner as it ran agound off the Tuscan Coast.
Yet, the incident reminded us that large-scale disasters are not just a thing of the past. Indeed, 2012 kept reminding us of that. Following the Costa Concordia disaster, another Costa ship, the Allegra, was left drifting in pirate-infested waters off Seychelles in February after a fire on board. Another fire on the Azamara Quest left that boat stranded in late March. All of this occurred in a year where eyes were glued to the cruise ship industry.
The current cruise troubles come in the wake of a major industry-wide boom over the past decade that saw over 16 million passengers in 2011, according to the Cruise Lines International Association. But to understand where the industry is now, it's imperative to look back 100 years at the Titanic disaster to see how far it's come.
Why the Titanic Sank
The Titanic sinking had as much to do with human error as it did with how the ship was built.
When Titanic was designed in early 1908-09 at Harland & Wolff, certain standards were to be followed based on the British Board of Trade regulations, which were established before the turn of the last century, said Mike Ralph, co-founder of the Titanic International Society and former writer for magazines like Cruise Digest and Porthole.
These standards of safety were based upon the tonnage of a vessel. At that time, no passenger ship exceeded more than 15,000 to 17,000 tons. For vessels of this size, a maximum of 16 wooden lifeboats were to be carried under davits. Even when the two new Cunard liners Lusitania and Mauretania were conceived and built in 1905-07, they were considerably larger at 32,000 tons, but they only carried the required 16 boats. There was a distinct lapse of judgment.
Alexander Carlisle, Titanic's chief designer, had actually made provisions for carrying of over 48 lifeboats, anticipating that the rule would change. It did, but not for reasons he could have imagined at the time.
His designs were rejected as being too extravagant and a waste of valuable deck space for passengers to promenade on.
This was one of many examples of hubris in the tale of the Titanic, which managing director of the White Star Line, Joseph Bruce Ismay, called her own lifeboat.
The first four compartments could be flooded and the ship would not sink, Ralph said. However Titanic had a major design flaw in that her watertight bulkhead in the very next compartment, boiler room number 6, was only carried 10 feet above the waterline.
Collectively, designers agreed that they could only conceive of any two adjacent compartments being flooded at any time during a collision or grounding. When Titanic side swiped the iceberg, five compartments were open to the sea.
That breech of that fifth compartment spelled her end as those bulkheads were not high enough to impede the rising water, Ralph said. The weight of the flooded compartments would pull the bow of the ship deeper under water and each compartment would flood one after the other until Titanic sank.
The immediate effects of the Titanic disaster were catastrophic to the shipping industry and within days new laws were passed on both sides of the Atlantic that would forever change the ways ships could operate.
All ships would need sufficient lifeboats for all persons carried on board, and lifeboat drills would be held for the crew and passengers at least once each voyage. Each cabin would be assigned to a particular lifeboat and have posted procedures for the evacuation of the ship. Furthermore, there would be no more catch as catch can in the evacuation of the vessel, and while women and children first would still be the priority, there would be enough places for all of the men as well.
The Marconi Corporation was criticized for allowing ship's navigational traffic to wait until it was convenient for delivery. In the wake of the disaster, all passenger ships would be required to have wireless capabilities and have enough operators to man the equipment on a 24-hour basis. Moreover, all messages received pertaining to the safe operation of the ship would be passed to the officers on the bridge immediately.
No matter who or what is to blame, Ralph remarked that there is only one true rule of the sea: eternal vigilance must be maintained at all times.
The State of the Cruise Industry Today
Today, the cruise industry is in a totally different place. Though it's seen massive growth, many see this as a double-edged sword, questioning whether the ships have grown too big to handle. Others argue the industry is far less regulated than, say, air travel, and they are calling for sweeping industry-wide changes.
In some ways, the current industry isn't all that different than the days of the Titanic, said Ross A. Klein, professor of social work at the Memorial University of Newfoundland and an author of four books on the industry, including Cruise Ship Blues: The Underside of the Cruise Ship Industry.
They were arrogant, Klein said. It was unthinkable. I think people have that same arrogance today.
Klein was a self-described cruise junkie in the 1990's and was cruising up to 45 days a year by 1996. A sociologist by training, he began to analyze what was going on.
I was seeing the same faces each time and began to see things that were incongruent to what was in the advertising. What the cruises said they were doing wasn't what they were actually doing -- and nobody had written anything about it.
So in 1998, he made studying cruise ships his area of research. By 2002, Klein had uncovered so much dirt on the industry that he was advised that he was no longer welcome on cruise ships.
I don't want to test the waters, he joked. I don't want to be a statistic of a person overboard!
Statistics are something that he agonizes over on his website, cruisejunkie.com, and they're something he's been called to the Senate floor to testify about.
Klein said that the common notion that cruising is the safest mode of transportation is a matter of perspective. According to his statistics, 16 cruise ships have sunk since 1980, 99 have run aground since 1973, 79 have experienced onboard fires since 1990 and 73 have had collisions since 1990. Since 2000, there have been 100 cases in which ships have gone adrift, lost power, experienced severe lists, or had other events that posed a safety risk.
I would concede, he added, that generally speaking, the incidents do not lead to many deaths.
However, he pointed to issues on the Costa Concordia for proof that there are still glaring problems with passenger safety. Why didn't they have a safety drill before leaving the dock? Why did they depart with a black box that the captain said had been broken for 15 days?
And then there's the issue of the large boats. Have boats become too massive to handle accidents?
It's not the issue of size per se, but if you are going to be that large, are the hallways large enough? Are there enough stairwells? The traditional construction is four main stairways -- does that model make sense on larger ships?
He pointed to a lack of concrete empirical evidence as another form of hubris that dates back to the Titanic.
But there are other issues that we don't think about as much, like environmental impact or the exploitation of workers.
Navigating through international waters, the rules governing cruise ships are decidedly murky.
Today's business model began as early as the 1920s with the transition to flags of convenience. A cruise liner like the Titanic would have had a crew from the nation whose flag graced the top of the ship. Now, ships registered to places like the Bahamas and Panama are the norm. By doing so, ship-owners found they could skirt increased regulations and rising labor costs, while avoiding paying federal taxes to the nations out of which the ships actually operate.
Under this system, the only labor laws that would apply to a ship would be those of the nation it's registered to. In the mid-2000s, following the settlement of Borcea vs. Carnival, the cruise industry began to include arbitration clauses in cruise ship workers' contracts, making it even harder to settle grievances.
Klein noted that these employees could have a mandatory 77-hour work week and earn very little in return -- at least by Western standards. Living conditions and food quality have certainly improved since the days of the Titanic, but statistically, the remuneration is about the same -- or in some respects poorer -- than in 1912, accounting for inflation.
In terms of environmental impact, it would be hard to argue that ships aren't more green-minded these days, but the cruise industry is incredibly larger than it used to be, and there are a wide range of issues involving the discharge of waste, sewage and oily bilge. While regulations are relatively stringent in Alaska, Washington and California, there is little regulation in the Gulf States and much of the Eastern Seaboard.
The problem with regulating these factors once again lies with where the ship is registered. Enforcement of a cruise ship's environmental standards under the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships, known as MARPOL, is often inconsistent, and it is not the responsibility of the country where the ship operates, but rather the nation whose flag it bears.
These are all things that Klein and others have spoken out against for years.
But few have listened. Sometimes it takes a big event like the Costa Concordia disaster or the Titanic anniversary for us to step back and question where we were and where we've come. And sometimes, the latter may not be what we'd like to hear.
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Active Galaxies and Quasars - Introduction
Active Galaxies and QuasarsActive galaxies are galaxies which have a small core of emission embedded in an otherwise typical galaxy. This core may be highly variable and very bright compared to the rest of the galaxy. Models of active galaxies concentrate on the possibility of a supermassive black hole which lies at the center of the galaxy. The dense central galaxy provides material which accretes onto the black hole releasing a large amount of gravitational energy. Part of the energy in this hot plasma is emitted as x-rays and gamma rays.
For "normal" galaxies, we can think of the total energy they emit as the sum of the emission from each of the stars found in the galaxy. For the "active" galaxies, this is not true. There is a great deal more emitted energy than there should be... and this excess energy is found in the infrared, radio, UV, and X-ray regions of the electromagnetic spectrum. The energy emitted by an active galaxy (or AGN) is anything but "normal". So what is happening in these galaxies to produce such an energetic output?
There are several types of active galaxies: Seyferts, quasars, and blazars. Most scientists believe that, even though these types look very different to us, they are really all the same thing viewed from different directions! Quasars are active galaxies which are all very, very, very far away from us. Some of the quasars we have seen so far are 12 billion light-years away! Blazars are very bright in the radio band, which results from looking directly down a jet which is emitting in synchrotron radiation. On the other hand, if the jet is not pointing toward you at all, and the dusty disk of material which lies in the plane of the galaxy is in the way, you would see just what we see from the Seyferts. By measuring their redshifts, we find that Seyferts are much closer to us than quasars or blazars.
Active galaxies are intensely studied at all wavelengths. Since they can change their behavior on short timescales, it is useful to study them simultaneously at all energies. X-ray and gamma-ray observations have proven to be important parts of this multiwavelength approach since many high-energy quasars emit a large fraction of their power at such energies. X-rays can penetrate outward from very near the center of a galaxy. Since that is where the "engines" of AGN are located, X-rays provide scientists with unique insights into the physical processes occurring there. In addition, gamma-ray observations alone can provide valuable information on the nature of particle acceleration in the quasar jet, and clues as to how the particles interact with their surroundings.
A diagram of an active galaxy, showing the primary components.
Seyfert GalaxiesOf the two types of Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) which emit gamma rays, Seyfert galaxies are the low-energy gamma-ray sources.
Seyfert galaxies typically emit most of their gamma rays up to energies of about 100 keV and then fade as we observe them at higher energies. Early gamma-ray observations of Seyfert galaxies indicated that photons were detected up to MeV energies, but more sensitive observations have cast doubt on this possibility. At these low gamma-ray energies, the emission is usually a smooth continuation of the X-ray emission from such objects. This generally indicates that the physical processes creating the gamma rays are thermal processes similar to those responsible for emission from galactic black hole sources. As a result, gamma-ray studies of the high-energy spectrum and variability can give scientists important information about the physical environment in the AGN.
Observations of Seyfert galaxies in gamma rays are also important for studies of the cosmic gamma-ray background. Even in regions of the sky where there are no point sources, a faint gamma-ray glow is detectable. It may be that this glow is the sum of many faint galaxies or perhaps a more exotic process. Studies of individual Seyfert galaxies can be combined with a model of how such objects are distributed in the Universe to compare to the diffuse gamma-ray background. In this way, astronomers not only learn about the interesting AGN phenomena, but learn more about the general nature of the Universe as a whole.
An artists concept of an active galactic nucleus
QuasarsOne of the most remarkable trends in gamma-ray astronomy in recent years has been the emergence of high-energy gamma-ray quasars as an important component of the gamma-ray sky. At gamma-ray energies, these active galaxies are bright; they are highly variable at all energies. Unlike the Seyfert type AGN, most of these sources are preferentially detected at high energies, usually 100 MeV or more. In fact, they have been detected above 1 GeV, and some up to several TeV! Given the large distances to these objects and the strong emission of high-energy gamma rays, these are the most powerful particle accelerators in the Universe. Over 50 high-energy quasars are known at this time. Some appear as fuzzy stars that can be seen with large amateur telescopes.
Many astronomers believe that Seyfert galaxies and high-energy quasars are basically the same type of objects, but we are simply viewing them differently. Radio observations of AGN often show powerful jets, streams of particles coming from the central source -- like water from a spigot. Charged particles are accelerated to nearly the speed of light in these jets. In the unified view of active galaxies, high-energy quasars are being viewed with the jet pointed towards us which allows us to see the resulting energetic radiation. With Seyfert galaxies, we are viewing from the side and do not see the very high-energy radiation which is traveling down the jet.
The region of the sky containing one of the high-energy quasars,
PKS 0528+134, is shown at two different times using the EGRET
instrument on the Compton Gamma-Ray Observatory.
These active galaxies are highly variable, strongly emitting gamma-rays
sometimes, disappearing at other times.|
BlazarsThe AGNs observed at higher energies form a subclass of AGNs known as blazars; a blazar is believed to be an AGN which has one of its relativistic jets pointed toward the Earth so that what we observe is primarily emission from the jet region. They are thus similar to quasars, but are not observed to be as luminous. The visible and gamma-ray emission from blazars is variable on timescales from minutes to days. Although theories exist as to the causes of this variability, the sparse data do not yet allow any of the ideas to be tested.
To date more than 60 blazars have been detected by the EGRET experiment aboard the Compton Gamma-Ray Observatory. All these objects appear to emit most of their bolometric luminosity at gamma-ray energies and, in addition, are strong extragalactic radio sources.
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Acute Myelomonocytic Leukemia one of the more common types of acute myelogenous leukemia, characterized by both malignant monocytes and myeloblasts; it usually affects middle aged to older adults, although it affects people of all ages. AML sometimes is caused by chemotherapy or radiation therapy given to treat another cancer.
In AML, immature leukemia cells rapidly accumulate in the bone marrow, destroying and replacing cells that produce normal blood cells. The leukemia cells are released into the bloodstream and are transported to other organs, where they continue to grow and divide. They can form small masses (chloromas) in or just under the skin or gums or in the eyes. There are several subtypes of AML, which are identified based on characteristics of the leukemia cells.
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Paul says three times in Galatians 2:16 that a person is not justified by “works of the law.” What does he mean by the expression “works of the law”? How do these texts (Gal. 2:16, 17; 3:2, 5, 10; Rom. 3:20, 28) help us understand his meaning?
Before we can understand the phrase “the works of the law,” we first need to understand what Paul means by the word law. The word law (nomos in Greek) is found 121 times in Paul’s letters. It can refer to a number of different things, including God’s will for His people, the first five books of Moses, the entire Old Testament, or even just a general principle. However, the primary way Paul uses it is to refer to the entire collection of God’s commandments given to His people through Moses.
The phrase “the works of the law” likely involves, therefore, all the requirements found in the commandments given by God through Moses, whether moral or ceremonial. Paul’s point is that no matter how hard one tries to follow and obey God’s law, our obedience never will be good enough for God to justify us, to have us declared righteous before God. That’s because His law requires absolute faithfulness in thought and action—not just some of the time but all of the time, and not just for some of His commandments but for all of them.
Although the phrase “works of the law” does not occur in the Old Testament and is not found in the New Testament outside of Paul, stunning confirmation of its meaning emerged in 1947 with the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls, a collection of writings copied by a group of Jews, called Essenes, who lived at the time of Jesus. Although written in Hebrew, one of the scrolls contains this exact phrase. The scroll’s title is Miqsat Ma’as Ha-Torah, which can be translated, “Important Works of the Law.” The scroll describes a number of issues based on biblical law concerned with preventing holy things from being made impure, including several that marked the Jews out as separate from the Gentiles. At the end the author writes that if these “works of the law” are followed, “you will be reckoned righteous” before God. Unlike Paul, the author does not offer his reader righteousness on the basis of faith but on the basis of behavior.
In your experience, how well do you keep God’s law? Do you really sense that you keep it so well that you can be justified before God on the basis of your law-keeping? (See Rom. 3:10–20.) If not, why not—and how does your answer help you understand Paul’s point here?
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Butte, Nebraska actually began on a day in 1890. A man named John Gormley set up a store from a wagon box in a location about a quarter mile north of the town's present site. Boyd County was not yet organized. Soon Mr. Gormley was joined by his partner, John Skirving, and they conducted their business from the wagon while their store was being erected. This was Butte's first building and was used as a Post Office as well as their store. John Gormley was also Butte's first Postmaster. Several more buildings had been built before it became obvious that securing a water source at this site was impossible because of the "hardpan" which lay under the surface soil. Exploration showed that water could be easily found about a quarter of a mile to the south, so the buildings were moved to Butte's present location. The town took its name from the rocky elevations to the south, called the Harvey Buttes.
Within a few months other businesses joined Gormley's store. Bob Ford operated a blacksmith shop across the street from Gormley's, John Shelley had a livery barn, and George Sanders sold feed and flour from the back room of his house. The Sanders house was Butte's first residence. By 1891 the town was growing at a rapid pace. When Boyd County was organized and Butte was declared the temporary County Seat, several businesses which had been located in Mankato, about two and a half miles south of Butte, relocated to Butte and by 1892 Butte had two hotels, five dry goods and grocery stores, three hardwares, one lumber yard, one brick yard, one stone quarry, one feed and flour store, one shoe shop, one furniture store, three livery barns, two blacksmiths, two restaurants, several doctors, a travelling dentist, five lawyers, a barber, and three newspapers, The Gazette, The Free Lance and The Banner. Butte had a good school and three organized church groups who were in the process of building churches. The population at that time was five hundred.
The earliest of settlers came in wagons or covered wagons since there was no other way to get there. Many came by train to towns in Holt County, but from there they had to travel by wagon. A few hardy pioneers whose families were not with them walked from the railroad. Some came in special immigrant trains from states east of the Missouri River. Most of them came to make homes as the countryside did not lend itself to speculation. At first there was no building material for homes and out of necessity these settlers built sod houses or dugouts or a combination of the two. Cottonwood logs were used to some extent by settlers along the river. A little bit of lumber came in from the first, but it was insufficient and not everyone could afford it. The land was broken by walking plows and not all of the settlers had even these. Wives often followed husbands who had gone ahead to stake their claim or build a house.
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- Comments Off on The problem with two carbon prices
Last week as the UK Budget was unveiled, the government announced, to nobody’s surprise, its intention to implement a UK carbon price floor for power generators. This mechanism would operate in tandem with the EU Emissions Trading System, effectively underpinning it for one sector within its existing coverage. The proposal will see a minimum price, delivered via a top-up payment mechanism against the prevailing carbon market, of £16 per tonne from 1/1/2013 rising to £30 per tonne by 2020. Of course if the EU-ETS price is high enough, and it may well be if a very different nuclear scenario plays out in the EU following Fukushima, then this policy measure will have no fiscal impact. But it will serve to support investments in the UK and deliver a degree of certainty to those making them. However, major power generation investments won’t even begin operation until 2017 at the earliest, which does bring into question why the UK needs a floor price in the near term.
In a scenario of lower EU-ETS prices, a UK floor price will have an impact right throughout the EU because of the reach of the Emissions Trading System. In the illustration below, abatement across the EU is shown as the sum of UK abatement and EU-26 abatement (i.e. the remaining member states). The horizontal axis is tonnes of CO2 reduced (R) and the vertical axis is the carbon price in €s. In the first chart we see that the reductions required to reach the EU 2020 target (RUK + REU-26) are delivered at a carbon price of just over €20 (as a hypothetical number). The pink area represents the UK abatement curve and the blue area is the EU-26 abatement curve, both shown in their simplest theoretical shape.
The second chart illustrates the effect on UK abatement of an imposed floor price which is higher than the price otherwise required to meet the EU target. Additional UK reductions take place, shown as ΔRUK. But, as shown in the third chart where the total EU reduction requirement for 2020 is unchanged, an equivalent amount of reductions are now no longer necessary in the EU given that they have been found in the UK, so there is a perfect offset. The overall EU carbon price falls as a result, although this is not felt by the UK consumer.
The net environmental impact of such a policy is zero because of the role of the EU-ETS and allowance trade. But the investment outcome in the UK is changed and the total cost of meeting the EU 2020 target rises as the cost of the extra carbon reductions in the UK is higher than the next best on offer in other parts of the EU. The UK consumer bears this additional cost. The slight fall in the EU carbon price, while giving a small benefit to EU (but non-UK) consumers, may also serve to undermine investor confidence in equally important power generation projects across the other 26 member states. This in turn may encourage other EU member states to implement their own support mechanisms, which in turn would further erode the effectiveness of the ETS.
An EU-ETS free of policy overlay can do the job that is needed across the EU, but it will take time. This is a forty year policy instrument and as such should be left to perform the role intended.
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SRA Imagine It! meets all of the elements recommended by the National Reading Panel: instruction in phonological and phonemic awareness, explicit phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension. The program covers all daily reading, language arts, and writing curriculum requirements, while also meeting standards for science and social studies.
Unit 1 - Friendship
This unit explores many different kinds of friendships. The selections show how friendships are not always easy and many times require work and commitment. However, friendships are an important part of life.
Unit 2 - Animals and Their Habitats
This unit explores many different types of habitats. The selections explore habitats of the many animals in nature, what happens to animals when habitats disappear, and why we should respect the homes of the many different animals in our world.
Unit 3 - Money
This unit explores the history of bartering and the evolution of money. Students will learn how money works, what role money plays in people's lives both past and present, and what creative ideas people have had in order to earn money.
Unit 4 - Earth, Moon, and Sun
When we see a picture of our planet, Earth, it may seem small. However, when we compare it to the moon, the sun, or the rest of the universe, it may seem bigger than we can imagine. Throughout time, men and women have wondered about Earth, the sun, and the moon. They have asked questions and discovered amazing new things. This unit explores those discoveries and investigates what lies beyond our planet.
Unit 5 - Communities Across Time
This unit focuses on learning how our communities came to be, how human beings affect the land where we live and work, and how the land affects us.
Unit 6 - Storytelling
This unit focuses on how stories preserve and pass on traditions, teach valuable life lessons, and bond families and cultures together.
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Wartime Issue 20
Tet turning point
If there was any one point when the Vietnam War was lost for the allies, the Tet Offensive of 1968 was probably it. Yet the reverse suffered at that time by the southern republic and its American and other allies, including Australia, came in the midst of palpable military success. William Slim had been able to turn “defeat into victory” (the title of his famous memoirs) in Burma in 1944–45; but Tet was a case where defeat came wrapped up in apparent victory.
In the last months of 1967 allied intelligence had detected sure signs of communist plans for an offensive timed to coincide with the traditional Buddhist celebrations of the lunar new year (“Tet”) at the end of January. These signs, however, provided no clues about the likely enemy targets and methods, or the nature of what was planned. No one knew that the North Vietnamese leadership, having become no less frustrated than the allies at the apparent military deadlock that had developed in the war, had opted for a massive strike which they hoped might lead to decisive victory.
Although the Viet Cong announced their intention to observe a seven-day ceasefire over the sacred holiday period, South Vietnamese and American commanders were not lulled into lowering their guard. They knew from previous experience that, even though the communists had not usually violated such truces in previous years, they still habitually used any bombing halt or break in operations to re-deploy forces and generally improve their positions.
Accordingly, for the 1968 festival, named that year Tet Mau Than (“The New Year of the Monkey”), the allies decided to respond with a 36-hour ceasefire during which only half the South Vietnamese forces would be permitted to stand-down. American and other forces would be put on full alert and positioned to deal with any attacks the communists might launch. Thanks to the foresight of Lieutenant General Frederick Weyand, the US commander in III Corps Tactical Zone, the focus of defence preparations was specifically altered to cover population centres across South Vietnam, especially the capital Saigon.
For the 1st Australian Task Force (1ATF) this meant deployment outside their usual field of activity in the province of Phuoc Tuy. After the commander of Australian Forces Vietnam, Major General Douglas (“Tim”) Vincent, offered the use of the 1ATF, Weyand asked him to send it to neighbouring Bien Hoa province, to operate alongside American forces preparing to block any thrust against the vast complex of military installations around Bien Hoa city and adjoining Long Binh, located some 25 kilometres north-east of Saigon. The task force move, codenamed “Operation Coburg”, involved the bulk of 2RAR (Royal Australian Regiment)/NZ (ANZAC) and 7RAR, along with supporting armour, artillery and engineers. Left behind in the 1ATF base at Nui Dat would be 3RAR, while a New Zealand company of 2 RAR held the Horseshoe feature.
By the afternoon of 24 January the Australian battalions were on the ground in their new area of operations, called “AO Columbus”, on the eastern boundary of Bien Hoa with Long Khanh province. It was an area not totally unknown to Australians, as 1RAR had fought there in November 1965 when it was attached to the US 173d Airborne Brigade (Separate), operating out of Bien Hoa airbase. Almost immediately patrols began having contacts, and these increased over the next four days in both scale and frequency as a number of enemy camps were uncovered and attacked.
At 6 pm on 29 January the truce came into effect, and operations by the Australians were put on hold. During the early hours of the following day, however, some communist forces in the northern half of the country mistakenly began their part in the planned offensive a day early. President Thieu of South Vietnam immediately cancelled the ceasefire and recalled troops on leave to their posts. At 3 am the next day the relative calm was shattered as towns and cities across the nation came under massive attack from the communists.
The extraordinary scene in the north, around the old imperial capital of Hue, was remembered by one member of the Australian Army Training Team (AATTV) who was there with a South Vietnamese platoon carrying out night surveillance on a low hill outside the city. Warrant Officer Terry Egan recounted how, at 3.40 am, the whole horizon from 20 kilometres north of Hue to Phu Bai 15 kilometres to the south-east suddenly erupted to the roar of gunfire. In addition to artillery of varying calibres, flares, mortars and tracer bullets, the night sky was lit by the trails of banks of rockets arcing from the inland mountains towards the city.
A particular focus of the offensive was Saigon, the population of which was sent reeling by an onslaught which was both frightening and staggering in its savagery and destructiveness. Soon large tracts of Cholon, the adjoining Chinese town, were levelled by fighting between communist insurgents and government troops. A notable witness to events in the capital was Major General Arthur MacDonald, who had taken over from Vincent as Commander AFV (Australian Forces Vietnam) only at midnight on 30 January. When he was woken by an explosion near his house in the centre of Saigon a few hours later, he stepped out onto his balcony, in time to see Viet Cong carrying satchel charges on long poles running past towards the nearby Presidential Palace. Not long afterwards, heavy firing broke out down the road, where communist special assault troops also attacked the US Embassy.
Other Australians in the capital had similar experiences. The billets for Australian personnel working in Saigon, known as “Hotel Canberra”, came under attack from about 40 Viet Cong soon after 2.30 am. Members of 7RAR who were providing the guard detachment in sandbag “pillboxes” out in front of the building at the time returned fire, killing one of the attackers and forcing the others to retire. About an hour later, another enemy soldier appeared and fired off a rocket propelled grenade (RPG) before he was also killed. The missile skidded down the road towards the hotel but fortunately did not explode.
Out in AO Columbus the Australians were called upon to deal with a Viet Cong incursion into the village of Trang Bom. D Company of 2RAR supported by armoured personnel carriers became involved in house-to- house fighting to clear the village, only to see the Viet Cong return the next night and cause the whole process to be repeated. Fighting there lasted into 2 February.
Despite the precautions that had been taken at General Weyand’s instigation, the Bien Hoa-Long Binh complex was still heavily attacked by 5 VC Division, resulting in much damage to aircraft, buildings and facilities. The role of the Australians nearby was promptly changed to intercepting and blocking enemy forces as they attempted to move back to their sanctuaries. In the words of the commanding officer of 7RAR, Lieutenant Colonel Eric Smith, for the next few days Viet Cong flowed past his company positions “like water”. For the most part, the enemy were demoralised and disorganised, and avoided contact, although many were caught in platoon ambushes set by the Australians.
One of the most significant actions was that of C Company of 7RAR, which on 5 February found itself in contact with an enemy force in a well-constructed bunker system six kilometres north of Trang Bom. After assaulting the position on three successive days, aided by air strikes, artillery and helicopter gunships, the Australians were finally left in possession of a base camp believed to have been defended by an enemy regimental headquarters and three companies.
After 9 February both battalions were ordered to move back to the south of the area of operations, around two fire support bases codenamed “Harrison” and “Andersen”. From here, 7RAR was relieved by 3RAR on 11 February and 2RAR was returned to Nui Dat two days later. FSB Harrison was now closed, but operations continued to be directed from FSB Andersen, which was located near Trang Bom. Three times between 18 and 28 February, Andersen came under attack but each time the Viet Cong were beaten off.
Meanwhile, the Australians left in Phuoc Tuy were also engaged in heavy fighting, after Viet Cong forces attacked the provincial capital, Ba Ria, and other population centres like Long Dien, Hoa Long and Dat Do. At first light on 1 February the National Liberation Front flag was flying over BA Ria. The whole town appeared to have been infiltrated; government installations had been over-run or cut off, and snipers had taken up position in numerous places, including the town’s cinema and the cathedral.
At Nui Dat, the newly arrived deputy commander of 1ATF, Colonel Donald Dunstan, sent the task force Ready Reaction Force (RRF) to assist the Province Chief in his attempts to recapture the enemy-held parts of BA Ria. A Company of 3RAR, carried in APCs (armoured personnel carriers) of A Squadron, 3 Cavalry Regiment, was ordered to join in the defence of Sector (province) Headquarters. From the moment the carriers entered the town the Australians came under light automatic fire, and by the time they arrived at Sector Headquarters they were receiving RPGs as well. In fighting to secure other government positions, two carriers were damaged and disabled.
By mid-afternoon on 2 February, the majority of the Viet Cong had withdrawn and A Company was relieved to return to Nui Dat. Late the next day, D Company of 3RAR was deployed to Long Dien to assist in clearing it and the nearby village of Ap Long Kien. By early afternoon on 6 February both tasks were complete and the company returned to Nui Dat.
The task force was again called upon on 7 February to assist with the security of BA Ria and (the next day) Long Dien. Other elements of 3RAR were involved in an uneventful sweep of Hoa Long on 8–9 February, but this was effectively the end of the Tet Offensive in Phuoc Tuy. Overall, the casualty toll on both sides had been relatively small – including five Australians killed and nearly 50 Viet Cong.
Operation Coburg was brought to an end on 1 March, and the task force elements returned to Nui Dat. In the fighting in Bien Hoa province, enemy losses had amounted to 145 killed, 110 wounded/escaped and five captured, for Australian casualties of seven men killed in action, three died of wounds, and 75 wounded. The Viet Cong had also lost considerable quantities of weapons, equipment and rice.
If the Australians could count themselves as successful, so could the allies generally across the country. Although initially overwhelmed by the scale of the Tet Offensive, they were able to recover their balance within about six hours of its start. The communists were driven out of most of the towns within four days and the general uprising which they hoped to trigger did not eventuate. Fighting continued in Saigon until mid-February, but the cost to the Viet Cong and North Vietnamese Army was out of all proportion to the losses they inflicted.
In all, some 45,000 enemy personnel were killed by the end of February (out of a total of 84,000 committed to the offensive), compared to allied military deaths of about 6,000. With the locally based communist infrastructure in the South effectively annihilated, the leadership of North Vietnam would be obliged to send increased numbers of troops from its own territory to keep the war going. Judged on this scale, the offensive had been an unmitigated disaster – in every sense except public perception.
The very fact that the communists had been able to mount such a concerted effort, at a time when allied military authorities had been providing assurances that they were well on top in the conflict, was sufficient for pundits to deduce that the communists must be winning the war after all. It did not matter, for example, that the enemy troops who stormed the US Embassy in Saigon had been on a suicide mission, with all being cut down in the outer grounds. In the sensationalist press, this episode was distorted into a story that the enemy had actually occupied the embassy buildings.
Faced with a tidal wave of public scepticism and disenchantment, the American government accepted a new political and psychological reality. US President Lyndon Johnson rejected requests by his commander in Vietnam, General William Westmoreland, for another 206,000 American troops to regain the initiative and called for a detailed review of official policy in Vietnam. On 31 March, Johnson ordered a halt to the bombing of most of North Vietnam and withdrew from the 1968 presidential election. There could not have been a more stark admission that his policy on the war had failed.
Tet had handed the communists a propaganda coup which actually reversed the military results of the offensive. It was for them, in every sense, a victory snatched from the ashes of defeat.
Chris Coulthard-Clark, Australian War Memorial
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November 28, 2013
Stargazers are waiting anxiously to see if an icy comet survives a close encounter with the Sun and fulfils its billing of being “one of the brightest of the century”.
Comet Ison is to pass the star at a distance of just 727,000 miles, where it will meet temperatures of around 2,700C (4,892F), leading to predictions it will break apart before it can be seen blazing in the night sky.
It is expected to get closest to the Sun at 6.37pm UK time.
Scientists will be watching to see if the comet , which left the outer edge of the solar system more than 5.5 million years ago, disintegrates under the intense heat and gravitational forces of the Sun.
This article was posted: Thursday, November 28, 2013 at 12:51 pm
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UNPFII Recommends Redress of Doctrine of Discovery Harm
The 11th session of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues ended with the acknowledgment that the racist Doctrine of Discovery continues to impact Indigenous Peoples around the world, but also that the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) provides a framework to redress the continuing injustices resulting from the 500-year-old ideology of domination.
At the end of the two-week session on May 18 at the U.N. in New York, the UNPFII adopted a concluding report with a number of recommendations to address the harmful impacts of the Doctrine of Discovery, which was the theme of this year’s session. The Doctrine evolved from 15th century papal bulls in which the Catholic Church gave its blessing to the European monarchs of Portugal and Spain to claim ownership of any “discovered” lands that were not already occupied by Christians. The Doctrine was used as legal justification by European colonists to murder and enslave Indigenous Peoples and steal their lands and resources. Throughout the UNPFII session, the Doctrine was condemned as the shameful and morally bankrupt foundation all racist and socially unjust policies constructed and used by nation states against Indigenous Peoples around the globe.
The report begins by referencing the fourth paragraph in UNDRIP’s preamble, which affirms that “all doctrines, policies and practices based on or advocating superiority of peoples or individuals on the basis of national origin or racial, religious, ethnic or cultural differences are racist, scientifically false, legally invalid, morally condemnable and socially unjust.” Doctrines of domination and “conquest,” such as terra nullius and the Regalian doctrine, supported the repulsive racism that allowed colonists to depict Indigenous Peoples as “savages,” “barbarians,” “uncivilized’ and “inferior.” But the oppressive doctrines are not quaint relics of yesterday; they are found in today’s regulations, policies and court decisions in which States claim to have “extinguished’’ the rights of Indigenous Peoples to their lands, territories and resources, their right to self-determination, their languages, religions and “even their identities and existence through the notion of ‘recognition’, that is by recognizing some and not recognizing others as indigenous,” the report says. “No other peoples in the world are pressured to have their rights ‘extinguished,’” it says.
Citing Articles 26, 27 and 28 of the UNDRIP, treaty body jurisprudence and human rights case law, the report confirms Indigenous Peoples’ collective rights to the lands, territories and resources that they traditionally owned, occupied or otherwise used. It calls for respect of Indigenous Peoples’ customs, traditions and land tenure systems and echoes the UNDRIP’s demand that states rectify past wrongs caused by the doctrines of domination. “States are no longer allowed to deploy positivist legal interpretations of laws adopted during an era when doctrines such as terra nullius were the norm,” the report says.
The UNPFII called on states to review and revise their constitutions and legal frameworks with the goal of recognizing Indigenous Peoples’ human rights and ensuring that non-discrimination is guaranteed. “The term ‘racial discrimination’ means any distinction, exclusion, restriction or preference based on race, colour, descent or national or ethnic origin that has the purpose or effect of nullifying or impairing the recognition, enjoyment or exercise, on an equal footing, of human rights and fundamental freedoms in the political, economic, social, cultural or any other field of public life,” the report says. It also urges against other forms of discrimination, including gender and age.
Other recommendations ask states to include a discussion on the Doctrine of Discovery and dispossession and its contemporary manifestations in all education curricula in school systems; to establish a voluntary international mechanism to receive and review Indigenous Peoples’ communications, including claims to, or violations of, their rights to the lands, territories and resources; to introduce indigenous youth perspectives into existing youth policies and plans, including a five-year action agenda to address health issues, including mental health services for young people, with particular efforts to address suicide among indigenous youth.
The UNPFII also adopted a number of texts in its report, including a text on human rights matters (document E/C.19/2012/L.9), which notes that few states have done much to address or implement UNDRIP since its adoption by the General Assembly five years ago. Other adopted texts include recommendations on food sovereignty, violence against indigenous women and girls, the World Intellectual Property Organization, arrangements for the 2014 World Conference on Indigenous Peoples and emerging issues.
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What is a Sensor?
Sensors are devices which measure the physical energy (like temperature) and converts it into a signal (typically analog). Later this signal can be read or observed from an instrument or an electronic device (like a microcontroller) connected to the sensor. There are more than hundreds of types of sensors available in market today.
Most Android powered phones, Windows Phones, iPhone, Blackberry Os and other Os based smartphones have built-in sensors that measure the orientation, motion, light and other environmental conditions. These sensors are built to measure and provide a high precision & accurate data to the reader. For example, consider the airbag sensor placed in a car. Its main function is to trigger the airbag immediately after a collision. Just imagine what happens if this sensor doesn’t work properly or fail to provide accurate data. Result will be disastrous. So most of the critical sensors measure their inputs with a very high precision. There is no doubt in saying that sensors make our life simple and easy. That is the reason they are used widely in today’s world like in space shuttles, satellites, robots, automotive, planes, office, lift, smartphones and the list goes on…In this article we will be looking at the sensors used in a smartphone.
Sensors in Smartphone:
Today mobile devices are named as smartphones because they are not just used for handling the calls but for many other things like video recording, GPS navigation, Mp3, Wifi and in coming days it will also be used for mobile payment using NFC technology just like a credit card. With such smartness in it it is obvious that it will be consuming more power. Hence most of the sensors in a smartphone play an important role in reducing the power consumption. Smartphones have both hardware-based sensors and software-based sensors. The hardware-based sensors are physically present in the device and directly measure the environmental properties where as the software-based sensors are virtual sensors (not physical) which take their inputs from one or more hardware sensors for calculation.
List of sensors used in a smartphone are presented below:
Accelerometers are hardware sensors. They are the simple MEMS (Microelectromechanical System) devices which are used to measure position, motion, tilt, shock, vibration, and acceleration (the rate of change of velocity – m/s2). They are available with one, two, or three axes. A 3-axis accelerometer senses the orientation of the phone and changes the screen, images, web browser, music player accordingly, allowing the user to easily switch between portrait and landscape mode.
Proximity Sensor is a hardware-based sensor. It measures the proximity/position of an object in cm relative to the screen of a device. This sensor determines the position of the phone w.r.t the object. For eg: it measures the distance between the phone and face when the phone is brought near to face during a call. With this measurement the application can deactivate the display for saving the power and prevent any unintentional inputs caused from touching face/ear to the screen.
An ambient light sensor is a hardware-based sensor which is typically used for adjusting the display brightness hence saving the battery power. These sensors are made up of photocells which detect the presence of light in the environment. For eg: if a phone is used in a dark room where the presence of light is minimal, the phone works at its brightest since the ambient light sensor doesn’t detect the light hence no saving of the power. But it is the reverse case if a phone is used outdoor. Most of the smartphone manufacturers use this sensor in their devices by default.
The Compass or magnetometer is a hardware-based sensor which can be used to determine the angle by which the device is rotated relative to the Earth’s magnetic north pole. The magnetic compass contains a magnet that interacts with the earth’s magnetic field and aligns itself to point to the magnetic poles. Simple compasses of this type show directions in a frame of reference in which the directions of the magnetic poles are due north and south. These directions are called magnetic north and magnetic south. It can be used as a navigational instrument. Nokia Lumia 610 has this sensor built-in.
The Gyroscope sensor is used to determine the rotational, spinning, turning velocity of the device in each axis. In other words it measures the angular rate of how quickly the object turns. World’s first Intel inside smartphone – Lava Xolo X900 has this sensor built-in.
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Soil and Water Engineering
> Erosion Modeling (FS WEPP)
FS WEPP is a set of interfaces designed to
allow users to quickly evaluate erosion and sediment delivery potential
from forest roads. The erosion rates and sediment delivery are predicted
by the Water Erosion Prediction Project (WEPP) model, using input
values for forest conditions developed by scientists at the Rocky
Mountain Research Station.
The Water Erosion Prediction Project (WEPP)
soil erosion model is being developed by an interagency group of
scientists including the USDA's Forest Service, Agricultural Research
Service, and Natural Resources Conservation Service, and the Department
of Interior's Bureau of Land Management and Geological Survey. Scientists
from these agencies throughout the United States have been working
since 1985 to develop WEPP to replace the Universal Soil Loss Equation
The WEPP model is a complex computer program
that describes the processes that lead to erosion. These processes
include infiltration and runoff; soil detachment, transport, and
deposition; and plant growth, senescence, and residue decomposition.
For each day of simulation, WEPP calculates the soil water content
in multiple layers and plant growth/decomposition. The effects of
tillage processes and soil consolidation are also modeled.
WEPP can be run from an MS DOS set of input
screens or from a Windows interface currently under development.
In both versions, a set of file builders assists the user in building
or altering input files which can include more than 400 input variables
for a single run.
William J. Elliot, Project Leader
Randy B. Foltz, Research Engineer
David E. Hall, Computer Specialist
Peter R. Robichaud, Research Engineer
Paul G. Swetik, Computer Specialist
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Reaching childhood's milestones early is something parents encourage and celebrate. Parents brag when their children walk, talk and potty train earlier than others on the block.
But parents are rushing one milestone without understanding the possible consequences.
By moving young children into seat belts too soon after outgrowing child safety seats, parents are putting them at a higher risk of serious injury in crashes, according to the first research into the subject.
Young children prematurely buckled into adult seat belts, which are not designed to fit them properly, are 3 1/2 times more likely to suffer a significant injury and four times more likely to have serious head injuries in crashes than children properly restrained with booster or car seats.
Properly restraining children means using infant and convertible child safety seats for children younger than 4 and booster seats for children from 4 until they fit properly in the vehicle seat belt, usually around 9.
How widespread is this "premature graduation" to seat belts?
"We found that nearly 40 percent of 2- to 5-year-old children are being placed in adult seat belts rather than car or booster seats, dramatically increasing their risk of injury in a crash," said Dr. Flaura Koplin Winston, a medical doctor and Ph.D. and lead author of the paper, published in the June issue of Pediatrics magazine.
This becomes a serious problem in light of the fact that motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death and acquired disability for children older than 1.
In 1998, 697 children younger than 6 died as occupants in motor vehicle crashes and nearly 100,000 were injured, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
The findings are based on a study that looked at 13,853 children age 2 to 5. They were involved in 11,973 crashes in the District of Columbia and 15 states, including 1,930 (16 percent) from Illinois. Among these children, 98 percent were restrained, but nearly 40 percent were in seat belts, not age-appropriate child restraints.
This is the first study that evaluates the risk of significant injury associated with premature use of seat belts. Previous studies have compared children who use child restraints with those who don't.
The data were collected as part of Partners for Child Passenger Safety, a multiyear project examining how and why children are injured or killed in motor vehicle crashes. It is a collaborative effort by the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and the University of Pennsylvania, with about $13.7 million in funding from the State Farm Insurance Cos. Winston, a pediatrician and biomechanical engineer at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, is the principal investigator.
While many parents properly use child seats, they often graduate the child too quickly into seat belts designed for adults, the article said.
"Correct seat-belt fit is usually not achieved until a child is at least 4 feet 9 inches tall and 80 pounds, often around age 9," said Winston. "Basically the way I like to describe it is seat belts are made for adults. If you were going to buy a coat for a child you wouldn't go to the adult section, you'd go to the children's section."
For the adult belts to fit properly, the lap portion should ride low across the hips, and the shoulder belt should cross the shoulder and chest.
But with belts designed for adults, the lap portion rides up over the child's abdomen and the shoulder portion crosses the neck or face. This places the child at risk for "submarining," or sliding out of the lap belt in a crash.
Also, a child could suffer "jack-knife" bending, increasing the risk not only of abdominal and spinal cord injuries, known as "seat belt syndrome," but also of head injuries, such as concussions and skull fractures, as the head strikes the child's knees or some part of the vehicle's interior.
"Of particular concern to us was the large number of children with injuries to the head and brain," said Dr. Dennis Durbin, co-author of the study and a pediatric emergency medicine physician and co-principal investigator of Partners for Child Passenger Safety. "As pediatricians, we worry about these injuries because of their potential for long-term consequences."
To be safe, the child should use a booster seat, or a "belt-positioning" booster seat, that raises the child so the adult seat belts fit properly, the article said. Belt-positioning boosters come with and without a high back.
"Shield booster" seats, which have a shield that crosses in front of the child instead of using the vehicle seat belt to restrain the child's hips, are no longer recommended "because of the risk of submarining and ejection," the article said.
Shield boosters accounted for half of the booster seats used in this study. "Further reductions in injury might be achieved by the specific promotion of belt-positioning boosters and not shield boosters," the study noted.
Winston said devices that pull the adult shoulder belt lower are not a safe substitute for a booster because they also pull the lap belt higher around the child's abdomen. Research has shown that, unless it is low across the hips, the lap belt can increase the chance of an injury to the liver, spleen, stomach or spinal cord, which can result in paralysis.
The study shows that children age 4 to 8 have a greater risk of being injured in a crash than children who are younger and older. That is because most of those younger than 3 were in child safety seats (and infants were riding facing rear) and most of those older than 8 were appropriately restrained in seat belts. However, few children 4 to 8 were properly restrained for their age because their parents were not using booster seats.
"This research provides strong evidence that belt-positioning booster seats are a crucial safety step between car seats and adult seat belts," Durbin said.
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Online Students Do Not Learn By Video Alone, Finds Study
Streamed lectures, it turns out, are a poor replacement for classroom learning. To help students absorb what they hear, add interactive activities to the curriculum.
Video is a fixture in most online courses. Since videos tend to replace in-class lectures, it’s tempting to assume that they are at least as effective for learning.
However, an in-person class meeting usually involves more than a lecture. Even the most boring teachers will stop and ask questions (“Bueller ... Bueller ... anyone?”), while more attentive instructors will mix things up with exercises and group activities—all of which are missing from your everyday lecture video.
Recently, five researchers from Carnegie Mellon University decided to test out what difference extra activities make on learning outcomes inside a massive open online course, or MOOC. The title of their study belies their conclusion: “Learning Is Not a Spectator Sport: Doing Is Better Than Watching for Learning From a MOOC.”
They tested a 12-week introductory MOOC in psychology that featured 10- to 15-minute lecture videos as part of the instructional content along with weekly quizzes to measure progress. Out of 27,720 students who registered, about one-third (9,075) also completed interactive activities from the Opening Learning Institute (OLI), such as a learn-by-doing exercise that required students to classify personality traits according to factors they just learned. At the end all students took a final exam.
Looking just at the final, the average score of the students who used the OLI activities was nine points higher than the students who didn’t: 66 points vs. 57 points. Many more students completed the interactive course, too; 939 of the OLI students took the final exam, while only 215 of the students in the non-OLI version did.
It’s important to keep in mind that MOOCs are open, not-for-credit courses, which means they tend to have much higher attrition rates than a traditional for-credit online course. While only 4 percent of students overall finished the final exam, a full 10 percent of the students who used the activities completed the whole course.
This led the researchers to conclude that, “the most influential impact (on learning) comes from doing activities ... The strength of this relationship is more than six times the impact of watching video or reading pages ... and more than three times the combined impact of watching and reading.”
At first glance, this looks bad for online video, but I think the situation is more complex. In the classroom, almost no one would recommend doing away with lectures entirely in favor of all group activities, all the time. Conceding that 15 weeks of nothing but 3-hour lectures might get boring, most classes—even highly interactive ones—include some lecture component to convey information that goes beyond or elaborates on textbooks and other materials. That’s at least one reason why lectures have stuck around for millennia.
As I’ve argued many times before, there is an array of creative approaches to make course videos more interesting, illustrative, and simply superior than most classroom lectures. Certainly you want students to watch a volatile chemical experiment being performed before doing it themselves. It’s even better if the video provides a closer and clearer view than watching it from across the room. Plus, students can rewatch the video. That’s a strong case to hang on to the lecture video.
Of course, much of the learning in chemistry comes from actually performing the experiment. True, it’s probably prohibitive to ship online students a full chemistry set for at-home practice. However, the online course can offer simulations that let students test themselves, with the bonus that they won’t need lab coats and goggles (or fire extinguishers).
The takeaway is that activities that emphasize interactivity are a valuable addition to online courses. Consider them a value-add that only enhances the overall effectiveness of your videos, because better student learning is the most important outcome.
This article appears in the January/February 2016 issue of Streaming Media magazine as “Online Students Do Not Learn By Video Alone.”
Whether it's in the classroom or not, video can play an important role for teachers, students and coaches, helping them build one-on-one connections.
Real learning happens when students can take ownership of a video project and teach each other.
A new report from Sonic Foundry and the Center for Digital Education shows instructor and student benefits from a video-driven flipped classroom approach to learning
Recording video lectures is a challenge for even the best professors, since they don't get live feedback. The producer needs to step in and fill that role.
There are numerous uses for live and on-demand video streaming in educational institutions, including sporting events, commencements, concerts, debates, and flipped classrooms.
When smaller educational organizations look for affordable online video systems, they don't find the features that come standard in advanced elearning platforms.
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As mold threatened zinnia flowers in the space station Veggie experiment, investigators decided to take a bold move: allow an astronaut to take care of the flowers without always calling for help from home first. The result? Flowers are now blooming in space, marking a successful result after several other plants died due to infection.
"We're pleased with the Veggie team for coming out with the procedure, and Scott knocked it out in lickety-split," said Veggie project manager Trent Smith in an interview with Discovery News.
It signals NASA's careful moves towards preparing astronauts for long-term voyages far from home. And the astronaut who volunteered to help was a fitting symbol of this goal: Scott Kelly, who is spending nearly a year on the International Space Station to see how his body and mind reacts to a long period in space.
Kelly was exuberant in pictures tweeted from the International Space Station. "Yes, there are other life forms in space!" he wrote in one message. "First ever flower grown in space makes its debut," he said in another.
NASA decided to change its Veggie-tending procedure in December, after mold was discovered growing on zinnia plants. High humidity is blamed for the situation. The Veggie team already knew of extra water on the plants, but was unable to relay the command to dry them through operations until mold already developed.
Kelly initially took instructions from the team, which included removing the dead plants, wiping down the area and turning up the fan to dry it out. But when Kelly offered to take control of tending the remaining plants himself, Smith's team jumped at the chance. Smith told Discovery News that having Kelly do the work would avoid the "delayed reaction" NASA experienced the first time around.
The Veggie team gave Kelly a one-pager called The Zinnia Care Guide for the On-Orbit Gardener, according to NASA, making sure the information was streamlined enough for a busy astronaut. It proved to be more than enough. The flowers were well recovered by Jan. 12, and Kelly sent his triumphant tweets of blooms from space earlier this week.
NASA is working on several ways to help astronauts become more autonomous, whether they rove out to an asteroid or Mars in the future. For example, the agency has experimented with time-delayed exploration at its Aquarius underseas habitat. One large role of the ISS will be to experiment with giving astronauts more and more responsibility for doing and overseeing their own tasks, without Mission Control always hovering nearby.
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Description: Part of the Oxford Handbook series, this book is intended for use by healthcare professionals interested in applying epidemiological concepts in clinical practice. It is the appropriate size to fit into the pocket of a clinician's white coat and is designed for quick referencing with bullet-point topic summaries and a comprehensive glossary.
Purpose: With this book, the authors aim to assist clinicians in the interpretation and application of research evidence in their everyday clinical routines. The book is designed for clinicians unfamiliar with epidemiological concepts and provides an overview of relevant topics. It does not offer the depth or detail found in epidemiology textbooks, but provides sufficient information to serve as a reference.
Audience: The book is intended for clinicians interested in learning how basic epidemiological principles may be applied in their day-to-day work. The authors state that it is intended for students and junior doctors. However, anyone intending to better use research evidence in clinical practice may benefit from it.
Features: The first of the four sections serves to introduce basic epidemiological concepts, including the principles of risk, benefit, and disease frequency. Other sections provide an overview of important topics related to evidence-based clinical practice including a listing of clinical research databases and methodologies to appraise scientific literature and a more detailed look at epidemiological methods, including study designs and statistical concepts. The last pages of the book contain summaries of the epidemiology of common diseases. Examples relevant to clinical settings are provided throughout. Of note, the book includes an important section on how to best discuss research evidence with patients. However, many other examples are specific to policies and practices in the U.K.'s National Health Service, limiting their relevance outside of that country.
Assessment: As a hybrid between an introduction to epidemiology and a quick reference for use in clinical decision-making, this book provides a great deal of information in little space. As a quick reference for use in daily practice, it is unique. However, readers new to these concepts who desire a solid understanding of how and why to use research evidence in clinical practice may be better served by other introductory books, such as How to Read a Paper: The Basics of Evidence-based Medicine, 4th edition, Greenhalgh (Wiley-Blackwell, 2010).
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DistributionRead full entry
Habitat of the Carnarvon xeric shrublands, Australia
This ecoregion covers 34,900 square miles of critical/endangered deserts & xeric shrublands in Western Australia. The ecoregion's topography is chiefly low-lying, and the plantlife varies with the underlying geology, which is primarily comprised of recent alluvial, aeolian, and marine sediments over cretaceous strata. This ecoregion is extremely arid, claiming less than 250 millimetres of total precipitation per annum.
Covering the saline alluvial plains are chiefly low samphire and saltbush shrublands, with snakewood scrublands upon the clay flats; Bowgada low woodland covers sandy ridges and plains, red sand dune fields are interspersed or overlain with tree to shrub steppe over hummock grasslands, and Acacia startii-A. bivenosa shrublands cover limestone outcrops at the north. Other tree species in the ecoregion include limestone wattle (Acacia sclerosperma) with an undergrowth of dead finish (Acacia tetragonophylla). The sheltered embayments and expansive tidal flats along the coastal zone support mangroves. Vertebrates of the ecoregion include birds such as the Thick-billed grasswren (Amytornis textilis) and the Australian endemic red-tailed black cockatoo (Calyptorhynchus banksii). This locale is thought to be the sole possible habitat for a surviving population of the lesser stick-nest rat, which is otherwise potentially extinct.
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Ethernet is a local area technology, with networks traditionally operating within a single building, connecting devices in close proximity. At most, Ethernet devices could have only a few hundred meters of cable between them, making it impractical to connect geographically dispersed locations. Modern advancements have increased these distances considerably, allowing Ethernet networks to span tens of kilometers.
In networking, the term protocol refers to a set of rules that govern communications. Protocols are to computers what language is to humans. Since this article is in English, to understand it you must be able to read English. Similarly, for two devices on a network to successfully communicate, they must both understand the same protocols.
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| 0.956998
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By Teachers, For Teachers
With last month’s conventions and next month’s debates, it’s a perfect time to bring a little election conversation into your classroom.
Here are some non-partisan ways to mix politics with classroom activities.
These days, you can’t read an article or watch a news report on the election without seeing a map of the U.S. shaded according to states lean Democratic or Republican. It’s a perfect way to help younger students memorize state names and locations. On a regular basis, give students a blank U.S. map and provide oral or written instructions about how to color it in (California is blue, Alabama is red, etc.). Give students time to color in the map; then have them compare their work with an “answer key” map. Doing this on a regular basis helps students practice identifying each state and can also give them a sense of the progress of the election.
Many middle and high school English teachers do a unit on advertising. It teaches persuasive language and can help students become more thoughtful consumers. Put a spin on that same old unit by using political ads instead of cereal and toy commercials. Ask students to identify the symbols or persuasive language used in ads by the Obama and Romney campaigns or in ads for local candidates.
Answer the age-old student question, “Why do we need to know this?” by showing students how math – specifically, how to create graphs – plays an important role in the election. Visit a nonpartisan site like Real Clear Politics or Politico and gather their latest polling data. Then have students practice creating graphs – bar graphs, pie charts, line graphs, and more – to demonstrate the changes in the presidential race, your state’s House or Senate races, or the popularity of a given ballot measure. This can be a one-class-period graph-making review or a regular component of math lessons from now through Election Day.
From the President of the United States to a local School Board member, many of the people currently running for office will have an impact on education policy and, therefore, on your students’ lives. Ask students, “If you were running for an office, what would your education policy be?” Even younger students can write a short assignment on “If I Was in Charge of Our School.” Older students can make authentic recommendations about changes to school policy. Have them debate their ideas and finish the assignment by writing letters to the school board, the governor, or the President, in which they make their case for education reform.
Have students create their own survey about a candidate or issue. This activity can be adapted depending on the students’ age and how much technology you want to incorporate. A very simple survey needs minimal technology (see Math is Fun for tips).
For older students, increase the complexity in any number of ways. Have them use a free tool like SurveyMonkey or Zoomerang to create an online survey. Work with them to write survey questions that might skew the results. Assign students to survey specific populations (varying ages, ethnicities, religious beliefs, education levels) and have them compare the results. No matter what approach you take, students get some math practice and also may learn some valuable lessons about polling data.
Obama and Romney claim that this is the “most important election of our lifetimes.” While adults may be skeptical of such statements, students may not know any better. Provide students with some perspective with an election-themed research assignment. Assign groups of students to elections throughout our history. Have students research the candidates, who won, what happened to the loser, and whether historians believe the winner was a good president. UC Santa Barbara’s American Presidency project is a good place to start. Students may be amazed to realize that some great presidents were unappreciated in their own time, and they may be shocked by some of the less-than-great leaders our country has experienced.
Visit the NBCLearn site for a wide selection of election-oriented math lessons, designed by Carnegie Learning. Topics include statistics, polling, mean/median/mode, and more.
For high school students, consider exploring how the same information can be presented differently by campaigns or media outlets that have a particular agenda. Assign students to a topic (for example, the health care law passed under President Obama) and have them find examples of how the Obama and Romney campaigns talk about that topic. To extend the assignment further, have students explore conservative media outlets (Fox News, the Drudge Report, etc.) and liberal media outlets (MSNBC, the Huffington Post, etc.) and see how those news sources report the same story differently.
Introduce students to the ever-present issue of low voter turnout. Have students research what voter turnout is like in your state or community and consider potential solutions (Change in voter ID laws? Election Day holiday? More vote-by-mail or early voter programs?). Students can write an essay or an op-ed piece for a local paper in which they share what they have learned. If you’re really feeling motivated, expand this into a service project to increase local voter turnout.
If you have tablets, a digital whiteboard, or a computer lab, you can bring the past to your students like never before. Try an app like Political Time Machine or visit The Living Room Candidate to watch political advertisements and historical footage from the past 50-100 years. Have students do a “scavenger hunt” through the materials to find “three vice-presidents who ran for president” or “two commercials that focus on issues about crime, guns, or drugs.” As an alternative, use The Living Room Candidate’s AdMaker to allow students to re-edit old campaign ads or make their own.
While much of the country focuses on the presidential campaign, there are a host of state and local officials running for office, as well as state and local ballot measures. Use these as a basis for a range of different election-themed activities. Students could create their own version of a Voters’ Guide that explains what each ballot measure means in plain language. Students could do research on local candidates – even interviewing them – and write a newspaper article on what they’ve learned. Students could create short videos about candidates or ballot measures that are meaningful to them. These may be less controversial, but still cover important topics for students to explore.
The election may be over in early November, but that doesn’t mean you have to give up on politically-themed classroom activities. Have students research the transition process using available materials from the 2001 Clinton-Bush transition and the 2009 Bush-Obama transition.
Have younger students study presidential inaugurations. The Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies has a wealth of information about the traditions of an inauguration. Students could do a report on a previous inauguration, write a letter to the committee making recommendations for the 2013 inauguration, or make plans for what their inauguration would be like if they were elected president twenty or thirty years from now.
Both Democrats and Republicans can agree that using the election in the classroom can be fun, non-partisan, and educational!
How are you bringing the 2012 election into your classroom? Share with us in the comments section!
Image Source: The Associated Press
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Definition of Buffalo gnat
1. Noun. Small blackish stout-bodied biting fly having aquatic larvae; sucks the blood of birds as well as humans and other mammals.
Generic synonyms: Gnat
Group relationships: Genus Simulium, Simulium
Buffalo Gnat Pictures
Click the following link to bring up a new window with an automated collection of images related to the term: Buffalo Gnat Images
Lexicographical Neighbors of Buffalo Gnat
Literary usage of Buffalo gnat
Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:
1. Early Western Travels, 1748-1846: A Series of Annotated Reprints of Some of by Reuben Gold Thwaites (1905)
"... savory than the steaks dressed by the most delicate cooks in civilized life. CHAPTER XVIII [II] Travelling out of our Latitude — The Buffalo-gnat — A ..."
2. Proceedings of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (1888)
"Mentioned other luminous larvae in Cole- optera and discussed the bearing of luminosity on arrested development. THB BUFFALO-GNAT PROBLEM IN ..."
3. Our Animal Friends: An Illustrated Monthly Magazine (1896)
"The principal breeding grounds of the buffalo gnat are the Mississippi Valley, Louisiana, ... Mules are the most common victims of the buffalo gnat. ..."
4. Pellagra: History, Distribution, Diagnosis, Prognosis, Treatment, Etiology by Stewart Ralph Roberts (1912)
"This buffalo gnat causes the death of many mules and domestic animals. ... Since 1850 this buffalo gnat has killed many thousand domestic animals. ..."
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| 0.867068
| 370
| 3.453125
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