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Outside Scholarship Search
Healthy Lifestyles Scholarship
The Healthy Lifestyles Scholarship is open to currently enrolled high school seniors or first-year college students. To be eligible for this award, you must be a U.S. citizen, be under 25 years of age and answer both of the following two essay questions: in under 1000 words, "Why is a healthy lifestyle important in school?" and in under 500 words, describe your career plans, goals and personal ambitions. | <urn:uuid:a32ab85c-0fff-480c-9263-6b9b84ab6e9b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.rit.edu/emcs/financialaid/outside_scholarships.php?id=143 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.952517 | 96 | 1.609375 | 2 |
“Human life is sacred because from its beginning it involves the creative action of God and it remains for ever in a special relationship with the Creator, who is its sole end. God alone is the Lord of life from its beginning until its end: no one can under any circumstance claim for himself the right directly to destroy an innocent human being”~~ Pope Piux XII, 1846
In July of 2007 Barack H. Obama made the statement, “The first thing I’d do as president is sign the Freedom of Choice Act. That’s the first thing that I’d do.” Well it’s well past his 100 days and has yet to pass. The Freedom of Choice Act (FOCA) was first introduced in late 1989. Clinton supported the bill in 1993 however it was held up due to Senator Carol Moseley (D-IL) didn’t feel it was “extreme enough.” [emphasis mine] It wasn’t until the Republican’s took control of Congress in 1994 that the bill stalled.
President Barack Obama has not yet decided whether to go forward with a proposed regulation under the health care law he signed last year that would force Catholic individuals and instutions to act against the teachings of the Catholic Church.
Lucas continues that as of August of this year that Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius
proposed a regulation–that would take affect next fall–that would require all health care plans to cover sterilizations and all FDA-approved contraceptives, including abortifacients. The proposed regulation includes a very narrow religious exemption that does not cover individual Catholics, or Catholic universities, hospitals or charitable institutions.
As a Catholic and as a Registered Nurse, who is employed in a Catholic Hospital. I find this very troubling. I feel that this is another attempt of the Obama administration’s attempt to force yet another aspect of his unborn desire to rule the world.”…to control the world.
The law’s premise would force Catholic’s or anyone who believes that life begins at conception to participate in assisting with abortions or performing them. A nurse could potentially succumb under threats of being reprimanded or worse – fired. The law would include require Catholic hospitals to ALSO perform sterilization procedures as well, which according to the Catholic Church, is against God’s teaching.
As a nurse, like physicians, we take an oath upon graduating. The Nightingale Pledge was written by by Lystra Gretter, an instructor of nursing at the old Harper Hospital in Detroit, Michigan, it was first used by its graduating class in the spring of 1893. It is an adaptation of the Hippocratic Oath taken by physicians. The oath is as follows:
“I solemnly pledge myself before God and in the presence of this assembly, to pass my life in purity and to practice my profession faithfully. I will abstain from whatever is deleterious and mischievous, and will not take or knowingly administer any harmful drug. I will do all in my power to maintain and elevate the standard of my profession, and will hold in confidence all personal matters committed to my keeping and all family affairs coming to my knowledge in the practice of my calling. With loyalty will I endeavor to aid the physician, in his work, and devote myself to the welfare of those committed to my care.”
Like many of the nurses I work with we take this oath seriously and work tirelessly giving care to aid in restoring health. We provide comfort to those who are at the end of their life as we know it here on earth.
Obama is clearly attempting to eradicate the morals of this country, which have for several years been seriously declining. He not only wants to destroy our culture, economically and morally, but also through our families, feels it is his duty to dictate our morals and make us act outside of what we hold dear: our Faith. Obama, like the rest of us will stand before God one day and like the rest of us will have to atone for his many transgressions. He had better hope that God is in a good mood that day!
It is crucial that FOCA does not become the law of the land. As a nation founded upon by Judeo-Christian beliefs we must stand firm with the founders of this nation and protect life, all life. | <urn:uuid:a32b1e27-2033-42fe-b367-9836f55543f0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://patrioticnurse.com/tag/abortion/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.975878 | 895 | 1.671875 | 2 |
Clubs have meetings at which members talk about their own pets, learn about a sponsored animal available for adoption, then spread the word through their personal networks until the pet has found a home.
“It doesn’t ask anything of them but to use their network and tell a story about a dog or cat that needs an advocate,” volunteer Patti Jones said. “We can all tell stories and we can all share pictures. It doesn’t cost a thing. The direct reward is matching a pet with a family.”
Previously, only 83 schools, Boy and Girl Scout troops, businesses and community organizations had clubs.
“We just signed up our first assisted-living home, Pine Gate Retirement Home, in Macon for a group called Central Georgia Cares. Some day we’ll have thousands of them,” said Dr. Michael Good, founder of Town and Veterinary Clinic in Marietta. “I’m sure we’ll have more by the first of the year.”
Senior independent living facilities like Presbyterian Village in Austell, Arbor Green in Kennesaw and Sterling Estates Senior Living Community in east Cobb may be next.
“I would like to learn more about it, but it sounds like something our seniors could get involved in,” Sterling Estates executive director Marshall Gill said. “It would be interesting. I’m a big animal advocate. It might be good to sink our teeth into.”
If the Macon experience is any indication, it’s a painless bite.
“The residents just loved it because there are tons of people in that building that are animal lovers,” Jones said. “The idea that they can take on the challenge of adopting a dog or cat and use their enormous network and valuable resource of time to find a forever home is a great situation. What greater purpose to get out of bed in the morning?”
Good, who has eight dogs and two cats, agreed that helping pets helps people help themselves.
“When you talk to your dog, your blood pressure goes down. If you have a cat, you are five times less likely to have a heart attack or stroke,” he said.
Good said Harvard Medical School studied the benefits of animal companionship, and Harvard graduate Frank Stanton, long-time president of CBS, embraced those results.
Stanton established the Ruth and Frank Stanton Foundation for myriad philanthropic goals, including helping children become more humane.
“He was a big animal lover,” Good said about Stanton, who died in 2006. “He started the Bands of Mercy, which were Be Kind to Animals clubs. There were 600 of the clubs. He set aside money in a grant and told executors to look for a similar project. The money has been out there for 10 to 15 years.”
The money was left on the table when no one else fulfilled the criteria, which Good said he had been observing all along at places like Marietta High School and Powers Ferry Elementary School.
“We have less bullying in those schools,” he said. “They develop a culture of caring. It becomes the most popular club in school.”
Good captured the foundation’s attention in 2010, shortly after he founded the clubs.
“They stumbled across Homeless Pet Clubs,” he said. “They said it was the most revolutionary humane education group in 100 years.”
That same year, he got the first of two grants from the foundation.
“The first year was about starting school clubs. The first grant was $60,000, and I used a third of it,” he said about printing brochures and giving stipends to teachers. “I got a second grant; a little more for the second year, to expand our sphere of influence.”
Good, however, is not worried about whether future grant proposals will be accepted.
“The Stanton Foundation said, ‘As you grow this thing, Dr. Good, you’ll have all the money you’ll ever need,’” he said.
The clubs have an affiliated program called the Underhound Railroad, for transporting death-row dogs to shelters that need adoptable pets, like Bide-A-Wee in New York.
About 1,000 pets have been saved through the clubs since 2010, and 12,000 through its parent organization, Homeless Pets Foundation, which was established in 1998.
Even though each club only concentrates on one dog at a time, Good said the adoptions rack up because of momentum.
“It can take one day or three weeks. Then they get another dog,” he said. “They’re constantly sponsoring animals. Every time they adopt an animal, they have a party.”
The parties are a big part of the business clubs, which began this year
“Employee morale that it builds, you can’t buy,” Jones said. “There’s all this team-building that goes on.” | <urn:uuid:89bb8dbc-f620-4a25-8d99-0c1d8d817d81> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://mdjonline.com/view/full_story/21247334/article-Assisted-living-facility-to-help-animals-find-a-home?instance=home_top_bullets | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00005-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.970194 | 1,074 | 1.640625 | 2 |
Jennie C. Stephens is an Assistant Professor of Environmental Science and Policy at Clark University. Her research focuses on technologies and policies associated with confronting global climate change. She has particular interest in energy technologies that have potential to satisfy increasing energy demand in both developed and developing countries without increasing carbon dioxide emissions and the policies that could promote and support the deployment of these technologies. Technologies associated with capturing and storing carbon dioxide have been one recent focus of her work. Dr. Stephens is also involved in research examining the strategic use of scientific and technical information by industry and government in the development of environmental regulations. She teaches both graduate and undergraduate courses on climate change, biogeochemical cycles, sustainability, and the intersection of environment, society, and technology. She collaborates with the MIT-USGS Science Impact Collaborative as well as the Energy Technology Innovation Project at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard. Dr. Stephens received her B.A. (1997) from Harvard University in Environmental Science and Public Policy and then earned both her M.S. (1998) and Ph.D. (2002) at the California Institute of Technology in Environmental Science and Engineering. Before joining the faculty of Clark University, she did post-doctoral research at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard and she taught at Tufts, Boston University, and MIT.
E-mail: Jennie Stephens | <urn:uuid:607360ba-d8cc-4cd1-97a1-a050c18ce1d1> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.eoearth.org/contributor/Jennie.stephens | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.954759 | 272 | 1.8125 | 2 |
Noble Survivor Ed Johnson of Rye uses life-long persistance battling a 'woman's disease'
RYE — “On a crumby, rainy day, I'm OK,” said Rye man, Ed Johnson, 83, on a dreary autumn day while battling breast cancer.
Eight years ago, after taking his daughter to a Patriot's game, Ed got a phone call and heard the ominous phrase, “Mr. Johnson, you have breast cancer.”
Weeks before, Ed was showering and felt a lump in his chest. It didn't go away for several weeks. So, diligent about keeping physically fit and healthy, Ed took his wife's already lined up breast exam appointment.
“It was a shock, so I got a second opinion. But, it confirmed the original diagnosis,” said Ed who insisted on finding a surgeon who had experience with male breast cancer to perform his mastectomy.
In addition to the mastectomy and drains put into his under-arm glands, Ed underwent 30 radiation treatments and a hormone treatment for the next five to six years.
“The surgeon told me, 'You'll die one day, Ed. But, it won't be of breast cancer,'” Ed joked, “I figure I'll be hit by a Mack truck or something, so that made me feel pretty good (about the treatments).”
But, as a Korean War veteran, Ed can't seem to shake breast cancer.
Monika O’Claire/Democrat file photo
Ed Johnson, a breast cancer patient, models in a breast cancer fashion show for the nonprofit My Breast Cancer Support with founder, Wendy McCoole.
Man in pink
“I have no complaints of anything that has ever happened to me, or what is going on right now. If this is in the cards, so be it,” says Ed Johnson with peace in his voice.
In a family full of women — wife, three daughters and three granddaughters — Ed often worries about their health.
“I encourage them to see their doctors for their own safety and well-being. I worry about it every day. You never know,” he says.
However, the many women he meets in the breast cancer community encourage him day after day.
“I feel so humbled in front of such bravery. I see the women who face breast cancer for their family, they will survive as long as they can,” he says.
Ed participates in Seacoast area events to fundraise for breast cancer organizations often, like being “Mr. November” in a breast cancer calendar, and modeling in a breast cancer fashion show.
The fashion show enlightened Ed, realizing the strength behind women who fight this disease. Though his life-long athletic activities gave him great physical strength, the women's emotional strength was just as impressive, he says.
“When they went on that stage they were in a different world, they left their worries behind. They were so beautiful,” explains Ed noting many women feel they lose themselves during breast cancer battles, “They haven't lost one bit of femininity. If anything they are more appealing because they are brave and courageous.
Breast Cancer Survivor Ed Johnson stands in his three-season porch in his Rye home.
Not a popularity campaign
“My message is, men, take care of yourself. You have obligations to your family, to your community, and to yourself. Don't do things that will damage your health,” says Ed, a personal health advocate.
Proudly, Ed Johnson explains about his desire to be fully competent and honorable in every step on his meandering trail through life, “I was told once, and I'm quite proud of it, 'You're not liked, Ed. But, you're respected.' — Life is not a popularity campaign. Life is building up respect, trust and confidence.”
Early in life, Ed was a Boy and Eagle Scout, and captain of his high school football team – only to begin his mile-long list of community activities.
“I never lifted weights in high school, we didn't have all of that. But, I worked lifting hides in the tannery. I was a tennis court attendant and instructor during the day and spent my nights at the tannery,” explained Ed.
His father was a first-generation American of Polish decent, and his mother, born in Sweden, has no record of breast cancer in her family.
Because of Ed's agility and athleticism in football, and his incredible work ethic, he was the first in his family to go to college and graduate from Tuft's University – where he played football and wrestled in the 192-pound weight class. He later joined the executive board for Tuft's ROTC advocates.
Ed was awarded a silver star from the Marine Corps as a combat Korean War veteran. He says his “men” each signed affidavits attesting to his courageous activity, which went unwitnessed by any officer.
Ed Johnson, a breast cancer survivor and former Marine, is congratulated in the Oval Office by President George W. Bush for founding the Pease Greeters.
In his adult life, Ed continues to chase challenges — taking on such hobbies as pistol shooting, martial arts and becoming a N.H. hunting safety instructor. His town even recruited him to teach gun safety and martial arts to their police department.
“In various ways I try to give back to the community,” says Ed.
Pursuing his personal obligation to lead, Ed founded the renowned Pease Greeters and has been a chairman, secretary and treasurer of the organization. The Greeters show support to troops and their families as they pass through Pease International Tradeport in Portsmouth on their way to and from war.
Having a chance to travel to Washington, D.C., Ed met the president in the oval office, supplied troops with N.H.-based Lindt chocolates, and visited the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center.
While at the medical center, meeting men and women missing arms and legs from combat, Ed says, “They have much more courage than I ever displayed. I was humbled in their presence.”
One troop at the hospital even remembered coming through Pease in the middle of the night and meeting Ed's Pease Greeters.
The troop said, “It was important for me to get the send off we did, but much more important for our men and women to see the support of the community as we left.”
Ed said he and his companions on the D.C. trip couldn't even look at each other during this moment, knowing their organization makes a lasting difference in troops' lives.
“My throat was swollen with emotion, even as I think of it now,” Ed says while overcome by the intense memory.
Ed relates the men at Walter Reed to the women suffering breast cancer. He explains, “The experience never quite leaves you, it affects you physically and mentally and forces you to be brave and use drive to overcome difficulties.”
A former Marine and breast cancer survivor, Ed Johnson tells stories of his service in the military while at his Rye home.
Not so 'macho'
“I've never met another man with breast cancer, I don't know why I got it” says Ed, “But, this is just another event in my life. But, for women … to lose part of their body (after a mastectomy), that can be mind shattering. They may have lost their breasts, but they haven't lost their dynamic personality, charm and vigor that God blessed them with.”
Ed strongly believes in keeping the mind and body healthy, no matter your gender.
When he turned 65 years old, he did 650 push ups — just because he could, he said.
Having spent years of his life exercising, Ed now admits to feeling sick quite often -— every other week to be specific.
In July of 2010, he had severe pain in his right lung. After an x-ray, his doctor determined he had a fractured rib, but also a tumor stemming from breast cancer popping up again. Ed explains the tumor metastasized into his lung and bones. At this point, he continued hormone treatment, which has proved ineffective, he says, and more recent x-rays show a new tumor on his left lung. Now, Ed is undergoing chemotherapy, again.
This time, his chemotherapy treatment is conducted through pills taken at home — every other week, two in the morning and two in the evening.
“It attacks live cells, and it plays havoc with your immune system. It causes aches and pains and nausea and vomiting and fatigue,” explains Ed, noting how lately, it takes longer to recover between the “bad week” and the “good week.”
“I look at it as a speed bump and I will get over it and get past it,” Ed says optimistically.
Through years of physically tasking activities, Ed shares advice with others to keep top-notch health.
He reminds both men and women to pay attention to any lump or bump, or sore that doesn't heal. He urges men to set examples for their families and friends, putting their health first.
“It's not about being macho. Don't be so conceited to think you're tougher than the rest of the world. You're only as tough as your body allows,” Ed says of men who stay away from the doctor's office, “Most of your toughness is in your mind. If you're intelligent, you will seek good, solid medical advice.”
Ed says people should be 100 percent honest with their doctors because that is the only partnership that can keep you alive.
“Up until now, I have operated at my own pace, in my own direction. I didn't let anything impact my normal activities,” says Ed of moving forward, “My spirits remain high and I am quite optimistic this will get behind me — I await my date with a Mack truck.”
Ed Johnson, a breast cancer survivor, looks over his room full of Marine Corps memories. | <urn:uuid:a845d357-d335-46ce-a8d7-165cca93acb5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.fosters.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20121021/GJNEWS_01/121029891/-1/FOSNEWS0314&template=PortsmouthRegion | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.983589 | 2,148 | 1.757813 | 2 |
I have just been looking at the rain fall stats for Darlington from last year and compared them to this year
January 2011 - 32mm
January 2012 - 27mm
So that's only a difference of 5mm
February 2011 - 65mm
February 2012 - 5mm*
Now that is a huge difference of 60mm which tells its own story and why drought warnings are now been issued
We are on a run of 8 successive day's now without rain fall, and 16 day's in total this month so far.
The only other February which saw very low rain fall recently was way back in 2008 when just 12mm fell, but January had brought 106mm so there was no water issues.
*As of 20/2/2012
Edited by user 20 February 2012 16:48:59(UTC)
| Reason: Not specified
That BBC report says we could expect a hosepipe ban! That's fine by me, my lawn can dry out but what concerns me most about this region, is the vegetable farmers! Linking up the resources between water companies will go a long way to solving household shortages but there's nothing anyone can do about filling the boreholes and wells that are used for agriculture. The only way aquifers will replenish is with a rise in ground water levels from rain!
I'm surrounded by fields that grow potatoes, carrots, onions and sugar beet, all crops that need a lot of water and we just haven't got it. We do need rain, not that I really want it!
I'm pretty sure most of Europe will remember this winter as being very cold (even if it was mild at the beginning!)
As for the drought, it usually seems to be the case that as soon as it hits the front page of the papers it rains immediately. I remember the last occasion, sitting on the train hearing people laughing about the drought stories as the rain lashed at the windows. Not that a morning's rain does much to alleviate it, but it does a good job of making the stories look silly!
I have just been looking at the rain fall stats from last year and compared them to this year
No they are what we have received in Darlington, my post has been edited to reflect that now.
Edited by user 20 February 2012 16:49:28(UTC)
| Reason: Not specified
If I consider the past six years, to restore the cumulative rainfall to zero requires more in the way of dry weather
Really, though, nature doesn't remember the past, so any 'balancing out' could be years away for all we know, as much as I for one would be surprised if that turned out to be the case.
I think that the AMO going negative and hence reducing the input from evaporation of the Atlantic Ocean is producing drier conditions from given setups than we'd expect, with less precipable moisture in the atmosphere which means frontal systems tend to fizzle out more easily for example. Getting a decent thunderstorm is also a considerably rarer occurance I think.
...by the way, if my thinking is wrong, don't hesitate to point it out and, if possible, correct any mistakes!
...or Nature could do a 1976 and wait until late in the summer.
If that happens, I'll make the most of it, regardless of the consequences regarding water levels.
In these parts, I think we're going to lose either way. I'm obviously simplifying a lot here, but:
Our farmers are unhappy because last summer was so dry, and desperately want a lot more rain.
Our countryside tourism people are unhappy because last summer was so dull, and desperately want a lot more sun.
We really need a summer full of night-time rain followed by blazing daytime sunshine -- but that could be too much to ask for!
Well I'm kinda hoping that if we have to have a dry hot summer, we will at least get some decent thunderstorms.
Haven't seen one of those in a while.
The problem with summer rain is it tends to come too much at once onto dry ground so it just runs off and into the sea via rivers. What we need is a long period of sustained steady rain to top up the aquifers and raise the water table. Not the kind of weather I relish the thought of really!
This afternoon has been really dark and dull but not a drop of rain has fallen!
Edited by user 20 February 2012 17:45:35(UTC)
| Reason: Not specified
The problem is Caz that the sort of steady rainfall that we need has to fall between October and March, during the period when vegetation is at its minimum and evaporation rates lowest, allowing the rain to percolate down. Steady rain in summer helps to reduce irrigation and helps river levels but does nothing much for the water table.
Of course the real problem is that there are too many demands on the water in the south-east quarter, too many people and too much development as well as agriculture.
I reckon the prolonged period of low solar activity was at least partly responsible for the more amplified patterns that existed from late 2007 through to mid 2011. This brought about more in the way of extreme weather than usual in many parts of the world (including the exceptional April and September/October warm spells in the UK), with the warm records perhaps enhanced by a bit of climate change (last summer, America was breaking seemingly thousands of high temp records but far fewer low temp records).
The more amplified pattern has reduced the Atlantic influence on the UK overall each year from 2009, but this winter it's been more notable again away from the far south. Why we keep seeing high pressure building close to or across the south this winter is something I don't understand much, but I think the distribution of SST anomalies might have had something to do with it.
They've talked about building canals and aquaducts to move water around from one district to another.
Unlikely to happen unless we get serious issues and even then the projects would take years to get underway.
Someone would have to pay for it(guess who)
Apparently they were given money to do that in the 70's but used it for other things. Or so the parents tell me!
They should just store the tears shed from the twists and turns in the model output thread over the past few months.
If needs must they will do anything if they have to, perhaps they will reconquer scotland and pipe it from there | <urn:uuid:ca7a944d-2e4b-4f6c-9083-d81166a3ef86> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.theweatheroutlook.com/twocommunity/yaf_postsm298615_Super-Drought.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.977881 | 1,340 | 1.703125 | 2 |
Malden, Massachusetts (PRWEB) January 09, 2013
The National Cherry Blossom Festival is scheduled for March 20-April 14 this year and now is the time to plan a trip to the capitol. This springtime celebration in Washington D.C. has been held for 85 years, commemorating the gift of 3,000 cherry trees to the American people from the mayor of Tokyo, Japan in 1912.
The first National Cherry Blossom Festival in Washington D.C. was held in 1927 and it has only gotten better. The crowning of the Cherry Blossom Queen and a big parade are two important events of the festival. The parade is scheduled for Saturday, April 13, 2013. The parade route runs along Constitution Avenue from 7th to 17th Streets and it is free. Grandstand seats are $20 per person, but they go fast. Giant helium balloons, elaborate floats and marching bands from all over the nation participate in this springtime celebration, and it is televised live.
The easiest way to schedule a trip for this festival in Washington D.C. is to go through tripedition.com since they have planned trips for this event from March 15-April 15. This tour group handles all the details while you relax and enjoy the trip. Nearly every convenience you could ever want is included in this trip and all you have to do is write the check.
Spring is lovely in Washington, D.C., especially at cherry blossom time, and the festival celebrates the long friendship between the United States and Japan. In 1981, a flood destroyed many cherry trees in Japan, and the U.S. took cuttings from our own trees to send to Japan to replace the lost trees. What a lovely way to reciprocate for such a wonderful gift. Japan sent more cherry trees through the years when a blight wiped out some of the first plantings. The United States sent a gift of flowering dogwood trees to the Japanese people in 1915. First lady, Michelle Obama, Honorary Chairperson of the festival, helped plant a new cherry tree in 2012.
Contact Tripedition now to reserve a trip to the beautiful festival in Washington D.C. and be part of this unique history. | <urn:uuid:05b2aa12-596c-4fc5-b8e9-c5cceb461b8b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.prweb.com/releases/2013/1/prweb10305115.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00005-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.948003 | 448 | 1.796875 | 2 |
SALESIAN YOUTH CENTER; BOYS & GIRLS CLUBS OF TAMPA BAY
A Ray Of Hope From The Sunshine Project
SERVE Volunteers In Education
St. Peter Claver Catholic Scholarship Fund
Tampa Bay SLED Hockey Program
Everyday Blessings For Foster Children
The Spring Of Tampa Bay, Where Family Abuse Ends
A Gift For Teaching
Salesian Youth Center
Connected By 25
On Wednesday, May 31 the Lightning Foundation, charitable arm of the Tampa Bay Lightning and the St. Pete Times Forum, presented nine financial grants to charities in the Tampa Bay community totaling more than $70,000. Marking the first time in its history that the foundation has conducted a grant program, the event signaled the evolution and continued growth of the Lightning Foundation which aims to be a leader in Tampa Bay, helping to make our community a better place to live, work and play.
Below is the eighth of nine features that will run weekdays on tampabaylightning.com, detailing each program that received a grant and why it was selected by the Lightning Foundation's Board of Directors. For more information on each program or to learn how you can help please look for the link at the end of the story.
SALESIAN YOUTH CENTER
BOYS & GIRLS CLUBS OF TAMPA BAY
The Salesian Sisters of St. John Bosco had a problem. Villa Madonna, their successful school located on Columbus Drive since 1936, was being vandalized by local kids.
How would they deal with the problem?
Being more vigilant and turning the perpetrators into police would seem like a logical option for most, but not for the Salesian Sisters. Instead, they decided to build a center where local youths could come after school to focus their energy on more constructive things.
Thus, the Salesian Youth Center, one of Tampa's success stories, was born. In conjunction with Boys & Girls Clubs of Tampa Bay, the Salesian Youth Center has been helping Tampa Children since 1994.
"We try to provide a safe environment for kids to get off the street and participate after school," said Matthew Barsema, Grant Director for the Salesian Youth Center. "It's a place for them to go."
In every community, an increasing number of children are at home with no adult care or supervision. Young people need to know that someone cares about them. Boys & Girls Clubs offer that and more. Club programs and services promote and enhance the development of boys and girls by instilling a sense of competence, usefulness, belonging and influence.
The Salesian Youth Center/Boys and Girls Club is an inclusive youth development organization committed to helping boys and girls develop the character and qualities needed to become responsible citizens and good leaders.
The Center serves more than 800 inner-city children with an after-school and summer camp program. Aside from giving these youngsters a place to call their own, changes have also taken place in their neighborhood. According to school and law enforcement officials, crime has decreased 14% and school retention has increased 12%.
Programs for children include homework tutoring, accelerated reading programs, computer training, sewing classes, landscaping, drug prevention and AIDS awareness. Activities include: team sports, arts and crafts, games, music, field trips, girls scouts, cheerleading, and much much more.
The grant received by the Salesian Youth Center from the Lightning Foundation will provide scholarships for needy children to attend the youth center year-round, including the summer program, and will allow the children to participate in all activities.
"The Tampa Bay Lightning are allowing us to build one step so each child can climb higher toward succeeding in life," Barsema said.
Though affiliated with Boys & Girls Clubs, the Salesian Youth Center receives little national financial support from Boys & Girls Clubs and relies heavily on local support.
To help out or learn more, call 813.226.0836. | <urn:uuid:d9368964-e654-4493-95d8-d7692f48811d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://lightning.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=483841 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953393 | 810 | 1.601563 | 2 |
Music in Russia
I was in Russia two years ago and I was able to translate some English songs in to Russian for the students. They really enjoyed it, and it helped them to get an idea of English structure and some grammar. One of the songs was George Michael's "Careless Whisper", and it was a real treat to help the Russians in their pronunciation of the English language. I plan to go back to Russia long term to teach TESOL and will take with me copies of "West Side Story", "The Sound of Music" and "Fiddler on the Roof" to name a few. Russians really connect heavily with music and the theatre, and this would be an excellent way for them to make connections with the English language, while learning a little bit about other cultures at the same time.
Name: Matthew Baca
Location: Albuqueruqe, NM USA
World's Best Jobs!
Dave's ESL Cafe Copyright © 2008 Dave Sperling. All Rights Reserved. | <urn:uuid:2ccf04ac-3f8a-4c10-a2e9-3979959eb3fd> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.eslcafe.com/idea/index.cgi?display:913574940-19015.txt | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.967967 | 205 | 1.6875 | 2 |
Instead of just telling a story, we decided we would make it up. My daughter would make up the story, with a bit of direction from myself, and I would draw them as fast as I could to keep up with her creative drive. You can tell from these three images how I got a bit more comfortable by the end, especially when we would linger on a panel talking about whys and hows of the "story flow".
Basically, a story about a girl named "Alexandra" (my daughter's name is Alejandra, so I can only guess it is her wish to project herself into the story, naturally). This girl walking in the woods, stumbles upon a cave, and goes exploring, finding scary but friendly vampire bats and vampires along the way (her idea obviously inspired by the Halloween goings-on these days). The sparse speech balloons are in Spanish. In the end, the girl is given an amulet (very much like one my daughter was given a few days ago) that will protect her from evil vampires.
This, being my first storyboard experience, was fun for me because I mixed quality daughter time with art time. At the same, it opened my eyes. It was a simulation of the pressure storyboard artists may go through sometimes. Indeed, something very worthwhile to try at a serious level, if I ever want to create a story in any form.
I hope you liked this. Leave a comment if you feel inclined. Don't forget to check out my "lab" at http://jaglab.wordpress.com | <urn:uuid:43e7f552-a54a-4264-ae22-33532b783ff1> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://jagimpulse.blogspot.com/2010_10_01_archive.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.971348 | 319 | 1.78125 | 2 |
In case you missed last night’s address by the President, here it is in full with a quick description below.
President Obama speaks about moving forward to create jobs, out-compete in the global economy by investing in innovation and education, and win the future for our children and our country. This enhanced version features charts, graphs and other visual aids that accompany the President’s speech. January 25, 2010.
“We do big things.” | <urn:uuid:bb783712-1884-4f27-a4b4-2ec5dc7f01d5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://freesworld.com/2011/01/26/watch-president-obamas-state-of-the-union-address/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.945234 | 97 | 1.71875 | 2 |
Still more fashion at Japan Expo Sud!
Fashion is a most important element of Japanese culture and a source of inspiration for the Young Designers who show their creations on stage at Japan Expo Sud!
© All rights reserved
For several years, fashion has been at the heart of Japan Expo festivals and of course of Japan Expo Sud. That’s why Young Designers Fashion Shows now have their own Facebook page!
Exhibiting their creations in the Young Designer Village, they show you exceptional items during the show. Get ready to have your breath taken away by so much talent and originality!!! Cyber Kawaii, Cotton Candies and My Oppa take part in the show on Saturday, February 26 on the main stage!
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Join Japan Expo Sud's community or sign in if you are already a member. | <urn:uuid:0e556711-b3c4-433e-bbcd-9651b93617a6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.japan-expo-sud.com/en/actu/still-more-fashion-at-japan-expo-sud_464.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.947802 | 179 | 1.65625 | 2 |
Louisa Pearson: ‘Was the owner abducted by aliens, the shoe somehow managing to evade the tractor beam?
THERE’S something disconcerting about seeing an abandoned shoe on the road.
If it’s a child’s shoe, you smile indulgently, imagine them kicking it off while being pushed around in a pram, but when it’s an adult’s shoe, more sinister imaginings occur. Was the owner abducted by aliens, the shoe somehow managing to evade the tractor beam? Having spotted several abandoned flipflops in Edinburgh recently, I’m more inclined to think their former owners were probably just drunk.
Flipflops made an appearance on the recent BBC series Indian Ocean. Thanks to ocean currents and the world’s short-term attitude to flipflop ownership, the inhabitants of the Lamu archipelago, off the coast of Kenya, find thousands of flipflops washed up on their beaches every year. Not only is this a litter problem of epic proportions, it makes the nesting grounds of sea turtles horribly inaccessible. So far so miserable, until we were told about UniquEco, a social enterprise that recycles 30,000 flipflops a year and turns them into toys and jewellery. At this point I will pause to say I’m not going back to Edinburgh to collect flipflops for upcycling purposes, but I applaud the people of Lamu for their efforts.
Still, I do actually need a pair of sandals. As I slipped on my summer footwear the other day, Mr Green groaned and said, “Oh no, it’s the RE teacher sandals.” So rude. To be fair, my comfortable, yet distinctly unfashionable, sandals have seen better days, but I really hate shoe-shopping. Flipflops are a no-go because I find the plastic bit between big and second toes excruciatingly painful. But is there an eco-friendly version of a Jesus sandal out there with my name on it? A guilt-free flipflop for the rest of you?
Of course there is. Flipflop flotsam is a worldwide disaster story because so many flipflops are made of polyurethane. People don’t repair them because they’re inexpensive to replace and the plastic won’t even dream of biodegrading. So let us first turn to flipflops made using natural latex. Ethletic does a splendid range (available at www.nigelsecostore.com) that are FSC-certified (the latex comes from responsibly managed plantations in south India and Sri Lanka). At £14.99 a pair, they’re not cheap, as such, but nor will they break the bank.
Recycled materials are an alternative to natural latex in the world of ethical sandals, and Komodo (www.komodo.co.uk) has a good range. For those of us with delicate toes, the canvas flip flop looks a reasonable option, featuring organic cotton canvas straps, woven grass footbed and a sole made from recycled car tyres. Massai Treads (on Amazon and other retailers) are fairly traded and handmade in Kenya, featuring uppers made from natural materials such as hemp and recycled tyres for the soles. Elsewhere, Patagonia (www.patagonia.com) looks ahead to the inevitable day when you tire of your sandals so offers a recycling service via PLUSfoam.com – you send your well-worn footwear back to live another day in another shape or form.
Other interesting facts about flipflops? In the South Pacific they’re called go-aheads, in South Africa they’re slip-slops and in Australia they’re thongs. Which could lead to some seriously embarrassing international miscommunication. Whatever you call them, make sure yours are eco-friendly. I’m trying to think what I could turn my RE teacher sandals into, but I fear they would make the world’s ugliest jewellery. Much to Mr Green’s dismay, I think I’ll just keep wearing them.
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Weather for Edinburgh
Saturday 18 May 2013
Temperature: 9 C to 13 C
Wind Speed: 18 mph
Wind direction: North east
Temperature: 9 C to 18 C
Wind Speed: 8 mph
Wind direction: North east | <urn:uuid:addce28b-37a5-4754-8bcf-82254abc0852> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.scotsman.com/scotland-on-sunday/opinion/comment/louisa-pearson-was-the-owner-abducted-by-aliens-the-shoe-somehow-managing-to-evade-the-tractor-beam-1-2360405 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.931677 | 939 | 1.5625 | 2 |
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Coachella and Global Inheritance implemented some of their best green programs:
- 10-for-1 bottle exchange (bring in 10 empty water bottles and get one full water bottle free). This helped to keep the polo fields clean, recycle and get people some free water!
- Free filtered water bottle filling stations (if you purchased one of the special plastic Coachella water bottles). This really cut down on the amount of bottled water being sold at the event.
- Totally cool art show called TRASHed: the art of recycling. Tons of cool, arty ways to reuse your stuff for the sake of artistic beauty
- Carpoolchella - a ridesharing program done through Pickuppal.com. As of today, the potential emissions savings for Coachella was: 1,625,662 lbs of CO2
- Recycled paper plane competition. The best, most creative, highflying plane (made from recycled paper of course) won some backstage time with M.I.A.
- Concession stand utensils were made of bio-degradable bamboo
We look forward to the festivities of Coachella 2010 next year, and the event organizers up the ante with even more creative ways to go green and increase participation. | <urn:uuid:9c11e90a-66af-42ce-8bac-7a88eae9ac09> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://liveearth.org/zh-hant/comment/reply/3319 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.934963 | 265 | 1.78125 | 2 |
China accelerated the opening of its capital markets by more than doubling the amount foreigners can invest in stocks, bonds and bank deposits as the government shifts its growth model to domestic consumption from exports.
The China Securities Regulatory Commission increased the quotas for qualified foreign institutional investors to $80 billion from $30 billion, according to a statement on its website yesterday. Offshore investors will also be allowed to pump an extra 50 billion yuan ($7.95 billion) of local currency into the country, up from 20 billion yuan.
China, the world’s second-biggest economy, has pledged this year to free up control of the yuan and liberalize interest rates as the government deepens reforms to revive growth and offset slowing exports and a cooling housing market. China needs to rely more on markets and the private sector as its export- oriented model isn’t sustainable, World Bank President Robert Zoellick said in February.
“More action on opening up their markets to outside investment is definitely a positive,” Jeff Papp, a senior analyst in Lisle, Illinois at Oberweis Asset Management Inc., which oversees about $700 million, said in a phone interview. “It’s not a huge amount. They’re taking a small-steps approach to see how markets will react with more participants.”
The regulator had granted a total of $24.6 billion in quotas to 129 overseas companies since the program first started in 2003 through the end of March. About 75 percent of assets were invested in Chinese stocks, with the rest in bonds and deposits, according to the statement.
The CSRC accelerated the program last month, granting a record $2.1 billion of quotas to 15 companies. It was more than the $1.9 billion in 2011 as a whole.
“The QFII program enhances our experience of monitoring and regulating cross-board investment and capital flows,” the CSRC said in the statement. “It is a positive experiment to further open up the market and achieve the yuan convertibility under the capital account.”
Premier Wen Jiabao is seeking to attract international investment as economic growth cools, prompting the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index to slump 24 percent in the past year. The country posted its largest trade deficit since at least 1989 in February as Europe’s sovereign-debt turmoil damped exports.
“Wen is signaling that China can’t afford to let investment slow down too much,” said Shen Jianguang, a Hong Kong-based economist for Mizuho Securities Asia Ltd., who previously worked for the International Monetary Fund and European Central Bank.
Separately, Credit Agricole SA said that a cut in benchmark interest rates or banks’ reserve requirements is likely this month and could come as early as today after Wen said policy may be fine-tuned soon.
China needs to break a banking “monopoly” of a few big lenders that makes easy profits, the premier told private company executives in Fujian province yesterday, as cited by China National Radio.
Foreign investment under the QFII program accounts for 1.1 percent of the total market value of domestic A-shares, according to the statement. The Shanghai Composite Index of domestic stocks has lost 31 percent since the end of 2009, compared with a 26 percent rally in the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index of U.S. stocks as of March 30.
The increase of the QFII quota “certainly helps foreign investors,” said David Semple, director of international equity at the Van Eck Emerging Markets Fund in New York, which oversees $35 billion of assets, including Chinese stocks. “But there are still restrictions in terms of the amount, the transparency and repatriation of money. It’s still a long way from being ideal for a foreign investor.”
The government has lowered the target for the expansion this year to 7.5 percent from the 8 percent goal that had been in place since 2005. Gross domestic product probably grew 8.4 percent in the first quarter from a year earlier, according to the median estimate of analysts surveyed by Bloomberg, down from 8.9 percent in the fourth quarter.
Chinese President Hu Jintao told U.S. President Barack Obama in Seoul on March 27 that China plans to “let the market play a greater role, improve the flexibility of the yuan exchange rate, and maintain a basic stability of the rate at reasonable and balanced levels.” The yuan’s effective exchange rate has gained 30 percent since the link to the dollar ended in 2005, he said.
The Bloomberg China-US Equity Index of the most-traded Chinese shares in the U.S. fell 0.3 percent yesterday, paring its gain this year to 15 percent. Asian stocks fell today, with the MSCI Asia Pacific Index declining 1.2 percent as of 12:45 p.m. in Tokyo after a report signaled that the U.S. Federal Reserve may refrain from more monetary stimulus. Exchanges in mainland China are closed for a holiday.
Twelve-month non-deliverable forwards rose 0.1 percent to 6.323 per dollar in New York, indicating traders are expecting the currency to be little changed over the period, according to data compiled by Bloomberg show.
The increase of the foreign investment quota comes ahead of a once-in-a-decade leadership transition later this year and amid concern that the new government may not continue pursuing the opening-up and reform policies that sustained China’s growth since 1978. Hu and Wen will step down from their roles and let a younger generation of leaders step in that will probably include Vice President Xi Jinping and Vice Premier Li Keqiang.
Bo Xilai, who promoted a larger role for state-run companies to ease the wealth gap between the rich and poor as the head of the Communist Party in southwestern municipality of Chongqing, was ousted in March.
“Maybe one of the last points of emphasis for the outgoing administration is to focus on some sort of reforms that have a lasting impact -- opening up certain industries to foreign participants,” said Papp, whose Oberweis China Opportunities Fund returned 19 percent this year, beating 98 percent of peers, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. “That could be the bigger sign than what it actually means for the markets.” | <urn:uuid:e74e0c6d-5d65-4fc1-894c-4bbf8e0e3f71> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.treasuryandrisk.com/2012/04/04/china-speeds-market-opening | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953365 | 1,320 | 1.507813 | 2 |
German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicholas Sarkozy will hold an emergency meeting ahead of the G20 summit in Cannes in the wake of Greek Premier George Papandreou’s surprise referendum call on a proposed EU rescue package that re-ignited the euro zone debt crisis and triggered new turmoil in the financial markets.
The two leaders hurriedly organised a meeting ahead of the G-20 summit on Wednesday amid concern that the euro zone is heading for a long period of uncertainty and if the Greek voters rejected the rescue package, it will have far-reaching consequences for the stability of the euro and the nations using the single currency.
Merkel and Sarkozy, during a telephone conversation on Tuesday, reaffirmed their determination to ensure with their partners the full implementation of a comprehensive package of measures agreed by the EU leaders at their summit in Brussels last week to contain the debt crisis.
They agreed that a “full and speedy implementation of those decisions are more necessary now than ever,” the German government said in a press statement.
Germany and France are convinced that the EU’s new financial aid package for Greece will help it to return to sustainable growth, Ms. Merkel and Mr. Sarkozy said.
They expressed the hope that a time plan for the implementation of this agreement will be worked out shortly in cooperation with its European partners and the IMF.
They have invited Mr. Papandreou to join them in today’s meeting and hoping that the Greek Prime Minister could be persuaded to give up his referendum plan, which was announced on Monday, media reports said.
Luxembourg’s Prime Minister and chairman of the euro group Jean-Claude Juncker, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, European Council President Herman Van Rompuy, Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund Christine Lagarde and newly-appointed president of the European Central Bank Mario Draghi are also expected to attend.
European governments and politicians reacted with shock and bewilderment to Mr. Papandreou’s announcement to hold a referendum on the second rescue package just five days after the EU leaders reached a deal on a new strategy to prevent the debt crisis spreading to larger economies such as Italy and Spain.
They expressed fears that deal could fall apart if the Greek voters rejected the rescue package.
Greece will have to implement further spending cuts, slashing of pensions and wages and job cuts of several thousand civil servants in return for the assistance from EU.
Greece has been facing a wave of violent anti-government demonstrations in protest against the government’s austerity measures and the Greek public strongly oppose further spending cuts.
More than 60 per cent of the voters are against the new rescue package, according to opinion polls.
Mr. Papandreou gave no date for the proposed referendum, but said it could be held within the next few weeks when details of the new rescue package are available.
The EU leaders had reached a deal with European banks last Thursday to write down 50 per cent of Greece’s debts as part of the second bailout package of 100 billion euros on top of a 110 billion euro rescue package it received from the EU and the IMF in May, last year.
The EU leaders also agreed to leverage the lending capacity of the euro zone bailout fund, the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF) from 440 billion euros to 1 trillion euros and to strengthen the capital structure of European banks by raising over 100 billion euros fresh capital by June, next year.
As long as the uncertainty about the proposed referendum remains, it is very unlikely that Greece will receive the next tranche of 8 billion euros from the first rescue package, which is urgently needed to avert a bankruptcy.
The euro zone Finance Ministers had agreed to release the latest instalment at their meeting in Brussels last week.
But, several leading European politicians demanded the EU to freeze the assistance until it becomes clear that Greece will implement the conditions attached to it.
Mr. Juncker criticised Mr. Papandreou for announcing his decision to hold a referendum without consulting his European partners.
He also warned about the consequences of the proposed referendum.
If the Greek people voted against the second rescue package, a bankruptcy of the country cannot be ruled out, he said in an interview. | <urn:uuid:d6d1d242-327a-4341-8292-0f5c551b65eb> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.thehindu.com/news/international/merkel-sarkozy-call-emergency-meet-after-fresh-euro-turmoil/article2590989.ece | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706890813/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516122130-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.949306 | 870 | 1.53125 | 2 |
Sun March 25, 2012
Some Cuban-Americans Wary As Cuba Welcomes Pope
Originally published on Mon March 26, 2012 2:05 am
In 1998, when Pope John Paul II made his historic visit to Cuba, few Cuban-Americans made the pilgrimage across the Florida straits.
But when Pope Benedict XVI arrives in Cuba on Monday, hundreds of Cuban-Americans will be on hand in Santiago de Cuba when he celebrates Mass.
Carlos Saladrigas is well-known in Miami's Cuban-American community. He's a prominent businessman and co-chairman of the Cuba Study Group, an organization working to make Cuba a free and open society. He'll be in Antonio Maceo Revolution Square for Mass.
Fourteen years ago, it was a different story. Saladrigas helped lead a protest that caused Miami's archdiocese to cancel a pilgrimage planned for John Paul's visit. Like many in the Cuban-American community, Saladrigas felt that the papal visit gave legitimacy to a repressive regime. But watching it on TV in Miami, he says, he had a change of heart.
"It made me realize that I had made a huge mistake in opposing the visit, that the visit was good," he says. "It did a lot of good for Cuba and for Cubans. It rekindled hope, although a lot things haven't materialized, but hope is nevertheless important. And I think this pope is going to do the same thing; he's going to stress the importance of hope."
Pope John Paul II's visit led to improved relations between Cuba's Catholic Church and the Castro regime that allowed the church to grow in Cuba. The improved dialogue between the church and the government also was a factor in winning the release of jailed political dissidents.
All of that helped convince Saladrigas and others in South Florida's Cuban-American community that the Catholic Church may present some of the best hope for change in Cuba.
After all, says Saladrigas, aside from the government, the church is the only institution Cubans can look to.
"The church is an ally of the Cuban people. The more the church strengthens in Cuba, the weaker the government becomes," he says. "And what the church is doing, it is trying very strongly to increase the space and opportunities for other elements of Cuban civil society to fill in."
But in Miami, there are still outspoken Cuban-Americans who oppose the visit.
"I don't think it's the Church's role to organize pilgrimages where the Cuban regime will decide who gets in and who doesn't," says Ninoska Perez, a radio talk show host in Miami and a director of the hard-line Cuban Liberty Council.
She points out that in recent weeks, in advance of the pope's visit, there was a crackdown on dissidents. Cuban authorities arrested more than 50 women, members of the Ladies in White, female relatives of men who are held as political prisoners.
Perez says the pope's visit draws attention away from those government activities.
"When then, all of a sudden, the pope goes and everything is fine, and you're organizing a pilgrimage from Miami, it's like, 'OK, this is fine.' And I think what the Catholic Church should be addressing both inside and outside Cuba is the fact that there is violence and repression," Perez says.
The recent crackdown on dissidents is a concern also to Cuban-Americans who support the pilgrimage — people like Andy Gomez.
Gomez is a senior fellow at the Institute for Cuban and Cuban-American Studies at the University of Miami. He notes that 14 years ago when Pope John Paul II was in Cuba, he raised the issue of human rights. Gomez hopes Benedict will take the cause further.
"I think the pope, given the actions that just took place, needs to reach out to the Ladies in White, invite them to one of the Masses if not both," he says. "He needs to recognize, acknowledge the dissident movement in Cuba."
At the same time, Gomez is critical of some within Cuba's Catholic Church — particularly Havana Archbishop Cardinal Jaime Ortega. Ortega recently asked the government to clear a group of dissidents from a Havana church they occupied in advance of the pope's visit.
Miami Archbishop Thomas Wenski, who organized this week's pilgrimage, concedes that the Catholic Church is trying to walk a very fine and difficult line in Cuba — between an open dialogue with the government and actions that accommodate a repressive regime.
"The church has been an advocate," Wenski says, "but at the same time, it doesn't want to be co-opted into anybody's political agenda. Because if it's co-opted into somebody's political agenda, then it cannot play the role of mediator."
Asked whether a papal visit lends legitimacy to a repressive regime, Archbishop Wenski laughed. Pope Leo the Great met with Attila the Hun in 452, he noted, saying, "Popes meet with people of all types." | <urn:uuid:5b03dceb-0fba-49c1-a07d-dfa823b06258> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://krvs.org/post/some-cuban-americans-wary-cuba-welcomes-pope | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.97497 | 1,030 | 1.703125 | 2 |
View Full Version : help with star trails
24th of December 2008 (Wed), 09:54
First off, I have an olmpus evolte 420.
Ok, I was wondering how you can make those "star trail" photos. How do you choose a 20 minute(or whatever minute) delay?
26th of December 2008 (Fri), 21:35
I'm not familiar with your camera . Do you have a link to details on it ? It would help us better understand your camera . I will say this . If your camera has "Manual" Settings you can set it to manual and choose your settings and shoot from a tripod . Find out what the longest length of time is that your camera can take a single exposer . Most here take a lot of lenghty exposers and stack their images to make a single image . Others should step in later and help with info on how to do this .
27th of December 2008 (Sat), 05:08
The E-420 appears to be like most other DSLRs...put it onto the "M" setting and it ought to let you choose the exposure length, and set it to "BULB". When you press the shutter it'll open, and when you release the shutter it'll close. Ought to be as simple as that really.
What you'll need is a tripod to put the camera on, and also a remote shutter cable.
vBulletin® v3.6.12, Copyright ©2000-2013, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd. | <urn:uuid:a0d74c4e-84aa-4a32-b01b-ec5d06daecc6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://photography-on-the.net/forum/archive/index.php/t-619104.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.94847 | 321 | 1.632813 | 2 |
Year 2000 Computing Crisis:
Federal Reserve Is Acting to Ensure Financial Institutions Are Fixing Systems, But Challenges Remain
AIMD-98-248, Sep 17, 1998
Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO evaluated the Federal Reserve System's (FRS) efforts to oversee that the 1,618 financial institutions it supervises successfully address the year 2000 computer problem.
GAO noted that: (1) FRS has been taking the year 2000 problem very seriously, devoting considerable resources and effort to ensure that the institutions it oversees mitigate year 2000 risks; (2) it also has been emphatic in alerting these institutions to the problem and has recently completed a detailed assessment of the industry's readiness and issued important year 2000 guidance in conjunction with other financial institution regulators; (3) further, FRS is planning to conduct additional readiness examinations between now and March 1999; (4) however, FRS, like the other regulators, still faces significant challenges in providing a high level of assurance that individual institutions will be ready for the year 2000; (5) the primary challenge is time; (6) with less than 16 months remaining until January 1, 2000, FRS, with a small number of examiners, must carefully track remediation efforts being carried out by 1,618 financial institutions, service providers, and vendors; (7) this time pressure is compounded by the fact that FRS was late in initiating its detailed assessments of the industry's year 2000 status and in issuing key guidance documents to banks to assist them in mitigating their year 2000 risks; (8) to alleviate this pressure and to better ensure its readiness to address upcoming challenges, it will be important for FRS to complete the development of its supervision plans to define in detail the tasks it must complete in the 16 months remaining; and (9) it will also be essential for FRS to develop a higher level of assurance that it has enough technically qualified staff, trained in a timely manner, to carry out its supervisory and evaluation responsibilities through the year 2000.
- Review Pending
- Closed - implemented
- Closed - not implemented
Recommendation for Executive Action
Recommendation: The Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System should direct the reserve banks to revise their supervisory review plans by October 1, 1998, to include: (1) a determination of how many technical and other examiners they need to adequately oversee the year 2000 efforts of member banks, data processing servicers, and software vendors; and (2) a strategy for obtaining these resources and maintaining their availability.
Agency Affected: Federal Reserve System
Status: Closed - Implemented
Comments: Each Federal Reserve Bank (FRB) revisited its supervisory review plan to assess the number and adequacy of resources required to monitor testing and contingency planning efforts at supervised institutions and, based on this review, FRBs added staff to their year 2000 teams. In addition, FRS agreed to defer information technology examinations should additional resources be required for the year 2000 effort. Finally, several FRBs implemented specific retention and bonus programs necessary to either hire or retain key staff involved in the year 2000 program. | <urn:uuid:fd651107-c2c9-4ebe-b340-382a5abc8d50> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://gao.gov/products/AIMD-98-248 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.945784 | 643 | 1.789063 | 2 |
Mayor welcomes National Plan for Music Education
Mayor reaffirms commitment to musical learning for all in the capital
The Mayor of London,, has welcomed the publication of the Government's National Plan for Music Education, which he believes will enhance his drive to make London a world leader in music education. Since coming to office, the Mayor has already introduced a range of initiatives aimed at increasing participation and widening access to music tuition for young Londoners across the capital.
Boris Johnson said: 'There is no doubt in my mind that learning music has profound benefits for young people as well as our society. The Government's new national music plan will help us towards our goal of ensuring every young Londoner has the chance to learn a musical instrument in school, regardless of their family's ability to pay. London is already the best city in the world for music but to keep this status we must continue to invest in the talent of the next generation.'
The Mayor published his Music Education Strategy in March 2010 and in a tough economic climate believes there is an even greater need to work together in partnership to identify new sources of funding and philanthropic giving, particularly to reach the most deprived areas. This year saw the launch of the Mayor's Fund for Young Musicians which is successfully attracting philanthropic funding and will shortly announce details of its plans to provide lessons for disadvantaged young musicians all over the capital from January 2012.
The Mayor has been working with music education providers across the capital to help tackle patchiness in provision and is keen to see more cross-borough partnerships develop, a recommendation also made in Darren Henley's review of Music Education in England (2011).
Today's announcement means that from September 2012, borough Music Services, arts organisations and other providers of music education will be required to work together in 'hubs', partnerships responsible for meeting the musical needs of every state school student in their area. Funded through Arts Council England, this should ensure better coordination and cost-savings and provide opportunities to attract funding from new sources including charitable trusts, local businesses and the National Lottery as well as philanthropic giving.
The Mayor hopes the plans announced today will build on the progress he has made through a range of initiatives developed over the last three years, for example, a programme that gives over 5,000 youngsters the chance to work with London's top professional musicians. Talented young musicians have also had the opportunity to play and perform through the Mayor's Rhythm of London scheme – this includes the annual Busking Underground competition which will have a significant role as part of theFestival. | <urn:uuid:78f05cda-a667-4f3a-9aa7-51bfa0771ba6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.musiceducationuk.com/boris-johnson/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.964993 | 515 | 1.820313 | 2 |
updated 04:40 pm EST, Thu February 28, 2008
Gigabyte 3.5G/GPS modem
Umbrella technology company Gigabyte has offered a brief peak at a new cellular modem, the MD800. Buyers will have the option of three different interfaces -- ExpressCard, mini-USB or PCMCIA -- and gain access to 3.5G-level broadband, likely some form of HSPA. The card should also be the first to combine this with both GPS and assisted GPS abilities, expanding the functions of phones and/or computers.
Set to be announced with the MD800 at next week's CeBIT conference is the MS808 (not pictured), a phone which also takes advantage of 3.5G and GPS technology. Its main advantage however will be support for four mobile TV standards, including DVB-T, DVB-H, T-DMB and ISDB-T. This suggests that the phone will never appear in North America in its current configuration. [via The Inquirer] | <urn:uuid:2c180d9d-2313-4462-99a5-a47e7683454c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.electronista.com/articles/08/02/28/gigabyte.35g.gps.modem/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.940893 | 212 | 1.695313 | 2 |
Just stating the question in the manner I did shows my bias; however, the phrasing came from a recent conversation on LM_NET about "Teacher Interference." (Be sure to visit the archives periodically and scan the topics of which we’ve been chatting.)
During the discussion Barbara Braxton, Australia, shared her stand and wrote:
teachers do not have the right to determine what a child chooses to read during non-instructional time. So I would ask how you would respond to a hypothetical situation such as this …
Imagine your child has chosen to read The Bible or the Koran and takes it to school, or borrows it from the library, to continue reading during silent reading opportunities in the class. You support his/her choice. But the TEACHER refuses to let the child read it simply because he/she disagrees with its subject matter because of his/her personal beliefs.
Would you support the teacher’s decision? Would you defend your child’s choice? Is such a situation
not censorship? Does it not conflict with the individual’s right to read which I think is guaranteed in your Constitution somewhere?
I personally have witnessed teachers trying to refuse to allow students to check out the following:
- drawing books
- joke books
- I Spy/Waldo books
- Egyptian mummies
- easy nonfiction
- biographies of people they don’t approve
- shrunken heads
- Guinness World Record books
- Ripley’s Believe It or Not
- Harry Potter
- long books
- short books
- sports record books
- paranormal topics
- not at their "AR level"
I do not allow teachers to override student choice. What I will do is if a teacher insists a child must check out a chapter book (or other qualification), I will allow the student an additional title of his or her choice.
How would you feel if you wandered your public library gathering a pile of books then were forbidden to check out any titles that were not intended to make your life more intellectual or wholesome?
One of my jobs as teacher-librarian is to enable students to learn how to make life-long choices. We librarians knew how to recommend books before strict "reading levels" were thrust upon students. I do not have a canned reading program this year and reading is occurring in record numbers. I will continue to teach students "how" to find books that match their interests. What will you do?
Okay, with all of that said, I do have a relatively safe library collection. I’ll be fair and open the conversation up to more gray areas in considering the issue of whether you believe you have the right or obligation to "interfere" or intercede.
What exactly is non-instructional time?
Do you consider any time that a student is at school to be instructional time?
If that’s the case, then do you control what students read during SSR or DEAR times?
Do you dig through a student’s backpack to make sure they don’t bring anything controversial to school?
What if a child brings in a bodice-ripper novel? Do you take offense and rip it from their hands? Do you tell them it’s trash and demeaning to women?
Does your opinion change if the child simply reads it on their own or if the child causes a near-riot from sharing it with everyone?
What if a child brings in a catalog of AK-47′s and armour-piercing bullets?
What if the child is reading something that is illegal for minors to possess such as pornography?
While you think about these issues, I hope you received notice of this event to occur during the ALA Annual Conference in Chicago this summer. | <urn:uuid:a1d77000-d8f1-449a-9f7b-a668d3ce6a85> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blogs.slj.com/practicallyparadise/2008/12/07/do-you-interfere-with-student-choices/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.95754 | 792 | 1.828125 | 2 |
Obama energy watch - Jan 28
Click on the headline (link) for the full text.
Many more articles are available through the Energy Bulletinhomepage
Nate Hagens on BBC Regarding Obama Energy Policy
The Oil Drum
TOD editor Gail Tverberg writes:
Nate Hagens was on BBC-UK regarding Obama's energy policy yesterday. You can listen at this link. Nate is on, immediately after a recording of President Obama. He starts at about 2:25 into the show, and ends at about 5:53.
In the interview, Nate says what President Obama said was good, but it didn't go far enough. He eventually needs to get across the idea that we cannot continue to grow facing multiple resource constraints, and that that our current conspicuous consumption paradigm needs to be changed.
Nate suggests we need people to demonstrate by example what changes are needed. The interviewer asks if that means celebrities should buy electric cars. Nate says they should go even further.
This is my recollection. Listen and find out what Nate really said!
(27 January 2009)
Geography Is Dividing Democrats Over Energy
John M. Broder, New York Times
President Obama is moving quickly to act on the environmental promises that were a centerpiece of his campaign. But tackling global warming will be far more difficult — and more costly — than the new emissions standards for automobiles he ordered with the stroke of a pen on Monday.
Already, the Congressional Democrats Mr. Obama will need to carry out his mandate are feuding with one another.
By coincidence or design, most of the policy makers on Capitol Hill and in the administration charged with shaping legislation to address global warming come from California or the East Coast, regions that lead the country in environmental regulation and the push for renewable energy sources.
That is a problem, says a group of Democratic lawmakers from the Midwest and Plains States, which are heavily dependent on coal and manufacturing. The lawmakers have banded together to fight legislation they think might further damage their economies.
“There’s a bias in our Congress and government against manufacturing, or at least indifference to us, especially on the coasts,” said Senator Sherrod Brown, Democrat of Ohio. “It’s up to those of us in the Midwest to show how important manufacturing is. If we pass a climate bill the wrong way, it will hurt American jobs and the American economy, as more and more production jobs go to places like China, where it’s cheaper.”
This brown state-green state clash is likely to encumber any effort to set a mandatory ceiling on the carbon dioxide emissions blamed as the biggest contributor to global warming, something Mr. Obama has declared to be one of his highest priorities.
(26 January 2009)
Obama: U.S. done 'dragging heels' on climate
Zachary Coile, San Francisco Chronicle
President Obama began the step-by-step dismantling of President Bush's climate change policies Monday by endorsing California's aggressive vehicle emissions standards and by naming a high-profile envoy to lead U.S. efforts to re-engage in international climate talks.
... On Monday, he signaled he will use his executive powers to force automakers to raise fuel efficiency and abide by California's landmark law limiting greenhouse gases from cars and trucks.
"The days of Washington dragging its heels are over," he said in a speech in the East Room in which he took repeated shots at Bush's response to global warming. "My administration will not deny facts, we will be guided by them. We cannot afford to pass the buck or push the burden onto the states."
(27 January 2009)
Obama's Energy Policy Announcement
Gail Tverberg, The Oil Drum
Yesterday, President Obama delivered remarks on his plan to "reverse our dependence on foreign oil while building a new energy economy that will create millions of jobs". In this post, I provide Obama's remarks on his plans to reduce our dependence on foreign oil (not really "energy independence", as some have called it), plus some graphs of current imports to put these remarks in context.
Our big problem now is that imports from non-OPEC countries are dropping, putting us more and more in need of imports from OPEC countries. The EIA shows this graph of non-OPEC petroleum imports:
Our imports from non-OPEC countries have dropped from over 8 million barrels a day to less than 7 million barrels a day. Given what we know about decline rates, this situation is likely to get worse.
.... Solving our Persian Gulf imports is a relatively small part of our total problem, but it is a part. As non-OPEC imports decline further, we will be more and more dependent on OPEC imports from around the world.
President Obama's Speech
This is a transcript of Obama's speech...
(27 January 2009)
Directive from the Obama Administration on fuel efficiency is creating alarm among automakers
David Kiley and David Welch, Business Week
How California Could Affect Car Choices
President Obama's order to the Environmental Protection Agency to review whether to grant a government waiver that could allow California to pass tougher fuel economy and emission standards for automakers than the federal government could significantly change the vehicle choices consumers have in the next decade.
If the EPA grants California a waiver, the move would allow the state to require that vehicles achieve fuel economy equivalent to 35 miles per gallon by 2017, three years earlier than mandated by a federal regulation passed in 2007. The new fleet average would be 42.5 mpg by 2020.
California also would make it tougher in some ways for the auto companies to meet the state regulation than the federal one. That's because carmakers have been preparing to meet the new federal standard with future vehicle plans that include smaller engines, electric vehicles, and hybrids. But the phase-in of the California plan starting in 2011 and accelerating to 2017, they say, could force rapid price hikes on vehicles and slam automakers already hurting from the global recession. Under the rules, the auto companies would have to invest far more in new technology.
(27 January 2009)
Related: The view from the auto mall darkens (MSNBC)
Obama Orders Fuel Efficiency
Kevin Bullis, Technology Review (MIT)
The president clears away obstacles to reducing U.S. gasoline consumption.
On Monday morning, President Barack Obama signed executive orders that could speed the reduction of greenhouse-gas emissions from automobiles by improving fuel economy and setting stricter emissions standards. While the technology exists to reach the stricter standards, it's not clear that automakers can implement them fast enough. What's more, additional policy measures may be needed to reduce overall fuel consumption.
Obama signed two orders on Monday. One required the Department of Transportation (DOT) to enforce a law that will increase fuel-economy standards to a minimum of 35 miles per gallon by 2020. The law was passed in 2007, but detailed rules telling automakers how to comply were never implemented by the Bush administration. The second order signed by the president calls for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to revisit a request from the state government of California asking for permission to implement emissions standards that are more strict than federal rules. Those standards call for decreasing carbon-dioxide emissions from new vehicles by 30 percent by 2016; more than a dozen other states have since followed California's example. Under President Bush, that request was denied, but experts say it's likely that the EPA will now approve it.
The orders are meant to reduce both carbon emissions and gasoline consumption, Obama said on Monday. They will help on the country's "journey toward energy independence" and will "spark the innovation needed to ensure that our auto industry keeps pace with competitors around the world," he added.
The technology does exist to make it possible, and much of it is simple.
(26 January 2009) | <urn:uuid:538137e8-7589-4bc2-9d06-cb168b761e88> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.resilience.org/stories/2009-01-28/obama-energy-watch-jan-28 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.956121 | 1,612 | 1.5625 | 2 |
Originally posted by empowerd
I understand your confusion. Here in Canada... Toronto for that matter, everyone considers themselves whatever their ancestors are, unless they're 3rd generation born here (caker). Canada is a relatively young country inhabited by A LOT of immigrants. Actually, Toronto is considered the most ethnic city in the world. I know it's not right, but we just do it and we're used to it. It's hard to find someone over the age of 60 without some sort of foreign accent. The funny thing about Americans though... no matter where they're ancestors originated from, they always consider themselves AMERICANS. Kinda like what you're reffering to. I guess they're just really proud?
Wait, I'm 4th Gen, so what does that make me? | <urn:uuid:fb667b27-2fbb-40ee-b8ad-af7404ea8d75> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.maxbimmer.com/forums/showthread.php?p=1628&mode=threaded | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.973431 | 162 | 1.632813 | 2 |
June 17, 2011 (LifeSiteNews.com) - On June 13, 2011 the New York City Department of Health revealed that over half of the city’s abortions are repeat procedures. Nationwide the Alan Guttmacher Institute tells us the rate is 47%. Sadly, it is not uncommon for women to have 3, 4, 10 and, as we learned from Irene Vilar, as many as 15 abortions.
Former New York City Resident Irene Vilar might be considered an authority on this phenomenon. In her book “Impossible Motherhood” Irene refers to her personal experience of abortion repetition as a type of addiction.
At this point you are fairly asking yourself, “what is the matter with these women? Why would someone continue to engage in the same behavior, with the same predictable outcome?” No one would claim that abortion is a pleasant experience … we know that for many women it is an emotionally and physically traumatic experience. What is going on? We need a solution.
More of the Same
What is the solution offered by the New York Health Department? These women need more effective birth control counseling.
But in a June 15 article in the New York Metro Irene Vilar considers this question after her 15 abortions: “Would (birth control counseling) help or be something that breaks through the cycle of repeated abortion?”
She flatly states: “My take is no.”
Irene, as you will learn, has it exactly right.
The Right Medicine
It is essential when treating a sick person that the health care professional be trained to identify when a collection of symptoms points to a particular disease process or condition … cancer, diabetes, depression, heart disease, etc. Without a proper diagnosis a patient will likely experience increased symptoms and dysfunction. In fact, the wrong treatment can kill the patient.
Increasing birth control for women experiencing repeat abortions is like prescribing cancer treatment to a diabetic. It is the wrong cure because the NY City Department of Health is clueless about a major contributing factor to the problem of repeat abortions: traumatic repetition.
It’s About Healing
If we understand the root cause of this problem we can help find real solutions. Tragically, the politics and ideology of abortion rights likely shared by the members of the NY City Department of Health create an impenetrable obstacle to understanding and treating this epidemic.
Pro-abortion bureaucrats, researchers, and activists must maintain a strict orthodoxy, and the religion of “choice” has a pretty simple creed: abortion is good. Anything that challenges that assumption, even if it may lower abortion rates and reduce the physical and emotional impact of repeat abortions, is heretical.
Here is the truth that the abortion fundamentalists can never accept: When a woman has her first abortion, and is unable to find emotional and spiritual healing after that loss, she is more likely to find herself on the abortionist table again.
Dr. Theresa Burke explored the dynamics of repeat abortions in her international clinical experience with thousands of post-abortive women. She is the co-founder of Rachel's Vineyard and has published a groundbreaking study of abortion trauma entitled "Forbidden Grief."
Dr. Burke discovered that multiple abortions are a symptom of trauma. Repetition is a reliable indication of trauma. It becomes part of an unconscious process to gain mastery over the painful feelings associated with the initial abortion experience, to feel a sense of control, and over time, detached indifference. This phenomenon, common among victims of trauma is called Traumatic Re-enactment.
But this traumatic mastery comes at a high price, as emotional and relational dysfunction flourish in these women’s lives. The trauma actually dictates future choices. This reveals the importance of emotional and spiritual healing from the pain of abortion. It is essential to prevent multiple abortions and deepening despair and treatable dysfunction.
The real “choice” is clear. Want to lower the repeat abortion rate in NYC? Then let’s start educating the women of New York City about post-abortion trauma and traumatic repetition, and, most importantly, the good news that effective treatment is available.
Kevin Burke, LSW, and Theresa Burke, Ph.D., are Co Founders of Rachel’s Vineyard Ministries and Pastoral Associates of Priests for Life. You can contact them at firstname.lastname@example.org | <urn:uuid:1d1101cd-8801-4fbd-9dc6-a28bcf2ee05b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.priestsforlife.org/columns/3693-new-york-repeat-abortion-birth-control | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.93277 | 902 | 1.617188 | 2 |
The current wave of protests in Brazil against the rise in bus fares caught me by surprise. Though of course, as we all know now, that is not the only reason the protests are happening.
Large chunks of the population feel disenfranchised from the economic boom that Brazil has experienced in the past decade. Now they are asking for better public transport, a better health system and less corruption. They want to see more being done, which is a sign of a population doing something to improve its country and take it to the next level.
Let’s not forget that the past 10 years were very good for Brazilians in general. Sometimes we have to sit down and think about the fact that 30 million people were lifted out of poverty in a very short time – that’s one of the most impressive feats Brazil has ever achieved. It has been a product of the same level of growth and advancement that Europe enjoyed during its post-war period.
To a certain extent the protests are a means of maintaining progress, to fight for improvement and not conformity. It might come to not much in the end but then neither did the iconic protests in Paris in 1968. However, the legend of those protests still remains, and with it the idea of a perhaps fanciful utopia that can sometimes be healthy for society.
From what I can see, many of my fellow friends are joining in the protest movement for the first time, not only via social media but also on the streets. That makes me content, especially when I have heard that Brazil is not a country of protesters, that nobody does anything, that we are very accommodating. There are even protests scheduled in other major cities with Brazilian communities, from New York to Dublin.
Of course, I don’t agree with some of my friends who have the incredibly pessimistic view that Brazil should not host the World Cup and the Olympics, arguing that there are so many more important things to invest money in, such as health and education. I think it is OK to host huge events that need public money but here’s the catch: it needs to be correlated with great investments in other areas.
I have had a long and conflicted week, because while I was happy that the protests were happening, I am very much in favour of the World Cup and the Olympics taking place in Brazil.
But now that inner conflict has gone: I’ve decided I can be both. You always need a bit of circus but it needs to be accompanied by some serious governance, too.
Fernando Augusto Pacheco is a researcher for Monocle 24 | <urn:uuid:a203aaf8-fa74-4b0d-9c6a-021e7b88e512> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://monocle.com/monocolumn/2013/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.982968 | 529 | 1.703125 | 2 |
Oxford should be about an hour's drive from London. It’s very popular with tourists and students. And Oxford University is one of the top ten universities in the world.
I’m at the top of the Carfax Tower. It has amazing views over the city and from here you can see that the university really is at the heart of the city.
Oxford University is made up of 38 different colleges. There are 20,000 students studying at Oxford from nearly 150 countries. Studying here can be an amazing experience. Some of these colleges are more than 700 years old.
Many students get involved in activities outside their studies. The Oxford University Fencing Club is over 100 years old. It is still popular today.
Nick: How important are the extracurricular activities like the sporting clubs and societies?
Student: I think it’s really important. I think especially in Oxford where it’s a really strong academic environment it’s really easy for people to just get really caught up and just live in the library. It’s definitely good for people to get out and do something different.
Nick: Is it difficult to get the balance right between your university work and your sport?
Student: Well, I tend to be busy all of the time. So I’m studying during the daytime and then in the evenings I come down here and train. You have to work really hard but at the same sense you can also, kind of, play really hard. You can train hard and do really well at sports and other activities.
There are universities in most big towns and cities in Britain. This is the LSE, the London School of Economics, part of the University of London.
Many students come from abroad to study in the UK. They have to find tuition fees, food and somewhere to live. It can be expensive.
Waqas Adenwala is from Pakistan and lives in Rosebery Hall, the university halls of residence about two kilometres from the main campus.
Nick: Hi, Waqas.
Waqas: Hi Nick.
Nick: Nice room.
Waqas: Thank you.
Nick: So why do you live in a halls of residence?
Waqas: It’s really nice. It’s a short walk to the campus, it’s cheap and I get to meet a lot more people.
Nick: What’s it like to live here?
Waqas: It’s great. There’s so many things I can do over here. There’s a canteen, a bar, a TV room and then there’s even a laundry.
Nick: Will you live here next year?
Waqas: I will. In the first year everyone gets the accommodation, but they move out to share a flat next year, but I’m definitely staying here.
Back on campus, students have social areas where they can relax. The Students’ Union building is the place where they can meet friends after a busy day.
Michael Lok is from Hong Kong and is studying law at the London School of Economics. He’s also International Students’ Officer.
Nick: So what goes on here at the LSE Students’ Union?
Michael: Well, Nick, as you can see, students will come here between their classes and lectures and will meet up with their friends before going home or going to another class.
Nick: And you’re an International Students’ Officer. What does that mean?
Michael: About 70% of our students come from overseas, so I work with some of them in helping them in visa issues and generally settling down in a new home in London.
Nick: And what tips would you give to any students thinking of coming to study in the UK?
Michael: I think my number one tip is get a nice jacket because it can get pretty cold, and secondly know what you are looking for because different universities are very different. And finally, keep an open mind. Do not be afraid to meet new people and have fun!
Nick: Good advice. Your shot.
Studying in Britain can cost a lot of money and students need to work hard but the main thing to remember about being a student is that it’s also a lot of fun. | <urn:uuid:4f6c44aa-ecc3-4990-89b8-468aa1f8c233> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://learnenglishteens.britishcouncil.org/english-skills-practice/video-uk/oxford-university | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.956329 | 906 | 1.585938 | 2 |
GENUINE vaudeville in Baltimore has been dead since the early 1950s. (We're not talking here about burlesque, an offshoot of vaudeville, or the strip show, an offshoot of burlesque you can see tonight on The Block.)
But now comes the National Museum of Live Entertainment Inc., a nonprofit group headed by Donald Hicken. He is talking about reopening the Hippodrome Theater, 12 N. Eutaw St., as a sort of "Smithsonian of live entertainment.
"There's still something magic that happens in live entertainment," he says, "and it's even more magic as we move away from it. We're going to keep the lamp lit."
Vaudeville once flourished in that lamp glow in Baltimore . . .
In 1904, at Pearce and Scheck's Amusa Theater, 414 E. Baltimore St., the top act was "Johnny Jones and His Trained Dogs." Critics called it "polite vaudeville," but the Jones routine ushered in the golden age of vaudeville in Baltimore.
Theaters sprang up all over town. In the World War I years, there were performances at the Academy of Music, 516 N. Howard St.; the Bijou, 1100 E. Baltimore St., and Blaney's, 315 N. Eutaw St., where the great George M. ("I'm a Yankee Doodle Dandy") Cohan held forth.
By 1920, there were magicians, soft-shoe dancers, dog trainers, ventriloquists and stand-up comic acts all over town. At Keith's, on West Lexington Street, an act had them rolling in the aisles: "Onaip," or "piano" spelled backwards, in company with Rajah, a clairvoyant and a young tenor named Morton Downey.
The Maryland, 615 W. Franklin St., offered the best of the circuit, while the Victoria, 415 E. Baltimore St., featured Yiddish vaudeville. (The word comes from the French Vau-de-Vire, the valley of the Vire in Normandy, famous for light convivial songs.)
By the mid-1930s, vaudeville was packing them in at the Hippodrome. One show, in 1939, featured Ronald Reagan and Jane Wyman, "a comedy team," in "Louella Parsons' All-Star Hollywood Review." It played to ho-hum reviews.
Felice Iula was running a three-a-day vaudeville show at the Stanley, Howard and Centre streets. The State, on East Monument Street, was raffling off sets of dishes between acts.
But radio and movies did vaudeville in. Gone from Baltimore theaters were the likes of:
"Hey, Moe, run up the curtain."
"Whaddaya think I am, a squirrel?"
You would think that we would not miss that, but we did, and in 1950 there was a brief revival of vaudeville. But on the night of May 31, 1951, the curtain came down on Pee Wee King and the Cowboys at the Hippodrome. As they twanged through the last notes of "Tennessee Waltz," the applause rose and fell, the house lights went up, the audience filed out, and vaudeville -- at least as we'd known it for much of the century -- was dead in Baltimore.
Can Hicken and company bring back the magicians, soft-shoe dancers, trained dogs and ventriloquists? Probably not, but there must be a place for a new kind of vaudeville, a vaudeville for the 21st century, if you will, that will turn the lights back on and bring the crowds back to the magnificent Hipp. | <urn:uuid:9b5ee3c6-d21c-4bb1-a127-0d033f7f2cb4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://articles.baltimoresun.com/1993-11-30/news/1993334183_1_vaudeville-baltimore-st-eutaw-st | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958506 | 802 | 1.585938 | 2 |
Doctor Who expert seeks film locations in Mole Valley
Even the most fanciful explorer might find it too big a leap of the imagination to find Antarctica or the site of an alien invasion in the Mole Valley countryside.
But that is just what Doctor Who expert Nick Griffiths hoped to do when he visited some of the sci-fi show's filming locations.
Nick, 43, of north London, travelled to Buckland and Betchworth in the hope of finding settings to the cult BBC TV show he has known and loved since the 1970s.
His trip to former quarries in both villages were among 22 locations he visited around England and Wales for a travel book called Who Goes There.
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Nick said: "A couple of years ago I wrote a book called Dalek I Loved You and that got me watching a lot of the old 70s and 80s Doctor Who serials that I loved as a kid.
"There were two or three locations in there that I thought I wouldn't mind going to find. That started me up on a road trip around parts of the country this summer."
As part of the trip, Nick travelled to Buckland Sand and Silica quarry, better known to Doctor Who fans as where the classic episode the Seeds of Doom was filmed in 1976.
The site was transformed to resemble Antarctica and featured Tom Baker and a nasty Krynoid monster.
But when Nick accessed the site all he found was a man playing golf.
Nick said: "It was a disappointment because in the show it looked like a huge mound of sand and industrial machinery but [when I got there] it bore no resemblance at all to the Doctor Who site," he said.
His next visit was to the former Betchworth quarry to seek out the scene from Genesis of the Daleks which was filmed in 1975 and featured Tom Baker and an army of daleks.
While Nick was aware that Betchworth quarry had since been landfilled and levelled off, he had been hopeful of finding some signs of the former Doctor Who setting.
But he said: "We wandered up and down the North Downs which was really beautiful but we got completely lost and could not find anything that resembled a filled in quarry."
He added: "I would say that our trips to Surrey were probably the most disappointing because we did not find what we were looking for, but seeing the Surrey countryside made it worth the visit."
David Weeks, of Hanson, the company which owned the former Buckland quarry, said the company was pleased to retain its Doctor Who legacy.
He said: "They used several of our quarries for locations for Doctor Who because they were looking for that kind of back-drop which could really only be found in quarries because there is no vegetation and no visible sign of humanity.
"At that time it was such a big show, it was really quite exciting to have the production team descending on the company. For people who worked there it was really quite a feather in the cap." | <urn:uuid:2674d1a2-bde7-4a0d-ae1e-55246c844c41> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.thisissurreytoday.co.uk/Doctor-expert-seeks-film-locations-Mole-Valley/story-12668225-detail/story.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.98223 | 746 | 1.523438 | 2 |
I’m going to have to respectfully disagree with Braden Cox’s take on post-sale restrictions of the first sale doctrine. Braden did a good job of explaining why limiting the first sale doctrine would be good for software companies. But he did not, as far as I can see, provide any explanation for how limiting the first sale doctrine would benefit society as a whole, which is what copyright is supposed to accomplish.
I have no doubt, for example, that software companies desire to enforce “legitimate price and market segmentation” schemes. But the fact that software companies would like to enforce such schemes is in no way an argument for interpreting copyright in such a way as to make it easier to do so.
Indeed, it’s important to remember where the First Sale Doctrine came from. The Bobbs-Merril case was about precisely the sort of thing Braden is discussing in his post:a publisher using copyright law as an alternative method of enforcing its pricing policies. The Supreme Court, rightly in my view, held that that’s not what copyright was for. And the next year Congress agreed, codifying the First Sale Doctrine into the 1909 Copyright Act.
One can imagine the an advocate for the publishing industry in 1909 making precisely the same argument Braden makes here: that “If we rely more on contract instead of copyright rules, would there be a contract to sign every time a customer purchased a book?” But that begs the question. Obviously, this would be a big pain in the butt, both for the publishing industry and for consumers. And that is precisely why most publishers don’t require you to sign a contract before you sign a book. It is only when they have the option to use the copyright law as a means of shifting the costs of enforcing their contracts onto other people that publishers are interested in promulgating such contracts. When publishers are required to bear the full costs of enforcing those contracts themselves, as they were in Bobbs-Merrill, they discover that they can get along just fine without post-sale restrictions on the use of their products.
I think the same is true of the software industry. If the courts refused, as I think they should, to characterize retail sales of software as “licenses” based solely on the existence of an EULA inside the box, I do not believe that software firms would respond by making you sign a paper contract before you could leave the store with your Best Buy purchase. Rather, they would simply adjust their business models to accommodate the new legal environment. To be sure, this might have some negative effects—academic discounts might become less frequent, for example—but I think it would have some positive effects as well. Most obviously, fewer legal resources would be wasted in litigation over precisely which terms in a EULA are and aren’t enforceable against whom. It might also end the farcical situation in which we all “agree” to dozens of “license agreements” we never read, and which are almost never enforced in court.
But the fundamental issue here is that the convenience of the software industry is not a sufficient argument for any given change to copyright law. The copyright system is supposed to promote “the progress of science and the useful arts,” not to make Steve Ballmer’s life easier. The two aren’t always in conflict, of course, but they’re also rarely in perfect alignment. | <urn:uuid:6f0fd47e-8052-42ed-9f11-e4a8018bd6d8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://techliberation.com/2007/09/02/first-sale-and-the-software-industry/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706890813/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516122130-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.968263 | 714 | 1.78125 | 2 |
NFL: San Francisco 49ers cornerback Chris Culliver to take sensitivity classes
NEW ORLEANS >> San Francisco 49ers cornerback Chris Culliver will begin sensitivity training and education immediately after the Super Bowl following his anti-gay remarks this week, then likely start volunteer work with at-risk homosexual youth nationwide.
Culliver is scheduled to begin working with “The Trevor Project,” an organization that provides crisis and suicide intervention to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender youth, according to his public relations representative, Theodore Palmer.
“He’s so passionate about youth and people being comfortable with who they are and accepted by all,” Palmer said in a phone interview Saturday. “He’s excited to learn. The plan is with The Trevor Project, and their concerns are that he is genuine about his words.”
Palmer said once the education process is done, Culliver could eventually spend time volunteering at a crisis center and in other formats.
“It’s just an opportunity for him to learn about his comments and educate himself about the LGBT community, and grow,” Palmer said. “It’s the first step in learning about his words.”
During Tuesday’s Super Bowl media day at the Superdome, the second-year defender responded to questions from comedian Artie Lange by saying he wouldn’t welcome a gay player in the locker room. He also said the 49ers didn’t have any homosexual players and, if they did, those players should leave. He later apologized, facing a large group of media members for nearly an hour Thursday.
He realizes some will still question his sincerity.
“I hope people understand because it’s coming directly from me and I’m talking to the whole world,” Culliver said. “It is not (how I feel) in my heart.”
The 49ers — who play the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday — released a statement saying they rejected Culliver’s comments, and CEO Jed York vowed to take a leadership role with the LGBT community and groups back home in the Bay Area — including taking Culliver around himself, he said.
The interview Tuesday began with Lange asking Culliver about his sexual plans with women during Super Bowl week. Lange followed up with a question about whether Culliver would consider pursuing a gay man. Continued...
“I don’t do the gay guys, man. I don’t do that,” Culliver said during the 1-minute taped interview. “Ain’t got no gay people on the team. They gotta get up outta here if they do. Can’t be with that sweet stuff.”
Lange asked Culliver to reiterate his thoughts, to which the player said, “It’s true.” He added he wouldn’t welcome a gay teammate — no matter how talented.
“Nah. Can’t be ... in the locker room, nah,” he said. “You’ve gotta come out 10 years later after that.”
When the interview became big news Wednesday, Culliver said he met for more than an hour with general manager Trent Baalke and coach Jim Harbaugh, and also spoke with teammates like veteran safety Donte Whitner — who has a gay family member and has been outspoken in his support for the community.
“You’ve got to be very careful what you say,” Hall of Fame receiver Jerry Rice said of Super Bowl week. “I’m sure he regrets making those remarks.”
The 24-year-old Culliver, a third-round draft pick in 2011 out of South Carolina, made 47 tackles with two interceptions and a forced fumble this season while starting six games for the NFC champion Niners.
He had his first career postseason interception in San Francisco’s 28-24 win at Atlanta for the NFC title.
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Athletes of the Week
- Girls Athlete of the Week: Olivia Morrison, Varsity Torrington II Basketball (with video)
- Boys Athlete of the Week: Zac Mancini, U-14 Torrington Mix Basketball (with video)
- Girls Athlete of the Week: Julia Ashworth, Northwestern basketball
- Girls Athlete of the Week: Elizabeth Wexler, Winsted U-12 Basketball (Video)
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In his free time Chip Malafronte is considering a statewide petition to proclaim "The Runway" as the universal nickname for Rentschler Field. When he's not doing that he's covering UConn football.
Register beat writer Dave Borges gives you a closer look at the UConn men's team and Coach Calhoun.
Jim Fuller's Elm City to Eagleville provides coverage of Geno's crew from recruiting to pre-season to the quest for another NCAA title.
Guide to Religious Services
Note: All listings are paid advertisements.
Unity in the Foothills
102 Prospect Street, Torrington, Ct 06790
A Course in Miracles Tuesday evenings 7 p.m
Transformational Prayer Group Thursday 1:15 p.m. and Sunday 9 a.m.
Northfield Bible Church
10 Camp Hill Road, Northfield, CT 06778
Bible Doctrines Class: Sunday at 9:00 a.m.
Sunday Service at 10:00 a.m.
Bible Study: Wednesday at 7:00 p.m.
Pot Luck Supper every 4th Friday of the Month at 6:15 p.m.
ASSEMBLIES OF GOD
First Assembly of God
387 New Harwinton Road, Torrington, CT 06790
Sunday School for all ages 9:30 a.m.
Sunday Worship Service at 10:45 a.m.
Family Night Thursday at 7:00 p.m.
Adult Bible Study Prayer Service: Saturday at 9:15 a.m.
Cable 5 Sundays, Wednesdays, and Fridays at 3 p.m.
CONGREGATIONAL CHRISTIAN CHURCHES
Founders Congregational Church
41 Birge Park Road, Harwinton, CT 06791
Sunday School and Services 10:00 a.m.
Bible Study: Tuesday at 7:00 p.m. and Thursday at 10:00 a.m.
Center Congregational Church
155 Main Street, Torrington, CT 06790
Sunday Services and Church School at 10:00 a.m.
Note: All listings are paid advertisements. | <urn:uuid:232c707e-585a-4f9f-b35d-cf38b8156862> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.registercitizen.com/articles/2013/02/02/sports/doc510dcb9b7fb4b521155328.txt?viewmode=default | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.932525 | 1,553 | 1.515625 | 2 |
Guest post in advance of the Gateway Gallery exhibition: A Royal Foundation: 400 Years of King James Library. Colin Bovaird has studied and worked in the Library and here brings some recent memories of the experiences.
Some of the less expected things that go on in the Library
Rather like Dr Jekyll, the King James Library leads something of a double life: quiet place of scholarly endeavour by day, thumping music venue and celebrity hang-out by night.
Or sort of at least.
Being one of the most visually striking locations in the University, the library is much sought after as a venue for cultural events, from the sober – lectures, poetry reading, exhibitions (including the work by Kenneth Dingwall currently on display) – to the decidedly raucous.
Over the last few years the library has played host to a number of music events as part of the student-run “On the Rocks” and “Eye o’ the Dug” festivals. Performers have ranged from established local artists such as King Creosote to the decidedly less conventional Balkan burlesque sounds of The Lost Todorovs.
Musicians are not the only surprising visitors to the library. A number of glamorous Swedish models turned up rather unexpectedly, having been booked to appear in a photo shoot for the Henri Lloyd fashion house. The person taking the booking had n’t thought to check whether the library would be open as normal – it was and the models were obliged to pose by the library’s stately pillars and drape themselves over bookcases while some very bemused students looked on.The room’s very photogenic nature doesn’t just appeal to photographers however. The library is very often the first port of call for film crews visiting St Andrews who are looking for an atmospheric location for a piece to camera or interview.
Well-known names filming in the library in recent years have included Stephen Fry (an interview for a series on manic depression), historian David Starkey (a documentary on royal romances), and First Minister Alex Salmond (a segment for the movie Ever to Excel).
There’ll be more about famous visitors to the library in future posts, but you will have the chance to come along and see the room for yourself on Sunday 2nd September when the Library is open (12:00 to 5:00) along with Parliament Hall and the Senate Room as part of Doors Open Day.
Colin Bovaird, Academic Liaison Officer and King James Library observer | <urn:uuid:078cdf85-c963-420f-b280-282486b73082> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://museumoftheuniversityofstandrews.wordpress.com/2012/08/20/a-split-personality/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.9651 | 517 | 1.578125 | 2 |
As Banned Books Week draws to a close tomorrow, I wanted to throw in three cents, in the hopes of inciting discussion that endures through to Banned Books Week 2012.
1. Controversy can be a valuable marketing tool
Through the ages, many books have gotten more attention—and even sales—because they’ve attracted controversy. Does this mean you should try to attract book burners with your tale? No. But if your story is perceived as controversial, be prepared to defend it.
2. Book advocates are the keepers of our cultural landscape
Without librarians, teachers, booksellers and readers lending their voices to the need to treasure rather than quash voices with which we might not always agree, we would all be worse off.
3. Book Banning is sometimes more complex than it appears
I got into something of an online fray last year when Amazon decided it was a-ok to sell The Pedophile's Guide to Love and Pleasure: A Child-Lover's Code of Conduct. Turned out I was not alone and Amazon pulled the book from its virtual shelves, but not before I was accused of being an advocate for book banning and/or censorship. But here’s the rub: I believe it is Amazon’s right to publish and sell whatever they choose, and it is also my right to choose not to shop there for any reason at all, including their providing a platform for this book.
I don’t think the book should be banned. I just will not shop at any store that sells it. And if Amazon was going to choose to publish and sell it, I was going to shop elsewhere. For the record, in the almost year since this happened, I have adjusted my buying habits, shopping only with Amazon on those rare occasions when I have no other viable option.
“Do you think Lolita should be banned?” I was asked. The answer is no. Why not? Several reasons, really, but the most important is that Lolita is a work of fiction, and does not purport to be anything else. It’s not a guide or a manual. “What about Huckleberry Finn? Are you ok with promoting racism?” Again, no. In my opinion (the one to which, at least as of this writing, I’m still entitled), Huckleberry Finn is a fictional story told in the regional vernacular of the time in which it is set. It is not The Racist’s Guide to Stringing Up Anyone We Dislike.
To me, there is a difference between fiction and nonfiction, between a story and a guide. Between propaganda and information. I’m not saying the author of the Pedophile's Guide should have been legally prevented from publishing his work, but I do wish he had chosen not to. Free will and all that.
“Ok, then,” one person asked, “what about Mein Kampf?” It’s not fiction. It is, by all accounts (I’ve never read it), horribly written. It is used as propaganda by hate- and violence-mongering groups the world over. I understand the argument that it is disrespectful to not ban it. But the fact is that this book’s author had an enormous impact on the world we inhabit. Understanding him gives us a chance to recognize that which is vile within human nature in the hopes that we will choose to turn toward light rather than darkness. So I’m ok with not banning it. I can tell you, though, that the indie bookshops I frequent don’t stock it, and I’m good with that too.
Someone else asked about the Koran. That was easy. The Koran is a holy text, one that is followed by something on the order of one fifth of the planet’s population. It should no more be banned than any other holy text.
Which leads us where, exactly?
When it comes to banning or censoring books, I believe it’s important that we understand why it happens. If we simply put every case of a book being removed from a library down to stupidity, ignorance, or something in the water in a particular locale, this will forever be a part of our society. If instead we can understand the point of view—whether based in fear, unawareness, or a foreign belief structure—that leads to banning, censoring or burning books, we have some hope of one day not having to celebrate Banned Books Week at all. | <urn:uuid:de22c81e-935e-4e9b-8fa7-577156a8b7ee> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://heydeadguy.typepad.com/heydeadguy/2011/09/banned-books-week-three-lessons.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.967129 | 951 | 1.546875 | 2 |
24/7 Listener Line: 1-888-MONEY-PIT
Find out how to tell whether the carpet in your basement should be saved and cleaned or thrown away after a flood. Get tips on how to clean carpet that can be salvaged, and learn about alternatives to wall-to-wall carpet that will make future cleanup easier.
LESLIE: Well, if you’ve ever faced a major flood in your basement or any other area of your home, you’d know what a huge mess that soaking, sopping carpet can easily become.
KEVIN: Ah, great to be here, guys.
TOM: Now, we’ve told our listeners time and time again that carpets are a really bad idea for basements, for a whole host of reasons and this is just one. But if it does happen, what are the options?
KEVIN: Well, the options are, first off, fix the leak.
TOM: Yeah, good advice.
KEVIN: Right? Stop the water from coming in. I mean but we can’t help ourselves, right? Because sometimes, the kids want to play down there, we want to make a living space where you put carpet down.
So, if you’ve got carpet down and it gets wet, you’ve got to figure it out: are you going to throw it away or are you going to clean it? And here’s some things to think about in terms of throwing it away.
If the carpet’s been submerged, you’re probably going to get rid of it. If the carpet has been saturated for, say, more than 24 hours, you probably want to get rid of that one, too. Because that’s the amount of time when mold can start growing. If it’s been saturated or wet for less than that and you can dry it out, you might be able to save your carpet.
And then the last thing you have to think about is what type of water got on the carpet. Now, in a flooding situation, there’s lots of different kinds of water. The first one is black water and that’s sea water or from rivers and streams. And they can contain pathogens, so you want to throw away anything that’s been contaminated by black water.
Then there’s something called “gray water” and this is discharge from your washing machine or your dishwashers. And gray water can be cleaned but it has to be cleaned quickly because after 48 hours, gray water becomes black water and then you’re throwing your carpets away.
And then you have, well, the clean water. So this could be rainwater coming into the basement or a leak through the roof. Those things can be dried out and cleaned and you can then save that carpet.
TOM: And of course, you’ve got sewage water and that is instant removal.
KEVIN: Instant removal. If a pipe bursts, if there’s sewage backup, the carpet’s gone.
LESLIE: And I imagine, regardless of what type of water it is, if that carpet pad has gotten wet or submerged in any way, you’d better just chuck it.
KEVIN: Generally speaking, the carpet pads don’t fare very well, so those are the things that are going to be thrown away.
TOM: So let’s say it does get wet, best tool to use, wet/dry vac?
KEVIN: Best tool to use but actually the best thing you can do is take the carpet outside. So if you’ve got an area rug, that’s a great option. And sometimes, even the wall-to-wall carpets can be pulled up. They’re usually put down with a tack strip around the perimeter; you can peel that back. And if you can get the carpet outside to dry, you’re better off. If not, a wet/dry vac, some fans and some good circulation and a dehumidifier will be your friend.
TOM: Now, despite the fact that we think that wall-to-wall carpet is a bad idea for a basement, there are types of carpets that are good. You mentioned area rugs. What about carpet tile?
KEVIN: I just put carpet tiles down in my basement. It gives you that wall-to-wall look but it allows you to very easily pull up small sections. So I was concerned about leaking in my bulkhead. If I ever do take water in that area, I can pull up a couple of carpet tiles, they can be washed or replaced easily and you’re not talking about redoing the entire basement floor.
TOM: Good advice. Kevin O’Connor, the host of TV’s This Old House, thanks so much for stopping by The Money Pit.
KEVIN: Thanks for having me.
LESLIE: Alright. You can catch the current season of This Old House and Ask This Old House on PBS. For your local listings, step-by-step videos on many projects, you can visit ThisOldHouse.com.
TOM: And This Old House and Ask This Old House are brought to you by The Home Depot. More savings, more doing. That’s the power of The Home Depot. | <urn:uuid:33a6775b-52a4-4942-a1b5-cc89944759bc> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.moneypit.com/comment/reply/12572 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.940624 | 1,142 | 1.609375 | 2 |
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Classic Pedal Cars from a bygone era. It didn’t take long after the rise of the automobile for children to take to the pavements in cars of their own. In the 1890s the first pedal cars were scratch-built from parts found lying around. As the car became a plaything of the rich by the turn of the century, so too the pedal car became an exquisite, commercially-built toy. Sheet steel covered the pedal car’s wood frame, and full-size carriage lights, starting cranks, and licence plates furnished the pedal car's trim. The pedal cars of the 1920s gave way to larger and heavier pedal cars in the 1930s, with chrome hubcaps and prominent ornaments, reflecting the decade’s romance with speed. By the 1970s, a declining birth rate, high inflation, and the increased use of plastic body shells sealed the fate of the metal, old-style pedal car. Here we present range of high-quality metal-bodied pedal cars, each one based on original pedalcar designs, guaranteed to become a lasting fond childhood memory. Each pedal car is built to a very high standard, and certain not to disappoint!. All our pedal cars are CE European quality standard approved. | <urn:uuid:3ab9ab03-0ec4-46fe-85da-30a1d0d57bc8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.robertopiecollection.com/page-GB.asp?id=134 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.940511 | 322 | 1.578125 | 2 |
White smoke rose from the Sistine Chapel and the crowds waited for Argentina’s Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio to walk out on to the balcony. He has taken the name Pope Francis and is the first pope from South America at a time when 40 percent of the world’s Catholics live in Latin America.
KCRW’s Saul Gonzalez was at the Cathedral of the Lady of Our Angels in Los Angeles to find out how Catholic Angelenos were responding to the decision. It is important for “getting us pass the scandals, getting us past the child abuse and being transparent,” said Daniel Gutierrez, who was at the Cathedral with his family and baby daughter. Listen below: | <urn:uuid:7f7f1781-d7da-4926-be3c-ad8423312a7f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blogs.kcrw.com/whichwayla/2013/03/la-catholics-welcome-pope-francis-i | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.967511 | 141 | 1.585938 | 2 |
Over the last two days, dozens of senior solar professionals served as panelists at the GTM Research Solar Market Insight event and offered a snapshot of today's solar industry and some hints of what the solar industry will look like in 2013 and 2014. The panelists weighed in on soft costs, balance-of-system costs, product quality, and a new era in financing solar projects. Here are some viewpoints from the experts on this week's panels.
First Solar, AE, and Belectric on Lowering System Costs
First Solar's Engineering Director John Schroeder said, "Finance cost is more expensive than module cost" outside the U.S.
First Solar (Nasdaq:FSLR) has between two and three gigawatts of utility-scale solar currently in construction and "five gigawatts in the ground." As part of driving energy yield, Schroeder seemed keen on trackers -- noting that tracker technology and cost are "really hitting their sweet spots." He said that trackers were one of the best ways to reduce levelized cost of energy (LCOE), because although they might raise O&M by 10 percent, in Dubai trackers result in "a 25 percent yield increase."
"We need more bankable trackers in the market," said Schroeder. First Solar has its own tracker product from its acquisition of RayTracker in late 2010.
Schroeder is also looking to get the best out of inverters with a wish-list of controls including reactive power capabilities, dynamic voltage regulation, and frequency response features. He'd like to see a system voltage raised to 1,500 volts from its current 600- or 1,000-volt level with inverters that can handle that potential. He said that a higher voltage and fewer inverters could mean solar at $0.08 per kilowatt-hour and that "PV can't get to $.07 without a higher voltage," adding that that figure was without an ITC.
Advanced Energy's Sr. Marketing Manager, Matt Denninger, listed a number of ways that PV costs can be lowered through the inverter:
- Reduce the length of the home run conductor.
- Don't replace the inverter in year ten; instead, work with an extended warranty and annual preventative maintenance.
- Consolidate content; incorporate more into one inverter cabinet.
- Reduce O&M costs by strengthening warranty T&Cs.
- Increase production to improve LCOE, maximize availability and inverter efficiency
Dave Taggart, the CEO of Belectric, an EPC and the first firm to surpass one gigawatt of installed PV, is looking "to break the scale relationship" of solar plants. Can a one-megawatt build have the same cost per watt as a 25-megawatt build?
Utility Impressions of Solar
Emily Felt serves as Renewable Strategy and Policy Director at Duke Energy, a regulated utility and one of the largest power providers in the country. Felt's job "is to put together renewable roadmaps" at a utility which generates fifty gigawatts of power from nuclear power and coal. She's had to explain to her colleagues by saying, "Not all solar is the same; not all solar is bad." She is also seeking to deploy solar that is "not just reliable" but "controllable" as well.
Lowering Soft Costs
Barry Cinnamon, founder of Westinghouse Solar, pointed out the parallel between today's solar industry and yesterday's satellite dish industry. Satellite dishes have become cheap, standardized, and easy to install because of a concerted effort by industry on the hardware and policy fronts. Cinnamon suggests that scenario could be solar's future.
Danny Kennedy, the founder of Sungevity, on solar soft costs: "All of these soft costs can be addressed. The cost of customer acquisition is addressable and will come with scale."
Investing in Solar Power
Raj Agrawal, the head of the North American infrastructure business at private equity investor KKR, said, "We feel that solar provides one of the most attractive risk returns in the infrastructure space," adding, "We're actively looking for more renewable projects." But, Agrawal cautioned, "Anything novel about a panel is a detriment. Novel is not a great thing to have in your project."
Brian Matthay, VP Environmental Finance at Wells Fargo, noted that the bank's investments in solar tax equity have "crossed $1 billion." Of the 250 solar projects that Wells Fargo has invested in, seven are over 10 megawatts in output. Matthay said, "We have a lot of Evergreen and Satcon in our portfolio," adding, "Modules are definitely not a commodity." Amidst recalls and safety concerns, "it's incumbent [on investors] to pay attention and test these modules to negotiate a tough warranty."
Panel Makers Differentiating
"Materials matter," said Conrad Burke, GM of DuPont Innovalight, adding that DuPont's pastes, backsheet films, and encapsulants have logged "over five trillion panel hours." Of the roughly 300 million panels installed globally, 150 million of those panels include DuPont materials, according to Burke.
"If you take silicon out of the equation, DuPont is the largest materials supplier." Burke urged the audience to realize that solar is a $100 billion industry at a very important juncture -- and quality is critical. "We cannot afford any more black eyes in this industry," said Burke.
"In a race for survival amongst falling prices ... commoditization should not be at the expense of quality," said the DuPont GM, adding, "We think the industry can grow 20 percent per year, and that the firm had a unique 'inside perspective.'"
He said that DuPont was "seeing a rise in defect rates" at solar sites with encapsulant discoloration, backsheet failure, glass delamination and backsheet delamination. Burke's data showed IRR dropping sharply with just a small reduction in power produced annually.
Dan Alcombright of Solon, now part of Microsol, has installed 100 megawatts of solar in the U.S. and 310 megawatts worldwide. Solon, as we recently reported, has designed a solar system meant to trim labor, material, and handling. Modules are frameless, easily interconnected, and on a mounting platform made of lightweight composite material manufactured in partnership with Andersen. Alcombright, with a post-ITC world in mind, said, "This makes solar systems work in more states."
Jonathan Pickering, the President of JA Solar Americas said, "We are at a critical stage -- moving out of the technology-driven phase and transitioning from 100 gigawatts to 1000 gigawatts of installed capacity by 2020. Despite purchasing decisions made primarily on price, the solar industry has to "Stop selling vanilla ice cream. You'll want to check the label if you're going to eat the stuff for the next 25 years." | <urn:uuid:b59bb00f-1ded-46c2-a26e-800504833702> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/US-Solar-Market-Insight-Quotes-From-the-Solar-Panels | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.949143 | 1,435 | 1.554688 | 2 |
Beth Stewart, CEO of Trewstar Corporate Services, published this article about the campaign in the Glass Hammer. We think it’s so great that we’ve copied and pasted it for you to read here!
“Why Facebook’s IPO Matters to Women”
February was a tough month for women. At a House committee hearing, a panel of five men expounded on religious liberty—in the context of President Obama’s compromise plan on insurance coverage for contraception. In Oklahoma, protesters rallied against Republican Senator Dan Newberry’s bill that would require a woman to hear the fetus’s heartbeat before a doctor could perform an abortion. Facebook announced a $5 billion IPO without a single woman on its board. But, unlike the House committee hearing, or the Oklahoma personhood bill, the public outcry against Facebook’s board was anemic.
A group of young women—two journalists, one paralegal, and a Rhodes Scholar—decided to do something about it. They wanted to use Facebook, not to topple Arab governments, but to create meaningful change in corporate America—change that has not occurred for years, despite the articles, conferences, and commitments to do better.
They could see no reason for Facebook not to expand its board to include women. Study upon study has shown that when boards include women, attendance at board meetings improves, audits occur more frequently, and equity—the shareholders’ investment in the company—grows.
Further, women on Facebook’s board could generate positive publicity for Facebook as a leader in corporate governance as it has been in so many other areas of our society.
In his Letter to Investors, CEO Mark Zuckerberg referred to Facebook’s role in the Arab Spring, saying that the site should “empower people” to seek an alternative to the “monolithic, top-down structure that has existed to date.” The young women wondered: Shouldn’t Facebook’s top management structure be less monolithic, too?
Finally, it would be good for society. They saw the composition of Facebook’s board as a problem—but also an opportunity. Catalyst, celebrating its 50th year this week, has shown that the percentage of women on corporate boards has remained constant at 15-16 percent over the last six years. But it’s not just senior women in business. Other research shows that the same is true in government, medicine, law, and Hollywood.
“The only argument anyone gave against the campaign was that Facebook should be able to decide its board members for itself,” said Alice Baumgartner, a graduate student in Latin American history at Oxford, and one of the campaign’s founding members. “I thought that wasn’t very convincing, since it was the same argument white businessmen gave during the civil rights era to explain why they didn’t need to hire black employees. Liberty for themselves was more important than the right of all, black and white, men and women, to equal employment.”
Alice and her friends decided to launch a campaign that would start a conversation across the world—not just about Facebook’s board, but about those making decisions across all industries and professions. They decided that using Facebook to out Facebook would be an opportunity to bring positive change to corporate boards and maybe to all senior management practices.
At the beginning of March, Alice—who, in the interest of full disclosure, is a friend of my son’s—approached me about the campaign. She knew that I had just started my own company, Trewstar Corporate Board Services, Inc., whose sole focus is placing qualified women on corporate boards, and that I had written to Sheryl Sandberg, asking her about Facebook’s board. Alice thought that I might be interested in advising the campaign.
Campaigns make women my age nervous. We have families and careers, and can’t risk either, even for causes we believe in. At first, I thought that I could be most helpful by locating qualified women for the board and this would have been easy. But, I realized, there would be no point to this approach if Mark Zuckerberg did not first commit to including women on the board of Facebook.
After listening to their concerns, I did a little more research myself. Facebook is the tip of a deep iceberg: Zynga, Expedia, Hertz, and Duane Reade—among many others—have no women on their boards; Groupon, Apple, and Amazon have only one. Only twenty-four women were added to the boards of Fortune 500 companies last year. At this rate, it would take almost 40 years years to fill 30 percent of Fortune 500 board seats with women. Facebook could lead the way, encouraging the 149 Fortune 500 companies with only one woman and the 56 Fortune 500 companies with no women to each add a woman in 2012. That would be almost ten times the number added in 2011.
Having served on the boards of public companies for almost twenty years, I understood that the usual approach to the issue of women in corporate governance—education, research and networking—is incredibly important. But if we are honest with ourselves, it has not been enough. The question became how to facilitate the success of everyone’s efforts. It seemed that a broad-based coalition was necessary- and something new that was worth trying.
It was in my interest—and in the interest of everyone who cared about women in business—to support this campaign. What is the point of educating people about the issue, if not to give them reasons to do something about it? These young women had a possible solution to our problem: insufficient demand in the face of ample supply of women qualified to serve on corporate boards.
In less than a month, the young women have organized their campaign. Their committee now includes men and women from across the world—from Australia to Europe to the United States to South America. One member, a man, built their website. Another, also a man, put together a YouTube video. They have a blog, a Twitter, a petition, and dozens of graphics to post on Facebook. And a great name: FACE IT.
The campaign launches in the days leading up to April 1. The timing couldn’t be more perfect. One of my favorite posters is an image of Mark Zuckerberg, saying, in reference to the campaign, “Is this a joke?” At the opposite side of the poster is an image of an indignant-looking woman, who says: “Is your board?”
Let’s hope that this campaign will convince Facebook—and other companies like it—that a board without women can’t be taken seriously. Check it out:www.faceitcampaign.com.
Beth A. Stewart is Chief Executive Officer at Trewstar Corporate Board Services, Director of Carmax, Inc. and Former Director of General Growth Properties and AV Homes. Inc. Beth graduated from Wellesley College in 1978 and started her career at Goldman Sachs as one of the first analysts in the investment banking division. After graduating from the Harvard Business School in 1982, she re-joined Goldman Sachs as an associate in the Real Estate Investment Banking division. Since her ‘retirement’ from Goldman Sachs in 1993, Beth has pursued many professional investing and consulting activities in addition to her directorships. She also has been an adjunct professor at the Columbia Graduate School of Business. She has five children (ages 14-23) and one husband. | <urn:uuid:5aa0be40-4948-47e8-818b-ac1f6ff10750> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://faceitfacebook.wordpress.com/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.971053 | 1,559 | 1.53125 | 2 |
We will not be rushed on alpine grazing, say Feds
The Federal Government says it won't be rushed into making a decision on whether to lift its ban on cattle grazing in Victoria's Alpine National Park.
The State Government wanted to allow cattle back in this summer as a trial to see if grazing would reduce bushfire risk.
But the Federal Environment Minister Tony Burke rejected the State's trial application, and re-instated the ban.
The Victorian Government says the delay on a final decision on the application is a "political frolic" and that Tony Burke has "no interest in a plan to reduce fire risk in Victoira's high country." | <urn:uuid:3ee5f334-9036-4fa0-99ab-8d8c16b4e7ac> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.abc.net.au/rural/news/content/201201/s3412286.htm?source=rss | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00005-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.947516 | 135 | 1.757813 | 2 |
Gift fit for a Duchess – a tin of pilchards
The Duchess of Cornwall was given an unusual gift yesterday after viewing an exhibition of Cornish-themed artwork – a tin of pilchards.
Camilla's special present came as she visited the former London home of William Waldorf Astor, now owned by a charitable trust, where the paintings were on display.
Viscount Astor was once America's richest man and his residence – Two Temple Place, a neo-gothic mansion on the Victoria Embankment – was described by the Duchess as "just fantastic".
Camilla toured the Amongst Heroes: The Artist In Working Cornwall exhibition, which depicts Cornish men and women hard at labour.
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Among the paintings were 15 from the Royal Cornwall Museum in Truro, which has the Duchess as its patron.
The display is the most significant grouping of Cornish artwork to be staged outside Cornwall in recent decades.
The exhibition is associated with another of the Duchess's patronages, the Public Catalogue Foundation, as it features a number of paintings from the its Cornish collection.
Guided by the curator Roo Gunzi, Camilla appeared to enjoy the exhibition and also met and thanked volunteers whose efforts allow the house to be open to the public.
The Duchess also saw Two Temple Place's education programme in action, which will welcome around 1,600 primary school children to the gallery during the course of the exhibition. She met pupils from Loughborough Primary School who were taking part in a storytelling session, where the youngsters created a tale around the Stanhope Forbes painting A Fish Sale On A Cornish Beach, painted in 1885. Asked what season the Duchess thought the painting portrays, she suggested it looked like autumn, and that the scene "looks a bit chilly and damp". | <urn:uuid:acfce340-6263-412f-a8eb-e461633adea7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.thisiscornwall.co.uk/Gift-fit-Duchess-ndash-tin-pilchards/story-18088205-detail/story.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.96077 | 485 | 1.523438 | 2 |
Holy schist! That’s a lot of Earth science
Sitting alone, headphones blocking out the world in a booth at my local coffee shop, the above popped into my head. Representing far more than a desire to sneak lightly-masked political incorrectness into my daily affairs, the title of this post is a testament to one unwavering truth–my descent into geophysics dorkitude is reaching critical levels.
In the few months since I last updated this site, through my daily routine of drinking more coffee than can possibly be healthy and reading scientific research off a screen far too small, I have been repeatedly struck by one unassailable conclusion: the world is complicated, my ability to understand it declines daily, and I relish every moment of this descent into uncertainty.
obviously hopefully not the case that I’m actually getting dumber with time (the effects of caffeine on memory are mixed.) Rather, the more I read about the nuances of the physical world, the more I realize my superficial grasp ain’t worth schist.
So what is it that has led me to be so self-degrading? The following stories (along with a video, magazine article, and an interview with a textbook author) represent the most important geophysical science research as selected by the editors of a handful of American Geophysical Union journals (where I am now a staff writer, yay!). The links lead to short journal summaries which, though brief, hopefully give the gist of the research.
Scientific research covered by the popular media usually falls into one of two camps, either: “This might kill you!” or, “This isn’t really that important, but it certainly is cool!” There is plenty of that below, but it’s also sprinkled with a dose of, “This is scientifically important!” You know, if you’re into that sort of thing.
Fires, floods, and other things that might kill you:
The changing Earth–past and future:
Carbon Sequestration and Its Role in the Global Carbon Cycle - An interview with Brian J. McPherson - “…[C]arbon capture and storage is something we can do now. We can tackle individual sources of CO2 emissions in a tangible way. While ocean and land uptake is something that happens naturally and continuously over relatively long time scales, carbon capture and subsurface storage can tackle massive quantities of CO2 quickly. Of course, that can only happen if a way to pay for it is realized. Unfortunately, the only country in the world right now that has an effective commercial carbon capture and storage program is Norway, which is facilitated through a carbon tax. In other countries where cap-and-trade systems are in place, commercial carbon capture and storage is still nonexistent. Nonetheless, the technology exists”
H2Whoa, that’s a lot of hydrology:
Bang. Zoom. Straight to the Moon! (and beyond):
Amino Acids from Interstellar Space
Space Weather Model Moves Into Prime Time - “[T]he model could bring quantitative analysis to a field dominated by history- and experience-based predictions. “Our forecasters would just watch pictures of the Sun,” said Pizzo. If they saw what appeared to be a [coronal mass ejection] heading toward the Earth, they would “make a wild guess, basically, about when it’s going to get here and how bad it’s going to be.”
How science happens. Or, the stuff that doesn’t really fit anywhere else, and no one wants a category with only one thing in it: | <urn:uuid:7e2de26b-8643-4949-a75a-16aa0119b3b1> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://colinschultz.wordpress.com/2011/07/27/holy-schist-thats-a-lot-of-earth-science/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.940689 | 772 | 1.71875 | 2 |
By Emtyaz al-Mograbi
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
NISAA FM has been broadcasting programs of special interest to Palestinian women from Ramallah for about a year. Selling ads to support the station is tough-going, as it can take several hours of persuasion to get male advertisers to buy time.
RAMALLAH, West Bank (WOMENSENEWS)--NISAA FM may be the call letters of the only public radio station dedicated to Palestinian women, but the station's manager is happy to attract male listeners and also employ them.
"Social change does not happen unless women and men work together," said Maysoun Odeh, whose station employs a staff of five women and three men. "We are a mature society. Both men and women deserve a chance to be free of the oppression we are facing today, so that we earn our deserved roles."
Odeh spoke with Women's eNews recently at the station, which began broadcasting in June 2010. She said an estimated 40 percent of the station's listeners are men, but the station's most sizzling broadcasts are focused on women.
Alaa Shatira, who hosts the radio show Women's Break, devotes a section of her program to issues that affect Palestinian women and has invited on-air experts on women's issues to help spread awareness of their rights.
Another popular program, Coffee Mazboot, discusses Palestinian women's formal and informal work in Israeli settlements and across the Green Line, which marks the boundaries between Israel, the West Bank and Gaza.
In an occupied land where men exert overwhelming media control, the station offers a unique forum for such subjects as polygamy, domestic violence, family and work matters, says Palestinian journalist and film producer Saad Aruri.
"Having a women's radio station in Palestine that touches on issues of concern to women across the Middle East is critical and very positive," he said. "So I hope it will continue to develop."
He added that NISAA FM plays an important role by advising women in the Arab world about their rights and providing an example of the Palestinian community that supports gender equality.
By Hajer Naili
By Abigail Klein Leichman
By Hannah Seligson
By Juhie Bhatia | <urn:uuid:c5077eb5-f25f-401a-9b58-7b7051a685bf> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://womensenews.org/story/media-stories/111031/palestinian-womens-radio-crosses-boundaries?page=0,0 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961153 | 471 | 1.59375 | 2 |
Fusion Learning Center’s tutors are qualified, practicing teachers. They have all earned a bachelor’s degree or higher, and tutor only the subjects that they regularly teach and have mastered. In addition, each teacher undergoes in-depth training on helping students cope with emotional stressors and working with those who have learning differences such as ADHD.
More about our teachers »
We don’t sell set tutoring “packages,” we determine the quantity and frequency of tutoring sessions by the student’s mastery of the subject matter. For some students that might mean scheduling additional sessions until they’re comfortable with the material, for others it might mean needing fewer sessions than originally planned. This approach makes our programs the ultimate in both flexibility and personalization.
Tutoring sessions shouldn’t conflict with a student’s other schoolwork and interests. That’s why we don’t require a minimum weekly time commitment and allow students to completely customize their own tutoring schedules. This flexibility allows students who are involved in athletics and other extra-curricular activities to receive the academic support they need without giving up their passions.
All of our tutoring sessions take place in a true one-to-one environment: just one student and one teacher in their own private classroom. There are never any group sessions, and the teacher works with only that one student throughout the entire session. This allows the teacher to completely tailor the teaching methods and pace of instruction to each individual student.
More about our tutoring environment »
For students that require support beyond academics, our teachers are willing and able to act as mentors and all-around family resources that support every stage of the student’s academic and emotional development. We also have an on-site Homework Café® where students can drop in for assistance with their work, eliminating the stress homework can cause families.
Of course we offer tutoring, test prep, and skill building sessions. But did you know that we also have art and music classes? Each campus is even equipped with a state-of-the-art recording studio and mixed-media art studio. You could say we’re a “one-stop shop” for learning solutions and enrichment.
More about our enrichment offerings »
Students can catch up or get ahead on school credits by taking an extra class or two through our Classes for Credit program. We offer classes in everything from chemistry to Japanese!
More about our Classes for Credit program »
Contact us for even more reasons to choose Fusion! | <urn:uuid:aaa4541d-d200-49e5-8d6e-13e4f3ceb38d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.fusionacademy.com/fusion-learning-center/why-choose-flc | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.948329 | 525 | 1.625 | 2 |
Shell Launches Legal Attack on Environmental Groups That Are Protecting the ArcticAll Press Releases…
Oceana Appalled, legal attacks won’t fix nonexistent oil spill response technology
March 2, 2012
Contact: Susan Murray ( email@example.com | 907-586-4050)
Whit Sheard ( firstname.lastname@example.org | 907-586-4050)
Susan Murray, Oceana’s Senior Director, Pacific, issued the following statement in response to Royal Dutch Shell petition for declaratory relief filed Wednesday:
“It has been a little over a week since the government released their review of Shell’s spill response plan. It takes time to thoroughly read through 400+ pages of information. It is highly unusual and odd that Shell would sue based on the idea that someone might challenge their spill response plan, and raises a specter of doubt about their own confidence in their plan.
“Oceana believes in a cautionary science-based approach to development and in this case Shell has ignored USGS identified science gaps and does not have a spill response plan that uses technology that has been proven to work in unforgiving Arctic conditions.
“Neither Shell, the government nor anyone else have ever demonstrated the ability to recover more than a negligible fraction of oil spilled under typical Arctic conditions except within the confines of contrived, small-scale field tests conducted under optimal conditions.
“Americans deserve affordable energy and healthy oceans. It is our job as an ocean conservation group to ensure the health and productivity of our oceans and the communities that depend on them. Unfortunately, Shell’s action is an attempt at stopping us from doing that.
“Instead of wasting time in the court room Shell should be out on the water making sure their spill response plan actually works and proving to America that their coastlines are safe in case of emergency. In the Arctic, responders could face icy conditions, dense fog that lasts weeks and hurricane-force winds in a place nearly 1,000 miles from the nearest Coast Guard facilities. There is no proven method of cleaning up an oil spill in Arctic conditions; and there are not sufficient personnel or equipment in the region capable of carrying out an effective offshore response plan.
“A paper plan is not enough; no public in the water spill response tests have been conducted in the U.S. Arctic Ocean since 2000. That test failed miserably, as shown in this footage: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2dL3RGwpBaI
“As Shell sits poised to reap tremendous profits from offshore drilling in the Arctic, the American people are being forced to assume all the risks. And with this frivolous lawsuit Shell is trying to silence us.” | <urn:uuid:5b4ef0e9-4e02-4fc4-a73d-519e697ae2c0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://oceana.org/en/print/news-media/press-center/press-releases/shell-launches-legal-attack-on-environmental-groups-that-are-protecting-the-arctic | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.936398 | 573 | 1.507813 | 2 |
The cash-strapped York City School District needs all the help it can get.
Facing yet another massive deficit -- $19 million for the 2012-13 school year, after the current year's $25 million deficit -- the district is planning another round of drastic cuts and teacher layoffs.
The state Legislature wants to restore some education funding to Republican Gov. Tom Corbett's proposed 2012-13 budget, which would allow the district to restore kindergarten classes. But the governor has indicated he's skeptical, and there's no guarantee he'll sign off on the plan.
For now, at least, York City schools will have to make do with much less.
In times like these, support from the community is more important than ever.
Several groups already are stepping up to help fill holes in the district's curriculum.
Just Monday, two groups approached the school board with offers to start new programs for students.
One is called, appropriately enough, Bridging the Gap. Funded by the Salvation Army, it would be run at the various elementary schools, with two full-time staff members and about 10 to 20 volunteers mentoring and tutoring fifth-grade students.
District Judge Ronald Haskell, who has been working with a team of community members to find ways to help students succeed, says fifth grade is when students encounter problems that often lead them to drop out later.
The other is a summer tutoring program for select ninth- and 10th-graders through Project Grad, a nonprofit company that helps provide educational opportunities to students. It would be funded through a grant from Crispus Attucks YouthBuild charter school.
York City schools now offer summer courses for seniors, but not for ninth- and 10th-graders, noted John Spidaliere, a consultant with Project Grad.
Complaining about inadequate state funding isn't likely to sway our Republican-controlled Legislature. It's response to warnings about just how dire the situation is in the York City School District wasn't more money, but rather a plan to take control of district.
The Senate Education Committee approved a bill last month that would allow the state to take over York and three other financially distressed school districts, with conservators appointed to oversee their finances and draft a recovery plan.
It might come to that.
But if the community wants to keep the district in local hands, it will need more organizations, groups or even individuals to help lift it up. | <urn:uuid:cebc933c-598a-4260-80e5-c1b3e2309b34> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.yorkdispatch.com/editorials/ci_20847106/editorial-lifting-up-york-city-school-district | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00017-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963363 | 496 | 1.65625 | 2 |
The speed, agility and drive of good hunting dogs inject excitement into what might otherwise be a so-so hunt. The decision to purchase a hunting dog, however, is not to be taken lightly. A dog poses a significant financial investment, say nothing of a serious time commitment. The following considerations will help prospective dog owners make well informed decisions before adding a new four-legged friend to the family.
Hunting Dog Breeds Have Different Purposes
Be true to yourself and your new dog. First consider if you want an upland hunting dog or waterfowl dog. You might love German shorthaired pointers, but if duck hunting is your passion, a big-running, short-haired dog might not be the best choice.
In general, pointing breeds, such as German shorthaired pointers and English setters, are upland hunters that were bred to run hard and work the cover so the hunter doesn’t have to. Pointing breeds are not necessarily natural retrievers. Flushing dogs, such as English springer spaniels, generally work a much closer range and are usually great retrievers. Retrieving breeds, such as some Labrador or Chesapeake Bay retrievers, can more easily endure cold and water and were bred to sit and wait calmly until they are given the cue to retrieve. Be realistic about the type of hunting you most often do. Then look for the breed for the job.
Good Hunting Dogs Will Suit Your Hunting Style
Amongst breeds, and even within breeds, there are a lot of characteristics to consider. Smaller dogs tend to have more endurance and are faster runners and are also physically easier to handle. This can greatly benefit smaller framed dog owners.
Choose a dog that suits your climate. Lighter colored dogs often fare better in hot, sunny climates and may be easier to spot in thick cover.
The single most important characteristic to consider is temperament of the dog, especially if the dog will live in the house with small children. All of these considerations should be written down on paper when selecting a hunting dog.
Even the Best Hunting Dogs Need Training
A common misconception is that hunting dogs are born ready to hunt. Nothing can be farther from the truth. Although they are born with an innate desire to hunt, a hunting dog’s instincts need to be nurtured and cultivated through repetition. Owners should decide whether they have the means to train a young pup by themselves or seek the help of a trainer.
A good hunting dog trainer will expose puppies to live birds as soon as possible. This builds their prey drive and familiarizes them to bird scent. Another option is to buy a started dog that has already received some level of training. The dog will cost more, but it’s often dollars well spent considering the cost and time required to raise and train a puppy from scratch.
Find a Reputable Breeder
Once you have determined the breed and identified the characteristics you want in your dog, then it’s time to look for a reputable breeder. Look for a breeder that has a proven record of turning out dogs that consistently display the characteristics that are important to you. This cannot be over stressed. Are you looking for a calm family dog in the house, but want drive and intensity in the field? Or maybe you are looking for a high endurance pointing dog to cover a lot of ground. A good breeder is one that has worked for years to systematically hone his gene pool to display certain characteristics in his dogs. Ask the breeder a lot of questions so you feel comfortable that his dogs are a good match for your needs.
In most cases, a puppy should stay with its litter until it is at least seven weeks old. Some breeders prefer to wait until the pups are eight to nine weeks old. Regular socialization to people, children and other dogs already should have started. On the final day of sale the breeder should supply the puppy’s certification papers. He should also offer a guarantee of satisfaction that will include health and temperament.
With an optimal lifestyle and preventative wellness care, hunting dogs can easily live to be 15 years old or more. It’s crucial to avoid the all-too-common buyer’s remorse through careful planning. The time commitment in the first three years of a dog’s life is substantial. Dog owners who do their homework and invest in their dog’s training will have a dedicated hunting companion for years to come. | <urn:uuid:7597442f-ec70-4dbe-afe4-110fcc92119c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.outdoorroadmap.com/kentucky/resources/hunting/best-hunting-dogs-come-planning-and-commitment | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961162 | 908 | 1.796875 | 2 |
Field Hockey Umpiring
Welcome to the wonderful world of umpiring. One of FHBC’s goals is to provide opportunities for umpires to become rated, receive coaching, and pursue their umpiring goals. In addition to the information below on how to become an umpire, please refer to the Umpiring Education section and Umpiring Opportunities section of our website for professional development courses and upcoming tournaments and events where umpires are needed.
Becoming an Umpire
There are 4 levels of umpiring certification in BC:
Provincial -previously named Provincial A
Community -previously named Provincial B (Entry level)
There are two steps to becoming a certified umpire:
1. Attend an umpiring course, and pass a written exam
To become a Community level umpire you must attend the Community* Umpiring course, attain at least 75% on your written exam -OR- attend the Provincial Umpiring course, attain at least 60% on your written exam. *Please note that Field Hockey Canada's Community Umpiring course is currently being updated. Candidates should attend the Provincial Course.
To become a Provincial level umpire you must attend the Provincial Umpiring course, attain at least 75% on your written exam.
To become a Regional level umpire you must attend the Regional Umpiring Course, attain at least 85% on your written exam.
To become a Canadian level umpire you must pass oral presentations, and give a presentation at a lower level local umpiring course.
Note: You must have completed and attained the lower umpiring level before taking a higher umpiring level course. (ex: attain provincial umpire level before taking the regional umpiring level).
2. Obtain field rating(s)
For Community you must be coached at 1 game and pass 1 field rating
For Provincial you must pass 2 field ratings (in games the assessor deems “of suitable competition to warrant a Provincial rating”).
For Regional and Canadian you must pass 2 field ratings (in games the assessor deems “of suitable competition to warrant a Regional rating”). Note - you must have a different assessor for each rating.
Expiry/Renewal of Certification
Each certification level you attain will be valid for 4 years (expiring on Dec. 31). Renew the certification level before it has expired by attending the Rules Update Clinic and undergoing 1 or 2 field assessments, depending if actively umpiring. This will renew your certification for another four years. After certification has expired, umpires should restart the process at the beginning.
Maintaining Current Umpiring Level
For Community, it is expected that you will actively umpire a minimum of 8 matches annually. Provincial should umpire 10 matches annually. Regional should umpire 12 games, pass 1 annual match assessment, and pass the beep test (physical fitness test). Canadian should umpire 15 games, pass 2 annual match assessments, and pass the beep test.
For information regarding Umpire Assessors, click here.
Field Hockey BC actively organizes certification opportunities for all levels of umpiring on an annual basis. Please do not hesitate to contact the Association should you have any queries regarding umpiring. | <urn:uuid:47e9dcb5-ac80-4bb3-908a-ec8498ae2198> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.fieldhockeybc.com/Umpires/tabid/63/Default.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.952032 | 680 | 1.757813 | 2 |
Congressman Tim Bishop Visits Bank StreetPosted by Nick Gray on May 2012
On Tuesday, May 15, 2012, Bank Street College received a much anticipated visit from Congressman Tim Bishop, who is the US Representative for New York’s 1st Congressional District (Suffolk County).
Congressman Bishop’s current work as a politician focuses heavily on education as he serves on the House Committee on Education and the Workforce and advocating for continued federal support for student aid. But his life and work prior to his political career are also rooted in education. Before taking office in 2003, the congressman had served as the Provost for Southampton College from 1973 until 2002. And in addition, Congressman Bishop’s wife Kathy Bishop is an educator and the founder of The Children’s School, a nursery school in Southampton.
During his visit, Congressman Bishop toured the School for Children, learned about the impact of the Graduate School’s leadership programs, and took the time to meet and read to the young children in the Family Center.
'See, Feel, and Learn'
In his discussions with college leadership, which included Dean Jon Snyder and President Elizabeth Dickey, Rep. Bishop learned about Bank Street’s breadth and depth of expertise on matters of teaching, learning, and policy. He also took note of the College’s challenges as a provider of higher education in the digital era and in the context of the current economy, particularly regarding the potential for online education and technology in the classrooms.
Balancing privacy with accountability in teacher evaluations was also discussed, as was the issue of cost when it comes to higher education. He noted,
We’ve talked a lot about some of the great challenges that confront higher education. I think the principal challenge being cost, and how to deliver a quality education without it being priced in such a way that it is inaccessible for the vast majority of people who desire a higher education. That’s very important.
But in the congressman’s opinion, the most important reason for policy makers to visit a place like Bank Street is to understand first-hand the concerns and needs of those who are in classrooms every day:
It’s always important for policy makers to have some real world experience. And in my case I spent 29 years on a college campus. But a lot of my colleagues on the education committee have no real experience—either in a K through 12 setting or in a higher ed setting. So I think it’s very valuable to actually see and feel and learn.
After a series of productive meetings and interactions with children, teachers, and administrators, the congressman said of Bank Street,
I am particularly impressed with the dedication of the faculty and staff to the students, whether they be 3 years old or 30 years old. This is a place where obviously the student comes first, so I’m delighted to be here.
The Next Big Step
Congressman Bishop’s visit was the next big step in Bank Street’s government relations efforts—which have included Bank Street College President Elizabeth Dickey’s recent appointment to Governor Andrew Cuomo’s New York Education Reform Commission, and last June’s roundtable discussion on early childhood issues for senior staff members at Senator Kirsten Gillibrand’s New York office.
Increasingly, elected officials such as Congressman Bishop have been looking to this institution to provide that “real world” context to developing education policy. For more information, visit Bank Street’s Government Relations page.
Story by Dana Rossi.tagged elizabeth dickey, jon snyder, legislation, policy, teacher evaluation, | <urn:uuid:614ea24c-0d54-4e65-b3cc-23e3fe45e2b5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.bnkst.edu/campus-beyond/news/2012/05/24/congressman-tim-bishop-visits-bank-street/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.970522 | 752 | 1.710938 | 2 |
Listening to the media heavy breathers—a bipartisan group ranging from Gore Vidal to Glenn Beck—one gets the distinct impression that our democracy has become flabby and distracted, trundling toward a socialist (to be used interchangeably with communist or Tsarist) or fascist (to be used interchangeably with Nazi) future. For every absurdity emanating from the Bush White House, there existed a blogger, pundit, or politician ready to compare it to the "Night of the Long Knives"; every power grab from the Obamaites foreshadows an American Lubyanka.
In the United States, such nonsense could be corrected without the aid of turgid academic books explaining late 19th century revolutionary movements in Imperial Russia or the collapse of Weimar democracy. The comparisons would be embarrassing to anyone who has watched films such as The Lives of Others, Katyn, or The Soviet Story. (Hollywood, incidentally, has yet to produce more than a handful decent anti-communist films; we have ceded this responsibility to those who actually suffered under the Soviet boot heel.)
I often wonder what the Germans think of these media-induced Nazi-Red panics. It is, after all, the country that perfected the most genocidal form of fascism, only to be replaced, in half of the country, with the brutal Moscow-directed (but distinctly indigenous) form of East German communism. In a country that can be accused of periodically backsliding into old ideological habits (specifically, a rose-colored view of its recent communist past), the hyperventilating politician warning of resurgent fascism or communism is rare.
In last week's Bundestag elections, the Left Party, heir to the East German state communist party and still stocked with representatives of the old dictatorship, managed an impressive 12 percent of the vote. Distressing, say pundits inhabiting the sensible enclaves of the German left, but nothing to get too alarmed about. Indeed, despite the current global economic downturn, which countless American pundits suggested would be a boon for European socialist parties, it is now a coalition of Angela Merkel's right-of-center Christian Democrats (CDU) and Guido Westerwelle's libertarian-leaning Free Democrats (FDP) running the show in Berlin. The Social Democrats—utterly bereft of new ideas—suffered their greatest defeat since the Weimar Republic.
Our comrades on the American left, beating the drum for a type of social democracy in retreat across Europe, insist that this is nothing to worry about. At the popular left-wing blog Obsidian Wings, readers are informed that "Merkel's coalition would be considered fairly liberal Democrats on America's political spectrum." Blogger Matt Yglesias declares that his are "right-of-center views relative to German politics," but also writes that by voting for the FDP/CDU coalition, voters in Germany could be diagnosed as suffering from false consciousness by "underestimating the extent of the economic problems it's facing." In The New Yorker, Hendrik Hertzberg explained that German conservatives weren't at all like the troglodyte American variety—German conservatives all support the welfare state and are rather civilized when it comes to social policy.
Well, not exactly. On the continuum of ideology, the German right is surely less conservative than the American right. But the Western European right has successfully chipped away at the welfare state in the last 25 years, with every country lowering tax rates, deregulating labor markets, and forcing the privatization of state companies. The story of the welfare state in the past quarter century is one of contraction, not expansion.
So what to make of Westerwelle, Germany's new foreign minister and influential coalition partner?
The Daily Telegraph called him an "arch-Thatcherite," a politician who recently declared that the deeply entrenched German labor unions are a "plague on our country." The Independent grumbled that he was "a man obsesssed with tax cuts," excoriating the German welfare safety net as "pay for laziness." Westerwelle told supporters that "there is no such thing as democratic socialism; it's like talking about a vegetarian abattoir." Der Spiegel succinctly described the FDP's politics as advocating "open markets, less stringent hiring and firing rules, an effective competition policy, help for small enterprises and, most importantly, lower and simpler taxes."
But American liberals want you to know that, because Westerwelle is openly gay and the CDU (but not its Bavarian partner, the CSU) have gradually toned down the social conservatism, victories for the European right are much the same as victories for mainstream American liberalism.
Yet this is a narrow definition of what it means to be "of the right" in Western Europe. Of course, most of the right-wing parties in Germany accept the existence of the welfare state—it is popular; once people start receiving benefits, like long state-mandated vacations, it is difficult to take them away—though most privately wish for even greater cuts. (There is a reason that one always finds young members of Swedish, English, Norwegian, and German right-wing parties in Washington, DC, attending training seminars put on by conservative groups like the Leadership Institute.) Nor would I expect Yglesias, Hertzberg, and other American liberals to deem Irving Kristol, the godfather of neoconservatism, a fellow traveler for his embrace of the so-called conservative welfare state.
And what about Germany's far right parties? Do American liberals accpet them as fundamentally liberal "in an American context"? Set aside the semi-literate grumblings about the mongrelization of the fatherland; parties of the extreme right in Europe are almost uniformly in love with the welfare state, dubious of free markets, and fanatically opposed to American foreign policy. Indeed, a look through the suggested reading page on the website of Junge Freiheit, a far-right newspaper popular with the NPD crowd, one will find books by Noam Chomsky, Arundhati Roy, and Chalmers Johnson.
But there is much more to Germany's rightward swing than economics. In a paper reprinted in Der Spiegel, American liberal academics Matt Browne, Ruy Teixiera, and John Halpin offered a bland diagnosis of what ails European social democracy and provided this bafflingly vague remedy: "If social democratic parties are to recover, then they must move to a new phase of progressive governance."
Curiously missing from their account of the SPD collapse—and missing from most liberal analyses—is any mention of immigration, a subject constantly raised in private conversation but approached with extreme caution by mainstream parties. (On a trip to Europe last month, I witnessed countless discussions about immigration policy and heard frequent mentions of Christopher Caldwell's controversial new book on Muslim immigration.) Social democratic parties in Western Europe are widely seen as unserious on immigration, offering platitudes about the benefits of multicultural society instead of addressing the growing problems of the urban immigrant underclass. A 2006 poll in Germany found that a staggering 60 percent of respondents thought Islam was "incompatible with Western democracy."
Or consider the case of Wolfgang Clement, a Social Democrat who served as former Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder's economy minister. In an advertisement in the right-leaning tabloid Bild, Clement announced that he was voting for Westerwelle's Free Democrats—a rejection of the economic populism of the German left. It is doubtless a concern of moderate German voters that the SPD will, in the interest of survival, drop their long-standing resistance to working with the extremists in the post-communist Left Party.
Now that she has been liberated from her "grand coalition" with the opposition socialists, Merkel, and her new ally Westerwelle, have a chance to rein in powerful labor unions, slash punitive taxes on both individuals and businesses, and deregulate an overregulated labor market. If American fans of European social democracy believe this is in line with their own agenda, we should welcome them to the libertarian side.
Michael Moynihan is a senior editor at Reason magazine. This column first appeared at Reason.com. | <urn:uuid:07b1a63e-3bef-4b3a-9db3-871a016e7a56> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://reason.org/news/show/the-teutonic-turn | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.947303 | 1,667 | 1.78125 | 2 |
It is, in any event, such realities--the brutalizing and murder by the Baathist regime of tens upon tens of thousands of its own nationals--that the recent war has brought to an end. It should have been supported for this reason, irrespective of the reasons (concerning weapons of mass destruction) that George Bush and Tony Blair put up front themselves; though it is disingenuous of the war's critics to speak now as if the humanitarian case for war formed no part of the public rationale of the Coalition, since it was clearly articulated by both the president and the prime minister more than once.Read the whole thing. It's very well done.
Here is one approximate measure of the barbarities of the Baathist regime I have just referred to. It comes not from the Pentagon, or anyone in the Bush administration, or from Tony Blair or those around him. It comes from Human Rights Watch. According to Human Rights Watch, during 23 years of Saddam's rule some 290,000 Iraqis disappeared into the regime's deadly maw, the majority of these reckoned to be now dead. Rounding this number down by as much as 60,000 to compensate for the "reckoned to be," that is 230,000. It is 10,000 a year. It is 200 people every week. And I'll refrain from embellishing with details, which you should all know, as to exactly how a lot of these people died.
Had the opposition to the war succeeded, this is what it would have postponed--and postponed indefinitely--bringing to an end. This is how almost the whole international left expressed its moral solidarity with the Iraqi people. Worse still, some sections of the left seemed none too bothered about making common cause with, marching alongside, fundamentalist religious bigots and known racists; and there were also those who dismissed Iraqi voices in support of the war as coming from American stooges--a disgraceful lie.
Let's now model this abstractly. You have a course of action with mixed consequences, both good consequences and bad consequences. To decide sensibly you obviously have to weigh the good against the bad. Imagine someone advising, with respect to some decision you have to make, "Let's only think about the good consequences," or, "Let's merely concentrate on the bad consequences." What?! It's a no-brainer, as the expression now is. But from beginning to end something pretty much like this has been the approach of the war's opponents. I offer a few examples.
The crassest are the statements by supposedly mature people--one of these Clare Short, Britain's former international development secretary, another the novelist Julian Barnes--that this war was not worth the loss of a single life. Not one? So much for the victims of the rape rooms and the industrial shredders, for the children tortured and murdered in front of their parents, and for those parents. So much for those Human Rights Watch estimates and for the future flow of the regime's victims had it been left in place.
More generally, since the fall of Baghdad critics of the war have been pointing (many of them with relish) at everything that has gone, or remains, wrong in Iraq: the looting, the lack of civil order, the continuing violence and shootings, the patchy electricity supply, the failure to find weapons of mass destruction. Is this fair enough? Yes and no. Yes, because it has to be part of any balanced assessment. But also no if it isn't set against the fact, the massive fact, of the end of a regime of torture, oppression and murder, of everything that has stopped happening since the regime fell. And typically it isn't set against this massive fact. This fact is passed over or tucked away, because to acknowledge it fully and make a balanced assessment won't come out right for the war's critics. It just won't stack up--this, this and, yes, also this, but against the end of all that--in the way they'd like it to.
Or else your antiwar interlocutor will freely concede that of course we all agree it is a good that that monster and his henchmen no longer govern Iraq; but it is too stupid a point to dwell upon, for it doesn't touch on the issue dividing us, support or not for the war (on grounds of weapons of mass destruction, international law, U.S. foreign policy, the kitchen sink). Er, yes it does. No one is entitled simply to help himself to the "of course, we all agree" neutralization of what was and remains an absolutely crucial consideration in favor of the war. One has properly to integrate it into an overall, and conscientiously weighted, balance sheet of both good and bad consequences.
Monday, August 04, 2003
Norman Geras has an absolutely wonderful essay in WSJ online about the leftists who opposed the war.
Posted by Betsy Newmark at 1:55 PM | <urn:uuid:03a41c57-a461-456c-b7ed-4d29e4665962> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://betsyspage.blogspot.com/2003/08/norman-geras-has-absolutely-wonderful.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.97545 | 1,011 | 1.679688 | 2 |
Zoberi Named Medical Director of Radiation Oncology at West County Facility
Sept. 17, 2008 – Imran Zoberi, MD, has been named medical director of radiation oncology at the Siteman Cancer Center at Barnes-Jewish West County Hospital in Creve Coeur, Mo. Zoberi is assistant professor of radiation oncology at Washington University School of Medicine.
As medical director, Zoberi will manage medical support staff and oversee patient care in radiation oncology at Siteman's west county location. "When cancer patients at our west county facility need radiation therapy, we ensure they receive care from a Washington University radiation oncologist specializing in their particular kind of cancer – to give them that extra level of expertise Siteman is known for," Zoberi says. "They will also have access to multidisciplinary specialists such as surgeons and medical oncologists."
The west county location's first linear accelerator for radiation delivery will be installed beginning in December 2008, with the first radiation treatments starting in March 2009. In the meantime, cancer patients at the west county site can be referred to the radiation oncology department at Siteman's main campus in St. Louis at Barnes-Jewish Hospital.
Zoberi specializes in radiation oncology for treatment of breast cancer. He also performs Gamma Knife radiosurgery, which uses radiation instead of a scalpel to get rid of brain tumors and other central nervous system tumors. In addition, Zoberi directs the residency program for the Department of Radiation Oncology, planning and overseeing the training of all the department's resident physicians.
A 1996 graduate of Washington University School of Medicine, Zoberi was a resident in the school's radiation oncology department and became a faculty member in 2001. He conducts research in radiation therapy and recently completed a clinical study of accelerated partial breast radiation therapy, which treats just the breast tumor area instead of the whole breast after a lumpectomy for early stage cancer. He is also principal investigator of a study testing treatment of women with locally advanced breast cancer using image-guided, intensity-modulated radiation therapy that can precisely target tumors. He is co-author of numerous scientific articles and book chapters covering aspects of radiation for the treatment of cancer.
The Siteman Cancer Center has three locations in the St. Louis metropolitan area. Its main campus is located at Barnes-Jewish Hospital in the Central West End area of St. Louis. Siteman has operated a facility on the campus of Barnes-Jewish West County Hospital since 2001 and in July 2008 opened a newly expanded facility there. The Siteman Cancer Center at Barnes-Jewish St. Peters Hospital opened in 2005. | <urn:uuid:536530ea-35df-43d4-8892-42944f1008f2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.siteman.wustl.edu/Printable.aspx?id=3094 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.951535 | 541 | 1.710938 | 2 |
I find it impossible to read stories of what it is like to serve in the military in Afghanistan and to *not* think of every Vietnam movie or book I have ever read.
America's Last Prisoner of War | Politics News | Rolling Stone
The prolonged aspect of the war was also forcing the Pentagon to send more and more recruits who were unprepared and undisciplined, like Bowe's unit. To meet its recruiting goals, the Army had lowered its standards for intellectual aptitude, and allowed more waivers for recruits with felony convictions and drug problems. "One of every five recruits required a waiver to join the service, leading military analysts to conclude that the Army has lowered its standards," Col. Jeffrey McClain wrote in a definitive study for the Army War College in 2008, the year many in Bowe's unit joined up.
Bowe's platoon of some 25 men – under-manned by more than a third – was sent to a small combat outpost called Mest-Malak, near the village of Yaya Kheyl, where they were supposed to conduct counterinsurgency operations, attempting to win the local population over to the side of the Americans. Bowe had a serious staph infection in his leg, so he arrived at the outpost late. With his customary zeal, he'd been preparing for the deployment by learning how to speak Pashto and reading Russian military manuals. Almost as soon as he joined his fellow soldiers, he began to gravitate away from his unit. "He spent more time with the Afghans than he did with his platoon," Fry says. His father, recalling that time, would later describe his son to military investigators as "psychologically isolated."
The discipline problems that had plagued Bowe's unit back home only got worse when immersed in the fog of war. From the start, everything seemed to go wrong. In April, Lt. Fancey was removed from his post for clashing with a superior officer. He was replaced by Sgt. 1st Class Larry Hein, who had never held such a command – a move that left the remote outpost with no officers. According to four soldiers in the battalion, the removal of Fancey was quickly followed by a collapse in unit morale and an almost complete breakdown of authority.
The unruly situation was captured by Sean Smith, a British documentary filmmaker with The Guardian who spent a month embedded with Bowe's unit. His footage shows a bunch of soldiers who no longer give a shit: breaking even the most basic rules of combat, like wearing baseball caps on patrol instead of helmets. In footage from a raid on a family compound, an old Afghan woman screams at the unit, "Look at these cruel people!" One soldier bitches about what he sees as the cowardice of the Afghan villagers he is supposed to be protecting: "They say like, the Taliban comes down and aggravated� their town and harasses them... Why don't you kill those motherfuckers? All of you have AKs. If someone is going into my hometown, I know my town wouldn't stand for that shit. I'd be like, 'Fuck you, you're dead.'" Another soldier laments, "These people just want to be left alone." A third agrees: "They got dicked with by the Russians for 17 years, and now we're here."
During the middle of May, Bowe went out on one of his first major missions. He described it in a detailed e-mail to his family dated May 23rd, 2009. What started as an eight-hour mission, Bowe recounted, ended up taking five days.
. . . | <urn:uuid:9b0e1d03-9997-4625-bb6e-f21f830747b3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.poormojo.org/pmjadaily/archives/cat_kulture.php?page=62 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.988319 | 737 | 1.734375 | 2 |
The SCYA Midwinter Regatta’s history is packed with legendary sailors and their boats from the early days to the present. The event began in 1928, when SCYA and the LA Junior Chamber of Commerce teamed up to promote Southern California as the sports “paradise” of sailing venues. As hoped, the event attracted boats from the Great Lakes, Atlantic Coast and the rest of the Pacific Coast and some of the best known yachtsmen in America.
Los Angeles Harbor was the only venue for many years. The first venue expansion added Alamitos Bay then Marina del Rey and King Harbor. New venues continued to be added through the years until races were being held from Santa Barbara to San Diego and as far east as Arizona and Nevada. Some changes in venue and classes occur from year to year to keep current with class interest. Today 25 or more host clubs and 100 classes participate in the Midwinters.
A few little known facts:
• The Regatta was put on hold during WWII and resumed again in 1946.
• The Star Class is the only one-design class that has sailed in every Midwinter Regatta held.
• The Naples Sabots raced for the first time in 1946 and for 57 years was one of the largest classes. The class quickly grew to huge numbers and it was still the largest class raced 57 years later in 2003.
• Humphrey Bogart raced his yacht Santana in the event in 1947 and lost to Ed Witte.
• In 1954 Mitzi Gaynor was Queen of the Regatta.
• Cal 40s, one of the first fiberglass boats raced for the first time in 1964.
• The1967 Midwinters had 996 entries and 20 one-design classes over 25feet.
• The largest number of entries was in 1977 at over 1,200.
The Southern California Yachting Association’s 82nd Annual Midwinter Regatta 2011 is gearing up for the weekend of February 19th and 20th. The Regatta will be hosted at yacht clubs and associations from Channel Islands to San Diego and all ports in between. Several inland lakes from the Pacific Coast to Arizona will also see racing. Races will be held for dinghies, cruisers, one design sailboats, PHRF racers, multihulls, radio-controlled models, land yachts, powerboats and outrigger canoes (did we miss anyone?).
Regarded as a season opener, the Midwinter Regatta is a community event that unites over 600 boaters throughout Southern California and Arizona. D.I.S.C, spine, orthopedic and sports medicine specialist, supports the competitive spirit and body and wouldn’t miss a chance to partner with SCYA for this grand event; don’t you either! Rain or shine – the Midwinter races will be run. Sign up at www.discmdgroup.com/sailing | <urn:uuid:45ef9684-ecba-4106-87c9-f55d6b077864> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://arizonayachtclub.org/tag/scya/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961129 | 602 | 1.703125 | 2 |
A world where our children, our brothers, our sisters, and our friends who have Down Syndrome are included in all aspects of life, are empowered to meet their needs and are recognized for their contributions.
By Lisa Rowland
Our son, Jamie, was inducted into the National Honor Society on April 24th. This accomplishment is a testament to his hard work throughout his schooling. He is like most other 18-year-old high school students; he likes to hang out with his friends, listen to music and watch Youtube videos. He is championed by his friends and teachers for all that he has accomplished because Jamie has Down Syndrome.
Jamie responds to his special challenges by studying diligently each day, reading books and keeping in close contact with his teachers by email. He is a wonderful young man with incredible potential. He wakes up every morning, excited for school. He loves being in school with his friends. When asked how he would describe himself, Jamie says, “smart, capable and funny.” He has grown into a tremendously capable young man since he has been given the opportunity to be with his friends at school. He does not think of himself as being different than everyone else.
Jamie’s story is one of new beginnings. He was home-schooled for many years when we lived in Florida, because the school system did not allow him to be in classes with his non-disabled peers. After moving to Connecticut, he went back to public school and has enjoyed a full academic life. The school system has given Jamie a chance to be successful alongside his friends and peers. The administration, teachers and students all believe in his potential and he has achieved so much because of them.
We celebrate Jamie’s accomplishments, big and small. Being inducted into the National Honor Society is a huge deal for anyone, especially Jamie. He has worked tirelessly to show people that he is capable of greatness. Jamie is a leader in the community and an emissary. He is here to show everyone that, given the chance, all of our children can be successful.
World Down Syndrome Day is Thursday, March 21st. People around the world will be recognizing the potential and accomplishments of people who have Down syndrome. The United Nations will hold a conference focusing on the right to work, while groups around the country will be holding other special events.
Want to be a part of the celebration? Check out the National Down Syndrome Society’s My Great Story link, find out about events around the world through Down Syndrome International’s website, or join us here in Connecticut at the fabulous World Down Syndrome Day event hosted by 21 Strong at the New Canaan YMCA on Saturday, March 24th.
Or raise awareness on your own Thursday — you’ll find facts and figures here Let’s tell the world how bright the future can be. | <urn:uuid:1139bf79-4e05-4ec7-b1c7-e1c82da13a14> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ctdownsyndrome.org/?option=com_content&task=blogcategory&id=76&Itemid=71 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.983837 | 583 | 1.554688 | 2 |
Digital Asset Protection
The balancing act: access and security
The key technological developments of the last few years have brought both great benefits to businesses and at the same time, enormous challenges. With the emergence of virtualisation, increased data portability and global cloud infrastructures, it is increasingly difficult to guarantee where your data is and who can access it.
Your digital assets are vital to your business: files, emails, confidential customer and employee information, business plans, financial data, product specifications.
Remote access and cloud technologies offer irrefutable benefits but come with risks attached. If you, like many others, are understandably wary of public cloud hosting, talk to us about opportunities for private cloud infrastructure.
Where, who, what and what if?
Just as you take out insurance to cover the risk of what might happen in your daily lives, you need to make sure that you have considered aspects of what may affect your digital world:
- Location: where is your data stored and what are the legal implications of the physical location of data?
- Access: who can read, copy, move or delete your data?
- Business continuity: what measures should you take to avoid data loss and to minimise loss of revenue and working time if you can’t get to your data or systems?
- Loss or theft of mobile devices
- Succession planning for business owners and entrepreneurs: who in your company has access to key digital information if you are not able to work?
- Providers: what information are storage and Internet service providers obliged to disclose about you and your company?
- Security: for your most sensitive and confidential data, should you be tracking who is accessing it and when?
Fencing in your most sensitive data
One vital way to facilitate data security is to remove data from the desktop and store it centrally where users can access it. This keeps critical intellectual property highly secure and helps radically simplify regulatory compliance. For maximum protection, place a data security wall around the terminal services remote session. Any attempt to extract data will be blocked and these attempts logged, providing an evidentiary trail.
Want more information on how you can protect your data? Do you need to know where your digital assets are stored and how they are being transferred? Get in touch.
Data in the cloud
One of the selling points of public clouds is that major companies like Amazon can offer services such as storage management, backup and recovery at vastly reduced rates because of economies of scale. That much is true, but it must be weighed against the risks of unauthorised access and lack of transparency about the actual location of your data. In this sense, the “cloud” is an appropriate description for a service in which much is undefined.
If you want to benefit from cloud technology but don’t want to run the risks of public cloud hosting, talk to us about opportunities for private cloud infrastructure. Our in-house expertise with virtualisation and cloud technologies in combination with our sensitivity to data security issues, may be just what you need. | <urn:uuid:78c42946-21c4-4666-af35-1fbad663c24c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://habitusnet.ch/services/digital-asset-protection/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.937591 | 620 | 1.789063 | 2 |
I'm excited to be taking part in this year's Elevate Festival, whose theme 'Elevate the Apocalypse' is all about asking the hard question of whether we need systemic failure and breakdown before we're capable of making the big changes we need for the 21st century. I'll be on a panel this Thursday 25th with some cool scientist types, including the renowned climate expert Stefan Rahmstorf, a lead IPCC author and advisor to the German govt. Ahead of the Festival, guests have been asked to answer some penetrating questions about our current civilizational predicament. My answers will be published on the Elevate Festival website this Thursday to coincide with our panel; but you gorgeous people get to see them now. So here you go...
1) What's your take on the current multiple crisis (economic, ecological, social, political) and the (anti)crisis politics?
We are currently facing an unprecedented convergence of global climate, energy, food, water, economic, social, psychological and political crises. Unfortunately, our conventional epistemological approaches, which are reductionist and fragmentary, tend to view these crises in isolation, failing to comprehend their inherent systemic interconnections. But these are not separate crises. They are interconnected symptoms of a global Crisis of Civilization.
So how can we respond? We must first awaken to the reality that this is not the end, but the beginning. We are witnessing the collapse of the old paradigm, which hell-bent on planetary suicide, isn't working. By the end of this century, whatever happens, civilization in its current form will not exist. The question we must therefore ask ourselves is this. What will we choose to take its place?
As a species, we are on the cusp of an evolutionary choice. Standing at the dawn of this perfect storm, we find ourselves at the beginning of a process of civilizational transition. As the old paradigm dies, a new paradigm is born. And many people around the world are already making the evolutionary choice to step away from the old, and embrace the new.
The new paradigm, although it remains nascent and is emerging disparately in different parts of the world, consists of a combination of key alternative structures: distributed clean energy production, decentralised organic farming, participatory economic cooperation, to name a few: offering a model of development free from the imperative of endless growth for its own sake; and leading us directly to a new model of democracy, based not on large-scale, hierarchical-control, but on the wholesale decentralisation of power, towards smaller, local ownership and decision-making; yet joined-up globaly through locally-managed information technology networks.
The new paradigm is premised on a fundamentally different ethos, in which we see ourselves not as disconnected, competing units fixated on maximising consumerist conquest over one another; but as interdependent members of a single human family. Our economies, rather than being assumed to exist in a vacuum of unlimited material expansion, are seen as embedded in wider society, such that economic activity for its own sake is recognised as the pathology that it is. Instead, economic enterprise becomes aligned with the deeper values that make us human - values like meeting our basic needs, education and discovery, arts and culture, sharing and giving: the values which psychologists say contribute to well-being and happiness, far more than mere money and things. And in turn, our societies are seen not as autonomous entities to which the whole of the planet must be ruthlessly subjugated, but rather as inherently embedded in the natural environment.
2) Do you consider global social movements such as La Via Campesina and more recently the Occupy Movement decisive actors when it comes to changing course and achieving the fundamental transformations we need? What's their potential in your opinion? Which other actors are important?
People are increasingly disenchanted with prevailing socio-political and economic structures, and they are hungry for alternatives. Yet they see none readily available, no existing mechanism which allows their voices to be truly heard – what left to do, then, beyond simply occupying public space in an effort to, somehow, reclaim power?
The Arab Spring in the Middle East and the Occupy Movement across the West are, in this context, populist outbursts of resistance against planetary-level human suicide; the beginnings of the death-throes of an overarching civilizational form that is simply not working. The very nature of our civilization – given its accelerating trajectory toward ecological and economic self-destruction – is now in question; its ideology of nature and life, its value system, and how these are inherently linked to its socio-political, economic and cultural forms.
For the first time in human history, we face a civilizational crisis of truly planetary proportions. With it we are witnessing the self-destruction and decline of an exploitative, regressive and harmful industrial civilizational form within the next few decades, and certainly well within this century. With all this, we have an unprecedented historic opportunity, as this regressive civilizational form undergoes its protracted collapse, to push for alternative ways of living, doing and being – economically, politically, culturally, ethically, even spiritually – which are potentially far more conducive to human prosperity and well-being than hitherto imaginable.
That can only be done if we galvanise the energy and excitement of the Occupy Movement to develop firstly, coherent critical diagnoses of the true nature of the problem; and on that basis, coherent alternative frameworks of action. We need to work concertedly to demonstrate the efficacy and superiority of alternative social, political, economic, cultural, and ethical models of life. Not only do we need to develop our thinking and action on this, we need to develop innovative ways to show-case these ideas, to popularise them, and to educate communities and institutions. Most critically, we need to explore how communities, particularly those who are most marginalised and disenfranchised, can act on these models now, to begin creating real change at the grassroots, from the ground up. How can we work together to develop more participatory forms of economic exchange? How can we pool local and community resources to become more resilient to energy shocks – by becoming more self-sufficient in decentralized renewable energy production? How can we learn new skills so that we can grow our own food and be less dependent on the unequal and temperamental international networks of industrial agribusiness? How can we build new community-level political and cultural structures that render top-down state-military structures increasingly irrelevant?
Taking to the streets and occupying public spaces are important seeds of direct action, but from them should blossom the models of social transformation and empowerment that the 99 per cent can begin exploring, in open dialogue with one another, and even with the 1 per cent whose monopolies we are protesting. For it is imperative to ensure that these popular energies develop accurate diagnoses of our predicament, so that our activism can be pointed in the right direction – not just at the 1 per cent, but at the wider political, economic, ideological and ethical system which enables their very existence, and which thus empowers the dysfunctional pathway on which we’re currently heading.
3) What's your take on the central question related to this year's festival topic "Elevate the Apocalypse?": Will humanity succeed in creating an economic system and a lifestyle based on justice, solidarity and respect for the planet's ecological limits? Or will it take big disasters before people start acting decisively?
While at first glance, this self-defeating trajectory of increasing centralisation of state and corporate power in the face of crisis convergence appears overwhelming, it is in the inherent faultlines of this process that opportunities for transformative resistance not only remain, but will widen as the acceleration of crisis in itself weakens the capacity of the system to sustain itself.
The political scientist Professor Thomas Homer-Dixon, one of the few scholars like myself who've undertaken a holistic, systemic appraisal of our civilizational predicament, points out:
"Conventional economics is the dominant rationalization of today's world order. As we've overextended the growth phase of our global adaptive cycle, this rationalization has become relentlessly more complex and rigid and progressively less tenable. Breakdown will, all at once, discredit this rationalization and create intellectual space for new ideas to flourish. But this space will be brutally competitive. We can boost the chances that humane alternatives will thrive by working them out in detail and disseminating them as widely as possible beforehand."
This dynamic - mirroring the life-cycle of natural systems - is a form of "categenesis", constituting "the creative renewal of our technologies, institutions, and societies in the aftermath of breakdown." As the old system increasingly fails, new ideas, technologies and social realities, previously unthinkable, now become possible. To some extent, then, breakdown, is necessary for renewal. Categenesis cannot follow except in the wake of collapse.
That is not to laud 'collapse' in itself for its own sake; nor to presume that deliberately accelerating collapse by itself would contribute to renewal. On the contrary, collapse in itself does NOT necessitate categenesis - far from it; which is why we must be very cautious about those who advocate "bringing the system down" through force which, in itself, would not guarantee renewal, and in fact might well pave the way for alternative dysfunctional systems of violence to emerge instead. In other words, the outcome could go either way, extremely negatively, or positively, depending on the way in which we prevent, mitigate, adapt to and respond transformatively to the Crisis of Civilization.
As the infrastructure of industrial civilisation faces increasing shocks from the convergence of multiple global crises, so does the possibility for catagenesis through the new paradigm. The emergence of Occupy is a symptom of this process, and a sign of the immense potential that exists for renewal, but it must be galvanised in the right direction. We are witnessing the widening of possibility even now, as increasing systemic failures continue to accelerate widespread public disillusionment with prevailing policies - the challenge is to channel that sense of disillusionment into a coherent programme of collaborative, grassroots transformative action. The imperative, therefore, is to focus our efforts on catalysing the emergence of the new paradigm, raising consciousness, implementing, consolidating and spreading alternative social, political, economic and cultural models | <urn:uuid:2c4adcad-d522-49dc-90ab-0ef9ed725f6b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.nafeezahmed.com/2012/10/elevate-apocalypse-my-q-for-elevate.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00007-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.935631 | 2,104 | 1.71875 | 2 |
JP Morgan Chase is the too big bank that just had a $2 billion trading loss. This caused criticism of its Chairman and CEO (Jamie Dimon). Yesterday gave me a laugh when Obama defended Dimon and JP Morgan Chase. Today another big laugh when CALPERS (the too big California retirement fund) is calling for a splitting of the two jobs of Chairman and CEO, as if that's going to accomplish anything. What needs to be done for all the big banks and big bank holding companies is much more fundamental. One way to go (of many) is to split up these companies altogether. The banks should be separated from the other trading and investment banking operations. Then the banks should be reformed. Too-big-to-fail should be declared a failure and ended by making the banks smaller and requiring them to have capital at least half of their assets. Their assets should be strictly limited in maturity and risk. Maturities should be something like 2 years or less. Risk should be in the top few grades. Derivatives trading should be forbidden for banks. The OTHER parts of these companies can then be free to issue stock and liabilities and trade to their heart's content, issuing mortgages if they like. However, their liabilities will no longer be insured or be money. This is just one possible way to go that I outline merely to highlight how far away the current crop of recommendations is from what it may take to reform banks. It's not a radical way. It doesn't end the FED. It doesn't change the fiat money. It moves halfway to 100% reserve banks. But even this proposal will appear radical by contrast with the laughable step of splitting the Chairman and CEO office, and it shows how far we are away from meaningful bank reform.
Actually, every bank in the land — of any size — that has deposits regarded as money shouldn't be making long-term loans, either business or personal mortgage. That's a recipe for periodic insolvency whenever the asset values decline, for whatever reason. Banks that have money as liabilities should be separated from lending institutions that do not have money as liabilities. In this way, the payments system would be insulated from ups and downs in the economy and from variations due to the speculations of banks and their investments in long-maturity assets. There would be no need for deposit insurance, so that moral hazard would diminish drastically. Non-bank financial companies could still thrive by issuing non-money liabilities and intermediating them into mortgages and other loans, but these companies would be like any other company: subject to failure and bankruptcy. The end result is that banks would be banks with deposits being money, and they would not need any insurance because of their large capital and safe assets. They'd be separated strictly from uninsured non-bank financial intermediaries. | <urn:uuid:3c540feb-cc93-4672-b26f-9883a50ac220> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.lewrockwell.com/blog/lewrw/archives/112050.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.970022 | 567 | 1.539063 | 2 |
Calorie limits on school lunches lampooned
GOP congressmen contend kids left hungry because of ‘nutrition nannies’
National News from AP
World News from AP
WASHINGTON — Lawmakers and government officials are again engaged in a food fight, this time with Republican lawmakers hungry to lift new federal limits on the calories of school lunches served to 32 million students.
The lawmakers have introduced legislation targeting the “nutrition nannies” at the U.S. Department of Agriculture, contending that their “calorie rationing’” is leaving students hungry.
The anti-obesity rules championed by first lady Michelle Obama require schools in the federally subsidized lunch program to serve more fruits, vegetables, whole grains and fat-free and low-fat milk. They also limit calories — for example, 850 for lunches served to high-school students.
A year ago, Congress declared that two tablespoons of tomato paste slathered on pizza could continue to be classified as a full vegetable serving in the federal school-lunch program.
Reps. Steve King, R-Iowa, and Tim Huelskamp, R-Kan., sponsors of the “No Hungry Kids Act,” portray the standards — which grew out of legislation passed in 2010 in the closing days of a Democratic-controlled Congress — as another symbol of Washington’s regulatory excess.
Huelskamp has called attention to videos produced by high-school students in his state. One is called We Are Hungry, showing volleyball players collapsing on the court from hunger, and another is called The HUNGER Games — A Parody of the 2012 School Lunch Program, featuring one student complaining: “Really? One pig in a blanket.”
“The goal of the school-lunch program is supposed to be feeding children, not filling the trash cans with uneaten food,” Huelskamp said.
The critics contend that the calorie limits are driving hungry kids to fill up on junk food. The two congressional offices set up a Facebook page — Nutrition Nannies — that has generated debate on the rules.
Margo Wootan, director of nutrition policy for the Center for Science in the Public Interest, defended the rules. She pointed out that King is locked in a tough race against Democrat Christie Vilsack, wife of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack.
“If we’re going to spend $13 billion on school lunch and breakfast, we should make sure that it provides good nutrition for kids,” Wootan said.
“Maybe part of the problem for some kids is they’ve become so used to the gigantic portion sizes at restaurants that normal portion sizes don’t seem like enough,” Wootan said.
The rules limit lunch calories to 650 for kindergartners through fifth-graders and to 700 for sixth- through eighth-graders.
Federal officials say that physically active students who might need more calories, such as athletes, can bring a snack from home or buy an additional serving.
Agriculture Department spokeswoman Alyn G. Kiel said the new standards are based on recommendations from an independent panel of doctors, nutritionists and other experts “to ensure that meals paid for with hard-earned tax dollars are healthy and balanced.”
“The calorie range actually exceeds what most schools were serving students previously, and the standards place no limit on food that students can purchase in addition to or instead of the taxpayer-subsidized meals,” she said, adding: “But the fact is that you can’t feed an entire school like they’re linebackers because not everyone needs that many calories.” | <urn:uuid:6ff5e7d1-3b74-49ea-a01a-a8773370f428> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/national_world/2012/10/12/calorie-limits-on-school-lunches-lampooned.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00005-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.956761 | 766 | 1.742188 | 2 |
If you've ever driven to the University of Houston campus during the day you've probably noticed how difficult it is to find a place to park. Now there is another option. Bill Stamps tell us what it is.
Finding a place to park at the University of Houston can be frustrating and sometimes almost impossible.
Maria Honey is with the University marketing department. Any student that comes to school will tell you that depending on the time of day and the time of week, they’re going to have a challenge finding a convenient parking spot.
Looking for parking can cause students and professors to be late for class and it can cause non students to miss the first part of the event taking place on campus. So they’re trying something new. Car rental. For just eight dollars an hour students and faculty can rent a car and go wherever they want for as long as they want. Transportation manager Eric Holamon says everything is done online.
"You book everything online. If you need to talk to someone you push a button. They’re literally a button push away, but they way the program is designed is entirely self service."
You won’t find a car rental lot on campus. They’re starting with just three vehicles parked in front of the dorms. Holamon says all you have to do is swipe a card on the windshield and the door will open.
"The car will unlock, there’s a little communication device it will ask them if they have a drivers license and if there’s any damage to the vehicle. Once they answer those two questions, the key inside will start the car up and they use it until they’re done."
Maria Honey says their goal is to get students who live on campus to use the cars instead of bringing a car from home.
"We have students that live on campus and bring a car and don’t use their car for two weeks. Some of those residents are not parking in those exclusive spots because they just fill up. They’re parking over here in the economy lots or the student lots."
The program is run by Hertz. They own the cars and the online reservation program. The price starts at 8 dollars and that includes a GPS system and gas.
"This provides the flexibility of having a car without owning one."
Ohio State was the first college campus in the U.S. to try the program. Here in Texas the University of North Texas launched their car rental program last year.
With only three cars available to rent, school administrators admit this won’t all of a sudden mean lots of parking available, but they will add more cars if teh program takes off. Still a good chance you’ll find yourself driving around looking for a spot. | <urn:uuid:de0a5e5d-49fa-440e-acdb-eabcd3687f40> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://app1.kuhf.org/articles/1284758458-University-Of-Houston-Has-New-Parking-Solution.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957278 | 571 | 1.609375 | 2 |
How to Turn Around a Telecom
AppTrigger corrected its aim and hit one hot technology market.
APPTRIGGER’S CHRIS TODD: “A good public hanging every now and then tends to get people’s attention.” photography by Adam Fish
Richardson-based AppTrigger was founded in 2001 as VoiceRamp Technologies, which changed its name to Carrius Technologies in April 2003. (The company was always better at hiring engineers than it was at picking names.) By 2005, when it wasn’t attracting the kinds of telecom and wireless-service-provider customers it wanted, the company’s investors began to look for new leadership.
They found Chris Todd, the man who changed Carrius Technologies to AppTrigger in 2007 and would eventually get the company to shoot straight. But back in 2005, he didn’t even want the job.
A former sales executive with Cisco Systems, Todd didn’t see the potential of Carrius’s confusing, “service broker” technology. Service brokers, as defined now, are terribly important. But the sausage factory that made them obscured that fact for years.
A service broker is actually a box—one that looks like any other box with blinking lights, sitting between older parts of a phone company’s network (the switches that enable phone calls) and the application servers in the network, used to create call forwarding, click-to-call, and other services.
The problem the technology aims to solve? Telecom service providers often have separate networks providing Internet access, business services, mobile phone services, TV services, and traditional home phone service. Think of them as a highway system where all the lanes are different sizes, with different speed limits, serving different types of vehicles.
Eventually these networks will converge, and the process of creating new services will be simpler. But until that day, decades away, these networks need the help of technologies like service brokers to help them act as one network.
With a service broker in place, a company like AT&T could create services for its customers more quickly. “A service broker enables any communications service to be delivered on any network, regardless of whether the service was originally developed for that network,” writes Caroline Chappell, an analyst for telecom researcher Heavy Reading.
Why bother now, though? Well, thanks largely to Apple’s iPhone and iTunes App store, hundreds of new applications are being developed, sold, and delivered every day to millions of consumers using telecom networks. The phone companies that operate those networks have missed out on that huge opportunity, and now they want in.
Indeed, many iPhone and other smartphone applications use network capabilities like videoconferencing—capabilities the telecom-service providers feel they should be able to deliver and profit from, too. After all, they own the network.
If AppTrigger is right, service brokers can help phone companies behave more like the Internet and smartphone companies that now are showing them up.
Having the right technology only gets you so far, though.
In 2006, Lev Volftsun, then acting CEO of Carrius, convinced Chris Todd to run the company. When Todd first looked at the business, “it wasn’t clear what you could actually do with the technology,” Volftsun recalls.
But after spending months with the Carrius engineering team, Volftsun had some ideas about a more cutting-edge use of the company’s technology, originally touted for enabling data services to run on traditional telephone networks.
Volftsun needed an ally to run the business. Todd was ready for the job, but he insisted that Volftsun—a well-known engineer who had sold two of his previous companies to Cisco—stay on as chairman. “When you’re alone, existing employees basically gang up on you,” says Volftsun, a veteran of many startups. “Typically to bring in new ideas and concepts you need to fire everyone and bring in your own people.”
With Volftsun on board, Todd changed Carrius to AppTrigger. Volftsun recalls Todd would take risks and wouldn’t shy away from trying something that had failed earlier. “I’ve never seen him give up on anything,” Volftsun says.
Todd’s tenacity was rewarded early.
The company had been doing some engineering work for Dallas-based Intervoice (now Convergys Corp.), a maker of automated voice-response systems. Todd went to see Intervoice his first day on the job, even though it wasn’t AppTrigger’s target end-user customer.
“I asked the CEO: ‘What are we doing right and can we do more of it?’” Todd says. His point: “You have to grow your business. You can’t cut costs to save your cash—you have to replenish your cash.”
When Todd heard Intervoice was giving a big development project to Hewlett-Packard, he insisted AppTrigger could handle it, even though Intervoice wasn’t convinced. “He’s a great motivator and leader,” Volftsun says of Todd. “He stands firm but he doesn’t piss people off.”
AppTrigger worked on the project just in case—on spec. “I told the team: ‘We’re going to bet the company that HP fails’—and they did,” Todd recalls. “We got the million-dollar order.”
Todd helped shake AppTrigger out of the doldrums just as its market was heating up. “Even though you have money from investors, you cannot save your way to success,” he says.
Setting big goals, taking risks, and treating customers well helps get a company on track, he adds. Also, you have to purge workers who aren’t on board with your agenda. “A good public hanging every now and then tends to get people’s attention,” Todd says.
After a year on the job, Todd had the engineering group set to a cycle of new software releases every six months. “We absolutely outpaced what everyone thought we could do because we believed we could do it,” he says.
Now that AppTrigger had money coming in, it was time to motivate the service-broker market.
Making a Market
A turning point for AppTrigger came in May 2009, when Todd launched the Service Broker Forum, an association of vendors who agreed on the term and description of “service brokers” to promote their own viability in a somewhat confusing technology market.
“A lot of the people in this market called their products different things, and that’s just death for an evolving market,” Todd says. “My whole premise was if we got everybody together, we’d have a market. And if we have a market, we can just beat them. We’re not afraid of the competition.”
Todd and his team persuaded Aepona Ltd., Convergin, jNetX Inc., and Open Cloud Ltd. to join AppTrigger as founding members of the Service Broker Forum.
Suddenly, this squishy world of telecom software had a name, a well-defined market, and a set of eager customers who realized these companies could bridge the gap between older networks and tomorrow’s new services.
In June 2009, France Telecom published a request for information for a “service broker” capability in its networks. Suddenly, one of the world’s largest service providers declared its intent to buy the kinds of technologies the Service Broker Forum was touting—and asked for them by name. That’s when the market took off:
> In July 2009, Aepona bought Dublin, Ireland-based Valista, a provider of payment and settlement software to mobile and broadband operators.
> In October 2009, Amdocs purchased Dallas-based jNetX for $50 million, net of debts and cash.
> In February 2010, Oracle Corp. bought Convergin, an Israeli company that helped start the Service Broker Forum, for an undisclosed sum.
> In March 2010, Metaswitch Networks, a UK-based telecom equipment maker, bought AppTrigger for an undisclosed sum. Todd’s rejuvenated, motivated company was suddenly the crown jewel in that firm’s software business.
> In June 2010, Richardson-based Mavenir Systems, a service broker for mobile networks, raised $13.6 million in its fourth round of funding.
“A lot of this market activity wouldn’t have happened if we had not started the Service Broker Forum,” Todd says. And the future looks pretty good. With Dallas-based AT&T as one of Metaswitch’s largest customers, Todd says Metaswitch’s service broker group is “in a perfect spot for growth.”
But even after acquisition, Todd says his job’s not done. “It takes a strong leader within an acquired company to champion it,” he says. “Think about it. You’re not going to even be in the building, to be in the room, to have a discussion about things.”
Phil Harvey is the editor-in-chief of Light Reading, a TechWeb publication that covers the telecom industry. | <urn:uuid:e67660f8-c278-44ca-a357-972bd997b416> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.dmagazine.com/Home/D_CEO/2010/October/How_to_Turn_Around_a_Telecom_AppTrigger.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.967 | 1,979 | 1.523438 | 2 |
Anyone driving across the bridge into the centre of Nijmegen will understand why its 165,000 citizens are so proud of their city: the waterfront set against the backdrop of the city centre is a splendid sight. Past and present go hand in hand; historic buildings are interspersed with fine examples of modern architecture.
Nijmegen, the oldest city in the Netherlands, is situated on a range of hills near the River Waal. The city has attracted people since its very foundation. The surrounding area features hills, woods and polders, creating a varied countryside offering a range of recreational opportunities to both citizens and tourists.
This website tells you all there is to know on Living, Working, Student life and Leisure in Nijmegen. The website has a special section for expatriates (thinking of) living and working in our city.
Discover Nijmegen and enjoy! | <urn:uuid:36b4bb57-e3b4-4a88-b461-0f42478f2f0d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://english.nijmegen.nl/municipality/_pid/center1/_rp_center1_elementId/1_338215 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959452 | 184 | 1.523438 | 2 |
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Access to the publicly broadcast BSO concerts from this era has been extremely difficult even for researchers. This series of DVDs will make these performances available for the first time since they were broadcast.
Munch launched the BSO into television in 1955. He was an immensely popular conductor and well suited to being filmed.
This material represents some of the earliest televised concerts with the Boston Symphony and Charles Munch, and has been restored using the greatest care and state-of-the-art techniques.
It is of exceptional musical interest and rare historic value.
Munch was particularly fond of the Sir Hamilton Harty arrangement of Handel’s Water Music Suite, having performed it 53 times with the Boston Symphony Orchestra and having recorded it with the BSO for RCA in 1950.
His interpretations of the two Mozart symphonies are characteristically lively and exhilarating with the usual committed performances from the BSO.
Never commercially recorded by Munch, both Mozart symphonies are completely new to his discography. The booklet note contains references to an interview the writer conducted with Doriot Anthony Dwyer, the BSO’s principal flautist, who was appointed by Munch and remained in the position for 38 years. It gives a fascinating insight into Munch as a conductor and his interaction and relationship with the orchestra.
Two of ICA’s BSO DVDs featuring Charles Munch as conductor have been awarded the Diapason d’Or in France’s Diapason magazine.
Sound format: Enhanced Mono
Picture format: 4:3
Running time: 62’
Menu languages: English
Booklet languages: E/F/G
Region code: 0
Territory Restrictions: None
“Exhilarating performances of Mozart's Linz and Prague Symphonies and a splendid Handel Water Music, all from 1959-60. Occasional picture fuzziness.”
Click on any of the works listed above for alternative recordings. | <urn:uuid:64e05b1d-b04f-4f37-8387-283a25b80d21> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.prestoclassical.co.uk/r/ica%2Bclassics/ICAD5057 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.952023 | 426 | 1.789063 | 2 |
Iran’s president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, said Tuesday in an interview in Tehran with NBC’s “Today Show” that “in a couple of days” Iran would free two American hikers arrested more than two years ago on suspicion of spying.
According to a translation by the network, Mr. Ahmadinejad implied both that the two hikers were a sideshow compared to larger tensions between the United States and Iran and that he hoped their release — “a humanitarian gesture” — would help calm those tensions.
In a couple of days, they will be free, but let me ask you a question. Are they really the problem? You know how many Iranians are now in the American jails? There are hundreds. It’s not about only two people in Iran. These two people are having the very good conditions here in prison. It’s like staying in a hotel. I think the problem is in the approach of the American politicians and leaders. Why are the American leaders so hostile to us? O.K. These two persons will be released. It is going to be over. We do it, for example, in a humanitarian gesture. Is it going to solve the problems? I hope so.
Last month, the two hikers, Shane M. Bauer and Joshua F. Fattal, both 29, were sentenced to eight years in prison.
The interview comes before the opening of the new session of the United Nations General Assembly this week, an annual diplomatic event that has engendered another yearly ritual: a media blitz by Mr. Ahmadinejad.
In addition to his interview on NBC on Tuesday, the Iranian president also granted an interview to The Washington Post, less than a week after he appeared on Brazilian television to call on President Bashar al-Assad of Syria to stop his six-month-long violent crackdown on protesters.
Mr. Ahmadinejad described Iran’s decision to free the hikers as “a unilateral pardon” in the Washington Post interview, though their release will come only after each makes a $500,000 payment. Iran’s state-run Fars News Agency called the payment “bail” and said that the amount was what a third hiker, Sarah E. Shourd, paid for her release a year ago. She has since returned to the United States. | <urn:uuid:de8afd6c-7e50-4820-bddb-7a20c38ad358> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/09/13/ahmadinejad-begins-annual-media-blitz/?smid=tw-thelede&seid=auto | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.972961 | 486 | 1.710938 | 2 |
Over the past year, residential and commercial buildings across the city have cancelled or not renewed the lease agreements of 86 mobile phone towers, despite the lure of high rent, as awareness about the suspected health hazards of radiation spreads.
Several of these towers had multiple antennae. Residents of Horizon building in upscale Pali Hill, Bandra (west), are among the many Mumbaiites who have decided not to renew the lease; the society's lease ends on December 1.
"There is increased concern about the suspected health risks of radiation," said Madhu Poplai from Pali Hill Residents' Association, who lives next door to Horizon.
"There are 18 buildings in the area with towers. Because operators pay high rent, it is difficult to convince societies to remove the towers."
Cellular operators said misinformation has affected their coverage and capacity-building operations.
"Information about suspected health issues due to exposure to radiation has led to fear. Over the past year, lease agreements of 86 towers have been cancelled or not renewed," said Rajan Mathews, director general, Cellular Operators' Association of India. | <urn:uuid:246c4724-2879-43ed-ad9c-d327aa85662e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.hindustantimes.com/India-news/Mumbai/Societies-in-city-cancel-86-leases-of-mobile-towers/Article1-963083.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.972502 | 224 | 1.585938 | 2 |
I always enjoy reading Patrick Kurp’s blog, Anecdotal Evidence, and this post on Herbert Morris, a poet unknown to me, was no exception.
Kurp quotes Eric Ormsby, who contrasts Morris’s work with the “career-building narcissism” and “sameness of tone” he detects in many poets. The rather discomforting quotation is worth pondering:
Earnestness is a splendid virtue; while essential to social workers and scoutmasters, it is, however, of limited value to poets who usually prove to be better writers when they are shifty, unscrupulous, and shamelessly insincere--in matters, that is, unconnected with their craft. Earnestness, by contrast, deadens; it homogenizes the sentiments; it may flirt with irony but never dangerously so; it subordinates magic to agenda; it seeks to please rather than to charm; it hankers after acceptance and respectability, however much it may squawk the opposite--and was any great or good poem ever truly respectable? | <urn:uuid:3b488e79-f745-4b73-867c-0e67d7c3c0fc> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://robmack.blogspot.com/2008/06/being-earnest.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.945861 | 224 | 1.640625 | 2 |
The Council is required to keep an up-to-date rolling five year supply of housing land to meet its local housing targets, as set out in national policy.
The Council's five year housing land supply includes the following types of sites:
- Commitments - Sites which have been granted planning planning permission
- Allocations - Sites previously allocated for development in the Eastbourne Borough Plan
- Identified Sites - Sites identified in the Strategic Housing Land Availability Assessment (SHLAA), or sites that have come forward through pre-application discussions with the Council.
Each site must be deliverable, meaning housing development must be capable of being completed in the next 5 years. In line with national policy guidance this means that the site must be 'available', 'suitable' and 'achieveable'.
The Council's assessment as of April 2011 is available to download below. | <urn:uuid:0d164714-b799-40b6-aa93-7e9f45c0b2b0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.eastbourne.gov.uk/environment/planning/policy/ldd/core-strategy-local-plan/evidence-docs/5yrhousing/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00005-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957072 | 176 | 1.664063 | 2 |
Lime-laced daiquiris, creamy piña coladas, ginger-tinged dark ‘n’ stormies: When we think of rum, we naturally imagine tropical cocktails against a dreamy backdrop of sun, sand and surf. But there’s another side to this popular spirit. While the colorful history of its production throughout the Caribbean is darkened by colonialism and slavery, rum itself is a far more complex character than its starring role in umbrella drinks suggests. Not to knock such stuff completely — there’s good reason for the current revival of vintage punches and classic tiki concoctions: Namely, their combination of technical complexity and fruity froth appeals to serious-minded mixologists and party-minded revelers alike.
Distilled most commonly from molasses, rum can also be made from cane syrup or even fresh cane juice (as is the famed rhum agricole of Martinique). Varieties are myriad; depending on the aging process, they can be white, gold, dark and black as well as spiced. Generally speaking, the longer they’ve aged, the better they serve as sipping rather than mixing rums. But quality is primarily determined by the careful efforts of the distiller — which helps explain why, high in the Rocky Mountains, of all places, a number of enterprising Coloradans are beginning to produce some real gems.
Granted, they’re at one major disadvantage. As Andy Causey — who, with his brother Matt and their partner Mitch Abate, runs Downslope Distilling in the Denver suburb of Centennial — puts it, “Obviously, we can’t grow sugar cane on the banks of the mighty Cherry Creek. We’re also landlocked, so the historical commercial aspects [of the industry] are absent as well.”
Why assume such a expensive risk, then, in sourcing dried, pressed cane juice from Maui, especially when grain-based products — Downslope also makes vodka and whiskey — have a far clearer track record here? He shrugs wryly. “The answer is, Why not? The market is mostly populated with insipid product, and it just doesn’t have to be that way. And there’s a lot of room for us to distinguish ourselves because we’re out of the typical production zone.”
His sibling Matt agrees. “My experiences with white rum were limited to Bacardi — looks like nothing’s there, tastes like lighter fluid. But no one was really making it around here, and while at first we were apprehensive, once we tried some, we were like, ‘Wow, this is what rum should taste like.”
High altitude spirits
Meanwhile, as Montanya Distillers’ Karen Hoskin, sees it, the mountainous Colorado landscape actually presents a level, rather than uneven, playing field. On the one hand, she says, “One of the bigger misconceptions out there is that these Caribbean distilleries are getting cane from their own islands, and that’s actually gone by the wayside pretty significantly. They have tremendous pressure from the tourism industry [in terms of land use], so most Caribbean distillers are pulling their cane from Paraguay, Uruguay, Brazil.” Montanya gets its cane from Maui, so “it’s not even like they have a benefit over us.”
On the other hand, it was after an eye-opening visit to the acclaimed Ron Zacapa distillery, high in the Sierra Madres of Guatemala, that Hoskin and her husband-partner Brice Hoskin “determined that what was more important than immediate access to sugar cane was access to really high quality mountain water and altitude-aging potential.”
“We think Rocky Mountain water is the best in the world; ours comes from snowmelt and it’s exceptionally flavorful.”
The second point is a bit more complicated, Hoskins explains: “We did a lot of research to see what effect altitude has on aging. What it comes down to is that the diurnal temperature fluctuations that happen in the barrels [at high elevations] are a catalyst to aging. It’s a very kinetic process; the rum is forced in and out of the pores of the barrels, getting exposed to the oak and the charcoal in a way that doesn’t happen in a humid sea-level climate, where they use pressurizing techniques to try to create the natural environment that we have here in Colorado.”
Thus satisfied that they could indeed make great rum at 9,300 feet, the Hoskins opened Montanya in Silverton in 2008. Convincing the public they could do it turned out, much to their surprise, to be even easier. Now the fastest-growing rum distillery in the United States (which recently moved to a larger base of operations in Crested Butte), Montanya “kinda got it right from the start,” marvels Hoskin. Both the light (platino) and dark (oro) rums took medals at prestigious international competitions the year they were released, and their acclaim has only spread.
Colorado: ‘built by the tipplers for the tipplers’
But credit for Colorado’s microdistillery boom doesn’t, Hoskin points out, go solely to the producers themselves. Legislation friendly to permit-seeking entrepreneurs was “an essential piece” of their success, she says, just as it has been for the long-established local beer industry. “I do think that Colorado offers a higher level of support for the industry, and it has such a strong history of microbrewing. There’s a synergy of people who’ve been in the beer world and are moving into the spirits world. So [Coloradans have] been trained by companies like New Belgium and Ska and Stranahan’s, which was on the early end of the distilling trend, to have a mentality of appreciating drinks that come from close to home.”
New Belgium and Ska are famed brewing companies in Fort Collins and Durango, respectively. Denver-based sensation Stranahan’s Colorado Whiskey was bought by Promixo Spirits to the tune of $3 million in 2010.
Even anecdotal history goes to show that Colorado, like few other states, was built by the tipplers, for the tipplers. Thanks to the hard-knock yahoos who came to stake their claim in gold in the 19th century, taverns sprouted here before schools and hospitals. It was in a saloon that the seat of local government was founded in 1859. And once an influx of enterprising German immigrants (among them one Adolph Kuhrs) caught wind of its wealth of natural resources — above all those aforementioned mountain springs — the state was bound to gain renown as a brewhub.
Rum trade: ‘Whatever it takes’
That rugged DIY attitude has now spread from brewers to distillers, embodied in characters like Kristian Naslund of Loveland, who only recently left his job as a paramedic firefighter to concentrate full time on his startup with wife Kimberly, Dancing Pines Distillery — which produces not only three different rums from blackstrap molasses but also a number of cordials, including a superb espresso liqueur infused with locally roasted beans.
And Ian James, founder of Mancos Valley Distillery, a former brewer who single-handedly produces Ian’s Alley Rum out of, yes, an alley off Main Street in a sleepy town near the Four Corners. And Mitch Abate, the Causey brothers’ partner at Downslope — who once posed as a journalist to land one-on-one research interviews with a number of Kentucky’s master bourbon distillers. “They treated me like royalty, wining and dining me,” he recalls with amusement.
Hey, whatever it takes. That could well be the motto of Colorado’s emerging rum trade.
Co Co Rumchata
Horchata, a spiced rice-and-almond cooler popular across Latin America, serves as the inspiration for this cocktail from bartender Tyler French of Denver’s Row 14 Bistro & Wine Bar.
- Shake all ingredients in a tin vigorously.
- Add ice and shake again.
- Strain into a small wine glass rimmed with cocoa powder rim.
- Sprinkle chocolate shavings over the foam.
- Serve with a small straw.
* Simple syrup is a mixture of equal parts sugar and water brought to a boil, then reduced to a simmer until the sugar is dissolved.
Zester Daily contributor Ruth Tobias is assistant editor at Sommelier Journal as well as a seasoned food-and-beverage writer for numerous city and national publications; she is also the author of the upcoming “Food Lover’s Guide to Denver & Boulder” from Globe Pequot. Her website is www.ruthtobias.com or follow her @Denveater.
Photos, from top:
Matt Causey, Andy Causey and Mitch Abate of Downslope Distilling. Credit: Downslope Distilling.
Co Co Rumchata. Credit: Tyler French. | <urn:uuid:e75eb48f-1459-4f9f-85a7-08d4515dfe45> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://zesterdaily.com/drinking/colorado-rum/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959144 | 1,948 | 1.53125 | 2 |
Pentagon backed plan to arm Syrian rebels
The Daily Briefing
Buckeye Forum Podcast
The Dispatch public affairs team talks politics and tackles state and federal government issues in the Buckeye Forum podcast.
Your Right to Know
WASHINGTON — Pentagon leaders told Congress yesterday that they had supported a recommendation to arm Syrian rebels, a plan that was promoted by the State Department and CIA but which President Barack Obama ultimately decided against.
Obama’s government has limited its support to non-lethal aid for the rebels who, despite getting weapons from countries such as Qatar and Saudi Arabia, are poorly armed compared with Syrian President Bashar Assad’s army and militias.
Syria’s 22-month-long conflict has killed an estimated 60,000 people.
Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., has championed greater U.S. involvement and chided the Obama administration at a hearing, asking Pentagon leaders: “How many more have to die before you recommend military action?”
He then pressed Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, about whether they backed the recommendation by the State Department and CIA chiefs last year to arm the rebels.
Panetta and Dempsey said they had backed the recommendation.
“Obviously there were a number of factors that were involved here that ultimately led to the president’s decision to make (the aid) non-lethal,” Panetta said, adding that he supported Obama’s decision.
The comments were the first public acknowledgement of Pentagon support to arm the rebels since The New York Times reported on Saturday about the plan developed last summer by Hillary Clinton and Gen. David Petraeus, who have since left their jobs at the State Department and CIA, respectively. | <urn:uuid:f755317e-7247-436f-b7ec-b5e551a318b9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/national_world/2013/02/08/pentagon-backed-plan-to-arm-syrian-rebels.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961564 | 361 | 1.640625 | 2 |
A 2012 New York Times Book Review Notable Book
In this moving memoir, a renowned feminist scholar explores the physical and psychological ordeal of living with ovarian cancer.
Diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 2008, Susan Gubar underwent radical debulking surgery, an attempt to excise the cancer by removing part or all of many organs in the lower abdomen. Her memoir mines the deepest levels of anguish and devotion as she struggles to come to terms with her body’s betrayal and the frightful protocols of contemporary medicine. She finds solace in the abiding love of her husband, children, and friends while she searches for understanding in works of literature, visual art, and the testimonies of others who suffer with various forms of cancer.
Ovarian cancer remains an incurable disease for most of those diagnosed, even those lucky enough to find caring and skilled physicians. Memoir of a Debulked Woman is both a polemic against the ineffectual and injurious medical responses to which thousands of women are subjected and a meditation on the gifts of companionship, art, and literature that sustain people in need.2 illustrations | <urn:uuid:86a45817-9325-4af0-8f0d-d8bc85933648> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.americanpoems.com/store/1052-1000-0393073254-Memoir_of_a_Debulked_Woman_Enduring_Ovarian_Cancer.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.943455 | 226 | 1.78125 | 2 |
There are a few easy tips for you to remember when decorating small spaces in your house. If you have a small front room or a foyer, you don't need to forget about using this space in your home because you can't figure out how to make it look good. There are ways to make small spaces look nice and be functional. You don't need to take your mother's advice and paint the space white, either. In fact, your small space may become one of your favorite places to hang out.
Don't block doors, hallways or windows with bulky, oversized furniture. You may love having a huge, cozy couch in your living room, but if you try to squeeze one into a tiny place the sofa will seem suffocating. Instead, think about maximizing your space with seating that has no arms. An armless sofa or set of chairs can still be very comfy to lounge on, but the open sides will make your space seem much airier.
Paint your small space in a bright color. Sometimes, bright colors can seem overwhelming in a huge room. They can make tiny spaces look very cute though. Think of decorating your small space as an accent to your home. For example, it is common to buy a large piece of furniture in a neutral color and then decorate with small, bright or patterned pillows. Your small space can serve the same function in your home as those accent pillows serve.
Get rid of clutter. Nothing will make a small space seem smaller faster than filling it up with clutter. Do not leave your junk mail, keys and change all over the table in your foyer. You should also avoid going overboard with your display of tchotchkes in tiny rooms. Just pick out a few decorations that appeal to you, such as a single vase of flowers, and stick with those. | <urn:uuid:6800480b-912a-48ed-93a9-6b22289f5c9a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ask.com/explore/decorating-small-spaces | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.962376 | 379 | 1.664063 | 2 |
Sometimes I forget how stimulating our office is compared to the cube farms that I’ve worked in previously. It’s no accident. Making an inspiring, appealing environment for creative work is a team effort, and often it’s the little things that really make the difference. Here are some quick and easy tricks for promoting a creative atmosphere—in our office or yours.
We’re a bunch of bibliophiles, so in addition to the stacks of books on our desks, we keep a library full of reference material. And we set aside budget to make sure that we’re constantly adding to it. (It really helps to have a former librarian on staff.) Anyone can check out a book for as long as he or she wants. It’s also just fun to go over and browse the books when you’re seeking creative inspiration.
We’re inundated with markers, sticky notes, adhesives, and paper of all kinds. On a bad day, it can look like a supply closet exploded. But there’s a kind of purposeful messiness to our office. Having supplies all around us all the time makes grabbing a piece of paper (or a 6 foot piece of paper) to start clarifying and communicating ideas that much easier.
In our workshops with clients we often bring pipe cleaners or other surprising toys to give people something to play with. It seems paradoxical, but having something to distract yourself with can often keep you more engaged in the conversation. Similarly, we leave interesting toys and games in our common areas, to stimulate ourselves. The toys are also popular when kiddies visit the office, and a family friendly office feels just a little more human.
A room is not alive unless it has a living green thing in it. Plants make our office feel organic, welcoming, and homey.
We annotate and adapt our space all the time by hanging signs, posting post it notes, even scrawling messages on whiteboards. Stuart Brand calls these “countermanding signs,” and in How Buildings Learn, he explains that “the countermanding sign is an example of a way most problems are handled in buildings once they’re occupied.” Brand is talking about architectural problems, but countermanding signs are also a way of addressing interpersonal problems or group behaviors. In our signs is the evidence of our culture—what we’re struggling with, what we value. (Incidentally, this makes countermanding signs an important research lens. Look for them the next time your doing user research in the field. They point to unsolved problems.)
It’s surprising how many companies have few or no whiteboards. Often, if there are any whiteboards, they’re reserved for the conference rooms. What a shame! Whiteboards are the perfect, risk free canvas for developing and sharing ideas with others. We have them all over the place. In our conference rooms, in open spaces, by our desks. (By the way, if you don’t have a good whiteboard in your working space, here’s a nifty idea for DIY whiteboard.)
Our own art
We’re fortunate to have an office full of talented, creative people. For instance, this is a work of art by our own Teresa Brazen. She brought it in and hung it up on the wall. It makes our workspace feel more personal and unique.
There are well-stocked Altoids boxes littered all over our office. A fresh exchange of ideas? Most essential of all. | <urn:uuid:d0071bea-9da5-44f7-9872-15b1cd33c754> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.adaptivepath.com/ideas/the-creative-office | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.94812 | 739 | 1.640625 | 2 |
The Pentagon’s top leaders said Thursday that they favored supplying weapons to rebels locked in a grinding civil war with the Syrian government, a position that put them directly at odds with the White House.
Outgoing Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, made only a brief mention of their views on Syria while testifying at a Senate hearing on the attacks against the U.S. diplomatic outpost in Benghazi, Libya, last year.
But their surprise remarks underscored sharp divisions within the Obama administration over its policy toward Syria, where an estimated 60,000 people have died since an uprising against President Bashar Assad began about two years ago. The statements also marked a rare instance in which the Pentagon’s leaders publicly voiced disagreement with the White House.
At the tail end of a line of questioning about Benghazi, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., asked Panetta and Dempsey whether they had supported a plan “that we provide weapons to the resistance in Syria.” The plan, he said, was floated in the summer by then-CIA Director David Petraeus and endorsed by another heavyweight in the administration at the time, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton.
“We do,” Panetta replied.
“You did support that?” McCain asked again.
“We did,” added Dempsey, who was sitting next to Panetta. Neither elaborated on their positions.
McCain appeared taken aback by the answers. A few hours later, he issued a statement saying he was “very pleased” to learn of the Pentagon’s stance but criticized Obama for blocking arms shipments to Syrian rebels.
“What this means is that the president overruled the senior leaders of his own national security team,” said McCain, who has long advocated U.S. intervention in Syria.
“The crisis in Syria represents a graphic failure of American leadership,” McCain said. “I urge the president to heed the advice of his former and current national security leaders and immediately take the necessary steps, along with our friends and allies, that could hasten the end of the conflict in Syria.”
The White House declined to comment on the rift. At the State Department, where Secretary of State John Kerry has been in the job for a week, spokeswoman Victoria Nuland also declined to “talk about internal policy deliberations of the government.”
A U.S. defense official, however, confirmed that Panetta and Dempsey “supported looking into the idea last year” of directly arming Syrian rebels. The official, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations, said the two Pentagon leaders “understand the difficulties” of supplying weapons to the Syrian opposition and currently back Obama’s policy of giving nonlethal aid.
Later in Thursday’s hearing, in response to a follow-up question, Panetta and Dempsey confirmed that they had supported the CIA proposal in the summer to arm Syrian rebels. But Panetta added, “Obviously, there were a number of factors that were involved here that ultimately led to the president’s decision to make it nonlethal. And I supported his decision in the end.”
Obama has consistently opposed arming the Syrian resistance, saying that U.S. involvement could backfire. | <urn:uuid:ac3e64d3-294a-4ad4-bb22-a295688fb7a3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2013/feb/08/tp-pentagon-backed-plan-to-arm-rebels/?page=1 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00007-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.972024 | 689 | 1.664063 | 2 |
The German conductor, Max Pommer, studied piano and conducting at the Leipzig College of Music as well as musicology at the city's University. Subsequently, he spent some time as a pupil of Herbert von Karajan. In 1968 he obtained a Ph.D.
In 1974 Max Pommer took charge of the Leipziger Universitätschor, being appointed music director the following year. Together with members of Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, he founded the Neues Bachisches Collegium Musicum in 1978 with the aim of performing Baroque music, specially cantatas and choral works of J.S. Bach. His international breakthrough as a conductor came with this ensemble, which he brought to international recognition from 1978 to 1987. The recordings made by this ensemble received international awards (including the "Deutscher Schallplattenpreis" for J.S. Bach's Brandenburg Concertos) and were well known in Europe and the USA long before the reunification of Germany.
From 1987 to 1991, he was principal conductor of the Leipzig Radio Symphony Orchestra (MDR Sinfonieorchester), and he still collaborates with the MDR (Radio Saxony) in concerts and productions. Since 1990 he has been professor of orchestral directing and conducting at the Saarland Academy of Music. Here he founded the "Saar-Lor-Lux Orchestra", which brings together annually music students from Metz, Nancy, Luxembourg and Saarbrücken. His artistic contribution to European unification has already been highly commended: "His ensemble showed flawless technical mastery of the material, and the conductor's gestures, both functional and evocative, did the rest. We experienced a rousing concert of the highest quality." (Luxemburger Wort), and "Saar-Lor-Lux –orchestra de luxe" (Est-Republicain, Nancy).
In wide demand as a guest conductor, Max Pommer works regularly with orchestras such as the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra in Minnesota, St. Gallen Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre National Bordeaux Aquitaine, and SWR Sinfonieorchester Baden-Baden & Freiburg and others in Germany. He first conducted the Salzburg Mozarteum Orchestra at the Salzburg Festival in 1991, and has since given concerts with them in Spain and on a very successful tour of North America.
Max Pommer has been closely connected with the Hamburg Camerata – one of the excellent Hamburg ensembles – since 1991. Apart from a regular concert series with them, he has guested with them at festivals including Schleswig-Holstein, Mecklenburg and MDR Musiksommer. Since 2000 he has been first regular guest conductor of the Noordhollands Philharmonisch Orkest.
The list of Max Pommer's CD recordings is long and varied: 22 recordings for Capriccio with orchestral works by J.S. Bach, George Frideric Handel and Debussy, Symphonies and early operas by Mozart for Berlin Classics, the complete symphonic works of the Finnish composer Rautavaara and works by Kurt Weill for the Finnish label Ondine - not to forget many works by Hanns Eisler, Paul Dessau, Arnold Schoenberg and other contemporary German composers for | <urn:uuid:5aea55ef-c1a8-406a-8a71-94869b9d7896> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Bio/Pommer-Max.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.931714 | 713 | 1.523438 | 2 |
Among my father’s mementoes of World War II is a yellowed and tattered calling card.
My mother always believed it held the names of the people with whom my father might have stayed while in Paris in August 1944; it certainly must have been a couple he befriended, as he was friendly and charming as a young man.
The last time my husband and I went to Paris, my mother could not put her hands on the card and did not recall the address. But my niece has a WWII project and together they were rifling through the family archives.
The card reads “Mme. and Mr. Pierre Harel.” It gives their address as 23, Avenue Foch in Vincennes-Seine.
Thanks to Google maps, I found such an address near (but not in) Vincennes, one in Paris and about five other Avenue Fochs in Ile de France.
I will never know, unless I chance upon a 1944 phone book, which one it was.
I do know that American writer Henry Adams stayed at 23 Avenue Foch in Paris. (Thanks to Google, I know that.)
But I don’t know who the Harels were or what the card means. (The card is pictured above set against one of my father’s toques, in a box for a quarter century now, still neatly starched but growing fragile.)
I was pondering this mystery as I prepared a simple salad today. It was cool and damp outside and I could hear the lilting songs of finches and other birds as I worked. Spring!
It’s mid-week and I’m trying not to overspend on groceries. So tossing something together from odds and ends was my intention. I made a Caesar Salad from leftover red leaf Romaine and butter lettuce and then topped it with roasted asparagus.
Very simple, very springy. I ate it with a hunk of jack cheese rolled in chives and dill.
My father once told me you could make a meal of anything if you were inventive. He could do that, and his hands were deft as he invented something for us.
"You will never be hungry if you learn this," he told me.
Once when his combat engineer unit was hungry, they scrounged for dried vegetables in a barn, somewhere in France perhaps or in Germany. My father liked to retell those stories and relished the challenge of making a meal from very little. | <urn:uuid:b2482c7b-13a6-42be-8cae-7102f9c59ba0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://frenchkitcheninamerica.blogspot.com/2007/03/mystery-memento-and-spring-salad.html?showComment=1174516080000 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.985258 | 520 | 1.695313 | 2 |
Ask an Eye M.D. Answer Archive
Two nights ago at work my vision became blurry all at once. I cannot read print on the computer at 100 percent of zoom. My vision is still unchanged. The only way I am getting by at work is with reading glasses.
It is difficult to determine what has affected your vision so acutely as there are many potential causes of this. It is important that you see an eye doctor immediately to determine the diagnosis.
Answered by: John Kitchens, MD
Categories: Eye Conditions
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- Your questions are answered by more than two dozen members of the American Academy of Ophthalmology who volunteer their time with EyeSmart. | <urn:uuid:5313eeb8-661c-4ae3-ba48-54995b274584> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.eyecareamerica.org/eyesmart/ask/questions/sudden-onset-of-blurry-vision.cfm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.971427 | 162 | 1.546875 | 2 |
Fly Fishing the Texas Coast
Offats Bayou, located inside Teichman Point on the upper end of the south shoreline, is an excellent winter fishing destination because of its many deep holes and reefs. It attracts heavy fishing and boating pressure during the summer months.
Walk-in wadefishing over firm sand bottoms can be accessed at Sportsman Road Flats, where there are shrimpboat wrecks and other submerged structures. Reds and trout move across these flats with the tides. The productive shorelines and flats of South Deer Island and Confederate Reef are a short run by skiff or kayak from these flats. To get to Sportsman Road Flats, after crossing the Galveston causeway bridge on I-45 and entering Galveston, take the 61st Street exit south toward West Beach. At Seawall Boulevard, turn right and proceed along the beachfront to Eight Mile Road (Anderson Ways Road). At Eight Mile Road, turn right and proceed to West Galveston Bay. The road ends in a narrow peninsula with a launch ramp and baithouse.
The Confederate Reef Flats are another popular walk-in wadefishing area on West Bay's south shoreline. The shoreline and broad, open flats have a firm bottom ideal for wadefishing and are intersected by a number of small cuts and channels where trout congregate."You can catch school trout 50 feet from where your car is parked," says veteran upper coast flyfisher Joe DeForke. Try small, hard-bodied poppers early, then switch to Deceivers and Clousers around the edges of cuts. The Confederate Reef Flats are located on Sportsman Road off Eight Mile Road (Anderson Ways Road).
Nearby Confederate Reef also holds trout in the winter months. It is shallow, making it ideal for fishing during warming periods in the winter. Flyfishers can anchor up and cast the edges of the reef or drift the area. Boaters should use caution when approaching, especially during low tide.
The West Bay shorelines of Galveston Island State Park are accessible by kayak or johnboat and offer drive-up, walk-in wadefishing near Dana Cove and Carancahua Cove. The park provides access to a variety of flats, bayous, and shorelines that are protected under varied wind conditions. Redfish, seatrout, and flounder move to the back ends of the coves on incoming tides. Fish the points on outgoing tides.
Details mentioned in this article were accurate at the time of publication | <urn:uuid:2823f0cd-4cd3-40d8-8884-74cc051c5a1a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.gorp.com/weekend-guide/travel-ta-fly-fishing-galveston-texas-sidwcmdev_056388.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.935755 | 526 | 1.71875 | 2 |
- Be a Winner
- Free Throw Champ
- Get In The Zone
- Golf - Hitting Over Hazards
- Golf - Perfect Swing
- Golf - Putting
- Golf - Teeing Off
- Half Marathon Training
- Improve Your Archery
- Improve Your Chess
- Martial Arts
- Martial Arts Perfect Timing
- Mental Imagery For Sports
- Mental Toughness
- Play Better Snooker
- Pre-Game Nerves
- Quick off the Blocks
- Running Endurance
- Sports Injury
- Stop Steroid Abuse
- Taking Penalties
- Ten Pin Bowling
- Tennis Serve
Keep running to greater fitness and faster times
A hypnosis audio to get you into the 'running zone'
If you get cramps or a strain or some other injury then it's wise to stop and rest rather than to keep running.
But if you sometimes get that little voice in your head tempting you to stop saying 'Come on, why bother, stop running, no one need know!' - then this session is for you.
Of course the more you run, the greater your stamina, but it still feels tough sometimes to keep on running when you feel like stopping. So much of this is psychological, especially if you are physically fit. Often the first fifteen minutes or so feel like the worst until you 'get into your stride' and it starts to feel a little easier.
Bring on the feeling of flow faster
Imagine getting 'into the running zone' almost instantly you start running.
That wonderful blend of mind and body when you feel totally at one, totally merged with the act of running-running feels easy and it's easier to keep running than to stop.
The art of Zen running
This 'Zen running' is that meditative state of pure ease you experience when running becomes effortless. Some people call this the elusive 'runner's high' when natural opiates kick in. But it has more to do with the state of mind you enter.
You start to feel part machine that just keeps on running and part contemplative sage that has a sense of wider reality and perception. What a wonderful blend.
Running starts to feel like gliding over the ground as effortless mile succeeds effortless mile. Time seems to disappear and later when you finally stop because it really is time to stop running it's like awakening from a deep and wonderful active trance state.
Because running isn't just a physical activity it is a mind thing and what your mind does when you run can mean the difference between stopping and keeping on running to great fitness and faster times.
Download Keep Running now and find the 'runner's zone' sooner and more consistently than you thought possible.
Why you can relax about buying from Hypnosis Downloads...
Narrator: Roger Elliott
Download Size: 8.89 MB
Buy these together Keep RunningPerseverance - Never Give Up and save $6.95
(These products are specially selected to maximize your results from your hypnosis.)
Why we're different to other self hypnosis programs:
We're experienced and dedicated therapist trainers
Uncommon Knowledge was formed in 1995, and since then we've trained over 24,000 people at face-to-face events. We've served over 500,000 hypnosis downloads and treated more than 5,000 patients in 1:1 therapy.
We have a vibrant and friendly global community
With more than 300,000 customers and 14,000 fans of our Facebook page, we are proud to serve people from countries as far afield as New Zealand, India, South Africa, as well as Europe, the US and Canada. (And our shipping is free worldwide, did you know?)
Our customer support is second to none
Kirstin, our support manager, is a legend among our customers. She heads up a small support team who are dedicated to making your experience with Uncommon Knowledge a lovely, and hopefully long one. | <urn:uuid:fb1133dc-54fa-4f4b-90f9-a31c59e54c71> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.hypnosisdownloads.com/sports-performance/running-endurance?2794 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.939003 | 805 | 1.734375 | 2 |
While ETFs are generally regarded as “tax-efficient” investments, the multiplicity of product structures in the ETP market has created a maze of confusing possible outcomes. But by choosing the right ETP structure, along with placing it in the right type of account, advisors can help clients to greatly reduce clients’ tax bill.
ETP asset classes include bonds, commodities, currencies and stocks. Some ETPs will own the underlying securities while others will use derivatives like options or futures contracts to obtain their exposure.
Regarding product structures, ETPs generally use the following types: open-end funds, unit investment trusts (UITs), grantor trusts, limited partnerships (LPs) and exchange-traded notes (ETNs).
Before examining the specific tax treatment of ETPs, let’s analyze some simple tax-cutting strategies that use the instruments.
Smart Asset Location
Diligent financial advisors are wise to spend effort in determining the correct asset allocation for clients. But they should not overlook the importance of smart “asset location.” It’s a deliberate process that involves strategically located ETP investments among taxable and tax-deferred accounts to cut tax liabilities.
Since most equity ETFs are tax-efficient, they are an ideal choice in taxable brokerage accounts. The funds have low portfolio turnover and the redemption/creation mechanism within the fund allows portfolio managers to pass capital gains to institutional investors that redeem creation units, thereby eliminating capital gains distributions at the end of the year for ETF shareholders.
Although there are different schools of thought when it comes to asset allocation, it’s generally wise to hold bonds and REITs inside tax-deferred accounts like 401(k) plans and IRAs. Because the majority of the return delivered from bonds and REITs is via income or dividend payment, they’re subjected to potentially less favorable ordinary income tax rates. Smart “asset location” eliminates the burden of paying annual income taxes on bond interest and REIT dividends.
Tax-loss harvesting with ETFs is another opportunity to further reduce taxes. The strategy involves selling unprofitable investments and using the losses to offset taxable gains from investment winners. Keep in mind the IRS’s wash sale rule, which disallows tax losses if you sell an investment and buy something “substantially identical” within a 30 day period. Fortunately, the number of ETF choices has given advisors and their clients plenty of opportunities to maximize their tax savings. Here’s an example of tax-loss selling: Suppose a client bought $50,000 worth of Chevron in a taxable account and the value of the investment has fallen to $48,000. By selling Chevron and replacing it with the Select Sector Energy SPDR (XLE), the client would realize a $2,000 tax loss but still keep market exposure to energy stocks. That $2,000 loss can be used to offset capital gains in other investments or to offset up to $3,000 in ordinary income taxes.
Bear in Mind
This guide explains the general tax consequences for ETP products held within taxable investment accounts. The tax rates cited are applicable to the 2012 tax year and are subject to change. Please be aware that every investor’s tax situation is unique and a tax professional should always be consulted. This educational tool should not be construed as tax advice. | <urn:uuid:7e8ac57e-5222-450f-8dc8-06282a364142> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.advisorone.com/2012/03/26/guide-to-etp-taxation | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.937771 | 695 | 1.515625 | 2 |
Mobile technology: India and BlackBerry standoff could lead to ban
India says it wants to keep mobile technology and Internet markets safe from militants. BlackBerry says it won't give India special treatment.
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Thursday, India’s home ministry warned that it would cut BlackBerry business e-mail and messaging services if its manufacturer, Research in Motion Ltd. (RIM), did not make them accessible to security agencies by Aug. 31. The government fears that the BlackBerry encryption could provide cover for terrorist activity.
A government source said India would pursue any other companies, including Google, to keep mobile and Internet markets safe from militants, Reuters reported on Friday. The 10 armed gunmen who attacked Mumbai in November 2008, killing 166 people, used cell and satellite phones to communicate with their handlers. India is also battling insurgencies in Kashmir, the northeast, and a Maoist rebellion in many others parts of the country.
It is not yet clear whether the home ministry’s threat will lead to a BlackBerry ban in India. For the time being, India and RIM are locked in a standoff.
The company has responded to the government’s request with a decisive “no.” It would not, it said in a statement published Thursday, compromise the security of its service; nor would it give any countries special treatment.
But the threat presents a dilemma to RIM. India has the fastest growing telecoms market in the world, and it has become an increasingly important market to the Canadian company as it has lost market share in the United States to rival Google Inc.'s Android and Apple Inc.'s iPhone.
Indeed, some 1 million of BlackBerry’s 41 million total customers live in India, with more buying into the technology every day.
“This is a government-mandated death threat,” the Hindustan Times newspaper wrote in an editorial Friday. “It's somewhere between very difficult and impossible for RIM to comply.”
The government’s threat applies to a system used by corporate BlackBerry users, which requires special software to connect to the company’s e-mail system. The vast majority of BlackBerry users in India are on this system.
India, for its part, does not want to dampen its appeal as a destination for high-tech companies or business people for whom secure communications is essential. So far, no country that has threatened to cut BlackBerry services has done so. On Tuesday, Saudi Arabia and RIM reached a last-minute agreement that allowed BlackBerry to continue operations.
The United Arab Emirates last week called for a ban on BlackBerry e-mail, messaging, and Internet services, saying the devices "allow users to act without any legal accountability, causing judicial, social and national security concerns." It has threatened to shut off the services in October unless it works out a compromise with RIM. | <urn:uuid:6b1163ce-edf4-439a-b1b1-1b7a5c799970> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Asia-South-Central/2010/0813/Mobile-technology-India-and-BlackBerry-standoff-could-lead-to-ban | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.951105 | 587 | 1.6875 | 2 |
December 13, 2007
December 9, 2007
Chimuelo -sin los dientes de la leche-
soy el retrato duro de un pirata
dormido en la corriente, sin la pata
de palo, cerrado un ojo en Campeche,
por culpa de la desfondada Meche
que piedrota me dio con una lata.
Así anduve de aquí a salto de mata,
antes de conservarme en escabeche.
Hubo una guerra en mi rostro arado.
.....la saga etílica y el frío
adoctrinado desde la intemperie.
Sobrio los doce pasos e inclinado.
Los meses en la cárcel del estío.
Y una mirada de mujer en serie.
December 4, 2007
December 2, 2007
The elusive nature of the world’s most famous brand, not to say the curious road to its definition, will be illuminated next week as never before when the Library of Congress unveils an addition to its permanent collection nicknamed “America’s baptismal document.” The document in question, a four-and-a-half-foot-by-eight-foot map, will be receiving national-treasure treatment more appropriate to a Jerry Bruckheimer blockbuster. After all, in its 200-year history, the library has never waited longer, nor paid more, to acquire any single object: 100 years and $10 million were spent obtaining this last surviving print of a map of the world made in 1507 by an obscure German cartographer, Martin Waldseemüller — a map that happens to feature the first use of a certain seven letter word with an understandable appeal to our de facto national library: “America”. To house this treasure, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has built an encasement. At 2,000 pounds, its pressurized, argon-gas-filled environment is the largest case of its kind — big brother to the only other such cases NIST has made, those that protect the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.
The Waldseemüller map, of course, is no charter of freedom, but as both it and the “America” it coined turn 500 this year, the map’s prominent inclusion in the story we tell about ourselves offers a glimpse at a kind of lexicographic liberty — how a word acquires meaning, often despite itself. For the story of the naming of America is one we think we know: Amerigo Vespucci, that famously self-promoting explorer, outfoxed not Columbus the discoverer but Columbus the marketer and managed to wheedle his name onto a whole hemisphere of continents he didn’t deserve. “Strange,” Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote, “that broad America must wear the name of a thief. Amerigo Vespucci, the pickle-dealer at Seville, who . . . managed in this lying world to supplant Columbus and baptize half the earth with his own dishonest name.” The only problem with this story — one in which America’s name harbors a prophetic seed of self-promotion that later flowers into a full-fledged huckster’s paradise — is its inaccuracy. The real story is more telling still, and begins with Waldseemüller.
Created collaboratively in 1507 in the French town of St. Dié by Waldseemüller and his humanist colleagues, their ambitious series of woodblock prints represented the most comprehensive collation to date of the Western world’s geographical knowledge, crediting Columbus and Vespucci by name for features discovered during their explorations of a few years earlier. A handbook published with the map offered Waldseemüller’s reasoning behind placing — in the southern quadrant of his map’s western hemisphere; on a lumpy banana of land meant to be the continent to our south — the name “America”:
[A] fourth [continent] of the world . . . has been discovered
by Amerigo Vespucci. Because . . .
Europe and Asia were named after women, I can
see no reason why anyone would have good reason
to object to calling this fourth part Amerige,
the land of Amerigo, or America, after the man of
great ability who discovered it.
The “good reason” to object to calling it “the land of Amerigo” would have been that among Vespucci’s “great abilities,” discovery wasn’t one. Waldseemüller seems to have been misled by a document known as the Soderini Letter, a narrative account said to have been by Vespucci but believed by modern scholars to have been forged by unscrupulous publishers. The letter reports that our shores are populated by giants, cannibals and sexually insatiable females — and implies that Vespucci reached this mundus novus pornographicus before that fellow Columbus. Though Felipe Fernández-Armesto, author of this year’s excellent “Amerigo”, makes very clear that Vespucci was not above self-promotion, he also argues persuasively that Vespucci had nothing to do with the Soderini Letter, nor therefore the elevation of his name to hemispheric heights. Waldseemüller seems to have later wised to his own credulity, removing “America” and replacing it with “Terra Incognita” on his subsequent maps. Still, he couldn’t erase the path his first map cut through the world: “America” had spread across maps and globes and minds, irreversibly.
Whereas Waldseemüller’s map seemed to have disappeared irretrievably. Despite what was said to be an initial printing of 1,000 copies, none were known to have survived into the 19th century, until an Austrian Jesuit priest named Josef Fischer, who taught high-school geography and history at a boarding school, finally found one. In a footnote to his forgotten opus, “Discoveries of the Norsemen in America,” Fischer recalls his scholarly sleuthing in a German castle: “I had spent two days in carefully examining the contents of Prince Waldburg-Wolfegg’s library. The following day I came across a Codex, elephant folio, dated 1515.” In it, Fischer found a rare engraving by Albrecht Dürer that was “carefully entered in the catalog of the unique Wolfegg collection of engravings.” What was not noted in any catalog were the folio’s further contents: several large maps that sat unnoticed for some 300 years — one of which featured an unlikely detail. “I turned over some more sheets,” Fischer explained, “and on Sheet 9, I found ‘America’ printed in large type.”
Fischer knew what that “America” meant, but what — beyond Emerson’s erroneous sense of America embodying a hidden fraudulence — does “America” mean? Vespucci’s given name is said to derive from the Old German Almaric, which literally means “work ruler” — a derivation that one nomenclatural historian called “a curiously appropriate title for the new world of labor and progress.” Curious indeed, given that those who first heard it would have thought retirement: Waldseemüller’s map claimed America was filled not merely with giants and loose natives but also with piles of gold. In any case, the word quickly took on the talismanic power that foreign names often do. “America” has stimulated generations of imaginations, filling them with hope for something better or hatred of something worse. The “America” of
And it is, in fact, a similar chance for redefinition that the Library of Congress is now providing visitors. Yes, the case, which dwarfs those of our Declaration of Independence and our Constitution, is somewhat grandiose, perhaps suggesting a characteristically American presumption. And yet, if we can see past the 600-pound piece of glass and the argon gas within and stare at a space on the map barely an inch long occupied by seven significant letters, you cannot help seeing an “America” that, very briefly, has been shorn of all meaning. It is — and most usefully — once again a newly minted word, one that might still mean anything. | <urn:uuid:ecaf8e66-4ac9-4cf1-831b-1482df49f322> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://enriquegdelag.blogspot.com/2007_12_01_archive.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706890813/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516122130-00005-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.943319 | 1,858 | 1.53125 | 2 |
Greeks will head to the polls in a snap election this Sunday amidst the hardest economic crisis in a generation.
Voters are bitter and frustrated, having been subjected to continental humiliation in the form of severe cuts and austerity measures. But over 75 per cent of Greeks remain supportive of keeping the euro as their currency, The Guardian reports.
Evangelos Venizelos, former Greek finance minister and current leader of the socialist Pasok party, spoke to the British newspaper about the possibility that Greece would have to abandon the euro.
From the interview:
“The Greek people will have to give a clear answer as to whether it wants [to follow] a pro-European course, which is safe and responsible, or something else.”
“There are certain misconceptions that worry me: for instance, the misconception that whatever happens we are not going to leave the euro.”
“Europe and the eurozone have no reason, rationally, to push Greece out of the euro. But this is a system in which many parties, many countries, many governments, many electorates participate and we could have events which, rationally, are not controllable.” | <urn:uuid:8035a54b-7288-40b5-8954-21d205bd5855> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www2.macleans.ca/2012/05/01/despite-it-all-most-greeks-want-to-keep-euro-as-currency/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961521 | 243 | 1.710938 | 2 |
What is very important in life is to be an "honest person" and "to love your parents".
God will give you the rest.
Masha always pays attention to her fans. It is a part of her nice attitude. Here an example in Turkey.
Today after my practice I hit with some talented young juniors, they were so nice.
RARE VIDEO OF MASHA: http://www.youtube.com/w...xbSE&feature=related
The fact that Masha loves so much her Dad, it is very sweet to hear it.
Very much agreed! People who grow up in very family orientated cultures in particular tend to have a wonderful attitude; as well as a sense of gratitude and humility. To common it has become for people to be proud, arrogant and even agressive and violent. Such a shame that these bad qualities have become so sought after. I admire Maria's demeanour very much. That is not say that I think she is without fault! I do not expect her to be perfect or to make the right decisions. Such would be overly demanding and nieve. However, having that foundation of better qualities stands you in good stead in those moments when your human nature for entropy reveals itself. Maria, if you could read this, never lose those qualities. It's very easy to lose sight of their value when you have so many people adoring and praising you. Never forget who you are.
We have to believe in Maria Sharapova.
Masha always pays attention to her fans. It is a part of her nice attitude. Here an example in Turkey the last year | <urn:uuid:9ed35b40-8c7a-4795-9f02-7df0e4bc714e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.mariasharapova.com/forum/yaf_postsm312907_Maria-is-the-nicest-athlete-in-the-world.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.968491 | 334 | 1.578125 | 2 |
The large round face of Parameshwar Hedge is a study of animated concentration. Eyes squeezed shut and mouth contorting into various shapes, Hedge appears to be searching for the right note, foraging for a raga composed three centuries ago.
As sounds begin to emerge in long thin lines, his quest continues. His eyebrows dance along his forehead like a sound frequency. His head moves like a seesaw off balance. He looks as if he is about to sneeze; a moment later, like he will break into tears, or laughter.
When his eyes finally open, wide and bloodshot, they appear battle worn. It is just the warm up.
For the next hour and a half, the celebrated Hindustani vocalist and two accompanists offer a concert of 18th century devotional music held at the Sangati Center at the intersection of 22nd and Shotwell Streets.
“You want to listen to Indian music in a chamber setting? This is the only game in town,” said Aahlad Yeturu, a regular, who sat so close to Hedge at the Friday night show that he could see the singer’s uvula waver.
Since discovering the venue two years ago, Yeturu has made a Friday night habit of driving from his office in San Ramon to the show at the Sangati Center before returning home to Foster City. “Nothing compares to listening to music from the instrument,” said Yeturu, “the way it’s been heard for centuries.”
Gautam Tejas Ganeshan, a musician and director of the nonprofit venue, said it was exactly that shared belief that motivated him two years ago to open Sangati, named for the Sanskrit word for “coming together.” But when he began, not all fans of the music were so enthusiastic.
“The primary skepticism came from people already invested in Indian music,” said Ganeshan, sitting in a café near his Berkeley home the morning after the Hedge concert. Those skeptics found his art house presentation—at a small venue with no amplification—vastly different from the grand concerts of famous classical musicians in both India and the United States, and unprofessional.
It didn’t help that Ganeshan was just 23.
With a curly mop of hair, he looks startlingly young to be the director of his own nonprofit organization–and one devoted to conserving an ancient art form, no less.
But it was the rebellious attitude—he too slipped off his shoes for the Friday evening concert, revealing painted blue toenails–-of this second-generation Indian American that gave Ganeshan the confidence to go against the grain.
After graduating from the University of Texas, he moved to the Bay Area to pursue his passion of performing and teaching Indian classical violin and singing. But the options were limited.
“Typically,” he said, “Indian classical music concerts fall into one of two categories.” The first he calls the “superstar concert,” where someone like Ravi Shankar is brought to a big venue, tickets cost over 50 dollars, and most of the audience can barely see the performer from their seats.
In the second category, Indian community organizations invite an artist, rent out a high school auditorium, and promote the show within the South Asian community. “You,” Ganeshan says to a non-Indian reporter, “probably wouldn’t find out about those.”
As a musician, Ganeshan finds both of those settings imperfect. “I am most interested in chamber concerts: unamplified, no sound system, everybody’s right there in the same room.”
“It’s a really really pure, beautiful art, so I thought I should do something to create a space that makes the concert experience reflect the depth of the music,” he said. “Simple but beautiful.”
Comprising the front room in a corner building on 22nd and Shotwell Streets, the Sangati Center projects an aesthetic at once refined and unpretentious. Persian rugs cover the floor, where musicians and guests sit on cushions. Gold and wine colored walls host art exhibits—currently, black and white photographs from India—and houseplants, candles, and a wooden bench round out the organic feel.
Several Indian Americans–who, like Yeturu, came from the South Bay–as well as Mission District locals attended the Hedge concert. “I forgot where we were,” said Vidya Ventress, who lives up the street, after the concert. “And we’re on 22nd and Shotwell. Who would’ve known?”
A growing number of people do know, in fact. Today, Ganeshan answers calls from touring Indian artists. The Sangati Center is often the smallest venue on their itinerary.
Ganeshan, imitating a Bengali accent, recalls the speech one prominent sitar player made before his performance. “So many of my concerts, half the people who are there, they dress up in their fine costumes, they’re there to see and be seen,” he said. “Sangati Center, I can assure you nobody is here for social status. You have all come to listen to music and I appreciate it very much.” | <urn:uuid:d44e30bc-1ec1-46ca-a50c-49b9a73398bb> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://missionlocal.org/2008/10/traditional-indian-music-in-a-nontraditional-way/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.964554 | 1,126 | 1.65625 | 2 |
You, however, are not controlled by the sinful nature but are in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. … For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. (Romans 8:9, 14)
Said George: “You know we are on a wrong track altogether. We must not think of the things we could do with, but only of the things that we can’t do without.” -Three Men in a Boat: To say nothing of the Dog, by Jerome K. Jerome. To understand Paul’s take on the Holy Spirit, we first need a lesson in filters. In your car, an air-intake system feeds the engine’s compressors. That system takes in both air and everything floating in it—pollen, bugs, dirt, everything. That’s why we need an air filter. It prevents all those fragments from clogging the engine.
What works for car engines works for spiritual engines, too. We also have an intake system, complete with filters that decide what we take in and what we filter out. For instance, if I believe in reincarnation, then my experience of the natural world will filter through that belief. Childhood wounds will filter adult conversations and relationships. Our filters determine what gets to our “engines.”
This is why Paul makes such a strong case for the Spirit-filtered life as he describes the marks of this life in Romans 8. This is the shape of a life controlled by (filtered by) the Spirit of God:
- We begin to think more of God than ourselves. It doesn’t happen overnight, but over time our worldview changes. We begin to see a bigger picture. We filter more and more of our decisions through God’s values and God’s desires. Our choices take on a less selfish, more Kingdom-minded quality.
- We will still experience the limits of sin. That’s what makes the life-changing message of forgiveness just as important for a Spirit-filled person as it does for one who just got saved. Spirit-filtered people value the practices of confession and repentance because they keep our spiritual engines running smoothly. We take time daily to pray with Paul, “Lord, fill me with your Holy Spirit” (Ephesians 5:18). Spirit-filled people are not perfectionists, but we energetically pursue the practice of perfect love—the ultimate mark of the Holy Spirit.
- We experience life on God’s terms. I once heard a personal trainer tell her new client during their first work-out together, “You are now a person with a routine.” I like that. Spirit-filtered people are people with a spiritual routine. We experience life on God’s terms and our calendars and checkbooks are filtered through the pleasures of God.
- God will do the same thing in us that he did in Jesus. Jesus said we would receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on us (Acts 1:8), and that we’d do the things he did and more (John 14:12). Under the authority of the Holy Spirit, we have power to cast out demons, cure diseases, preach the gospel and heal the sick (Luke 9:1). Spirit-filtered people take that authority seriously.
- We are delivered from the dead life and into son/daughter status. Because he lives, we live. A Spirit-filtered person does not interpret his experiences through the lens of death and rejection but through life and acceptance. After all, Jesus didn’t come to make bad people good; he came to make dead people live.
- Our body will be as alive as Christ’s. Everything we believe—our entire worldview as followers of Jesus – depends on the fact of Jesus being in the presence of God in the flesh on our behalf right now. Our flesh in heaven is a sure pledge that God is at peace with all who believe. And God’s Spirit in us is our assurance of His plan to give us access to all the powers of Heaven. We are as alive as Christ, right now, in the spiritual realm.
Where these marks are present in a follower of Jesus, life is different. We begin to see financial strain not as a roadblock but as a miracle in the making. Mistakes no longer define us because they have been filtered through forgiveness. Our stories of shame and guilt become a testament to grace. Brokenness becomes a pathway to peace. Death is a doorway to glory.
The Spirit-filtered life is characterized by an other-worldly perspective. This leaves us with a burning question: does my life reflect that perspective? What filters the things that flow into my spiritual engine? How do I interpret my experiences—as one bound by the spirits of this dark world, or as one led by the Spirit of God?
May you experience the pure joy and deep peace of a life filtered by the Holy Spirit.
Read part 1, “When God Moves We Move”
Read part 2, “The Rock, the Ripples, and the River”
Read part 4, “Claiming Our Inheritance” | <urn:uuid:77fb45db-7345-4df6-b1ab-3d0ad4828455> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://seedbed.com/feed/marks-of-the-spirit-filtered-life/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.948106 | 1,086 | 1.5625 | 2 |
Revelation given through Joseph Smith the Prophet, at Salem, Massachusetts, August 6, 1836. At this time the leaders of the Church were heavily in debt due to their labors in the ministry. Hearing that a large amount of money would be available to them in Salem, the Prophet, Sidney Rigdon, Hyrum Smith, and Oliver Cowdery traveled there from Kirtland, Ohio, to investigate this claim, along with preaching the gospel. The brethren transacted several items of Church business and did some preaching. When it became apparent that no money was to be forthcoming, they returned to Kirtland. Several of the factors prominent in the background are reflected in the wording of this revelation.
1 I, the Lord your God, am a displeased with your coming this journey, notwithstanding your follies.
2 I have much a in this city for you, for the benefit of Zion, and many people in this city, whom I will gather out in due time for the benefit of Zion, through your instrumentality.
3 Therefore, it is expedient that you should form a with men in this city, as you shall be led, and as it shall be given you.
4 And it shall come to pass in due time that I will a this city into your hands, that you shall have power over it, insomuch that they shall not b your secret parts; and its wealth pertaining to gold and silver shall be yours.
5 Concern not yourselves about your a, for I will give you power to pay them.
6 Concern not yourselves about Zion, for I will deal mercifully with her.
7 Tarry in this place, and in the regions round about;
8 And the place where it is my will that you should tarry, for the main, shall be signalized unto you by the a and power of my b, that shall flow unto you.
9 This place you may obtain by hire. And inquire diligently concerning the more ancient inhabitants and founders of this city;
10 For there are more treasures than one for you in this city.
11 Therefore, be ye as a as serpents and yet without b; and I will order all things for your c, as fast as ye are able to receive them. Amen. | <urn:uuid:80235d2d-6d30-4eef-a05c-f5440b4b1f05> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.lds.org/scriptures/dc-testament/dc/111?lang=eng | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.973621 | 468 | 1.640625 | 2 |
She’s Fast, but Is She a Woman?
Posted on Aug 19, 2009
South Africa’s 18-year-old Caster Semenya, the new 800-meter world champion, is so fast the International Association of Athletics Federations has dispatched an endocrinologist, a gynecologist, an internist, a genderist (?) and a psychologist to determine whether she’s actually female.
That has to be an awkward conversation. And how is this development supposed to make women feel?
A spokesman said, “The gender verification test is an extremely complex procedure.” How complex can it possibly be? —PS
“In the case of this athlete, following her breakthrough in the African junior championships, the rumours, the gossip was starting to build up,” said Davies.
“The gender verification test is an extremely complex procedure. The situation today is that we do not have any conclusive evidence that she should not be allowed to run.”
A group of doctors, including an endocrinologist, a gynaecologist, an internal medicine expert, an expert on gender and a psychologist, have started the testing procedure but it is uncertain when the results will be known.
IAAF / Clyde Koa Wing | <urn:uuid:c8bdd678-a96e-4663-908a-8a857cb58fb7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.truthdig.com/eartotheground/print/20090819_shes_fast_but_is_she_a_woman/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.939103 | 262 | 1.601563 | 2 |
What a professional caregiver should never forget
Elaine C. Pereira
Pat Summitt and Ronald Reagan are two very prominent people diagnosed with Alzheimer's. The public disclosure of their illness and subsequent battles are legendary. Anyone in the healthcare field caring for these well known figures would be cognizant that their delivery of care and personal interactions were always professional.
Let me share the story of another real life person with dementia—Elizabeth “Betty” Ward. She was born in 1924 and was five when the Great Depression began. She attended Purdue University, earned her bachelor's degree in chemistry and worked at Upjohn Co. in Kalamazoo, Mich. There she met and married a serviceman, Wayne Ward.
Their first son Jerry was born in 1947, followed by David. In August 1951, 19-month old David was killed in a tragic car accident while Elizabeth was pregnant with their third child, a girl. Betty suffered considerable facial and head injuries that would later manifest as Meniere's Disease.
Betty earned her master's degree and taught high school calculus until her Meniere's eventually caused profound deafness, which forced a medical retirement. In 1995, Wayne sustained a stroke, which suddenly cast Betty into a nine-year role as a selfless caregiver. Needing more help, they moved into an assisted living facility in 1999.
On New Year's Day 2001, her son's wife Wendie was diagnosed with Glioblastoma succumbing one month later. On Mother's Day 2003, her son told her about his diagnosis with Stage 4 esophageal cancer! Her husband died on Easter 2004 and her son that very same Christmas. Soon after, Betty began her erratic, slow journey through dementia, accompanied by her daughter.
Betty was my mom!
Gradually, Mom's goofy, illogical behaviors escalated. My once brilliant math major mom literally wrote nine checks to her insurance company and later couldn't even add 2+2. Her kind, loving persona dissolved into a rage of paranoia accusing "them" of stealing her pants or a nail file! She became an unsafe driver, meandering in lost oblivion for 20 miles.
Regardless of your role providing assistance to another, never forget that the screeching, defiant woman whom you are helping to dress is someone's daughter, mother or best girlfriend. The man who desperately needs assistance with oral hygiene but has his teeth clenched tight refusing your help, might have been an administrative CEO.
There are no consistently effective responses for someone anguishing with confusion and unhinged by events they believe to be real. But there are definitely inappropriate ones. It takes inordinate patience to keep redirecting someone, to repeat the same information over and over, to remain composed when a person is hostile.
Dementia is an insidious disease that robs us of our loved ones, turning them into someone no one recognizes. It manifests as a smoldering fire, choking one's orientation to time, pretzel twisting the gray matter and fogging one's judgment.
As an occupational therapist, I knew firsthand what I should and should not see, hear, or experience at mom's assisted-living center. I was always listening in on employee conversations, watching for eye rolls and observing their touch when providing physical care.
What I try to remind professional caregivers is:
- Never forget that every resident has a past, a story worth hearing if they could only tell it.
- Never forget how you would want a wheelchair bound individual to be treated if they were your mother, brother or friend.
- Never forget that every resident is Pat Summitt or Ron Reagan to someone else.
Elaine C. Pereira is the author of I Will Never Forget: A Daughter's Story of her Mother's Arduous and Humorous Journey Through Dementia. | <urn:uuid:7159a91e-f9e8-4bbb-aacb-1d0c85852664> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.mcknights.com/what-a-professional-caregiver-should-never-forget/article/264397/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.972613 | 781 | 1.53125 | 2 |
The Secretariat has over 1,000 full-time staff in more than 60 countries. Seventy percent of staff members are from developing countries.
Accountable to the IUCN Council, the Secretariat is led by a Director General and a Deputy Director General. The Secretariat has a decentralized structure with regional, outpost, country and project offices around the world. IUCN’s headquarters are in Gland, near Geneva, Switzerland. | <urn:uuid:7f7c477a-ce69-4dff-a990-7c73bc433052> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://mailto:francois.simard@iucn.org/about/union/secretariat/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.95719 | 91 | 1.804688 | 2 |
A group of cyber criminals is attempting to con Windows users into letting them access their PCs remotely, according to recruitment consultancy IntaPeople.
The scammers are calling users from a London telephone number, claiming to be from the Windows Support Centre and offering to remove viruses from their computer remotely.
Rob Samuel, IT manager at the firm, was contacted by the bogus Windows support team recently.
"Individuals should be on guard for any unexpected phone calls of this nature. It might sound legitimate, especially if you have been suffering from a virus around the same time as the call, but error reports would never be submitted to external sources and chased up in this way.
"Once the group has gained access to the user's machine, they will undoubtedly look to extort as much valuable information as they can."
Does Google know too much about you?
Are you ready for BYOD? Here are seven questions you should answer as you roll out new mobile capabilities
Uncertainty about return on investment and skills shortages needs to be overcome if the promise of big data technologies is to be fulfilled
Date: 25 Jun 2013
The IT Leaders Forum brings together the senior IT professionals who drive technology decisions within major UK enterprises. The forum provides delegates...
Date: 17 Sep 2013
Security is a top priority for IT professionals, and one of their biggest challenges is remaining up to date with new threats posed by cyber criminals.... | <urn:uuid:a102a6f3-2caf-46c6-97eb-1be003b45c58> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.computing.co.uk/ctg/news/2042862/windows-users-targeted-phone-scam | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.947055 | 286 | 1.6875 | 2 |
During the three-hour event, participants had the chance to explore the distinctive characteristics of a rural Vietnamese market, traditional dishes and folk games.
Foreign guests were surprised by Vietnam’s traditional costumes, colourful New Year Greetings cards and intricate handicrafts made by Vietnamese nationals in France.
“We bought several products, especially New Year Greetings Cards, for my friends to be framed and hung on the wall,” said L. Catherine, a French guest.
On display at the cuisine stand were special Tet dishes such as spring rolls, pork pie and square cakes. They were displayed in such a way that the Vietnamese who attended felt as if they were enjoying the Tet atmosphere in the homeland with relatives and friends.
Many international visitors were quite satisfied after tasting the dishes.
“I ate shrimp salad and spring rolls which were completely different from what we eat every day. They were very delicious,” said one foreign guest.
Participants also enjoyed an art performance staged by children of Vietnamese nationals living in France. The focal point of the programme was an epic called “Thang Long – Vietnamese Soul” depicting the history of Vietnam thousands of years ago. Vietnamese and French ballet artists performed at the event as well.
The programme was co-hosted by the Vietnamese Association, the Vietnam Students Association and the Vietnamese Youth Association in France. | <urn:uuid:ed629501-f37b-485b-80bd-5700d9370e1d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.footprintsvietnam.com/Travelnews/2010/February/Vietnamese-celebrate-Tet-festival-in-France.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.984156 | 278 | 1.523438 | 2 |
How to Stand Out in the Job Search Crowd
30/03/2012 § 46 Comments
Over the last couple of weeks, we have brought you a series of posts about preparing yourself for the job search. Ashley gave you general advice she gleaned from an interview with a hiring manager. Rose brought you advice on filling out your job application and creating a cover letter. Then Laura talked about tips for how to dress when you go to an interview or job fair. Today’s post talks about a tool you can add to your job search toolkit to help you stand out: the eportfolio.
The portfolio concept has been around for a long time within the art and architecture fields. In a portfolio, a student builds a collection of examples of his or her work to showcase to potential employers. This concept, however, is a relatively new one within library and information science schools. Some schools, such as San Jose State University, require all their students to complete one [Correction: SJSU gives students the option of creating one over a thesis, and most students do chose this option.]. Others, such as the University of Tennessee, are in the process of implementing the eportfolio as an alternative to the thesis or comprehensive exams. Today, I’m going to answer four questions to introduce you to the eportfolio and explain how it can be an asset to your job search, namely:
- What is an eportfolio?
- What are its benefits?
- Why should I consider making one?
- How do I get started?
What is an ePortfolio?
An eportfolio is an online showcase and demonstration of your skills and knowledge. It’s a website where you discuss your education, showcase and exhibit products you’ve created, and accent your improvements and growth throughout grad school and beyond. The eportfolio also provides a platform for collection of “learning artifacts.” Learning artifacts are actual examples of your learning. They can be in the form of exams, projects, presentations, or research papers. You can also use an eportoflio for visualization of important material and knowledge. For example, you can display concept maps for each of your classes to display what you learned to strengthen and enhance your learning.
What are its Benefits?
One of the major benefits of preparing an eportfolio is that it provides a place for active learning and reflection. Active learning is the opposite of passive learning. Passive learners sit in the classroom — maybe taking notes, maybe not — and listen to the teacher. They study and take exams, but rarely give the material another thought. Active learners constantly reflect upon what the material is teaching them and how they can apply it to their future goals. When their tests are returned, they analyze what they did well on and what they need to work on. They write a journal entry about it to solidify the experience and extract the important details to take away from it. They might even attempt to redo the exam questions they missed to improve them. This form of learning causes the students to truly synthesize the material into their thinking, not merely memorize and regurgitate it for an exam.
Another benefit of an eportfolio is that you can demonstrate how you’ve grown and improved over the course of your graduate school years. This is key, because employers want to see that you can grow once they hire you. They expect you to continue learning and growing as an employee, so accentuating this in your eportfolio proves to them that you’re capable.
Why Should I Consider Making One?
Even if your program doesn’t require you to make one or offer it as an option, you should create one. Contributing to your eportfolio throughout your career will place you above the crowd in each of your classes because you will have synthesized the material far more deeply than your classmates. You will also stand out when you graduate because you will have proof of your skills, knowledge, talents, and growth to show your potential employers. Simply telling an employer what you can do in a resume and cover letter is one thing, but showing them examples of where you’ve actually done it makes you stand out.
How Do I Get Started?
Creating your own eportfolio is easy! You can use any web content management software you are familiar with, such as Drupal or WordPress. I suggest you start with WordPress because it is very easy to operate. Almost anyone can get started in WordPress with almost no web design experience. Simply set up a free account in WordPress and get started. There are plenty of WordPress tutorials on Youtube to help.
My eportfolio is still being built (I’m in my second semester at the University of Tennessee), but I’m happy to share it with you. It’s a work in progress and will constantly be changing. There is still a lot I want to do with it that I haven’t done yet. I’m happy to hear suggestions from those of you with some web design experience on how to make it better. Just click here!
Would you consider setting up an eportfolio? If so, do you have any other questions about it that I could answer? If you already have an eportfolio in some form or another, tell us about it and provide a link to it, if you don’t mind. | <urn:uuid:09402cc3-169d-451a-ac46-6386c51e7c80> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://hacklibschool.wordpress.com/2012/03/30/eportfolio/?like=1&source=post_flair&_wpnonce=39eb77acf0 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.952556 | 1,106 | 1.664063 | 2 |
Conventional wisdom says you need to eat lots of carbs to exercise. As you probably know that’s not true. But how low carb can you go — and are there even benefits to performance from eating extremely low carb?
Peter Attia is a medical doctor and an endurance athlete. He’s learned from the world’s biggest experts on keto-adaptation (such as dr Stephen Phinney) and in the last few years he has relentlessly self-experimented.
Here dr Attia shares his insights on very low carb (ketogenic) diets and physical and mental performance. | <urn:uuid:dbe958c8-3c9e-4153-9a41-2b3e290044aa> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://paleorunners.blogspot.com/2012/08/low-carb-for-athletes.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.955665 | 125 | 1.796875 | 2 |
As reported here and here, Apple has updated the language in the latest release of their iPhone/iPad developer tools to explicitly disallow development with other tools and languages:
I’m happy that Apple is being explicit about this sort of thing, rather than their previous passive aggressive stance that gave more wiggle room for their apologists. This is a big “screw you” to Adobe in particular, who had been planning to release a Flash-to-iPhone converter with Creative Suite 5. I understand why they’re doing it, but in the broader scheme of what’s at stake, why pick a fight with one of the largest software vendors for the Mac?
In addition to being grounded in total, obsessive control over the platform, the argument seems to be that the only way to make a proper iPhone/iPad experience is to build things with their tools, as a way to prevent people from developing for multiple platforms at once. This has two benefits: first, it encourages developers to think within the constraints and affordances of the platform, and second, it forces potential developers to make a choice of which platform they’re going to support. It’s not quite doubling the amount of work that would go into creating an app for both, say, the iPhone and Android, but it’s fairly close. So what will people develop for? The current winner with all the marketing and free hype from the press.
To be clear, developing within the constraints of a platform is incredibly important for getting an application right. But using Apple’s sanctioned tools doesn’t guarantee that, and using a legal document to enforce said tools steps into the ridiculous.
Fundamentally, I think the first argument — that to create a decent application you have to develop a certain way, with one set of tools — is bogus. It’s a lack of trust in your developers and even moreso, a distrust of the market. In the early days of the Macintosh, it was difficult to get companies to rework their DOS (or even Apple II) applications to use the now-familiar menu bars and icons. The Human Interface Guidelines addressed it specifically. And when companies ignored those warnings, and released software that was a clear port from a DOS equivalent, people got upset and the software got trashed. Just search for the phrase “not mac-like” and you’ll get the picture. Point being, people came around on developing for the Mac, and it didn’t require a legal document saying that developers had to use MPW and ResEdit.
The market demanded software that felt like Macintosh applications, and it’s the same for the iPhone and iPad. On the tools side, the free choice also meant that the market produced far better tools than what Apple provided — instead of the archaic MPW (ironically, itself something of a terminal application), Think Pascal, Lightspeed C, Metrowerks Codewarrior, and even Resorcerer all filled in various gaps at different times, all providing a better platform than (or at least a suitable alternative to) Apple’s tools.
But like this earlier post, it seems like Apple is being run by someone who is re-fighting battles of the 80s and 90s, but whose personal penchant for control prevents him from learning from the outcomes. That rhyming sound you hear? It’s history.
R is also the name of a popular programming language used by a growing number of data analysts inside corporations and academia. It is becoming their lingua franca partly because data mining has entered a golden age, whether being used to set ad prices, find new drugs more quickly or fine-tune financial models. Companies as diverse as Google, Pfizer, Merck, Bank of America, the InterContinental Hotels Group and Shell use it.
R is also open source, another focus of the article, which includes quoted gems such as this one from commercial competitor SAS:
“I think it addresses a niche market for high-end data analysts that want free, readily available code,” said Anne H. Milley, director of technology product marketing at SAS. She adds, “We have customers who build engines for aircraft. I am happy they are not using freeware when I get on a jet.”
Pure gold: free software is scary software! And freeware? Is she trying to conflate R with free software downloads from CNET?
Truth be told, I don’t think I’d want to be on a plane that used a jet engine designed or built with SAS (or even R, for that matter). Does she know what her product does? (A hint: It’s a statistics package. You might analyze the engine with it, but you don’t use it for design or construction.)
For those less familiar with the project, some examples:
…companies like Google and Pfizer say they use the software for just about anything they can. Google, for example, taps R for help understanding trends in ad pricing and for illuminating patterns in the search data it collects. Pfizer has created customized packages for R to let its scientists manipulate their own data during nonclinical drug studies rather than send the information off to a statistician.
At any rate, many congratulations to Robert Gentleman and Ross Ihaka, the original creators, for their success. It’s a wonderful thing that they’re making enough of a rumpus that a stats package is being covered in a mainstream newspaper.
Another language, Chef, illustrates different design decisions for structuring play. Chef facilities double-coding programs as recipes. Variables are declared in an ingredients list, with amounts indicating the initial value (e.g., 114 g of red salmon). The type of measurement determines whether an ingredient is wet or dry; wet ingredients are output as characters, dry ingredients are output as numbers. Two types of memory are provided, mixing bowls and baking dishes. Mixing bowls hold ingredients which are still being manipulated, while baking dishes hold collections of ingredients to output. What makes Chef particularly interesting is that all operations have a sensible interpretation as a step in a food recipe. Where Shakespeare programs parody Shakespearean plays, and often contain dialog that doesn’t work as dialog in a play (“you are as hard as the sum of yourself and a stone wall”), it is possible to write programs in Chef that might reasonably be carried out as a recipe. Chef recipes do have the unfortunate tendency to produce huge quantities of food, however, particularly because the sous-chef may be asked to produce sub-recipes, such as sauces, in a loop.
Wonderful. (And a nice break for someone who has been fretting about languages and syntax over the last couple weeks.)
This question is covered in the FAQ on Processing.org, but still tends to reappear on the board every few months (most recently here). Someone once described Processing syntax as a dialect of Java, which sounds about right to me. It’s syntax that we’ve added on top of Java to make things a little easier for a particular work domain (roughly, making visual things). There’s also a programming environment that significantly simplifies what’s found in traditional IDEs. Plus there’s a core API set (and a handful of core libraries) that we’ve built to support this type of work. If we did these in isolation, none would really stick out:
The language changes are pretty minimal. The big difference is probably how they integrate with the IDE that’s built around the idea of sitting down and quickly writing code (what we call sketching). We don’t require users to first learn class definitions or even method declarations before they can show something on the screen, which helps avoid some of the initial head-scratching that comes from trying to explain “public class” or “void” or beginning programmers. For more advanced coders, it helps Java feel a bit more like scripting. I use a lot of Perl for various tasks, and I wanted to replicate the way you can write 5-10 lines of Perl (or Python, or Ruby, or whatever) and get something done. In Java, you often need double that number of lines just to set up your class definitions and a thread.
The API set is a Java API. It can be used with traditional Java IDEs (Eclipse, Netbeans, whatever) and a Processing component can be embedded into other applications. But without the rest of it (the syntax and IDE), Processing (API or otherwise) it would not be as widely used as it is today. The API grew out of Casey and I’s work, and our like/dislike of various approaches used by libraries that we’ve used: Postscript, QuickDraw, OpenGL, Java AWT, even Applesoft BASIC. Can we do OpenGL but still have it feel as simple as writing graphics code on the Apple ][? Can we simplify current graphics approaches so that they at least feel simpler like the original QuickDraw on the Mac?
The IDE is designed to make Java-style programming less wretched. Check out the Integration discussion board to see just how un-fun it is to figure out how the Java CLASSPATH and java.library.path work, or how to embed AWT and Swing components. These frustrations and complications sometimes are even filed as bugs in the Processing bugs database by users who have apparently become spoiled by not having to worry about such things.
In some cases, we’ve even been accused of not being clear that it’s “just Java,” or even that Processing is Java with a trendy name. Complaining is easier than reading, so there’s not much we can do for people who don’t glance at the FAQ before writing their unhappy screeds. And with the stresses of the modern world, people need to relieve themselves of their angst somehow. (On the other hand, if you’ve met either of us, you’ll know that Casey and I are very trendy people, having grown up in the farmlands of Ohio and Michigan.)
However, we don’t print “Java” on every page of Processing.org for a very specific reason: knowing it’s Java behind the scenes doesn’t actually help our audience. In fact, it usually causes more trouble than not because people expect it to behave exactly like Java. We’ve had a number of people who copy and pasted code from the Java Tutorial into the PDE, and are confused when it doesn’t work.
(Edit – In writing this, I don’t want to understate the importance of Java, especially in the early stages of the Processing project. It goes without saying that we owe a great deal to Sun for developing, distributing, and championing Java. It was, and is, the best language/environment on which to base the project. More about the choice of language can be found in the FAQ.)
But for as much trouble as the preprocessor and language component of Processing is for us to develop (or as irrelevant it might seem to programmers who already code in Java), we’re still not willing to give that up—damned if we’re gonna make students learn how to write a method declaration and “public class Blah extends PApplet” before they can get something to show up on the screen.
I think the question is a bit like the general obsession of people trying to define Apple as a hardware or software company. They don’t do either—they do both. They’re one of the few to figure out that the distinction actually gets in the way of delivering good products.
Now, whether we’re delivering a good product is certainly questionable—the analogy with Apple may, uh, end there.
A great Unicode in 5 Minutes presentation from Mark Lentczner at Linden Lab. He passed it along after reading this dense post, clearly concerned about the welfare of my readers.
(Searching out the image for the title of this post also led me to a collection of Favourite Unicode Codepoints. This seems ripe for someone to waste more time really tracking down such things and documenting them.)
Context Free is a program that generates images from written instructions called a grammar. The program follows the instructions in a few seconds to create images that can contain millions of shapes.
Grammars are covered briefly in the Parse chapter of vida, with the name of the language coming from a specific variety called Context Free Grammars. The magical (and manic) part of grammars is that their rules tend to be recursive and layered, which leads to a certain kind of insanity as you try to tease out how the rules work. With Context Free, Mark has instead turned this dizziness into the basis for creating visual form.
Updated 14 May 08 to fix the glyph. Thanks to Paul Oppenheim, Spidery Ha Devotee, for the correction.
Visualizing Data is my book about computational information design. It covers the path from raw data to how we understand it, detailing how to begin with a set of numbers and produce images or software that lets you view and interact with information. Unlike nearly all books in this field, it is a hands-on guide intended for people who want to learn how to actually build a data visualization.
The text was published by O’Reilly in December 2007 and can be found at Amazon and elsewhere. Amazon also has an edition for the Kindle, for people who aren’t into the dead tree thing. (Proceeds from Amazon links found on this page are used to pay my web hosting bill.)
The book covers ideas found in my Ph.D. dissertation, which is basis for Chapter 1. The next chapter is an extremely brief introduction to Processing, which is used for the examples. Next is (chapter 3) is a simple mapping project to place data points on a map of the United States. Of course, the idea is not that lots of people want to visualize data for each of 50 states. Instead, it’s a jumping off point for learning how to lay out data spatially.
The chapters that follow cover six more projects, such as salary vs. performance (Chapter 5), zipdecode (Chapter 6), followed by more advanced topics dealing with trees, treemaps, hierarchies, and recursion (Chapter 7), plus graphs and networks (Chapter 8).
This site is used for follow-up code and writing about related topics. | <urn:uuid:5e95ca95-3ab1-4837-892e-05c3ae1f474f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://benfry.com/writing/archives/category/languages | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.949319 | 3,045 | 1.578125 | 2 |
Guitar, saxophone, drums, clarinet…the London Underground thought it had seen them all.
But as young women pour in at the Leicester Square station after the day’s Christmas shopping, they find their feet tapping to pure drut teentaal of the Benaras gharana, played on the tabla by a
Born in Angola to a Portuguese father and African mother, a computer programmer by education and Londoner for the past 19 years, he is the only busker (street musician) playing an Indian instrument in the London Underground, a spokesperson for the Tube confirmed. But Rodrigo d’Orey, who now has a 10-year-old love affair with the tabla, says he has just crossed infancy. “I can just make it sound okay,” he said.
He gave up his software job to play the Indian instrument. “I am earning less but I am with my love. I just need to cover my rent and an annual visit to India to pick up further lessons,” he said. D’Orey learnt the tabla when he visited Benaras in his early 20s, and followed it up with lessons from guru Sharda Sahay in London.
“I play for money. I have to play catchy and faster beats, which is not the beauty of Indian music,” he said. Booking a performance slot in the London Underground is free and online. But playing involves keen competition as there are about 400 buskers performing in the Tube. Says the musician who lives in suburban Hertfordshire: “Hopefully, I will match the masters in 10 years.” | <urn:uuid:cf28a34c-f050-4ba6-91e5-29e215ecf8ff> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/Europe/London-Tube-has-its-own-tabalchi/Article1-262472.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.96824 | 343 | 1.640625 | 2 |
Most of us are familiar with the story of Archibald Graham, the New York Giants outfielder who appeared in just one game in 1905 -- without making a plate appearance -- before moving on to other endeavors in life. For this distinction, "Moonlight," as he was nicknamed, was immortalized in W.P. Kinsella's Shoeless Joe and later its film adaptation, Field of Dreams.
Graham's story was exhumed and canonized by those stories, for sure, but it hasn't been entirely unique. Here's an even weirder one: former Athletic Herb Washington. Notice I didn't include a position to describe Washington -- because he didn't have one. Despite playing in a whopping 105 Major League games with Oakland in 1974-75, Washington never made a plate appearance, played in the field or threw a pitch. He was a so-called "designated runner," used exclusively as a pinch-runner.
Washington was a decorated sprinter as a student-athlete at Michigan State University, and despite not having played baseball since he was a high schooler in Mississippi, his blazing speed apparently made him fit for the Major Leagues in the eyes of eccentric Oakland owner Charles O. Finley. Thus, Washington would parachute into games and, often times, attempt to steal bases.
The only problem was, Washington wasn't terribly good at it. Sure, he swiped 31 bags in his 105 games, but that was in 48 attempts -- good for an underwhelming 65% success rate. Stolen-base profiency is still a topic of debate, but most research shows that a 65% success rate won't add much, if anything, to your team's chance of winning -- not exactly what Finely had in mind when he signed the speedster. Most notably, Washington was picked off first base late in Game 2 of the 1974 World Series, the only game of that series that Oakland lost.
Finley and the A's had apparently seen enough of Washington on this day in 1975, because they released him from his contract. Perhaps they weren't over the pickoff, or maybe they just realized a precious roster spot wasn't best spent on a designated runner. Nevertheless, Washington didn't sign elsewhere and thus never appeared in the big leagues again, cementing his place among baseball history's many oddities.
Let us ease his pain. | <urn:uuid:e277aa64-c864-4c07-a789-50c918b97b93> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2012/05/this-date-in-transactions-history-herb-washington.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.989183 | 482 | 1.5625 | 2 |
Explorations by Erdene Resource Development Corp. of the Zuun Mod molybdenum/copper project have revealed 400-metre wide deposits of molybdenum in various locations at the site.
This new information adds to an initial resource estimate, reported in May 2008, which totaled 110 million tons averaging 0.061% molybdenum, which is an essential element added to strengthen iron for use in commercial products.
Providing an update on its principal projects in conjunction with the release of its 2009 first quarter financial results, the company has said it has “continued to make progress on the completion of the updated resource estimate” at the project, located within 200 km of China’s border in Bayankhongor Province. The project, wholly owned by Erdene, measures 12 km in circumference and hosts broad zones of molybdenum/copper mineralization.
Popularity: 4% [?] | <urn:uuid:272ecc59-f51b-4406-b765-cee87a5f09e5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.business-mongolia.com/mongolia/2009/06/02/new-molybdenum-deposits-found-in-bayankhongor/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00005-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.93459 | 199 | 1.507813 | 2 |
I'm having difficulty understanding (and appreciating) the concept of expandability. I'm very murky about understanding when and how expandability impacts me in writing code for my documents.
I've read Why isn't everything expandable?. The answer was interesting and useful, but it didn't get at the heart of what I'm curious about. I've also perused a number of the answers to other questions involving expandability: of particular interest was this post.
In respondence to a recent question of mine, it was explained that document commands are protected and hence not expandable. Understanding this allowed me to write what I wanted and to get the effect I expected.
And in a comment to another question of mine, it was explained how one should use
\cs_new_protected:Npn "when the function does unexpandable jobs such as setting token lists or sequences."
For years, I've been writing code like
knowing that after calling
\setcurrentanswer, any call to
\currentanswer will result in the desired output. Am I relying upon (un)expandability here? I'm not really sure; I only know that it does what I want. Then there are times I know I can throw in a
\protect to get the result I want: but, I really don't understand the why of it; I just know it gets the job done.
Recently, I've been trying to learn some LaTeX3: the more I play with it, the more I like it. LaTeX---which I always thought was pretty powerful---is suddenly much more powerful and transparent in the manner that macros and functions can be defined. But now, I also seem to be running up against this issue of expandability, whereas before I could blithely go about my business ignorant of some of the subtlies of what I was doing.
While I am asking multiple questions here, I suspect that they really have much the same answer: hence I'm not splitting them across multiple posts.
Could someone take the time to explain some of the nuances of expandability, or, if not, point me to a good reference?
How do I know when I'm working with a protected function/macro?
Is protected and unexpandable the same thing?
Could someone explain the preference for protected functions in LaTeX3?
And finally, apart from the answers to the above questions, why would it be preferrable to protect functions which perform unexpandable tasks: such as setting tokens and sequences? (I am very interested in understanding this last question.) | <urn:uuid:bb3aeeb9-3529-434f-be2f-7530edcf0b71> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/95581/a-guide-to-understanding-expandability-when-to-write-protected-functions-and-wh | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959219 | 535 | 1.617188 | 2 |
1960 Jaguar XK 150 Coupe
The Jaguar heritage is one that needs no introduction to those who follow fine vintage automobiles. Starting from the meager roots of the Swallow Sidecar Company, the Jaguar name became solidified with the SS and continued with legendary cars like the XK and the E-Type. As the premier European racing events evolved in the late 1950s, the Jaguar name was a constant presence in competition where it routinely battled with all of the greats. Born from a need for a more powerful competition car, the XK 150 made its debut in 1957. While it may have looked similar to its 120 and 140 predecessors, it was in fact a complete reinvent of the previous XK. The new XK 150 featured a body line around the doors and the grille was wider. The XK 150 also used a single curved windshield. Power was also improved as a 3.4 liter dual overhead cam straight six greatly improved performance. Interior appointments were also refined with leather dashboards. The interior was a driver’s delight having been laid out with competition in mind. Improvements to the XK 150 continued and for 1960 a new 3.8 liter engine provided 265 horsepower. The 3.8 allowed the XK 150 to reach speeds of 130 mph, more than enough to keep up with the BMWs and Mercedes racers of the day.
Offered to the collector of fine British sport cars is this wonderful example of the XK; an original car with the exception of an excellent quality repaint. Powered by Jaguar’s 3.8 liter six, it’s a car that offers great performance in a gentleman’s roadster. Its fine dedication to originality and outstanding condition make it the ultimate car for both driving and display. Jaguars of this era are becoming increasingly hard to find with good originals being even scarcer. This XK 150 is a car that does not disappoint in both fit and finish.
The Jaguar XK 150 is a car that has its own history both on the street and on the track. This fine example is sure to be a wonderful addition to any collection while offering years of excellent touring. | <urn:uuid:0f21e5de-f4ae-4476-8c56-37a802a752e6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.dragoneclassic.com/auctions/vehicle-description/05-12/1960-xk-150-coupe.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.967654 | 436 | 1.65625 | 2 |
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
The Current Drought and Warmth Ahead
There have been a number of complaints in the media and among some locals about our "year without a summer", "Junuary", "Julember" and other griping about our current weather.
OK, we have generally been somewhat cooler than normal, with persistent low clouds in the morning. But one aspect of this summer has been BETTER THAN NORMAL: we have been unusually dry. Your barbecues might have required a sweater but few have been rained on.
Don't believe me? Here are plots of normal (blue line) and actual (red line) for the past four weeks at Seattle, Stampede Pass, Yakima, and Spokane. Each location has had far less precipitation than normal and virtually nothing the past ten days.
Or take a look at the official National Weather Service precipitation plots for the last 30 days. The whole West Coast has been far drier than normal (25-50%).
My garden is wilting fast, my grass is turning yellow, and my soil is like dust.
So lets stop complaining about the cool weather. And besides, on most of the cloudy mornings west of the Cascade crest you could easily escape it by hiking in the mountains or exploring eastern Washington.
Talking of dry weather, keep in mind that the climatologically driest period is still ahead: the last week of July and first week of August. The driest day in the west? Well in Seattle it is July 29th, my favorite day for a "dry sky barbecue."
Still want you heat? NO PROBLEM. We will have a little cool down tomorrow, with persistent low clouds, but on Friday we move into a warming trend, with the weekend and much of next week warm and sunny...certainly above normal.
So hopefully all the complaining will fade away during the next few weeks---it should be spectacular if you like dry conditions and sun. If you don't, just wait a few months.
Posted by Cliff Mass at 8:51 PM | <urn:uuid:5d5854dd-ab9d-4431-8143-485a9a46e2c6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://cliffmass.blogspot.com/2010/07/current-drought-and-warmth-ahead.html?showComment=1280082469065 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.952291 | 426 | 1.601563 | 2 |
Col. Thorton was one of the most famous air gun shooters in history. His book, "A Sporting Journey Through France" has always been a tough book to get ahold of. I picked up a set of this big 2 volume book years ago on Ebay. Nice copies can go for thousands. Now it's available to all.
Written about his journey through France in 1802, it's a fascinating look into France just after the French Revolution.
One small bit of this book seems to have escaped any attention can be found on page 37.
The "re-loaded instantaneously" is what caught my attention. It would seem that Col. Thorton might have been shooting a Girandoni-style air gun or perhaps one of the other Staudenmayer's repeater air gun designs. That Col Thorton would have been aware of Staudenmayer is pretty sure, since Thorton was a customer of the London Gunmaker Joseph Manton where Staudenmayer apprenticed prior to opening his own shop in 1799.
There's a couple more air gun mentions, see page 71, and also some air gun diagrams on a plate between pages 70-71. The plate does not show a repeater air gun. Instead, the air guns shown are an old butt pump with barrel surround tank, another older ball tank design, and an old air cane design. These same diagrams can be found in other scientific books of the time showing the basic concepts of the air gun, so, they are almost certainly not the air guns carried by Thorton.
There is also a discussion by some French officers about how they saw another officer apparently shot by an air gun and how they would hang any soldier found with an air gun.
Pretty neat 1802 stuff. | <urn:uuid:934826ec-b2f4-4cd0-92e5-5c948c411181> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.network54.com/Forum/405945/message/1341922201/Thorton-+A+Sporting+Journey+Through+France | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.972681 | 370 | 1.648438 | 2 |
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